Mr. Madison was still a member of Congress, which was then sitting in New York. On the 5th of February General Washington wrote him: "Many have asked me with anxious solicitation, if you did not mean to get into the convention, conceiving it of indispensable importance.' Mr. Madison replied: "I have given notice to my friends in Orange, that the country may command my services in the convention if it pleases. I can say, with great truth, that in this overture I sacrifice every private inclination to considerations not of a selfish nature. I foresee that the undertaking will involve me in very laborious and irksome discussions; that public opposition to several very respectable characters, whose esteem and friendship I greatly prize, may unintentionally endanger the existing connection; and that disagreeable misconstructions, of which samples have been already given, may be the fruit of those exertions which fidelity will impose. But I have made up my determination on the subject; and, if I am informed that my presence at the election in the county be indispensable, I shall submit to that condition also, though it is my particular wish to decline it, as well to avoid apparent solicitude on the occasion, as a journey of such length at a very unpleasant season.' Communications received soon after this from his friends in Orange county, decided Mr. Madison upon a journey to his home. Colonel William Moore, who had been his colleague in the state legislature, wrote him in the following terms, urging his presence: "You know the disadvantage of being absent at elections to those who offer themselves to serve the public. I must therefore entreat and conjure you-nay, command you, if it were in my power-to be here in February, or the first of March next. Pray don't disappoint the wishes of your friends and many others, who are wavering on the Constitution, and anxiously waiting for an explanation from you. In short, they want your sentiments from your own mouth, which they say will convince them of the necessity of adopting it. I repeat again, come."

Mr. Madison left New York on the 4th of March, calling, on his jour ney, at Mount Vernon, and reached his home the day preceding the election. The time was short, but such was the trust of his constituents in the integrity and wisdom of their representative, that he was elected a member of the convention, and strengthened by a colleague of his own opinion. The season was now so far advanced that he determined on remaining in Virginia until after the adjournment of the convention, which would meet in June.

During this interval the correspondence with Mr. Jefferson was continued, and so strong a sentiment did it express of his opinions regarding the Constitution, that to omit it here would be to do him an injustice. Under date April 22, 1788, he wrote as follows: "The proposed convention still engrosses the public attention. The elections for the convention here are just over, and promulged. From the returns (excluding those from

Kentucky, which are not yet known), it seems probable, though not absolutely certain, that a majority of the members elect are friends to the Constitution. The superiority of abilities, at least, seems to lie on that side. The governor [Randolph] is so temperate in his opposi tion, and goes so far with the friends of the Constitution, that he cannot properly be classed with its enemies. Monroe is considered by some as an enemy; but I believe him to be a friend, though a cool one. There are other individuals of weight, whose opinions are unknown to me.

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The adversaries take very different grounds of opposition. Some are opposed to the substance of the plan; others to particular modifications only. Mr. Henry is supposed to aim at disunion. Colonel Mason is growing every day more bitter and outrageous in his efforts to carry his point. The preliminary question will be, whether previous alterations shall be insisted on or not. Should this be carried in the affirmative, either a conditional ratification or a proposal for a new convention will ensue. In either event, I think the Constitution and the Union will be both endangered. It is not to be expected that the states which have ratified will reconsider their determinations, and submit to the alterations prescribed by Virginia. And, if a second convention should be formed, it is as little to be expected that the same spirit will prevail in it as produced an amicable result to the first. It will be easy, also, for those who have latent views of disunion to carry them on under the mask of contending for alterations, popular in some, but inadmissible in other, parts of the United States. The real sense of the people of the state cannot be easily ascertained. They are certainly attached, and with warmth, to a continuance of the Union; and, I believe, a large majority of the most intelligent and independent are equally so to the plan under consideration.

While Mr. Jefferson favored a revision of the articles of confederation and the adoption of a form of government that would unite the divergent interests of the country, he deemed certain features, and the lack of other express provisions, as grave mistakes. In a letter to Mr. Madison, dated December 20, 1787, he said: "I like much the general idea of framing a government which should go on of itself peaceably without needing contin ual recurrence to the state legislatures. I like the organization of the government into legislative, judiciary, and executive. I like the power given the legislature to levy taxes; and for that reason solely, I approve of the greater house being chosen by the people directly. There were objections on other points-in particular, the omission of a bill of rights; and the indefinite re-eligibility of the President. In all, he favored the adoption of the Constitution, by nine of the states, and the refusal by four of its ratification until such amendments as they should propose, were adopted, thus providing for covering the points he specially mentioned, as well as others that might in the future be brought forward. Or, in lieu of

this, to follow the plan proposed by Massachusetts,-accept the Constitution as a whole, and afterward amend. In letters addressed to General Washington and to Edward Rutledge, of South Carolina, written about this time, he thus spoke of Madison's connection with the ratification of the Constitution by Virginia: "He will be its main pillar; but, though an immensely powerful one, it is questionable whether he can bear the weight of such a host," referring to the strong intellects arrayed against him.

The convention of Virginia which assembled in Richmond, on Monday, June 2, 1788, was composed of one hundred and seventy members. Edmund Pendleton, one of the ablest and most influential of the many able men comprising the convention, was unanimously chosen president. After the election of other officers and the appointment of a committee of privileges and elections, the convention adjourned to the following day. On the 4th it resolved into committee of the whole. The interest of all classes was centered on the deliberations of the convention, and each day the lobbies were crowded with representative men of the state, beside many strangers from other states. Debate was opened by George Nicholas, who confined himself to the first two sections of the first article, those relating to the organization of the House of Representatives. He was followed by Mr. Henry, who brought the weight of his eloquence to bear against the Constitution, and went beyond the ground agreed upon in the early debate of the question. Governor Randolph replied to Mr. Henry, and was in turn met in argument by Colonel Mason. The discussion of the day was closed by Mr. Madison. It is to be regretted that the limits of this work will not allow of copious extracts from many of his speeches on this and on other occasions. The question of ratification of the Constitution was mainly discussed by the persons whose names have heretofore appeared, the burden of refuting the arguments of the opposition falling almost entirely upon Mr. Madison. With him each point was candidly considered; those bearing weight were allowed to stand, while those intended simply to influence the result, were torn in pieces, and their fallacies exposed. Mr. Jefferson expressed an opinion of Mr. Madison when in his prime, that well represents him in this convention. He says: "Taken all in all, he was the ablest man in debate I have ever met with. He had not, indeed, the poetic fancy of Mr. Henry, his sublime imagination, his lofty and overwhelming diction. But he was cool, smooth, and persuasive; his language flowing, chaste, and embellished; his conceptions quick, acute, and full of resource; never vanquished. .

Add to this, he was one of the most virtuous and benevolent of men; the kindest friend; the most amiable and pleasant of companions, which ensured a favorable reception to whatever came from him." Possessed of the attributes thus ascribed to him by his friend, and which were reiterated by others familiar with the man and his character, it is not to be wondered that he overcame even the almost resistless eloquence of Pat

rick Henry, of whom Jefferson wrote: "He seemed to me to speak as Homer wrote."

Debate on the Constitution was brought to a close on the 23d of June, and on the 24th Mr. Wythe, who had occupied the chair throughout the deliberations, descended to the floor, and submitted a proposition for its ratification. This was debated during the two following days, all of the leading opponents to the Constitution speaking against it, while but four of its friends-Mr. Madison, Governor Randolph, Mr. Nicholas, and Mr. Innes -spoke in its favor. The question was then put to the house on Mr. Wythe's proposition, and carried, and a committee consisting of Mr. Madson, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Nicholas, Mr. Marshall, and Mr. Corbin, was appointed to prepare a suitable form of ratification. The form prepared by the committee was signed the following day by the president of the convention. A bill of rights was afterwards agreed upon by the house, and "recommended to the consideration of Congress, to be acted upon according to the mode prescribed in the fifth article of the Constitution." Thus was ended a contest second only in importance to that which preceded the adoption of the Constitution in the general convention.

New Hampshire had ratified the Constitution the 21st of June, thus making the required number to insure its adoption, although that fact was unknown to the Virginia convention. The ratification in New Hampshire was severely contested, and was only carried conditionally. Neither North Carolina nor Rhode Island had as yet accepted the Constitution, and the latter refused even to call a convention for that purpose.

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CHAPTER V.

RE-ELECTED TO CONGRESS.

NDER the Constitution each state was now entitled to two senators No date had been decided upon for the election of these officers, and on November 1, 1788, Patrick Henry, who had been foremost in the opposition to the Constitution, moved that the two houses of the Virginia assembly proceed to the election of senators as the order of business for one week from that day. It was the wish of his friends that Mr. Madison present his name as a candidate, although his preferences led him to the lower house. In deference, however, to the wishes of those who had sustained him in public life thus far, he consented that his name be presented, well aware that the determined opposition of Mr. Henry and all others who so strenuously condemned the ratification of the Constitution, would be centered toward his defeat. Mr. Henry took it upon himself to nominate two candidates for the offices-Richard Henry Lee, and Mr. Grayson-both of the number of those who opposed the Constitution; at the same time, by disparaging Madison in the minds of members of the assembly, he attempted to still further increase the strength of his candidates. As it was, the vote was close, resulting in ninety-eight for Mr. Lee, eighty-six for Mr. Grayson, and seventy-seven for Mr. Madison.

Efforts were made by Mr. Henry in an attempt to still further humiliate Mr. Madison. A new arrangement of Congressional districts was made, by which it was hoped to defeat him in a re-election to the House of Representatives; at the same time a law was passed that no member should represent a district in which he did not reside. These efforts to keep him out of Congress had the effect to excite a general interest in his behalf in other sections of the state. Both Williamsburg and Augusta, though in other districts, proposed that he run for office under their patronage, believing the law prohibiting such representation unconstitutional. He resolved to remain by his own district, and in the latter part of December returned to