To the People of the State of New York : WHEN the people of America reflect that they are now called upon to decide a question , which , in its consequences , must prove one of the most important that ever engaged their attention , the propriety of their taking a very comprehensive , as well as a very serious , view of it , will be evident . Nothing is more certain than the indispensable necessity of government , and it is equally undeniable , that whenever and however it is instituted , the people must cede to it some of their natural rights in order to vest it with requisite powers . It is well worthy of consideration therefore , whether it would conduce more to the interest of the people of America that they should , to all general purposes , be one nation , under one federal government , or that they should divide themselves into separate confederacies , and give to the head of each the same kind of powers which they are advised to place in one national government . It has until lately been a received and uncontradicted opinion that the prosperity of the people of America depended on their continuing firmly united , and the wishes , prayers , and efforts of our best and wisest citizens have been constantly directed to that object . But politicians now appear , who insist that this opinion is erroneous , and that instead of looking for safety and happiness in union , we ought to seek it in a division of the States into distinct confederacies or sovereignties . However extraordinary this new doctrine may appear , it nevertheless has its advocates ; and certain characters who were much opposed to it formerly , are at present of the number . Whatever may be the arguments or inducements which have wrought this change in the sentiments and declarations of these gentlemen , it certainly would not be wise in the people at large to adopt these new political tenets without being fully convinced that they are founded in truth and sound policy . It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was not composed of detached and distant territories , but that one connected , fertile , widespreading country was the portion of our western sons of liberty . Providence has in a particular manner blessed it with a variety of soils and productions , and watered it with innumerable streams , for the delight and accommodation of its inhabitants . A succession of navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its borders , as if to bind it together ; while the most noble rivers in the world , running at convenient distances , present them with highways for the easy communication of friendly aids , and the mutual transportation and exchange of their various commodities . With equal pleasure I have as often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people -- a people descended from the same ancestors , speaking the same language , professing the same religion , attached to the same principles of government , very similar in their manners and customs , and who , by their joint counsels , arms , and efforts , fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war , have nobly established general liberty and independence . This country and this people seem to have been made for each other , and it appears as if it was the design of Providence , that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren , united to each other by the strongest ties , should never be split into a number of unsocial , jealous , and alien sovereignties . Similar sentiments have hitherto prevailed among all orders and denominations of men among us . To all general purposes we have uniformly been one people each individual citizen everywhere enjoying the same national rights , privileges , and protection . As a nation we have made peace and war ; as a nation we have vanquished our common enemies ; as a nation we have formed alliances , and made treaties , and entered into various compacts and conventions with foreign states . A strong sense of the value and blessings of union induced the people , at a very early period , to institute a federal government to preserve and perpetuate it . They formed it almost as soon as they had a political existence ; nay , at a time when their habitations were in flames , when many of their citizens were bleeding , and when the progress of hostility and desolation left little room for those calm and mature inquiries and reflections which must ever precede the formation of a wise and well - balanced government for a free people . It is not to be wondered at , that a government instituted in times so inauspicious , should on experiment be found greatly deficient and inadequate to the purpose it was intended to answer . This intelligent people perceived and regretted these defects . Still continuing no less attached to union than enamored of liberty , they observed the danger which immediately threatened the former and more remotely the latter ; and being pursuaded that ample security for both could only be found in a national government more wisely framed , they as with one voice , convened the late convention at Philadelphia , to take that important subject under consideration . This convention , composed of men who possessed the confidence of the people , and many of whom had become highly distinguished by their patriotism , virtue and wisdom , in times which tried the minds and hearts of men , undertook the arduous task . In the mild season of peace , with minds unoccupied by other subjects , they passed many months in cool , uninterrupted , and daily consultation ; and finally , without having been awed by power , or influenced by any passions except love for their country , they presented and recommended to the people the plan produced by their joint and very unanimous councils . Admit , for so is the fact , that this plan is only recommended , not imposed , yet let it be remembered that it is neither recommended to blind approbation , nor to blind reprobation ; but to that sedate and candid consideration which the magnitude and importance of the subject demand , and which it certainly ought to receive . But this ( as was remarked in the foregoing number of this paper ) is more to be wished than expected , that it may be so considered and examined . Experience on a former occasion teaches us not to be too sanguine in such hopes . It is not yet forgotten that well - grounded apprehensions of imminent danger induced the people of America to form the memorable Congress of 1774 . That body recommended certain measures to their constituents , and the event proved their wisdom ; yet it is fresh in our memories how soon the press began to teem with pamphlets and weekly papers against those very measures . Not only many of the officers of government , who obeyed the dictates of personal interest , but others , from a mistaken estimate of consequences , or the undue influence of former attachments , or whose ambition aimed at objects which did not correspond with the public good , were indefatigable in their efforts to pursuade the people to reject the advice of that patriotic Congress . Many , indeed , were deceived and deluded , but the great majority of the people reasoned and decided judiciously ; and happy they are in reflecting that they did so . They considered that the Congress was composed of many wise and experienced men . That , being convened from different parts of the country , they brought with them and communicated to each other a variety of useful information . That , in the course of the time they passed together in inquiring into and discussing the true interests of their country , they must have acquired very accurate knowledge on that head . That they were individually interested in the public liberty and prosperity , and therefore that it was not less their inclination than their duty to recommend only such measures as , after the most mature deliberation , they really thought prudent and advisable . These and similar considerations then induced the people to rely greatly on the judgment and integrity of the Congress ; and they took their advice , notwithstanding the various arts and endeavors used to deter them from it . But if the people at large had reason to confide in the men of that Congress , few of whom had been fully tried or generally known , still greater reason have they now to respect the judgment and advice of the convention , for it is well known that some of the most distinguished members of that Congress , who have been since tried and justly approved for patriotism and abilities , and who have grown old in acquiring political information , were also members of this convention , and carried into it their accumulated knowledge and experience . It is worthy of remark that not only the first , but every succeeding Congress , as well as the late convention , have invariably joined with the people in thinking that the prosperity of America depended on its Union . To preserve and perpetuate it was the great object of the people in forming that convention , and it is also the great object of the plan which the convention has advised them to adopt . With what propriety , therefore , or for what good purposes , are attempts at this particular period made by some men to depreciate the importance of the Union ? Or why is it suggested that three or four confederacies would be better than one ? I am persuaded in my own mind that the people have always thought right on this subject , and that their universal and uniform attachment to the cause of the Union rests on great and weighty reasons , which I shall endeavor to develop and explain in some ensuing papers . They who promote the idea of substituting a number of distinct confederacies in the room of the plan of the convention , seem clearly to foresee that the rejection of it would put the continuance of the Union in the utmost jeopardy . That certainly would be the case , and I sincerely wish that it may be as clearly foreseen by every good citizen , that whenever the dissolution of the Union arrives , America will have reason to exclaim , in the words of the poet : " FAREWELL ! A LONG FAREWELL TO ALL MY GREATNESS . "