Edmund Randolph in the Virginia Convention (June 25, 1788)

June 25, 1788.

Governor Randolph. — Mr. Chairman — One parting word I humbly supplicate.

The suffrage which I shall give in favor of the constitution, will be ascribed by malice to motives unknown to my breast, But although for every other act of my life, I shall seek refuge in the mercy of God — for this I request his justice only. Lest however some future annalist should in the spirit of party vengeance, deign to mention my name, let him recite these truths, — that I went to the federal convention with the strongest affection for the union; that I acted there in full conformity with this affection; that I refused to subscribe because I had, as I still have, objections to the constitution, and wished a free enquiry into its merits; and that the accession of eight states reduced our deliberations to the single question of union or no union.