 Outside the Convention in Philadelphia , there was a national convening of the Society of the Cincinnati . Washington was said to be embarrassed . The 1776 " old republican " delegates like Elbridge Gerry ( MA ) found anything military or hereditary anathema . The Presbyterian Synod of Philadelphia and New York convention was meeting to redefine its Confession , dropping the faith requirement for civil authority to prohibit false worship . Protestant Episcopalian Washington attended a Roman Catholic Mass and dinner . Revolution veteran Jonas Phillips , of the Mikveh Israel Synagogue , petitioned the Convention to avoid a national oath including belief in both Old and New Testaments . Merchants of Providence , Rhode Island , petitioned for consideration , even though their Assembly had not sent a delegation . 
