You  know  better  than  I  do  what  was  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Mason
at  the  convention,  immediately  after  his  return,  he  declared,  that
notwithstanding  his  objections  to  particular  parts  of  the  plan,  he
would  take  it  as  it  was  rather  than  lose  it  altogether;  since  that  I
have  reason  to  believe  his  sentiments  are  much  changed  which  I
attribute  to  two  causes:  first  the  irritation  he  feels  from  the  hard
things  that  have  been  said  of  him,  and  secondly  to  a  vain  opinion
he  entertains  (which  has  industriously  been  supported  by  some
particular  characters)  that  he  has  influence  enough  to  dictate  a
constitution  to  Virginia,  and  through  her  to  the  rest  of  the  Union.
CXCV.    Benjamin  Franklin  to  the   Editor  of  the  Federal

Gazette.*

To  conclude,  I  beg  I  may  not  be  understood  to  infer,  that  our
general  Convention  was  divinely  inspired  when  it  form'd  the  new
federal  Constitution,  merely  because  that  Constitution  has  been
unreasonably  and  vehemently  opposed;  yet  I  must  own  I  have  so
much  Faith  in  the  general  Government  of  the  World  by  Providence,
that  I  can  hardly  conceive  a  Transaction  of  such  momentous  Impor-
tance to  the  Welfare  of  Millions  now  existing,  and  to  exist  in  the

*  Documtntary  History  of  the  Constitution^  IV,  552.
^Documentary  History  of  the  Constitution,  IV,  567-571;  printed  in  the  Federal
Gazetu,  April  8,  1788.
