M^r Wilson, the question is shall the members of the 2^d branch be chosen by the Legislatures of the States? When he considered the amazing extent of Country--the immense population which is to fill it, the influence which the Gov^t we are to form will have, not only on the present generation of our people & their multiplied posterity, but on the whole Globe, he was lost in the magnitude of the object. The project of Henry the 4^{th} & his Statesmen was but the picture in miniature of the great portrait to be exhibited. He was opposed to an election by the State Legislatures. In explaining his reasons it was necessary to observe the twofold relation in which the people would stand, 1. as Citizens of the Gen^l Gov^t 2. as Citizens of their particular State. The Gen^l Gov^t was meant for them in the first capacity: the State Gov^{ts} in the second. Both Gov^{ts} were derived from the people--both meant for the people--both therefore ought to be regulated on the same principles. The same train of ideas which belonged to the relation of the Citizens to their State Gov^{ts} were applicable to their relation to the Gen^l Gov^t and in forming the latter, we ought to proceed, by abstracting as much as possible from the idea of the State Gov^{ts}. With respect to the province & object of the Gen^l Gov^t they should be considered as having no existence. The election of the 2^d branch by the Legislatures, will introduce & cherish local interests & local prejudices. The Gen^l Gov^t is not an assemblage of States, but of individuals for certain political purposes--it is not meant for the States, but for the individuals composing them; the _individuals_ therefore not the _States_, ought to be represented in it: A proportion in this representation can be preserved in the 2^d as well as in the 1^{st} branch; and the election can be made by electors chosen by the people for that purpose. He moved an amendment to that effect which was not seconded.