Whatever may be the judgment pronounced on the competency of the architects of the Constitution, or whatever may be the destiny of the ediļ¬ce
prepared by them, I feel it a duty to express my profound and solemn conviction, derived from my intimate opportunity of observing and appreciating the views of the Convention, collectively and individually, that there
never was an assembly of men, charged with a great and arduous trust, who
were more pure in their motives or more exclusively or anxiously devoted
to the object committed to them to . . . best secure the permanent liberty and
happiness of their country.
James Madison, Notes of the Debates in
the Federal Convention (1835)