Pennsylvania actually had a large army operating under Patterson in the beautiful Valley of Wyoming, where outrages were committed which outdid even the legendary depredations of the British.

From all sections the reports of alarm and discontent poured in to the supine general government and to the almost equally helpless or vicious state governments.

Washington, who of all the men of his period was not only the most revered but the most restrained in his statements, summed the situation up in letters to his friends. Those letters can leave no doubt that the father of his country had almost despaired of it at that time although he was still (as later events showed) ready and willing to make further sacrifices for it if he thought that in so doing he could save it from itself, as he had previously saved it from its external enemies.

Writing to John Jay in 1786, he said: "What astonishing changes a few years can produce. I am told that even respectable characters, alarmed at the present chaos, speak of a monarchical form of government without horror." In the same year he wrote to Wil

liam Grayson: "Our character as a nation is dwindling, and what it must come to if a change should not soon take place, our enemies have already foretold. In truth, we seem either not capable or not willing to take care of ourselves."

Again, this time to James Warren: "The Confederation seems to me to be little more than a shadow without substance and Congress a nugatory body, their ordinances being little attended to. To me it is one of the most extraordinary things in nature that we should confederate as a nation and yet be afraid to give the rulers of that nation sufficient powers to order and direct the affairs of the same. By such policy as this the wheels of government are clogged and we are descending into the vale of confusion and darkness. Something must be done and promptly, or the fabric will fall. It is certainly tottering."

As if not content with the confusion already existing and seemingly determined to make their contempt for their own government as well known in Europe as at home, armed bands for many months conducted organized raids upon Tories. Altogether more than

100,000 of them were driven like dogs out of the country and into Canada, in absolute violation of the most solemn treaty obligations.

Great Britain retaliated by refusing to surrender certain important border fortresses which she held, thereby emphasizing the impotence of the American government to keep its own pledges or to compel the British to keep theirs. The army and navy, both badly disorganized and shamefully neglected by the government to whose services they had given themselves, were reduced to a terrible plight. Whenever army or navy officers gathered, the toast was: "A hoop to the barrel; cement to the Union; an end to mob rule!"

CHAPTER III

THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

ΤΗ

HE Constitutional Convention began under a shadow typical of the period. An attempt had been made shortly before to hold a conference at Annapolis to find some way out of the existing chaos. The states were so despondent and impoverished that only five of them sent delegates, and all that the meeting accomplished was to issue a call for a more ambitious convention at Philadelphia. That one act, however, gives it a place in history. When the delegates actually began their deliberations in Philadelphia, the ceremonies were simple and characteristic of the men who were to put the nation upon a solid foundation. Without wasting any time in eulogies, Robert Morris, who was the financier of the Revolution and who had made tremendous sacrifices for his country, moved that Washington be selected as chairman. This meeting with unanimous approval, Washington was escorted to the chair, and the most important

gathering ever held on the American continent was soon under

way.

The delegates held views ranging all the way from those of a strong monarchist to those of the most socialistic devotee of the doctrines of Rousseau. They were thoroughly familiar not only with all of the different political theories then current but also with the distinguishing characteristics of the nation for which they were to formulate an adequate and lasting governmental system. They knew that if Rousseau had been told to form a government, he would have sought out the most pleasant natural surroundings for his people, and would have laid much stress on the physical environment rather than on the frame of government. They knew that if Montesquieu had been so empowered, he would have sought the most exact balance of power; and that Machiavelli would have sought the strongest Prince. They had discussed among themselves and later debated in convention the merits and defects of all the known systems in history bearing on the problem in hand. No understanding of the convention or of what it produced is possible, however, unless it is re