York in 1896.
taking diligence Madison studied these works, and, in preparation for the Philadelphia Convention, he drew up a careful analysis of the constitution of the Lycian League, the Achaean League, Amphictyonic Council, Swiss Confedera- tion, Germanic Empire, and the United Netherlands. In this analysis a brief sketch of the origin and general character of the federation was followed by particular examination of the nature of the federal authority and of the defects or " vices " of the constitution, as he called them, which led to its decay.
We may feel sure that Madison, in 1787, had more thor- oughly studied and knew more of the history of federal gov- ernment than any other American or Englishman. It will be of interest to take a glimpse at the range of these studies. His knowledge of the Greek federations he derived mainly from Polybius and a treatise in Latin on the Greek republics by the eminent Dutch scholar, Ubbo Emmius.^ Gillies' History of Qreece^ published within a year, was also drawn into service, as well as two recent French works, Comte d'Albon's discourses on the history and government of Europe,^ and the extensive cyclopsedia of comparative pol- itics, edited by Felice, which was usually referred to by Madison under its secondary title, Le Code de V Humanite^
These works also proved rich in information on the consti- tution of the Swiss Confederation, the Netherlands, and the Empire. Felice's work, which is in thirteen volumes, Madi- son had ordered in 1785 through Jefferson, who praised it as "a very good dictionary of universal law," and who bought it for him before Madison's order could have arrived. For
1 Freeman's confident assertion, "It is clear that Hamilton and Madison knew hardly anything more of Grecian history than what they had picked np from the Observations of the Abbe Mably was unjust and mistaken. See his History of Federal Government (Bury's ed.), 249. Madison cites or refers to Polybius in his
Writings, I, 298, 347, 399. The title of Ubbo Emmius* book is Grcecorum Respiiblicce Descriptoe, Leyden, 1632.
2 Discours politiques, historiques et critiques sur quelques gouvemments de V Europe, Nenchatel, 1779.
8 Yverdun, 1778.
