before the declarations were closed. These carried to their homes a feeling hostile to the proposed Constitution, and the disposition to arouse an opposition to its ratification. Among these were Hamilton's colleagues from New-York, who represented the feelings and wishes of the administration of that state.

It was apparent that the refusal of New-York to join in the federal union would be fatal to the plan. No other of the states which appeared to be opposed to it had equal power, or had such advantages of position as would render a union among the others nugatory. The majority of the delegates from the other eleven states had acquiesced finally in the draught of the Constitution, and had assented to the compromises which had ensured its adoption; the New-York delegation had withdrawn from the Convention; and, although Hamilton returned and had signed the Constitution as a delegate, by rules borrowed from those of the old Congress, more than a single delegate was necessary to give a state a vote.

It was, for the above reasons, admitted on all hands that the battle for the Constitution was to be fought in New-York, and that it could only be gained by the overthrow of the influence of the governor of that state and a change in the popular sentiment. To effect these objects would require great talent, skill in the management of men, with ability in the exhibition of the advantages to flow from the Constitution, and of the dangers to be apprehended from its rejection.

Hamilton saw, and felt more clearly than any other person, how important was the ratification of the Constitution by the state he had represented; and no sooner had the Convention adjourned, than he undertook the task of exhibiting these advantages on the one hand, and dangers on the other, to the people of the State of New-York directly, and, through them, to the citizens of the remainder of the states. For this purpose he commenced the publication of a series of papers in the New-York Gazette, under the signature of PUBLIUS. In these, addressed to the people of the State of New-York, he proposed to consider "the utility of the Union to their political prosperity; the insufficiency of the existing confederation to preserve that Union; the necessity of a government, at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the attainment of that object; the conformity of the proposed Constitution to the true principles of republican government; its analogy to the Constitution of their own state; and, lastly, the additional security its adoption would afford to the preservation of that species of government, to liberty, and to property."

Well aware of the vast interests at stake, Hamilton was unwilling to rely upon his own strength

for the illustration of these important topics; he therefore sought and obtained able coadjutors. The opening number of the series is immediately followed by four written by John Jay, and the same veteran statesman contributed a fifth in the course of the publication. A far greater amount of assistance was obtained from Madison, who, according to memoranda left by Hamilton in his own hand, and which are deposited in the NewYork Society Library, wrote thirteen of the numbers, and was the joint author of three more. Madison has himself claimed a greater share in the authorship of these papers, and we thus have the conflicting claims of these two distinguished men, each under his own hand.

It is stated that Hamilton's papers contain conclusive evidence that the ideas and even the language of the disputed letters are to be found in briefs prepared by him for speeches delivered in the Convention. If this be the case, the ground of the conflicting claim will be apparent, and the discrepancy reconciled; for Hamilton may well and justly have claimed authorship in papers drawn up by Madison from his memoranda. At all events, even were Madison's claims admitted to its utmost extent, Hamilton will still retain the honour of being the projector of the publication, and of having contributed the greater part, as well as the most valuable, of the papers of Pub

Mus.

These papers were not permitted to remain unanswered, and several able writers arrayed themselves in opposition to their arguments, and to the adoption of the Constitution itself. These replies are rarely alluded to in the course of the numbers; but a separate series, under the name of Philo-Publius, was commenced in another newspaper, to which the task of rebutting objections was confined. The original plan of Publius was thus carried out without deviation, while all the necessary illustrations, and the refutal of all opponents, made their appearance in the other series. In this Hamilton also took the lead, but received assistance from various other quarters. Among the writers of Philo-Publius is particularly to be named Colonel Duer, who undertook the subject of finance, and exhibited much ability in the controversy.

The plan of dividing the subjects likely to be of general and lasting interest from those local and general, has been attended with happy results. The papers of Publius have been collected and published, while those of Philo-Publius ceased to be remembered as soon as the occasion which called for them had ceased to exist. Had the whole been united in one series, it would have been so cumbrous, and loaded with so much matter wholly irrelevant at the present day, that it would probably have found but few readers; but, by confining the series of Publius to the objects stated on setting out, these papers, collected in two volumes under the name of "The Federalist," have gone through many editions, and are the best commentary which has yet appeared on the provisions of the Constitution.

These letters of Publius have therefore determined the sense of all doubtful passages in that instrument. They are now consulted by all parties as authority, and are the ablest exposition of its general features which has yet appeared.

The letters of Publius were not allowed to remain unanswered, and the anti-federal press teemed with paragraphs and pamphlets condemning the proposed Constitution. These were not without their effect in confirming many in their old prejudices; but the Federalist carried conviction on all the most important points to the great body of the people. It thus happened, that although the majority of the New-York State Convention, which was convened to deliberate on the propriety of adopting or rejecting that instrument, was in favour of the latter alternative, it was yet under the necessity of giving its provisions a patient hearing, and of submitting the question to the test of argument rather than of party feeling.

Hamilton was chosen a member of this Convention, which assembled at Poughkeepsie. He, with all who were committed in its favour, counted no