ing that looked like a government.... Now,
Mr. President, when I saw this Constitution, I found that it was a cure
for these disorders. I got a copy of it, and read it over and over.... I
did not go to any lawyer, to ask his opinion; we have no lawyer in our
town, and we do well enough without. My honourable old daddy there
(pointing to Mr. Singletary) won't think that I expect to be a
Congressman, and swallow up the liberties of the people. I never had any
post, nor do I want one. But I don't think the worse of the Constitution
because lawyers, and men of learning, and moneyed men are fond of it. I
am not of such a jealous make. They that are honest men themselves are
not apt to suspect other people.... Brother farmers, let us suppose a
case, now. Suppose you had a farm of 50 acres, and your title was
disputed, and there was a farm of 5000 acres joined to you that belonged
to a man of learning, and his title was involved in the same difficulty;
would you not be glad to have him for your friend, rather than to stand
alone in the dispute? Well, the case is the same. These lawyers, these
moneyed men, these men of learning, are all embarked in the same cause
with us, and we must all sink or swim together. Shall we throw the
Constitution overboard because it does not please us all alike? Suppose
two or three of you had been at the pains to break up a piece of rough
land and sow it with wheat: would you let it lie waste because you could
not agree what sort of a fence to make? Would it not be better to put up
a fence that did not please every one's fancy, rather than keep
disputing about it until the wild beasts came in and devoured the crop?
Some gentlemen say, Don't be in a hurry; take time to consider. I say,
There is a time to sow and a time to reap. We sowed our seed when we
sent men to the Federal Convention, now is the time to reap the fruit of
our labour; and if we do not do it now, I am afraid we shall never have
another opportunity."

There spoke the common sense of the common man of the Commonwealth. The
counsel of the farmer from the country, joined with the resolutions of
the workingmen from the city, carried the convention and the
Constitution was ratified. In the light of succeeding history, who shall
say, that it was not the voice of the people, speaking with the voice of
Infinite Authority?

The attitude of Samuel Adams, William Shepard, Jonathan Smith and the
workingmen of Boston toward government, is wort