Page:Debates in the Several State Conventions, v4.djvu/354

338 box of Pandora. They say it is particularly calculated for the meridian of despotic aristocracy; that it evidently tends to promote the ambitious views of a few able and designing men, and enslave the rest; that it carries with it the appearance of an old phrase, formerly made use of in despotic reigns, and especially by Archbishop Laud, in the reign of Charles I., that is, "non-resistance." They say they will resist against it; that they will not accept of it unless compelled by force of arms, which this new Constitution plainly threatens; and then, they say, your standing army, like Turkish janisaries enforcing despotic laws, must ram it down their throats with the points of bayonets. They warn the gentlemen of this Convention, as the guardians of their liberty, to beware how they will be accessory to the disposal of, or rather sacrificing, their dear-bought rights and privileges. This is the sense and language, Mr. President, of the people; and it is an old saying, and I believe a very true one, that the general voice of the people is the voice of God. The general voice of the people, to whom I am responsible, is against it. I shall never betray the trust reposed in me by them; therefore, shall give my hearty dissent.

, May 21, 1788.

Gen. SUMPTER, agreeably to notice given yesterday, (Tuesday, 20th,) moved for an adjournment of the Convention to the (20th October) twentieth day of October next, in order to give time for the further consideration of the Federal Constitution. After considerable debate, it was rejected by a majority of (46) forty-six—yeas, eighty-nine, (89;) nays, one hundred and thirty-five (135). , May 23, 1788.

On motion, Resolved, That this Convention do assent to and ratify the Constitution agreed to on the 17th day of September last, by the Convention of the United States of America, held at Philadelphia.

On the question being put to agree to the same, the yeas and nays were called for by the unanimous voice of the Convention, and are as follows:—

—Yeas: His excellency, Governor Thomas Pinckney, did not vote. Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Gadsden, C. C. Pinckney, (general,) Christopher Gadsden, (general—member of Congress of '65, at New York.) Edward Rutledge, (governor—one of the Congress of '76,) David Ramsay, (Dr.,) Thomas Heyward, Jun., (judge—and one of the Congress of '76,) Edward Darrell, Isaac Motte, John Mathews, (governor,) Edward Blake, Thomas Bee, (judge,) Daniel De Soussure, Thomas Jones, John F. Grimke, (judge,) William Johnson, John J. Pringle, (attorney-general,) John Blake, Daniel