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Show ) 148 government that I have ever beard or read of, no provision is made for ncces n.ry arncnd111cn ts. 'l'he mi ·fortune attending most con:Utntions whieh have been dclibcrntely formet1, has been, that those who formed them thought their wi ·clotn equal to all possible contingencies, ancl that there could be no error in what they did. The gentlemen who framed this Constitution thouo-ht with much more diflidcnce of their capacities; and, nndoubtcdly, without a provision for amendment, it would have been juslly liable to objection, and the characters of its framers wonld have appeared much lc. s meritorious. 'l'his, indeed, is one of the greatest beauties of the sy · tern, and should strongly recommeud it to every candid ruin d. The constitution of any government which cannot be regularly amended when its defects arc experienced, reduces the people to this dilemma-they must cithct· submit to its oppressions, or lJring about amendments, more or less, by n. civil war. Happy this, the conntry we live in! 'J..1he Constitution before us, if it be adoptecl, can be altered with as much regularity, and as little confusion, as any act of A ·sembly; not, indeed, quite so easily, which wonld be extremely impolitic; but it is a most happy cireumstance, that there is a remedy in the system itself for ils own fallibility, so that nltcratio11s can without difllculty he made, agreeable to the gcucral sen. e of the people. Let us attend to tlw manner in which n,mcudmcuts may be made. The proposition for amendments may arise from Congress itself, when two-thirds of bolh Ilouses shall deem it necessary. If they should not, and yet amendments be generally wished for by the people, two-thirds of the legi ·latnres of the different States may require a general convention for the purpose, in which case Congress arc under the necessiLy of convening one THE STATE CONVENTIONS. 149 Any amendments which either Congress shall propose, or which slwll be proposed by sneh general convention, nrc afterwards to be sul)mittccl to the lcgisln.tnrcs of the di[crent States, or co nventions called for that purpose, as Cougress , hall thi11k proper, and upon the ratification of three-fourths of the tales, will become a part of the Constitution. By referring this business to legislatures, cxpcu. e would be saved; and in gencrnl, it may be presumed, they wouhl speak the genuine sense of the people. It may, however, on some occa~ions, be better to consult an immediate delegation for that special purpose. This is therefore left discretionary. It is highly probable that amcndmetlls agreed to in either of these mclhod.' would be conducive to the public welfare, when so large a majority of the StateH consented to them. And in one of these modes, amendments that arc now wished for ruay, in a short time, be made to this Con:.;! itution by the Stales adopting it. lL is, however, to be obsorvccl, that the 1st nnd 4th clan cs in the 9Lh section of the 1st article arc protected from any alteration till the year 1808; and in order that no consolidation should take place, it it:; provided that no State shall, by any amendment or alteration, be ever de prived of an cqnal suffrage in the Senate without its own consent. 'l'he first two prohibitions arc with rc poet to the census, ( nccordiug to which d ircct taxes arc imposed,) and with respect to the importation of slaves. As to tho first, it must be observed, thni there i n. material difference between the Northern aud Southern States. 'l'he Northem States have been mnch longer settled, and are much fuller of people, than the Southern, but have not land in equal proportion, nor scarcely any slaves. 'I' he sn hjcct of this article was regulated with great difficulty, and by a spirit |