Dickinson, John. Letters of Fabius on the Federal Constitution.
The / Letters / of / Fabius, / in 1788, / on the Federal Constitution; /.... / Copy-Right Secured. / From the office of the Delaware / Gazette, Wilmington, / By W. C. Smith. / 1797. /
8vo. pp. iv., 202 (1).
Written by John Dickinson, the “Pennsylvania Farmer,” and member of the Annapolis and Philadelphia Conventions. The Letters of Fabius were originally published in a Delaware newspaper in 1788, and were not issued in pamphlet form till 1797, when they were reprinted as above, together with a second series of letters “on the present situation of public affairs,” which are omitted in this reprint. They were also included in “The Political Writings of John Dickinson,” printed in 1801.
P. L. F.
THE EDITOR TO THE PUBLIC.
THE First Nine Letters in this Collection, published in the beginning of the Year 1788, were occasioned by an alarming hesitation of some States to ratify the Constitution proposed by the Federal Convention in 1787.
They appeared separately in News-papers; and have never been published together, before the present Edition.
Some Notes are added of Extracts from “The Rights of Man,” published about three years after these Letters, containing similar sentiments, expressed with a remarkable resemblance of Language, especially on the two great subject—the organization of a constitution from original rights, and the formation of government from contributed rights, both of so much importance in laying regular foundations of Civil Society, and consequently in securing the advancement of human happiness.