vention was to be by States, just as it
had been in the Continental Congress, the presence of delegations from
a majority of the States was necessary for organization. It is a
commentary upon the times, upon the difficulties of travel, and upon the
leisurely habits of the people, that the meeting which had been called
for the 14th of May could not begin its work for over ten days. The 25th
of May was stormy, and only twenty-nine delegates were on hand when
the Convention organized. The slender attendance can only partially be
attributed to the weather, for in the following three months and a half
of the Convention, at which fifty-five members were present at one time
or another, the average attendance was only slightly larger than that
of the first day. In such a small body personality counted for much,
in ways that the historian can only surmise. Many compromises of
conflicting interests were reached by informal discussion outside of
the formal sessions. In these small gatherings individual character was
often as decisive as weighty argument.

George Washington was unanimously chosen as the presiding officer of the
Convention. He sat on a raised platform; in a large, carved, high-backed
chair, from which his commanding figure and dignified bearing exerted
a potent influence on the assembly; an influence enhanced by the formal
courtesy and stately intercourse of the times. Washington was the great
man of his day and the members not only respected and admired him; some
of them were actually afraid of him. When he rose to his feet he was
almost the Commander-in-Chief again. There is evidence to show that
his support or disapproval was at times a decisive factor in the
deliberations of the Convention.

Virginia, which had taken a conspicuous part in the calling of the
Convention, was looked to for leadership in the work that was to be
done. James Madison, next to Washington the most important member of
the Virginia delegation, was the very opposite of Washington in many
respects--small and slight in stature, inconspicuous in dress as in
figure, modest and retiring, but with a quick, active mind and wide
knowledge obtained both from experience in public affairs and from
extensive reading. Washington was the man of action; Madison, the
scholar in politics. Madison was the younger by nearly twenty years,
but Washington admired him greatly and gave him the support of his
influence--a matter of no little consequence, for Madis