probablyatfirst，itwillonlybeatransfertothemoftheportionofitnowexercisedbyparliament，thatistosay，arighttoproposeamendmentsandanegative。Butitmustinfalliblyendinarightoforigination。4。Perhapstheymaymakeadeclarationofrights。Itwillbeattemptedatleast。Twootherobjectswillbeattempted，viz。，ahabeascorpuslawandafreepress。Butprobablytheymaynotobtaintheseinthefirstsession，orwithmodificationsonly，andthenationmustbelefttoripenitselfmorefortheirunlimitedadoption。Uponthewhole，ithasappearedtomethatthebasisofthepresentstruggleisanilluminationofthepublicmindastotherightsofthenation，aidedbyfortunateincidents；thattheycanneverretrograde，butfromthenaturalprogressofthings，mustpressforwardtotheestablishmentofaconstitutionwhichshallassuretothemagooddegreeofliberty。TheyflatterthemselvestheyshallformabetterconstitutionthantheEnglish。Ithinkitwillbebetterinsomepoints——worseinothers。Itwillbebetterinthearticleofrepresentation，whichwillbemoreequal。Itwillbeworse，astheirsituationobligesthemtokeepupthedangerousmachineofastandingarmy。Idoubt，too，whethertheywillobtainthetrialbyjury，becausetheyarenotsensibleofitsvalue。
IamsureIhavebythistimeheartilytiredyouwiththislongepistle，andthatyouwillbegladtoseeitbroughttoanend，withassurancesofthesentimentsofesteemandrespectwithwhichIhavethehonortobe，dearSir，yourmostobedient，andmosthumbleservant。
BACON，LOCKE，ANDNEWTON
_ToJohnTrumbull_
_Paris，Feb。15，1789_