posterity must be for
this inestimable gift of great human enterprise, yet even Madison's
careful journal fills one with the deepest regret that this wonderful
debate, which lasted for nearly four months between men of no ordinary
ability, could not have been preserved to the world.

Two or three of the speeches which Madison gives in his Journal are
complete, for when Doctor Franklin spoke he reduced his remarks to
writing and gave a copy to Madison, but of the other speeches only a
fragrant remains. Thus, that "admirable Crichton," Alexander Hamilton,
addressed the convention in a speech that lasted five hours, in which he
stated his philosophy of government, but of that only a short
condensation, and possibly not even an accurate fragment, remains.

Without this extraordinary provision for secrecy, which is so opposed to
modern democratic conventions, and which so little resembles the famous
point as to "open covenants openly arrived at," the convention could not
have accomplished its great work, for these wise men realized that a
statesman cannot act wisely under the observation of a gallery, and
especially when the gallery compels him by the pressure of public
opinion to work as it directs. I recognize that public opinion--often
temporarily uninformed but in the end generally right--does often save
the democracies of the world from the selfish ends of self-seeking and
misguided leadership; but, given noble and wise representatives, they
work best when least influenced by the fleeting passions of the day.

It is evident that if the framers of the Constitution had met, as
similar conventions have within recent years met at Versailles and
Genoa, with the world as their gallery and with the representatives of
the Press as an integral part of the conference, they would have
accomplished nothing. The probability is that the convention would not
have lasted a month if their immediate purpose had been to placate
current opinion. It may be doubted whether such a convention, if called
to-day, either in your country or mine, could achieve like results, for
in this day of unlimited publicity, when men divide not as individuals
but in powerful and organized groups, a constitutional convention would,
I fear, prove a witches' cauldron of class legislation and demagoguery.
Is it not possible that modern democracy is in danger of strangulation
by its present-day methods and ideals? Again the words of Washington
suggest themselve