state, and did more than any other member to wring the approval of the new instrument from delegates practically instructed by their constituents to vote against it. Hamilton was appointed first Secretary of the Treasury by Washington and held that office until all of the great fiscal measures associated with his name were firmly established. He was employed by the government in 1796 to defend the constitutionality of the carriage tax when it was assailed by Virginia Republicans. He was called to the service of the nation in 1798, when war with France was impending, and in the stirring battle of 1800 he was the most trusted leader and adviser in the Federalist party. During his life Hamilton's devotion to the Federalist principles which he early espoused never weakened, and he met his unhappy death at the hands of a political opponent, Aaron Burr, whose lack of skill in intrigue prevented him from becoming the first Republican President.1

William C. Houston, of New Jersey, was prevented by illhealth from remaining through the sessions of the Convention, and he died in 1788 before the new government was set in motion.

William Houstoun, of Georgia, did not sign the Constitution, but he gave his support to it. Reasonable care in the examination of the available biographical materials fails to reveal any important particulars concerning his career or political views after the inauguration of the new government. If he followed the example of the other members from Georgia, he went over to the Republican party, and this is highly probable. Nevertheless, he must at present be classed as doubtful.

Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, a signer of the Constitution, apparently did not seek any public office after his

1 Below, p. 408.

services in the Convention. He was early nominated to the post of United States district attorney, but declined to serve. Adams offered him a federal judgeship in 1801, but he refused it. He was selected as the Federalist candidate for Vice-President in 1812, and no doubt he remained a firm Federalist until his death.1

Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, a signer of the Constitution, from Maryland, died in 1790, and therefore took no part in the political controversies which began to rage early in Washington's administration.

William Samuel Johnson, of Connecticut, a signer of the Constitution, was also a member of the Connecticut convention and there voted in favor of ratifying the Constitution. He was elected to the first Senate of the United States and served from 1789 to 1791, giving his powerful support to the funding bill, the judiciary act, and the other measures which were designed to afford stable foundations for the new system. After his term of service in the Senate, Johnson devoted himself to his labors as President of Columbia College, until his resignation in 1800. Like all the stalwart Federalists of his native state, Johnson remained faithful to his party until his death in 1819. After his retirement from Columbia College he seems to have taken little or no part in political discussions,2 but Dr. Dwight, of Yale, said of him in 1815 that he might be considered "as the representative of his contemporaries of a former age, whom time has spared for the purpose of pointing out to their children the true policy of this state." 3 If Johnson had betrayed in public discourse or private conversation any sympathy with the party of Jefferson, he would hardly have received this praise from the valiant warrior against atheism.* 1 H. Binney, Leaders of the Old Bar of Philadelphia, p. 86. 2 Beardsley, Life and Times of Johnson, p. 165. Ibid., 167.

See below, p. 365.

Rufus King, of Massachusetts, a signer of the Constitution, moved to New York in 1788 and was at once elected to the United States Senate, where he served from 1789 to 1796. In the Senate he was a thoroughgoing and powerful supporter of Hamilton's fiscal and commercial measures. At the expiration of his term, King was appointed minister to Great Britain and represented the United States there until 1803. He was the Federalist candidate for VicePresident in 1804; he ran for governor of New York on the Federalist ticket in 1815; and he had the honor of being the last candidate ever nominated for President of the United States by the Federalists, in 1816. Although unable to secure an office by popular vote, King was elected as a Federalist to the Senate in 1813 and remained there until 1825. In that year he was sent for a second time to the Court of St. James as minister of the United States, but he held this post for only one year. He died in 1827.

John Langdon, of New Hampshire, a signer of the Constitution, was a member of the state ratifying convention and it was largely by his skilful engineering that the convention was adjourned when it was found that a majority were instructed to vote in the negative, and reassembled when enough converts to the Federalist party had been secured. Langdon was elected to the first Senate and he took an active part in the management of Hamilton's fiscal measures in Congress. He remained loyal to the Federalist group until 1794 when he broke with Washington's policies. The following year he opposed the Jay treaty and for this action the commercial town of Portsmouth voted him thanks and gave him a public dinner. From that time forward he was a strong opponent of the administration; he attacked Adams with extraordinary vehemence; and at length he attached himself to Jefferson's party, believing that it was

time for all men of "property and influence" to follow the leadership of the great Virginian. His biographer says of him: "He courted popularity with the zeal of a lover and the constancy of a martyr." 2

John Lansing, of New York, left the Philadelphia Convention before the Constitution was finished, because he contended that the delegates had exceeded their powers in casting aside the Articles of Confederation and drafting a national system. He was a member of the New York convention and there worked and voted against the ratification of the Constitution. Lansing was appointed justice of the New York supreme court in 1790, and eight years later was elevated to the post of chief justice, which he occupied until 1814 when he became a regent of the University of New York. He remained a consistent Anti-Federalist until the end of his days, but he was not an active politician, and he declined to become a candidate for governor in 1804 when the Anti-Federalists unanimously nominated him.

William Livingston, of New Jersey, a signer of the Constitution, was offered a post as superintendent of federal buildings as soon as the new government was established, but he declined the appointment. He was shortly afterward asked by Washington to go to Holland as the minister of the United States, but this he likewise declined. He died in 1790.

James McClurg, of Virginia, was an eminent physician at Richmond, and does not seem to have taken a prominent part in national politics. Washington thought so highly of his abilities that he might have appointed him Secretary of

1 The Aurora, November 14, 1800. Langdon wrote, on October 18, 1800, "I am greatly rejoiced to see gentlemen of property and influence coming forward at this eventful moment."

2 Batchellor, State Papers of New Hampshire, Vol. XXI, pp. 806 ff. Farrand, Records, Vol. III, p. 244.

State on Jefferson's resignation, but was deterred by the rumor that he was a speculator.1 McClurg was elected a director of the Bank of the United States in 1791, and all of his affiliations were Federalist in character. But without conclusive documentary evidence as to his later political views, McClurg must remain for the present unclassified.

James McHenry, of Maryland, one of the signers of the Constitution, was also a member of the convention of his state and voted in favor of ratification. He early expressed his willingness to accept office under the new government.2 He served as Secretary of War, under Washington for a time, and also for a short period under Adams. McHenry was active in politics, particularly during the campaign of 1800 in which he supported the Federalist cause with great ardor. The defeat of his party in no way diminished his devotion to Federalist principles and he remained loyal to them until his death in 1816. To the end, he hoped that enough Federalists might be found to protect the Constitution against radical changes and to restore it to its original form, and he never ceased to lament the low estate into which the nation had fallen through the triumph of "democratical" doctrines. To Lafayette, he wrote in 1803 in a tone akin to despair: "Were you to come among us, you would find yourself in many points of view, as it were, in a new world. Most of your old friends in private life, friends tremblingly alive to whatever is likely to affect their popu

1 Jefferson, Works (Washington ed.), Vol. IX, p. 168.

"I asked appointments for some honest but poor federals of this place and the President has been very attentive to my recommendations. I asked nothing for myself because in fact I am very easy in my circumstances. Still, however, I am not wholly lost to ambition and would have no objection to a situation where I might indulge and improve at the same time my literary propensities with perhaps some advantage to the public. Will you therefore be good enough to feel (if a resident or even chargé des affaires is to be appointed to London or France) whether the President has thought of me or would in such a case nominate me." Hamilton Mss., October 27, 1789.

E