May 26 - 27, 1787: Adjourned until Monday

Letter from James Madison to Edmund Pendleton, May 27, 1787.

Library of Congress, Manuscript/Mixed Material, https://www.loc.gov/item/mjm012735/

"It is impossible as yet to form a judgment of the result of this experiment. Every reflecting man becomes daily more alarmed at our situation."

--James Madison to his father, May 27, 1787

Saturday, May 26 - Sunday, May 27, 1787: The Convention Today

The Convention was in recess this Saturday. It would be the last Saturday off until July 28. However, the Rules Committee labored over the weekend to draft the basic rules of procedure for the Convention. The Convention did not have sessions on Sundays.


Delegates Today (Saturday)

• General Washington finished returning visits in the morning, dined with a club at City Tavern (in Washington's usage, a club was a group of men who dined together and split the check equally), and spent the evening in his room writing letters.
• Maryland's legislature this day appointed James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer and Luther Martin as the state's delegates to the Convention.

Delegates Today (Sunday)

• On May 27, delegates initiated what would become a Sunday habit - catching up on their letter writing.
• James Madison wrote to his father, and to friend and fellow Virginian Edmund Pendleton.
• George Washington wrote one of his typical detailed letters of instruction to his farm manager, nephew George Augustine Washington, about work to be done at Mount Vernon.
• Rufus King of Massachusetts wrote to Secretary of War Henry Knox and Massachusetts Congressman Nathan Dane to report on the Convention and to ask for information about events in Massachusetts.
• General Washington and several other delegates attended a Catholic Mass at St. Mary's church. Later, as President of the United States, Washington continued the practice of attending various services.

Philadelphia Today

• Cool and fair weather on Saturday gave way to colder, cloudier weather on Sunday.