Take first the case of the United States. The time between the recognition of American Independence in 1783 and the adoption of the Federal constitution in 1788 has been well called the 'critical period of American history.' During this period of strenuous agitation Alexander Hamilton, Madison, and other American statesmen had freely discussed in a general way their ideas upon Federal union, and had made many but widely divergent attempts to outline the main principles upon which it should be based. Still, when the famous convention which met in 1787, eleven years after the declaration of independence, entered upon its discussions, it had to deal, not with any single plan, but with many contradictory plans, brought forward by states or individuals. It is now known that weeks and indeed months spent in anxious consultation elapsed before even the most sanguine among the delegates began to feel assurance that a plan which would harmonize conflicting ideas could be devised. Even when the Federal constitution was at length drafted, and Alexander Hamilton, at the last session of the convention, made {298} a final plea for its adoption, he emphasized his demand for the sacrifice of personal preferences by pointing out how remote its provisions were from the ideas which he had at the outset entertained and had indeed supported throughout the discussions. It was at a later period that Hamilton and other leaders of the Federation movement made their contributions to the famous 'Federalist,' a series of discussions avowedly written with a view to secure popular support for a plan which had previously, however, only been elaborated by the united wisdom of the trained statesmanship of the country[1]. The discussion of Canadian Confederation had been conducted only upon general lines up to the time when the leading public men of Canada, drawn alike from all political parties, met in conference at Quebec in 1866. The Federal system of the United States had given general direction to the public thought, but the actual scheme by which Confederation was accomplished had been barely outlined in the minds of a few of the principal delegates; the resolutions at first proposed were submitted to much criticism and revision, and the final form of the constitution was only adopted after weeks of earnest discussion. Even Sir John Macdonald admitted that on the quite {299} fundamental question of whether the union should or should not be Legislative, he only yielded his own convictions to the manifest objection of the majority in the Conference.