Newspaper Report 3 of Pennsylvania Convention Proceedings (December 3, 1787)

Wilson: Take detached parts of any system whatsoever, in the manner these gentlemen have hitherto taken this Constitution, and you will make it absurd and inconsistent with itself. I do not confine this observation to human performances alone; it will apply to divine writings. An anecdote, which I have heard, exemplifies this observation. When Sternhold and Hopkin's version of the Psalms was usually sung in churches, a line was first read by the clerk, and then sung by the congregation. A sailor had stepped in, and heard the clerk read this line: "The Lord will come, and he will not" The sailor stared; and when the clerk read the next line, "Keep silence; but speak out," the sailor left the church, thinking the people were not in their senses.

This story may convey an idea of the treatment of the plan before you; for although it contains sound sense, when connected, yet by the detached manner of considering it, it appears highly absurd.