541
with a view to increase their powers, and the more enfee-
ble the general government; the other, the danger to be
apprehended of throwing open the whole constitution to a
future convention, a measure which might result in a dis-
solution of the union.
with a view to increase their powers, and the more enfee-
ble the general government; the other, the danger to be
apprehended of throwing open the whole constitution to a
future convention, a measure which might result in a dis-
solution of the union.
Hamilton - 1834 - Life on Hamilton - v2
This marked instance was
now seen of the influences whicli were operating: Randolph
had insisted earnestly on a plural executive; he suggest-
ed, as giving a reasonable security to the smaller states, the
appointment of one executive, to be elected by an equality of
state votes. The delegates from Virginia, who had hesitated,
yielding, it was unanimously dec! ared that the national exec-
utive was to consist of one person. The effort was renewed
to render him eligible by the electors of the people. It was
then proposed that he should be chosen by electors ap-
pointed by the legislatures of the states; but the choice was
given to the national legislature, in conformity with the
original proposition of Virginia. He was declared to be
re-eligible. The trusts of carrying into execution the na-
tional laws, and of appointing the national officers, subject
to the negative of two-thirds of the legislature, were con-
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? HAMILTON.
? 31
fided to him: and a motion was made to substitute for a
term of seven years, the provision that he should hold his
office during good behaviour. This important substitute
was supported by the votes of four states, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia; but the term of
seven years was retained.
A judiciary during good behaviour was next established;
and, after an effort to confids the appointment of the
judges to the executive department solely, and then, as
Hamilton had proposed in his plan, to require the consent
of the senate, the appointment was given to the senate;
another concession to state influence. Its jurisdiction was
declared to extend to cases arising under laws passed by
the general legislature, and to such other questions as in-
volve the national peace and harmony.
The discussion was continued until the twenty-sixth of
July, much time being devoted to the institution of the
executive, and to the consideration of a proposal to require
certain qualifications of landed property and citizenship
in the members of each department of the government.
The modified resolutions were then referred to a commit-
tee of detail to prepare and report the outline of a constitu-
tion on the sixth of August, to which time the convention
adjourned. A draft of a constitution was on that day
reported, founded upon the principles which had been pre-
viously adopted, with many supplementary provisions.
The compromise, thus far, had only extended to the
structure of the government; its influence was now chiefly
seen in the limitations of its powers--limitations which
may be, with much probability, ascribed to Randolph and
Ellsworth, who, with Rutledge, Gorham, and Wilson, com-
posed the committee of detail.
This supposition is founded on a fact, which, it is be- ?
lieved, has not heretofore attracted attention.
On the twenty-second of August, seventeen hundred
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? 532
THE LIFE OF
and eighty-one, Randolph, Ellsworth, and Varnum, who
had been appointed a committee to prepare an exposition
of the confederation, made a report. They stated that they
ought to be discharged, because "the omission to enume-
rate any of the powers of congress would become an ar-
gument against their existence, and that it will be early
enough to insist on them when they shall be exercised
and disputed. "
Having specified in what particulars "the confedera-
tion requires execution," they proceeded to enumerate the
cases in which they deemed the extension of the powers
of congress necessary.
This exposition of the existing powers of the confede-
ration, and this enumeration of the proposed supplemental
powers, may be regarded as the source from which the detail
of the legislative powers enumerated in this plan of a con-
stitution is derived. One marked difference is observed.
By the report, the concurrence of two-thirds of congress
was required in the exercise of the great powers of war,
treaty, and revenue, while in this draft of the constitution
such concurrence is only made necessary to the passage
of a navigation act--a vicious check upon legislation, cer-
tain to result in evasive refinements. The convention
having refused to go into committee, this plan of a consti-
tution was discussed in the house. In its general outline
may be seen the extent to which Hamilton's system was
followed, and in the similarity of some of the modifications
which were proposed, the part he took as the discussion
progressed.
He continued in the convention until after the thirteenth
of August, when it is seen by the journal, that instead of
the provision requiring as a qualification for a seat in the
house of representatives that the candidate should have been
a citizen seven years, he urged that citizenship and inhabi-
tancy were sufficient prc-rcquisites, leaving to the discre-
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? HAMILTON.
533
tion of the legislature to prescribe such rules of naturali-
zation as should be found expedient. He was soon after
compelled again to repair to New-York.
The following letters evince his determination to give his
sanction to its proceedings, under a conviction that what-
ever plan should be adopted, would be an improvement
upon the articles of the confederation, and that a dissolu-
tion of that body without the recommendation of a sub-
stitute, would produce a dissolution of the union.
HAMILTON TO RUFUS KING.
DEAR SIR,
Since my arrival here, I have written to my colleagues,
informing them if either of them would come down, I
would accompany him to Philadelphia: so much for the
sake of propriety and public opinion. <<
In the mean time, if any material alteration should hap-
pen to be made in the plan now before the convention, I
will be obliged to you for a communication of it. I will
also be obliged to you to let me know when your conclu-
sion is at hand, for I would choose to be present at that
time.
New. York, August 20, 1787.
THE SAME TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR,
I wrote you some days since, to request you to inform
me when there was a prospect of your finishing, as I in-
tended to be with you, for certain reasons, before the
conclusion.
It is whispered here, that some late changes in youi
scheme have taken place, which give it a higher tone. Is
this the case? I leave town to-day to attend a circuit in
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? 534
THE LIFE OF
a neighbouring county, from which I shall return the last
of the week, and shall be glad to find a line from you, ex-
planatory of the period of the probable termination of
your business.
New-York, August 28, 1787.
i anxiety for the establishment of an energetic nation-
vernment was increased by a circumstance which
indicates the unsettled state of the public feeling, the dis-
trusts of the community, and the mad projects which the
deranged affairs of the country had engendered.
During his sojourn at New-Yerk, a report was mention-
ed in a gazette* of that city, that ajjroject was in embryo
for the establishment of a monarchy^ at the head of which
it was contemplated to place the bishop of Osnaburgh.
This report was traced to a political letter, which had
been circulated, in Connecticut, suggesting this plot.
The extraordinary nature of this suggestion, whether in-
tended to excite prejudices against the convention, or to
alarm the anti-federalists to an adoption of such a consti-
tution as it should propose, or as an experiment upon pub-
lic opinion, engaged the attention of Hamilton. He im-
mediately addressed a letter to Colonel Wadsworth, asking
a solution of this enigma, in which he observes, "The his-
tory of its appearance among us, is, that it was sent by
one Whetmore, of Strafford, formerly in the paymaster-
general's office, to a person in this city. .
"I am at a loss clearly to understand its object, and have
some suspicion that it has been fabricated to excite jeal-
ousies against the convention, with a view to an opposition
to their recommendations; at all events, I wish you, if
possible, to trace its source, and send it to you for that
purpose.
* Daily Advertiser, August 18, 1787
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? HAMILTON. 535
"Whetmore must of course say where he got it, and by
pursuing the information, we may at last come at the au-
thor. Let me know the political connections of this man,
and the complexion of the people most active in the circu-
lation of the letter. " It appears from the reply of Colonel
Wadsworth, that he had referred the inquiry to Colonel
Humphries, whose letter to Hamilton of the first of Sep-
tember, states that this letter had been printed in a Fair-
field paper of the twenty-fifth of July past. "Whetmore
informs me that when he first saw it, it was in the hands
of one Jared Mansfield, who, I believe, has formerly been
reputed a loyalist. Indeed, it seems to have been received
and circulated with avidity by that class of people, wheth-
er fabricated by them or not. I think there is little doubt
it was manufactured in this state. Some think the real
design was to excite the apprehensions of the anti-federal-
ists, with the idea that the most disastrous consequences
are to be expected, unless we shall accept the proceedings
of the convention; but others, with more reason, that it
was intended to feel the public pulse, and to discover
whether the public mind would be startled with proposi-
tions of royalty. The quondam tories have undoubtedly
conceived hopes of a future union with Great Britain, from
the inefficacy of our government, and the tumults which
prevailed in Massachusetts during the last winter.
"It seems, by a conversation I have had here, that the
ultimate practicability of introducing the bishop of Osna-
burgh, is not a novel idea among those who were formerly
termed loyalists. Ever since the peace, it has been occa-
sionally talked of and wished for. Yesterday, where I
dined, half jest, half earnest, he was given as the first
toast.
"I leave you now, my dear friend, to reflect how ripe
we are for the most mad and ruinous project that can be
suggested, especially when, in addition to this view, we
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? THE LIFE OF
take into consideration how thoroughly the patriotic part
of the community, the friends of an efficient government,
are discouraged with the present system, and irritated at
the popular demagogues, who are determined to keep
themselves in office at the risk of every thing.
"I am happy to see you have had the boldness to attack,
in a public paper, the anti-federal dogmas of a great per-
sonage of your state. Go on, and prosper. Were the men
of talents and honesty throughout the continent properly
combined into one phalanx, I am confident they would be
competent to hew their way through all opposition, and
establish a government calculated to promote the happi-
ness of mankind, and make the revolution a blessing in-
stead of a curse. " Here this matter terminated. It ap-
pears from a subsequent memorandum of Hamilton's, that
though there was little to fear from the project, that he
did not consider it entirely destitute of reality.
His allusion, in his letter to King, to "whispered
changes" in the scheme which gave it a higher tone, re-
ferred to several additional powers proposed to be vested
in the legislature, which were referred; to a modification
in the mode of electing, and in the duration and powers
of the executive; to an enlargement of the jurisdiction of
the judicial department; and to a full declaration of the
supremacy of the constitution and laws of the United
States,--in all of which may be seen an adoption of, or ap-
proximation to, the principles in his plan.
The tone of the convention was evidently undergoing a
change, and the chief collision at this period grew out of
an effort on the part of the non-slaveholding states to re-
strain the extension of that evil, and on the part of the
planting states to exclude the power of levying duties on
exports, and, by requiring the assent of two-thirds of the
legislature to the enactment of a navigation act, or to acts
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? HAMILTON.
537
regulating commerce,* to provide against a danger long the
source of great but groundless apprehension in that part
of the union.
In the beginning of September, Hamilton resumed his
seat in the convention. No means exist of showing mi-
nutely the several propositions of which he was the author.
The great modifications the system underwent subse-
quent to this period, in conformity with his previously
avowed opinions, and the close analogy between parts of
the existing constitution and the plan of government he
had framed, give the evidence of his efficient participation
in the closing labours of that body. That he was elected a
member of the last committee appointed, with instructions
to revise the style and arrange the articles agreed to by
the house, refutes the impression sought to be given, that he
remained, at so interesting a crisis of this country, an almost
inactive spectator of the proceedings of a great council,
to the formation of which he had devoted all his energies.
A statement of a member of that committee of revisal,
of distinguished talent and character, is to the point on
this question. "If," Doctor Johnson remarked, " the con-
stitution did not succeed on trial, Hamilton was less re-
sponsible for that result than any other member,-for he
fully and frankly pointed out to the convention what he
apprehended were the infirmities to which it was liable.
And if it answered the fond expectations of the public,
the community would be more indebted to Hamilton than
to any other member; for, after its essential outlines were
agreed to, he laboured most indefatigably to heal those in-
firmities, and to guard against the evils to which they might
expose it. "
* In a division on this question of commercial regulation, Aug. 29, the
votes were for the restriction, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Geor.
gia: against it, the other seven states, including South Carolina.
68
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? 538
THE LIFE OF
On the fourth of September, the grand committee of
each state made an important report.
One branch of it gave full fiscal power to the govern-
ment. The legislature were invested with a " power to
lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay
the debts, and to provide for the common defence and gen-
eral welfare of the United States. "
The office of the executive had been reconsidered. His
term was reduced from seven to four years, and, adopting
in part Hamilton's views, he was to be chosen by electors;
but, reluctant to relinquish the policy which would con-
sider the states, and not the people, of the union as the
basis of the constitution, each state was to appoint, " in
such manner as its legislature may direct, a number of
/ electors equal to its representation in congress. " If the
candidate should not have a majority of the ballots of the
whole number of electors, the eventual choice devolved on
the senate.
Hamilton was opposed to this provision--it being an
essential part of his policy, that the chief magistrate should
not be chosen by any pre-existing body, and should be the
representative of the people, and not of the states. The
eventual choice by the senate was also repugnant to his
views. He saw, as an inevitable consequence, that many
of the states, to secure to their senators an ultimate control
over the executive, would defeat the choice by electors.
Rather than incur this evil, to which, as the president
was re-eligible, would be superadded the danger of a cor-
rupt influence being exerted by him upon the senate, he is
represented as preferring that the highest electoral ballot,
though not that of a majority, should appoint him.
The constitution of this office was a subject of consid-
eration until near the termination of their deliberations:
an effort being made, but defeated, to extend the execu-
tive term from four years to seven, to declare him not
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? HAIHUTOII.
539
re-eligible, and to restore the choice to the national legis-
lature.
Hamilton's views as to the structure of the government,
were modified during the progress of these discussions.
In his minutes of the debates taken at an early period
of its deliberations, this remark is found: "At the period
which terminates the duration of the executive, there will
be always an awful crisis in the national situation. " This
apprehension grew with his reflections; and when he saw
that the senate were to be chosen for a period of only six
years, with terms ceasing by rotation, and to be chosen by
the states in their sovereign capacities, and not by electors
of the people, it became a necessary consequence that he
would limit the duration of the executive office propor-
tionably. A president of so great duration as good beha-
viour, with a senate of so limited a duration, would soon
have become its master.
Influenced by these considerations, he drew up a second
plan while the convention was sitting, which limited the
term of the president to only three years.
The powers of the president were again discussed, and
were established according to the provisions in his first
plan. He was declared to be commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of
the several states. All treaties were to be made by him,
with the advice and consent of the senate, with this quali-
fication, that "two-thirds of the senators present concur. "
In defining the power of appointment, with the exception
that the senate were to have a voice in that of the heads
of the executive departments, his plan was also closely
followed. The other provisions as to this great office,
were analogous to those he had devised; and though with-
out the guards he had sought to interpose, the great prin-
ciple was finally established, that he was to be chosen
through the medium of electors chosen by the people.
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? 540
THE LIFE OF
His first plan, it is seen, contemplated a house of repre-
sentatives, to consist in the first instance of one hundred
members. This number was proposed by Hugh William-
son, but was not approved.
A house of representatives, to consist of sixty-five mem-
bers, which the scheme then before the convention had in
view, he thought was on so narrow a scale as to be dan-
gerous, and justly to warrant a jealousy for the liberty of
the country. It was the more important in his view to
enlarge it, because of the determination to give the event-
ual choice of the president to that branch of the legislature,
and from a belief, as he remarked, " that the connection be-
tween the president and senate would tend to perpetuate
him by corrupt influence. "* Hamilton's "earnestness and
anxiety " on this point were felt by Washington, and after
the convention had refused to enlarge the representation, at
the last moment of its sitting, when he rose to put the final
question on the constitution, he requested that the ratio of
representation should be established at thirty instead of
forty thousand for each representative, until a census should
be taken. The diminished ratio was unanimously assented
to. In further security of liberty, Hamilton's important
precaution had been adopted, excluding any "religious
test" as a qualification for office, but omitting the prohibi-
tion in his plan of the establishment " by law of any reli-
gious sect or denomination. "
One article of the draft then before that body provided
that, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of
the states in the union for an amendment of the constitu-
tion, the legislature of the United States should call a con-
vention for that purpose.
To this article two serious objections existed: one, that
such an application would not be made by the states, unless
* Madison's Debates, 1533.
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? HAMILTON.
541
with a view to increase their powers, and the more enfee-
ble the general government; the other, the danger to be
apprehended of throwing open the whole constitution to a
future convention, a measure which might result in a dis-
solution of the union.
Hamilton's plan avoided these evils. Unwilling to lose
his hold upon the constitution about to be recommended as
the great bond of union, it provided that amendments
might be proposed by the legislature of the United States,
two-thirds of its members concurring, which, if ratified by
the legislatures or conventions of two-thirds of the states
composing the union, should become parts. of the still ex-
isting constitution.
His plan also probably led to the provisions in the fifth
article of the constitution, which was the result of a com-
promise.
The draft of a constitution reported on the sixth of Au-
gust, proposed that it should be laid before congress for
their approbation, and declared it as " the opinion of the
convention," that it should be afterwards submitted to a
convention, to be chosen in each state under the recom-
mendation of its legislature, to receive its ratification.
Should congress not have thought proper to submit the
constitution to be ratified, an event which, from the tem-
per previously displayed by that body, was not improbable,
the labours of the convention would have been regarded
as little more than a solemn farce.
Hamilton's plan declared, "that this constitution shall
be submitted to the consideration of conventions in the
several states, the members whereof shull be chosen by the
people, under the direction of their legislatures; the rati-
fication of each state being final, with power to each con-
vention, thus immediately expressing the will of the people
to appoint its senators and representatives, who, as Wash-
ington wodd be the choice, were to elect the first president.
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? 542
THE LIFE OF
Thus the establishment of the constitution was ensured,
the people of each state ratifying it, becoming by that act
parties to it, and forming the nucleus of a more extended
union.
The last article of the present constitution was evidently
framed in reference to this provision, though it embodied
a vicious principle of the confederation; declaring that
"the ratification of the conventions of nine* states shall be
sufficient for the establishment of the constitution between
the states so ratifying" it.
A revised plan of the constitution was reported by John-
son, on the twelfth of September, with a letter to congress
stating it to be the result of a spirit of amity, and of that
mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of
their political situation rendered indispensable. Several
amendments having been made to the plan, an engrossed
copy was read before the convention on the seventeenth
of September.
Though doubting much of the efficacy of several of its
provisions, Hamilton earnestly urged the unanimous ap-
proval of all the members of the convention. Three--
Gerry, Mason, and Randolph--withheld their assent;
all the other delegates affixed their signatures, among
which Hamilton's name appears as the sole representative
of New-York.
From the previous narrative, it appears that any uncom-
pcllcd disclosure of the proceedings of the federal conven-
tion, was a breach of an express stipulation among its mem-
bers. It was to be expected that those who could violate
that stipulation, would not be very scrupulous as to the ac-
curacy of their statements.
The eminent position Hamilton held before this nation,
would naturally excite opposition and lead to misrepre-
* Seven had been proposed, then ten, then nine.
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? HAMILTON.
543
sentation. In the absence of real grounds of inculpation,
the more apt would be the resort to imputations of opinions
offensive to the easily excited suspicions of a jealous popu-
lation.
Such was the policy of his enemies. His theoretic doubts
of the permanency of purely democratic institutions, and
of their power to promote the happiness of a community,
and his approval of the British constitution, however quali-
fied, the open avowal of which ought to have produced
the opposite effect, were tortured into evidence of opinions
unfriendly to liberty, and these opinions were soon repre-
sented as designs.
Some additional statements are thus rendered necessary.
In the reply previously referred to, made by Hamilton to
an anonymous attack in the year seventeen hundred and
ninety-two, at the seat of government, when nearly all the
members of the convention were living, to a charge that
he "opposed the constitution in the grand convention, be-
cause it was too republican," he remarked, "This I af-
firm to be a gross misrepresentation. To prove it so, it
were sufficient to appeal to a single fact, namely, that the
gentleman alluded to was the only member from the state
to which he belonged who signed the constitution, and, it is
notorious, against the prevailing weight of the official in-
fluence of the state, and against what would probably be
the opinion of a large majority of his fellow-citizens, till
better information should correct their first impressions.
How, then, can he be believed to have opposed a thing
which he actually agreed to, and that in so unsupported a
situation and under circumstances of such peculiar respon-
sibility? To this, I shall add two more facts :--One, that
the member in question never made a proposition to the
convention which was not conformable to the republican
theory. The other, that the highest toned of any of the
propositions made by him, was actually voted for by the
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? 544
THE LIFE OF
representatives of several states, including some of the
principal ones, and including individuals who, in the esti-
mation of those who deem themselves the only republicans,
are pre-eminent for republican character. More than this
I am not at liberty to say. "*
* That Virginia voted for a president during good behaviour, is seen in the
journal of the seventeenth of July, and that Madison gave one of these votes
is not controverted by him in his report of the proceedings of that day. He
only seeks to explain it. His statement is, that Doctor McClurg moved this
term of service, with the comment, that" the probable object of this motion was
merely to enforce the argument against the re-eligibility of the executive ma-
gistrate by holding out a tenure during good behaviour, as the alternative for
keeping him independent of the legislature. " Madison reports his own
speech on this motion, which, as far as it relates to it, docs not disapprove it,
and adds this observation in a note: "The view here taken of the subject,
was meant to aid in parrying the animadversions likely to fall on the motion
of Doctor McClurg, for whom J. M. had a particular regard. The Doctor,
though possessing talents of the highest order, was modest and unaccustom-
ed to exert them in public debate. " It will be recollected that this explana-
tion is given after Hamilton's public and then uncontradicted charge, that
Madison's views on this subject did not differ from his own. Complaisance
strained to its utmost limit might induce these remarks to parry animadver-
sions on a friend, but complaisance did not require that Madison should not
merely have sought to parry censure of the proposition of a friend which ho
wished himself to be regarded as disapproving, but that he should have record-
ed his rote in favour of it. "This vote," he also observes in a note, " is not
to be considered as any certain index of opinion, as a number in the affirma-
tive probably had it chiefly in view to alarm those attached to a dependence
of the executive on the legislature, and thereby facilitate some final arrange-
ment of a contrary tendency. The avowed friends of an executive ' during
good behaviour,' were not more than three or four, nor is it certain they would
have adhered to such a tenure. " Madison has also left the evidence that he
did not at that time regard such a term of office as being inconsistent with
the republican theory. "If," he wrote, " we resort for a criterion to the dif-
ferent principles on which different forms of government are established, we
may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on a govern-
ment which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body
of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during plea-
sure, for a limited period, or during good behaviour," &c. --Federalist, No. 39.
Thus his vote and his theory were at this time consistent with each other. --
Mad. Papers, 1125, 6, 9.
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? HAMILTON.
545
A subsequent misstatement of his course in the conven-
tion, drew forth a voluntary publication from Luther Mar-
tin. "That Hamilton in a most able and eloquent address,
did express his general ideas upon the subject of govern-
ment, and of that government which would in all human
probability be most advantageous for the United States, I
admit; but, in thus expressing his sentiments, he did not
suggest a wish that any one officer of the government
should derive his power from any other source than the
people; that there should be in any instance an hereditary
succession to office, nor that any person should continue
longer than during good behaviour. "
Another publication appeared, charging him with having
proposed a monarchy to the convention. This was denied,
and it was replied, that "he proposed a system composed
of three branches, an assembly, a senate, and a governor.
That the assembly should be elected by the people for three
years, and that the senate and governor should be likewise
elected by the people, during good behaviour. "
In answer to this publication, Hamilton published a full
explanatory view of the propositions made by him.
"Thus the charge," he said, "is at length reduced to spe-
cific terms. Before it can be decided, however, whether
this would be a monarchy or a republic, it seems necessary
to settle the meaning of those terms.
"No exact definitions have settled what is or is not a re-
publican government as contradistinguished from a monar-
chical. Every man who speaks or writes on the subject,
has an arbitrary standard in his own mind. The mad de-
mocrat will have nothing republican which docs not accord
with his own mad theory. He rejects even representation.
Such is the opinion held by a man, now one of Mr. Jeffer-
son's ministers. Some authors denominate every govern-
ment a monarchy, in which the executive authority is placed
in a single hand, whether for life or for years, and wheth-
69
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? 546
THE LIFE OF
er conferred by election or by descent. According to this
definition, the actual government of the United States, and
of most of the states, is a monarchy.
"In practice, the terms republic and republican have been
applied with as little precision. Even the government of
England, with a powerful hereditary king, has been re-
peatedly spoken of by authors as a commonwealth or re-
public. The late government of Holland, with an heredi-
tary stadtholder, was constantly so denominated. That
of Poland, previous to the dissolution of the state, with an
executive for life, was never called by any other name.
"The truth seems to be, that all governments have been
deemed republics, in which a large portion of the sove-
reignty has been vested in the whole or in a considerable
body of the people; and that none have been deemed mon-
archies, as contrasted with the republican standard, in
wjjie^i there has not been an hereditary chief magistrate.
( "Were we to attempt a correct definition of a republi-
can government, we should say,'That is a republican gov-
ernment, in which both the executive and legislative organs
are appointed by a popular election, and hold their offices
upon a responsible and defeasible tenure. ' If this be not
so, then the tenure of good behaviour for the judicial de-
partment is anti-republican, and the government of this
state is not a republic; if the contrary, then a govern-
ment would not cease to be republican because a branch
of the legislature, or even the executive, held their offices
during good behaviour. In this case the two essential cri-
teria would still concur--the creation of the officer by a
popular election, and the possibility of his removal in the
course of law, by accusation before, and conviction by, a
competent tribunal.
"How far it may be expedient to go, even within the
bounds of the theory, in framing a constitution, is a differ-
ent question, upon which we pretend not to give our
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? HAMUTON. 547
>
opinion. It is enough for the purpose of our assertion, if
it be in principle correct. For even then, upon the state-
ment of the 'citizen'Jijmself, General Hamilton did not
propose a monarchy. J
"Thus much too we will add, that whether General Ham-
ilton at any stage of the deliberations of the convention
did, or did not make the proposition ascribed to him, it is
certain that his more deliberate and final opinion, adopted
a moderate term of years for the duration of the office of
president; as also appears by a plan of a constitution, in
writing now in this city, drawn up by that gentleman in detail.
"Whether the first system presented by Mr. Hamilton,
was the one to which he gave a decided preference, it
would be difficult to say, since we find him adopting and
proposing a different one in the course of the sitting of the
convention. It may have been that his opinion was nearly
balanced between the two; nay, it is possible he may
have really preferred the one last proposed, and that the
former, like many others, was brought forward to make it
the subject of discussion, and see what would be the opin-
ions of different gentlemen on so momentous a subject.
And, it is now repeated with confidence, that the Virginia
delegation did vote for the most energetic form of govern-
ment, and that Mr. Maddison was of the number. But we
desire to be distinctly understood, that it was never intended,
by mentioning this circumstance, to impeach the purity of
Mr. Maddison's motives. To arraign the morals of any
man, because he entertains a speculative opinion on gov-
ernment different from ourselves, is worse than arrogance.
He who does so, must entertain notions in ethics extremely
crude, and certainly unfavourable to virtue. "
It is not to be believed that such a statement would have
been thus publicly made, challenging contradiction, during
the lives of so many members of the convention, if it had
been in any respect erroneous; nor that Hamilton would
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? 548
THE LIFE OF
have referred to his second plan of a constitution as being
"in writing now in this city," unless it was there to be
produced. This was a topic of much interest, and much
canvassed in the political controversies which had arisen,
yet his representation was not controverted. Another
exposition of his opinions is found in a letter addressed by
him to Colonel Pickering during the following year. *
* New-York, September 16, 1803.
MY DEAR SIR,
I will make no apology for my delay in answering your inquiry some time
since made, because I could offer none which would satisfy myself. I pray
you only to believe that it proceeded from any thing rather than want of re-
spect or regard. I shall now comply with your request.
The highest toned propositions which I made in the convention were for
a president, senate, and judges, during good behaviour; a house of represen-
tatives for three years. Though I would have enlarged the legislative power
of the general government, yet I never contemplated the abolition of the state
governments; but on the contrary, they were, in some particulars, constitu-
ent parts of my plan.
This plan was, in my conception, conformable with the strict theory of a
government purely republican; the essential criteria of which are, that the
principal organs of the executive and legislative departments be elected by
the people, and hold their offices by a responsible and temporary or defeasible
tenure.
A vote was taken on the proposition respecting the executive. Five states
were in favour of it; among these Virginia; and though, from the manner of vo-
ting by delegations, individuals were not distinguished, it was morally certain,
from the known situation of the Virginia members, (six in number, two of
them, Mason and Randolph, professing popular doctrines,) that Madison must
have concurred in the vote of Virginia. Thus, if I sinned against republi-
canism, Mr. Madison was not less guilty.
I may truly then say that I never proposed either a president or senate for
ETSTand that I neither recommended nor meditated the annihilation of the
state governments. ^
And I may'add, that in the course of the discussions in the convention,
neither the propositions thrown out for debate, nor even those voted in tho
earlier stages of deliberation, were considered as evidences of a definitive opin-
ion in the proposer or voter. It appeared to me to be in some sort understood
that, with a view to free investigation, experimental propositions might be
made, which were to be received merely as suggestions for consideration.
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? HAMILTON.
These statements receive light from the letter of a con-
temporary. * "I will conclude this long epistle by a con-
cise account of a conversation had with Hamilton, which
may not be deemed uninteresting, since it exhibits him as
Accordingly it is a fact, that my final opinion was against an executive du-
ring good behaviour, on account of the increased danger to the public Iran-
quillity incident to the election of a magistrate of this degree of permanency.
In the plan of a constitution which I drew up while the convention was
sitting, and which I communicated to Mr. Madison about the close of it,
perhaps a day or two after, the office of president has no greater duration
than for three years.
This plan was predicated upon these bases :--1. That the political princi-
ples of the people of this country would endure nothing but a republican
government. --2. That in the actual situation of the country, it was itself
right and proper that the republican theory should have a fair and full trial. --
3. That, to such a trial it was essential that the government should be so
constructed as to give it all the energy and the stability reconcilable with
the principles of that theory. These were the genuine sentiments of my
heart, and upon them I then acted.
I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be discovered that through want
of sufficient attention to the last idea, the experiment of republican govern-
ment, even in this country, has not been as complete, as satisfactory, and as
decisive, as could be wishcd. t
* Governor Lewis.
t In the appendix, No. 5, to Madison's Debates, this letter is referred to as evidence that
"Colonel Humilton was under the erroneous impression that this paper limited the duration
of the presidential term to three years. "
The " paper" tiius referred to by Madison, is the jir. *t plan. The term of three years is
in the second plan. Madison has not left behind him the original of cither of tho plans
which Hamilton gave him, but his copy of one of them. Hamilton's statement is, that he
"communicated to Madison the plan in which the omco of president has no greater dura-
tion than three years, not that ho left it with him, but on tho contrary publicly refers to it
as "a plan of a constitution in writing now in this c'ttr, drawn up by that gentleman in
detail. "
Having obtained a copy of the first plan, which probably was used dunns the debates
in the convention, Madison retains it in his pessescion, and refers to it as evidence of Ham-
ilton's "want of memory," and not to tho second plan, which Hamilton tenders as giving
the testimony to the change of his opinions. But he does not deny that there was a second
plan. It will be remarked that the volume cnntniriiug the Journal of the Convention de-
posited in tbe department of state is imperfect--the. minutes of September 15tii being crossed
with a pen. and that tho deficiency is supi'li"d by minutes furnished by Madison. Thus,
the evidence which this part of the journal might have given on this subject, is lost. --Juur
ual, p. 1179, in a note.
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now seen of the influences whicli were operating: Randolph
had insisted earnestly on a plural executive; he suggest-
ed, as giving a reasonable security to the smaller states, the
appointment of one executive, to be elected by an equality of
state votes. The delegates from Virginia, who had hesitated,
yielding, it was unanimously dec! ared that the national exec-
utive was to consist of one person. The effort was renewed
to render him eligible by the electors of the people. It was
then proposed that he should be chosen by electors ap-
pointed by the legislatures of the states; but the choice was
given to the national legislature, in conformity with the
original proposition of Virginia. He was declared to be
re-eligible. The trusts of carrying into execution the na-
tional laws, and of appointing the national officers, subject
to the negative of two-thirds of the legislature, were con-
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? HAMILTON.
? 31
fided to him: and a motion was made to substitute for a
term of seven years, the provision that he should hold his
office during good behaviour. This important substitute
was supported by the votes of four states, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia; but the term of
seven years was retained.
A judiciary during good behaviour was next established;
and, after an effort to confids the appointment of the
judges to the executive department solely, and then, as
Hamilton had proposed in his plan, to require the consent
of the senate, the appointment was given to the senate;
another concession to state influence. Its jurisdiction was
declared to extend to cases arising under laws passed by
the general legislature, and to such other questions as in-
volve the national peace and harmony.
The discussion was continued until the twenty-sixth of
July, much time being devoted to the institution of the
executive, and to the consideration of a proposal to require
certain qualifications of landed property and citizenship
in the members of each department of the government.
The modified resolutions were then referred to a commit-
tee of detail to prepare and report the outline of a constitu-
tion on the sixth of August, to which time the convention
adjourned. A draft of a constitution was on that day
reported, founded upon the principles which had been pre-
viously adopted, with many supplementary provisions.
The compromise, thus far, had only extended to the
structure of the government; its influence was now chiefly
seen in the limitations of its powers--limitations which
may be, with much probability, ascribed to Randolph and
Ellsworth, who, with Rutledge, Gorham, and Wilson, com-
posed the committee of detail.
This supposition is founded on a fact, which, it is be- ?
lieved, has not heretofore attracted attention.
On the twenty-second of August, seventeen hundred
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? 532
THE LIFE OF
and eighty-one, Randolph, Ellsworth, and Varnum, who
had been appointed a committee to prepare an exposition
of the confederation, made a report. They stated that they
ought to be discharged, because "the omission to enume-
rate any of the powers of congress would become an ar-
gument against their existence, and that it will be early
enough to insist on them when they shall be exercised
and disputed. "
Having specified in what particulars "the confedera-
tion requires execution," they proceeded to enumerate the
cases in which they deemed the extension of the powers
of congress necessary.
This exposition of the existing powers of the confede-
ration, and this enumeration of the proposed supplemental
powers, may be regarded as the source from which the detail
of the legislative powers enumerated in this plan of a con-
stitution is derived. One marked difference is observed.
By the report, the concurrence of two-thirds of congress
was required in the exercise of the great powers of war,
treaty, and revenue, while in this draft of the constitution
such concurrence is only made necessary to the passage
of a navigation act--a vicious check upon legislation, cer-
tain to result in evasive refinements. The convention
having refused to go into committee, this plan of a consti-
tution was discussed in the house. In its general outline
may be seen the extent to which Hamilton's system was
followed, and in the similarity of some of the modifications
which were proposed, the part he took as the discussion
progressed.
He continued in the convention until after the thirteenth
of August, when it is seen by the journal, that instead of
the provision requiring as a qualification for a seat in the
house of representatives that the candidate should have been
a citizen seven years, he urged that citizenship and inhabi-
tancy were sufficient prc-rcquisites, leaving to the discre-
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? HAMILTON.
533
tion of the legislature to prescribe such rules of naturali-
zation as should be found expedient. He was soon after
compelled again to repair to New-York.
The following letters evince his determination to give his
sanction to its proceedings, under a conviction that what-
ever plan should be adopted, would be an improvement
upon the articles of the confederation, and that a dissolu-
tion of that body without the recommendation of a sub-
stitute, would produce a dissolution of the union.
HAMILTON TO RUFUS KING.
DEAR SIR,
Since my arrival here, I have written to my colleagues,
informing them if either of them would come down, I
would accompany him to Philadelphia: so much for the
sake of propriety and public opinion. <<
In the mean time, if any material alteration should hap-
pen to be made in the plan now before the convention, I
will be obliged to you for a communication of it. I will
also be obliged to you to let me know when your conclu-
sion is at hand, for I would choose to be present at that
time.
New. York, August 20, 1787.
THE SAME TO THE SAME.
DEAR SIR,
I wrote you some days since, to request you to inform
me when there was a prospect of your finishing, as I in-
tended to be with you, for certain reasons, before the
conclusion.
It is whispered here, that some late changes in youi
scheme have taken place, which give it a higher tone. Is
this the case? I leave town to-day to attend a circuit in
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? 534
THE LIFE OF
a neighbouring county, from which I shall return the last
of the week, and shall be glad to find a line from you, ex-
planatory of the period of the probable termination of
your business.
New-York, August 28, 1787.
i anxiety for the establishment of an energetic nation-
vernment was increased by a circumstance which
indicates the unsettled state of the public feeling, the dis-
trusts of the community, and the mad projects which the
deranged affairs of the country had engendered.
During his sojourn at New-Yerk, a report was mention-
ed in a gazette* of that city, that ajjroject was in embryo
for the establishment of a monarchy^ at the head of which
it was contemplated to place the bishop of Osnaburgh.
This report was traced to a political letter, which had
been circulated, in Connecticut, suggesting this plot.
The extraordinary nature of this suggestion, whether in-
tended to excite prejudices against the convention, or to
alarm the anti-federalists to an adoption of such a consti-
tution as it should propose, or as an experiment upon pub-
lic opinion, engaged the attention of Hamilton. He im-
mediately addressed a letter to Colonel Wadsworth, asking
a solution of this enigma, in which he observes, "The his-
tory of its appearance among us, is, that it was sent by
one Whetmore, of Strafford, formerly in the paymaster-
general's office, to a person in this city. .
"I am at a loss clearly to understand its object, and have
some suspicion that it has been fabricated to excite jeal-
ousies against the convention, with a view to an opposition
to their recommendations; at all events, I wish you, if
possible, to trace its source, and send it to you for that
purpose.
* Daily Advertiser, August 18, 1787
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? HAMILTON. 535
"Whetmore must of course say where he got it, and by
pursuing the information, we may at last come at the au-
thor. Let me know the political connections of this man,
and the complexion of the people most active in the circu-
lation of the letter. " It appears from the reply of Colonel
Wadsworth, that he had referred the inquiry to Colonel
Humphries, whose letter to Hamilton of the first of Sep-
tember, states that this letter had been printed in a Fair-
field paper of the twenty-fifth of July past. "Whetmore
informs me that when he first saw it, it was in the hands
of one Jared Mansfield, who, I believe, has formerly been
reputed a loyalist. Indeed, it seems to have been received
and circulated with avidity by that class of people, wheth-
er fabricated by them or not. I think there is little doubt
it was manufactured in this state. Some think the real
design was to excite the apprehensions of the anti-federal-
ists, with the idea that the most disastrous consequences
are to be expected, unless we shall accept the proceedings
of the convention; but others, with more reason, that it
was intended to feel the public pulse, and to discover
whether the public mind would be startled with proposi-
tions of royalty. The quondam tories have undoubtedly
conceived hopes of a future union with Great Britain, from
the inefficacy of our government, and the tumults which
prevailed in Massachusetts during the last winter.
"It seems, by a conversation I have had here, that the
ultimate practicability of introducing the bishop of Osna-
burgh, is not a novel idea among those who were formerly
termed loyalists. Ever since the peace, it has been occa-
sionally talked of and wished for. Yesterday, where I
dined, half jest, half earnest, he was given as the first
toast.
"I leave you now, my dear friend, to reflect how ripe
we are for the most mad and ruinous project that can be
suggested, especially when, in addition to this view, we
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? THE LIFE OF
take into consideration how thoroughly the patriotic part
of the community, the friends of an efficient government,
are discouraged with the present system, and irritated at
the popular demagogues, who are determined to keep
themselves in office at the risk of every thing.
"I am happy to see you have had the boldness to attack,
in a public paper, the anti-federal dogmas of a great per-
sonage of your state. Go on, and prosper. Were the men
of talents and honesty throughout the continent properly
combined into one phalanx, I am confident they would be
competent to hew their way through all opposition, and
establish a government calculated to promote the happi-
ness of mankind, and make the revolution a blessing in-
stead of a curse. " Here this matter terminated. It ap-
pears from a subsequent memorandum of Hamilton's, that
though there was little to fear from the project, that he
did not consider it entirely destitute of reality.
His allusion, in his letter to King, to "whispered
changes" in the scheme which gave it a higher tone, re-
ferred to several additional powers proposed to be vested
in the legislature, which were referred; to a modification
in the mode of electing, and in the duration and powers
of the executive; to an enlargement of the jurisdiction of
the judicial department; and to a full declaration of the
supremacy of the constitution and laws of the United
States,--in all of which may be seen an adoption of, or ap-
proximation to, the principles in his plan.
The tone of the convention was evidently undergoing a
change, and the chief collision at this period grew out of
an effort on the part of the non-slaveholding states to re-
strain the extension of that evil, and on the part of the
planting states to exclude the power of levying duties on
exports, and, by requiring the assent of two-thirds of the
legislature to the enactment of a navigation act, or to acts
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? HAMILTON.
537
regulating commerce,* to provide against a danger long the
source of great but groundless apprehension in that part
of the union.
In the beginning of September, Hamilton resumed his
seat in the convention. No means exist of showing mi-
nutely the several propositions of which he was the author.
The great modifications the system underwent subse-
quent to this period, in conformity with his previously
avowed opinions, and the close analogy between parts of
the existing constitution and the plan of government he
had framed, give the evidence of his efficient participation
in the closing labours of that body. That he was elected a
member of the last committee appointed, with instructions
to revise the style and arrange the articles agreed to by
the house, refutes the impression sought to be given, that he
remained, at so interesting a crisis of this country, an almost
inactive spectator of the proceedings of a great council,
to the formation of which he had devoted all his energies.
A statement of a member of that committee of revisal,
of distinguished talent and character, is to the point on
this question. "If," Doctor Johnson remarked, " the con-
stitution did not succeed on trial, Hamilton was less re-
sponsible for that result than any other member,-for he
fully and frankly pointed out to the convention what he
apprehended were the infirmities to which it was liable.
And if it answered the fond expectations of the public,
the community would be more indebted to Hamilton than
to any other member; for, after its essential outlines were
agreed to, he laboured most indefatigably to heal those in-
firmities, and to guard against the evils to which they might
expose it. "
* In a division on this question of commercial regulation, Aug. 29, the
votes were for the restriction, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and Geor.
gia: against it, the other seven states, including South Carolina.
68
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? 538
THE LIFE OF
On the fourth of September, the grand committee of
each state made an important report.
One branch of it gave full fiscal power to the govern-
ment. The legislature were invested with a " power to
lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay
the debts, and to provide for the common defence and gen-
eral welfare of the United States. "
The office of the executive had been reconsidered. His
term was reduced from seven to four years, and, adopting
in part Hamilton's views, he was to be chosen by electors;
but, reluctant to relinquish the policy which would con-
sider the states, and not the people, of the union as the
basis of the constitution, each state was to appoint, " in
such manner as its legislature may direct, a number of
/ electors equal to its representation in congress. " If the
candidate should not have a majority of the ballots of the
whole number of electors, the eventual choice devolved on
the senate.
Hamilton was opposed to this provision--it being an
essential part of his policy, that the chief magistrate should
not be chosen by any pre-existing body, and should be the
representative of the people, and not of the states. The
eventual choice by the senate was also repugnant to his
views. He saw, as an inevitable consequence, that many
of the states, to secure to their senators an ultimate control
over the executive, would defeat the choice by electors.
Rather than incur this evil, to which, as the president
was re-eligible, would be superadded the danger of a cor-
rupt influence being exerted by him upon the senate, he is
represented as preferring that the highest electoral ballot,
though not that of a majority, should appoint him.
The constitution of this office was a subject of consid-
eration until near the termination of their deliberations:
an effort being made, but defeated, to extend the execu-
tive term from four years to seven, to declare him not
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? HAIHUTOII.
539
re-eligible, and to restore the choice to the national legis-
lature.
Hamilton's views as to the structure of the government,
were modified during the progress of these discussions.
In his minutes of the debates taken at an early period
of its deliberations, this remark is found: "At the period
which terminates the duration of the executive, there will
be always an awful crisis in the national situation. " This
apprehension grew with his reflections; and when he saw
that the senate were to be chosen for a period of only six
years, with terms ceasing by rotation, and to be chosen by
the states in their sovereign capacities, and not by electors
of the people, it became a necessary consequence that he
would limit the duration of the executive office propor-
tionably. A president of so great duration as good beha-
viour, with a senate of so limited a duration, would soon
have become its master.
Influenced by these considerations, he drew up a second
plan while the convention was sitting, which limited the
term of the president to only three years.
The powers of the president were again discussed, and
were established according to the provisions in his first
plan. He was declared to be commander-in-chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of
the several states. All treaties were to be made by him,
with the advice and consent of the senate, with this quali-
fication, that "two-thirds of the senators present concur. "
In defining the power of appointment, with the exception
that the senate were to have a voice in that of the heads
of the executive departments, his plan was also closely
followed. The other provisions as to this great office,
were analogous to those he had devised; and though with-
out the guards he had sought to interpose, the great prin-
ciple was finally established, that he was to be chosen
through the medium of electors chosen by the people.
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His first plan, it is seen, contemplated a house of repre-
sentatives, to consist in the first instance of one hundred
members. This number was proposed by Hugh William-
son, but was not approved.
A house of representatives, to consist of sixty-five mem-
bers, which the scheme then before the convention had in
view, he thought was on so narrow a scale as to be dan-
gerous, and justly to warrant a jealousy for the liberty of
the country. It was the more important in his view to
enlarge it, because of the determination to give the event-
ual choice of the president to that branch of the legislature,
and from a belief, as he remarked, " that the connection be-
tween the president and senate would tend to perpetuate
him by corrupt influence. "* Hamilton's "earnestness and
anxiety " on this point were felt by Washington, and after
the convention had refused to enlarge the representation, at
the last moment of its sitting, when he rose to put the final
question on the constitution, he requested that the ratio of
representation should be established at thirty instead of
forty thousand for each representative, until a census should
be taken. The diminished ratio was unanimously assented
to. In further security of liberty, Hamilton's important
precaution had been adopted, excluding any "religious
test" as a qualification for office, but omitting the prohibi-
tion in his plan of the establishment " by law of any reli-
gious sect or denomination. "
One article of the draft then before that body provided
that, on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of
the states in the union for an amendment of the constitu-
tion, the legislature of the United States should call a con-
vention for that purpose.
To this article two serious objections existed: one, that
such an application would not be made by the states, unless
* Madison's Debates, 1533.
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? HAMILTON.
541
with a view to increase their powers, and the more enfee-
ble the general government; the other, the danger to be
apprehended of throwing open the whole constitution to a
future convention, a measure which might result in a dis-
solution of the union.
Hamilton's plan avoided these evils. Unwilling to lose
his hold upon the constitution about to be recommended as
the great bond of union, it provided that amendments
might be proposed by the legislature of the United States,
two-thirds of its members concurring, which, if ratified by
the legislatures or conventions of two-thirds of the states
composing the union, should become parts. of the still ex-
isting constitution.
His plan also probably led to the provisions in the fifth
article of the constitution, which was the result of a com-
promise.
The draft of a constitution reported on the sixth of Au-
gust, proposed that it should be laid before congress for
their approbation, and declared it as " the opinion of the
convention," that it should be afterwards submitted to a
convention, to be chosen in each state under the recom-
mendation of its legislature, to receive its ratification.
Should congress not have thought proper to submit the
constitution to be ratified, an event which, from the tem-
per previously displayed by that body, was not improbable,
the labours of the convention would have been regarded
as little more than a solemn farce.
Hamilton's plan declared, "that this constitution shall
be submitted to the consideration of conventions in the
several states, the members whereof shull be chosen by the
people, under the direction of their legislatures; the rati-
fication of each state being final, with power to each con-
vention, thus immediately expressing the will of the people
to appoint its senators and representatives, who, as Wash-
ington wodd be the choice, were to elect the first president.
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THE LIFE OF
Thus the establishment of the constitution was ensured,
the people of each state ratifying it, becoming by that act
parties to it, and forming the nucleus of a more extended
union.
The last article of the present constitution was evidently
framed in reference to this provision, though it embodied
a vicious principle of the confederation; declaring that
"the ratification of the conventions of nine* states shall be
sufficient for the establishment of the constitution between
the states so ratifying" it.
A revised plan of the constitution was reported by John-
son, on the twelfth of September, with a letter to congress
stating it to be the result of a spirit of amity, and of that
mutual deference and concession which the peculiarity of
their political situation rendered indispensable. Several
amendments having been made to the plan, an engrossed
copy was read before the convention on the seventeenth
of September.
Though doubting much of the efficacy of several of its
provisions, Hamilton earnestly urged the unanimous ap-
proval of all the members of the convention. Three--
Gerry, Mason, and Randolph--withheld their assent;
all the other delegates affixed their signatures, among
which Hamilton's name appears as the sole representative
of New-York.
From the previous narrative, it appears that any uncom-
pcllcd disclosure of the proceedings of the federal conven-
tion, was a breach of an express stipulation among its mem-
bers. It was to be expected that those who could violate
that stipulation, would not be very scrupulous as to the ac-
curacy of their statements.
The eminent position Hamilton held before this nation,
would naturally excite opposition and lead to misrepre-
* Seven had been proposed, then ten, then nine.
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? HAMILTON.
543
sentation. In the absence of real grounds of inculpation,
the more apt would be the resort to imputations of opinions
offensive to the easily excited suspicions of a jealous popu-
lation.
Such was the policy of his enemies. His theoretic doubts
of the permanency of purely democratic institutions, and
of their power to promote the happiness of a community,
and his approval of the British constitution, however quali-
fied, the open avowal of which ought to have produced
the opposite effect, were tortured into evidence of opinions
unfriendly to liberty, and these opinions were soon repre-
sented as designs.
Some additional statements are thus rendered necessary.
In the reply previously referred to, made by Hamilton to
an anonymous attack in the year seventeen hundred and
ninety-two, at the seat of government, when nearly all the
members of the convention were living, to a charge that
he "opposed the constitution in the grand convention, be-
cause it was too republican," he remarked, "This I af-
firm to be a gross misrepresentation. To prove it so, it
were sufficient to appeal to a single fact, namely, that the
gentleman alluded to was the only member from the state
to which he belonged who signed the constitution, and, it is
notorious, against the prevailing weight of the official in-
fluence of the state, and against what would probably be
the opinion of a large majority of his fellow-citizens, till
better information should correct their first impressions.
How, then, can he be believed to have opposed a thing
which he actually agreed to, and that in so unsupported a
situation and under circumstances of such peculiar respon-
sibility? To this, I shall add two more facts :--One, that
the member in question never made a proposition to the
convention which was not conformable to the republican
theory. The other, that the highest toned of any of the
propositions made by him, was actually voted for by the
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THE LIFE OF
representatives of several states, including some of the
principal ones, and including individuals who, in the esti-
mation of those who deem themselves the only republicans,
are pre-eminent for republican character. More than this
I am not at liberty to say. "*
* That Virginia voted for a president during good behaviour, is seen in the
journal of the seventeenth of July, and that Madison gave one of these votes
is not controverted by him in his report of the proceedings of that day. He
only seeks to explain it. His statement is, that Doctor McClurg moved this
term of service, with the comment, that" the probable object of this motion was
merely to enforce the argument against the re-eligibility of the executive ma-
gistrate by holding out a tenure during good behaviour, as the alternative for
keeping him independent of the legislature. " Madison reports his own
speech on this motion, which, as far as it relates to it, docs not disapprove it,
and adds this observation in a note: "The view here taken of the subject,
was meant to aid in parrying the animadversions likely to fall on the motion
of Doctor McClurg, for whom J. M. had a particular regard. The Doctor,
though possessing talents of the highest order, was modest and unaccustom-
ed to exert them in public debate. " It will be recollected that this explana-
tion is given after Hamilton's public and then uncontradicted charge, that
Madison's views on this subject did not differ from his own. Complaisance
strained to its utmost limit might induce these remarks to parry animadver-
sions on a friend, but complaisance did not require that Madison should not
merely have sought to parry censure of the proposition of a friend which ho
wished himself to be regarded as disapproving, but that he should have record-
ed his rote in favour of it. "This vote," he also observes in a note, " is not
to be considered as any certain index of opinion, as a number in the affirma-
tive probably had it chiefly in view to alarm those attached to a dependence
of the executive on the legislature, and thereby facilitate some final arrange-
ment of a contrary tendency. The avowed friends of an executive ' during
good behaviour,' were not more than three or four, nor is it certain they would
have adhered to such a tenure. " Madison has also left the evidence that he
did not at that time regard such a term of office as being inconsistent with
the republican theory. "If," he wrote, " we resort for a criterion to the dif-
ferent principles on which different forms of government are established, we
may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on a govern-
ment which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body
of the people, and is administered by persons holding their offices during plea-
sure, for a limited period, or during good behaviour," &c. --Federalist, No. 39.
Thus his vote and his theory were at this time consistent with each other. --
Mad. Papers, 1125, 6, 9.
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? HAMILTON.
545
A subsequent misstatement of his course in the conven-
tion, drew forth a voluntary publication from Luther Mar-
tin. "That Hamilton in a most able and eloquent address,
did express his general ideas upon the subject of govern-
ment, and of that government which would in all human
probability be most advantageous for the United States, I
admit; but, in thus expressing his sentiments, he did not
suggest a wish that any one officer of the government
should derive his power from any other source than the
people; that there should be in any instance an hereditary
succession to office, nor that any person should continue
longer than during good behaviour. "
Another publication appeared, charging him with having
proposed a monarchy to the convention. This was denied,
and it was replied, that "he proposed a system composed
of three branches, an assembly, a senate, and a governor.
That the assembly should be elected by the people for three
years, and that the senate and governor should be likewise
elected by the people, during good behaviour. "
In answer to this publication, Hamilton published a full
explanatory view of the propositions made by him.
"Thus the charge," he said, "is at length reduced to spe-
cific terms. Before it can be decided, however, whether
this would be a monarchy or a republic, it seems necessary
to settle the meaning of those terms.
"No exact definitions have settled what is or is not a re-
publican government as contradistinguished from a monar-
chical. Every man who speaks or writes on the subject,
has an arbitrary standard in his own mind. The mad de-
mocrat will have nothing republican which docs not accord
with his own mad theory. He rejects even representation.
Such is the opinion held by a man, now one of Mr. Jeffer-
son's ministers. Some authors denominate every govern-
ment a monarchy, in which the executive authority is placed
in a single hand, whether for life or for years, and wheth-
69
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? 546
THE LIFE OF
er conferred by election or by descent. According to this
definition, the actual government of the United States, and
of most of the states, is a monarchy.
"In practice, the terms republic and republican have been
applied with as little precision. Even the government of
England, with a powerful hereditary king, has been re-
peatedly spoken of by authors as a commonwealth or re-
public. The late government of Holland, with an heredi-
tary stadtholder, was constantly so denominated. That
of Poland, previous to the dissolution of the state, with an
executive for life, was never called by any other name.
"The truth seems to be, that all governments have been
deemed republics, in which a large portion of the sove-
reignty has been vested in the whole or in a considerable
body of the people; and that none have been deemed mon-
archies, as contrasted with the republican standard, in
wjjie^i there has not been an hereditary chief magistrate.
( "Were we to attempt a correct definition of a republi-
can government, we should say,'That is a republican gov-
ernment, in which both the executive and legislative organs
are appointed by a popular election, and hold their offices
upon a responsible and defeasible tenure. ' If this be not
so, then the tenure of good behaviour for the judicial de-
partment is anti-republican, and the government of this
state is not a republic; if the contrary, then a govern-
ment would not cease to be republican because a branch
of the legislature, or even the executive, held their offices
during good behaviour. In this case the two essential cri-
teria would still concur--the creation of the officer by a
popular election, and the possibility of his removal in the
course of law, by accusation before, and conviction by, a
competent tribunal.
"How far it may be expedient to go, even within the
bounds of the theory, in framing a constitution, is a differ-
ent question, upon which we pretend not to give our
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? HAMUTON. 547
>
opinion. It is enough for the purpose of our assertion, if
it be in principle correct. For even then, upon the state-
ment of the 'citizen'Jijmself, General Hamilton did not
propose a monarchy. J
"Thus much too we will add, that whether General Ham-
ilton at any stage of the deliberations of the convention
did, or did not make the proposition ascribed to him, it is
certain that his more deliberate and final opinion, adopted
a moderate term of years for the duration of the office of
president; as also appears by a plan of a constitution, in
writing now in this city, drawn up by that gentleman in detail.
"Whether the first system presented by Mr. Hamilton,
was the one to which he gave a decided preference, it
would be difficult to say, since we find him adopting and
proposing a different one in the course of the sitting of the
convention. It may have been that his opinion was nearly
balanced between the two; nay, it is possible he may
have really preferred the one last proposed, and that the
former, like many others, was brought forward to make it
the subject of discussion, and see what would be the opin-
ions of different gentlemen on so momentous a subject.
And, it is now repeated with confidence, that the Virginia
delegation did vote for the most energetic form of govern-
ment, and that Mr. Maddison was of the number. But we
desire to be distinctly understood, that it was never intended,
by mentioning this circumstance, to impeach the purity of
Mr. Maddison's motives. To arraign the morals of any
man, because he entertains a speculative opinion on gov-
ernment different from ourselves, is worse than arrogance.
He who does so, must entertain notions in ethics extremely
crude, and certainly unfavourable to virtue. "
It is not to be believed that such a statement would have
been thus publicly made, challenging contradiction, during
the lives of so many members of the convention, if it had
been in any respect erroneous; nor that Hamilton would
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have referred to his second plan of a constitution as being
"in writing now in this city," unless it was there to be
produced. This was a topic of much interest, and much
canvassed in the political controversies which had arisen,
yet his representation was not controverted. Another
exposition of his opinions is found in a letter addressed by
him to Colonel Pickering during the following year. *
* New-York, September 16, 1803.
MY DEAR SIR,
I will make no apology for my delay in answering your inquiry some time
since made, because I could offer none which would satisfy myself. I pray
you only to believe that it proceeded from any thing rather than want of re-
spect or regard. I shall now comply with your request.
The highest toned propositions which I made in the convention were for
a president, senate, and judges, during good behaviour; a house of represen-
tatives for three years. Though I would have enlarged the legislative power
of the general government, yet I never contemplated the abolition of the state
governments; but on the contrary, they were, in some particulars, constitu-
ent parts of my plan.
This plan was, in my conception, conformable with the strict theory of a
government purely republican; the essential criteria of which are, that the
principal organs of the executive and legislative departments be elected by
the people, and hold their offices by a responsible and temporary or defeasible
tenure.
A vote was taken on the proposition respecting the executive. Five states
were in favour of it; among these Virginia; and though, from the manner of vo-
ting by delegations, individuals were not distinguished, it was morally certain,
from the known situation of the Virginia members, (six in number, two of
them, Mason and Randolph, professing popular doctrines,) that Madison must
have concurred in the vote of Virginia. Thus, if I sinned against republi-
canism, Mr. Madison was not less guilty.
I may truly then say that I never proposed either a president or senate for
ETSTand that I neither recommended nor meditated the annihilation of the
state governments. ^
And I may'add, that in the course of the discussions in the convention,
neither the propositions thrown out for debate, nor even those voted in tho
earlier stages of deliberation, were considered as evidences of a definitive opin-
ion in the proposer or voter. It appeared to me to be in some sort understood
that, with a view to free investigation, experimental propositions might be
made, which were to be received merely as suggestions for consideration.
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? HAMILTON.
These statements receive light from the letter of a con-
temporary. * "I will conclude this long epistle by a con-
cise account of a conversation had with Hamilton, which
may not be deemed uninteresting, since it exhibits him as
Accordingly it is a fact, that my final opinion was against an executive du-
ring good behaviour, on account of the increased danger to the public Iran-
quillity incident to the election of a magistrate of this degree of permanency.
In the plan of a constitution which I drew up while the convention was
sitting, and which I communicated to Mr. Madison about the close of it,
perhaps a day or two after, the office of president has no greater duration
than for three years.
This plan was predicated upon these bases :--1. That the political princi-
ples of the people of this country would endure nothing but a republican
government. --2. That in the actual situation of the country, it was itself
right and proper that the republican theory should have a fair and full trial. --
3. That, to such a trial it was essential that the government should be so
constructed as to give it all the energy and the stability reconcilable with
the principles of that theory. These were the genuine sentiments of my
heart, and upon them I then acted.
I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be discovered that through want
of sufficient attention to the last idea, the experiment of republican govern-
ment, even in this country, has not been as complete, as satisfactory, and as
decisive, as could be wishcd. t
* Governor Lewis.
t In the appendix, No. 5, to Madison's Debates, this letter is referred to as evidence that
"Colonel Humilton was under the erroneous impression that this paper limited the duration
of the presidential term to three years. "
The " paper" tiius referred to by Madison, is the jir. *t plan. The term of three years is
in the second plan. Madison has not left behind him the original of cither of tho plans
which Hamilton gave him, but his copy of one of them. Hamilton's statement is, that he
"communicated to Madison the plan in which the omco of president has no greater dura-
tion than three years, not that ho left it with him, but on tho contrary publicly refers to it
as "a plan of a constitution in writing now in this c'ttr, drawn up by that gentleman in
detail. "
Having obtained a copy of the first plan, which probably was used dunns the debates
in the convention, Madison retains it in his pessescion, and refers to it as evidence of Ham-
ilton's "want of memory," and not to tho second plan, which Hamilton tenders as giving
the testimony to the change of his opinions. But he does not deny that there was a second
plan. It will be remarked that the volume cnntniriiug the Journal of the Convention de-
posited in tbe department of state is imperfect--the. minutes of September 15tii being crossed
with a pen. and that tho deficiency is supi'li"d by minutes furnished by Madison. Thus,
the evidence which this part of the journal might have given on this subject, is lost. --Juur
ual, p. 1179, in a note.
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