Clerk Samuel Bryan, of the Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, using the pseudonym “Centinel,” publishes an anti-federalist essay warning that ratification of the proposed Constitution for the united States will only benefit the privileged few. In paragraphs one and two he writes:
The new constitution instead of being the panecea [sic] or cure of every grievance so delusively represented by its advocates will be found upon examination like Pandora’s box, replete with every evil. The most specious clauses of this system of ambition and iniquity contain latent mischief, and premedated [sic] villainy. …
The 1st section of 3d article gives the supreme court cognizance of not only the laws, but of all cases arising under the constitution, which empowers this tribunal to decide upon the construction of the constitution itself in the last resort. This is so extraordinary, so unprecedented an authority, that the intention in vesting of it must have been to put it out of the power of Congress, even by breaking through the constitution, to compel these defaulters to restore the public treasure.
[restored 7/31/2026]
Subsequent Events:
Authority:
Articles of Confederation, Article XIII
ccc-2point0.com/Articles-of-Confederation
References:
Samuel Bryan, “Centinel XVI – A Conspiracy Detected to Obliterate Debts Owed to the Public,” from The Debate on the Constitution, two volumes, Bernard Bailyn, ed., (New York: Library of America, 1992), 2:237-42.
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