Wise man among wise men: James Wilson was so knowledgeable on the subject of government that he was generally regarded as the most erudite of all the learned Founding Fathers.

A fellow delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia made the following assessment of James Wilson's gifts: "Government seems to have been his peculiar study, all the political institutions of the world he knows in detail, and can trace the causes and effects of every revolution from the earliest stages of the Grecian commonwealth down to the present time."

That is certainly high praise when one considers the caliber of men serving in that council, but the attribution of such abilities was not rare in the case of James Wilson as he was generally considered the most erudite of all the learned Founding Fathers.

Wilson began his education by training to become a Presbyterian minister, but he had to abandon that design when his father died, forcing James to seek employment. He, as did contemporary and fellow convention delegate Alexander Hamilton, took to bookkeeping as a vocation. Following the passing of his father, Wilson soon immigrated to the United States from his native Scotland. Upon arriving in America, Wilson began studying law under John Dickinson, Philadelphia's most prominent attorney of the day.

Wilson's legal career afforded him the opportunity to become acquainted with many of Philadelphia's leading citizens, many of whom were growing more and more impatient with Great Britain's unbounded tyranny. Impatience festered into revolt. Wilson's personal involvement in revolutionary politics began in the infancy of the uprising. By 1774, he was writing eloquent and persuasive tracts in favor of the American cause. One particularly potent paragraph boldly asserts: "All men are by nature, equal and free. No one has a right to any authority over another without his consent." He continued, "The happiness of the society is the first law of every government." Wilson's rhetoric was so well crafted that his enemies were regularly frustrated in their efforts to deconstruct his arguments.

James Wilson's involvement in the establishment of the American republic included playing pivotal roles in the ratification of both of America's foundation documents: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. In the case of the Declaration, Wilson found himself in a bind since his home state of Pennsylvania was divided on the issue of independence, and he refused to vote against the will of his constituents despite his own vocal support for independence. But he petitioned Congress for and was granted a three-week delay on the vote so he could consult with his fellow Pennsylvanians. On July 4, 1776, he cast the deciding vote for Pennsylvania on behalf of independence. After the Declaration was engrossed on parchment, Wilson signed it. Eleven years later, he signed the Constitution.

As was the case with many of the most influential Founders, Wilson's best work was done in defense of the Constitution produced in the summer of 1787. When Wilson was chosen to represent his home state at the Constitutional Convention, the convention was very controversial because it was to be held behind closed doors. Afterward. Wilson made frequent and timely use of his gifts of oratory and persuasive argument to convince the populace-at-large to ratify the product of that convention: the Constitution. Although certainly less renowned today than James Madison, Wilson's contemporaries counted him as the vanguard in the fight for ratification. When he spoke, he had a powerful presence. His physical stature was by all accounts impressive and imposing, standing over six feet tall, and he had the delivery of a Roman senator.

On October 6, 1787, while gathered at the yard in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia to elect delegates to the Pennsylvania legislature, the public congregated there was witness to a masterful discourse by Wilson in favor of the proposed Constitution. His was an impassioned and convincing speech delivered by one who was more than a mere "witness at the creation." Though Wilson's speech is not considered in history to be part of the group of articles written to promote and defend the Constitution called the Federalist Papers, it is worth noting that much of the anti-federalist (anti-Constitution) ink was put to paper in response to Wilson's speech and not to the legendary series of 85 letters known to history as the Federalist Papers. In fact, reprints of Wilson's speech appeared in newspapers two weeks before the first of the Federalist Papers appeared.

The opening remarks in Wilson's speech reassured the citizens of Pennsylvania that the national government (or "general government" as it was often called) instituted by the Constitution possessed "no influence whatever upon the press." From there Wilson systematically addressed and dismantled the arguments voiced against the new Constitution. His refutations were stern, attacking the accusations head-on, shunning no point of contention, thereby deftly disarming those who because of the veil of secrecy that enveloped the convention, reckoned that the product must be pernicious.

Near the conclusion of his address, Wilson stepped further into the light of controversy when he implied that only individuals who were self-interested and selfish would oppose the Constitution:

   After all, my fellow-citizens, it is
   neither extraordinary or unexpected
   that the constitution offered to your
   consideration should meet with opposition.
   It is the nature of man to
   pursue his own interest in preference
   to the public good, and I do not mean
   to make any personal reflection when
   I add that it is the interest of a very
   numerous, powerful and respectable
   body to counteract and destroy the
   excellent work produced by the late
   convention.

Wilson's final remarks displayed a Burkean pragmatism and an awesome admiration for the fruit of the Convention of 1787 which were echoed by friends of the Constitution in his time and in our own: "Regarding [the Constitution], then, in every point of view, with a candid and disinterested mind, I am bold to assert that it is the best form of government which has ever been offered to the world."

Given the immense rational capacity and unparalleled learning possessed by James Wilson, he seems especially qualified to make such a discerning (and indisputable) assessment.

The Quotable Wilson

"Liberty and happiness have a powerful enemy on each hand; on the one hand tyranny, on the other licentiousness [anarchy]. To guard against the latter, it is necessary to give the proper powers to government; and to guard against the former, it is necessary that those powers should be properly distributed."

"Christianity is part of the common law."

"The defense of one's self, justly called the primary law of nature, is not, nor can it be abrogated by any regulation of municipal law.'"

"Without Liberty, Law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without Law, Liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness."

"Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other. The divine law, as discovered by reason and the moral sense, forms an essential part of both."

"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine."

"The idea of a constitution, limiting and superintending the operations of legislative authority, seems not to have been accurately understood in Britain. There are, at least, no traces of practice conformable to such a principle. The British Constitution is just what the British Parliament pleases.... To control the power and conduct of the legislature, by an overruling constitution, was an improvement in the science and practice of government reserved to the American States."