[451] His own description of himself in a speech made in the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution. Elliot, III. 65.

[452] Washington's Writings, IX. 66.

[453] He stated the number of blacks to be 236,000, and that of the whites only 352,000.

[454] Debates in the Virginia Convention, Elliot, III. 65-84, 85, 86.

[455] For a full list of the Delegates, see the Appendix to this volume.

[456] In this connection, I cannot avoid a reference to Dr. Francis Lieber's profound and admirable work "On Civil Liberty and Self-government." Whoever will follow that very able writer in his masterly exposition of the principles of Anglican liberty, will become satisfied that the American branch of it is more strictly a system of "self-government" than any other, speaking with reference to the application of the principle to every department. The destruction of such a system, therefore, would be the destruction of self-government in its most complete form. No one can suppose that the popular principles in the English Constitution would continue to expand, as they have done for the last fifty years, if the corresponding principles in America were to be overthrown, or even if they were to receive a sensible check.

[457] This Table is taken from the 12th volume of Mr. Sparks's edition of Washington's Writings, p. 426.