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stopped in Phila- delphia to consult with the sturdy patriots of that bustling commercial city, went on to New York to assure Hamilton that Virginia would be sending first-class men to the impending convention, and then on to Boston, where he offered his support to the government that was struggling to put down Shays'Rebellion. 'How old are youT the colonel in charge of the local militia asked, and Starr said through clenched teeth: 'Sixty-one Washington and Hamilton.' 'We don't need grandfathers,' the colonel said, and he would not accept Jared into the formal militia. So Starr moved west under his own command, associated himself with an improvised force under General Benjamin Lincoln, and during a skirmish at the Springfield arsenal took two musket balls through his left hip. Disgusted by his carelessness and infuriated by
    service under
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    the brazen manner in which the revolutionaries escaped to the north, Major Starr badgered the nurses who tried to attend him and refused the doctors permission to amputate his festering left leg. When it became obvious that he was about to die, he penned a letter of instructions to his son Simon back on their Virginia farm:
    The leg don't get better. Advise Colonel Hamilton. And make plans to fill my spot at the next meeting in Philadelphia on 14 May next. Remember the two obligations we undertook. Fashion a strong new form of government but protect Virginia's interests. You can safely follow Colonel Hamilton in such matters.
    Still fulminating against nurses, doctors and revolutionaries, he died at the end of March 1787, less than seven weeks before fifty-five other patriots much like himself convened to see what steps might be taken to rescue the United States from disintegration.
    Simon Starr 1759-1804
    I've always had difficulty explaining to my wife and my friends the curious role played by Simon Starr in the writing of the Constitution. Because he was a most excellent man and one of the found- ers who attended every session of the Convention, Nancy likes to imagine him standing before the members and orating with such persuasion that he modified the course of debate. Alas, it wasn't that way, so on Friday morning before I left for my duties in the basement of the White House, I scanned my grandfather Richard's copy of the informal notes Simon left regarding his role in the Convention, and asked her to refresh her memory while I headed for the lion's den. By the time I reached the White House, word had circulated that I was to testify before the Senate Committee on Monday, so while Nancy spent her spare time with the Constitution battles of 1787, 1 was immersed in the political battles of 1987. Of course, all my military co-workers dropped by inconspicuously to wish me well, and at least three used exactly the same words: 'Hang in there, champ,' as if I were a boxer getting hell pasted out of me. I felt that way, a reaction not
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    diminished when Zack phoned me rather breat lessly: 'Norman, can you meet me at your place Immediately?' 'It's only eleven.' 'I said immediately,' and when I reached hom he was fretting impatiently on the stoop becaus Nancy wasn't in. Friday was her day at the mil tary hospital, where she read to men who ha been blinded in one action or another around th world. Once inside, he asked, before sitting dow 'Soldier, do you have a dress uniform? Goo bring it out. Now, what fruit salad can we slap o it? I want everything.' He said that since I was going to appear befor the Senate as a man who might be accused ( secret misbehaviour, he wanted me to stand fort in what he called 'blazing patriotic glory which meant he wished to check my ribbons, a sixteen. 'Are these first three of significanceT 'They are.' 'That amazing job you did on the swamp insta lation in Vietnam?' 'That's the second one.' 'The first? You do something I missedT 'The swamp was routine. Barely deserves medal. This one was for real. Saving a corporal life under ... well, unusual