202 JAMES MADISON 



from the smaller states, under the lead of New Jersey, 

 until the matter was settled by the famous Connecticut 

 compromise, according to which the upper house was 

 to represent states, while the lower house represented 

 population. Madison's original scheme, moreover, 

 would have allowed the national legislature to set aside 

 at discretion such state laws as it might deem uncon- 

 stitutional. It may seem strange to find Madison, 

 who afterward drafted the Virginia resolutions of 1 798, 

 now suggesting and defending a provision so destruc- 

 tive of state rights. It shows how strongly he was 

 influenced at the time by the desire to put an end to 

 the prevailing anarchy. The discussion of this matter 

 in the convention, as we read it to-day, brings out in 

 a very strong light the excellence of the arrangement 

 finally adopted, by which the constitutionality of state 

 laws is left to be determined through the decision of 

 the federal Supreme Court. 



In all the discussions in the federal convention, 

 Madison naturally took a leading part. Besides the 

 work of cardinal importance which he achieved as 

 principal author of the Virginia plan, especial mention 

 must be made of the famous compromise that adjusted 

 the distribution of representatives between the North- 

 ern and the Southern states. We have seen that in 

 the Congress of 1783, when it was a question of taxa- 

 tion, the South was inclined to regard slaves as chat- 

 tels, while the North preferred to regard them as 

 population. Now, when it had come to be a question 

 of the apportionment of representation, the case was re- 

 versed ; it was the South that wished to count slaves 

 as population, while the North insisted that they 

 should be classed as chattels. Here Mr. Madison 



