Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1Boutwell, George S. (George Sewall)
History
Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1
Boutwell, George S. (George Sewall)
Boutwell, George S. (George Sewall), 1818-1905; United States -- Politics and government
"Ordered, That the resolves contained in Document No. 128, and the
Address to the People signed by the president and secretaries, be
printed in connection with the copies of the Revised Constitution
ordered to be printed for distribution; and that thirty-five thousand
additional copies of said Constitution, with the Resolves and Address,
be printed for distribution, in accordance with the orders already
adopted." The Convention adjourned at ten minutes before two o'clock
on the morning of August 2. The work as a whole was rejected by the
voters of the State, but the mind and purpose of the Convention have
been expressed during the forty-four years now ended, in the many
amendments that have been engrafted upon the Constitution of 1780.
My intimate acquaintance with Mr. Choate began in this Convention.
I had known him as early as 1842, when he came to Groton and made a
speech in defence of the Whig Party. He was then a member of the
Senate and in the fullness of his powers both intellectual and
physical. In 1853 his physical system was impaired, but his intellect
was as supreme as it had ever been. When I held the office of Governor
I made a visit to Mr. Choate at his house. My associate was Ellis Ames
of Canton. The circumstances were these. The contest with Rhode
Island in regard to the boundary line had reached a crisis. When I
came to office I found upon the Statute Book a resolution directing the
Governor to institute legal proceedings for the purpose of fixing the
boundary unless Rhode Island should agree to proceed by a new
commission. As Rhode Island had remained silent, I directed the
Attorney-General to execute the statute. After some time he informed
me that the preparation of the bill involved a good deal of labor and
that some assistance should be had. He suggested Ellis Ames who had
a reputation as an equity lawyer. Mr. Ames was employed. When the
bill was prepared and submitted to me, I found that a claim was made
to five towns that were originally in the Plymouth Colony, but which
by a decree of the King in Council had been set over to Rhode Island
in 1746. I objected to the presentation of this claim and said that we
should only ask that the true line should be run agreeably to that
decree. Soon after the Revolution the State of Rhode Island ran the
line _ex parte_ and encroached upon the territory of Massachusetts
one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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