Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-11-18
A PERFECT ASSEMBLY.
The Framers of the Constitution eff the
United States-Hamilton and Madison.

left nothing TO be desrcd- In its
strength and in its weakness, it was an
ideally perfect assembly. There were
fifty-fve men, all of them respectable for
family and for personal qualitses-men
who had been well educated. and had
done something whereby TO earn recog-
milton in those troubled times. Twenty
nine were university men. graduates OF
Harvard. Yale, Columbia. Princeton,
Oxford and Glasgow. Twenty-six Were
not university men and among these
were Washington and Franklin OF the
llustrious citizens who, for their public
services. would naturally have been
here. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
were in Europe; Samuel Adams. Pat
rick Henry and Richard Henry Lee dis
approved OF the convention. and STAYED
at home; and the greatest man Of Rhode
Island, Nathaniel Greene, who might
have succeeded in bringing his State
into the convention, had lately died of
a sun-stroke. at the early age Of forty
four
OF the two most famous men present
little need be said. The names OF Wash
ington and Franklin stood for supreme
intelligence and consummate tact
Franklin had returned 10 this country
two wears before, and was now Presi-
dent of Pennsylvania He was eighty
one years of age. the oldest man N the
convention, as Charles PinckDev. Of
South Carolina. aged twenty-nine. was
the youngest. The two most profound
and original thinkers in the company
were but little older than Pinckney.
Alexander Hamilton was thirty, James
Madison thirty-six- Among political
writers these two men must be ranked
in the same order with Aristotle, Mon
tesquieu and Loctc; and the Federal
ISL their joint pro 4uct on, is the great
est treatise on government that has
ever been written John Jay, who con-
tributed few pages - this immortal
volume, had not been sent TO the con-
vention. because New ORR did not wish
TO have il succeed Along " III Ham
ilton. New York sent two common
place men, Yates and Lansing. who
were extreme and obstinate anti-Fed-
eralists: and the action of Ham ron,
who was thus prevented from carrying
the vote Of his own State for any meas
ure which he might propose, was n
tbs way sadly embarrassed. For an
other reason. Hamilton failed TO exer.
as much influence IN the convention as
one would have expected from his pro-
found thought and his brilliant elo
Quence- Scarcely any Of these men ell-
tertained what we should now call eX-
treme democratic views Scarcely any,
perhaps, had that intense faith IN the
ultimate good sense of the people VIII Oh
was the most powerful character istic OF
Jefferson. But Hamilton went 10 the
other extreme and expressed his Is
trust OF popular government too plainly.
His views were too aristocTatic and
his preference for Capitalization
was too pronounced TO carry
conviction TO his hearers The
leading part in the convention fell,
therefore. to James Mad son, a young
man somewhat less brilliant than
Hamilton. but superior 10 him in
sobriety and balance OF powers Madi-
son used TO Be called the Father of the
Constitution. and it IS true that the
government under which We live Is
more his work than that Of any other
one man From early youth his life
had been devoted 10 the study OF history
and the practice of s1ateman~hip- He
was a graduate Of Princeton College. an
earnest student. familiar with all the
best literature Of political science from
Aristotle down 10 his own time, and he
had gwen especial attention 10 the his
tory Of federal government in ancient
Greece. and in Svi tzerland and Holland
At the are q TWENTY-FIVE he had taken
part in the Virginia convention which
Instructed the delegates from
that State in Congress to
bring forward the Declaration
of lndependence. During the last part
of the war he WAS an active and jnfiu-
entail member Of Congress. where no
one equaled Or approached him for
knowledge Of English history and con-
sfitutional law. In 1874 he had re-
turned 10 the Virginia Leg Stature and
been foremost in securing the passage
of the great act which gave complete
religious freedom To the people Of that
Stale No man understood better than
he the causes OF the alarming weakr ess
of the Federal Government, and Of the
commercial distur Dances and popu-
lar di~content of the time; nor had any
one worked more 1ealouslv or more
a7roi1ly in bringing about the meetiD z
of this convention As he stood here
now. leader II the debate. there was
nothing grand or imposing n his ap-
pear an he As S1ll1SI lsI sTal1ft dI3O
Slight in frame, ike Hamilton. but he
had none Of Hamilton personal mag
netism HIS manner was shy and
priu. and bushes came often 10
rs cheeks At the same time, be
hal that rare dignity Of unconscious
! simplicity which character zes the earn
est and disinterested scholar He was
/ exceedingly sweet-1empered, generous
and kind. but very hard TO move from a
7sath which after long rejection he had
decided TO be the right one. He looked
! al politics judiciallr. and was SO little
/ Of party man that on several occa-
! SONS be was accused quite wrongly OF
/ gross inconsistency The position Of
/ leadership. which he won 50 early and
/ kept so long. ne held bF sheer force O!
giant intelligence, sieepless industry
and an integrity which no man ever
doubted. But he was, above all things.
I a man of peace When in after years,
as president Of the United States be
was called upon 10 manage great war,
! he was out Of place, and his reputation
I for supreme alb litv was temporarily
lowered. Here in the Federal conven.
/ ton we are introduced 10 him at the
noblest and most useful moment OF h;
/ life--.Eoha Fsskx. 9sl -4tGrstSc-
SENSIBLE ADVICE.