The writings of George Washington; being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected and published from the original manuscripts; with a life of the author, notes and illustrations. By Jared Sparks.

.ET. 55.] LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 433
feared, therefore, that the doings of the convention
would end in a failure, and perhaps in the disgrace
of the delegates. They, who were perplexed with
apprehensions of this sort, were unwilling that the brilliant reputation of Washington should be put to the
hazard of being tarnished by an abortive experiment,
and believed the interests of the country required it
to be held in reserve for a more fitting opportunity.
These obstacles, formidable for a time, were at last
removed. Congress took the subject into consideration, and recommended to the States to send delegates
to the convention for the purposes mentioned in the
Annapolis report. Thus the measure was sanctioned
by law. Congress likewise appointed the second
Monday in May, as the day for the delegates to assemble at Philadelphia. The time was fixed with reference to the meeting of the Cincinnati, which was
to be a week earlier, whereby General Washington
would be enabled to join his brethren of that fraternity, should he think proper, and explain his motives
for declining to be again elected president.
After these proceedings, and after it was found that
the more enlightened part of the community very generally approved the scheme of a convention, his friends
everywhere urged him to accept the appointment as
one of the delegates from Virginia, and he acceded to
their wishes. Another circumstance had much influence in bringing him to this decision. It began to be
whispered, that the persons opposed to the convention
were at heart monarchists, and that they were glad to
see the distractions of the country increasing5 till the
people should be weary of them, and discover their
only hope of security to consist in a strong government, as it was gently called, or, in other words, a
constitutional monarchy; for no one was ever supposed
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