He sketched the miseries of the past eleven years, the poverty, the dangers, the dishonour, and then by the most precise and logical deduction presented a future which, by the commonest natural and social laws, must, without the protection of a high and central power, be the hideous finish.  The twilight came; the evening breeze was rustling through the trees and across the sultry room.  As Hamilton had calculated, the moment came when he had his grip on the very roots of the enemy’s nerves.  Chests were rising, handkerchiefs appearing.  Women fainted.  Clinton blew his nose with such terrific force that the messenger below scrambled to his feet.  Hamilton waited during a breathless moment, then charged down upon them.

“Now listen, gentlemen,” he said.  “No one so much as I wishes that this Constitution be ratified to the honour of the State of New York; but upon this I have determined:  that the enlightened and patriotic minority shall not suffer for the selfishness and obstinacy of the majority.  I therefore announce to you plainly, gentlemen, that if you do not ratify this Constitution, with no further talk of impossible amendments and conditions, that Manhattan Island, Westchester, and Kings counties shall secede from the State of New York and form a State by themselves, leaving the rest of your State without a seaport, too contemptible to make treaties, with only a small and possibly rebellious militia to protect her northern boundaries from the certain rapacity of Great Britain, with the scorn and dislike of the Union, and with no hope of assistance from the Federal Government, which is assured, remember, no matter what her straits.  That is all.”

It was enough.  He had won the day.  The Constitution was ratified without further parley.

X

Hamilton reentered New York to the blaze of bonfires, the salute of cannon, and the deafening shouts of a multitude that escorted him to his doorway.  Betsey was so proud of him she hardly could speak for a day, and his library was flooded with letters of congratulation from all parts of the Union.  For several days he shut himself up with his family and a few friends, for he needed the rest; and the relaxation was paradisal.  He played marbles and spun tops with his oldest boys, and dressed and undressed Angelica’s doll as often as his imperious daughter commanded.  Troup and Fish, now the dignified Adjutant-General of State, with his bang grown long and his hair brushed back, spent hours with him in the heavy shades of the garden, or tormenting a monkey on the other side of the fence.  Madison came at once to wrangle with him over the temporary seat of government, and demanded the spare bedroom, protesting he had too much to say to waste time travelling back and forth.  He was a welcome guest; and he, too, sat on the floor and dressed Angelica’s doll.