Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/217

JAMES MADISON 177 Then, he was chief author of the most fundamental features in the constitution, those which trans formed our government from a loose confederacy of states into a Federal nation; and to him is due the principal credit for the compromise that made the adoption of the constitution possible for all the states. After the adjournment of the convention his services did not cease. Among those whose in fluence in bringing about the ratification of the constitution was felt all over the country, he shares with Hamilton the foremost place. The "Fed eralist," their joint production, is probably the greatest treatise on political science that has ever appeared in the world, at once the most practical and the most profound. The evenness with which the merits of this work are shared between Madison and Hamilton is well illustrated by the fact that it is not always easy to distinguish between the two, so that there has been considerable controversy as to the number of papers contributed by each. Ac cording to Madison s own memorandum, he was the author of twenty-nine of the papers, while fifty-one were written by Hamilton, and five by Jay. The question is not of great importance. Very prob ably Mr. Madison would have had a larger share in the work had he not been obliged, in March, 1788, to return to Virginia, in order to take part in the State convention for deciding upon the ratifi cation .of the constitution.