The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787/Volume 3/Appendix A/CCXXXII

by Max Farrand

ⅭⅭⅩⅩⅩⅡ. James Madison to Philip Mazzei.^[1]

New York, Octr. 8th. 1788.

You ask me why I agreed to the constitution proposed by the Convention of Philada. I answer because I thought it safe to the liberties of the people, and the best that could be obtained from the jarring interests of States, and the miscellaneous opinions of Politicians; and because experience has proved that the real danger to America & to liberty lies in the defect of energy & stability in the present establishments of the United States.—Had you been a member of that assembly and been impressed with the truths which our situation discloses, you would have concurred in the necessity which was felt by the other members. …

1. G. Hunt, Writings of James Madison, Ⅴ, 267.