Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1

by George S. Boutwell

The resolutions, as adopted, were in the form following:

"Resolved, That it is expedient so to alter and amend the Constitution as to provide for a periodical division of the Commonwealth into equal districts on the basis of population." This form was observed in all the results reached by the Convention. The Convention had named the first day of August as the day of adjournment, and the serious work of preparing the Constitution was entered upon about the 15th day of July. The committee as a body, consisting of thirteen members, took no part in the preparation of the Constitution. It sanctioned the work as it had been done by Mr. Dana, Mr. Morton, and myself.

As my constant presence in the Convention was required, the work imposed upon me as chairman of the committee was performed in the mornings, in the evenings, and during the recesses. Thus the days from the early morning until ten o'clock at night were given to labor and without thought of eating or drinking. At ten o'clock I ate a hearty supper and then retired, always getting a sound sleep, whatever might have been the work of the day preceding.

In the last fifteen days of the session the projet of the Constitution was printed for proof-reading and for corrections twenty- four times. The record shows that there were but few changes made by the Convention, and those were formal and unimportant; and never in the canvass that followed was the suggestion made that the proposed Constitution failed to represent the mind and purpose of the Convention.

The Address to the People of the State was written by me on the last day of the Convention, August 1, 1853, and, as I now recall the events of that day, it was not submitted to the committee, although the members, by individual action, authorized me to make the report. On the same day and upon the motion of Mr. Frank W. Bird, of Walpole, the Convention adopted the following order:—

"Ordered, That the resolves contained in Document No. 128, and the Address to the People signed by the president and secretaries, be printed in connection with the copies of the Revised Constitution ordered to be printed for distribution; and that thirty-five thousand additional copies of said Constitution, with the Resolves and Address, be printed for distribution, in accordance with the orders already adopted." The Convention adjourned at ten minutes before two o'clock on the morning of August 2. The work as a whole was rejected by the voters of the State, but the mind and purpose of the Convention have been expressed during the forty-four years now ended, in the many amendments that have been engrafted upon the Constitution of 1780.

My intimate acquaintance with Mr. Choate began in this Convention. I had known him as early as 1842, when he came to Groton and made a speech in defence of the Whig Party. He was then a member of the Senate and in the fullness of his powers both intellectual and physical. In 1853 his physical system was impaired, but his intellect was as supreme as it had ever been. When I held the office of Governor I made a visit to Mr. Choate at his house. My associate was Ellis Ames of Canton. The circumstances were these. The contest with Rhode Island in regard to the boundary line had reached a crisis. When I came to office I found upon the Statute Book a resolution directing the Governor to institute legal proceedings for the purpose of fixing the boundary unless Rhode Island should agree to proceed by a new commission. As Rhode Island had remained silent, I directed the Attorney-General to execute the statute. After some time he informed me that the preparation of the bill involved a good deal of labor and that some assistance should be had. He suggested Ellis Ames who had a reputation as an equity lawyer. Mr. Ames was employed. When the bill was prepared and submitted to me, I found that a claim was made to five towns that were originally in the Plymouth Colony, but which by a decree of the King in Council had been set over to Rhode Island in 1746. I objected to the presentation of this claim and said that we should only ask that the true line should be run agreeably to that decree. Soon after the Revolution the State of Rhode Island ran the line ex parte and encroached upon the territory of Massachusetts one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile.

From that time both parties had asserted and exercised jurisdiction which had resulted in a number of controversies in the local courts. The Attorney-General lived at New Bedford near the line. The people were constantly excited, and Mr. Clifford was unwilling to accept my proposed amendment. After some delay he suggested an interview with Mr. Choate, who had been counsel for the Town of Fall River in some one or more of the controversies involving the boundary. I assented to the suggestion, and an evening was fixed for a call upon Mr. Choate by Mr. Ames and myself. The evening was a stormy one, but we made our way to Mr. Choate's house. He was in his library in the second story. It consisted of two rooms that had been connected by making an arch in the partition. The shelves were filled, and the floor was covered with books. Ames said:

"Why, Mr. Choate, what a quantity of books you have!"

"Yes," said Mr. Choate, "I have a good many books, more than I have paid for, but that is the book-seller's business, not mine."