The St. Johns herald., 1889-08-08
OLD-TIME STATESMEN.
A Very Large Number of Them
 Were Young Men.
The Remarkably Youthful Set of Men Known as the ssFaIhers of the Repub- iic"-Euuca ion in the Days of
 Our Revered Ancestors.

The "fathers of the Republic" were not the sexagenarians and septuagenarians of thelr era. writes Edward P. Clark in the Chicago America. On the contrary, they were, as a rule, are markedly youthful set of men It is the ''wigs, queues and knee brooches" which have caused the mlsappre- henson. Tie pictures in the school history show white halred men who bear every ap- pearance of being ''well up ill years" and the child instinctively thinks of them as old Almost superhuman wisdom was re- quired to discharge their almost impossible task, and it consequently seems as though they must have possessed the requisite wisdom and experience of the world. If the question were asked which of the two bod ies, the convention of 17SS or the United States Senate of 1885, showed the highest average of age doubrIess nine persons out of every ten would answer that the framers of the constitution were much the older.
 Forty-one deputies from the various States subscribed their names to the con- stitution on the 17th day of September, I7S7. The birthdays of all but four are known. Of these thirty-seven there were but five who were as old as sixty, and, in truth, one of these five did not complete his sixtleth year until tho month after the convention dissolved. The Nestor of that body was BeIJamln Franklin, who was more than eighty-one when it met. Roger Sherman came next in seniority, at siXty-siX. Then followed two members each Tn their sixty fourth year, and the deputy who was just turning sixty. But only one-sixth of the whole number were entitled to be called ola men.
 Turn now to the other extreme. Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey, lacked several months of being 27 when the convention met; William Jackson, Cf Pennsylvania, was but 28; Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina, only %; Alexander Hamilton, cf NeW York, was but few months past 30; Rufus King, of Massachusetts, 32; Gouver- neuer Morris, of New York, B, and James Madison, of Virginia, 36 Twelve of the thirty-seven were unoer 40, and twenty less than 45 years old. A full third were thus within the class which, in speaking of age nowadays, we call young men. The average age of tho whole number fell just inside of 45 years.
 It would be a waste of space to argue that the young men of the convention did their full share of the work. 1t is enough to have cited the great names just mentioned and to add that the committee to which the lnstru- ment was referred for final revision con- sisted of Johnson, aged 60; Hamilton, 30; Gouverneuer Morris, 35; Madison, 36, and King, 32. Bancroft calls Madison "tho chief author of the constitution" Hamil- tons work In the FGderGliSt is conceded to have been the most potent agency In con- mendIng the instrument to the country and securing its adoption. Marshall, then only B, furnished the powerful assistance with out which Madison could not have secured the narrow majority by which their State was persuaded to accept it.
 The Constitutional convention was not unique as field for youthful achievement. Jefferson had been only s years old when he wrote the "Declaration of Independ cncc." Hamilton was made Secretary Of the Treasury by Washington, and began his great career as flnancier at the age of 32. At the same tune King who had become "carpet-bagger" to New York-since he represented Massachusetts in the Constitu- tional convention - was elected United States Senator at 34. Thirty had been fixed as the minimum age for Senators, and half of those first elected were between 30 and 30, A few years later Henry Clay came to the Senate, and was admitted without thought that he was not Cligible-the fact beng that he did not reach the age of 30 until more than three months later.
 No limit of age for the judiciary was fixed in the constitution, but if there be any place in the Government where maturity is de manded it is on the bench of the Supreme Court. Washington appoi.-ted as one of the early Justices, James Iredell, who was but 39 years old; John Adams gave place to Bushrod Washington at 36, and Jefferson named William Johnson at only B. This was simply the adoption of the Federal Government of the same principle which the States had applied to the choice of Judges. John Jay, who was made first Chief Justice of the United States at 43, had been appointed Chief Justice of New York when but 31. Iredell had been judge of the superior court of North Carolina when only 27.
 The truth is that what we have come to consider the especial era of old men was really the most remarkable period in our history for young men. They enjoyed a chance a century ago such as young men have never bad since the civil war broke down temporarily some of the barriers against youth in public life, but the con- trolling forces were wielded by men whose average age was a number of years greater than that of their grandfathers, who held sway during the revolutionary period.
 The youngest man in the United States Senate to-day-Kenna, of West Virginia was 35 years old when he took his seat, and nobody so young had been in the body for 2 long period before his appearance. He is now 40 and nobody else in the body Of 76 members is so young, although, as we have seen, one-third of the Constitutional con- vention were under 40 More than half of the body, it has been shown, were less than 45 years old; only twenty-one of the present sevcnty-six Senators, or but tri1e over a quarter, were loss than 45 years old when they entered the chamber. The average age Of the Senate to-day is 58 years, against an average of only 45 years for the convention of 1TS1.
 "SIow-going," we arc wont to call the ways of the eighteenth century; "a fast age" is the common description of our own period. Both expressions are misleading Our cor servative ancestors rushed their boys through college during thelr teens;