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Kaminski, John P.; Schoenleber, Charles H.; Saladino, Gaspare J.; Leffler, Richard; Reid, Jonathan M.; Flamingo, Margaret R.; Lannér-Cusin, Johanna E.; Fields, David P.; Conley, Patrick T.; Moore, Timothy D. (ed.) / Ratification of the Constitution by the states: Rhode Island (3)
26 (2013)
VI. The debate over the Constitution in Rhode Island, 20 January-29 May 1790, pp. 711-897
Page 718
VI. DEBATE OVER CONSTITUTION administration will depend upon the people that are sent & stand ap- pointed to administer it, who if they are men of wisdom & integrity we have reason to hope & expect as much happiness under the form agreed upon as under any form whatever. I wish, therefore, our Friends would consider this matter; a matter on which perhaps it may never hereafter be in their power to act, & do what may contribute to the best interest of this poor, lonely, divided State in such manner as may appear best. If it should be alleged that it is uncertain whether the amendments will be adopted a passage here hardly legible [- - -] at present Friends address to Gen'l Washington5 I esteem as designed princi- pally to manifest thier cordial acceptance of the Gov'tmt I am united with them therein & hope that none may conclude this letter is de- signed to serve any political party or to encourage Friends therein, but in practically manifesting our prospects & unitedly using our freedom in this cause as a right I have no doubt we may innocently exercise With love to Freinds I conclude Your affectionate Freind To Isaac Lawton, Jacob Mott, Sampson Sherman or any other Freind to whom they may think proper to communicate 1. FC and Copy, Austin Collection, #12, RPJCB. The file copy appears to be a nearly illegible press copy. A copy of the letter seems to have been transcribed by Samuel Austin. An "N. B." reads "This contains an important letter, scarcely legible, together with a copy made by Samuel Austin-See also the accompanying copy from S. A.'s MS. which traces the probable influence of the letter" (Mfm:R.I.). Lawton, Mott, and Sherman were Quak- ers living in Portsmouth. None of these men voted in the March 1788 referendum on the Constitution. 2. For the election of Convention delegates in Portsmouth, see RCS:R.I., 695-703. 3. Daniel Howland was an influential Quaker in East Greenwich. 4. For the twelve amendments to the Constitution adopted by Congress on 25 Septem- ber 1789, see Appendix I (below). 5. Perhaps a reference to the address to George Washington from the yearly meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), which was held in Philadelphia from 28 September through 3 October 1789 and represented Friends from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and the western parts of Virginia and Maryland. See Abbot, Washington, Presidential Series, IV, 265-69n. Newport Herald, 4 February 1790 A Correspondent requests us to inform the public, that by a letter from New-York, of the 29th of January, from a gentleman of good in- formation, he is advised, that it appears to be the sense of both Houses of Congress, that the Acts of Congress, subjecting the citizens of this State to foreign tonnage and foreign duties, would be suspended in 718
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