When Hamilton signed the Constitution, on the 17th of September, it was by no means strong enough to suit him, but as it was incomparably better than the Articles of Confederation, which had carried the country to the edge of anarchy and ruin, and was regarded by a formidable number of people and their leaders as so strong as to be a menace to the liberties of the American citizen, he could with consistency and ardour exert himself to secure its ratification.  After all, it was built of his stones, chipped and pared though they might be; had he not gone to the Convention, the result might have been a constitution for which his pen would have refused to plead.

Manhattan Island, Kings and Westchester counties had long since accepted his doctrines, and they stood behind him in unbroken ranks; but the northern counties and cities of New York, including Albany, were still under the autocratic sway of Clinton.  Hamilton’s colleagues, Yates and Lansing, had resigned their seats in the Great Convention.  Among the signatures to the Constitution his name stood alone for New York, and the fact was ominous of his lonely and precarious position.  But difficulties were ever his stimulant, and this was not the hour to find him lacking in resource.

“The Constitution terrifies by its length, complexity, frigidity, and above all by its novelty,” he said to Jay and Madison, who met by appointment in his library.  “Clinton, in this State, has persuaded his followers that it is so many iron hoops, in which they would groan and struggle for the rest of their lives.  To defeat him and this pernicious idea, we must discuss the Constitution publicly, in the most lucid and entertaining manner possible, lay every fear, and so familiarize the people with its merits, and with the inseparable relation of its adoption to their personal interests, that by the time the elections for the State Convention take place, they will be sufficiently educated to give us the majority.  And as there is so much doubt, even among members of the Convention, as to the mode of enacting the Constitution, we must solve that problem as quickly as possible.  My purpose is to publish a series of essays in the newspapers, signed, if you agree with me, Publius, and reaching eighty or ninety in number, which shall expound and popularize the Constitution of the United States; and if you will give me your inestimable help, I am sure we shall accomplish our purpose.”

“If you need my help, I will give it to you to the best of my ability, sir,” said Jay, “but I do not pretend to compete with your absolute mastery of the complex science of government, and I fear that my weaker pen may somewhat counteract the vigour of yours; but, I repeat, I will do my best with the time at my disposal.”

Hamilton laughed, “You know how anxious I am to injure our chances of success,” he said.  “I hope all things from your pen.”

Jay bowed formally, and Hamilton turned to Madison.  “I know you must feel that you have done your share for the present,” he said, “and there is hard work awaiting you in your State Convention, but the subject is at your finger tips; it hardly can be too much trouble.”