From Charles Millon
ALS: American Philosophical Society
<Paris, December 17, 1777, in French: I render you homage as
the man whom the public credits with authorship of the Pennsylvania
constitutions. Articles 1, 2, 9, and 15 of Chapter I
rouse my keenest admiration. Article 2 proves that I am not
alone in considering intolerance the most destructive force in
any society. Article 9 is the work of that rarity, a supremely
just and fair man; I could only wish that it proscribed torture
for anything short of conspiracy against the state, and then
only to uncover accomplices. Article 15, with which I would
lump the statement in Section 42 of Chapter II, expresses the
most profound political wisdom, always assuming that Pennsylvania
never becomes the asylum for the world’s rascals and
monsters.
Permit me an observation, which may sound critical, on the
second part of Section 45 of Chapter II. The history of the
religious orders shows that most if not all of them have been
characterized by laziness and pride, fanaticism and hypocrisy;
and their ambition has won them outrageous privileges. If they
follow their own interests in the teeth of the general good,
they will end by convincing themselves that they are God’s
agents. I assume that the addition to Section 45 was long debated,
and that the same is true of the addition in Article 10 to
the profession of faith, which in fact adds nothing. I have
looked in vain for a ban on usury, which afflicts the poorest
and most numerous and thereby undermines social cohesion.
But bad results of what has been included or omitted have
their remedy in Article 16 of Chapter I and Section 45 of
Chapter II.
Reading the constitutions has given me some ideas that I
have put in writing; they are enclosed.>
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