legs and gentlemen, pauline maier. [applause] >> thank you for that lovely introduction, which actually will be very beautifully and to exactly what i hope to talk about what i intended the talk about the. but let me first say how decided and honored i am to be here tonight and to be the recipient of this distinguished award. although i think i've written books on some significance in my field over a career, which is getting to be what we say, long in the tooth? i have never won any book awards until the publication of "ratification," so i feel immensely gratified. and to receive a prize for a book that concerns liberty is especially moving. what could be more important? and, of course, hearing about the early recipients of this makes me understand this is not a prize in american history. it is in a much larger sphere. and i would say that the one criticism i received of this book from a professor at yale law school is that i underestimate the significance of the ratification debates when i said that they were the most