estionably have been adverse
to the Constitution. Nay, more, it is very improbable that, but for him,
the good work would have made such progress as it had in the other
states. To get the people to adopt the Constitution, it was above all
things needful that its practical working should be expounded, in
language such as every one could understand, by some writer endowed in
the highest degree with political intelligence and foresight. Upon their
return from the Federal Convention, Yates and Lansing had done all in
their power to bring its proceedings into ill-repute. Pamphlets and
broadsides were scattered right and left. The Constitution was called
the "triple-headed monster," and declared to be "as deep and wicked a
conspiracy as ever was invented in the darkest ages against the
liberties of a free people." It soon occurred to Hamilton that it would
be well worth while to explain the meaning of all parts of the
Constitution in a series of short, incisive essays. He communicated his
plan to Madison and Jay, who joined him in the work, and the result was
the "Federalist," perhaps the most famous of American books, and
undoubtedly the most profound and suggestive treatise on government that
has ever been written. Of the eighty-five numbers originally published
in the "Independent Gazetteer," under the common signature of "Publius,"
Jay wrote five, Madison twenty-nine, and Hamilton fifty-one. Jay's
papers related chiefly to diplomatic points, with which his experience
abroad had fitted him to deal. The first number was written by Hamilton
in the cabin of a sloop on the Hudson, in October, 1787; and they
continued to appear, sometimes as often as three or four in a week,
through the winter and spring. Madison would have contributed a larger
share than he did had he not been called early in March to Virginia to
fight the battle of the Constitution in that state. The essays were
widely and eagerly read, and probably accomplished more toward insuring
the adoption of the Constitution than anything else that was said or
done in that eventful year. They were hastily written,--struck out at
white heat by men full of their subject. Doubtless the authors did not
realize the grandeur of the literary work they were doing, and among the
men of the time there were few who foresaw the immortal fame which these
essays were to earn. It is said of one of the senators in the first
Congress that he made the memorandum, "Get the 'Federalist,' if