=246. Ability in the Convention.=—This convention was fortunate in having prominent representatives of all classes. Every state sent its best. Of the fifty-five members, twenty-nine had been college bred. Jefferson and John Adams were in Europe. Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry opposed the convention and remained at home. With these exceptions the most eminent men of the country were present. Washington and Franklin, by their general wisdom and great experience, represented the practical judgment of men of affairs. There were John Dickinson, whose _Farmer’s Letters_ had done so much to bring on the Revolution (§ 131), and James Wilson, a Scotchman, one of the most learned jurists the country has ever had. Hamilton and Madison, by their varied and profound knowledge of political history, brought to the convention the advantage of the best types of general scholarship. Hamilton,[101] though only thirty years of age, was probably the ablest political thinker in the body. But his power was neutralized by the fact that New York, the state which he represented, had opposed the convention, and had sent two delegates to do what they could to prevent success. Hamilton was further handicapped by the extreme nature of his views, for he believed in a much stronger central government than could at that time be adopted. [Illustration: JAMES MADISON.] =247. James Madison.=—For these reasons, the main guidance of the convention fortunately fell upon James Madison,[102] a young man less brilliant than Hamilton, but superior to him in the art of estimating what is possible. A graduate of Princeton College, he had been from his youth a devoted student of history, had made himself thoroughly acquainted with all the best books on political science, and had paid particular attention to the republican organizations of Greece, Rome, Switzerland, and Holland. From the time he was twenty-five he had taken a prominent part in the Virginia legislature and in Congress, and he thoroughly understood the weaknesses and difficulties of the Articles of Confederation. His knowledge and experience, though united with a remarkable firmness of purpose, were presented with a kindness and sweetness of manner that commended his views to all his fellow-members. Madison, therefore, was the most influential of the members in giving the Constitution the form in which it was adopted.