20 



pJiia, and EcUnhirgJi ; Fellow of the Eoyal Societj^ of London ; 

 Fellow of the Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce of 

 London ; and he maintained through life an extensive correspon- 



dence with men of taste and learning. 



1 



HIS last public appearance in a political character, was in the 

 Convention of this state, appointed in the year 1788, to consider 

 of the Constitution of the United States. On this, as on a former 

 occasion of like nature, but of less importance, many gentlemen, 

 who, from their private employments and love of retirement, had 

 declined engaging in the busy scenes of politicks, assembled to de- 

 liberate on a plan of government, which might for , many gcner- 



ah 



ations affect the liberty and happiness of the citizens of America. 

 In this assembly, so respectable for the great and virtuous charac- 

 ters which composed it, Mr. Bowdoin appeared as a Representative 

 for his native town. Here he again became a strenuous advocate 

 for a form of government, calculated as he conceived, to produce 

 that security, which is the ultimate desideratum in all social com- 



■ 



pacts, and which security depends on the introduction of such. 



+ 



checks, as may at all times balance the dangers, which arise to 

 true freedom, from the occasional preponderancy of aristocratic 

 or democratic principles. Here he reasoned with pertinent force, 

 ^and his speech on the occasion, printed among the debates of that 

 convention, demonstrates his thorough acquaintance with the 

 principles of government, and his ability to support them. He 

 gave his voice, for the adoption of the constitution, not because 

 he thought it merely preferable to the feeble structure of the 

 confederation, or that the salutary provisions of it overbalance 

 those which were exceptionable; but from a full conviction, 



that 







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