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Cornell University Library 
 E302.6.H2 E47 1898 
 
 Alexander Haf".'''"", 
 
 3 1924 032 742 821 
 
 olin 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tlie Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924032742821 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 
 
 A CHARACTER SKETCH 
 
 EDWARD S. ELLIS, A.M. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "The People's Standard History of the United States," " The Eclectic Primary History 
 of the United States," etc. 
 
 WITH ANECDOTES, CHARACTERISTICS AND 
 CHRONOLOGY 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 
 H. G. CAMPBELL PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 MILWAUKEE, WIS. 
 
Copyright 1898, 
 By The University Association. 
 
 ^^973 3 9^ P 
 
BY EDWARD S.ELLIS.A.M. 
 
 THE precocity of Alexander Hamilton approached the 
 marvelous. Henry Cabot Lodge and others give 
 the date of his birth as January II, 1757, but Bancroft 
 makes it earlier. The distinguished historian thought 
 it incredible that the brilliant mind of Hamilton should 
 have matured so early. His name appears as a witness 
 on a deed written in 1766, when, if the date named for 
 his birth be accepted, he was only nine years old, and 
 yet, as Mr. Lodge demonstrates, the evidence is convinc- 
 ing that such was the fact. 
 
 His birthplace was the island Nevis, one of the British 
 West Indies. His father is said to have been a Scotch 
 merchant. A good deal of mystery surrounds his family 
 and early youth. 
 
 Born in that tropical region, the brain of this wonder- 
 ful youth flowered with the amazing swiftness of the 
 vegetation around him. At the age of twelve, when a 
 clerk in a store, his letters to his friend. Dr. Edward 
 Stevens, were those of a philosophical instructor. Short- 
 ly after he was given charge of his employer's affairs 
 and managed them well, studying and writing as oppor- 
 tunity presented. Soon his astonishing talents led his 
 relatives to send him to the American colonies to be ed- 
 ucated. 
 
 5 
 
6 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 He arrived in Boston, in the autumn of 1772, and 
 went to New York, where the letters he bore from Dr. 
 Knox, a clergyman of Nevis, procured good and wise 
 friends. Entering a well knpwn grammar school at Eli- 
 zabethtown. New Jersey, he studied with the intense en- 
 ergy that characterized everything he did. His fiery 
 brain led him to write a great deal, both of prose and 
 verse, and much of it betrayed marked talent. It took 
 but a short time for him to prepare for college. He 
 would have gone to Princeton, had he been permitted to 
 advance as fast as his inclination prompted. Following 
 his impatient bend, he entered King's (now Columbia) 
 College in New York, and, aided by a private tutor, he 
 progressed with astonishing rapidity in his studies. 
 
 The American colonies were then on the verge of re- 
 volt against England. The greatest minds in the coun- 
 try were grappling with the momentous question, and it 
 took Hamilton but a brief while to range himself with 
 his impetuous energy on the side of his adopted country. 
 New York was under the domination of the Tories, her 
 Assembly being pronounced supporters of the home gov- 
 ernment. With a view of bringing her into the right 
 column, a mass meeting was held in the fields July 6, 
 1774, by the patriot leaders. Among those present was 
 the boy Hamilton. He listened with rapt interest to the 
 addresses, and burned with impatience at their luke- 
 warmness. Unable to repress his feelings, he threaded 
 his way to the platform, and launched out in a patriotic 
 address that held his hearers spell-bound. His master- 
 ful oration drew attention to him, and some time after- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 7 
 
 ward he was approached with offers from the Tory side, 
 but all were spurned. It may be said that he began his 
 public life at that time. In the following December, he 
 put forth his first poHtical writing, "A Full Vindication," 
 in the form of a pamphlet which was a reply to Tory 
 criticism on the Continental Congress. 
 
 This pamphlet was soon followed by another "The 
 Farmer Refuted," both of which attracted wide attention 
 and exerted marked influence. As an evidence of the 
 author's statesmanlike grasp, these sentences may be 
 quoted in the argument against the insistence that Par- 
 liament had the unlimited right to legislate for the colo- 
 nies: 
 
 "All men have one common origin: they participate 
 in one common nature, and consequently have one com- 
 mon right. No reason can be advanced why one man 
 should exercise any power or pre-eminence over his fel- 
 low-creatures, unless they have voluntarily vested him 
 with it. Since then, Americans have not, by any act of 
 theirs, empowered the British Parliament to make laws 
 for them, it follows they can have no just authority to 
 do it. 
 
 "The Parliament claims a right to tax us in all cases 
 whatsoever; its late acts are in virtue of that claim. How 
 ridiculous, then, it is to affirm that we are quarreling for 
 the trifling sum of three pence a pound on tea, when it 
 is evidently the principle against which. we contend." 
 
 In appealing to the natural rights of man, he used 
 these impressive words: 
 
 "The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rumaged 
 
8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 for, among old parchments or musty records. They are 
 written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of hu- 
 man nature by the hand of Divinity itself." 
 
 These pamphlets were variously attributed to promi- 
 nent patriot leaders, and, when it became known that 
 the boyish Hamilton jvas the author, the admiration was 
 unbounded. He was already a leader in the cause of 
 American independence. But Professor Anson D. Morse 
 shows that while the latter words have a democratic ring, 
 they are not peculiarly American, but express universal, 
 rather than American democratic principles and might 
 have been uttered by a Frenchman. Hamilton was not 
 in reality quarreling with the aristocratic instit^Ltions of 
 Great Britain, but with her, policy. 
 
 The pressure forced New York into the Congress; 
 the Revolution opened and Hamilton for a time contin- 
 ued his battles for his country through the newspapers. 
 The sentiment for independence rapidly crystallized, and 
 when the New York convention ordered the raising of a 
 company of artillery, Hamilton applied for the command. 
 To some it looked like presumption on the part of the 
 youth, but his examination was so brilliant that the com- 
 mand was promptly given to him. He rapidly gained 
 recruits and spent the last dollar he received from home 
 on the equipment of his company. He was alert, active, 
 patriotic, ambitious, aglow with enthusiasm, and his 
 magnetic personality seemed to carry everything before 
 it. He was too serious, too intensely in earnest to 
 slight any detail. 
 
 He drilled his company unceasingly until its skill 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 and discipline attracted the notice of his superi- 
 ors. General Nathaniel Greene, the officer second in 
 ability to 
 Washington, 
 was so much 
 pleased with 
 the splendid 
 troop that he 
 sought out 
 the young 
 captain. 
 
 Greatly im- 
 pressed by his 
 ability, he in- 
 troduced him 
 to Washing- 
 ton. Hamil- 
 ton never for- 
 got the kind- 
 ness of the 
 Quaker gen- 
 eral, whom he 
 rated as the 
 
 Maior-General Nathaniel Greene. 
 Born 1742. Died 1786. 
 
 first soldier of the Revolution. The artillery com- 
 pany and its commander soon proved their worth. The 
 mistake of General Putnam precipitated the disaster on 
 Long Island, in the latter part of August, 1776, but du- 
 ring the retreat of the American forces, Hamilton covered 
 the rear with a courage and sagacity that received the 
 praise of Washington. The smoke of battle roused the 
 
The First Meeting of Washington and Hamilton, 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 11 
 
 fiery patriotism of the young West Indian. None fought 
 more bravely than he on the retreat up the Hudson, and, 
 when Fort Washington fell, he volunteered to recapture 
 it by storm, but the Commander-in-chief would not per- 
 mit him to undertake the hopeless task. Then, as all 
 know, followed the frightful retreat throilgh New Jersey, 
 where the grim Continentals crimsoned the snow with 
 the blood from their naked feet. Hamilton was fore- 
 most among the heroes at Trenton and Princeton, by 
 which time only twenty-five men were left of his artil- 
 lery men. His courage, skill and reputation as a brill- 
 iant writer caused Washington to appoint him as one 
 of his aides with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. This 
 appointment was made March i, 1777, before Hamilton 
 was twenty-one years old. 
 
 While the change of station was the best thing for him, 
 he was not satisfied with it. That he possessed military 
 abilities of a high order had been proven. None felt this 
 more than Hamilton himself He believed that a bril- 
 liant career was before him. He always had enormous 
 self-confidence, and was certain that if he remained in 
 line, there was scarcely a rank beyond his reach. 
 
 Whether or not Hamilton possessed the genius of a 
 great general, must always remain conjecture, for he was 
 never put to the supreme test, but assuredly he would 
 have attained high station, though his youth must have 
 stopjped him at a point which he might have passed, had 
 he been a score of years older. 
 
 He proved an invaluable aid to Washington, whose 
 correspondence was enormous, beside which, he acquitted 
 
12 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 himself well in the subsequent battles at all of which he 
 was present. Some of the admirers of Hamilton would 
 give him the whole credit for the various impoi-tant pa- 
 pers which issued from headquarters, while he was act- 
 ing as secretary. That he was vigorous, brilliant and 
 gifted cannot be questioned, and he was vastly helpful to 
 the Commander-in-chief; but, as L,odge points out, the 
 central ideas, and guiding principles of the documents 
 were always Washington's while Hamilton merely pol- 
 ished and adorned. The momentous "Yes" or "No" was 
 uttered by the commander, and the secretary clothed the 
 word in fitting sentences. Washington gave full credit 
 to his aide, whom he appreciated, but nothing can de- 
 tract from the grandeur of that peerless Patriot, without 
 whom, the struggle for independence would have ended 
 ere it had hardly begun. 
 
 Despite the impatient temper of Hamilton, he dis- 
 played exquisite tact and discretion while in the service 
 of his chief. He secured the needed reinforcements from 
 Gates, when that officer was puffed with conceit over the 
 brilliant victory won for him, by his generals and soldiers 
 at Saratoga. He required the most delicate handling, 
 and the skill of Hamilton could not have been surpassed. 
 He could be curt and imperious with Piitnam, who need- 
 ed such treatment, and sympathetic as a woman with the 
 stricken wife of Benedict Arnold. 
 
 One day in February, 1781, Hamilton was tardy in 
 responding to a call from Washington. The great man 
 gently chided and reminded him that to keep him wait- 
 ing was a mark of disrespect. The secretary bridled up: 
 
General Israel Putnam. 
 Born 1718. Died 1790. 
 
14 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 "I am not conscious of it, sir; but since you have thought 
 it, we part." 
 
 Nothing is moi'e absurd than to dignify this little affair 
 with the name of a quarrel. It took a great deal to rouse 
 the tempestuous wrath of Washington, but when it once 
 flamed into life, it swept everything before it. The 
 wretched being who was its victim was crushed, silent 
 and helpless. Those who saw Washington when he con- 
 fronted the retreating Lee at Monmouth, remembered the 
 terrific scene to the end of their lives. When St. Clair, 
 who had disregarded the solemn warnings of President 
 Washington, and was overwhelmed as a consequence by 
 the western Indians, came into the presence of the great 
 man months afterward, it was with fear and trembling, 
 for he dreaded the lightning outburst. But there was no 
 anger shown by Washington toward his secretary. On 
 the one hand was the commander, tall, massive, grand, 
 calm, unruffled, in tlje pride of his mental and physical 
 perfection; on the other, the swarthy, brilliant and pep- 
 pery youth, with a mighty good opinion of himself, as 
 was warranted. 
 
 No more unerring judge of men than Washington ever 
 lived. He must have smiled at the conduct of the young 
 man, but, at the same time, he did not forget his value. 
 Magnanimous at all times, he made advances to Hamil- 
 ton, who repelled them. None the less, the Commander, 
 foreseeing the inestimable services he was likely to ren- 
 der his country, retained his deep interest in him to the 
 end. At Yorktown, he gave Hamilton the coveted priv- 
 ilege of leading an assault upon one of the outworks of 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 IS 
 
 of the enemy. Such was his dash that he completed his 
 work much more quickly than the French force which 
 undertook and accomplished a similar task. 
 
 With this brilliant exploit, Hamilton terminated his 
 military career. The independence of his countrj' hav- 
 ing been attain- 
 ed, he gave his 
 energies to the 
 pursuits of 
 peace. Despite 
 thegreat milita- 
 ry ability he had 
 shown, he was 
 a born states- 
 man. He prov- 
 ed that, when 
 a boy at King's 
 College, and in 
 the swirl and 
 rush of battle, 
 his thoughts 
 turned to ques- 
 tions of govern- 
 ment. He fore- 
 saw that the real 
 peril of the 
 country would come after the treaty of peace was signed. 
 A common danger held the thirteen colonies together 
 and when that was removed, they would fall apart 
 and crumble to fragments. In September, 1780, he 
 
 Hamilton leading the Assault at Yorlctown. 
 
 Belief on one of the Bronze Doors of the Capitol, 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
16 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 wrote a letter to James Duane, a member of the Conti- 
 nental Congress, in which he gave his views "of the de- 
 fects of our present system, and the changes necessary 
 to save us from ruin." The fundamental defect he 
 declared, lay in the want of power in Congress, and 
 this was due to three causes: 
 
 "An excess of the spirit of liberty, which has made the 
 particular states, show a jealousy of all power not in their 
 own hands, — and this jealousy had led them to exercise 
 a right of judging in the last resort, of the measures rec- 
 ommended by Congress, and of acting according to their 
 own opinions of their propriety or necessity; a diffidence, 
 in Congress, of their own powers, by which they have 
 been timid and indecisive in their resolutions, constantly 
 making concessions to the states, till they have scarcely 
 left themselves the shadow of power; a want of sufficient 
 means at their disposal to answer the public exegencies." 
 
 Previous to this he wrote an anonymous letter to Rob- 
 ert Morris, treating of the financial affairs of the coun- 
 try, in whieh he gave proofs of his wonderful genius, 
 which has never been surpassed anywhere. The worth- 
 less currency was a greater peril to the cause of indepen- 
 dence than the arms of the British. Hamilton proposed 
 to provide for a gradual contraction, by a tax in kind, 
 and a foreign loan, which was to form the basis of a na- 
 tional bank. The last was meant to bring together the 
 interests of the moneyed classes in the support of the 
 government credit. Hamilton wrought out all the de- 
 tails, and his future policy crystallized in his brain. 
 
 Qn December 14th, 1780, he was married to Miss 
 
Mrs. Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 (From an original picture painted in 1781, by K. Earl. Courtesy 
 
 D. Appleton&Co.) 
 
i8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of General Philip Schuy- 
 ler. She was a woman of rare intelligence and worth, 
 and her father was wealthy and widely respected. He 
 repeatedly offered to help Hamilton pecuniarily, for he 
 
 was without means, 
 but the young man 
 refused, sublimely 
 confident of his abil- 
 ity to earn whatever 
 he needed, whenever 
 it was needed. 
 
 As soon as the war 
 was over, he took up 
 the study of law, pur- 
 suing it with such 
 vehement energy that 
 he was admitted to 
 the bar in the early 
 summer of 1782. 
 About the same time 
 Robert Morris ap- 
 pointed him Conti- 
 nental Receiver of 
 Taxes for New York. His ability soon attracted such 
 favorable attention that the legislature elected him to 
 Congress, where he took his seat in November, 1782. 
 
 That body had fallen into weakness, and the majority 
 failed to comprehend the woeful disasters that threatened 
 the country. Hamilton labored with might and main 
 to arouse his associates to the truth, but when his term 
 
 
 1 
 
 1^ 
 
 1 
 
 ^^flnMI 
 
 
 i 
 
 k 
 
 
 '? '^^i^^HIH^HMHHl 
 
 Major-General Philip Schuyler. 
 Born 1733. Died 1804. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 19 
 
 ended, he had the mortification of feeling that he had 
 failed utterly in his mission. Bad as was the condition 
 of his country it must become worse before the drowsy 
 sentinels would awake. 
 
 While practicing law in New York, Hamilton showed 
 his high-mindedness by his defense of the Tories. Nat- 
 urally the resentment against them was great. The 
 community clamored for vengeance upon those who 
 were now helpless, and they were made to suffer in many 
 instances, cruel persecution. Hamilton's eloquent plea 
 for justice was successful, but it made him intensely un- 
 popular for the time in the community, which was a 
 matter of indifference to him. His makeup rendered it 
 impossible for him to be a demagogue. 
 
 Meanwhile, the country was going to the dogs, and 
 only a few people such as Washington, Hamilton and 
 others, saw it. It is hard at this day, when our re- 
 sources are limitless and the unity of the states perfect, 
 to comprehend the apparently utterly hopeless condition 
 of the country, throughout the period between the close 
 of the Revolution and the adoption of the Constitution. 
 There was no army or navy, no cohesion, everybody 
 seemed to be in debt and without the means of paying 
 their obligations. The currency was worthless; broken 
 promises and bankruptcy were on every hand, and worst 
 of all, scarcely anybody cared. 
 
 The one effectual remedy for all this was as plain as 
 the sun in the heavens: there must be a strong central 
 government. Congress had degenerated into a scene of 
 entertainment for the states, for the utmost it could do 
 
20 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 was to make suggestions to them, and they paid as miich 
 heed as if the advice had been chattered by a group of 
 Hottentots in South Africa. A warning rumble of 
 thunder came from Massachusetts, when in the winter 
 of 1786-87, Captain Shays, at the head of an armed 
 mob, threatened the existence of the courts and l^w. 
 This defiant act set people to thinking. 
 
 Massachusetts instructed her representatives to urge 
 upon Congress the necessity of a new convention, but 
 the representatives gave no heed to the instructions. 
 Virginia, also, tried her hand. In January', 1786, hav- 
 ing made a commercial convention with Maryland, she 
 passed resolutions, calling for a meeting at Annapolis to 
 consider the question of establishing a uniform commer- 
 cial system. 
 
 New York appointed five commissioners, of which 
 Hamilton was one. Full of l\ope, he went with his 
 colleagues to Annapolis, where he found th.at only 
 four other states had sent representatives. Nevertheless, 
 he drew up an address which was sent out to the people, 
 setting forth the imminent need of a complete reorgani- 
 zation of the government, and urging a convention of the 
 states for that purpose. 
 
 An opening had been made, and the wedge was driven 
 home. The states were morbidly jealous of one another, 
 and Governor Clinton of New York was bitterly opposed 
 to the formation of a powerful national government, as 
 was foreshadowed by the action of Hamilton and his as- 
 sociates. The fight was seemingly hopeless for Hamil- 
 ton, but he loved a battle of that nature. He secured 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 21 
 
 an election to the legislature, and became the leader of 
 the forces opposed to the governor. The first struggle 
 was over the proposal to provide a permanent revenue 
 for Congress. Clinton defeated the measure, because 
 he had the votes^ but the wreck and ruin which was 
 thus brought face to face with the country, caused a re- 
 action and "was therefore beneficial. It set the people to 
 thinking harder than before. 
 
 I Hamilton, however, against a hostile majority, ob- 
 tained the appointment of three delegates to the ap- 
 proaching convention. They were Chief Justice Yates, 
 John Lansing, Jr., and Hamilton himself. The first two 
 were unshakable adherents of Clinton, and opponents of 
 an improved federal government. 
 
 The representatives of nine states came together in 
 Philadelphiaj May 25, 1787, and the moulding of a Con- 
 stitution began. Hamilton's towering ability never shone 
 more impressively. His colleagues were his uncompro- 
 mising enemies. He was too wise to weaken his power 
 by projecting his isolation upon the convention, and 
 thereby weakening the cause so dear to hirn. Instead of 
 taking part in the debates and regular business of the 
 convention, he worked privately at counselling and ar- 
 guing with the various members,' and thereby accom- 
 plished great results. He concentrated his efforts in a 
 single speech at the opening of the convention, after the 
 various plans had been submitted. Absolutely master 
 of his subject, feeling the truth of what he said in every 
 nerve and fibre of his being, his address, more than five 
 hours in length, was one of the most masterful of its na- 
 
22 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ture ever delivered. Its effect was profound. He 
 had wrought out his own scheme and explained it 
 fully. lyike all presented, it followed in a general way 
 the English system, agreeing substantially with the plan 
 finally adopted. His republic, however, was to be aris- 
 tocratic, rather than democratic, and the states were to be 
 shorn of most of their powers. He favored electing the 
 President and Senators for life by the vote of those who 
 possessed a certain property qualification, and gave to 
 the President the appointment of the various state gov- 
 ernors, who were to have a vote on all state legislation. 
 
 Doubtless, Hamilton perceived that these features 
 could never be adopted, but his aim was to tone up the 
 members, and lead them to higher ground, than they 
 were disposed to take. He believed that by aiming at 
 the sun, he would strike a more elevated mark, than by 
 launching his arrow at a target on the eartli. 
 
 His colleagues in disgust abandoned the convention, 
 whereupon Hamilton unhesitatingly affixed his signature 
 and that of New York to the Constitution. 
 
 But his greatest work still lay before him: that was 
 to obtain the assent of New York to the Constitution, 
 which could not become operative, until ratified by nine 
 of the thirteen states". The political revolution was 
 opened and no single American rendered such inestima- 
 ble service as Hamilton in bringing it to a triumphant 
 conclusion. It should be remembered that a decisive 
 majority throughout all the states were opposed to the 
 Constitution, but they were now face to face with it, and 
 had to decide whether to accept it, or anarchy and ruin. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 23 
 
 When one reflects npou the vast blessings that have 
 flowed from the adoption of that wonderful instrument, 
 it seems incredible that the press teemed with passionate 
 articles against, as well as in favof of it; that its friends 
 
 Shirley Mansion. Roxbury, Mass. 
 
 Resiflence of Governors Shirley and Eustes. Hamilton, Washington, 
 
 Burr, Franklin and other notable men were entertained here. 
 
 were burned in effigy, and that rioting and bloodshed fol- 
 lowed in many places; but such was the fact. 
 
 The fiercest fight was in New York, and it is hardly 
 short of the truth to say that the battle for the Constitu- 
 tion was fought out by Hamilton alone. True, he had 
 gained supporters, but he was the David, who hurled 
 the pebble that sank into the brain of Goliath. 
 
24 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 The Clintonians enlisted their ablest writers to combat 
 the scheme; Hamilton replied in a series of letters signed 
 "Publius." Madison gave him much help, and Jay lent 
 an occasional hand, but the credit of the work belongs 
 to Hamilton. Of this remarkable collection of essays, 
 known as "The Federalist," it has been truly said that 
 it is still the best exposition of the Constitution aside 
 from judicial interpretation. It was Hamilton's first Ti- 
 tan blow iii its favor, and with the same vigor and abili- 
 ty he set to work to secure the adoption of the instru- 
 ment by the State of New York. 
 
 When he entered the convention, to quote his declara- 
 tion, two-thirds of the members and four-sevenths of the 
 people were against him. The majority were led by 
 Melancthon Smith, able, alert and brilliant, and by 
 Hamilton's two colleagues at Philadelphia. Every de- 
 tail of the work of the Philadelphia convention was 
 scrutinized and discussed; Hamilton, who was continu- 
 ally on his feet was attacked, misrepresented and mal- 
 igned; seemingly, each utterance of his was distorted, 
 and no advantage that could be seized was overlooked. 
 Undaunted, the champion parried every thrust or blow, 
 and in turn smote with a power that was irresistible. 
 He defeated all attempts at adjournment, the innumera- 
 ble amendments, and the absurdity of a "conditional rat- 
 ification. ' ' 
 
 Finally, Melancthon Smith exploded his bomb-shell 
 by rising to his feet, and announcing that Hamilton's ar- 
 guments had convinced him, and he should vote for the 
 Constitution, With him went others, and on the vote 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 25 
 
 the instrument was adopted by a majority of three. The 
 history of politics, legislation and public debate contains 
 the record of no victory more complete or remarkable 
 than this. 
 
 But the great work was not yet finished. New York 
 and Virginia had demanded a new convention to amend 
 the Constitution. This had to be defeated, for otherwise 
 the consequences would be disastrous. 
 
 Hamilton, now a member of Congress, earned through 
 an ordinance fixing the places and dates, for setting the 
 new government in motion. Clinton brought about the 
 defeat of Hamilton for reelection, and secured the con- 
 trol of the lower branch of the .legislature, though the 
 Senate was Federal. A dead-lock followed with the re- 
 sult that New York was unrepresented in the first elec- 
 toral college, and had no Senator when the first Con- 
 gress assembled, 
 
 In the next election, the legislature favored the Con- 
 stitution. Thus the U. S. Senators were Federalists, as 
 were four of the six representatives. The day selected 
 for the assembling of the new Congress was March 4th, 
 but no quorum appeared until April 6th. Then when 
 the electoral votes were counted, it was found that George 
 Washington was the unanimous choice for the Presiden- 
 cy, while John Adams of Massachusetts, having received 
 the next highest number, was elected Vice President. 
 
 Hamilton now entered upon the grand work of his 
 life. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President 
 Washington, who now as always appreciated his extra- 
 ordinary ability, he found himself free to carry out his 
 
26 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ideas. It was a herculean task, that of ministering his 
 functions in the new government in such a way as to ce- 
 ment the nation more closely, to make it stronger, to se- 
 cure the respect of other nations, to bring pa'osperity, 
 and to be right. Who would not have shrunk from the 
 task? But Hamilton welcomed it, for it promised full 
 play to his peerless genius. 
 
 He was thirty-two years old when he became the first 
 Secretary of the Treasury. Recognizing his matchless 
 skill, Congress and the Cabinet leaned on him from the 
 beginning. He had hardly taken the oath of office, 
 when Congress requested him to prepare a report on 
 the public credit. This was followed by other demands 
 until to quote Lodge: 
 
 "In the cotirse of a year he was asked to report, and 
 did report, with full details upon the raising, manage- 
 ment and collection of the revenue, including a scheme 
 for revenue cutters; as to estimate of income and expen- 
 diture, as to the temporary regulation of the chaotic cur- 
 rency; as to navigation laws, and the regulation of the 
 coasting trade, after thorough consideration of the heap 
 of undigested statistics; as to the post-office, for^ which 
 he drafted a bill; as to the purchase of West Point; on 
 the great question of public lands, and a uniform system 
 of dealing with them, and upon all claims against the 
 government." 
 
 He dealt promptly and effectively with all these and 
 other matters, besides drawing up a scheme for a judic- 
 ial system. Money had to be provided at once, and 
 there was not a dollar in the treasury, nor any credit, but 
 
TWENTYFOUR SHfLLIIMGS 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 27 
 
 with admirable ingenuity, Hamilton met every exi- 
 gency. 
 
 He set the whole financial machinery, complicated 
 and intricate, moving like a well-oiled engine, complied 
 with every demand upon him, and when, after the Jan- 
 uary recess, tie laid his financial scheme before Congress, 
 it was so masterly, so com- 
 plete, so perfect in detail, so 
 far-reaching and comprehen- 
 sive, that it marked an epoch 
 in the history of our coun- 
 try. 
 
 Jeflferson, Adams and oth- 
 ers left their imprint upon 
 the Constitution, as it was 
 gradually moulded into form, 
 but it reveals slight impress 
 of Hamilton: it was his to 
 stamp his personality deeper 
 than any other man, upon 
 the governmental policy, and 
 the political system, which 
 grew up during those impressionable years of the repub- 
 lic. 
 
 Nothing is more admirable than Hamilton's statement 
 of the objects to be attained by his wise policy: 
 
 "To justify and preserve the confidence of the most 
 enlightened friends of good government; to promote the 
 increasing respectability of the American name; to an- 
 swer the calls of justice; to furnish new resources both 
 
 A «.«' IS. iijS. 
 
 First Paper-Money Issued by the Col- 
 onies. Printed by Paul Revere 
 in Boston, Aug. 18. 1775. 
 
28 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 to agriculture and commerce; to cement more closely the 
 upion of the States; to add to their security against for- 
 eign attack; to establish public order on the basis of an 
 upright and liberal policy: these are the great and inval- 
 uable ends to be secured by a proper and adequate pro- 
 vision at the present period for the support of the public 
 credit. ' ' 
 
 Hamilton's comprehensive policy provided for the 
 payment of every dollar owing by the national and state 
 governments; for lightening the burden by a simple 
 funding scheme; for obtaining a national revenue by 
 means of the present methods of imposts and excises; for 
 facilitating business through the establishment of a na- 
 tional bank and for giving the conntry political and eco- 
 nomic independence, by the adoption of a protective pol- 
 icy. He was thus the champion of public honesty. Vari- 
 ous features of his scheme were hotly opposed, Jefferson 
 being one of his most uncompromising opponents. 
 
 In the summer of 1792, Washington sent Hamilton a list 
 of objections, prepared probably by Jefferson, to the finan- 
 cial policy of the administration. Hamilton answered 
 them off hand, with his usual vigor and skill. One of 
 the objections was that the owners of the debt were in 
 the Southern, and the holders of it in the Northern sect- 
 ion of the Union. What could be better than the reply 
 of Hamilton. 
 
 "If this were literally true, it would be no argu- 
 ment for or against anything. It would be still po- 
 litically and morally right for the debtors to pay their 
 creditors." 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 29 
 
 The advocates of the protective system to-day base 
 their argument on the claim that it raises wages. Ham- 
 ilton's motives were higher; the strengthening of the 
 Union, and time has justified his position. His regula- 
 tion of the finances established public order. The nat- 
 ional bank was the idea of his youth, and was intended to 
 build up a strong party in the support of the govern- 
 ment, holding the members together by the most pow- 
 erful of all ties, a personal pecuniary interest. In other 
 words, it was to bring property^ to the support, of the gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 The charge has been made that he was a 'monarchist, 
 but this rests upon his efEorts to strengthen the national, 
 at the expense of the state governments. On this point. 
 Professor Anson D. Morse has these forceful words: 
 
 "When Hamilton retired from office, was the Federal 
 government too strong? Has it been so at any subse- 
 quent time down to the close of the Civil War? Have 
 the States at any time previous to 1865 been too weak to 
 discharge the functions which properly belong to them? 
 On the contrary, is it not true that within the period 
 named, the public interests suffered oftener from defect 
 of power in the national government, and excess of pow- 
 er in the States, than from excess in the former, and de- 
 fect in the latter? And if, since 1865, centralization and 
 consequent depression of the States may seem to any one 
 to have proceeded too far, is not the evil traceable to a 
 cause quite outside of Hamilton's policy? It is moreover 
 a fair question whether the Union could have withstood 
 the shock of secession, had it not been for the strength 
 
30 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 which Hamilton gave to the national government." 
 
 As to what constituted the deb^ of the United States, 
 there were wide dififerences, which precipitated the first 
 political struggle in the United States. The total was 
 about eighty million dollars, divided by Hamilton into 
 the foreign debt, the domestic debt and the debts of the 
 various states incurred during the Revolutionary strug- 
 gle. There were no differences as to the foreign debt, 
 and no one questioned the duty"" of paying the domestic 
 debt, but the quarrel was as how and to whom it should 
 be paid. The state debts aggregated twenty-five mil- 
 lions, and the views of those concerned seemed irrecon- 
 cilable, for there was no end to the conflicting interests; 
 but the result justified the sagacious policy of Hamilton. 
 One feature in the establishment of a national bank is 
 too important to be overlooked. The opponents insisted 
 that the Constitution forbade the creation of such an in- 
 stitution by the government. Hamilton met this argu- 
 ment by summoning the "Implied powers" of the Con- 
 stitution to his support. The battle was transferred to 
 the Cabinet, where he convinced Washington; and to-day 
 his views are accepted by the majority of our country- 
 men. Years afterward, Chief Justice Marshall traversed 
 the same ground and decided the question precisely as 
 Hamilton had done. No achievement of the latter sur- 
 passes in importance, that of his calling into life, the im- 
 plied powers of the Constitution. The summing up of 
 his work as the first secretary of the Treasury, may be 
 given in the eloquent tribute of Daniel Webster: 
 
 "He smote the rock of the national resources, and 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 31 
 
 abundant streams of revenue burst forth. He touched 
 the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its 
 feet." 
 
 One result of 
 Hamilton's pol- 
 icy was the for- 
 mation of the 
 Federal party, 
 who may be 
 characterized as 
 the supporters 
 of a strong cen- 
 tral govern- 
 ment, in which 
 the powers of 
 the states were 
 restricted to the 
 distinct limits 
 set forth in the 
 Constitution, 
 while their op- 
 ponents, or An- 
 ti-Federalists, 
 held the oppo- 
 site view. The coherence of the latter came from the 
 unyielding aggressiveness of Hamilton. The Anti-Fed- 
 eralists concentrated their enmity upon him, the embod- 
 iment of "British" policy as they charged, the friend 
 of aristocracy, whose dearest dream was the establish- 
 ment of a monarchy in this country. It was even claimed 
 
 1^ 
 
 ^ 
 
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 (^^■'■•"I'i 
 
 
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 ';^vi's5Mft>te:J 
 
 Sf.v'-''-'.'*' ' .. .oi^^^tt 
 
 J 
 
 K^ 
 
 L 
 
 
 w 
 
 Statue of Alexander Hamilton, Boston. Mass. 
 The Gift of Thomas Lee. 
 
32 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 that this demoniacal magician had bewitched Washing- 
 ton himself, the very genius of sanity. 
 
 The elements of opposition crystallized around Jeffer- 
 son, and called themselves Republicans. Their leader 
 and Hamilton quarrelled, neither occupying a dignified 
 position in the public prints. Washington appreciating 
 the abilities of both, remonstrated. Hamilton stopped 
 and JefiFerson moderated, but did not cease his attacks, 
 though he was more guarded. 
 
 Finally the enmity against Hamilton became so intense 
 that Jefferson and Madison made a shameful attempt to 
 drive him from the Cabinet, through charges of corr.up- 
 tion. Their hope was that among the vast mass of com- 
 plicated details in the placing of the foreign loan, some 
 figures might be found that could be twisted into charges 
 that implied wrong doing. It is impossible that they 
 doubted Hamilton's integrity, but their great mistake 
 was in misjudging the man, who, fully roused by the in- 
 sult, laid bare all the operations of the Treasury. The 
 resolutions of censure introduced in th'c House, received 
 so beggarly a vote that it only emphasized Hamilton's 
 vindication. 
 
 Magnificent as was the ability, and superb the patriot- 
 ism of Hamilton, it would be a mistake to represent him 
 as without fault, or as never making a blunder. In some 
 of his quarrels he lost his temper. While he was a leader 
 of leaders, winning where resistless logic and invin- 
 cible truth required marshaling by a master hand, he 
 was lacking in the qualities that make up a successful 
 party organizer. He appealed to the intellect, rather 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 33 
 
 than the emotions. As has been said, he could never be 
 a demagogue or rarely descended to the tricks of politics, 
 while he made more enemies than frieijds. He resigned 
 from the Cabinet January 31, 1795, because of the insuf- 
 ficiency of his pay, after his policy was successfully 
 launched and in operation. 
 
 In 1800, he published a pamphlet, in which he aimed 
 to prove that John Adams was unfit to be the presiden- 
 tial candidate of the Federal party, and closed by advis- 
 ing his party to vote for him. This unfortunately was 
 not the only instance in which his personal enmity made 
 him ridiculous. Adams had inherited his Cabinet from 
 Washington, and at the beginning, the three most im- 
 portant members were unfriendly to him. They looked 
 upon Hamilton as the head of the Federal party, and 
 maintained close relations with him. Their letters be- 
 tray a spirit which was treacherous and dishonorable, 
 and would not have been tolerated for a single hour after 
 its discovery by any of Adams's successors. 
 
 In his correspondence with these members, Hamilton 
 aimed to obtain material to be used afterward in his at- 
 tack upon Adams. This fact shows that he was subject 
 to moods that were anything but creditable to him, the 
 strongest proof being given in 1800, when he wrote an 
 impetuous letter to Governor Jay, Federalist governor of 
 New York, demanding that, in order to prevent the elec- 
 tion of Jeflerson to the Presidency, the legislature should 
 be called together, with the purpose of choosing electors 
 by the people in the districts, thus insuring a majority 
 of the votes in the United States for a Federal candidate. 
 
34 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 "In weighing this suggestion [wrote Hamilton], you 
 will doubtless bear in mind that popular governments 
 must certainly be overturned, and, while Ihey endure, 
 prove engines of mischief, if one party will call to its aid 
 all the resources which vice can give, and if the other 
 (however pressing the emergency) confines itself within 
 all the ordinary forms of delicacy and decorum." 
 
 Governor Jay thoughtfully read this remarkable letter 
 and then filed it away with the endorsement — 
 
 "Proposing a measure for party purposes, which it 
 would not become me to adopt." 
 
 The masterful brain, bemuddled by personal enmity, 
 and possibly by his health, which had suffered from the 
 stupendous labor and strain of years, soon clarified. 
 Jefferson and Burr were the opposing candidates, and 
 the election was carried into the House of Representa- 
 tives. None knew these two men better than Hamilton, 
 and by throwing all his energies on the side of Jefferson, 
 he saved his country from the indelible disgrace of hav- 
 ing such a chief executive as Aaron Burr. 
 
 Returning to Hamilton's invaluable services for his 
 country, it will be recalled that for a time, our foreign 
 relations were in a critical state. England was still sour 
 and sullen over our achievement of independence. She 
 refused to send a minister to the United States; declined 
 to receive ours; retained the western posts, because debts 
 due her subjects remained unpaid, and let slip no oppor- 
 tunity for injuring our commerce. Lafayette was about 
 the only Frenchman who was unselfish in his assistance 
 to the colonies during the Revolution. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 35 
 
 The motive of the others was more to injure England 
 than to help us, and the reform which began in France, 
 soon resolved itself into the most appalling revolution in 
 the history of the world. The deep sympathy which 
 Americans at first extended to the men struggling to 
 free themselves from the worst tyranny conceivable, 
 turned to horror when the hideous excesses made all 
 mankind shudder. Citizen Genet landed at Charleston 
 as the representative of the defiant revolutionary gov- 
 ernment, snubbed Jefferson and carried matters with a 
 high hand. 
 
 Finally shots were exchanged on the ocean, and the 
 Frenchmen, like the English in 181 2, and the Spanish 
 in 1898, learned that Americans are pretty certain to hit 
 whatever they shoot at. War was so imminent, that 
 President Adams summoned Washington from Mount 
 Vernon, whither he sent his appointment as Commander- 
 in-chief. The Father of his Country was an old man, 
 but still ready as always to devote the last hour of his life 
 and all his strength to the sacred cause that had engaged 
 his youth and prime. 
 
 In accepting the appointment, Washington made the 
 condition that he should not take an active part until 
 the army was actually in the field, and he claimed the 
 privilege of naming the officers who were to be next to 
 him in rank, and to act as his staff. No request from 
 so illustrious a source could be denied, and he sent to tlie 
 President the names of three major-generals in the fol- 
 lowing order, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Pinckney 
 and Henry Knox, 
 
36 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 President Adams was angered when Hamilton was 
 thus placed at the top rank, but he could do nothing less 
 than submit tlie names to the Senate in the order called 
 for by Washington. Having signed the commissions, 
 Adams startled everybody by claiming that Knox took 
 precedence, because of his rank in the revolution, dis- 
 regarding the rule that such officer's had always assumed 
 rank in the order of their confirmation. Adams would 
 not yield, and an unseeming quarrel was precipitated. 
 
 Knox and Hamilton, who had long been friends fell 
 out and the former resigned. Pinckney was satisfied, 
 and the President became more stubborn. The alarmed 
 Federalists appealed to Washi;:gton who notified the 
 President that unless his wishes were respected he would 
 resign. This ultimatum brought Adams at once to terms. 
 
 It is impossible to make up a just estimate of the gen- 
 ius of Hamilton without a summary of his work during 
 the brief period that he was the virtual head of the mil- 
 itary forces of the United States. He began at once 
 with his usual zeal and comprehensive grasp to prepare 
 his country for the impending conflict with France. 
 
 His first task was to draft a plan for the fortification 
 of New York harbor, the state having appropriated funds 
 for that purpose. The work properly did not come with- 
 in the scope of his duty, but there seemed to be nothing 
 beyond the reach of his ability, and he completed it 
 promptly and thoroughly. Then he met Washington 
 and Pinckney in Philadelphia, and laid before them a 
 scheme for tlie apportionment of officers and men among 
 the states, for recruiting, for military supplies, for arse- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 37 
 
 nals and for ordnance. Washington carefully examined 
 the scheme and pronounced it as near perfect as it could 
 be. 
 
 Having accepted it, Washington next scrutinized 
 Hamilton's plan for the organization of the army, in- 
 cluding the questions of pay, uniforms, rank, promotion, 
 rations, regulations of barracks, the police of garrisons 
 and camps, and in fact every detail. Although the plans 
 were drawn up hurriedly, they received the fullest com- 
 mendation of Washington. 
 
 When Congress came together, Hamilton submitted 
 his bill entitled "An Act for the better organizing of the 
 troops of the United States." The plan then existing 
 was changed only so far as necessary, his aim being to 
 establish a system that could be contracted or expanded, 
 without affecting the form of the organization. The 
 Senate adopted the bill as well as the one for a medical 
 establishment. 
 
 In addition, Hamilton submitted plans for the classifi- 
 cation and organization of the militia, for trade with the 
 Indians and for military supplies, which were supple- 
 mented by circulars in the interest of discipline. In 
 short, knowing the boundless capacity of Hamilton, the 
 departments of the army, of the navy and the treasury 
 relied upon him as their mainstay, and in no instance 
 found they were leaning upon a broken reed. 
 
 While perfecting these elaborate details, Hamilton 
 shaped the plans for the conduct of the war. Looking 
 over the battlefield as a whole, he saw that the most ef- 
 fective way to strike France, was through Spain her ally, 
 
38 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 then the owner of the vast territory known as Louisit::ia. 
 By seizing this, the United States would secure the ab- 
 solute control of the valley of the Mississippi. The idea 
 was not a new one with Hamilton, who had foreseen and 
 declared years before, that the free use of that great river 
 was essential to the unity of the country. Regarding 
 Louisiana and Florida, he wrote: "I have been long in 
 the habit of considering the acquisition of those countries 
 as essential to the permanency of the union." 
 
 Hamilton's view was that of the far-seeing statesman, 
 as was proven a few years later, when it fell to his rival 
 Jefferson to carry his scheme to a full fruitition. What 
 Hamilton intended to secure by force of arms, Jefferson 
 gained through purchase. While the credit goes to the 
 third President, the scheme itself was Hamilton's. 
 
 Long previous to this, he had declared that the United 
 States was destined to be the one dominant power in the 
 western hemisphere. Our duty was to avoid all entang- 
 ling alliances with European nations, and to enforce neu- 
 trality on their part regarding America. If this was not 
 the Monroe Doctrine, formally declared years later, it 
 certainly was the germ of it. 
 
 Francisco Miranda was a native of Caracas, South 
 America, and helped the French forces in their campaign 
 in aid of American independence. Returning to South 
 America, he strove to incite a revolution among the 
 Spanish troops over whom he was colonel. He escaped 
 death by fleeing, and, in 1790, while in Paris was made 
 a major-general by the Girondists. He foug^ht against 
 the Prussians, but achieved no marked success, and after 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 39 
 
 the fall of the Girondists fled to England. He was ban- 
 ished again by Napoleon in 1803, and went to New 
 York, where he set on foot his second scheme for the 
 overthrow of Spanish power in South America. 
 
 Hamilton was attracted by this soldier of fortune, and 
 tried to interest our government in his schemes, which 
 fitted so well with his own plans, but Miranda was en- 
 titled to little consideration, and in the end made an ut- 
 ter failure. There must have been much in the prospect 
 of conquest and glory to fire the heart of Hamilton; but 
 the eternal praise is his of subordinating all his ambi- 
 tious schemes to the consolidation, expansion and good of 
 his country. He was no Napoleon or Burr, but his heart 
 glowed with a patriotism as exalted as that of Washing- 
 .ton himself. 
 
 The interesting question already referred to remains, 
 whether Hamilton possessed tlie qualities of a great gen- 
 eral, like Washington or Grant. In personal courage, as 
 has been shown, he had no superior. He was dashing, 
 quick to take advantage of a mistake by an eneni}-, 
 prompt to act in any emergency, resourceful and alert; 
 but it was never his to command an army. 
 
 It has been said of Abraham Lincoln that had he re- 
 ceived a military training, he would have made one of 
 the foremost military leaders of the age. Judging Ham- 
 ilton by the same test, the probabilities are that he would 
 ' have proven equally great. Washington, the unerring 
 judge of men, never would have selected him for the 
 next in command to himself, had he felt any doubt of 
 Hamilton's qualifications for the exalted office. 
 
40 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 But France in her bloody delirium had glimmerings 
 now and then of sense. She saw that in rousing the giant 
 of the West, she had roused a foeman worthy of her 
 steel. The preparations made by Hamilton for an armed 
 conflict compelled her to pause. 
 
 The adroit Talleyrand felt it imperative to reestablish 
 friendly relations with the government, that had been 
 treated so cavalierly. In his usual roundabout way, he 
 sent a message to President Adams, that France would 
 be pleased to receive fittingly an American envoy. 
 
 Adams was delighted. Not only did this message 
 promise peace, but it gave him the coveted opportunity 
 of crushing the war party, and, best of all, of crippling 
 his enem}' Hamilton. He im.mediately nominated a 
 minister to France. The plan of sending a single man 
 to represent the United States at so critical a time was 
 absurd, and, upon Hamilton's insistence, a strong com- 
 mission was appointed. But for this, the Federal party 
 would have been ruined and the country vastly injured. 
 The war cloud soon passed away, though bitter memo- 
 ries remained, and Adams, through his own blindness 
 and obstinacy, was defeated^ for the Presidency, and 
 Thomas Jefferson, his Democratic opponent, elected as 
 his successor. 
 
 The defeat of Adams for a second term and the dis- 
 ruption of the Federal party closed the public career of 
 Hamilton. He had done a work for his country, which few 
 even at tihis late day comprehend. His illustrious career 
 had been blurred by errors, when he allowed his judg- 
 ment to be clouded by his pa.ssionate dislikes; he had 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 41 
 
 blundered as a party leader, and sometimes he misun- 
 derstood his countrymen, but he was the foremost states- 
 man of the early republic, whose patriotic devotion and 
 transcendant abilities have never been surpassed by any 
 who came after him. 
 
 Hamilton was now free to pursue his profession. He 
 had given up a lucrative practice upon entering public 
 life, and was a poor man, but his reserve capital of abil- 
 ity, reputation and self-confidence was greater than ever. 
 Clients came to him by the score, and in a short time he 
 was at the head of the bar in the metropolis of the coun- 
 try. He seemed to be surfeited with public life, though 
 it was impossible for such a man ever to lose interest in 
 politics. 
 
 Numerous incidents illustrative of his uneqtialled abil- 
 ity as a lawyer have come down to us. Many believed 
 that whenever he threw his energies into a case, he could 
 not fail to win. Judges and juries were swept resistless- 
 ly with him, and he had that peculiarity of genius, by 
 which he impressed his hearers with the conviction that 
 his view of a question was absolutely the right one. In 
 his defense of an editor prosecuted for libel, his speech 
 won this encomium from Chancellor Kent: 
 
 "It was the greatest forensic effort Hamilton ever 
 made. He had bestowed unusual attention on the case, I 
 and he came prepared to discuss the points of law with 
 a perfect mastery of the subject. There was an unusual 
 solemnity and earnestness on his part in the discussion. 
 He was, at times, highly impassioned and pathetic. His 
 whole soul was enlisted in the cause. The aspect of the 
 
42 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 times was portentous, and he was pursuaded that if he 
 could overthrow the high-toned doctrine of the judge, it 
 would be a great gain to the liberties of this country. . . 
 The anxiety and tenderness of his feelings, and the grav- 
 ity of his theme, rendered his reflections exceedingly im- 
 pressive. He never before in my hearing made any ef- 
 fort, in which he commanded higher reverence for his 
 principles, nor equal admiration for the power and pathos 
 of his eloquence." 
 
 The Federalist party crumbled to pieces after its de- 
 feat by Jefferson, but the halo that gathered round the 
 head of their chief, who had never betrayed them, re- 
 mained undimmed. Whenever called upon to act, he 
 never refused. A man of his aggressive, intense charac- 
 ter is either loved or hated; lukewarmness is impossible. 
 Among the despicable adventurers whom Hamilton read 
 at a glance was Aaron Burr. This man was an intrigu- 
 er, with a pleasing presence, not a spark of moral prin- 
 ciple and an insane ambition, that led him to stoop to 
 any means to accomplish his ends. Burr was morally 
 diseased through and through, as his public career abun- 
 dantly proves. 
 
 Though Hamilton had quarreled with Jefifer'son, he 
 preferred him as has been shown, a thousand times over 
 to such a miscreant as Burr. Jefferson thoroughly dis- 
 trusted his Vice President, and Burr saw his influence 
 steadily waning, with certain ruin impending, unless by 
 some audacious exploit he recouped his failing fortunes. 
 He decided to do this by securing the governorship of 
 New York. Behind such success loomed the phantom 
 
Aaron Burr. 
 Born 1756. Died 1836. 
 
44 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 of a northern confederacy, with him as chief, for there 
 were mutterings of secession among the New England 
 leaders. That such was the dream of the arch traitor 
 was proven by his course a few years later in the South- 
 west. 
 
 Hamilton's love for the 'Union was a passion that 
 could be extinguished only by death. Reading the treas- 
 onable aims of Burr, he denounced them with all the 
 burning fervor of his nature. The democratic nominee 
 was Morgan Lewis, who had served in the Continental 
 army, commanding at Stone Arabia and Crown Point. 
 He was Chief Justice of New York when nominated for 
 the governorship against Burr. Hamilton's denuncia- 
 tions of the latter were so scarifying that the Federalist 
 Vote was divided, and Lewis served as governor from 1804 
 to 1807. 
 
 All the venom in Burr was roused by this crowning 
 defeat. He knew that Hamilton was the cause, and he 
 determined to kill him. It would not do to stab him from 
 behind or to hire some one to administer poison. Either 
 method would have been vulgar, and the consequences 
 to himself might be disagreeable, but he selected a meth- 
 od which essentially was fully as malignant in its nature. 
 
 He resolved to force a quarrel upon Hamilton; for the 
 result of a duel, no matter which way it went, was pre- 
 ferable to his own impending ruin. If he fell, and he 
 did not expect to fall, it would be the end of his worth- 
 less life. If he killed Hamilton, as he expected to do, 
 the hatred of his countrymen could not equal the exulta- 
 tion that would be his, over the death of his execrated ri- 
 
46 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 val. Hamilton's criticisms of Burr were as violent in 1800 
 as four years later, but they were ignored in the former 
 instance, as similar denunciations have been ignored by 
 politicians in later days. That, however, mattered noth- 
 ing. Burr selected some words attributed to Hamilton, 
 at the time the caucuses were held for the gubernatorial 
 nominations. These charges were of a public character, 
 were not especially bitter, and were mild compared to 
 what Hamilton had uttered more than once in previous 
 political contests. 
 
 Hamilton acknowledged the validity of the "code of 
 honor," so called. He was too manly to deny anything 
 said by him, though directing attention to the fact that 
 his words were uttered against the public character of 
 Burr. The latter pressed him remorselessly, with the 
 final result that the challenge was accepted, and an ap- 
 pointment for a hostile meeting was arranged to take 
 place at Weehawken, New Jersey, on the banks of the 
 Hudson, on the nth of July, 1804. 
 
 Burr spent the interval between the acceptance of the 
 challenge and the duel in elaborate pistol practice. A 
 good shot at the first, he became an expert and was con- 
 fident that, if he escaped Hamilton's fire, the latter would . 
 not escape his. Hamilton settled his business affairs, 
 wrote farewell letters to his wife and then on a beautiful 
 sunshiny morning in July went to his death. He was 
 wounded mortally at the first fire, and discharging his 
 weapon in air, was carried to his own home, where he 
 lingered in agony for several hours, and died, surrounded 
 by his stricken family. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 47 
 
 The country was horrified. The press and pulpit de- 
 nounced the deed that had robbed the United States of 
 its most brilHant statesman, and the detestation of the 
 brutal code was so widespread that duelling became more 
 
 The Grave of Hamilton, Trinity Churcliyard. New York. 
 (From "A Tour Around Old New York." Copyright, 1892, by Harper & Bros.) 
 
 unpopular than ever, though unhappily it was not whol- 
 ly extinguished, the gallant Decatur falling a victim six- 
 teen years later. 
 
 Senator Lodge, in his excellent life of Hamilton, dis- 
 cusses the question, Why did Hamilton accept the chal- 
 lenge of Burr? The conclusion reached by the author is 
 
48 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ingenious, but to us it seems forced. It is in effect, that 
 Hamilton was haunted for years by his belief, that the 
 weakness of the national government, the unrest of the 
 masses, and the sympathy with France in her awful re- 
 volt would lead to a somewhat similar uprising in this 
 country. An intense nationalist himself, a devotee of 
 law and order, he felt that the army must be the main- 
 stay and hope in the supreme struggle. That body w-ould 
 accept no leader against whose personal courage a whis- 
 per could be uttered. He considered himself as the man 
 above all others to lead the army, and the mission could 
 not be his, unless, figuratively speaking, he went to it 
 with "clean hands." If he refused Burr's challenge, his 
 enemies would charge him with lacking such courage. 
 It would be fatal to his hopes, and, accepting his infinite 
 self-confidence, disastrous to the country, when the deci- 
 sive conflict took place between anarchy and order. 
 Therefore, he felt impelled by a resistless impulse of pa- 
 triotic duty to fight Burr. 
 
 This theory we repeat is ingenious and is fortified by 
 extracts from Hamilton's correspondence, extending over 
 a course of years. This proves that the great man's 
 monumental mistake was in distrusting his countrymen, 
 and in believing them capable of the horrible blunders 
 of France; but a careful study of the character of Hamil- 
 ton leads me to adopt a much simpler theory of his ac- 
 ceptance of Burr's challenge. Our belief is, that Hamil- 
 ton fought Burr, because he lacked the moral courage to 
 decline. An enemy of the code, his temperament was 
 of the sort that promptly accepts challenges to duels. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 49 
 
 He had demonstrated his intrepidity at Long Island 
 when a bo)', and at Yorktown when a }'onng man. His 
 deeds might have 
 been tenfold more 
 daring, and yet many 
 who lacked his cour- 
 ageous qualities 
 would have con- 
 demned hin for refus- 
 ing to fight Burr. 
 There are circum- 
 stances,- in which it 
 demands more cour- 
 age to refuse to fight, 
 than it does to fight, 
 and Hamilton was 
 lacking in that high- 
 er courage which has 
 led many a good man 
 to his death. 
 
 But it is idle to 
 discuss a question 
 when no certain con- 
 clusion can be reach- 
 ed. Hamilton was 
 dead, though his wid- 
 ow survived to her 
 ninety - eighth year. 
 
 His masterfulwork was finished, and it remains only to 
 add a few tributes from those who appreciated his genius. 
 
 statue of Hamilton, in Central Park, 
 
 New York. 
 Presented by John C. Hamilton, 1880. 
 
so ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 On November 23, 1880, a granite statue of Hamilton 
 was unveiled in Central Park, New York, in the presence 
 of members of the society of the Cincinnati, General 
 Grant, Ex-Governor Bullock of Massachusetts, the May- 
 or of the city and many distinguished citizens. The 
 statue was presented to the city by John C. Hamilton, a 
 son of Alexander Hamilton. Some years later, a statue 
 was unveiled in Brooklyn, and other cities have paid 
 honors to the great man. 
 
 The distinguished Judge Ambrose Spencer said of 
 Hamilton: 
 
 "Alexander Hamilton was the greatest man this coun- 
 try ever produced. I knew him well. I was in situa- 
 tions often to observe and study him. I saw him at the 
 bar and at home. He argued cases before me while I 
 sat as judge on the bench. Webster has done the same. 
 In power of reasoning Hamilton was the equal of Web- 
 ster; and more than this can be said of no man. In cre- 
 ative power Hamilton was infinitely Webster's superior. 
 
 It was he more than any other man, who thought 
 
 out the Constitution of the United States and the details 
 of the government of the Union; and, out of the chaos 
 that existed after the Revolution, raised a fabric every 
 part of which is instinct with his thought. I can truly 
 say that hundreds of politicians and statesmen of the day 
 get both the web and woof of their thoughts from Ham- 
 ilton's brains. He, more than any other man, did the 
 thinking of the time." 
 
 Chancellor Kent, who understood Hamilton thorough- 
 ly, said: 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 
 
 5« 
 
 "He rose at once to the loftiest heights of protessional 
 eminence, by his profound penetration, his power of anal- 
 ysis, the comprehensive grasp and strength of his under- 
 standing, an(i the firmness, frankness and integrity of his 
 character. We may say of him, in reference to his asso- 
 ciates, as was said of Papinian: '■'■Omnes longo post se i?t- 
 tervallo relijrquerit." 
 
 Talleyrand when in New York saw Hamilton at work 
 in his ofiice late at night and said of him: 
 
 "I have seen one of the wonders of the world. I have 
 seen a man laboring all night to support his family who 
 had made the fortune of a nation. I consider Napoleon, 
 Fox and Hamilton the three greatest men of our epoch, 
 and without hesitation I award the first place to Ham- 
 ilton." 
 
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 k^ 
 
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 ^^Hf^F' \^ 
 
 1 
 
 • ■^^ 
 
 hHh 
 
 
 H| 
 
 m^^^^^^ 
 
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 iTiriirfiBiiiri''nT 
 
 
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 ^^^0^: 
 
 
 
52 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ANECDOTES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF HAMILTON. 
 
 DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN HAMILTON AND WASHINGTON. 
 
 A few weeks after the marriage of Hamilton, on the 
 i6th of February, 1781, a somewhat singular and disa- 
 greeable incident occurred between himself and the Com- 
 mander-in-chief, which exerted some influence on his fu- 
 ture career. 
 
 He had now been nearly four years in the family of 
 Washington, as his aid-de-canip. He had secured, by 
 his superior abilities and integrity, the first plafce in his 
 confidence. But the position had always been one in 
 some respects disagreeable to Hamilton, inasmuch as it 
 placed him in a state of dependence on the will and sub- 
 ject to the caprices of another. 
 
 On the day just mentioned a breach occurred between 
 them which put an end to this relation, though between 
 men of such intelligence and such integrity it could not 
 diminish their mutual confidence and respect. The inci- 
 dents of the dispute were these; and trivial enough they 
 were to have led to such important consequences. 
 
 Washington and Hamilton passed each other on 
 the stairs at the headquarters of the army, then loca- 
 ted at Morristown, in New Jersey. The general said he 
 wished to speak to Hamilton. The latter answered that 
 he would wait on him immediately. 
 
 Hamilton went below and delivered a letter of impor- 
 tance to Mr. Tilghman, which was to be sent immediate- 
 ly to the Commissary, as it contained an order of the 
 most pressing nature. As Hamilton reascended the 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 stairs he was met by General Lafayette. The latter de- 
 tained him a few moments in conversation. 
 
 When Hamilton reached the head of the stairs he met 
 General Washington, who had left his own apartment 
 and come for- 
 ward to accost 
 him. 
 
 He exclaimed 
 in an angry 
 tone: 
 
 "Col. Hamil- 
 ton, you have 
 kept me wait- 
 ing for you 
 these ten min- 
 utes. I must 
 tell you, sir, you 
 treat me with 
 disrespect." 
 
 Hamilton re- 
 plied: 
 
 "I am not con- 
 scious of it, sir; 
 but since you 
 have thought it 
 necessary to tell me so, we part." "Very well, sir," res- 
 ponded Washington, "if it be your choice." 
 
 Such was the cause of this unfortunate difhculty. 
 
 The truth was that Washington, harassed by ten thous- 
 and cares, had in a moment of thoughtlessness given 
 
 Hamilton in the Field. 
 
54 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 way to a little petulance which was quite excusable; and 
 that Hamilton, wearied with the disagreeable dependence 
 which always attends the position and functions of an 
 aid-de-camp, determined to embrace the opportunity thus 
 afforded to put an end to a relation which he had long 
 endured only from patriotic and disinterested motives, 
 and from a powerful attachment to the person and career 
 of Washington. — Schmucker. 
 
 HAMILTON THE PEN OF THE ARMY. 
 
 To Hamilton alone Washington confided the most dif- 
 ficult and elaborate communications which emanated 
 from headquarters, both to Congress and to private citi- 
 zens, which he did not himself compose. "The pen of 
 our army," says Troup, "was held by Hamilton; and 
 for dignity of manner, pith of matter, and elegance of 
 style. General Washington's letters are unrivaled in mil- 
 itary annals." 
 
 HAMILTON AND THE FEDERALIST. 
 
 "The Federalist" is justly regarded as the great Ameri- 
 can classic in political science. No production which 
 has emanated from any American statesman can compete 
 with it in profundity, ability and power. 
 
 The great constitutional arguments of Mr. W'ebster, 
 and the elaborate treatise of Mr. Calhoun on the Consti- 
 tution, are its acknowledged inferiors. It holds the same 
 high place in American literature which the letters of 
 Junius, and the Reflections of Burke on the French Rev- 
 olution, occupy in British literature; while it possesses 
 one great advantage over thesje celebrated works, in tlie 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 55 
 
 fact that their discussions are based vipon transient and 
 temporary events, which, however important and absorb- 
 ing they may have been at the period of their occurrence, 
 lost their supreme and overwhelming interest with the 
 steady progress of time. 
 
 "The i^'ederalist" is founded upon a theme equally per- 
 manent and glorious — one which will continue to inter- 
 est and benefit our race as long as true liberty exists up- 
 on the earth: and not only as long as the American con- 
 federacy shall continue to flourish, but even while it re- 
 tains a place in the memory of mankind. 
 
 It is a complete commentary upon the Constitvitiou of 
 the United States, which is fully worthy of its subject. 
 It is a magnificent superstructure erected in perfect har- 
 mony with the symmetrical and beautiful proportions of 
 the foundation upon which it is reared, and destined to 
 be coequal with it in duration and celebrity. 
 
 The first publication of "The Federalist" began in the 
 daily journals in November, 1787, and it continued till 
 June, 1788. It attracted universal attention at the time; 
 and to the influence which it wielded, the speedy and 
 unanimous adoption of the federal Constitution by all 
 the States, is in a great measure to be attributed. 
 
 Its general scope and purpose were to afford the Amer- 
 ican people, at the period when they were discussing the 
 provisions and merits of that Constitution previous to its 
 final adoption — a thorough exposition of the principles 
 which should characterize a federal representative gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 It combines in harmoni6us proportions an ardent at- 
 
56 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 tachment to the principles of national liberty, with a clear 
 and impartial statement of the dangers which result from 
 an excessive and undue jealousy of the power intrusted 
 to the central government, in those unsound and badly 
 constructed republics which, in former ages, have arisen, 
 flourished, foundered and fallen; and it draws lessons of 
 wisdom from their misfortunes. 
 
 Or, in the words of Hamilton himself: "I propose to 
 discuss the following interesting particulars: the utility 
 of the Union to your political prosperity; the insufficiency 
 of the present confederation to preserve that Union: the 
 necessity of a government at least equally energetic with 
 the one proposed, to the attainment of this object: the 
 conformity of the proposed Constitution to the true prin- 
 ciples of republican government: its analogy to your own 
 State constitution: and lastly, the additional security 
 which its adoption will afford to the preservation of that 
 species of government, to liberty and to prosperity." — 
 Schmucker. 
 
 APPRECIATION ABROAD OF THE FEDERALIST. 
 
 The wise and learned of Europe have also appreciated 
 the superior merit of this production. Shortly after its 
 first appearance, "The Federalist" was translated into 
 French by M. Buisson, and published in Paris. 
 
 In that country it has taken its place by the side of 
 Montesquieu's "Spirit of L,aws." 
 
 It has been republished in Switzerland, and has been 
 there honored as the worthy associate of the great work 
 of Burlamaqui on the same subject. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. - 57 
 
 It is known and appreciated in every country of Eu- 
 rope, just in proportion as the liberty of the press and lib- 
 erty of speech are possessed and enjoyed. — Schmucker. 
 
 HAMII,TON AND ANDRE. 
 
 In reference to the fall of the British officer, Andre, 
 who was involved in the punishment which Arnold de- 
 served, Hamilton, moved by a generous sympathy for 
 the fate of one so young, so chivalrous, and so promising, 
 exerted his utmost efforts to discover some legal and hon- 
 orable expedient to save him. 
 
 When all proved unavailing, he felt deeply for the un- 
 fortunate officer, and published a narrative of the facts 
 in the case, in a letter to his friend Laurens, which re- 
 flects equal' credit, both upon his intellect and his heart. 
 It was a model of elegance, clearness, simplicity and 
 force in the art of narration. 
 
 In a letter to Miss Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter 
 of the distinguished general of that name, Hamilton des- 
 cribes the execution of Andre with graphic power; and 
 thus speaks of that melancholy occurrence: 
 
 "Poor Andre suffers to day; everything that is 
 amiable in virtue, in fortitude, in delicate sentiment 
 and accomplished manners, pleads for him ; but hard- 
 hearted policy calls for a sacrifice. He must die. 
 I send you my account of Arnold's affair, and to justi- 
 fy myself to your sentiment, I must inform you that I 
 urged a compliance with Andre's request to be shot, and 
 I do not think it would have had an ill effect; but some 
 people are only sensible to motives of policy, and some- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 59 
 
 times, from a narrow disposition, mistake it." — Sohmuck- 
 er. 
 
 HAMILTON AND THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 In the end, the predictions of this great man and pro- 
 found statesman were fully realized. Dr. Schmucker 
 truthfully says, "The Constitution, which Hamilton 
 chiefly elaborated, was finally adopted; and has since be- 
 come the subject of the constant eulogy of myriads of el- 
 oquent tongues, and has received the admiration of the 
 whole civilized world. 
 
 "The merit of Hamilton in connection with it can now 
 scarcely be estimated; but when a thousand years of un- 
 equaled national prosperity and glory shall have rolled 
 over this confederacy, which his great plastic hand mould- 
 ed into so compact, so beautiful, and so consistent a 
 mass; when five hundred millions of beings shall inhabit 
 this continent, turning by their thrifty industry all her 
 boundless plains and valleys into blooming and fruitful 
 gardens; and when, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Shore 
 an empire of freemen shall here live and reign under the 
 benign control of that Constitution, being ten times 
 greater than any previous empire that ever existed on the 
 earth; then, indeed, may the vast services and the ven- 
 erable name of Alexander Hamilton be cherished with 
 the profound reverence and the high appreciation which 
 they abundantly deserve." 
 
 Constitution of the United States. 
 
 The following observation states clearly and beautiful- 
 ly one of the chief attributes or characteristics of this 
 celebrated work: 
 
6o ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 "Like one of those wondrous rocking stones reared by 
 the Druids, which the finger of a child may vibrate to 
 the centre, yet the might of an army could not move it 
 from its place, our Constitution is so nicely poised and 
 balanced, that it seems to sway with every breath of 
 opinion, yet so firmly rooted in the heart and affections 
 of the people, that the wildest storms of treason and 
 fanaticism break over it in vain." — R. C. Winthrop. 
 
 HAMILTON'S DISTRUST OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE. 
 
 "Upon my first going into Congress I discovered symp- 
 toms of a party too well disposed to subject the interests 
 of the United States to the management of France. 
 Though I felt in common with those who had participat- 
 ed in the Revolution, a lively sentiment of good-will 
 toward a power whose cooperation, however it was and 
 otight to have been dictated by its own interest, had been 
 extremely useful to us, and had been afforded in a liber- 
 al and handsome manner. 
 
 "Yet, tenacious of the real independence of our country, 
 and dreading the preponderance of foreign influence as 
 the natural disease of popular government, I was struck 
 with disgust at the appearance, in the very cradle of our 
 republic, of a party actuated by an undue complaisance 
 to a foreign power, and I resolved at once to resist this 
 bias in our affairs; a resolution which has been the chief 
 cause of the persecution I have endured in the subse- 
 quent stages of my political life." 
 
 HAMILTON AND THE UNION. 
 
 "If the circumstances of our country are such," says 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 6t 
 
 Hamilton, "as to demand a compound, instead of a sim- 
 ple — a confederate, instead of a sole government, the es- 
 sential point which will remain to be adjusted, will be to 
 discriminate the objects, as far as it can be done, which 
 will appertain to the different provinces or departments 
 of power: allowing to each the most ample authority for 
 fulfilling those which may be committed to its charge. 
 
 "Shall the Union be constituted the guardian of the 
 common safety? Are fleets, and armies, and revenues, 
 necessary to this purpose? The government of the Union 
 must be empowered to pass all laws, and to make all reg- 
 ulations which have relation to them. 
 
 "The same must be the case in respect to commerce, 
 and to every other matter to which its jurisdiction is per- 
 mitted to extend. 
 
 "Is the administration of justice between the citizens of 
 the same State the proper department of the local gov- 
 ernments? These must possess all the authorities which 
 are connected with this object, and with every other that 
 may be allotted to their particular cognizance and direct- 
 ion. 
 
 "Not to confer in each case a degree of power commen- 
 surate to the end, would be to violate the most obvious 
 rules of prudence and propriety, and improvidently to 
 trust the great interests of the nation to hands which are 
 disabled from managing them with vigor and success." 
 
 HAMILTON ON ANCIENT AND MODERN REPUBLICS. 
 
 "It is impossible to read the history of the petty repub- 
 lics of Greece and Italy, without feeling sensations of 
 
62 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 liorror and disgust at the distractions with which they 
 were continually agitated; and at the rapid succession of 
 revolutions by which they were kept perpetually vibrat- 
 ing between the 
 extremes of tyr- 
 anny and an- 
 archy. 
 
 "If they ex- 
 hibit occasional 
 calms, these on- 
 ly serve as 
 short-lived con- 
 trasts to the fu- 
 rious storms 
 that are to suc- 
 ceed. 
 
 "If now and 
 then intervals 
 of felicity open 
 themselves to 
 view, we behold 
 them with a 
 mixture of re- 
 gret arising 
 from the reflect- 
 ion, that the 
 pleasing scenes before us are soon to be overwhelmed by 
 the tempestuous waves of sedition and party rage. 
 
 "If momentary rays of glory break forth from the gloom 
 while they dazzle us with a transient and fleeting brill- 
 
 statue of Hamilton in front of the Hamilton Club, 
 Broolilyn, N. Y. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 63 
 
 iancy, they at the same time admonish us to lament, that 
 the vices of government should pervert the direction, 
 and tarnish the lustre of those bright talents and exalted 
 endowments for which the favored soils that produced 
 them have been so justly celebrated. 
 
 "But it is not to be denied, that the portraits they have 
 sketched of republican government, were too just copies 
 of the originals from which they were taken. If it had 
 been found impracticable to have devised models of a 
 more perfect structure, the enlightened friends of liberty 
 would have been obliged to abandon the cause of that 
 species of government as indefensible. 
 
 "The science of politics, however, like most other sci- 
 ences, has received great improvement. The efficacy of 
 various principles is now well understood, which were 
 either not known at all, or imperfectly known to the an- 
 cients. 
 
 "The regular distribution of power into distinct de- 
 partments; the introduction of legislative balances and 
 checks; the institution of courts composed of judges, 
 holding their offices during, good behavior; the represen- 
 tation of the people in the legislature, by deputies of their 
 own election; these are either wholly new discoveries, or 
 have made their principal progress toward perfection in 
 modern times." 
 
 HAMII^TON ON NATIONAL EMERGENCIES. 
 
 "Our own experience has corroborated the lessons 
 taught by the examples of other nations; that emergen- 
 cies of this sort will sometimes exist in all societies, how- 
 
6a- ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ever constituted; that seditions and insurrections are, 
 unhappily, maladies as inseparable from the body poli- 
 tic, as tumors and eruptions from the natural body; that 
 the idea of governing at all times by the simple force of 
 law, (which we have been told is the only admissible 
 principle of republican government) has no place but in 
 the revery of those political doctors, whose sagacit}' dis- 
 dains the admonitions of experimental instruction. 
 
 "Should such emergencies at any time happen under 
 the national government, there could be no remedy but 
 force. The means to be employed must be proportioned 
 to the extent of the mischief. If it should be a slight 
 commotion in a small part of a State, the militia of the 
 residue would be adequate to its suppres.sion: and the 
 natural presumption is, that they would be ready to do 
 their duty. 
 
 "An insurrection, whatever may be its immediate 
 cause, eventually endangers all government. 
 
 "Regard for the public peace,if not for the rights of the 
 Union, would engage the citizens, to whom the contagion 
 had not communicated itself, to oppose the insurgents; 
 and if the general government should be found in prac- 
 tice conducive to the prosperity and felicity of the people, 
 it were irrational to believe that they would be disin- 
 clined to its support. " 
 
 HAMILTON ON THE RE-ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 "The administration of government, in its largest sense, 
 comprehends all the operations of the body politic, wheth- 
 er legislative, executive, or judiciary; but in its most us- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 65 
 
 ual, and perhaps in its most precise signification, it is 
 limited to executive details, and falls peculiarly within 
 the province of the executive department. 
 
 "The actual conduct of foreign negotiations, the pre- 
 paratory plans of finance, the application and disburse- 
 ment of the public moneys in conformity to the general 
 appropriations of the legislature, the arrangement of the 
 army and navy, the direction of the operations of war; 
 these, and other matters of the like nature, constitute, 
 what seems to be most properly understood by the ad- 
 ministration of government. 
 
 "The persons, therefore, to whose immediate manage- 
 ment these difTerent matters are committed, ought to be 
 considered as the assistants or deputies of the chief mag- 
 istrate; and on this account, they ought to derive their 
 offices from his appointment, at least from his nomina- 
 tion, and to be subject to his superintendence. 
 
 "This view of the thing will at once suggest to us the 
 intimate connection between the duration of the execu- 
 tive magistrate in office, ancl the stability of the system 
 of administration. 
 
 "To undo what has been done by a predecessor is very 
 often considered by a successor as the best proof he can 
 give of his own capacity and desert; and in addition to 
 this propensity, where the alteration has been the result 
 of public choice, the person substituted is warranted in 
 supposing that the dismission of his predecessor has pro- 
 ceeded from a dislike to his measures, and that the less 
 he resembles him the more he will recommend himself 
 to the favor of his constituents. 
 
66 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 "These considerations, and the influence of personal 
 confidences and attachments, would be likely to induce 
 every new President to promote a change of men to fill 
 the subordinate stations; and these causes together could 
 not fail to occasion a disgraceful and ruinous mutability 
 in the administration of the government." 
 
 HAMILTON ON TERM OF OFFICE. 
 (From a Letter to Timothy Pickering, Sept. 16, 1803.) 
 
 "I may truly say that I never proposed either a Presi- 
 dent or Senate for life; and that I neither recommended 
 nor meditated the annihilation of the State governments. 
 
 "And I may add that, in a course of the discussions in 
 the Convention, neither the propositions thrown out for 
 debate, nor even those who voted in the earlier stages of 
 deliberation, were considered as evidence of a definitive 
 opinion in the proposer or voter. 
 
 "It appeared to be in some sort understood that, with a 
 view to free investigation, experimental propositions 
 might be made, which were to be received merely as 
 suggestions for consideration. Accordingly, it is a fact 
 \h2X my Jinal opinion was against an executive during 
 good behavior, on account of the increased danger to the 
 public tranquility incident to the election of a magistrate 
 of his degree of permanency. 
 
 "In a plan of a Constitution which I drew up while 
 the Convention was sitting, and which I communicated 
 to Mr. Madison about the close of it, perhaps a day or 
 two after, the ofhce or President has no longer duration 
 than for three years. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 J7 
 
 "This plan was predicated upon these bases: i. That 
 the political principles of the people of this country, 
 would endure nothing but a republican government. 2. 
 That in the actual situation of the country it was itself 
 right and proper that the re- 
 publican theory should have 
 a full and fair trial. 3. That 
 to such a trial it was essential 
 that the government should be 
 so constructed as to give it all 
 the energy and the stability 
 reconcilable with the principles 
 of that theory. These were 
 the genuine sentiments of my 
 heart, and upon them I then 
 acted. 
 
 "I sincerely hope that it may not hereafter be discov- 
 ered that, through want of sufficient attention to the last 
 idea, the experiment of republican government, even in 
 this country, has not been as complete, as satisfactory, 
 and as decisive as could be wished." 
 
 Lord Cornwallis. against 
 
 whose forces Hiimilton led tke 
 
 gallant assault at Yorktown. 
 
 HAMILTON'S DEFENSE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Hamilton was called upon to vindicate the character 
 and integrity of his friend, the chief magistrate of the 
 nation, from the foul charges which an infamous party- 
 hatred preferred against him. 
 
 Both the military and political character of Washing- 
 ton were furiously assailed. 
 
 The republican or radical party asserted that he was 
 
68 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 totally destitute of merit, either as a soldier or as a 
 statesman. Even his personal qualities as a man were 
 ridiculed and censured. 
 
 It was asserted that he had violated the Constitution 
 in the recent treaty which had been made with England 
 through the agency of Mr. Jay; and an impeachment 
 even was threatened against him^ whom all wise and 
 good men now designate as the patriot who possessed 
 the severest virtue known in modern times; who happi- 
 ly mingled in one, the characters of Aristides, Cincin- 
 natus and Scipio. 
 
 It was also asserted that he had drawn from the Treas- 
 ury for his private use, more than the amount of salary 
 allowed him by law. To support this last infamous as- 
 sumption, extracts from the accounts of the Treasury 
 Office were laid before the House of Representatives. 
 
 Hamilton came forward boldly to tlie defense of his 
 venerable friend. He denied publicly and officially in 
 the journals that the appropriations made by the gov- 
 ernment had ever been exceeded. 
 
 The infamous charge was again repeated and insisted 
 on; and then was seen that most despicable spectacle 
 which a degraded humanity ever exhibits, when it eag- 
 erly seizes the opportunity to exult in the degradation of 
 exalted personages, and of immortal names which they 
 had long been compelled to respect and esteem. 
 
 These unfortunate circumstances induced Hamilton to 
 prepare and publish a more explicit and full explanation. 
 
 He proved that Washington had himself never re- 
 ceived in person any portion of his salary; but that the 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 6g 
 
 money had all been received and disbursed by the per- 
 son who superintended the expenses of the household. 
 
 He showed that it was the practice of the Treasury, 
 when a certain sum had been appropriated for the cur- 
 rent year, to pay it to that gentleman when called 
 upon. 
 
 The expenses of some periods of the year sometimes 
 exceeded the allowance, and at others they fell short of 
 it. Sometimes money was paid in advance, and some- 
 times money stood to the credit of the President's house- 
 hold. In all these matters Washington himself had nev- 
 er personally interfered. 
 
 So complete was the vindication published by Hamil- 
 ton of his illustrious friend, that even the foul tongue of 
 faction was at last silenced, and the public confidence 
 was restored again to the founder of the Republic. — 
 Schmucker. 
 
 CONTRAST BETWEEN BURR AND HAMILTON. 
 
 Burr was crafty, selfish, unscrupulous and ambitious. 
 He could assume all shapes and forms of political and 
 moral character, in order to promote his personal inter- 
 ests. 
 
 His chief agents and favorite means in the accomplish- 
 ment of his ends were secrecy and cunning. From his 
 youth he delighted to throw a vail of obscurity and dark- 
 ness over all his actions, even where obscurity and dark- 
 ness were not necessary to the attainment of success. 
 
 In weaving the intricate mazes of political intrigue, 
 in the skillful use of unscrupulous means, in the con- 
 
70 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 centration and combination of effective forces and het- 
 erogeneous elements, in perseverance amid difficulties, in 
 fortitude in the midst of dangers, in coolness, calmness 
 
 and determina- 
 tion, Aaron Burr 
 had no superior 
 a m o n g modern 
 statesmen. 
 
 He was eloqiient; 
 but his eloquence 
 wr.s simple, un- 
 strained, unadorn- 
 ed and displayed 
 i t s superior 
 power only by the 
 effectiveness with 
 which it com- 
 manded the reas- 
 ons and swayed 
 the wills of men. 
 
 He cared but lit- 
 tle for his coun- 
 try's glory ; his on- 
 ly idol was him- 
 self. He entertained no faith in moral obHgations: 
 scarcely believed in the existence of a supreme governor 
 of the Universe; and was, in every sense, a great, gifted, 
 corrupt and dangerous man. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton was directly the opposite of his 
 rival, both in his mental and moral qualities. 
 
 statue of Hamilton in Statuary Hall (Old House 
 
 of Representatives), in Capitol at Washington. 
 
 Hamilton's Statue is first at the right. 
 
 Statue of Lincoln is next. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 71 
 
 He was honest and consistent in his political belief. 
 He was very open, candid and impulsive in his nature. 
 He too was eloquent; but his eloquence was stately, 
 gorgeous, ornate and polished. He more nearly resem- 
 bled Edmund Burke both as a writer, a speaker, and a 
 statesman, than any other distinguished man of modern 
 times. 
 
 There was no secrecy, craft, or duplicity in his compo- 
 sition. He loved his country with a lofty, generous and 
 disinterested patriotism; and to her glory his great tal- 
 ents and unwearied services were constantly devoted. 
 He was no civilized heathen; but believed in the Chris- 
 tian faith, acknowledged the moral obligation of man to 
 his Creator, and was guided in general by a regard to 
 the claims of moral duty. 
 
 The best estimate of his character may be drawn from 
 the single fact that, until Washington's death, he re- 
 mained his bosom friend, his chief favorite, his, intimate 
 and confidential associate. — Schniucker. 
 
 HAMILTON'S PROTEST AGAINST DUELLING. 
 
 Hamilton placed on record his protest against the 
 prevalence and power of the barbarous code to which he 
 himself was about to fall a victim. Among the papers 
 which he left behind him was the following: 
 
 "On my expected interview with Colonel Burr, I think 
 it proper to make some remarks explanatory of my con- 
 duct, motives, and views. I was certainly desirous of 
 avoiding this interview for the most cognent reasons. 
 
 "i. My religious and moral principles are strongly op- 
 
72 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 posed to the practice of duelling, and it would ever give 
 me pain to be obliged to shed the blood of a fellow-crea- 
 ture in a private combat forbidden by the laws. 
 
 "2. My wife and children are extremely dear to me, 
 and my life is of the utmost importance to them in vari- 
 ous views. 
 
 "3. I feel a sense of obligation toward my creditors; 
 who, in case of accident to me, by the forced sale of my 
 property, may be in some degree sufferers. I did not 
 think myself at liberty, as a man of probity, likely to 
 expose them to this hazard. 
 
 "4. I am conscious of no ill-2vill to Colonel 5urr dis- 
 tinct from political opposition, which, as I trust, has pro- 
 ceeded from pure and upright motives. 
 
 "Lastly, I shall hazard much, and can possibly gain 
 nothing by the issue of the inter\dew. 
 
 "But it was, as I conceive, impossible -for me to avoid 
 it. There were intrinsic difficulties in the thing, and 
 artificial embarrassments from the manner of proceeding 
 on the part of Colonel Burr. 
 
 '■'■Intrinsic^ because it is not to be denied that my ani- 
 madversions on the political principles, character, and 
 views of Colonel Burr have been extremely severe; and, 
 , on different occasions, I, in common with many others, 
 have made very unfavorable criticisms on particular in- 
 stances of the private conduct of this gentleman. 
 
 "It is not my design, by what I have said to affix any 
 odium on the character of Colonel Burr in this case. He 
 doubtless has heard of animadversions of mine which 
 bore very hard upon him; and it is probable that, as us- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 73 
 
 ual, they were accompanied with some falsehoods. He 
 may have supposed himself under a necessity of act- 
 ing as he has done. I hope the grounds of his proceed- 
 ing have been such as ought to satisfy his own con- 
 science. 
 
 "I trust, at the same time, that the world will do me 
 the justice to believe that I have not censured him on 
 light grounds nor from unworthy inducements. 
 
 "I certainly have had strong reasons for what I have 
 said, though it is possible that in some particulars I have 
 been influenced by misconstruction or misinformation. 
 It is also my ardent wish that I may have been more 
 mistaken than I think I have been; and that he, by his 
 future conduct, may show himself worthy of all confi- 
 dence and esteem, and prove an ornament and blessing 
 to the country. 
 
 "As well, because it is possible that I may have in- 
 jured Colonel Burr, however convinced myself that my 
 opinions and declarations have been well founded, as 
 from my general principles and temper in relation to sim- 
 ilar affairs, I have resolved, if our interview is conducted 
 in the usual manner, and it pleases God to give me the 
 opportunity, to reserve and throw away my first fire; and 
 I have thoughts even of reserving my second, and thus 
 giving a double opportunity to Colonel Burr to pause and 
 repent. 
 
 "It is not my intention, however, to enter into any 
 explanation on the ground. Apology, from principle I 
 hope rather than pride, is out of the question. 
 
 "To those who, with me, abhorring the practice of du- 
 
74 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 elling, may think that I ought on no account to have 
 added to the number of bad examples, I answer, that my 
 relative situation, as well in public as in private, enforc- 
 ing all the considerations which constitute what men of 
 the world denominate honor imposed on me, as I thought, 
 a peculiar necessity not to decline the call. 
 
 "The ability to be in the future useful, whether in resist- 
 ing mischief or effecting good in those crises of our public 
 affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be 
 inseparable from a conformity with public prejudice in 
 this particular." 
 
 Mr. Hamilton also wrote a letter for Mrs. Hamilton, to 
 be delivered in case he fell. In it he assured her that 
 he had taken all possible means to avoid the duel, ex- 
 cept in acting in such a manner as would forfeit her es- 
 teem; that he had determined not to fire at Burr, and 
 that he expected to fall. He asked her forgiveness for 
 inflicting so much pain, and commended her and her 
 children to God. 
 
 FUNERAL OF HAMILTON. 
 
 When the hour appointed for the funeral arrived, a 
 more imposing scene had never been witnessed on this 
 continent, than that which was then presented. 
 
 The Society of the Cincinnati very properly took 
 charge of the last obsequies of their departed brother. 
 Twenty-three different orders, societies and corporations 
 joined the funeral procession, besides the military array, 
 composed of both infantry and artillery. 
 
 The great standard of the order of the Cincinnati, 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 75 
 
 which Washington himself had consecrated, shrouded in 
 crape, was carried in the procession in the rear of the 
 corpse. Solemn martial music, hallowed in the memories 
 of not a few then present by many revolutionary scenes, 
 reverberated through the silent air, and drew tears from 
 myriads of eyes. At twelve o'clock the procession moved. 
 
 The pall was supported by 
 eight of the most distinguished 
 citizens of the State of New 
 York, the personal friends of 
 the deceased. On the top of 
 the cofhn were placed the gen- 
 eral's hat and sword. His old 
 charger, which had carried him 
 over more than one field of 
 blood, was dressed in mourning 
 and led behind the bier. 
 
 When the immense proces- 
 sion arrived at Trinity Church 
 on Broadway, Governeur Morris, surrounded by the 
 four sons of General Hamilton, delivered an oration 
 characterized by solemn and appropriate eloquence, from 
 a stage erected in front of the church. 
 
 The multitude were bathed in tears, while the impres- 
 sive voice of the orator gave utterance to thoughts which 
 found a ready echo in every heart. Speaking of the il- 
 lustrious dead, he said: 
 
 "You have long witnessed his professional conduct and 
 felt his unrivaled eloquence. You know how well he 
 performed the duties of a citizen. You know that he 
 
 John Rutledge, 
 
 American Statesman and Jurist. 
 
 Born 1730. Died 1800. 
 
76 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 never courted your favors by adulation or the sacrifice 
 of his own judgment. You have seen him contending 
 against you, saving your dearest interests as it were in 
 spite of yourselves. And now you feel and enjoy the 
 benefits resulting from the firm energy of his conduct. 
 
 "Bear this testimony to the memory of my departed 
 friend. I charge you io protect his fame. It is all he 
 has left - all that these poor orphan children will inherit 
 from their father. 
 
 "But, my countrymen, that fame may be a rich treas- 
 ure to you also. Let it bfe the test by which to examine 
 those who solicit your favor. Disregarding professions 
 view their conduct, and on a doubtful occasion ask, 
 Would Hatnilton have done this thing? 
 
 "You all know how he perished. On this last scene I 
 cannot, I must not dwell. I might excite emotions too 
 strong for your better judgment. Suffer not your indig- 
 nation to lead to any act which might again offend the 
 insulted majesty of the law. On his part, as from his 
 lips, though with my voice, - for his voice you will hear 
 no more, — let me entreat you to respect yourselves." 
 
 RESULT OF THE DUEL. 
 
 The result of the duel was to deprive Burr of all pow- 
 er and influence. He killed Hamilton, but he fell him- 
 self by the same shot that carried death to his opponent; 
 and so complete was his fall that he never could rise 
 again, though he continued to cumber the earth for more 
 than thirty-two years. Hamilton's quarrel with Burr, as 
 his son and biographer truly observes, "was the quarrel 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 77 
 
 of his country. It was the last act in the great dramd 
 of his life. It was the deliberate sacrifice of that life for 
 his country's welfare, — a sacrifice which, by overwhelm- 
 ing his antagonist with the execrations of the American 
 people, prevented a civil war, and saved from 'dismem- 
 berment' this great republic." — C. C. Hasewell. 
 
 Grave of Aaron Burr, Princeton, N. J 
 AARON BURR. 
 
 Burr was utterly indifferent to all political principle. 
 He never really belonged to any party, and was as ready 
 to act with Federalists as with Democrats; and it was 
 only through the force of circumstances that he did act 
 generally with the latter. A party man never would 
 
78 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 have done as Burr saw fit to do when the Presidential 
 election of 1801 devolved on the House of Representa- 
 tives. The party to which he professed to belong in- 
 tended, as everybody knew, that Jefferson should be Pres- 
 ident; and yet Burr allowed himself to be used against 
 Jefferson. That "all is fair in politics" was his creed. 
 He may have been "a man of honor," but what Lord 
 Macaulay says of Avaux is strictly applicable to him, 
 namely, — "that of the difference between right and 
 wrong he had no more notion than a brute." — C. C. 
 Hazewcll. 
 
 LAST DAYS OF AARON BURR. 
 
 Besides the mighty load of universal obloquy and hate 
 which overwhelmed Burr as the murderer of an inno- 
 cent and illustrious victim, poverty and suffering attend- 
 ed him during his remaining years. 
 
 Thus, when wandering in France, an exile and an out- 
 cast, suspected and frowned on by Napoleon, he records 
 as follows in his diary of November 23, 1810: "Nothing 
 from America, and really I shall starve. Borrowed three 
 francs to-day. Four or five little debts keep me in con- 
 stant alarm; altogether, about two Louis. 
 
 "December i, 1810. came in upon me this 
 
 morning, just as I was out of bed, for twenty-seven livres. 
 Paid him, which took literally my last sous. 
 
 "When at Denon's, thought I might as well go to St. 
 Pelasgie; set off, but recollected I owed the woman who 
 sits in the passage two sous for a cigar, so turned about 
 to pursue my way by the Pont des Arts, which was with- 
 in fifty paces; remembered I had not wherewith to pay 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 79 
 
 the toll, being one sous; hadito go all the way round by 
 the Pont Royal, more than half a mile." 
 
 Burr was subsequently afflicted with the mysterious 
 and premature death of his daughter, Theodosia Alston, 
 one of the most beautiful and accomplished women of 
 her time. She and her son were supposed to have been 
 lost at sea. 
 
 At length this aged curse of his country and disgrace 
 of his race died at New York, on the 14th of September, 
 1836, in the eighty-first year of his age. 
 
 He survived his duel with General Hamilton more 
 than thirty years; and during that long and cheerless 
 interval he passed through scenes of trial, anxiety and 
 suffering which would have completely crushed any in- 
 tellect not as powerful, and any heart not as adamantine, 
 as his own. 
 
 PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF HAMILTON. 
 
 The personal appearance of Mr. Hamilton was pleas- 
 ing and attractive. When at the age of thirty-eight, he 
 resumed the practice of the law in New York, in 1795, 
 he was thus described: 
 
 "He was under the middle size, thin in person, and very 
 erect, courtly and dignified in his bearing. His hair was 
 combed back from his forehead, powdered and collected 
 in a cue behind. His complexion was very delicate and 
 fair, his cheeks rosy, and the whole expression pleasing 
 and cheerful. His forehead was lofty, capacious and 
 prominent. 
 
 "His appearance accorded well with the expectations 
 
8o ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 which his prodigious fame excited. His voice was 
 musical, his manner frank and impulsive. His ordinary 
 dress was a blue coat with gilt buttons, a white silk 
 waistcoat, black silk small-clothes, and white silk stock- 
 ings. 
 
 "His figure, though slight, was well proportioned and 
 graceful. His appearance and carriage betokened the 
 possessor of a masterly intellect, and one fully conscious 
 of his powers." — Schmucker. 
 
 QUALITIES OF HAMILTON. 
 
 When Mr. Webster so happily compared the instan- 
 taneousness and perfection of his financial system to "the 
 fabled birth of Minerva," he did but allude to what is to 
 be remarked of all Hamilton's works. All that he did 
 was perfect, and no one seems to have been aware of his 
 power until he had established the fact of its existence. 
 
 Such a combination of precocity end versatility stands 
 quite unparalelled. 
 
 Octavius, William the Third, Henry St. John, Charles 
 James Fox, and William Pitt the younger, all showed 
 various powers at early periods of their lives; but not 
 one of them was the equal of Hamilton in respect to ear- 
 ly maturity of intellect, or in ability to command success 
 in every department to which he turned his attention. 
 
 The historical character of whom he most reminds us 
 is the elder Africanus. 
 
 In the early development of his faculties, in his self- 
 reliant spirit, in his patriotism, in hiskinglinessof mind, 
 in his personal purity, in his generosity of thought and 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 8t 
 
 of action, and in the fear and envy that he excited in in- 
 ferior minds, he was a repetition of the most majestic of 
 all the Romans. 
 
 But, unlike the Roman soldier-statesman, he did not 
 desert the land he had saved, but which had proved un- 
 grateful; and the grave only was to be his Liternum. 
 
 He died at not far from the same age as that to which 
 Africanus reached. In comparing him with certain oth- 
 er men who achieved fame early, it should be remem- 
 bered that they all were regularly prepared for public 
 life, and were born to it as to an inheritance; whereas 
 he, though of patrician blood, was possessed of no ad- 
 vantages of fortune, and had to fight the battle of life 
 while fighting the battles of the nation.— C". C. Hazewell. 
 
 EXCELLENCIES OF HAMILTON. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton was the indefatigable soldier of 
 the press, the pen and the army; in each field he carried 
 a sword which, like the one borne by the angel at the 
 gate of Paradise, flashed its guardian care on every hand. 
 
 In martial affairs he was an adept, in literary excel- 
 lence he was unexcelled, and in political discernment he 
 was universally acknowledged to be superior among the 
 great. 
 
 We read his writings with ever-increasing zest, fasci- 
 nated by the seductive charms of his style, and impelled 
 by the opening splendors of his far-reaching and compre- 
 hensive thoughts. They accumulate with a beautiful 
 symmetry, and emanate legitimately from his theme. 
 They expand and grow, as an acorn rises into an oak, of 
 
82 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 which all the branches shoot out of the same trunk, 
 nourished in every part by the same sap, and form a per- 
 fect unit, amid all the diversified tints of the foliage and 
 the infinite complexity of the boughs. 
 
 "That writer would deserve the fame of a public ben- 
 efactor," said Fisher Ames, "who could exhibit the char- 
 acter of Hamilton with the truth and force that all who 
 intimately knew him conceived it; his example would 
 then take the same ascendant as his talents. 
 
 "The portrait alone, however exquisitely finished, could 
 not inspire genius where it is not; but if the world 
 should again have possession of i o rare a gift, it might 
 awaken it where it sleeps, as by a spark from heaven's 
 own altar; for surely if there is anything like divinity in 
 man it is in his admiration for virtue. 
 
 "The country deeply laments when it turns its eyes 
 back and sees what Hamilton was; but my soul stiffens 
 with despair," continues Ames, "when I think what 
 Hamilton would have been. It is not as Apollo, enchant- 
 ing the shepherds with his lyre, that we deplore him; it 
 is as Hercules, treacherously slain in the midst of his 
 unfinished labors, leaving the world overrun with mon- 
 sters." — E. L. Magoon. 
 
 MARSHALL'S TRIBUTE TO HAMILTON. 
 
 (Lite of Washington.) 
 
 "Seldom has any minister excited the opposite pas- 
 sions of love and hate in a higher degree than Colonel 
 Hamilton. His talents" were too prominent not to re- 
 ceive the tribute of profound respect from all; and his in- 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 83 
 
 tegrity and honor as a man, not less than his official rec- 
 titude, tliough slandered at a distance, were admitted tb 
 be superior to reproach by those enemies who kne-vl^hini. 
 
 "But with respect to his political principles and de- 
 signs, the most contradictory opinions were entertained. 
 While one party sincerely believed his object to be the 
 preservation of the Constitution of the United -States iti 
 its purity; the other, with perhaps equal sincerity, ini- 
 puted to him the insidious intention of subverting it. 
 While his friends were persuaded that, as a statesman, 
 he viewed foreign nations with an equal eye, his ene- 
 mies could perceive in his conduct only hostility to 
 France and attachment to her rival. 
 
 "In the good opinion of the President, to whom he 
 was best known, he had always held a high place; and 
 he carried with him out of office the same cordial esteem 
 for his character, and respect for his talents, which had 
 induced his appointment." 
 
 HAMILTON'S SELF-CONFIDENCE. 
 
 It was not until the 2d of September that the Treas- 
 ury Department was created; and on the nth Alexander 
 Hamilton was made Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 Writing to Robert Morris, Washington had asked, 
 "What are we to do with this lieavy debt?" 
 
 To which Morris answered, "There is but one man in 
 the United States who can tell you: that is Alexander 
 Hamilton." 
 
 "I am glad you have given me this opportunity to de- 
 clare to you the extent of the obligations I am under to 
 him." 
 
84 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 Hamilton had thought of the station for himself, but 
 his warmest personal friends objected to his taking it. 
 
 Robert Troup says — "I remonstrated with him: he ad- 
 mitted that his acceptance of it would be likely to injure 
 his family, but said there was a strong impression on his 
 mind that in the financial department he would essen- 
 tially promote the welfare of the country; and this im- 
 pressiou, united with Washington's request, forbade his 
 refusal of the appointment." 
 
 Having said, in conversing with Gouverneur Morris, 
 that he was confident he could restore public credit, 
 Morris remonstrated with him for thinking of so peril- 
 ous a position, on which calumny and persecution were 
 the inevitable attendants. 
 
 "Of that," Hamilton answered, "I am aware; but I am 
 convinced it is the situation in which 1 can do most 
 good " 
 
 He had the same just self-confidence that Cromwell 
 felt, when he said to John Hampden that he would effect 
 something for the Parliamentary cause, and that William 
 Pitt felt in 1757, when he said to the Duke of Devon- 
 shire. 
 
 "My Lord, I am sure that I can save this country, and 
 that nobody else can. " 
 
 As with Cromwell and with Pitt, Hamilton's self-con- 
 fidence was to be conclusively justified by the event. — 
 C. C. Hasewell. 
 
 HAMILTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 
 
 Near the headquarters of Washington, at Valley Forge, 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 85 
 
 were the ruins of an old flour-mill, whose clack was 
 heard before the Revolution, nor ceased until within a 
 few years. Immediately after the battle of Brandywine, 
 and previous to the encampment here, the Americans 
 had made a considerable deposit of stores at this mill. 
 
 Howe sent a detachment of British troops to seize 
 them; but Washington, anticipating this attempt, had 
 sent Lieutenant- Colonel (afterward General) Hamilton, 
 and Captain (afterward General) Henry Lee, with a small 
 troop of horse for the?purpose of destroying these stores. 
 
 Hamilton, with proper precaution, stationed two vi- 
 dettes upon the southern hill overlooking the valley, and 
 also secured a flat bottomed boat on which to cross the 
 Schuylkill, in the event of the sudden appearance of the 
 enemy. The troops had crossed the mill-race, and were 
 about to commence the work of demolition, when the 
 alarm-guns of the videttes were heard, and they were 
 seen sweeping down the hill, closely pursued by some 
 British dragoons. 
 
 Four of the American horsemen, with Hamilton, took 
 to the boat; while I^ee, with the other four, and the vi- 
 dettes, crossed the bridge and escaped, an\id a shower of 
 bullets from the enemy. Hamilton and his party were 
 also fired upon, but were lurharmed. 
 
 Lee was fearful that his comrades, with Hamilton, 
 were killed or made prisoners, for he heard volley after 
 volley fired from the carbines of the enemy, while there 
 was only an occasional response from his friends. Lee 
 dispatched a dragoon to the Commander-in-chief,describ- 
 ing what had occurred, and expressing his anxious fears 
 
86 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 for the safety of Hamilton and his men. While Wash' 
 ington was reading Lee's letter, Hamilton rode up, and 
 with quite as much distress depicted in his face as the 
 former had exhibited in his note, expressed his fears 
 that his friend L,ee was cut off. Washington quieted 
 his apprehensions by handing him Lee's letter. 
 
 BATTLE OF TRENTON. 
 
 The summer and fall of 1776 was the most gloomy 
 period of the American Revolution. 
 
 General Washington had been obliged to retreat from 
 Long Island to New York, thence over the Hudson to 
 New Jersey, and through New Jersey to Pennsylvania, 
 vigorously pursued by an enemy flushed with a series of 
 successes. 
 
 The retreat through New Jersey was attended with 
 circumstances of a painful and trying nature. 
 
 Washington's army, which had consisted of 30,000- 
 men, was now diminished to scarcely 3000, and these 
 were without supplies, without pay, and many of them 
 without shoes or comfortable clothing. 
 
 Their footsteps were stained with blood as they fled 
 before the enemy. The affairs of the Americans seemed 
 in such a desperate condition, that those who had been 
 most confident of success, began despairingly to give up 
 all for lost. 
 
 Many Americans joined, the British, and took protect- 
 iqn from them. In this season of general despondency, 
 the American Congress recommended to each of the 
 states to observe "a day of solemn fasting and humilia- 
 tion before God." 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 87 
 
 General Washington saw the necessity of making a 
 desperate effort for the salvation of his country. On the 
 .night of the 25th of Decemher, 1776, the American ar- 
 my recrossed the Delaware, which was filled with pieces 
 of floating ice, and marched to attack a division of Hes- 
 sians, who had advanced to Trenton. The sun had just 
 risen, as the tents of the enemy appeared in sight. No 
 time was to be lost — Washington, rising on his stirrups, 
 waved his sword toward the hostile army, and exclaimed: 
 "There, my brave friends, are the enemies of your 
 country! and now all I have to ask of you is, to remem- 
 ber what you are about to fight for! March!" 
 
 The troops, animated by their commander, pressed on 
 to the charge; the Hessians were taken by surprise, and 
 the contest was soon decided: about 1000 were taken 
 prisoners, and 40 killed, among whom was their com- 
 mander, (a German officer,) Colonel Rahl. 
 
 BATTLE OF PRINCETON, IN WHICH HAMILTON TOOK 
 
 AN ACTIVE PART. 
 
 Jan. 3, 1777. 
 
 General Washington, having secured the Hessian pris- 
 oners on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, recrossed 
 the river two days after the action, and took possession 
 of Trenton. 
 
 Generals Mifiiin and Cadwallader, who lay at Borden- 
 town and Crosswix with 3600 militia,' were ordered to 
 march up in the night of the ist of January, to join the 
 Commander-in-chief, whose whole effective force, includ- 
 ing this accession, did not exceed 5000 men. 
 
 The detachments of the British army, which had been 
 
88 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 distributed over New Jersey, now assembled at Prince- 
 ton, and were joined by the army from Brunswick under 
 Lord Cornwallis. 
 
 From this position the enemy advanced toward Tren- 
 ton in great force, on the morning of the 2d of January; 
 and, after some slight skirmishing with troops, detached 
 to harass and delay their march, the van of their army 
 reached Trenton about four in the afternoon. 
 
 On their approach. General Washington retired across 
 the Assumpiuck, a rivulet that runs through the town, 
 and, by some field-pieces posted on its opposite banks. 
 Compelled them, after attempting to cross in several 
 places, to fall back out of the reach of his guns. 
 
 The two armies, kindling their fires, retained their po- 
 sition on opposite sides of the rivulet, and kept up a can- 
 nonade until night. 
 
 The situation of the American general was at this mo- 
 ment extremely critical. Nothing but a stream, in many 
 places fordable, separated his army from an enemy, in 
 every respect its superior. 
 
 If he remained in his present position, he was certain 
 of being attacked the next morning, at the hazard of the 
 entire destruction of his little army. 
 
 If he should retreat over the Delaware, the ice in that 
 river not being firm enough to admit a passage upon it, 
 there was danger of great loss, perhaps of a total defeat; 
 the Jerseys would be in full possession of the enemy; the 
 public mind would be depressed; recruiting would be 
 discouraged; and Philadelphia would be within the reach 
 of General Howe. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 8g 
 
 In this extremity, he boldly determined to abandon 
 the Delaware, and by a circuitous match along the left 
 flank of the enemy, fall into their rear at Princeton. 
 
 As soon as it was dark, the baggage was silently re- 
 moved to Burlington; and about one o'clock the army, 
 leaving its fires lighted, and the sentinels on the margin 
 of the creek, decamped with perfect secrecy. 
 
 Its movement was providentially favored by the weath- 
 er, which had previously been so warm and moist, that 
 the ground was soft, and the roads were scarcely passable; 
 but, the wind suddenly changing to the northwest, the 
 ground was in a short time frozen as hard as a pavement. 
 About sunrise, two British regiments, that were on their 
 march under Lieutenant-Colonel Mawhood to join the 
 rear of the British army at Maidenhead, fell in with the 
 van of the Americans, conducted by General Mercer, and 
 a very sharp action ensued. 
 
 The advanced party of the Americans, composed chief- 
 ly of militia, soon gave way, and the few regulars at- 
 tached to them could not maintain their ground. Gen- 
 eral Mercer, while gallantly exerting himself to rally his 
 broken troops, received a mortal wound. The British 
 rushed forward with fixed bayonets, and drove back the 
 Americans. 
 
 General Washington, who followed close in the rear, 
 now led on the main body of the army, and attacked the 
 enemy with great spirit. 
 
 While he exposed himself to their hottest fire, he was 
 so well supported by the same troops which had aided 
 him a few days before in the victory at Trenton, that the 
 
90 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 British were compelled to give way. The Seventeenth 
 Regiment, which was in front, forced its way through a 
 part of the American troops, and reached Maidenhead. 
 The Fifty-fifth Regiment, which was in the rear, re- 
 treated by the way of Hillsborough to Brunswick. 
 
 General Washington pressed forward to Princeton. 
 
 A party of the British that had taken refuge in ,the 
 college, after receiving a few discharges from the Amer- 
 ican field-pieces, came out and surrendered themselves 
 prisoners of war; but the principal part of the regiment 
 that was left there saved itself by a precipitate retreat to 
 Brunswick. Both in the Battle of Trenton and that of 
 Princeton, Hamilton rendered efficient aid. 
 
 In the retreat of the Americans, Hamilton effected a 
 diversion in favor of the patriot army by planting his ar- 
 tillery on a high ground which commanded the ford of 
 the river, and playing so effectively on the British lines 
 as to delay their progress, and enable Washington to 
 make good his retreat. 
 
 When the American army went into winter quarters 
 at Morristown, on March ist, 1777, Hamilton was justly 
 rewarded for his services by the appointment of aid-de- 
 camp and private secretary to Washington, with the rank 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel. 
 
 SIEGE OF YORKTOWN. 
 
 The autumn of 1780 found the British in possession 
 of most of the southern states. Charleston had fallen, 
 South Carolina had been overrun, Virginia was threat- 
 ened; and the victorious Gates, advancing to the succor 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 91 
 
 of the patriots, had been totally destroyed at Camden. 
 But the savage policy adopted by Cornwallis to secure 
 his conquest was ultimately the cause of his ruin. 
 
 He issued a proclamation, sequestering the estates of 
 all those, not included in the capitulation of Charleston, 
 who were in the service or acting under the authority of 
 Congress, and of all others who, by an open avowal of 
 liberal principles, or other notorious acts, should show a 
 leaning to the colonial authorities. At this juncture 
 Marion appeared; the militia flocked to his standard; and 
 the success of the' partisan war carried on by him and 
 Sumpter raised the drooping spirits of the whigs. 
 
 The appointment .of Greene to the command of the 
 southern army, and the brilliant affair at the Cowpens, 
 still further exalted their hopes; so that even the check 
 at Guilford Court House failed to dishearten them. In- 
 deed, the result of that battle was almost as unfavorable 
 to the British as to the Americans. 
 
 In a few days Greene was ready to renew the contest; 
 but Cornwallis eluded his grasp, and reached Wilming- 
 ton, in his way to Virginia, on the jtli of April, 1781. 
 The American leader, finding it impossible to bang his 
 enemy to battle, took the bold resolution of marching 
 into South Carolina, and thus forcing Cornwallis to fol- 
 low him or abandon his conquests. 
 
 The British general, on receiving intelligence of this 
 movement, hesitated, but finally determined to pursue 
 his first design, and over-run Virginia. 
 
 By this daring step he would place his army in a coun- 
 try not yet wasted by war, and where, consequently, sup- 
 
92 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 plies would be plentiful; while, if he should succeed in 
 reducing the colony, the subjugation of the other south- 
 ern states would inevitably follow, no matter how fortu- 
 nate Greene, in the mean time, might be. 
 
 For a time success followed every footstep of the foe. 
 Cornwallis, advancing rapidly northward, had united 
 himself to the British Generals, Phillips and Arnold, as 
 early as the latter end of May;' while La Fayette, who 
 had been dispatched to succor Greene, but had been ar- 
 rested by the enemy on the James River, was preserved 
 from capture only by his energy and address. 
 
 At length a junction was effected between him and 
 Wayne, and subsequently a detachment led by Baron 
 Steuben still further increased his -force. Happily, at 
 this crisis. Sir Henry Clinton, alarmed by Washington's 
 preparations for the siege of New York, recalled a por- 
 tion of the force of Cornwallis, and that general, now 
 somewhat weakened, retired to Yorktown. 
 
 The brave continentals traversed now, with far differ- 
 ent feelings, the ground over which they had fled a few 
 years before, ill-provisioned, poorly clothed, and mark- 
 ing their footsteps with blood. There was before them 
 the prospect of reducing a formidable army, with but lit- 
 tle expense of blood and treasure, and thus revenging 
 their own wrongs and redeeming their country. 
 
 They had already eluded Sir Henry Clinton, and a few 
 days would jDrobably enable them to surround Cornwal- 
 lis. They marched on with high hopes, cheering their 
 way with songs, and before the end of September arrived 
 at Williamsburgh, in the immediate vicinity of the foe. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 93 
 
 Meantime, the French fleet, in pursuance of the con- 
 certed plan, had reached the Chesapeake, while Corn- 
 wallis, too late aware of the net in which he was in- 
 volved, had been assiduously occupied in fortifying his 
 position. 
 
 Having formed a junction with L,a Fayette, the allied 
 army, commanded by Washington in person, moved 
 down from Williamsburgh to Yorktown; and on the 30th 
 of September occupied the outer lines of Cornwallis, 
 which that general had abandoned without a struggle. 
 Two thousand men were detailed to the Gloucester side 
 lo blockade that post. The investment was now com- 
 plete. 
 
 A noble emulation fired the soldiers of the respective 
 natio-.:s as they advanced across the plain. La Fayette 
 led tlic continentals: the Baron de Viominel commanded 
 lii3 countrymen. 
 
 Tl;e redoubt entrusted to the Americans, led by Ham- 
 ilton, was carried at the bayonet's point, the assailants 
 vnshing ou with such impetuosity that the sappers had 
 not time to remove the abattis and palisades. The 
 French were equally courageous and successful, though, 
 as their redoubt was defended by a larger force, the con- 
 quest was not so speedy, and their loss was greater. 
 
 It was a proud day for the war-worn troops of America, 
 when the richly appointed soldiery of Britain marched 
 out with dejected faces from their works, and in pro- 
 found silence stacked their arms on the plain, in pres- 
 ence of the conquerers. 
 
 But no unmanly exultation was seen among the allies; 
 
94 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 With decent pity they gazed on the spectacle, reserving 
 their congratulations for their private quarters. . 
 
 But there, the rejoicings were loud and fervent, and 
 the gay Frenchmen from the Loire joined in triumphal 
 songs with the hardy sons of New England, or the more 
 enthusiastic Virginian. 
 
 HAMILTON'S GALLANTRY AT YORKTOWN. 
 
 The gallantry of the storm was not less distinguished 
 than the humanity of the victors. In the midst of the 
 works, as soon as Hamilton saw the enemy driven back, 
 he ordered his men to halt, and excepting in the charge 
 at the onset, not a man was injured. 
 
 An incident occurred as soon as they entered the re- 
 doubt, to which Hamilton refers in his report. "Incapa- 
 ble of imitating examples of barbarity, and forgetting re- 
 cent provocations, the soldiery spared every man who 
 ceased to fight." 
 
 Colonel Scammel, of the light infantry, while recon- 
 noitering, a few days before, was surprised by a party of 
 horse, and after he was taken was wantonly wounded, of 
 which wound he died. 
 
 When Colonel Campbell, who commanded the redoubt, 
 advanced to surrender, a captain, who had served under 
 Scammel, seized a bayonet, and drew back with the in- 
 tent of plunging it into his breast, when Hamilton turned 
 it aside, and Campbell, exclaiming. 
 
 "I place myself under your protection," was made pris- 
 oner by Ivaurens. 
 
 While receiving the warmest expressions of admiration 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 95 
 
 from the whole army, Hamilton, thus modestly, in a let- 
 ter written to soothe the anxiety of his wife, adverts to 
 what had passed. "Two nights ago, my Eliza, my duty 
 and my honour obliged me to take a step in which your 
 happiness was too much risked. I commanded an attack 
 upon one of the enemy's redoubts; we carried it in an 
 instant, and with little loss. You will see the particu- 
 lars in the Philadelphia papers. There will be, certain- 
 ly, nothing more of this kind; all the rest will be by ap- 
 proach; and if there should be another occasion, it will 
 not fall to my turn to execute it." 
 
 Washington, having concerted measures for the next 
 campaign in a personal interview with congress, revisited 
 Mount Vernon, loaded with laurels, and crowned with 
 glory, while Hamilton returned on furlough to his home. 
 
 Gratifying as had been the result of this campaign, 
 which sealed the national independence, and proud as 
 were his reflections in reviewing the long series of ser- 
 vices he had rendered his country, and in being connect- 
 ed so conspicuously with an event which may be regard- 
 ed as the closing scene of the revolution, yet those reflec- 
 tions were not unmingled with others of a deeply painful 
 character. Though, with every uncorrupted mind, he 
 deplored the miseries of war, yet long service had con- 
 firmed in his bosom a fondness for military life. As an 
 eloquent friend has well remarked, "his early education 
 was in the camp; there his earliest and most cordial 
 friendships were formed; there he became enamoured of 
 glory, and was admitted to her embrace." This life was 
 now soon to end, and those friendships, so warmly cher- 
 
q6 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ished, could be cultivated only at intervals. Know- 
 ing also that the army was not a favourite of con- 
 gress, he could not but survey for the last time, with 
 pain, the war-worn faces of those faithful men, who, 
 while winning the liberties of their country, had won for 
 her such imperishable renown, requited, as he felt they 
 were to be, by the grossest ingratitude. 
 
 Of his immediate companions in the family of Wash- 
 ington, with two he had already parted. Early in the 
 year, Meade, who had recently married, retired from the 
 service, and except by his gallantry in rushing to the 
 aid of Steuben, and repulsing the advances of Arnold 
 frorri his native state, was no longer known as a public 
 man. 
 
 The "Old Secretary," Harrison, as he was familiarly 
 called, left the army the previous spring, having been 
 appointed by the state of Maryland, Chief Justice of its 
 Supreme Court; which situation he filled until the adopt- 
 ion of the Federal Constitution, when such was Wash- 
 ington's estimate of the claims of this meritorious indi- 
 vidual upon his country, that he nominated him a Judge 
 of the Supreme Court of the United States, immediately 
 after its orgamzation,which he declined. — J.C.Hamillon. 
 
 THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL. 
 
 Hamilton attended a grammar school at Elizabeth 
 town, N. J. The most famous boys' school of that per- 
 iod, however, was the Boston Latin School. It was 
 the first public school in Boston. It was the beginnino- 
 of the public school system of that city, whose origin is 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. g; 
 
 found in the following order, adopted by the freemen of 
 the town, on the 13th of April, 1635: 
 
 "Likewise it was then generally agreed upon, that our 
 brother, Philemon 
 Purmont, shall be en- 
 treated to become 
 schoolmaster for the 
 teaching and nurtur- 
 ing of children with 
 us." 
 
 This Public Latin 
 School has been con- 
 tinued to the pres- 
 ent day. Its chief 
 function during the 
 whole period of its 
 existence has been 
 the fitting of boys for 
 Harvard College,now 
 Harvard University. 
 Until 1682 this was 
 
 the only school in Boston. In that year it was voted in 
 town meeting, "that a committee with the selectmen 
 consider and provide one or more free schools for the 
 teaching of children to write and cipher within this 
 town." Afterwards schools were established for reading 
 and spelling. It is interesting to note that this public 
 school system began with discrimination against the 
 girls. Pupils were not admitted to these schools until 
 tbry were seven years of age; and girls were not admit- 
 
 Old Boston Latin School, on 
 School St., Boston, 
 
g8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 ted until 1789, and for forty years afterwards were per- 
 mitted to attend for only half the year, from April to 
 October. 
 
 Some of the most eminent men of Boston were edu- 
 
 Boys' Latin School, Boston, of To- Day. 
 
 cated in the Latin School — Samuel Adams, James Otis, 
 and John Hancock being among the number. 
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER IN CONGRESS. 
 
 The Hon. Rufus King narrates these particulars re- 
 garding the first prayer in congress: 
 
 "The convention of 1788, of which Dr. Franklin and 
 myself were members, had been engaged several weeks 
 in framing the present Constitution, and had done noth- 
 ing. Dr. Franklin came in one morning, and, rising in 
 his place, called the attention of the house. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 99 
 
 " 'We have been here, Mr. Speaker,' said he (George 
 Washington was in the chair,) 'a long time, trying to 
 act on this important subject, and have done nothing; 
 and in place of a speedy and successful close of our bus- 
 iness, we see nothing but dark clouds of difficulty and 
 embarrassment before us. It is high time for us, Mr. 
 Speaker, to call in the direction 
 of a wisdom above our own. 
 {The. countenance of Washington 
 caught a brightness at these words, 
 as he leaned forward in deepest 
 gaze on Dr. Franklin.) Yes, sir, 
 it is high time for us to call in the ' 
 direction of a wisdom above our 
 own. 
 
 '"Our fathers before us, the 
 wise and good men of ancient 
 times, acted in this way. Aware 
 of the difficulties and perils that attend all human en- 
 terprise, they never engaged in anything of importance 
 without having implored the guidance and blessing of 
 heaven. 
 
 " 'The scriptures are full of encouragements to such 
 practice. They everywhere assert a particular provi- 
 dence over all His works. They assure us that the very 
 hairs of our head are all numbered; and that not even a 
 sparrow but is continually under the eye of His parental 
 care. 
 
 •' 'This, Mr. Speaker, is the language of the gospel, 
 which I most implicitly believe; and which promises the 
 
 Rufus King. 
 Born 1755. Died 1827. 
 
100 ■ ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 guidance of divine wisdom to all who ask it. We have 
 not asked it; and that may be the reason why we have 
 been so long in the dark. 
 
 " 'I therefore move, Mr. Speaker, that it be made a 
 rule to open the business of this house, every morning, 
 with jrayer." 
 
 HAMILTON AND THE RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITU- 
 TION BY NEW YORK. 
 
 Wlien the convention met at Poughkeepsie, eight states 
 had ratified the Constitution. It required the consent of 
 only one more to put it in operation. 
 
 On the 24th of June the swift couriers, arranged by 
 Hamilton, brought word from Concord to Poughkeepsie 
 that New Hampshire had ratified the Constitution. 
 
 Hamilton had taken this pains in the hope that the 
 news of the approval of the ninths tate would have a fav- 
 orable effect on the New York convention. 
 
 But the opponents of a national government remained 
 unmoved. Even the news of the ratification by Virgin- 
 ia produced no change. 
 
 The final struggle came on propositions for a condit- 
 ional ratification. The first provided for a ratification on 
 condition that certain amendments were previously 
 adopted. 
 
 After debate this was seen to be impracticable, and 
 was withdrawn. 
 
 Then came the proposition for ratification on condition 
 that if certain amendments were not made within a giv- 
 en time, the state should have a right to withdraw from 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. loi 
 
 the Union. There was great danger that this proposi- 
 tion, which to many looked so plausible, but which was 
 really as impracticable as the first, might be adopted. 
 
 It was at this stage of the proceedings that a friend 
 from New York City called on Hamilton. 
 
 "I found him," he says, "alone, and took the liberty 
 to say to him that they would inquire of me in New 
 York, what was the prospect in relation to the adoption 
 of the Constitution; and asked him what I should say to 
 them. 
 
 "His manner immediately changed, and he answered: 
 
 " 'God only knows, several votes have been taken, by 
 which it appears that there are two to one against us.' 
 
 "Supposing he had concluded his answer, I was about 
 to retire, when he added, in a most emphatic manner: 
 
 " 'Tell them that the convention shall never rise until 
 the Constitution is adopted.' " 
 
 With this resolute spirit, Hamilton went back to the 
 contest and made another speech, so powerful, so impas- 
 sioned, so convincing, that at its close Melancthon Smith, 
 the leader of the opposition,had the manliness to acknowl- 
 edge that the arguments of Hamilton were unanswera- 
 ble, and that he should vote for ratification. 
 
 In vain Gov. Clinton attempted to rally his forces. 
 
 Smith carried so many of liis followers with him that 
 when the final vote was taken, on the 25th of July, by a 
 majority of three votes, the Constitutioa was adopted. — 
 Lewis Henry Boutell. 
 
 TRIBUTE OF GUIZOT TO HAMILTON. 
 
 "Hamilton must be classed among the men who have 
 
102 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 best known the vital principles and fundamental condi- 
 tions of a government. 
 
 "There is not in the Constitution of the United States 
 an element of order, of force, of duration, which he has 
 not powerfully contributed to introduce into it, and to 
 cause to predominate." 
 
 PROF. BRYCE ON HAMILTON. 
 
 "One cannot note the disappearance of this brilliant 
 figure, to Europeans the most interesting in the earlier 
 history of the republic, without the remark that his coun- 
 trymen seem to have never, either in his lifetime or af- 
 terward, duly recognized his splendid gifts. 
 
 "Washington is, indeed, a far more perfect character. 
 
 "Washington stands alone and unapproachable, like a 
 snow-peak rising above its fellows into the clear air of 
 morning, with a dignity, constancy and purity which 
 have made him the ideal type of civic virtue to succeed- 
 ing generations. 
 
 "No greater benefit could have befallen the republic 
 than to have such a type set from the first before the eye 
 and mind of the people. 
 
 "But Hamilton, of a virtue not so flawless, touches us 
 more nearly, not only by the romance of his early life 
 and his tragic death, but by a certain ardor and impul- 
 siveness, and even tenderness of soul, joined to a courage 
 equal to that of Washington himself. Equally apt for 
 war and for civil government, with a profundity and am- 
 plitude of view rare in practical soldiers or statesmen, he 
 stood in the front rank of a generation never surpassed 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 103 
 
 in history, a generation which includes Burke and Fox, 
 and Pitt and Grattan, Stein and Hardenburg and Wil- 
 liam von Humboldt, Wellington and Napoleon. " — '■'The 
 Anerican Commonwealth.'''' 
 
 SCHMUCKER'S tribute to HAMILTON. 
 
 The^premature death of Hamilton was a national ca- 
 lamity. It is not diffiicult to predict to what exalted 
 posts of honor he would have been promoted, had he 
 lived. Possessing, as he did, the full confidence of the 
 nation, having filled important offices of trust with the 
 purest integrity and the highest praise; being devoted to 
 the interests of his country; his faculties being matured 
 by experience, and his knowledge of the wants of the na- 
 tion enlarged by study and observation; it is not improb- 
 able that a very few 3ears would have seen him occupy- 
 ing the presidential chair. And if, as was probable, that 
 event occurred during the existence of the war of 1812, 
 Mr. Hamilton would, by virtue of his office, have been 
 commander-in-chief of the American armies; and it is 
 but a reasonable inference to suppose that his military 
 geuius would have shone forth in that great crisis more 
 resplendent than ever. In a word, the completed and 
 fully consummated career of Alexander Hamilton would 
 without much doubt have been the brightest, loftiest, 
 and noblest presented in the whole range of American 
 history. All this fair picture was spoiled by the malig- 
 nity of his bitterest foe, Aaron Burr. A nation's tears 
 were shed over the grave of his illustrious victim, and 
 the undying curses of all virtuous men, in all coming 
 time, were secured to the perpetrator of his murder. 
 
104 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 THE STORY OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 FOR A SCHOOL OR CLUB PROGRAMME. 
 
 Each numbered paragraph is to be given to a pupil or 
 member to read, or to recite, in a clear, distinct tone. 
 
 If the school or club is small, each person may take 
 three or four paragraphs, but should not be required to 
 recite them in succession. 
 
 1. Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis, in the 
 British West Indies, on the eleventh of January, 1757. 
 
 2. His father, James Hamilton, was a Scotch merchant, and his 
 mother, a French lady, descended from that noble people, the Hu- 
 guenots. 
 
 3. "This happy blending of contrasted elements in the original 
 source of his blood and character — solidity and enthusiasm, sagacity 
 to project theories and facility in their execution — was exemplified in 
 all his subsequent career." 
 
 4. His father was unfortunate in business and died in penury. 
 His mother was noted for elegant manners and a strong intellect, 
 which made a vivid impression upon her son. Both parents died 
 while he was but a child. 
 
 5. He was early thrown upon the care of his mother's relatives, 
 and passed the greater part of his childhood and youth in the Danish 
 island of Santa Cruz. 
 
 6. "He soon learned to speak and write the French language 
 fluently, and was taught to speak the Decalogue in Hebrew at the 
 school of a Jewess, when so small, that he was placed standing by her 
 side at the table." 
 
 7. His education, though brief and desultory, was conducted 
 chiefly under the supervision of the Rev. Hugh Knox, D. D., a Pres- 
 byterian clergyman. This gentleman gave to the mind of his aspir- 
 ing pupil a religious bias as lasting as his life. 
 
 8. He took a great interest in the boy, and kept up an affection- 
 ate correspondence with him in after years. 
 
 9. Before Hamilton was thirteen years of age, he had to earn his 
 own living, and was placed, accordingly, in the counting house of Mr. 
 Nicholas Cruger, a wealthy and highly respectable merchant of San- 
 ta Cruz. 
 
 10. He became speedily noted for his ciuickness, zeal and assid- 
 uity, and for remarkable intelligence in the despatch of business. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 105 
 
 11. While boys of his age were thinking of marbles and other 
 games, Hamilton was thinking of the future with a laudable ambition 
 to make his career a bright and successful one. 
 
 12. He wrote, soon after being appointed to this position, to a 
 young friend at school, as follows: "I contemn the groveling condi- 
 tion of a clerk to which my fortune condemns me, and would willing- 
 ly risk my life though not my character, to exalt my station. I mean 
 to prepare the way for futurity." 
 
 13. "Herein gleams the true fire of a noble youth; love of fame, 
 and the strongest attachment to untarnished integrity; guarantees of 
 splendid success, which in this instance were never disproved by 
 facts." 
 
 14. His business letters, many of which have been preserved, 
 would have done credit to any trained clerk of any age. Such was 
 the confidehce of his employer in this mere child, that he apparently 
 left him time and again in charge of all the affairs of his counting 
 house. 
 
 15. While in Mr. Cruger's ofSce young Hamilton spent every 
 spare moment in studying mathematics, ethics, chemistry, biography 
 and history, and in storing his mind with knowledge of every kind. 
 
 16. A great hurricane, long remembered for the destruction it 
 caused, devastated the island. The boy wrote and published anony- 
 mously such a vivid and strong description of it, that it attracted gen- 
 eral attention, and the young author was discovered. 
 
 17. Through the influence of Dr. Knox, several relatives and 
 friends joined together in providing funds for a college education for 
 the promising lad. 
 
 18. He was accordingly sent in the autumn of 1772 to Elizabeth- 
 town, New Jersey, to prepare for King's College (now Columbia Uni- 
 versity), in New York City, under the instruction of Francis Barber. 
 This teacher afterwards became a distinguished officer in the Ameri- 
 can service. 
 
 ig. Hamilton entered King's College in the latter part of 1773, 
 and with the aid of a tutor made remarkable progress, directing his 
 studies towards the profession of medicine. 
 
 20. The difficulties with England were rapidly ripening, and his 
 versatile pen was employed in the production of elaborate pamphlets 
 and minor tracts upon the burning questions of the day. 
 
 21. These writings, published anonymously, were so remarkable 
 that they were attributed to Jay and other well known patriots. 
 
 22. They involved their author in a controversy with Dr. Cooper, 
 the Presitjent of the College, and with many of the most distinguished 
 royalists tif the land. 
 
 23. When the name of the youthful champion was proclaimed, 
 Dr. Coopfer would not believe at first that his able opponent was but 
 a mere boy of seventeen or eighteen. 
 
lo6 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 24. When a great public meeting was held in the "Fields" — now 
 the City Hall Park — he pushed his way to the front, and mounting 
 the platform, astounded the vast audience by his eloquent and fervid 
 speech in behalf of colonial rights. 
 
 25. While in College he organized a military company of his fel- 
 low students. They styled themselves "Hearts of Oak," and wore a 
 green uniform, surmounted by a leathern cap, on which was inscribed, 
 "Freedom or Death." 
 
 26. Having already become a recognized leader in New York, 
 he was made captain of the company of artillery raised by that prov- 
 ince, and at once entered upon active service. 
 
 27. He soon had a body of men that furnished a model for dis- 
 cipline and efficiency, and which won the high praise of General 
 Greene. 
 
 28. At Long Island and White Plains, his company greatly dis- 
 tinguished itself, and his gallant conduct in the latter battle attracted 
 the attention of Washington, the commander-in-chief. 
 
 2Q. During the retreat through New Jersey, his battery was fre- 
 quently engaged in firm and heroical action with the enemy, and on 
 one occasion he repelled the progress of the British troops on the 
 banks of the Raritan. 
 
 30. He fought at the head of his brave command at Trenton 
 and Princeton, and continued with them until he was appointed by 
 Washington to an important place on his staff with the rank of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel, and became his inseparable companion. 
 
 31. "Strangers," said Washington Irving, "were surprised to see 
 a youth, scarce twenty years of age, received into the implicit confi- 
 dence and admitted into the gravest counsels of a man like Washing- 
 ton." 
 
 32. "Harrison, 'the old secretary,' much his senior, looked upon 
 him with an almost paternal eye, and regarding his diminutive size 
 and towering spirit, used to call him 'the little lion,' while Washing- 
 ton would now and then speak of him by the cherishing appellation 
 of 'my boy'." 
 
 33. Hamilton served as aide to Washington at , the battles of 
 Brandywine. Germantown and Monmouth. At his own request he 
 led at the siege of Yorktown the force which carried by assault one 
 of the strongest bulwarks of the foe. 
 
 34. On the fourteenth of December, 1780, he married Miss Eliz- 
 abeth Schuyler, the second daughter of Major General Schuyler, and 
 "so became connected with a rich and powerful New York family, 
 which was of great advantage to him in many ways." 
 
 35. Hamilton was the first to receive the papers revealing Ar- 
 nold's treason, and tried to intercept the traitor at Verplanck's point, 
 but was too late to catch him. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 107 
 
 36. Hamilton ceased to be a member of Washington's military 
 family on the tenth of February, 1781, in consequence of a misunder- 
 standing with the commander-in-chief, in which the youthful Colonel 
 was clearly in the wrong. The coolness between the two was, how- 
 ever, but temporary. 
 
 37. At Yorktown, in command of a light corps of infantry, he 
 brilliantly led a storming party which took one of the British re- 
 doubts; and saved the life of the Major, commanding the opposing 
 forces. 
 
 38. When but twenty-three years old he addressed a letter to 
 James Duane and Robert Morris, in which were outlined the general 
 features of the system finally adopted by the United States. 
 
 39. He w"as appointed by Robert Morris receiver of taxes for 
 New York, and was afterwards elected one of the delegates from 
 New York to Congress. 
 
 40. Hamilton at once became one of its leading members. One 
 of the delegates said to him, "If you were but ten years older and a 
 thousand pounds richer. Congress would give you the highest place 
 they have to bestow." 
 
 41. He conceived and started "The Federalist," in which were 
 contained those famous essays which have immortalized his name. 
 
 42. He was elected a member of the Federal convention of 1787, 
 when thirty years of age, and by his wonderful eloquence, skill and 
 managerrient, triumphantly carried the ratification of the constitution. 
 
 43. While in the New York Legislature of 1787, he secured the 
 amendment of the Criminal Code; the establishment of the Univer- 
 sity of New York, and a general system of public instruction. 
 
 44. When the Treasury Department was organized in Septem- 
 ber, 1789, the first year of Washington's administration, Hamilton was 
 placed at its head. 
 
 45. "In the five years that ensued, he did the work that lies at 
 the foundation of our system of administration, gave life and meaii- 
 ing to the constitution, and by his policy developed two great politi- 
 cal parties." 
 
 46. By his reports and communications on the Public Credit; on 
 the raising and collection of the revenue; on estimates of income and 
 expenditure; on the temporary regulation of the currency; on navi- 
 gation laws and coasting trade; on the Post Office; on the purchase 
 of West Point; on the management of the public lands; on the estab- 
 lishment of a mint; on manufactures; on the protective policy of the 
 United States, etc., he revealed his consummate genius and masterly 
 ability. , 
 
 47 While in the cabinet disagreements arose between Jefferson 
 and himself, which caused the active existence of two great political 
 parties, the Federalists and Anti-Federalists, or Democrats, and the 
 resignation of Jefferson as Secretary of State. 
 
io8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 48. The influence of Hamilton was so very great that he may be 
 said to have controlled the policy of Washington's administration. 
 
 49. On the thirty-first of January, 1795, he resigned his Secreta- 
 ryship and resumed the practice of law, and soon stood at the head of 
 the bar of New York. But he was constantly consulted by Washing- 
 ton as though he were still in office. 
 
 50. In 1794 Washington offered him the position of minister to 
 England, which, for prudential reasons, he declined. 
 
 51. When the troubles with France began underthe a4ministra- 
 tion of John Adams, Hamilton became the leader of the party which 
 desired war with that country. 
 
 52. When Congress ordered the raising of a provisional army 
 with Washington as commander-in-chief, Hamilton was given the po- 
 sition of Inspector-General, to act as the Senior Major-General of the 
 new orgazization. 
 
 53. Hamilton fully expected war, but Presideiit Adams met the 
 French overtures of peace in a friendly spirit, and a conflict was 
 averted. 
 
 54. This so deeply affected Hamilton that he became the avowed 
 enemy of Adams, and in his efforts to overthrow the President, des- 
 troyed his own party. 
 
 55. He helped to defeat Aaron Burr for the Presidency by using 
 his great influence to elect Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 56. Aaron Burr was also beaten by Hamilton's influence for the 
 governorship of New York. The life-long quarrel between the two 
 men led to a challenge by Burr to fight a duel. 
 
 57. Very reluctantly Hamilton consented, on account Of the 
 point of honor which would be raised if he refused, and was mortally 
 wounded by his antagonist on the eleventh of July, 1804, at Weehawk- 
 ken, on the banks of the Hudson. 
 
 58. His tragic fate raised such a storm of indignation and grief, 
 that Burr was driven forth as a murderer, an outcast and a conspira- 
 tor. 
 
 59. Thus died Hamilton, universally regretted. "He was the in- 
 defatigable soldier of the press, the pen and the army.^* 
 
 60. He was "the American master of political sagacity, the 
 most brilliant statesman our country has produced." 
 
 61. "In his family and among his friends he was deeply beloved 
 and almost blindly followed. His errors and his faults came from 
 his strong, passionate nature, and his rnasterly will impatient of re- 
 sistance or control. 
 
 62. "Yet these were the very qualities that carried him forward 
 to his triumphs, and enabled him to perform services to the American 
 people which can never be forgotten. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. ,09 
 
 II ^^r .}^'*h great pomp and Ceremony his. remains were sorrow- 
 fully laid away to rest in Trinity Churchyard, New York, on the 
 .fourteenth of July, 1804. Above them a beautiful and appropriate 
 monument has been placed. 
 
 AN EVENING WITH HAiWILTON. 
 
 1. Music. 
 
 2. A Brief Sketch of the Early Life of Hamilton. 
 
 3. Tributes from Various Writers to the Virtues of Hamilton. 
 
 4. Vocal or Instrumental Music. 
 
 5. Discussion— Whether Hamilton was more Potential than Jef- 
 ferson in the History of the United States. 
 
 6. The Character of Aaron Burr. 
 
 7. Music. 
 Discussion— Defense of Hamilton in Accepting the Challenge 
 
 of B 
 
 urr. 
 
 g. Essay — Hamilton's Love for his Country. 
 10. Music — America. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 Where was Alexander HaMilton born? What is said of his pre- 
 cocity? Of his preparation for college? Of the condition of the Amer- 
 ican colonies? Of Hamilton s first piiblication? Of the work that 
 followed it? What was his first effort in military affairs? 
 
 What was Hamilton s opinion of the Quaker General, Nathaniel 
 Greene? What part did Hamilton have in the disaster on Long 
 Islmtd? What can yon say of the artillery company? What of the 
 retreat thj-ough New Jersey? How many of his artillery men were 
 left after Trenton and Princeton? Why did Washington appoitit 
 him as one of his aids? When was this appointment 7nade? 
 
 What was his co?tduct in Subsequent battles? What of his merits 
 while in the service of Washington ? With what brilliant exploit did 
 Hamilton' s military career terminate? .When, in his opittion, was 
 the most trying time for the colonies? 
 
 What was Hamilto7i's opinion of the currency? What remedy 
 did he propose? When was he married? What can you say of Ins 
 bride? When was he acfmitted to the bar? When did he take his seat 
 in Congress? What can you say of the U. S. Congress at that lime? 
 What was his conduct toward the Tories after the close of the war? 
 What was the condition of the country between the close of the Revo- 
 lution and the adoption of the Constitution ? In what shape did the 
 warning come? What effort towards united action was made by va- 
 rious States? 
 
no ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 What was Hamilton s attitude toward Governor Clinton ? Where 
 did his conspicuous ability appear to have the best effect? How was 
 his best work donef What was the effect of his speech at the opening 
 of the convention? What can you say of "The Federalist?" What 
 was the result of Hamilton's defeat for re-election? 
 
 What was his greatest task as Secretary of the Treasury? What 
 was his age when he took his_ seat in the Cabinet? What can you say 
 of the financial scheme which he laid before Congress? For what did 
 his policy provide? What is said of the contrast of Hamilton with 
 Jefferson, Adams, etc.? What is Professor Morse' s statement? What 
 is said of the establishment of a national bank ? Of Webster's tribute? 
 Of the elements of opposition to Hamilton? 
 
 What attempt was made to drive him from the Cabinet? What 
 is said of the faili?igs of Hamilton? Of the pamphlet he published i7i 
 1800? Of Governor Jay? Of Lafayette? Of the appointment of Ham- 
 ilton as Getieral? Of the bill submitted by Hamilton to Congress? 
 Of the Louisiana territory ? 
 
 Of Miranda? Of the great qualities of a General in Hamilton? 
 Of Lincoln? Of Talleyrand? Of peace and the feelings of Adams? 
 Of the closing public career of Hamilton ? . Of his genius as a lawyer? 
 
 What encomium was pronounced by Kent? What is said of the 
 decaying Federalist party ? Of Aaron Burr and of Jefferson ? Of the 
 crowning defeat of Burr? Of his forcing a quarrel with Hamilton? 
 Of Hamilton s criticisms of Burr? Of the acceptance of the chal- 
 lenge from Burr? Of what preceded the duel? Of the duel and its 
 result? 
 
 Of Senator Lodge' s discussion of the'qtiestion? Of the authors 
 cojiclusions ? Of tlie unveiling of ILamiltoii s statue? What tribute 
 was paid by Judge Spencer? By Chancellor Kent? 
 
 What was Hamilton called, and why? How did Hamilt07i feel 
 towards Andre? What did he say of his execution? How did the 
 disagreement betwee7i }Vashington and Hamilton arise? What does 
 Hamilton say of foreign influence? What is said of Hamilton and 
 the Constitution ? What observation does R. C. Winthrop make of 
 the Constitution ? 
 
 How is the Federalist regarded? What great productions are in- 
 ferior to it? Upon what is it founded? What does it contain? When 
 was itfi rst begun ? What does Hamilton say of its purpose ? What is 
 said of the appreciatioti abroad of the Federalist? What does Hamil- 
 ton say of The Union? Of ancient and modern Republics? On na- 
 tional emergencies? On the re-election of the President? On term of 
 office? What tribute does Marshall pay Hariiilton ? 
 
 What charges were jnade against Washington ? What defense 
 did Hamilton make? What was the character of Burr? What were 
 his chief agents, etc. ? What is said of his political intrigue? ■ Of his 
 eloquence? Of his love of country? What was the character of Ham- 
 ilton in contrast? What single fact proves the worth of that charac- 
 ter? What was Hamilton s protest against duelling?. 
 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON. m 
 
 vj ff^^^" '^'^^ Hamilton made Secretary of the Treasury? What 
 did Robert Morris say of him ? What is said of Robert Troup's inter- 
 view? Of Hamilton's self confidence? With whom is he compared? 
 It hat IS the story of Hamilton at Valley Forge? What account is 
 given of the Battle of Yorktown ? Of the Battle of Princeton ? 
 
 SUBJECTS FOR SPECIAL STUDY. 
 
 The Precocity of Alexander Hamilton. 
 
 Hamilton as a General. 
 
 Hamilton in the Federal Convention of I'jSy. 
 
 Hamilton's Early Views of Republicanism. 
 
 The Articles of Confederation — their Nature and Weakness. 
 
 Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 The Value of the Federalist Papers. 
 
 The Relations of John Adams to Hamilton. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER 
 HAMILTON. 
 
 1757 Jan. nth, Alexander Hamilton born at Nevis, one of the An- 
 tilles group of West India Islands. 
 
 1762-69 Educated in Santa Cruz. Clerk with Cruger. 
 
 1772 Aug. Terrible hurricane. Letter regarding it. 
 
 Oct. II, reached Elizabethtown, Nevv'Jersev, to study. 
 
 •773 Applied for admission to Princeton College to take "Special 
 Course." Refused. December, admitted to King's College 
 (now Columbia University). 
 
 1774 July 6, made great adjiress at "The Fields Meeting." 
 
 1776 March, Captain of company of artillery, "Hearts of Oak.'' Au- 
 
 gust 27, Battle of Long Island. September 15, Battle of 
 Harlem Heights. October 28, Battle of White Plains, Chat- 
 tertori Hill. November and December, retreat through 
 New Jersey. December 26, Battle of Trenton. 
 
 1777 January 3, Battle of Princeton. March 15, Aide-de-Camp to 
 
 Washington. Sent to Congress by Washington, etc. 
 April 5, Letter to the Provincial Congress. July 22, Remarks 
 on Burgoyne and Howe, etc. August 4, Remarks on the 
 Fall of Ticonderoga. Battle of Germantown. October 30, 
 Hamilton sent to Gates and Putnam. November, Hamilton 
 goes to Gates for troops. December 19, exchange of prison- 
 ers at Philadelphia; Hamilton acting for General Washing- 
 ton. 
 
 1778 June 18, Hamilton urges attack on Howe. Assigned to Lafay- 
 
 ette. June 28, Battle of Monmouth. 
 
112 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 September 5, Hamilton in command of a corps. October 14, 
 Battle of Yorktown. 
 
 1779 Submits .plans of action to Congress. 
 
 1780 Letter to Robert Morris on Finance. 
 
 September and October. Arnold and Andre affair. Letter to 
 Mr. Duane. Hamilton asks for a separate command. 
 December 14, marriage to Miss Elizabeth Schuyler. 
 
 1781 Declines to go as envoy to France. February 16, resigns as 
 
 aide to Washington. 
 
 1782 Resumes the study of law. May 2, Receiver of Continental 
 
 Taxes in New York. Elected member of Congress. Novem- 
 ber 25, takes his seat in Congress. 
 
 1783 Resumes the practice of law. 
 
 1786 September 11, Hamilton acts as Delegate to the Annapolis 
 
 Convention. 
 
 1787 May 14, Philadelphia Convention. Hamilton's plan. 
 
 June 15, Foughkeepsie Convention. Hamilton's great speech 
 and results. 
 
 1788 Adoption of the Constitution, by the ratification of New York. 
 
 Federalist papers. 
 
 1789 March 4, Organization of the government. Hamilton, Secreta- 
 
 ry of the Treasury. 
 1794 Refuses the office of Chief Justice of the United States. 
 1798 December 14, General-in-Chief of the United States Army. 
 1804 July II. Duel with Aaron Burr. July 12. Death of Hamilton. 
 
 July 14. Burial in Trinity Churchyard, New York. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
 
 For those who wish to read extensively the following works are 
 especially commended. ' 
 
 "Life of Alexander Hamilton." 2 vols. By John Church Hamilton. 
 New York. 1834, 1840. 
 
 "Life of Alexander Hamilton." By Henry B. Renwick. 1841. 
 
 "Life and Times of Alexander Hamilton." By Samuel M. Schmucker. 
 Boston. 1856. 
 
 "Life of Hamilton." By John T. Morse, Jr. 1876. 
 
 "Life and Epoch of Alexander Hamilton." By George Shea. Bos- 
 ton. 1879. 
 
 "Life of Hamilton." By Henry Cabot Lodge. 1882. 
 
 "Orators of the American Revolution.'' By E. L. Magoon. Baker & 
 Scribner, New York. 1848. 
 
 "Alexander Hamilton." By C. C. Hazewell. Atlantic Monthlv. Vol. 
 16, p. 625. 
 
 "Alexander Hamilton." By Charles Francis Adams. North Ameri 
 can Review. Vol. 53, p. 71. 
 
WMjjl]