In a word, the new constitution will prove finally to dissolve all the power of the several state legislatures, and destroy the rights and liberties of the people; for the power of the first will be all in all, and of the latter a mere shadow and form without substance, and if adopted we may (in imitation of the Carthagenians) say, Delenda vit Americæ. SYDNEY. CURSORY REMARKS BY HUGH HENRY BRACKENRIDGE. Printed In The American Museum, April, 1788. Note. This article first appeared in _The Pittsburgh Gazette_, but as I have not been able to find a file of that paper, I have been compelled to reprint it from _The American Museum_. It was anonymous, but its authorship is settled by its republication in Brackenridge’s “_Gazette Publications_,” printed in book form in 1806. Cursory Remarks. The American Museum, (Number 4) APRIL, 1788. It is not my intention to enter largely into a consideration of this plan of government, but to suggest some ideas in addition to, and of the same nature with, those already made, showing the imperfections and the danger of it. The first thing that strikes a diligent observer, is the want of precaution with regard to the _sex_ of the president. Is it provided that he shall be of the male gender? The Salii, a tribe of the Burgundians, in the 11th century, excluded females from the sovereignty. Without a similar exclusion, what shall we think, if, in progress of time, we should come to have an _old woman_ at the head of our affairs? But what security have we that he shall be a _white man_? What would be the national disgrace if he should be elected from one of the southern states, and a _vile negro_ should come to rule over us? Treaties would then be formed with the tribes of Congo and Loango, instead of the civilized nations of Europe. But is there any security that he shall be a _freeman_? Who knows but the electors at a future period, in days of corruption, may pick up a man-servant, a convict perhaps, and give him the dominion? Is any care taken that he shall be of _perfect parts_? Shall we, in affairs of a civil nature, leave a door open to lame men, bastards, eunuchs, and the devil knows what? A senate is the next great constituent part of the government; and yet there is not a word said with regard to the ancestry of any of them; whether they should be altogether Irish, or only Scots Irish. If any of them have been in the war of the White Boys, the Heart of Oak, or the like, they may overturn all authority, and make Shilelah the supreme law of the land. The house of representatives is to be so large, that it can never be built. They may begin it, but it can never be finished. Ten miles square! Babylon itself, unless the suburbs are taken into view, was not of greater extent.