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avoid the domination of the better class by the poorer.' 'Poorer? Do you mean moneyT Hamilton bit on his knuckle: 'Yes, I suppose I do. But I certainly want those with no money to have an interest in our government. But actually vot- ing? No, no. That should be reserved for those with financial interests to protect.' When Simon accompanied Hamilton to the door of the Indian Queen, he experienced a surge of devotion for this brilliant young man, so learned,
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    so sure of himself, so clear-minded in his vision of what his adopted nation needed: 'Father told me that you were the best man he'd ever met, Colonel Hamilton. Tonight I understand why.' Then, hesi- tantly, he added: 'If I can help you in the days ahead, please let me know. You can depend on my support.' In the next week, when the delegates chafed because a quorum had still not reached Philadelphia, Simon remained close to his Vir- ginia delegation and watched with what care they raid their plans to assume intellectual and politi- cal control of the Convention. The three awesome minds, Mason, Madison and Wythe, perfected a general plan they had devised for a wholly new government, and it was agreed that at the first opportunity on opening day, the imposing Edmund Randolph would present it as a working paper around which the other delegates would have to frame their arguments. 'If we put up a good plan,' Madison said, 'we'll probably lose two-thirds of the minor details, but the solid structure will still remain.' At the close of the Convention, a hundred and sixteen days later, Simon Starr would draft a per- ceptive memorandum regarding his major experi- ences; these notes would not record the great debates or the machinations by which the new government was formed, but they would depict
    honestly one young man's reactions to the men who gathered in Philadelphia that hot summer, and no entry was more illuminating than his sum- mary of the people involved:
    Only twelve states nominated delegates and they authorized a total of 74 men to come to
    Philadelphia. Of these, only 55 bothered to appear for any of the sessions, and of these, only 41 stayed to the bitter end, but of these, only 39 were willing to sign our finished document.
    One of his entries that was widely quoted in later years dealt with the composition of the member- ship, and although the comments on those who ,r were there could have been provided by othe observers, his list of those who were conspicuous by their absence was startling:
    I was surprised at how many delegates had col- lege degrees like my own. Harvard, Yale, Kings College in New York, the College of Phila- delphia, and four of us from Princeton were expected, but I was startled to find among them men from Oxford in England, the Inns of Court in London, Utrecht in Holland, and St Andrews in Scotland. We were not a bunch of illiterate farmers. We were, said some, 'the pick of the former colonies.'
    But I was equally impressed by the luminous names I expected to see in our group and didn't. Patrick Henry was missing and so were the two Adamses from Massachusetts. Tom Jefferson was absent in France. John Marshall wasn't i here, nor James Monroe nor John Jay. John Hancock, my father's friend, wasn't here, nor famous Dr Benjamin Rush. And I expected to see the famous writer and political debater Noah Webster, but he wasn't here.
    who, eleven years before, had dared to sign the Declaration of Independence: these were the men who along with Simon's father had placed their lives in jeopardy to defend the principle of free- dom. One by one, these eight introduced them- selves to Simon, reminding him of the high esteem in which his father had been held, and he was deeply moved by the experience. Two of the veter- ans earned a special place in his affections:
    I was disappointed on opening day to find that Benjamin Franklin was not present, but on the morning of the second day I heard a commotion in the street outside our meeting hall and some