ughtful and even severe, but in
conversation his face lighted up with a remarkably attractive smile. He
carried himself erectly and with dignity, so that in spite of his small
figure, when he entered a room "it was apparent, from the respectful
attention of the company, that he was a distinguished person." A
contemporary, speaking of the opposite and almost irreconcilable traits
of Hamilton's character, pronounced a bust of him as giving a complete
exposition of his character: "Draw a handkerchief around the mouth of
the bust, and the remnant of the countenance represents fortitude and
intrepidity such as we have often seen in the plates of Roman heroes.
Veil in the same manner the face and leave the mouth and chin only
discernible, and all this fortitude melts and vanishes into almost
feminine softness."

Hamilton was a leading spirit in the Annapolis Trade Convention and
wrote the report that it adopted. Whether or not there is any truth in
the assertion of the French charge that Hamilton and others thought
it advisable to disguise their purposes, there is no doubt that the
Annapolis Convention was an all-important step in the progress of
reform, and its recommendation was the direct occasion of the calling of
the great convention that framed the Constitution of the United States.

The recommendation of the Annapolis delegates was in the form of a
report to the legislatures of their respective States, in which they
referred to the defects in the Federal Government and called for "a
convention of deputies from the different states for the special purpose
of entering into this investigation and digesting a Plan for supplying
such defects." Philadelphia was suggested as the place of meeting, and
the time was fixed for the second Monday in May of the next year.

Several of the States acted promptly upon this recommendation and in
February, 1787, Congress adopted a resolution accepting the proposal and
calling the convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising
the Articles of Confederation and reporting. .. such alterations... as
shall... render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of
Government and the preservation of the Union." Before the time fixed for
the meeting of the Philadelphia Convention, or shortly after that
date, all the States had appointed deputies with the exception of New
Hampshire and Rhode Island. New Hampshire was favorably disposed toward
the meeting but, owing to local cond