In nothing could the flexibleness of Hamilton's intellect, or the genuineness of his patriotism, have been more finely shown than in the hearty zeal and transcendent ability with which he now wrote in defence of a plan of government so different from what he would himself have proposed. He made Madison's thoughts his own, until he set them forth with even greater force than Madison himself could command. Yet no arguments could possibly be less chargeable with partisanship than the arguments of the "Federalist." The judgment is as dispassionate as could be shown in a philosophical treatise. The tone is one of grave and lofty eloquence, apt to move even to tears the reader who is fully alive to the stupendous issues that were involved in the discussion. Hamilton was supremely endowed with the faculty of imagining, with all the circumstantial minuteness of concrete reality, political situations different from those directly before him; and he put this rare power to noble use in tracing out the natural and legitimate working of such a Constitution as that which the Federal Convention had framed.

[Sidenote: Hamilton wins the victory, and New York ratifies, July 26.]

When it came to defending the Constitution before the hostile convention at Poughkeepsie, he had before him as arduous a task as ever fell to the lot of a parliamentary debater. It was a case where political management was out of the question. The opposition were too numerous to be silenced, or cajoled, or bargained with. They must be converted. With an eloquence scarcely equalled before or since in America until Webster's voice was heard, Hamilton argued week after week, till at last Melanchthon Smith, the foremost debater of Clinton's party, broke away, and came to the Federalist side. It was like crushing the centre of a hostile army. After this the Antifederalist forces were confused and easily routed. The decisive struggle was over the question whether New York could ratify the Constitution conditionally, reserving to herself the right to withdraw from the Union in case the amendments upon which she had set her heart should not be adopted. Upon this point Hamilton reinforced himself with the advice of Madison, who had just returned to New York. Could a state once adopt the Constitution, and then withdraw from the Union if not satisfied? Madison's reply was prompt and decisive. No, such a thing could never be done. A state which had once ratified was in the federal bond forever. The Constitution could not provide for nor contemplate its own overthrow. There could be no such thing as a constitutional right of secession. When Melanchthon Smith deserted the Antifederalists on this point, the victory was won, and on the 26th of July, New York ratified the Constitution by the bare majority of 30 votes against 27. Rejoicings were now renewed throughout the country. In the city of New York there was an immense parade, and as the emblematic federal ship was drawn through the streets, with Hamilton's name emblazoned on her side, it was doubtless the proudest moment of the young statesman's life.

[Sidenote: The laggard states, North Carolina and Rhode Island.]

New York, however, dogged her acceptance by proposing, a few days afterward, that a second Federal Convention be called for considering the amendments suggested by the various states. The proposal was supported by the Virginia legislature, but Massachusetts and Pennsylvania opposed it, as having a dangerous tendency to reopen the whole discussion and unsettle everything. The proposal fell to the ground. People were weary of the long dispute, and turned their attention to electing representatives to the first Congress. With the adhesion of New York all serious anxiety came to an end. The new government could be put in operation without waiting for North Carolina and Rhode Island to make up their minds. The North Carolina convention met on the 21st of July, and adjourned on the 1st of August without coming to any decision. The same objections were raised as in Virginia; and besides, the paper-money party was here much stronger than in the neighbouring state. In Rhode Island paper money was the chief difficulty; that state did not even take the trouble to call a convention. It was not until the 21st of November, 1789, after Washington's government had been several months in operation, that North Carolina joined the Federal Union. Rhode Island did not join till the 29th of May, 1790. If she had waited but a few months longer, Vermont, the first state not of the original thirteen, would have come in before her.

The autumn of 1788 was a season of busy but peaceful electioneering. That remarkable body, the Continental Congress, in putting an end to its troubled existence, decreed that presidential electors should be chosen on the first Wednesday of January, 1789, that the electors should meet and cast their votes for president on the first Wednesday in February, and that the Senate and House of Representatives should assemble on the first Wednesday in March. This latter day fell, in 1789, on the 4th of the month, and accordingly, three years afterward, Congress took it for a precedent, and decreed that thereafter each new administration should begin on the 4th of March. It was further decided, after some warm debate, that until the site for the proposed federal city could be selected and built upon, the seat of the new government should be the city of New York.

[Sidenote: First presidential election, Jan. 7, 1789.]

In accordance with these decrees, presidential elections were held on the first Wednesday in January. The Antifederalists were still potent for mischief in New York, with the result that, just as that state had not joined in the Declaration of Independence until after it had been proclaimed to the world, and just as she refused to adopt the Federal Constitution until after more than the requisite number of states had ratified it, so now she failed to choose electors, and had nothing to do with the vote that made Washington our first president. The other ten states that had ratified the Constitution all chose electors. But things moved slowly and cumbrously at this first assembling of the new government. The House of Representatives did not succeed in getting a quorum together until the 1st of April. On the 6th, the Senate chose John Langdon for its president, and the two houses in concert counted the electoral votes. There were 69 in all, and every one of the 69 was found to be for George Washington of Virginia. For the second name on the list there was nothing like such unanimity. It was to be expected that the other name would be that of a citizen of Massachusetts, as the other leading state in the Union. The two foremost citizens of Massachusetts bore the same name, and were cousins. There would have been most striking poetic justice in coupling with the name of Washington that of Samuel Adams, since these two men had been indisputably foremost in the work of achieving the independence of the United States. But for the hesitancy of Samuel Adams in indorsing the Federal Constitution, he would very likely have been our first vice-president and our second president. But the wave of federalism had now begun to sweep strongly over Massachusetts, carrying everything before it, and none but the most ardent Federalists had a chance to meet in the electoral college. Voices were raised in behalf of Samuel Adams. While we honour the American Fabius, it was said, let us not forget the American Cato. It was urged by some, with much truth, that but for his wise and cautious action in the Massachusetts convention, the good ship Constitution would have been fatally wrecked upon the reefs of Shaysism. His course had not been that of an obstructionist, like that of his old friends Henry and Lee and Gerry; but at the critical moment—one of the most critical in all that wonderful crisis—he had thrown his vast influence, with decisive effect, upon the right side. All this is plain enough to the historian of to-day. But in the political fervour of the election of 1789, the fact most clearly visible to men was that Samuel Adams had hesitated, and perhaps made things wait. These points came out most distinctly on the issue of his election to the Federal Congress, in which he was defeated by the youthful Fisher Ames, whose eloquence in the state convention had been so conspicuous and useful; but they serve to explain thoroughly why he was not put upon the presidential list along with Washington. His cousin, John Adams, had just returned from his mission to England, weary and disgusted with the scanty respect which he had been able to secure for a feeble league of states that could not make good its own promises. His services during the Revolution had been of the most splendid sort: and after Washington, he was the second choice of the electoral college, receiving 34 votes, while John Jay of New York, his nearest competitor, received only 9. John Adams was accordingly declared vice-president.

[Sidenote: Inauguration of Washington, April 30.]

On the 14th of April Washington was informed of his election, and on the next day but one he bid adieu again to his beloved home at Mount Vernon, where he had hoped to pass the remainder of his days in that rural peace and quiet for which no one yearns like the man who is burdened with greatness and fame unsought for. The position to which he was summoned was one of unparalleled splendour,—how splendid we can now realize much better than he, and our grandchildren will realize it better than we,—the position of first ruler of what was soon to become at once the strongest and the most peace-loving people upon the face of the earth. As he journeyed toward New York, his thoughts must have been busy with the arduous problems of the time. Already, doubtless, he had marked out the two great men, Jefferson and Hamilton, for his chief advisers: the one to place us in a proper attitude before the mocking nations of Europe; the other to restore our shattered credit, and enlist the moneyed interests of all the states in the success of the Federal Union. Washington's temperament was a hopeful one, as befitted a man of his strength and dash. But in his most hopeful mood he could hardly have dared to count upon such a sudden and wonderful demonstration of national strength as was about to ensue upon the heroic financial measures of Hamilton. His meditations on this journey we may well believe to have been solemn and anxious enough. But if he could gather added courage from the often-declared trust of his fellow-countrymen, there was no lack of such comfort for him. At every town through which he passed, fresh evidences of it were gathered, but at one point on the route his strong nature was especially wrought upon. At Trenton, as he crossed the bridge over the Assunpink Creek, where twelve years ago, at the darkest moment of the Revolution, he had outwitted Cornwallis in the most skilful of stratagems, and turned threatening defeat into glorious victory,—at this spot, so fraught with thrilling associations, he was met by a party of maidens dressed in white, who strewed his path with sweet spring flowers, while triumphal arches in softest green bore inscriptions declaring that he who had watched over the safety of the mothers could well be trusted to protect the daughters. On the 23d he arrived in New York, and was entertained at dinner by Governor Clinton. One week later, on the 30th, came the inauguration. It was one of those magnificent days of clearest sunshine that sometimes make one feel in April as if summer had come. At noon of that day Washington went from his lodgings, attended by a military escort, to Federal Hall, at the corner of Wall and Nassau streets, where his statue has lately been erected. The city was ablaze with excitement. A sea of upturned eager faces surrounded the spot, and as the hero appeared thousands of cocked hats were waved, while ladies fluttered their white handkerchiefs. Washington came forth clad in a suit of dark brown cloth of American make, with white silk hose and shoes decorated with silver buckles, while at his side hung a dress-sword. For a moment all were hushed in deepest silence, while the secretary of the Senate held forth the Bible upon a velvet cushion, and Chancellor Livingston administered the oath of office. Then, before Washington had as yet raised his head, Livingston shouted,—and from all the vast company came answering shouts,—"Long live George Washington, President of the United States!"



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.

The bibliography of the period covered in this book is most copiously and thoroughly treated in the seventh volume of Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, Boston, 1888. For the benefit of the reader who may not have ready access to that vast storehouse of information, the following brief notes may be of service.

The best account of the peace negotiations is to be found in chapter ii. of Winsor's volume just cited, written by Hon. John Jay, who had already discussed the subject quite thoroughly in his Address before the New York Historical Society on its Seventy-Ninth Anniversary, Nov. 27, 1883. Of the highest value are Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice's Life of Lord Shelburne, 3 vols., London, 1875-76, and Adolphe de Circourt, Histoire de l'action commune de la France et de l'Amerique, etc., tome iii., Documents originaux inedits, Paris, 1876. See also Sparks, Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, 12 vols., Boston, 1829-30; Trescot's Diplomacy of the American Revolution, N.Y., 1852; Lyman's Diplomacy of the United States, Boston, 1826; Elliot's American Diplomatic Code, 2 vols., Washington, 1834; Chalmers's Collection of Treaties, 2 vols., London, 1790; Lord Stanhope's History of England, vol. vii., London, 1853; Lecky's History of England, vol. iv., London, 1882; Lord John Russell's Memorials of Fox, 4 vols., London, 1853-57; Albemarle's Rockingham and his Contemporaries, 2 vols., London, 1852; Walpole's Last Journals, 2 vols., London, 1859; Force's American Archives, 4th series, 6 vols., Washington, 1839-46; John Adams's Works, 10 vols., Boston, 1850-56; Rives's Life of Madison, 3 vols., Boston, 1859-68; Madison's Letters and other Writings, 4 vols., Phila., 1865; the lives of Franklin, by Bigelow and Parton; the lives of Jay, by Jay, Flanders, and Whitelocke; Morse's John Adams, Boston, 1885; Correspondence of George III. with Lord North, 2 vols., London, 1867; Wharton's Digest of International Law, Washington, 1887, Appendix to vol. iii.; Hale's Franklin in France, 2 vols., Boston, 1888. The view of the treaty set forth in 1830 by Sparks, according to which Jay and Adams were quite mistaken in their suspicions of the French court, we may now regard as disposed of by the evidence presented by Circourt and Fitzmaurice. It has led many writers astray, and even with all the lights which Mr. Bancroft has had, the account in the last revision of his History of the United States, vol. v., N.Y., 1886, though in some respects one of the best to be found in the general histories, still leaves much to be desired.

The general condition of the United States under the articles of confederation is well sketched in the sixth volume of Bancroft's final revision, and in Curtis's History of the Constitution, 2 vols., N.Y., 1861. An excellent summary is given in the first volume of Schouler's History of the United States under the Constitution, of which vols, i.-iii. (Washington, 1882-85) have appeared. Mr. Schouler's book is suggestive and stimulating. The work most rich in details is Professor McMaster's History of the People of the United States, of which the first volume rather more than covers the period 1783-89. The author is especially deserving of praise for the diligence with which he has searched the newspapers and obscure pamphlets of the period. He has thus given much fresh life to the narrative, besides throwing valuable light upon the thoughts and feelings of the men who lived under the "league of friendship." I take pleasure in acknowledging my indebtedness to Professor McMaster for several interesting illustrative details, chiefly in my third, fourth, and seventh chapters. At the same time one is sorely puzzled at some of his omissions, as in the account of the Federal Convention, in which one finds no allusion whatever to the all-important question of the representation of slaves, or to the compromise by which New England secured to Congress full power to regulate commerce by yielding to Georgia and South Carolina in the matter of the African slave-trade. So the discussion as to the national executive is carried on till July 26th, when it was decided that the president should be chosen by Congress for a single term of seven years; then the subject is dropped, and the reader is left to suppose that such was the final arrangement. Instances of what seems like carelessness are sufficiently numerous to make the book in some places an unsafe guide to the general reader, but in spite of such defects, which a careful revision might remedy, its value is great. Further general information as to the period of the Confederation may be found in Morse's admirable Life of Alexander Hamilton, 3d ed., 2 vols., Boston, 1882; J.C. Hamilton's Republic of the United States, 7 vols., Boston, 1879; Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, Boston, 1872, chapter xii.; Von Holst's Constitutional History, 5 vols., Chicago, 1877-85, chapter i.; Pitkin's History of the United States, 2 vols., New Haven, 1828, vol. ii.; Marshall's Life of Washington, 5 vols., Phila., 1805-07; Journals of Congress, 13 vols., Phila., 1800; Secret Journals of Congress, 4 vols., Boston, 1820-21.

On the loyalists and their treatment, the able essay by Rev. G.E. Ellis, in Winsor's seventh volume, is especially rich in bibliographical references. See also Sabine's Loyalists of the American Revolution, 2 vols., Boston, 1864; Ryerson's Loyalists of America, 2 vols., Toronto, 1880; Jones's New York during the Revolution, 2 vols., N.Y., 1879. Although chiefly concerned with events earlier than 1780, the Journal and Letters of Samuel Curwen, 4th ed., Boston, 1864, and especially the Diary and Letters of Thomas Hutchinson, 2 vols., Boston, 1884-86, are valuable in this connection.

For the financial troubles the most convenient general survey is to be found in A.S. Bolles's Financial History of the United States, 1774-1789, N.Y., 1879; Sparks's Life of Gouverneur Morris, 3 vols., Boston, 1832; Pelatiah Webster's Political Essays, Phila., 1791; Phillips's Colonial and Continental Paper Currency, 2 vols., Roxbury, 1865-66; Varnum's Case of Trevett v. Weeden, Providence, 1787; Arnold's History of Rhode Island, 2 vols., N.Y., 1859-60. The best account of the Shays rebellion is G.R. Minot's History of the Insurrections in Massachusetts, Worcester, 1788; see also Barry's History of Massachusetts, 3 vols., Boston, 1855-57; Austin's Life of Gerry, 2 vols., Boston, 1828-29. A new and interesting account of the northwestern cessions and the Ordinance of 1787 is B.A. Hinsdale's Old Northwest, N.Y., 1888; see also Dunn's Indiana, Boston, 1888; Cutler's Life, Journal, and Correspondence of Manasseh Cutler, 2 vols., Cincinnati, 1887.

In the Johns Hopkins University Studies in Historical and Political Science, the following articles bear especially upon subjects here treated and are worthy of careful study: II., v., vi., H.C. Adams, Taxation in the United States, 1789-1816; III., i., H.B. Adams, Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to the United States; III., ix., x., Davis, American Constitutions; IV., v., Jameson's Introduction to the Constitutional and Political History of the Individual States; IV., vii.-ix., Shoshuke Sato's History of the Land Question in the United States.

For the proceedings of the Federal Convention in framing the Constitution, and of the several state conventions in ratifying it, the great treasure-house of authoritative information is Elliot's Debates in the Conventions, 5 vols., originally published under the sanction of Congress in 1830-45; new reprint, Phila., 1888. The contents of the volumes are as follows:—

I. Sundry preliminary papers, relating to the ante-revolutionary period, and the period of the Confederation; journal of the Federal Convention; Yates's minutes of the proceedings; the official letters of Martin, Yates, Lansing, Randolph, Mason, and Gerry, in explanation of their several courses; Jay's address to the people of New York; and other illustrative papers.

II, III., IV. Proceedings of the several state conventions; with other documents, including the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions of 1798, and data relating thereto.

V. Madison's journal of debates in the Congress of the Confederation, Nov. 4, 1782-June 21, 1783, and Feb. 19-April 25, 1787; Madison's journal of the Federal Convention; letters from Madison to Washington, Jefferson, and Randolph, Sept. 1787-Nov. 1788; and other papers.

The best edition of the "Federalist" is by H.C. Lodge, N.Y., 1888. See also Story's Commentaries on the Constitution, 4th ed., 3 vols., Boston, 1873; the works of Daniel Webster, 6 vols., Boston, 1851; Hurd's Theory of our National Existence, Boston, 1881. The above works expound the Constitution as not a league between sovereign states but a fundamental law ordained by the people of the United States. The opposite view is presented in The Republic of Republics, by P.C. Centz [Plain Common Sense, pseudonym of B.J. Sage of New Orleans], Boston, 1881; the works of Calhoun, 6 vols., N.Y., 1853-55; A.H. Stephens's War between the States, 2 vols., Phila., 1868; Jefferson Davis's Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, 2 vols., N.Y., 1881.

Several volumes of the "American Statesmen" contain interesting accounts of discussions in the various conventions, as Tyler's Patrick Henry, Hosmer's Samuel Adams, Lodge's Hamilton, Magruder's Marshall, Roosevelt's Morris. Gay's Madison falls far below the general standard of this excellent and popular series. No satisfactory biography of Madison has yet been written, though the voluminous work of W.C. Rives contains much good material. For judicial interpretations of the Constitution one may consult B.R. Curtis's Digest of Decisions, 1790-1854; Flanders's Lives of the Chief Justices, Phila., 1858; Marshall's Writings on the Federal Constitution, ed. Perkins, Boston, 1839; see also Pomeroy's Constitutional Law, N.Y., 1868; Wharton's Commentaries, Phila., 1884; Von Holst's Calhoun, Boston, 1882; Tyler's Letters and Times of the Tylers, 2 vols., Richmond, 1884-85. Among critical and theoretical works, Fisher's Trial of the Constitution, Phila., 1862, and Lockwood's Abolition of the Presidency, N.Y., 1884, are variously suggestive; Woodrow Wilson's Congressional Government, Boston, 1885, is a work of rare ability, pointing out the divergence which has arisen between the literary theory of our government and its practical working. Walter Bagehot's English Constitution, revised ed., Boston, 1873, had already, in a most profound and masterly fashion, exhibited the divergence between the literary theory and the actual working of the British government. Some points of weakness in the British system are touched in Albert Stickney's True Republic, N.Y., 1879; see also his Democratic Government, N.Y., 1885. The constitutional history of England is presented, in its earlier stages, with prodigious learning, by Dr. Stubbs, 3 vols., London, 1873-78, and in its later stages by Hallam, 2 vols., London, 1842, and Sir Erskine May, 2 vols., Boston, 1862-63; see also Freeman's Growth of the English Constitution, London, 1872; Comparative Politics, London, 1873; Some Impressions of the United States, London, 1883; Rudolph Gneist, History of the English Constitution, 2 vols., London, 1886; J.S. Mill, Representative Government, N.Y., 1862; Sir H. Maine, Popular Government, N.Y., 1886; S.R. Gardiner's Introduction to the Study of English History, London, 1881. In this connection I may refer to my own book, American Political Ideas, N.Y., 1885; and my articles, "Great Britain," "House of Lords," and "House of Commons," in Lalor's Cyclopaedia of Political Science, 3 vols., Chicago, 1882-84. It is always pleasant to refer to that cyclopaedia, because it contains the numerous articles on American history by Prof. Alexander Johnston. One must stop somewhere, and I will conclude by saying that I do not know where one can find anything more richly suggestive than Professor Johnston's articles.



MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION.

The names of those who for various reasons were absent when the Constitution was signed are given in italics; the names of those who were present, but refused to sign, are given in small capitals.

New Hampshire John Langdon. Nicholas Gilman. Massachusetts ELBRIDGE GERRY. Nathaniel Gorham. Rufus King. Caleb Strong. Connecticut William Samuel Johnson. Roger Sherman. Oliver Ellsworth. New York Robert Yates. Alexander Hamilton. John Lansing. New Jersey William Livingston. David Brearley. William Churchill Houston. William Paterson. Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Mifflin. Robert Morris. George Clymer. Thomas Fitzsimmons. Jared Ingersoll. James Wilson. Gouverneur Morris.

Delaware George Read. Gunning Bedford. John Dickinson. Richard Bassett. Jacob Broom. Maryland James McHenry. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer. Daniel Carroll. John Francis Mercer. Luther Martin. Virginia George Washington. EDMUND RANDOLPH. John Blair. James Madison. GEORGE MASON. George Wythe. James McClurg. North Carolina Alexander Martin. William Richardson Davie. William Blount. Richard Dobbs Spaight. Hugh Williamson. South Carolina John Rutledge. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. Charles Pinckney. Pierce Butler. Georgia William Few. Abraham Baldwin. William Pierce. William Houstoun.

Of those who signed their names to the Federal Constitution, the six following were signers of the Declaration of Independence:—

Roger Sherman, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, James Wilson, George Read.

The ten following were appointed as delegates to the Federal Convention, but never took their seats:—

New Hampshire John Pickering. Benjamin West. Massachusetts Francis Dana. New Jersey John Nelson. Abraham Clark. Virginia Patrick Henry (declined). North Carolina Richard Caswell (resigned). Willie Jones (declined). Georgia George Walton. Nathaniel Pendleton.

No delegates were appointed by Rhode Island. In a letter addressed to "the Honourable the Chairman of the General Convention," and dated "Providence, May 11, 1787," several leading citizens of Rhode Island expressed their regret that their state should not be represented on so momentous an occasion. At the same time, says the letter, "the result of your deliberations ... we still hope may finally be approved and adopted by this state, for which we pledge our influence and best exertions." The letter was signed by John Brown, Joseph Nightingale, Levi Hall, Philip Allen, Paul Allen, Jabez Bowen, Nicholas Brown, John Jinkes, Welcome Arnold, William Russell, Jeremiah Olney, William Barton, and Thomas Lloyd Halsey. The letter was presented to the Convention on May 28th by Gouverneur Morris, and, "being read, was ordered to lie on the table for further consideration." See Elliot's Debates, v. 125.

The Constitution was ratified by the thirteen states, as follows:—

1. Delaware Dec. 6, 1787. 2. Pennsylvania Dec. 12, 1787. 3. New Jersey Dec. 18, 1787. 4. Georgia Jan. 2, 1788. 5. Connecticut Jan. 9, 1788. 6. Massachusetts Feb. 6, 1788. 7. Maryland April 28, 1788. 8. South Carolina May 23, 1788. 9. New Hampshire June 21, 1788. 10. Virginia June 25, 1788. 11. New York July 26, 1788. 12. North Carolina Nov. 21, 1789. 13. Rhode Island May 29, 1790.

PRESIDENTS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.

1. Peyton Randolph of Virginia Sept. 5, 1774. 2. Henry Middleton of South Carolina Oct. 22, 1774. Peyton Randolph May 10, 1775. 3. John Hancock of Massachusetts May 24, 1775. 4. Henry Laurens of South Carolina Nov. 1, 1777. 5. John Jay of New York Dec. 10, 1778. 6. Samuel Huntington of Connecticut Sept. 28, 1779. 7. Thomas McKean of Delaware July 10, 1781. 8. John Hanson of Maryland Nov. 5, 1781. 9. Elias Boudinot of New Jersey Nov. 4, 1782. 10. Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania Nov. 3, 1783. 11. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia Nov. 30, 1784. 12. Nathaniel Gorham of Massachusetts June 6, 1786. 13. Arthur St. Clair of Pennsylvania Feb. 2, 1787. 14. Cyrus Griffin of Virginia Jan. 22, 1788.



INDEX.

Acadians, 205.

Adams, Herbert B., 192.

Adams, John, arrives in Paris, 22; his indignation at the pusillanimous instructions from Congress, 36; condemns the Cincinnati, 116; tries in vain to negotiate commercial treaty with Great Britain, 139-141; negotiates a treaty with Holland, 155; obtains a loan there, 156, 157; his interview with the envoy from Tripoli, 161; absent from the United States at the time of the Federal Convention, 223; elected vice-president of the United States, 348.

Adams, Samuel, his devotion to local self-government, 57, 318; his committees of correspondence, 92; opposes Washington's proposal for pensioning officers, 106; but at length supports the Commutation Act, 114; condemns the Cincinnati, 116, 118; approves the conduct of the Massachusetts delegates, 143; opposes pardoning the ringleaders in the Shays insurrection, 184; not a delegate to the Federal Convention, 225; "the man of the town meeting," 318; in the Massachusetts convention, 324, 326-328; why not selected for the vice-presidency, 347.

Albany, riot in, 339.

Amendments to Constitution, 302, 330, 338.

Ames, Fisher, 319, 326, 348.

Amis, North Carolinian trader, 210.

Amphiktyonic council, 249.

Annapolis convention, 216.

Antagonisms between large and small states, 244-252; between east and west, 255; between north and south, 256-267.

Antifederalist party, 309; in Pennsylvania, 310; in Massachusetts, 317, 324; in South Carolina, 334; in Virginia, 335-337; in New York, 340, 341, 346.

Antipathies between states, 62.

Aranda, Count, his prophecy, 19.

Aristides, pseudonym, 312.

Aristocracy, 283.

Aristotle, 225.

Arkwright, Sir Richard, 267.

Armada, the Invincible, 235.

Armstrong, John, 109, 150.

Army, dread of, 105, 321.

Arnold, Benedict, 28, 106, 151.

Asbury, Francis, 85.

Ashburton, Lord, 5.

Ashburton treaty, 26.

Assemblies, 65.

Assunpink Creek, 349.

Augustine, 158.

Backus, Rev. Isaac, 322.

Bagehot, Walter, 291.

Baldwin, Abraham, 251.

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 213.

Baptists persecuted in Virginia, 80.

Barbary pirates, 157-161.

Barre, Isaac, 41.

Bedford, Gunning, 249.

Bennington, 321.

Bernard, Sir Francis, 298.

Biennial elections, 327.

Bill of rights demanded, 329.

Blackstone, Sir William, 290, 291, 297.

Bossuet on slavery, 72.

Boston Gazette, quoted, 328.

Boundaries of United States as settled by the treaty, 25.

Bowdoin, James, 143, 180-184, 319, 324.

Boyd, Lieutenant, 122.

Braddock, Edward, 305.

Bradshaw's Railway Guide, 171.

Brearley, David, 229, 246.

Bribery, charges of, 328.

British army departs, 51.

British Constitution compared with American, 290-298.

Buff and blue colours, 2.

Burgesses, House of, in Virginia, 65.

Burke, AEdanus, 116.

Burke, Edmund, his sympathy with the Americans, 2; could not see the need for parliamentary reform, 6; his invective against Shelburne, 17; on the slave-trade, 72.

Butler, Pierce, 258.

Cabinet, the president's, 299.

Cabinet government, growth of, in England, 296.

Camden, Lord, 5.

Canada, Franklin suggests that it should be ceded to the United States, 9, 14.

Carleton, Sir Guy, 50, 131.

Carlisle, Pa., disturbances at, 315.

Carpet-bag governments, 270.

Carr, Dabney, 92.

Carrington, Edward, 204, 307.

Carroll, Daniel, 228.

Carrying trade, 163, 263.

Cartwright, Edmund, 267.

Catalonian rebels indemnified, 29.

Catholics in the United States, 87.

Cato, pseudonym, 312.

Cavendish, Lord John, 5, 16.

Censors, council of, in Pennsylvania, 150.

Centinel, pseudonym, 313.

Cervantes, Miguel de, 159.

Charles II., 29.

Chase, Samuel, 322.

Chatham, Lord, 188.

Cherry Valley, 122.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 213.

Chittenden, Thomas, 121.

Cincinnati, order of the, 114-118.

Cincinnati, the city, original name of, 197.

Cincinnatus, pseudonym, 312.

Clan system, 62.

Clergymen in the Massachusetts convention, 319; their liberal spirit, 322.

Cleveland, Grover, his tariff message, 294.

Clinton, George, favours persecution of Tories, 123; an enemy to closer union of the states, 145; defeats impost amendment, 220; opposes the Constitution, 340; entertains President Washington at dinner, 350.

Clinton, Sir Henry, 322.

Clymer, George, 311.

Coalition ministry, 38-46.

Coeur-de-Lion and Saladin, 161.

Coinage, 165.

Coke, Thomas, 86.

Columbia College, 125.

Commerce, control of, given to Congress, 263.

Common law in the United States, 69.

Commons, House of, in England, 68, 290-298; in North Carolina, 65.

Compromises of the Federal Constitution, 250-267.

Confederation, articles of, 92-98.

Congress, Continental, its instructions to the commissioners at Paris, 35; its weakness, 56, 98, 102-113, 234; its anomalous character, 92; its presidents, 96; driven from Philadelphia by drunken soldiers, 112; flees to Princeton, 113; unable to enforce the provisions of the treaty, 119-131, 154; unable to regulate commerce, 140-144; afraid to interfere openly in the Shays rebellion, 185; passes ordinance for government of northwestern territory, 203-206; refuses to recommend a convention for reforming the government, 218; reconsiders its refusal, 221; in some respects a diplomatic rather than a legislative body, 237; its migrations, 271, 306; debates on the Constitution, 307; submits it to the states, 308; comes to an end, 345.

Congress, Federal, powers granted to, 270; choice of president by, 282-284; counting electoral votes in, 284, 285, 289.

Connecticut, government of, 65; quarrels with New York and Pennsylvania, 146-151; keeps almost entirely clear of paper money, 172; western claims of, 189, 194; ratifies the Constitution, 316.

Connecticut compromise, the, 250-255.

Conservative character of the American Revolution, 64.

Constitution, emblematic federal ship, 339, 344.

Convention, the Federal, 154, 222-305.

Conway, Gen. Henry, 5.

Cooper, Dr. Myles, 126.

Cornwallis, Lord, 22, 51, 349.

Council, privy, 299.

Cowardice of American politicians, 231.

Crawford, William, 51.

Curtis, B.R., 276.

Cutler, Manasseh, 203.

Dane, Nathan, 204, 217, 307.

Dayton, Jonathan, 225, 229.

Debt, imprisonment for, 173.

Debts to British creditors, 27, 131.

Delaware, government of, 65; ratifies the Constitution, 314.

Democratic-Republican party, 309.

Dickinson, John, 93, 112, 228, 242, 243, 281, 283, 299, 312.

Dissolution of Parliament, 298.

Dollar, the Spanish, 165.

Dunmore, Lord, 298.

Election by lot, 281; first presidential, 346-348.

Electoral college in Maryland, 66; device adopted for choosing the president, 281-287; its practical working, 288.

Elliot, Sir Gilbert, 3.

Ellsworth, Oliver, 228, 249, 250, 267, 269, 274, 276, 280, 300.

Embargo acts, 142.

Eminent domain, 194.

Episcopal church, 77-85.

Erie Canal, 212, 228.

Executive, federal, 241, 277; length of term, 279; how elected, 279-285; corresponds to sovereign, not to prime minister, 290, 299.

Exports not to be taxed, 264, 270.

"Federal," the word preferred to "national," 254.

Federal city under federal jurisdiction, 271, 320.

"Federal Farmer" (letters by R.H. Lee), 314.

Federal Street in Boston, 331.

"Federalist," the, 235, 341-343.

Federalist party, 238, 309.

Field, S.J., 275.

Fisheries, question of, 20, 26, 37, 139, 163.

Fitzherbert, Alleyne, 22, 45.

Florida surrendered by Great Britain to Spain, 37; disputes about boundary of, 208.

Folkland, 187, 207.

Fox, C.J., his sympathy with the Americans, 2; quarrels with Shelburne, 6, 14; resigns, 15; waywardness of his early career, 16; coalition with North, 38-42; mistake in opposing a dissolution, 48.

France, treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, 37.

Franklin, Benjamin, negotiates with Oswald, 9; overruled by Jay and Adams, 23; his arguments against compensating the loyalists, 30; ridicules the Cincinnati, 116; returns from France, 138; in the Federal Convention, 225, 250, 277, 299, 303, 305; lays the Constitution before the Pennsylvania legislature, 306; called a dotard by the Antifederalists, 313.

Franklin, state of, 200, 209.

Frederick the Great, on republics, 58.

Free trade, 4, 134-139.

French army embarks at Boston, 51.

Froissart, 153.

Frontier posts to be surrendered by Great Britain, 51; why not surrendered, 152.

Fugitive slaves, 206, 267, 333.

Fur trade, 132, 164.

Gadsden, C., 122, 334.

Gallatin, A., 125, 134.

Galloway, Joseph, 248.

Gardoqui, Diego, 209.

Gates, Horatio, 108-111, 180.

George III. threatens to abdicate, 3; his disgust at the coalition, 44; rebuked by House of Commons, 46; his personal government overthrown, 48; hopes the Americans will repent of their folly, 58, 141; resists the movement for abolishing slave-trade, 72; his personal government, 297.

Georgia takes the lead in making the judiciary elective, 69; abandons that evil practice, 69; issues paper money, 169; ratifies the Constitution, 316.

Germaine, Lord George, 39.

Gerry, Elbridge, 118, 229, 243, 251, 252, 256, 269, 279, 282, 298, 303, 304, 328, 347.

Gibbon, Edward, 38, 39.

Gibraltar, 17, 36.

Gladstone, W.E., 223, 292, 294.

Gorham, Nathaniel, 252, 253, 319.

Governors, colonial, unpopularity of, 67.

Gower, Lord, 44.

Grafton, Duke of, 5.

Grantham, Lord, 17.

Granville, Lord, 293.

Grasse, Count, defeated by Rodney, 12, 13.

Grayson, William, 162, 205, 337.

Green Dragon tavern, 327.

Greene, Nathanael, 94, 102, 108, 116, 122, 225.

Grenville, Thomas, 11.

Guadaloupe, 36.

Guilford, Earl of, 44.

Half-pay controversy, 106.

Hamilton, Alexander, his early life, 124-126; attacks the Trespass Act, 128; calls for a federal convention, 217; advocates the impost amendment, 220; in the Federal Convention, 225, 226, 243, 244, 246, 249, 254, 279, 303, 304; on inconvertible paper, 274; on the electoral college, 287; called a boy by the Antifederalists, 313; authorship of the "Federalist," 341-343; supports the Constitution in the New York convention, 343, 344; his financial measures, 349.

Hancock, John, 104, 184, 318, 319, 330.

Hannibal, 158.

Hargreaves, James, 267.

Harrington, James, 64.

Harrison, Benjamin, 337.

Hartington, Lord, 293.

Hartley, David, 45.

Hawks, F.L., 82.

Heath, Gen. William, 319.

Henry, Patrick, 80, 225, 331, 335, 336, 347.

Hint Club, 169.

Impost amendment, 218-240.

India bill, 46.

Insurrections, suppression of, 269.

Intercitizenship, 94.

Iroquois league, 190.

Irreconcilables in the Federal Convention, 225, 242, 244, 246, 254.

Isolation of states a century ago, 62.

Jay, John, thwarts Vergennes, 21, 35; tries to establish free trade between United States and Great Britain, 26; condemns persecution of Tories, 122; on compensation for slaves, 132; consents to the closing of the Mississippi River for twenty-five years, 210; why not sent as delegate to Federal Convention, 225; supports the Constitution in New York convention, 340; contributes articles to the "Federalist," 341; receives nine electoral votes for the vice-presidency, 348.

Jefferson, Thomas, opposed to slavery, 72; favours religious freedom, 81; minister to France, 138, 155; assists Gouverneur Morris in arranging our decimal currency, 166; his plan for the government of the northwestern territory, 196; wishes to prohibit slavery in the national domain, 198, 205; his purchase of Louisiana, 207; absent from United States at the time of the Federal Convention, 225; his faith in the people, 226, 337; his opinion of the Constitution, 309; approves the action of the Massachusetts convention, 331.

Johnson, W.S., 229.

Johnston, Alexander, 223.

Jones, Paul, 339.

Jonesborough, convention at, 200.

Judiciary, elective, 69; federal, 242, 300, 301.

Juilliard vs. Greenman, 275.

Kentucky, 18, 189, 199, 202, 209, 210.

Keppel, Lord, 5, 16, 45.

King, Rufus, 217, 221, 228, 246, 249, 250, 256, 261, 276, 279, 282, 324, 326.

King's Mountain, 28, 200, 321.

Kings, election of, in Poland, 279.

Know Ye men and Know Ye measures, 177, 243.

Knox, Henry, 114.

Lafayette, 50, 54.

Langdon, John, 229, 269, 274, 276, 283, 346.

Lansing, John, 225, 242, 244, 246, 254, 340, 341.

Laurens, Henry, 2, 22.

Lecky, W., 103.

Ledyard, Isaac, 128.

Lee, Henry, 307, 337.

Lee, Richard Henry, 57, 143, 204, 205, 225, 307, 313, 318, 328, 336, 337, 347.

"Letters from a Federal Farmer," by R.H. Lee, 314.

Lexington, 50, 321.

Lincoln, Abraham, 72, 198, 207.

Lincoln, Benjamin, 181-183, 319, 332.

Livingston, Robert, 36, 340, 350.

Livingston, William, 171, 229.

Locke, John, 64, 225.

Long Lane becomes Federal Street, 331.

Long Parliament, 92, 235.

Lords, House of, 66, 68; contrasted with Senate, 295.

Lowndes, Rawlins, 332-334.

Loyalists, compensation of, 28-33; persecution of, 120-130; did not form, in any proper sense of the word, an opposition party, 308.

Luzerne, Chevalier de, 35, 54.

Lykian League, 249.

Macdougall, Alexander, 107.

McDuffle, George, 60.

McKean, Thomas, 316.

McMaster, J.B., 151.

Madison, James, and the Religious Freedom Act, 81; on right of coercion, 100; advocates five per cent. impost, 104; on the ordinance of 1787, 206; moves that a convention be held to secure a uniform commercial policy, 214; succeeds in getting delegates appointed, 220; his character and appearance, 226, 227; his journal of the proceedings, 229; chief author of the Virginia plan, 233, 267; one of the first to arrive at the fundamental conception of our partly federal and partly national government, 239; approves at first of giving Congress the power to annul state laws, 241; opposes the New Jersey plan, 246; declares that the real antagonism is between slave states and free states, 249, 256; author of the three fifths compromise, 260, 261; condemns paper money, 275; disapproves of election of the executive by the legislature, 279; approves of a privy council, 299; supports the Constitution in Congress, 307; called a boy by the Antifederalists, 313; supports the Constitution in the Virginia convention, 337; part author of the "Federalist," 341, 342; denies that there can be a constitutional right of secession, 344.

Maine as part of Massachusetts, 317.

Manchester, Duke of, 45.

Marbois, Francois de Barbe, 22, 35.

Marion, Francis, 122.

Marshall, John, 82, 276, 301, 337.

Martin, Luther, 229, 242-244, 246, 249, 250, 254, 275, 322.

Maryland, government of, 65; insists upon cession of northwestern lands, 93, 192, 195; paper money in, 170; message to Virginia, 215; ratifies the Constitution, 332.

Mason, George, 229, 243, 252, 264, 265, 275, 276, 277, 279, 281, 282, 283, 299, 303, 304, 335, 337.

Massachusetts, government of, 67; abolishes slavery, 75; religious bigotry, 76; on the five per cent. duty, 104; tries to propose a convention for increasing the powers of Congress, 142; lays claim to a small part of Vermont, 152; paper money in, 172-179; western claims of, 189; changes her attitude, 221; local self-government in, 317; debates on the Constitution, 320-330; ratifies it, suggesting amendments, 331.

Massachusetts Chronicle, quoted, 120.

Massacre, Boston, 321.

Mayhew, Jonathan, 92.

Meade, William, 79, 83.

Mentor and Phocion, 128.

Mercer, J.F., 274.

Methodists, 85.

Middletown convention, 113.

Mifflin, Thomas, 52.

Minisink, 122.

Mirabeau, Count de, 116.

Mississippi River, attempt to close it, 209-211, 335; valley of the, 18, 188.

Monroe, James, 216.

Montesquieu, C., 225, 291.

Moonshiners, 334.

Morris, Gouverneur, 108, 166, 228, 242, 251, 261, 264, 269, 273, 276, 279, 282, 303.

Morris, Robert, 108, 167, 228, 312.

Moultrie, William, 143, 334.

Muley Abdallah, 158.

Mutiny act, 321.

Names of persons and places, fashions in, 197.

Nantucket, 163.

Nason, Samuel, 321.

Naval eminence of New England, 20, 139.

Navigation acts, 138-143, 164.

Negroes carried away by British fleet, 131.

Nelson, Samuel, 276.

New Connecticut, 152.

New Hampshire lays claim to Vermont, 151-153; riots in, 183; hesitates to ratify the Constitution, 331; ratifies it, 338.

New Jersey quarrels with New York, 146; paper money in, 171; opposes the attempt to close the Mississippi, 211; instructs her delegates to the Annapolis convention, 217; her plan for amending the articles of confederation, 245; ratifies the Constitution, 315.

New Roof, 338.

New York passes navigation and tariff acts directed against neighbouring states, 146; lays claim to Vermont, 151-153; paper money in, 170; western claims of, 190, 193; defeats the impost amendment, 218-220; debates on the Constitution, 340-344; ratifies it, 344; asks for a second convention, 344; fails to choose electors, 346.

New York Central Railroad, 212.

Newburgh address, 108-112, 118.

Nicola, Louis, his letter to Washington, 107, 118.

Non-importation agreement, 142.

North, Frederick, Lord, fall of his ministry, 1; coalition with Fox, 38-42; his blindness, 41; his proposals after Saratoga, 91; his subservience to the king, 297.

North Carolina issues paper money, 169; cedes her western lands to the United States, 199; repeals the act of cession, 201; delays her ratification of the Constitution, 345.

Ohio, 203-206.

Old Sarum, 249.

Old South Church, 321.

Onslow, George, 2.

Ordinance of 1787, 199, 203-206.

Oregon, 60.

Oswald, Richard, 9-14, 22-26, 32, 45.

Paine, Thomas, 50, 55, 191.

Paper currency, 163-179, 205, 218, 273-276.

Parker, Theodore, 264.

Parsons, Samuel Holden, 203.

Parsons, Theophilus, 319, 324.

Parties, formation of, 308.

Paterson, William, 229, 245-248, 255, 258, 274.

Patterson, militia officer in Wyoming, 149.

Payson, Rev. Philip, 322.

Pendleton, Edmund, 336.

Pennsylvania, government of, 65; first tariff act, 142; quarrels with Connecticut, 148-150; paper money in, 170; opposes the closing of the Mississippi, 211; contest over the Constitution, 309-314; ratifies it, 315.

Petersham, scene of Shays's defeat, 182, 319.

Philadelphia, Congress driven from, 112; Federal Convention meets at, 222; unparliamentary proceedings in legislature, 311; celebrates ratification by ten states, 339.

Phocion and Mentor, 128.

Pinckney, Charles, 228, 243, 261, 265, 266, 269, 276, 277, 334.

Pinckney, Cotesworth, 228, 243, 258, 261, 263, 265, 266, 276, 333, 334.

Pitt, Thomas, 44.

Pitt, William, chancellor of exchequer, 16; denounces the coalition, 39; defends the treaty, 43; refuses to form a ministry, 44; character, 47; prime minister, 47; wins a great political victory, 48; favours free trade with the United States, 136.

Polish kings, election of, 279.

Population as an index of wealth, 257.

Portland, Duke of, 16, 45.

Potomac, navigation of, 213-216.

Poughkeepsie, convention at, 340-344.

Powers granted to federal government, 268.

Presbyterians, 81, 86.

Presidents of Continental Congress, 96.

Prevost's march against Charleston, 27.

Prime minister contrasted with president, 292-294.

Primogeniture, abolition of, 71.

Proprietary governments, 65, 71.

Providence, R.I., barbecue and mob at, 339.

Public lands, 188.

Putnam, Israel, 151.

Putnam, Rufus, 203.

Quebec act, 18.

Quesnay, Francois, 141.

Quorum, how to make a, 311.

Railroads, political influence of, 60.

Randolph, Edmund, 229, 233, 235, 239, 242, 246, 265, 269, 275, 276, 277, 282, 300, 303, 335, 337.

Rayneval, Gerard de, 21.

Read, George, 242, 274.

Reform, parliamentary, 6.

Religious freedom, progress in, 76-87.

Religious tests opposed by Massachusetts clergymen, 322.

Representation of slaves, 258-262.

Representatives, House of, 236, 252.

Republican party, 238.

Republics, old notion that they must be small in area, 59.

Reserve, Connecticut's western, 194.

Revenue bills, 270.

Revere, Paul, 327.

Revolution, American, its conservative character, 64; the French, 64, 118.

Rhode Island, government of, 65; extends franchise to Catholics, 77; on the five per cent. duty, 104; paper money in, 172-177; opposes the closing of the Mississippi, 211; does not send delegates to Philadelphia, 222; delays her ratification of the Constitution, 345.

Richmond, Duke of, 2, 16.

Rittenhouse, David, 111.

Rockingham, Marquis of, 4; instability of his ministry, 5; its excellent work, 7; his death, 15.

Rodney's victory over Grasse, 12, 13.

Roman republic not like the United States, 59.

Rousseau, J.J., 64, 117.

Rutgers, Elizabeth, 127.

Rutledge, John, 228, 243, 261, 265, 278, 279, 281, 300, 334.

St. Clair, Arthur, 197, 206.

Saladin and Coeur-de-Lion, 161.

Sandy Hook light-house, 147.

Sargent, Winthrop, 203.

Schuyler, Philip, 126, 146, 151, 193.

Scott, Sir Walter, 153.

Scottish representation in Parliament, 249.

Seabury, Samuel, 84.

Secession, threats of, 211, 218; no constitutional right of, 344.

Secrecy of the debates in Federal Convention, 230.

Sedgwick, Theodore, 122, 319.

Self-government, 57, 63, 88.

Senate, federal, made independent of lower house, 253; contrasted with House of Lords, 295.

Senates, origin of, 66.

Seven Years' War, 13, 188.

Sevier, John, 200.

Shattuck, Job, 180.

Shays rebellion, 180-182, 218, 243, 316, 319, 325.

Sheffield, Lord, protectionist, 137; on the Barbary pirates, 160.

Shelburne, William, Earl of, his character, 4; his memorandum on proposed cession of Canada, 11; prime minister, 16; approached by Rayneval and Vaughan, 22; misjudged by Fox, 40; defends the treaty, 43; resigns, 44; his conduct justified by his enemies, 45; understood the principles of free trade, 4, 134.

Shepard, William, 180, 181.

Sherman, Roger, 229, 243, 250, 255, 267, 274, 276, 279, 283, 299, 313; his suggestion as to relations of the executive to the legislature, 278, 280, 298.

Shillings, 165.

Ship-building in New England, 137-139.

Shute, Rev. Daniel, 322.

Sidney, Algernon, 64.

Singletary, Amos, 322, 324, 325.

Six Nations, 190, 203.

Slave-trade, foreign, permitted for twenty years, 264, 323, 333.

Slavery in the several states, 72-75, 266; prohibited in northwestern territory, 205; discussions about it in Federal Convention, 257-267; condemned by George Mason, 264.

Slaves, representation of, 258-262; numbers of, in the several states, 266.

Small states converted to federalism by the Connecticut compromise, 255, 315.

Smith, Adam, 125, 134, 135.

Smith, Capt. John, 191.

Smith, Jonathan, 324-326.

Smith, Melanchthon, 340, 343, 344.

Smugglers, 135.

South Carolina, Episcopal church in, 78, 82; revokes five per cent. impost, 108; issues paper money, 169; absolute need of conciliating her, 259, 260; makes bargain with New England states, 262-267; debates on the Constitution, 332-334; ratifies it, 334.

Sovereignty never belonged to separate states, 90.

Spain, treaty of 1783 with Great Britain, 36; attempts to close Mississippi River, 208-211, 218, 335.

Spanish dollar, why it superseded English pound as unit of value in America, 166.

Spermaceti oil, 139, 163.

Springfield arsenal, 181, 185.

States, powers denied to, 272.

Stormont, Lord, 45.

Story, Joseph, 276.

Strachey, Sir Henry, 22.

Strong, Caleb, 228, 252, 279, 324, 327.

Succession disputed, 289.

Suffrage, limitations upon, 70.

Sugar trade, 138.

Temple, Lord, 44, 46.

Tennessee, 18, 189, 199.

Thayendanegea, 50.

Thomas, Isaiah, 165.

Thompson, Gen., in Massachusetts convention, 324.

Thurlow, Lord, 5.

Thurston, member of Virginia legislature, 144.

Tithing-men in New England, 76.

Tobacco as currency in Virginia, 165.

Tories, American; see Loyalists.

Tories, British, 42.

Townshend, Thomas, 17.

Trade, barbarous superstitions about, 134.

Travelling, difficulties of, a century ago, 61.

Treaty of 1783, difficulties in the way of, 8; strange character of, 24; provisions of, 25-33; a great diplomatic victory for the Americans, 34, 189; secret article relating to Florida boundary, 33, 208; adopted, 45; news arrives in America, 50; Congress unable to carry out its provisions, 119-132, 154.

Trespass Act in New York. 123-128.

Trevett vs. Weeden, 176.

Tucker, Josiah, 58, 141.

Tyler, John, the elder, 214, 337.

Union, sentiment of, 55.

Unitarianism, 86.

University men in Federal Convention, 224.

Vaughan, Benjamin, 22, 35.

Vergennes, Count de, 12; wishes to satisfy Spain at the expense of the United States, 18-21; thwarted by Jay, 22; accuses the Americans of bad faith, 33; tired of sending loans, 104.

Vermont, troubles in, 151-153; riots in connection with the Shays rebellion, 183.

Vice-presidency, 282.

Victoria, Queen, 293.

Vincennes, riot in, 210.

Violence of political invective, 39.

Virginia, church and state in, 78-85; on five per cent. impost, 104; paper money in, 170; takes possession of northwestern territory, 188-191; cedes it to the United States, 194; plan for new federal government, 233-242; its reception by the convention, 242; compromise as to representation of slaves, 259-262; resents the compromise between South Carolina and the New England states, 265; debates on the Constitution, 335-337; ratifies it, 337.

"Visionary young men," i.e., Hamilton, Madison, Gouverneur Morris, etc., 318.

Waddington, Joshua, 127.

Walpole, Horace, 16.

Walpole, Sir Robert, 296.

War, the Civil, 55, 256, 262; contrast with Revolutionary, 101-103; cost of Revolutionary, 166.

Washington, George, marches from Yorktown to the Hudson River, 51; disbands the army, 51; resigns his command, 52; goes home to Mount Vernon, 53; his "legacy" to the American people, 54; on the right of coercion, 100; urges half-pay for retired officers, 106; supposed scheme for making him king, 107; his masterly speech at Newburgh, 110; president of the Cincinnati, 115; on the weakness of the confederation, 162; wishes to hang speculators in bread-stuffs, 164; disapproves of Connecticut's reservation of a tract of western land, 193; approves of Ohio Company, 203; his views on the need for canals between east and west, 212; important meeting held at his house, 214; is chosen delegate to the Federal Convention, 221; president of the convention, 229; his solemn warning, 231, 303; his suggestion as to the basis of representation, 252; asks if he shall put the question on the motion of Wilson and Pinckney, 277; disapproves of electing executive by the legislature, 279; sends draft of the Constitution to Congress, 307; called a fool by the Antifederalists, 313; approves of amendments, but opposes a second convention, 329; unanimously chosen president of the United States, 346; his journey to New York, 349; his inauguration, 350.

Washington, William, 334.

Watson, Bishop of Llandaff, 83.

Watt, James, 60, 267.

Wayne, Anthony, 50.

Wealth as a basis of representation, 257.

Webster, Daniel, 56, 206, 276.

Webster, Pelatiah, 101, 222.

Weems, Mason, 83.

Wesley, John, 85.

West, Rev. Samuel, 322.

West India trade, 138, 164.

Whigs, British, sympathize with revolutionary party in America, 2.

Whiskey as currency in North Carolina, 165.

White, Abraham, 324.

Whitefield, George, 85.

Whitehill, Robert, 313.

Whitney, Eli, 267.

William the Silent, 55.

Wilson, James, 228, 243, 246, 248, 251, 261, 274, 277, 279, 281, 282, 299, 300, 312, 313, 316.

Witenagemot, 66.

Worcester Spy, 165.

Wraxall's Memoirs, 2.

Wyoming, troubles in, 148-150.

Wythe, George, 228.

Yates, Robert, 225, 242, 244, 246, 254, 340, 341.

Yazoo boundary, 33, 208.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] In recent years Georgia has been one of the first states to abandon this bad practice.

[2] I suppose it was this same Mason Weems that was afterward known in Virginia as Parson Weems, of Pohick parish, near Mount Vernon. See Magazine of American History, iii. 465-472; v. 85-90. At first an eccentric preacher, Parson Weems became an itinerant violin-player and book-peddler, and author of that edifying work, The Life of George Washington, with Curious Anecdotes equally Honourable to Himself and Exemplary to his Young Countrymen. On the title-page the author describes himself as "formerly rector of Mount Vernon Parish,"—which Bishop Meade calls preposterous. The book is a farrago of absurdities, reminding one, alike in its text and its illustrations, of an overgrown English chap-book of the olden time. It has had an enormous sale, and has very likely contributed more than any other single book toward forming the popular notion of Washington. It seems to have been this fiddling parson that first gave currency to the everlasting story of the cherry-tree and the little hatchet.

[3] History of England in the Eighteenth Century, iii. 447.

[4] A very interesting account of these troubles may be found in the first volume of Professor McMaster's History of the People of the United States.

[5] This subject has been treated in a masterly manner by Mr. H.B. Adams, in an essay on Maryland's Influence upon Land Cessions to the United States, published in the Third Series of the admirable Johns Hopkins University Studies in History and Politics. I am indebted to Mr. Adams for many valuable suggestions.

[6] It would be in the highest degree erroneous, however, to suppose that the Constitution of the United States is not, as much as any other, an instance of evolution from precedents. See, in this connection, the very able article by Prof. Alexander Johnston, New Princeton Review, Sept., 1887, pp. 175-190.

[7] The slave-population of the United States, according to the census of 1700, was thus distributed among the states:—

North.

New Hampshire 158 Vermont 17 Massachusetts — Rhode Island 952 Connecticut 2,759 New York 21,324 New Jersey 11,423 Pennsylvania 3,737 ——— 40,370

South.

Delaware 8,887 Maryland 103,036 Virginia 293,427 North Carolina 100,572 South Carolina 107,094 Georgia 29,264 Kentucky 11,830 Tennessee 3,417 ———- 657,527

Total 697,897.

[8] Since this was written, this last and most serious danger would seem to have been removed by the acts of 1886 and 1887 regulating the presidential succession and the counting of electoral votes.

[9] The history of President Cleveland's tariff message of 1887, however, shows that, where a wise and courageous president calls attention to a living issue, his party, alike in Congress and in the country, is in a measure compelled to follow his lead.

THE END