who ever prepared himself for that profession), he devoted his time for the next eleven years exclusively to the deep and comprehensive study of the theory, history and practice of governments.

Hence, when the Federal Convention met in Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to attempt the difficult experiment of framing a new National Constitution, it was natural that Madison should have been the man to prepare the first draft of suggestions to be submitted to the delegates at their opening session. This draft contained a plan for an entirely new kind of Government-a Federal Republic-a combination of States and Nation in one working whole, in which the central Government should be supreme as to national and foreign affairs, but in which (and of equal importance) the States should retain full control of their local affairs and of their local problems and should regulate them, each for itself, according to the particular habits, views

and conditions of its own citizens. This dual system of Government was a fundamentally new American invention. Never before in the world's history had there existed a Republic so constituted. It was, as Madison himself expressed it, "a system without an example, ancient or modern."

What are the five pillars of this system?

First. That all power comes from the people. They are the masters; the National Government and its officers, merely their servants.

Second. That the National Government shall deal only with national affairs, and the States with all other subjects.

Third. That the National Government can exercise no powers except those granted to it by the Constitution, and the States can exercise no powers prohibited to them by the Constitution.

Fourth. That every individual citizen possesses certain rights of personal liberty

which the National Government must not infringe under any circumstances.

Fifth. That the Courts shall have power to decide when the provisions of the Constitution have been infringed and to determine that no action of the Congress, or of the President, or of any other official, or of any State, which violates the Constitution, shall be allowed to become the basis of any right in the Government or in any private individual.

While it cannot be said that Madison invented this new form of Government (for it was a gradual development through the writings of a few other able statesmen like Pelatiah Webster, Noah Webster, John Jay, and Charles Pinckney) it was Madison who most thoroughly grasped and pointed out its fundamental principles. It was to him that the delegates turned for explanation during the four months of the Convention. It was to his power of statement and argument, to his profound knowledge of his

tory and governmental experience, to his tact, courtesy and fairness that we owe a large part of the detailed working out of the plan. So that he has ever since. been known, without dissent, as "The Father of the Constitution."

But have you ever thought how it happens that we now know anything more about the meaning of the Constitution than can be obtained from reading its words, and the decisions of the Supreme Court which interpret its meaning? That we do know anything more, is due to the patient labor and wise foresight of James Madison; for he was the only man who made full notes of the discussions in the Convention and preserved them. Every day on which the Convention sat, during the four months of that long, hot summer, and throughout each day, Madison was present in that upstairs room in Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Sitting immediately in front of the presiding officer, he took down, in his own

form of shorthand, the speeches as they were delivered; and after each day's session, he wrote out his notes at once. For, said he, "I was not unaware of the value of such a contribution to the fund of materials for the history of a Constitution on which would be staked the happiness of a people and possibly the cause of liberty throughout the world." 4

This work, now known as "Madison's Notes of Debates," was not printed and published until the year 1840. Few written words have played a larger part in the history of this country since that time, and few are better worthy of close study by all American citizens. I earnestly suggest that you read them.*

Next Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania. The Franklin whom I call to your attention is not the Franklin depicted by

* "Madison's Notes of Debates" have recently been reprinted in a Government publication, House Doc. No. 398, 69th Cong., 1st Sess., entitled Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American States.