Contingency and Constitutionalism in Colonial New York

Of all the comments made by British politicians to describe the United States Constitution, Gladstone's remains the most difficult to deny: by calling it “the most wonderful work ever struck off by the brain and purpose of man” he covered the true origins of the document in a mantle of consensus, well understood and coherent in intent, and epitomizing the human capacity for reasoned progress. All of these attributes have little favor among American constitutional historians today, but the remark still makes the rounds.