- My dear Colonel Mason.
- My dear good friend, it
is a pleasure to see you.
- Oh, all my pleasure indeed, sir,
to finally, finally encount you here
at your beautiful
plantation of Gunston Hall.
I rode by a year ago, but
you were not in residence.
- I remember.
I do beg your pardon for not arising,
but please, please take a seat with me.
- I would be most delighted to, sir,
and I do hope you will remain seated.
As you know, I am making
my way up to Mount Vernon
to speak with his Excellency,
General Washington.
There have been many disagreements
over the last several years
concerning the strength
of our Constitution
and our government.
My arguments with our
Secretary of the Treasury
have become most acute,
and now, his Excellency,
General Washington,
is saying that he does not desire to stand
for a second term as President.
I'm curious, Colonel.
Realizing that there
are many factions now,
in our nation's government,
that are concerned with
the very same arguments
brought to light during our
nation's Constitutional convention
during the time that I was in France,
have you any regrets now
about those arguments during
the Constitutional convention?
- Indeed I have many regrets.
The greatest of which is the loss of
many friendships over my refusal
to sign the Constitution.
But I also regret that we did not
redress those differences and
attach a Bill of Rights to
protect our liberties and rights.
Should I be forced to do it
once more, I would do it again.
I would not put this
right hand to a document.
I would cut it off rather
than sign such a document
that could put our liberties at risk.
I trust, implicitly, General Washington,
and I would hope he
would serve another term,
but I fear those who come after him
may not be quite so worthy
and human greed and
avarice being what it is,
power is never given up once taken.
And I fear an encroachment upon
the sovereignty and the
liberties of Virginia.
- Well Colonel, as you know
corresponding with Mr. Madison,
during that time the convention was held,
and while I was seated as our
nation's Ambassador to France,
I emphasized that our Constitution
must be anchored with a Bill of Rights.
In fact, I wrote to Mr. Madison that
a Bill of Rights is what
all people upon this globe
are entitled to, against any
government upon the globe.
So I'm heartened, sir,
I'm heartened to know
that you consider it now
just as important as
you considered it then.
- And Mr. Madison should have known,
in as much as he served on my committee,
drafting the Virginia
Declaration of Rights,
this was a necessary document,
before we could even begin
work upon our Constitution.
- It was extraordinary, sir.
Do you know that at the same I was
taking up the pen in Philadelphia
to draft our Declaration
of American Independence,
you sir, were taking up
the pen in Williamsburg
to draft the Virginia
Declaration of Rights.
We were all thinking the same thing-
- Indeed.
- At the same time.
- Indeed.
- I am concerned that as
our nation moves forward,
that we recognize, as
the Romans would say,
e pluribus unum in our general concern
for the preservation of the common good.
I cannot help but reflect
that Guvi Tum Morris himself
made the statement that these arguments
are not so much in regard
to one state with another,
as these arguments are over the
association of the north and the south.
That the maintenance of our alliance
must ever remain strong,
and that must receive our
decided direction for the future.
Sir, we cannot fall backward,
fall back into the ages
of the darkest ignorance
to find the greatest enlightenment,
or to think that anything at
the Constitutional convention
could not be bettered upon
for the security of our union,
and therefore, sir, the
process of amendment,
would you not agree, is most essential
for the growth of our nation.
- Oh indeed, it is, and it must always
be subject to amendment, however,
the facing of a common enemy made it
quite a simple task for us to
cooperate one with the other.
But we did not foresee
that more pernicious enemy,
that being peace and dealing
amongst ourselves in peace.
And the greed and avarice of humans
is just too great, and
we must guard against
any encroachment upon our
liberties, at all times.
So amending is absolutely necessary.
- After all, Colonel,
it is but common sense
that a child of fourteen
cannot wear the same clothes
at the age of forty (laughs)
and our laws and institutions must
grow as we grow as people.
- I agree entirely, and I hope
that we will keep
vigilant over our rights.
Again, I trust, implicitly, the General,
but I do not trust human nature.
We must keep our guard,
we must constantly watch
those in the public trust.
- Particularly now that
we have this national bank
and the assumption of the
debts taken by the government.
I'm only hopeful that this might protect
the common man, our nation's farmers.
Nine out of every ten American's
seated on their farms,
from stock jobbers and speculators,
monocrats and anglomen.
You know of whom I speak, Colonel.
- Indeed, indeed I do.
It is necessary, I
believe, that we recognize
and dispose of our debts.
But the control of banking
by a central authority,
is a great imposition upon our liberties,
and a great danger to us.
