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there is nothing in the language of the Constitution to prevent [using the amendment process to alter the basic frame of government]
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I think it's first and foremost a matter of state sovereignty ... we saw with the Articles of Confederation that if amendments must be ratified by every State then that may be too difficult ... and so we created the US Constitution which can be amended by 3/4 of the States, and Virginia consented ... but I do not believe that Virginia ratified an Article V which empowers 3/4 of the States to relieve us of our sovereignty, or to modify the basic nature of the compact ... if the amendment power is construed to be absolute such that 3/4 of the States can do anything, even amend away Virginia's sovereignty, then that seems to go against the spirit of the US Constitution ... in my view, a new frame of government would not be binding upon any State without their consent, because the States are sovereign.