The second meeting of the Constitutional Convention convened at 10:00 this morning.  Rufus King must have been relieved that Nathaniel Gorham and Caleb Strong of Massachusetts, and Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut have finally arrived.  Just a few days ago he had been “mortified” to be the only delegate from all of New England. Now both states have a sufficient number of delegates present to be officially represented.  

Delaware’s Gunning Bedford and Maryland’s James McHenry have also arrived, but special attention was paid to Benjamin Franklin as he arrived in his very noticeable sedan chair.  Occasionally used to transport Franklin from his home to the State House for meetings of the Pennsylvania Supreme Executive Council, his sedan chair is portable, contains an enclosed seat for one person, is mounted on parallel poles and carried by two men. Sedans are a luxurious mode of transportation in Europe as well as in Philadelphia and New York City in America.  For Franklin, they help relieve pain due to gout and a bladder stone.

Like Washington, to the people of the United States, Benjamin Franklin is an almost mythical figure. William Pierce, a delegate from Georgia, is keeping a personal journal of “character sketches,” descriptions of the delegates as he sees them.  

Of Franklin, he writes, he “is well known to be the greatest philosopher of the present age; all the operations of nature he seems to understand; the very heavens obey him and the clouds yield up their lightning to be imprisoned in his rod. But what claim he has to the politician, posterity must determine. It is certain that he does not shine much in public council; he is no speaker, nor does he seem to let politics engage his attention. He is, however, a most extraordinary man, and tells a story in a style more engaging than anything I ever heard. Let his biographer finish his character.  He is 82 years old and possesses an activity of mind equal to a youth of 25 years of age.”

After reading and accepting the credentials of new arrivals, the delegates turned to the report of the committee charged with proposing rules for the Convention. The report was presented by George Wythe of Virginia and, after several amendments, included the following:

• A quorum of seven States is required to conduct business.
• Each State will have one vote.
• Minutes of the previous day’s meeting will be read immediately after the President and delegates are seated.
• When speaking, every member will rise and address his remarks to the President.
• While a member is speaking, “none shall pass between them, or hold discourse with another, or read a book, pamphlet, or paper, printed or manuscript.
• If two members rise at the same time, the President will decide who speaks first.
• No member shall speak twice on the same subject “without special leave,” and not the second time until everyone who has wanted to speak has been heard.
• The President or any member may be “called to order” and the member may “be allowed to explain his conduct or expressions, supposed to be reprehensible.”
• All questions of order will be decided by the President “without appeal or debate.”

In addition to other minor details, the rules require that, “when the House shall adjourn, every Member shall stand in his place until the President pass him.”

Pierce Butler and Richard Spaight, from South and North Carolina, raised two issues not addressed in the Rules Committee report.  Spaight moved that votes on particular subjects should be open to revision; decisions adopted early might need to be changed based on decisions made later. 

Butler’s motion sought to keep deliberations of the Convention confidential, moving that “the House provide against licentious publications of [our] proceedings.” Both motions were referred to the Rules Committee with instructions that the Committee report tomorrow.

The Committee’s proposed rule to authorize any member to “call for the yeas and nays and have them entered on the minutes” was rejected. Rufus King raised the objection, stressing  that acts of the Convention are not binding on anyone, so there is no need to record individual votes. Moreover, recording individual votes will make it difficult for Members to change their minds when issues are reconsidered, opening them to unfair criticism of lacking principle and consistency.

Except for the proposed rule of confidentiality, the rules are largely the same as those used in other congresses. They admit free and open debate while ordering a decorum befitting the quality and character of the men participating and the solemnity of the task at hand. George Washington, with a dignity peculiar to himself and the discipline with which he will preside, will apply the rules with a firm and fair hand.

In his “character sketches,” William Pierce wrote that “Genl. Washington is well known as the Commander in chief of the late American army. Having conducted these states to independence and peace, he now appears to assist in framing a Government to make the People happy. Like Gustavus Vasa, he may be said to be the deliverer or his County; like Peter the Great he appears as the politician and States-man; and like Cincinnatus he returned to his farm perfectly contented with being only a plain Citizen, after enjoying the highest honor in the Confederacy, now only seeks for the approbation of his Country-men by being virtuous and useful.”