CATO

 It's that time again. When Rumpole is in trial and has an appeal due and is otherwise occupied, there is nothing that brings a smile to our weary eyes then seeing a Judge Hirsch Constitutional Calendar in our mailbox. Short but sweet,  how can we not like political discourse conducted under pseudonyms? 

In September of 1787, Thomas Greenleaf’s New York Journal carried the first of seven essays by “Cato” (suspected of being Governor George Clinton) urging that the newly-proposed Constitution be rejected by New York. Another series, this one by “Brutus,” followed in the same newspaper in October.

Alexander Hamilton determined to reply. His first essay appeared in the New York Independent Journal on October 27,1787, under the pen name “Publius.”  The reference was to Publius Valerius Publicola, one of the men who overthrew the early Roman monarchy and founded the republic. Publius was remembered for his humility – he moved his house from a hilltop to the valley – and became known as the People’s Friend. 

Hamilton’s essay was, of course, the first of what would come to be known as The Federalist Papers.