The works of Alexander Hamilton (vol. 1 of 7)

Chapter 272: HAMILTON TO MADISON.

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About This Book

The collection assembles correspondence, political and official writings, and administrative records, bringing together personal letters, logistical instructions, and notes on military and financial matters. The letters reveal commercial and maritime concerns alongside reflections on ambition and practical business arrangements. Official documents include pay-books, legal and constitutional commentary, and essays addressing finance, trade, currency, and international affairs. Read together, the pieces document the practical work of public life and the evolution of economic and governmental ideas through a mix of private dispatches, administrative detail, and argumentative writing.

HAMILTON TO MADISON.

Poughkeepsie, June 21, 1788.

Yesterday, my dear sir, the Convention made a House. That day and this have been spent in preliminary arrangements. To-morrow, we go into a committee of the whole on the Constitution. There is every appearance that a full discussion will take place, which will keep us together at least a fortnight. It is not easy to conjecture what will be the result. Our adversaries greatly outnumber us. The leaders gave indications of a pretty desperate disposition in private conversations previous to the meeting; but I imagine the minor partisans have their scruples, and an air of moderation is now assumed. So far the thing is not despaired of. A happy issue with you must have considerable influence upon us. I have time to add nothing more than the assurances of my sincere attachment.

A. Hamilton.