» YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. BY ¦ JOHN T. MORSE, JR. IN TWO yOLUMES. VOL. I. BOSTON: LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY. 1876. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by JOHN T. UOItSE, JR., In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. "¦'A LEVI Camhriilge : Press of John 1 1 ';.'>,,« ^ .Son. TO HENRY W. PAINE, LL.D., THE PROFOUND UWVYER, KISDl-T GENTLEJIAS, A-ND UPRIGHT MAS, THESE VOLUMES ARE DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR, AS A TOKEN, ONLY TOO ISSUFFICIEKT, OF RESPECT AKD AFFECTlOJf. PREFACE. It is now many years ago that I first conceived the purpose of writing a " Life of Alexander Hamil ton." The undertaking was repeatedly postponed with the intention of awaiting some period of lei sure ; but as from year to year the prospect of that period seemed to recede rather thau to approach I at last despaired of its ever arriving, and some four years ago entered upon ray task without farther delay, and have since prosecuted it in such intervals as I could snatch from professional occupation. Doubtless the work could have been much better done by some student of American history who could have devoted his unbroken days to the topic, and made it the sole object of his reading and reflection. But as none such has appeared in nearly three- quarters of a century, I have ventured to make my effort. The object which I have had in view has been not so much to produce a learned and elaborate biog raphy as a narrative which persons with no more tlian the average desire for information concerning the history of their country might be wUling to read. vm PREFACE. PREFACE. IX For the more painstaking few the seven volumes of Mr. John C. Hamilton's history cannot be improved upon. But the ordinary reader has not the courage to accomplish the perusal of so voluminous a woi^. As from time to time there have appeared tlie Jives of many of the distinguished contemporaries of Hamilton, who were Iris rivals or opponents in politics, it has seemed that the people of sub sequent generations were to hear only the side of those rivals and opponents, and so might come by degrees to entertain a most imperfect aud u)ijust opinion concerning him. To aid the general reader in obtaining an accurate knowledge of Iris genius, character, and labors has been the end constantly held in view in the com^wsition of tliese volumes. It was no easy task to make the chapters concerning the Constitution of the United States and the finan cial schemes of the treasury department pr)2)u]ar and attractive reading ; probably I have not succeeded in doing so, but so far as I could I have made tlie attemj)t. I frankly acknowledge tliat I began this woik with a deep admiration both for the character and the in tellect of Hamilton, and that sentiment has sti'cnoth- ened as I have in-oceedcd in tlie study of liis career. Yet I have striven to be impartial; and when I thought him in error I Iiave openly acknowledged the fact, AvitlKMit a.ttem])ting to give any false color or plausible defence. The " Life '" has at least been \ written with thoroughly honest intentions. I have endeavored to avoid panegyric ; and though I have praised him often and highly, yet I can assure the reader that in the original and contemporary authori ties of the highest respectability, which I have used, there continually occurs laudation so unlimited that I have refrained from reproducing it. I should be sorry to deprive my words of the appearance of veracity by giving them the semblance of extrava gance. But Hamilton was a man who excited no moderate feelings either of affection or animosity. His adherents worshipped him as a kind of human deity ; his opponents assailed him as if he had been an incarnate fiend. He was loved as man has seldom been loved, and hated as a man fiee from the charge of any fearful crime against his fellow-men has sel dom been hated. The language of moderation has never yet been used concerning him. How far I have succeeded in aehie^'ing it must be determined by those who may have the patience to journey to the end of my pages. To them I must leave it ; yet with the presentiment that perchance I shall succeed in pleasing neither the ardent admu'ers nor the stren uous enemies of the great statesman, and so may obtain the least agreeable of all proofs of impartiality — the disapprobation of both the opposing parties. JoHX T. Morse, Je. 9 Fairfield Street, Boston, Ularch 4, 187C. I CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. „ Paoks. Chapter. I. Youth *~^® n. The Revolution 20-63 in. The Law ^*"^ IV. The Congress of the Coxfedekation . 78-140 V. Professional Life 141-154 VI. The CoKSTiTUTiOK : Part I. Before the Convention .... 155-176 „ II. The Convention 176-237 — \ „ III. Adoption of the Constitution . 238-275 »VII.\ Orgakizatiox of the New Goverxmext 276-286 YIU. First Report ox Public Credit . . • 287-332 IX. The First Natioxal Baxk 333-347 X. The Excise axd the Mint 348-356 XI. Manufactures axd Protection . . . 357-369 Xn. The Treasury Measures and Feder alism .' 370-425 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. CHAPTER L YOXTTH. In 1730, Alexander Hamilton of Grange, — one of ¦ ". the illustrious Scottish famUy or clan of that name, — was married to Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Pollock. Many cWldjen were born of this marriage. The fourth son, James, was bred as a merchant and, attracted by the wide field for mer- ] cantile pursuits then opened in the West Indies, he ' left his native country and settled in St. Christo- ] pher's. There he met and married a lady of French : descent. Her father's name was Faucette, a Hugue- ^ not, who had fled from France to these islands after ' the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. She had pre- : viously espoused, in early youth, at the command of ¦ her mother though against her own inclination, a 1 rich Dane named Lavine. But these forced nup- I tials were followed not long after by a divorce, and ; subsequently by the second and happier marriage with Mr. James Hamilton. Several children were born to this couple; but only one, the youngest, TOL. I. 1 2 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Alexander Hamilton, lived to matiire years. He was born upon the island of Nevis, on the eleventh day of January, 1757. He was still very young when he had the misfortune to lose a mother, who is repre sented to have been no ordinary woman. It was her rare beauty that had attracted the attentions of her first husband ; but the child, Alexander, had a preco cious appreciation of her higher charms of mind and character. Of her cultivation, her noble and gen erous spirit, and her refined and elegant manners, he ever retained and was wont often to express the most lively and tender memory. It would be an interesting speculation for one fond of such obscure studies, to inquire how far the pecul iar qualities of the mind and character of Hamilton were due to this intermingling of the blood of two widely different races, and to the superadded effect of his tropical. birthplace. It seems possible, without becoming over-fanciful, to trace quite clearly these diverse and powerful threads of influence. Thus, there are plainly to be noted in him many of the most marked and familiar traits of the genuine Scot. The intensity and ardor of his nature bring at once to mind the phrase in which one of their writers described Avhat seemed to him the most striking characteristic of his countrymen, the pcrfervidum ingenmm Scotorum. He manifested also, in a rare degree, the shrcAvdness, the logical habit of mind,. and the taste for discussion based upon abstract and general princiiiles, with which the Waver] ey Novels have made us familiar as distinguishing aptitudes of the Scottish intellect. At a time, too, not very many years after the Scotchman, Adam Smith, was fii-st YOUTH. 3 \i I I ! I enlightening the world upon the principles of politi cal economy, and changing the policy and legislation of nations,! Hamilton was rendering himself famous,. in circumstances of a novel and perplexing descrip tion, as the leading financier of his age. If his mental traits were Scotch, his moral traits carry us back to his French and Huguenot an- ^ cestry. He had the ease of manner, the liveliness ' and vivacity, the desire and the ability to please, which Frenchmen claim as their especial heritage. He evinced the firm moral courage, the persistence in noble and generous endeavor, the power of self- sacrifice and the elements of a grand heroism, which might be expected in the descendant from one, of the high-spirited Protestant exiles of France, a band of men the example of whose coui-age and resolu tion it would be difficult to find surpassed in the pages of history. His warm, eager temperament, his whole-souled enthusiasm, and his affectionate nature, may perchance have been due in a measure to the influence of the fervid and luxuriant climate which his parents had adopted as their home, and where he himself was born and passed the suscep tible years of boyhood. At least the astonishing precocity of his ambition and the early development of his mind may not unreasonably be supposed to have been stimulated by this cause. Vague and very possibly erroneous as all surmises of this kind must be considered, it is yet impossible to resist the temp tation to indulge in them. So many rare and various qualities were united in Hamilton, so wonderful is the tale of his mature youth, so interesting and 1 JiThe " Wealth of Nations " was first published in 1776. . 4 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. attractive is his career, that one cannot but ask with more than ordinary curiosity whence came these unwonted and remarkable traits; and speculation, becoming thus aroused, turns naturally to contem plate his parentage and his birthplace with peculiar care. Before the death of his mother, his father had fallen, "through a too generous and easy temper," into financial difficulties. By reason of this poverty, Alexander, who was the only child surviving the mother, was taken charge of by her relatives. They lived at Santa Cruz ; and there he was put to schoolj and received such meagre rudiments of education as were accessible in the neighborhood. These, it is pre sumed, went little farther than a thorough instruc tion in English and French, with both of which languages he had an equal and perfect familiarity ; though one odd, and not very useful, acquirement was the learniaig to repeat by rote the Decalogue in Hebrew,— a feat which he accomplished Avhen a very young child at the school of a Jewess. The narrow routine, of his studies he fortunately supplemented by a generous course of miscellaneous reading, guided in some measure by the advice of one Doct°or''Knox, a Presbyterian clergyman. But he Avas only betAveen tAvelve and thirteen years old Avhen he Avas removed from school altogether, and placed in the counting- house of Mr. Nicholas Cruger. Under the guidance of this successful mercliant and excellent man, the boy made such rapid advances in a knowledge of aff'airs, that his employer \-entured to leave the island for a time, and to place the Avhole management of the business in the sole charge of Hamilton, Avho had II i i M I. ^' ! 1 ' i YOUTH. O not at the time completed his fourteenth year. Yet this distinction was achieved by him in spite of a distaste for a mercantile career, and apparently only by the assistance of that thorough and energetic temper, which prevented him, throughout his whole life, from ever doing any thing, no matter how slight or contrary to his native inclination, with less than his whole strength. A letter written by him to a young fiiend and schoolfellow during this time of his mercantile novitiate, dated November 11, 1769, may be read with a smile, but is certainly a' remarkable expression of his juvenile sentiments and aspirations.. It will be observed from the dates, that he was not quite thirteen years old when he wrote as follows : "As to what you say respecting your soon having the happiness of seeing us all, 1 wish for an accotoplishment of your hopes, provided they are concomitant with your wel fare, otherwise not ; though doubt whether I shall be present or not. For to confess my weakness, Nedj my ambition is prevalent, so . that I contemn the grovelling ambition of a clerk, or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my station. I am conlident, Ned, that my youth excludes me from any hope of immediate preferment, nor do I desire it ; but I mean to prepare the way for futurity. I'm no philosopher, you see, and may be justly said to build castles in the air ; my folly makes me ashamed, and beg you'll conceal it. Yet, Neddy, Ave have seen such schemes successful, when the projector is constant. I shall conclude by saying, I wish there was a war." What ultimately proved the best of all possible openings for the " prevalent ambition " of the young clerk came at last in the year 17T2. In August, a hurricane of more than the ordinary violence, even in tropical latitudes, SAvept over the Leeward Islands. The wreck and devastation were wide and fearfid. n 6 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Forthwith, ere the terror and excitement had sub sided, there appeared in a ncAvspaper published at St. Christopher's an account so powerful and so vivid, that even the Governor of St. Croix became curious, and exerted himself to discover the unknoAA-n Avriter. By this investigation the article was traced to Ham ilton. The unusual capacity, which it displayed, taken in connection with his age and prior opportu nities, led to farther and more serious consideration as to his proper career. He was himself consulted, and his own desires, made known under these cir cumstances, Avere very kindly alloAved to prevail over the schemes previously designed concerning him. By this turn of good fortune it happened that in October, 1772, he set saU for Boston, aided by such liberal financial arrangements as would amply enable him to pursue his studies upon the most extended scale then afforded in the colonies. The voyage was not accomplished Avithout an incident which, in heathen or superstitious days, would have been viCAved, in the light of his subsequent career, as an omen or even a miracle. Shortly before the vessel made port, she Avas discoA^ered to be on fire. The extreme iDcril of the position of a ship in flames in mid-ocean may be conceived. Whether it was due to the fact that she bore Alexander Hamilton and his fortunes, or Avhether, without this temptation to Providence to intervene, the exertions of the crcAV would have been equally effective in subduing the conflagration, may be an open question ; but certain it is that tlie peril Avas Avonderfully escaped, and though hope might have seemed impossible, yet the craft Avas saved and brought into Boston hai-bor. \l i J i ; \\ YOUTH. • Thence Hamilton proceeded at once to New York and placed himself at a grammar-school of high re pute, established at Elizabethtown, under the patron age of Governor Livingston and Mr. Boudinot. He had the excellent good fortune to become intimate in the families of these gentlemen ; and he brought let ters from his good friend, the clergj'man. Dr. Knox, to other agreeable and distinguished persons in New York. He appears to have lived for some time at the house of Governor Livingston ; nor is it easy to overrate the advantage attendant upon a free and cordial reception into such society, occurring at once upon his first advent without friends or connectiona in a new country. Meantime, Hamilton was assiduous in his toil. Time, opportunity, and the money of his friends were all improved Avith the native zeal of his tempera ment. In the winter he was wont to prolong his studies until midnight. In the summer he began them even Avith the dawn. Such a tremendous pace devoured the road. A full twelvemonth had not elapsed, when the master of the school, Francis Barber, — a man of considerable note in his calling, and afterward a distinguished officer in the War of the Revolution, — declared this energetic pupil to be in every respect fitted to enter college. Forthwith he repaired to Princeton, and called upon Dr. Wither- spoon, then the president of the college there, a native of Edinburgh, a scholar and a gentleman, whose rep utation has come down to our own day. Many years afterAvard the doctor and his would-be pupil sat to gether in the Congress of the United States. To him the young applicant now preferred the novel request, ^ i 8 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. for tl ?T \""'" P^"'"^ ^^ *^^ °"^««* i« ^ny class for which by his examination he should prove him self qua ified, he might be allowed to advance thence as rapidly as he Avas able, untrammelled by the re<.u- lations of the established curriculum, l^e requ'est was too startling to find favor Avith the sober trultee ot the institution and was refused. Disappointed here, he next had recourse to Colum bia (then called King's) CoUege, in New York. The more hberal principles of that foundation led- to a concurrence in his plan, and he went through the regular course at liis own rapid pace, under Ihe in struction of a private tutor and not as a member of any particular class. Nor did he even confine him self to the allotted studies, but added a series of lectures upon anatomy, and was likewise an energetic member of a debating club, Avhere he is said to have especially distinguished himself. The country to which Hamilton had come in search of a collegiate education was in but indifferent con- dition to afford days of uninterrupted and studious leisure for the tranquil pursuit of learning, especiaUy to a youth who was troubled Avith a "prevalent am bition, and nourished longings for a war. The rev olutionary storm had been already brcAving for several years when he first landed. In 1765, the stamp act had been passed. In 1768, the famous circular letter of Massachusetts was sent forth among her sister colonies. In the Avinter of 1769-1770, ther- were mobs in New York City, and more or less frequent and serious collisions betAveen the patriot populace ^"1*^%^"*^^^^ soldiery. On the fifth of March, 1770, took place the famous Boston massacre on King M 1 ti ^ i YOUTH. 9 Street. It was not till October, 1772, that Hamilton first arrived in the country, and it was in the autumn of 1773, or early in the ensuing winter, that he en tered college. Tumultuous as was the state of public affairs around him, he for a short time steadfastly pursued his studies, and seems by his undisturbed and thought ful demeanor, so singular in those months of univer sal excitement, to have attracted attention. He had come to NeAV York to fulfil a specific purpose, which with his usual tenacity he was resolved to carry out. He had not expected to act at once ; he intended to. fit himself to act in the future. Preparation was his immediate object. Moreover, he had just emerged from a loyal neighborhood ; the history and traditions of his ncAV home Avere novel to him ; the long series of indignities and aggressions, which had nearly Avi-ought the colonists up to fighting heat, had been unfelt by him. For a fcAv months after his advent upon the soil of the States he felt himself a sojourn er and a foreigner ; nor Avas it certain that he would ever be a citizen. His destiny Avas undeveloped; even his Avishes, for aught that appears, were unde termined. It naturally took some little time to im pregnate him Avith the sentiments of the strangers amongst Avhom he had suddenly alighted. Nor was he at once pressed to choose his course. The results of the universal agitation were still embryotic and uncertain. Discontent and anger Avere rife ; but private discussions, interspersed Avith an occasional public meeting, address, or street disturbance, were thus far the only forms of action. There was no opening for Hamilton to take any important part in 10 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. any movement promising to have permanent conse quences, even if his youth and his incomplete train ing were obstacles which he would have been inclined to overlook. To some of the same causes may be attributed the fact that his earliest prejudices in the matter, formed evidently upon a very imperfect examination of the questions at issue, and deserving to be called impressions rather than opinions, leaned VteJhe side of the British Government. But in the spring of 1774 he made a visit to Bos ton. Only a few months had elapsed since the raid had been made upon the tea-ships in Boston harbor; and Hamilton came among the citizens while the "tea- party " and its probable consequences, more especiaUy the famous "Boston Port bill," were the subject of animated discussion upon every side. Away from his tutor and his books, and the shade of the great placid trees of his favorite promenade on Batteau Street, he gave more thought to the affairs of the pass ing hour. He was in a good neighborhood to obtain thorough enlightenment; and the result of his inves tigations was a complete change of his previous vague notions, and a zealous enlistment in the ranks of the ¦colonists. The rapidity with which, having once begun an examination of the subject, and still not neglecting his collegiate studies, he became master of all the arguments which had been or could avcII be advanced upon either side must excite admiration. On July 6, a great meeting of the patriots of the city of New York was summoned to meet in the suburbs. Those amon- the inhabitants of this State Avho were inclined to ret Bist the British pretensions had grave and peculiar YOUTH. 11 difficulties to encounter. The lower house or Assem bly was controUed by politicians in the Tory interest ; and when it became desirable^o act upon the propo sition for holding a general congress, to be composed of delegates from all the colonies, it seemed but too likely that this hostile majority would succeed in preventing the patriots of New York from obtaining any representation in the national body. It was in the hope of effecting a choice of delegates by the people at large, that " the great meeting in the fields was convened. A vast multitude assembled, and was addressed by many speakers of note. Hamilton stood by and listened. But with listen ing his blood warmed. To all Avhich had been said he" felt that he could add something of value, an(^ ea-er to add it, at last gathered courage to nse and address the people. He was only seventeen ye^s old, and of such short and slight stature, that he presented the appearance almost of a boy. The thron^r of groAvn men was astonished. It was, in deed," a daring experiment that was made before them ; but the courage Avhich had incited Hamilton to the undertaking carried him bravely through it. He faltered for a moment ; but the people before him were kindly attentive and patient; he promptly collected himself and soon forgot all else in the ardor of oratory. It is related that the speech was a brH- liant success, and secured admiration and applause. If it had been not altogether a failure, the AVonder would have been great enough. For it was not an harangue delivered to a promiscuous croAvd, but an argumentative address made to a body of the best persons on the patriot side in the city, Avho had come 12 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. together to transact some very serious business. That at onf : r ''ir ^ ^ ^^'^^ °^ ^- -- enougt 1.T n ^ "'"'^ '" ^°^^^ ^P^^ Hamilton no in- considerable reputation. At this point it must be considered that not only the boyhood but^even the youth of Alexander Ham^ ilton have been brought to a close. Already he had presented himself in a conspicuous manne^before the people among whom he lived, as one ca^ab e of guiding and counselling. From this mature position Thos/Tf' ''"^ ''"^^ ^^ - retrogression Those who love to study the unfolding ^f great poAvers, and to ponder upon the chrysalis sta^e of gemus, may be disappointed that so few pa4s of meagre narrative are furnished for the gratification of their tas e. But I believe that nothing more is knoAvn of the fii-st seventeen years of Hamilton's Me, than has been told fa the foregoing pages. Few as these are, yet they have completed the tale, and here we must take leave of the youth. For the future we shall see only one treated as a groAvn man, doing the work of a groAvn man in the fashion of a groAvn man. He emerged from immaturity at least eight or ten years earlier than the generality even of distinguished men; and he emerged from it so fully and decisively, that scarce a trace of it, save in his personal appearance, remained at any time afterward perceptible. Hamilton wa.s now both in the public expectation and by his OAvn feelings fully committed to the colo nial struggle, and he prosecuted his part therein Avith his wonted spirit and ardor. At that stage of the contest the pen Avas the chief Aveapon employed, and YOUTH. IE H J ^^^ N ri this Ataa actively wielded upon both sides, preem inently so in New York. Hamilton was a frequent contributor to the columns of a Avhig newspaper pub lished in the city by John Holt and devoted to the patriot cause. Sometimes he sent grave and argu mentative articles, sometimes he feU into the satirical vein, and occasionaUy he furnished builesque and doggerel rhymes. But whatever form his writings took, they never failed to attract notice, and often to elicit the praise of such men as Jay, McDougall, and other literary combatants of established repute in the cause. Shortly after the adjournment of the first Con gress, there were published tAvo essays written jointly by Dr. Seabury, afterward Bishop of Connecticut, and Mr. Wilkins, an able clergyman of Westches ter County, N. Y. The first was entitled, " Free Thoughts on the Proceedings of the Continental Congress ; " the second was called, " Congress Can vassed ; By a AVestchester Farmer." These were really papers of much cleverness and force, stating the British side of the controversy in a clear, pungent style, yet in that homely form of argument which was especially desired. They were loudly cried up by the loyalists, were Avidely read and discussed, were gratuitously distributed by the party in whose cause they had been Avritten, and altogether bid fair, if left unansAvered or only feebly answered, to do serious injury to the popular cause. The dangerous character of these tracts Avas sufficiently proved by the Avrath Avhich they aroused in the breasts of the patriots, Avho proposed to indict the author and pub lisher for treasonable designs, and at a county meet- 14 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Po/ . 1 ''*' ^"^ "''^"^"^ «^^«^ to the pillory Fortunately protest and opposition soon took a Zve s nsible and effectual form. A fortnight had not ekpsed after the first appearance of the offens'e pamphlets, ere there was published another broad side purporting to be "A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress from the Calumnies of thd Enemies, m AnsAver to a Letter under the signature of thal-thrr' ^'?:" ?" "^^""^^^^ -- - f-cibi: that the tory writers felt compelled to come to the rescue of the tracts, which they had .Iready sen^ into the fidd, with still another of the like tenor. In th^ tiie Westchester Farmer gave his "View of he' Controversy." His temper evidently had not bee^ mproved by contact Avith an adversary. But neither the temper nor the arguments of that adversary seemed to have suffered in their turn : for he promptly SeV^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ '^'^^'^'^ "^^- ^-e' This last publication, which made quite a little vol ume, Avas thorough and exhaustive, and apparently discouraged the clergymen from further prolonging I contest m which they had experienced an opposition of such unexpected force. For a time the patriot writer remained unknoAvn, though much curiosity AV as expressed concerning him; especially were the genlemen amongst whom he had carried such an unpleasant fluttering desirous to discover who he was ; and for a few Aveeks the inquiry prosecuted with equal eagerness by both parties AA^as as hot in the interested neigliborhood, as ever it Avas for the author of "Waverley" or for the veritable Ji^i^ YOUTH. 15 It was conceived to be impossible that a novice could have achieved such distinction, n^x was there notice able any immatuiity in thought or style promotive of this suspicion. The credit was at fii-st divided between Mr. Jay and Governor Livingston, whose reputations received no small accretion from the belief. When by degrees the name of Hamilton, a lad whose eighteenth birthday only had occurred betAveen the dates of the publication of his two tracts, was given as that of the writer, the incredulity expressed at first soon gave way, in the face of cer tain proof, to unlimited admiration and astonishment. Oddly enough it happened that Dr. Cooper, Presi dent of King's CoUege, where Hamilton was stiU pursuing his studies, had occasionally been engaged in controversy with the student in the anonymous Avarfare of the ncAvspapers. He was with difficulty made to believe in the identity of the distinguished patriot Avriter Avith the laborious young disciple. But to his credit it should be recorded, that, when convinced by irrefragable testimony, he seems, in spite of the Avaimth Avhich often signalized the contest, never to have sought an ignoble revenge by harass ing his audacious pupU. It is not probable that these essays will be read hereafter by any persons save patient and laborious students of the history of that era. Neither would an abstract, hoAvever brief, of the arguments ad vanced in them prove acceptable to the generality of readers. Such an abstract could not, indeed, be easily draAvn ; for one of the distinguishing traits of the papers Avas their terse and pointed style. But the foresight displayed in some pai-ts of the second 16 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. pamphlet deserves a moment's notice. The writer ventures to speak of a possible condition of inde- pendence. He looks forward to and discusses the eflect of the establishment of manufactures — espe cially of cotton fabrics -in this country. He fore- shadoAvs that system, since so zealously prosecuted, ot making this continent sufficient unto itself and mdependent, if need should be, of all other nations ot the globe. Referring to the chances of war, he depicts beforehand, with Avhat proved to be perfect accuracy, the peculiar military character which that war must assume as one of defence, -the Americans availing themselves largely of the nature and extent ot the country to harass, and by degrees to tire out, the enemy. He urged the probability that France, and perhaps also Spain, might see their own interest m taking even an active part in our behalf in any struggle with Great Britain. To us, Avho have seen these predictions fulfilled, and who are familiar Avith them as accomplished facts, this foresight may seem natural ; but it was not shared even by able colonial leaders at that day. After the authorship was discovered, it was deemed by the royalists to be very desirable to enlist such a recruit m their oAvn ranks. The fact that Hamilton was so young, and comparatively a stranger in the land, made it seem not improbable that he had been prompted in his labors by the desire of distinguish- ing himself in the quarter where the opportunities lor distinction seemed most promising, rather than by any deep conviction or warm feeling in behalf of the colonists. He Avas accordingly approached Avith offers of liberal compensation and handsome treat- YOUTH. 17 r ment, if he would, as it was supposed that he easily might, change his opinions and embrace the British side. But so far as his undertakings had been due to the incitement of ambition, that ambition had been of a thoroughly honorable kind. He had taken no active or decided part, until he had made up his mind clearly and finally with which party the right lay. All inducements thereafterward held out to him to desert that part were met with an unhesitating refusal. Four months later, in June, 1775, the " Remarks on the Quebec Bill" were published, and not only maintained but extended the reputation already won.^ But events were travelling fast in these days, and pamphlet-Avritmg was soon superseded by more 1 To protect myself from the charge of exaggeration, after the too frequent fasliion of biographers, let me sustain my own remarks by quoting tlie words of a writer amply qualified to judge, and not wont to use the language of overheated admiration. Mr. George Ticknor Curtis says, in a brief risumg of Hamilton's life and char acter : "At the age of seventeen, his political life was already be gun ; for at that age and while still at college, he wrote and published a scries of essays on the ' Rights of the Colonies," which attracted the attention of the whole country. There are displayed in these papers a power of reasoning and sarcasi.n, a knowledge of the princi ples of government and of thc English constitution, and a grasp of the merits of the wliole controversy, that would have done honor to any man at any age, and in a youth of seventeen are wonderful. To say that they evince precocity of intellect, gives no idea of their main characteristics. They show great maturity, — a more remark- aide maturity than has ever been exhibited by any other person, at so early an age, in the same department of thought. They produced, too, a great effect. Their influence in bringing the public mind to the point of resistance to the mother country was important and extensive." — Histuri/ of the Constitution of Vie United States, vol. i. p. 408. VOL. I. 2 18 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. active exertions- Blood was shed in Massachu setts at Lexington, and hi NeAv York mobs were frequently parading the streets and committing oc casional outrages against the more notorious and unpopular tories. On two occasions of this nature, Hamilton distinguished himself as the champion of laAv and order. An assault Avas made upon the resi dence of Dr. Cooper, the president of the college, Avith the design of seizing his person and mflicting some manner of indignity upon bun. Fearful for the result, should the excited rioters get the unpop- uhar gentleman m their grasp, Hamilton, backed by his friend Troup, ascended the steps and began an address to the crowd. The terrified doctor, knoAV- ing his young student's proclivities, and by no means equally sure of his good sense and moderation, at once conceived that he Avas instigating the people to outrage, and shrieked out to them from a AvindoAV, begging them not to listen to him, for that he Avas crazy ! Soon, hoAvcA^er, gaining a clearer vieAv of the situation, the besieged gentleman hastened to avail himself of the brief and valuable diversion Avhich bis friendly advocate Avas making for him, and escap ing out of the house he made his Avay to a British war vessel in the river, Avhere he could receive protection. A like exploit folloAved soon afterAA'ards. Riv- ington, the printer, kept his press in the city of Ncav York constantly busy in the service of the royalists, only occasionally publishing a pamphlet on the other side in order to divert hostile observation. The ruse Avas too palpable to be successful; yet the popular indignation Avas still held within bounds. YOUTH. 19 until one Captain Sears, a New Yorker, of a fiery temperament and of most rash zeal in the cause of the colonies, disgusted with the meekness and long- suffering of his fellow-citizens, crossed into Connec ticut, and there raising a troop of seventy-five horsemen returned forthwith at the head of his cavaliers to the city of New York. At high noon he rode gallantly into the place ; the mob gathered at the heels of his band in considerable force, and the Avhole motley throng made straight for the print ing-house. There Hamilton, and some few moderate spuits, encountered the raiders and undertook to check their fury. Hamilton, especially, made him self conspicuous in the effort, at no inconsiderable peril to himself, in addressing his excited and tur bulent hearers. Unfortunately his courage was dis played in vain. The presses were smashed with vindictive thoroughness, and the leaden types, which had been defiled by use in the expression of tory aro-uments, Avere carried into Connecticut and there melted into patriot bullets. The band, on their re turn, seized a tory clergyman and a justice of the peace in Westchester County, and carried them off as quaai prisoners of war into Connecticut. The affair Avas very near breeding a serious dissension butAveon the two colonies, but graver events and the national crisis rapidly supervening put an end to untimely differences of this nature. 20 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. CHAPTER n. THE REVOLUTION. dav Si :, ^"' " ^""^ ^^^1^' ^^«ry passing day had been rendering more hopeless the prospect of a peaceful extrication from the long-growin. qlTrel and when at length Congress prodimed rts'resolt tion to-fight, a sufficiently large proportion of the people of the colonies exhibited the hke temp r to naake it cA-ident that the contest would neither be shunned in the outset nor hastily abandoned after it ZTZ ^'"r''-*° ""'"^"^^« ^"^ '^ ^-tincrion could no longer be mistaken, and Hamilton set him self energetically to learn the art of war, both in theory and in practice. He studied pyrotechnics and gunnery in books and as the pupil of'^'an EnS bombardier. Then, as the military feryor spread and opportunity offered, he joined a volunteer corps of young men, composed chiefly of his felloAv-students and ,nst.ucted daily by an ex-adjutant of the British arn^v They assumed the chivalrous name of "Hearts wor? 1 .r'"'^' ^^;«^«<^lves in green uniforms, and T^ore leathern caps inscribed with the motto, " Free dom or Death." Thus equipped, they presented a \ THE EEVOLUTION. 21 gay and gallant appearance. But they were as ready to act as they were to parade ; and once, at least, it happened that they had the honor to be engaged in a service of substantial importance and real peril. They were ordered by the proAdncial committee to remove the cannon stationed on the Battery. While thus employed, a boat approached from the British man- of-war " Asia," which lay anchored not far off in the harbor. The citizens, conceiAong that the boat was sent to interfere with the removal, fired upon it; whereupon the " Asia " sent a broadside to the Bat tery, Avhich wounded three of the party and killed one of his comrades at Hamilton's side. He, it is related, "exhibited the greatest unconcern." In deed, his personal courage, thus for the first time proved, was often afterward put to severer tests, and was ahvays acknoAvledged to be of the highest and most tranquil type. Erelong the CouA^ention of New York, among other measures of military preparation, issued orders for the raising of a company of artillery. Hamilton promptly applied for the captaincy, and haAdng proved his competence by satisfactorily passing an examination he received his commission, and was ordered to guard the colonial records. He was assid uous in the drill and instruction of his men, until the company became a model of discipline. Such qual ities of finished soldiership were not so abundant in those days of raAv recruits, that they were liable to be long neglected or overlooked. It happened one day that General Greene saAv this troop at its exercise in the suburbs. The unusual accuracy of its evolutions attracted his attention, and he hastened to make the 22 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMU.TON. acquaintance of the commander. In the short talk Avhich he had with the lad, he was much struck by the display of military aptitude. He spoke of his new acquaintance to Washington, invited Hamilton to his own quarters; and fr-oin that day began an ac quaintance which, in the outset of his military career, was useful in bringing the young officer into notice, and aiding him to secure the position which he de served. His oAvn turn to be of service to General Greene came later in the Avar, and Avas fully im proved. Captain Hamilton's first experience of actual war fare was in the ill-starred battle of Long Island. Certainly it cannot be said that he Avas inducted into a knowledge of the arduousness of Jiis ncAv profession gently or gradually. A defeat more disastrous, or containing more elements tending to the demoraliza tion of new troops, is not to be found, at least in the records of American history. The most raw and ignorant among thc common soldiers must have seen, ere the action Avas far adA-anced, that the British had completely out-generalled their opponents. They Avere hot only massed formidably in front of the Americans, but they had marched in force through the unprotected Bedford pass of tlie hills; tli^y were pouring in their yolleys in flank and even in some degree in the rear of the Continentals, and Avere rapidly cutting tliem off altogether from the line of their entrenchments. The Hessians, rushing forAvard to close quarters, were plying the bayonet Avith bloody ferocity. Of five thousand troops engaged on the American side, only about three thousand unAvouikled men succeeded in get- THE REVOLUTION. 23 ting within their redoubts when the gathering dark ness put an end to the struggle. Hamilton was in thc thick of the fight, and lost his baggage and a field-piece. But service more trying to his nerve, and Avherein the sjistaining excitement of conflict was wanting, was performed by him on the third night thereafter. In the interval the army was recruited to nine thousand men by the arrival of detachments of fresh troops; but the movements of the enemy made it necessary to fall back into the city of New York, provided so perilous a manoeuvre could be executed. It Avould have been easier for a general to resolve to fight a battle, even Avith a very slender hope of vic tory, than to determine upon this move, which, if frustrated, must have worse results than could be expected to foUoAV the most crushing defeat. But the attempt Avas to be made. In order to accomplish it, it was necessary that after night-fall and before daybreak the Avhole army should be withdrawn stealthily from its encampments close beneath the vig ilant eyes of the British sentries ; should be brought down to the Avater's edge, embarked and transported across the SAvift tide of the Sound, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, to the opposite shore. It was obvious enough to all that the undertaking was that of desperate men. Discovery by the British Avould have resulted in a fearful carnage and the inev itable destruction of the army : possibly even in the crushing of the cause itself. Perhaps no other pe riod of equal brevity in the Avhole Avar was fraught with such momentous risk as was crowded into the short hours of that foggy night ; nor would it proba- 24 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. bly be erroneous to say that more glory, in a purely military point of vieAv, Avas achieved by the success ful prosecution of the retreat than had been lost by the previous defeat. While the regiments were care fully and silently filing doAvn to the landing-place, Avith eyes and ears rendered alert by an anxiety Avhich may be imagined for the sound of discovery and alarm in the hostile lines, Hamilton Avith his com pany Avas detailed to the honorable but dangerous and most trying task of bringing up, covering, and, in case of need, protecting the rear of the retiring forces. Fortunately he Was not attacked, or it is only too probable that there would never have been occasion to Avrite these pages. Yet the anxiety was none the less during the creeping hours, and amid such arduous and responsible duties it is not surpris ing that the youth matured rapidly into the man. Hamilton remained Avith the army during the manoeuvres upon the river banks to the north of the city; and Avas in the engagement at White Plains. Thereafter he Avas detached to cover a post near Fort Washington. Annoyed at the fall of that important position he offered to storm it, but General Washing- ton conceived the undertaking to be too hazardous and declined the daring proposition. He rejoined the main army soon after that event, and then contin ued Avith it ; accompanying it in the retreat into the Jerseys, and going through the marching and coun termarching in that country, Avhich proved harassing enough to the body, but even more so to the mind. He had his share, Avith the rest of the troops, of the laurels Avon at Princeton and at Trenton. The army Avas not so large in that period of gloom THE REVOLUTION. 25 and depression, that the merit of any individual was in danger of being obscured by the multitude of com petitors. Washington one day in going his rounds observed some works constructed with more than common skill. Inquiry showed that they were superintended by the young officer afready brought BO favorably to his notice by General Greene. The artillery company under Hamilton's command had still continued to be distinguished by its excellent discipline and soldierly air, but it had become re duced by hard service in fighting and in marching, till it no longer numbered more than twenty-five At the head of this mere fragment the capao men. ity of such a captain was wasted, and General Wash ington, planning better things for him, invited him to headquarters at MorristOAvn, and proposed, to place him upon his OAvn staff. Such an expression of confidence in his character and abilities Avas flattering indeed to the young sol dier. Yet it Avas not Avithout hesitation and even a slight degree of reluctance, that he concluded to accept the position. TavIcc already a similar place had been offered to him upon the staff of a general officer, and each time he had declined it. His objec tion to it Avas, that it took him out of the line of pro motion. A position in which he would be more able to Avin distinction and more free to push forward, as his aspiring nature prompted him to do, was far bet ter suited to his taste. Yet the staff of Washington was very different from that of a subordinate ; and furthermore Hamilton entertained such sentiments of respect and affection for his chief, that he could uot easily determine to refuse the request preferred 26 I-IFE OF ALEXANDER HA.MILTON. ^>r^itfs:;L:z:^,-v-stness. E:rinf^^----^~oCi:^ naS!:tr;ddr^^-^^-«^--^l-sinits and Meade, ^^U^e^r^;,:;- ^'^- attractive and amiable ffentlem.r ^' ^'^"'^^^^^ than ordinary talents Jlu- P^^^^^^^"? ^^ore was altogethL tTee^^ "' ""^'^ ^^^°™ ^* terms. Clt fi. " ^^ ' '''°""'^ "P«^ ^"timate accomphJa :« r otd' "^^\^"^^^'' P^l-'^-, and father, took an eTn;. ,.1 f "'"^^' '" ^^ ttmiilton's ^"ni "he littl ion'" 'T^ V'^^ ^^^ ^"l^l^ed continued to be ^ ',.7 Vt'^'*'' ^^' ^"^^^^^ ^^« long of his intimate ftt^r^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ the circi: held his OAVU imon" l"- • ^''''"^ *' ^« ^^^s he grave cou, : S,'" J™^, ^ «" -tters of quasi-civil nature AVth ^7'^^: "^"^'''^^'^ «^ ^^ ^ o-y,theyfr.:;;^j ^,-;^t;::t'^"^'r^^^^ to which th.. intrinsic valt e of I ^^"^^^^^^^'^^ion tied him. His on; I ^'' suggestions enti- iiis 025inions Avere receivprl wUi. i • 71 I'espoct, and the terms unon 17^^V ^"""^^' -ith the commande -i ehkf anJ ; • 'r '^''''''^^ ^vere as honorable to lot 1 of i"' "^""''"'^ '"""^ to tlie intellect of Ha Iton Ti°"'''""^^ '"^^ to be considered .s W T' ' " ''^"" '''''' ^nost eonfi.lentlHiao '' ";f "" ' '^^''''"^^ »"^1 was his advice tha A ; ¦ f "^"''^"' ^^ ^^-"^-^t it ' carefully av i^LJl " ' 'T""^^^'^' ''''S^t, most § l-i THE REVOLUTION. 27 upon him, he yet fully escaped the unpopularity- attendant upon arrogance and conceit. Those with Avhom he had most to do ever proved to be his warmest and best friends. Lafayette records, that in an intercourse of five years not even any temporary disagreement or ill-Avill was excited. Nine months after he had been appointed aide-de camp, he came of age. We may imagine that there was something almost droll in the reflections which must have been called forth by that event. That a man holding the place in active life and in the esti mation of the distinguished men of the day, Avliich it lias been shoAvn that he was then filling, should sud denly find himself caUed upon in the midst of con sultation Avith middle-aged compeers as to military schemes, and of correspondence Avith mature states men as to mattei-s of policA', to interrupt for a moment the grave current of his thoughts, and to remember that on the passing day he came of age, Avas for the first time his OAvn master, and in the eye of the law Avas just noAv ceasing to be an infant and becoming an adult, presents certainly an odd picture. Com panion sketches are rare in the gallery of history. A minute account of Hamilton's career in the war of the Revolution cannot be advantageously given here. The fact that he Avas seldom absent from the army Avould furnish no excuse for repeating at length the oft-told, and someAvhat Avearisome, tales of aU°its ma- noiUA^ring and fighting. :\Ioreover, the nature of his position as a staff officer, during, nearly the Avhole of his term of service, as he himself had foreseen, and often afterward regretted, prevented his enjoying any ade quate opportunity for distinguishing himself in a 28 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. THE REVOLUTION. 29 separate and independent command, even as an excep tional episode. It must suffice, therefore, to mention the fcAv occasions Avhen circumstances happily enabled him to render himself prominent; to.dAvell upon the general tenor of his duties, and to discuss his charac ter and capacity as ^ military man, so far as these were made apparent by his actions or his Aviitings. We find him holding the pen more often than the sword; for, though he shared in every engagement of Washington's army, yet the stricken fields of the Revolution were not extremely numerous, and, on the other hand, the mass of writing and correspondence was immense. The ability Avhich he displayed in the exercise of this literary function caused an extra amount both of public and private letter-Avriting to fall upon him. It is, indeed, odd to note how often and by hoAv many different persons his talent in this direction Avas recognized and admired. " The pen of Junius is in your hand," writes Colohel Laurens, in 1778, Avhen Hamilton was only twenty-one years old ; nor was the cultivated and Avell-read Laurens "a man liable to commit an error of judgment in a matter of this nature. So, likcAvise, says another good judge. Colonel Troup ; the letters of " Publius," written about the time of the Gates-CouAvay cabal, " struck him as the closest imitation of Junius Avhich he had ever read." It was the clear, pithy, and trenchant character of his style Avhich caused this especial com parison to be presented to the minds of his readers. His dcA-oted friend and thorough -paced admirer, Gen eral Knox, Avrites, in 1777, in his oavu odd, emphatic fashio"h, Avith many capitals and much underlining : " Mark this ! You must be thc Annalist and Biogra- I ii pher, as well as the Aide-de-camp, of General Wash ington,— and the Historiographer of the American War!" To this feame purport, not once only but afterward again and again, wrote the plain-spoken, gallant, honest, and hard-fighting old general. It Avas his darling scheme to have a "Hamilton's His tory of the Revolution." He made a kind of pet of Hamilton, as a senior might of a younger man ; and yet all the while he respected him, and defeiTed to him as already an intellectual superior, in a manner peculiarly touching, and as honorable to the bluff veteran Avho entertained such generous sentiments, unalloyed by a shade of envy, as to the youthful hero Avho excited and deserved them. Hamilton's temperament was such that it was im possible for him ever to spare himself when there was Avork to be done, whether in the saddle or at the desk. Riding, Avriting, and thinking, more fatiguing than either, filled up the full measure of his days and his nights. The incessant labor taxed severely his slight aud youthful fr-ame, little inured to physical hard ship and necessarily immature for the burden of anxiety Avhich was laid upon him. Two or three times his health temporarily yielded, and twice he appears to have been seriously ill. Yet he battled Avith impatient bravery against prostration, and al- Avays came back to his toil again at the earliest mo ment. But in sickness or in health his spirits never flao-cred, his coura;?e never waned. In all the pub- lished correspondence of the Revolution, no officer, from the commander-in-chief doAvuAvard, writing from Washington's army, appears to have main tained a tone so uniformly sanguine. Even the 30 LIFE OF ALL^vANDER HAMILTON. gloom and despondency of the grim winter at Valley Forge Avere poAverless to daunt him, to banish his choeriness or to dispel his hopes. The ranks were . thinned ; the army retreated ; the soldiers grcAV dis contented ; the military chest became depleted ; the most necessary supplies ran Ioav. Still, he found gleams of light and encouragement; he could see and explain that the past had not been Avithout its successes ; that the present moment Avas but a brief period of transition. He could shoAv how success might be reasonably expected in the not distant future, and could assert courageously that a good seed had been soAvn, which a fair harvest must fol low. This bright temper of the young officer, not coming in flashes of juvenile excitement, but shining with an even, steadfast light through the darkness, is very remarkable. Courage and resolution in abun dance belonged to the heroes around him; Avithout such qualities, indeed, life could not have been pre served in those days : AA'ithout the aid of the mind, the bod}- must haA'e succumbed to hardship and pri- A'ation. IJut it seems to have been given to Hamilton alone to feel actually cheerful. As Ave read Wash ington's letters, full of grave Avarnings, of anxious fore bodings, — incA-itable sentiments Avith one filling the position of suiu-eme responsibility, — Ave can conceive hoAV the buoj-ant spirit of the 3*oung aide must have endeared him to his elder, and made him seem espe cially Aveleome as the prophet of a happier future. This trait it Avas in part, and in part also a singu larly engaging manner, that caused Hamilton to enjoy probably a greater degree of personal popularity than was achieved by any other officer under Washington. THE REVOLUTION. 31 ^¦ 1 N In addition to respect for his character and abilities, there was constantiy expressed for him a warmth of attachment quite striking in its frank and open ful ness. His detractors have charged him Avith a too aspiring and grasping temper and an egotistical and overweening self-assertion. But selfish egotism does not make friends in any calling in life, especially in a military career during terms of active service. Ideal as every feature of the Revolution now seems to us, it is yet undeniable, that, in respect of jealousy and heart-burnings in the armies, it was no better — per haps it Avas even worse — than other less honorable wars. Such enemies as Hamilton had at this time were not his OAvn, but Washington's. These individuals, Avho have been consigned by history to the limbo of a well-deserved ignominy whence any future escape seems to be hopeless, afraid openly and at once to assail the General, Avhom the large pro portion of the people thoroughly trusted, preferred rather to initiate their campaign by attacks upon his most valued friends and advisers. If they could de stroy the supports, the column itself, as they hoped, might totter. At Hamilton, therefore, in honorable company Avith a fcAV others of AVashingtou's nearest and dearest friends, they directed the assaults of their malice, and cast discredit upon him, not in fact for his OAVU sake, but for that of his friend and com mander ; not by reason of his demerits, but for the sin of loving Washington. The French officers established an especially friendly footing betAveen themselves and Hamilton. It Avas not alone that his mastery of their language 32 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. was like that of a native, but his vivacity and cheeri- ness and ready sympathy Avere traits Avhich for them had a peculiar charm. Lafayette, in particular, loved him as a brother. Here is a sample — one among many — of the enthusiastic expressions of feeling into Avhich the warm-hearted Frenchman occasion ally burst : — I know the General's friendship and gratitude for yon, my dear liamihon ; both are greater than you perhaps imagine. I am sure he needs only to be told that something will suit you; and when he thinks he can do it he certainly AH'ill. liefore this campaign I was your friend, and very intimate friend, agreeably to the ideas of the world. Since my sec ond voyage my sentiment has increased to such a point the world knows nothing about. To show both, from want and from scorn of expressions, I shall oulj' tell you — Adieu ! Yours, Lafayette. Scarcely less eager was the affection of many others. They did not find military life in the great, Avild, young country, amid raAV, undisciplined, ill- supplied levies, quite AA'hat they had expected. They suffered many A'exations, Avere often cruelly ddsil- lusionnSs, and of course had their full share of sub stantial hardships. Occasionally, Avhen they could no longer endure in perfect silence, they turned to Hamilton to pour out their hearts, and to seek such aid as he could procure for them. The following entertaining, half ludicrous and half pathetic, appeal of Colonel Fleury may serve as a sample of the epistles Avhich the aide was in the habit of receiving : — L'Ijjfantery Camp, 18th August, 1779. Deaii Coloxel, — The oflRcers of the two A B.attalions of rinfantery, which I actually command, have applied to me THE REVOLUTION. 33 for ceasing to run over those craggy mountains barefooted, and beg that I would write to headquarters to have an order from his Excellency to get me pair of shoes for each ; the shoes they hint to are at New Windsor, and their inten tion is to pay for. , , , ^ a Do not be so greedy for shoes as for my blanket, and tliink that the most urgent necessity has determined theur apphcation ; they are quite barefooted. 1 am, &c., L. Fleukt. N.B. As his Excellency could form a very advantageous idea of our being lucky in shoes by the appearance of the ollicers who dined to-day at headquarters, and were not quite without, I beg you would observe to him, if necessary, that each Company had furnished a shoe for their dressmg. Camp LTsfasteet, 19 August, 1779. Whether the shoes, or the more important blanket for poor Monsieur Fleury, Avere forthcoming we must be content to knoAV not. But that the AA'riter had the kind consideration and kinder endeavors of Hamilton we may rest assured. Baron Steuben, too, the favorite of the great Fred- crick, — a soldier, by the Avay, Avho had far too good an opinion of himself to endure any overAveening vanity, especially if manifested by a boy young c)io)i,uh to be his grandson, — became tenderly at tached to Hamilton. In return Hamilton did him substantial services ; in particular, he did for liim what the free-handed old soldier never could do for hhiiself, — took care of his hard-earned money for liim. " The Secretary of the Treasury is my banker," till- baron used to say, in later days, Avith kindly satisfaction; "my Hamilton takes care of me when he eainiot take care of himself." Hamilton's friendship Avith the high-spirited, gen- VOL. 1. 3 34 LIi'e OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. erous, and accomplished Laurens was probably the warmest that he cherished for any man during his life. Indeed, the records of this attachment, so firm and tender, so honorable to both parties, seem almost to transport us to the regions of romance. Their sentiments are not proved alone by the fr-ank and manly expressions of affectionate regard, which abound in the correspondence sustained with the greatest regularity betAveen them in all periods of absence ; but each gave practical evidence by very substantial sacrifices, that he could prefer the happi ness of his friend to his own advantage. On December 24, 1778, Laurens became involved in a duel with General Lee. The provocation was language used by the general of a nature veiy dis respectful towards General Washington. The com batants met ; General Lee being attended b3^ Major Edwards, and Colonel Laurens haA'ing as his second Colonel Hamilton. They api^roached Avithin about fiA'-e or six paces of each other, and exchanged shots almost at the same moment. General Lee was hit, but the wound Avas so inconsiderable that he pro posed to fire a second time. Laurens assented. Hamilton "observed that, unless the general Avas influenced by motives of personal enmity, he did not think the affair ought to be pursued an}' fiirther ; but as General Lee seemed to persist in desiiing it, he was too tender of his friend's lionor to persist in opposing it." The combat Avas thus about to be rencAved, AA'hen Major EdAvards again interposed. An exj^lanation ensued, and the affair ended AA-ithout serious mischief to those engaged in it. Hamilton di-eAv u^D, and the tAvo seconds signed, a minute nar- THE REVOLUTION. 35 fl II rative of the entire proceedings, concluding with the statement that: "Upon the whole, we think it a piece of justice to the two gentlemen to declare, that, after they met, their conduct was strongly marked with all the politeness, generosity, coolness, and firmness, that ought to characterize a transaction of this nature." In his opinions concerning men General Washing ton was very shrcAvd. Sometimes, though rarely, he was led into error by the kindness with which he judged their characters and motives ; but seldom, if ever, did he err concerning their intellectual ca pacity. In his military and in his civil career he had the happy gift of always recognizing and always bringing around him the best persons in each depart ment of knowledge. For one who relied upon cool, sound judgment and resolute, conscientious endeavor rather than upon brilliant, overpowering genius, this ability was probably indispensable to success. With out it, Washington's career must certainly have been a failure. The seal of his approbation, therefore, by itself alone, creates a powerful presumption in favor of any person honored therewith. For this reason, it is esj)ecially worthy of note that, for the two mis sions of greatest importance and delicacy to which he had it in charge to depute some person subject to his orders, he selected Hamilton. The first and chief of these was the mission to General Gates, in No\-ember, 1777. Hamilton was tlu'u only tAventy years old. General Gates was upon the banks of the Hudson, in an independent command and with a considerable army, subject of course to any absolute orders of the commander-in- 36 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. chief, but yet jealous of such interference as might not appear in his oAvn vicAv to be absolutely neces sary. AVashington, in the neighborhood of Philadel phia, was struggling to hold his oavu against the main army of the British, having for that purpose forces the most meagre and insufficient. It became, in his opinion, of nearly vital necessity that he should ob tain reenforcements, and it Avas inevitable that they should be draAvn in a great measure from the army under Gates. Yet this transfer was a task which he had special reasons to Avisli to see managed with no less skill than firmness. Though he was only send ing orders to his subaltern, yet circumstances ren dered it at least desirable that these orders should be convejed with some degree of diplomatic skill, as well as in a manner Avhich should shoAV compliance to be imperatively required. General Gates had just defeated General Burgoyne, and by that brilliant achieA-ement had made himself the idol of the people. Especially had he won the confidence of the inhabit ants of the Eastern States, aa'Iio were then far from feeling that enthusiastic love and reverent faith tOAvards Washington Avhich afterAvard became their firm and universal creed. Ever prone to look only to tangible residts, the croAvds of talkers in the towns and villages began to compare the deeds of Gates with the more difficult but less shoAA'y marching, countermarching, and skirmishing of Washington's campaign ; and the more they talked, the more prone they bt'came to doubt Avhether or not Gates might not, after all, be the chosen deliverer of the strucffrlins people. If the gossips only imperfectly believed this, Gates himself, at least, Avas deeply convinced of it. THE REVOLUTION. 37 I So, likewdse, were his numerous and ambitious satel lites, a scheming band, who Avere now busy arrang ing the complications of that cabal by Avhich they hoped to substitute the hero of their own choice for the present commander-in-chief. If, therefore, the defeat of Burgoyne had diminished the opportunities for action in the region of General Gates's command, so, on the other hand, it had fired in his breast hopes equally eager and mischievous. He set his heart upon making some other distinguished stroke, and was most reluctant to see his available force, and Avith it his importance and his means of immediately achieving additional fame, diminished in any degree. Least of all could he endure to see his forces drawn aAvay to the support of one who, though his superior in command, he now began to regard as his rival. As the sequel shoAvs, he Avent to the very vei^e of insubordination and actual disobedience, before he could bring his mind to submit to such orders. Upon the other hand, it Avas impossible that Wash ington, though ignorant of the extent of the disaffec tion and the unfriendly schemes, should not in some measure see and appreciate the peculiar and embar rassing nature of the situation. Little as- his noble temper AAas given to suspicion, he cordd not be blind to the meaning of such a fact as the entire neglect of Gates to inform him of Burgoyne's surrender, thereby leaving him to learn it from rumor and the public prints. The condition of things was for him also further complicated by reason of his distance from the scene of operations in the north, and by the fact that it Avas questionable Avhether Sir Henry Clin- ton, Avith a large force then gathered in New York 38 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. THE REVOLUTION. 39 harbor, might not, by some possible though improba ble chance, move up the Hudson instead of to the southAvard. It was therefore necessary that a very full discretion should be given to any envoy who should be sent upon this dubious and vexatious errand. Hamilton was selected for the business. He re ceived written instructions from General Washing ton. The largest reenforcement wliich he was to require was tAventy regiments, which were specified. But in certain possible events a large discretion was given him. If, upon meeting with General Gates, Hamilton should find that that general intended to employ the troops under his command " upon some expedition, by the prosecution of wliich the common cause will be more benefited than by their being sent down to reeirforce this army," then said Washr ington, " it is not my wish to give any interruption to the plan." Singular modesty and generosity of Washington ! KnoAA'ing that another success might enable the by no means reluctant Gates to supersede himself, he yet declined to exercise his authority imperiously, but left it in the poAver and to the judg ment of a juA'enile aide-de-camp to alloAv the south ern ariUA' to remain in its present jeopardy, if thereby it appeared probable that the ambitious hero of the north Avould be enabled to benefit the common cause. Such Avas the momentous responsibility Avhich rested uj^on Hamilton at the option of his com mander, — scope to determine the comparative value of militarj' plans, and to make or mar projected cam paigns ; authority, if his judgment should so dictate, to alloAv Gates to remain strong at the cost of Wash ington's weakness, and thereby not improbably to bring about the retirement of the latter beneath the burden of failure, and the consequent advancement of the other to the vacant post. It is seldom that a man in the position of the commander-in-chief ven tures to place in the hands of another, of whatever age or experience, such a weighty charge, — involv ing not improbably his own reputation for all time, and almost surely the immediate Avelfare of the na tional cause. We may conceive the deep anxiety with Avhich Washington dismissed his boy-supporter on the arduous embassy ; the still deeper anxiety which beset the mind of that emissary, profoundly resolved to discharge liis weighty task aright, — upon the one hand, not needlessly to imperil the fortunes of the southern army and the reputation of his beloved chief; upon the other hand, not to allow his par tiality for his commander and his friend to blind him to the true needs of the northern department and the probable merits of any schemes of General Gates. That his oAvn prospects in life might be destroyed by a blunder was, perhaps, the smallest thought in his mind. When Hamilton arrived at the headquarters of Gates, he found himself indeed plunged into a hot caldron of difficulties,, exceeding his worst anticipa tions. There Avas more evil brcAving there than he or his chief knew or even suspected. All around him Avere the industrious laborers in the nefarious busi ness of the still oecalt " Conway Cabal." Had he been in the British camp, he could hardly have been regarded Avith more jealous or unfriendly eyes. That the enmity Avas concealed only made it the more dan- 40 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. gerous. Sympathy or advice he could expect none, except such as might be given for tiie purpose of duping him, though the officers around him Avere ostensibly serving the same great cause Avith himself. But his shrewdness and penetration stood him in good stead. He wrote to General Washington that he had Avaited upon Gates immediately on his arrival at Albany, " but Avas sorry to find his ideas did not correspond with yours, for draAving off tlie number of troops you directed." Hamilton argued, but Gates remained "inflexible." Gates in his turn argued; " but the force of his reasons did by no means strike " Hamilton. Gates Avould only despatch one brigade, and Hamilton found himself " infinitely embarrassed and at a loss hoAv to act. I felt the importance of strengthening you as much as ijossible ; but on the other hand I found insuperable incouA'^eniences in acting diametrically opposite to the opinion of a gentleman Avhose successes have raised him to the highest importance." Finally, Hamilton resolved to rest content Avith one brigade, which Gates agreed to spare. He Avas moved to this partly by considera tions of policy ; because Gates enjoyed at the moment such consideration and influence with the public, and appeared so AvilHng to use these to Washington's dis advantage, that any mishap which might possibly occur and might appear attributable to the Avithdrawal of the ti'oops " Avould be too fair a pretext for cen sure." Such a pretext the devoted aide-de-camp had ho notion of furnishing if it could be avoided. Furthermore, on his Avay northward he had met and despatched some other unexpected reenforcements to the army in Pennsylvania, Avhich together with the THE REVOLUTION. 41 one brigade would recruit it nearly to the numbers anticipated by General Washington. But his vexations Avere by no means thus quickly brought to a close. General Gates undertook to serve him a very contemptible trick, being nothing else, indeed, than the selection of the smallest bri gade in his army; one Avhich was so depleted that the increase of numbers which it brought Avas almost utterly insignificant. It did "not consist of more than about six hundred regulars fit for duty, with a militia regiment two hundred strong, who.se time of' service Avould expire about simultaneously with their arrival at Washington's camp." Justly incensed at this conduct, Hamilton thought that it was time to use the real power vested in him. He wrote to Gates a letter couched in language so peremptory, that at last that gentleman was in some degree moved to a sense of his just relationship towards his commander- in-chief, and brought himself to the point of resolv ing to send a second brigade of greater strength, in addition to the feeble one already under orders to march. This was satisfactory. Thus having with infinite difficulty apparently achieved his purpose and yet avoided any explosion of temper, though aU the ij,round beneath his feet was undermined and heated Mith gloAving fires of jealousy and insubordination, Hamilton turned to retrace his journey south Avard. But the encouraging appearances were deceptive; liis gricA'ances Avere not even now AA'holly at an end. AVhen he came to New AA^indsor, he found that the tioops iu that neighborhood, Avhicli on his Avay to Albany he had ordered to move to Pennsylvania Avith all despatch, had not yet started, nor did there seem 42 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. In part this Avas due to the ill disposition of General Putnam; in part to the mutinous condition of some of the troops, who, not having been paid for eight or nine months, had become disorderly" and had even gone so for as to shoot one of their captains. More over, there was an ambitious plan lurking in the bm ns of the principal officers in the northern de- partment, having due regard to their own glory to recover possession of New York City. They would rather do this than reenforce Washington. The scheme AA'as scouted by HamUton as a " suicidal pa rade, and he sent an order "in the most emphatical terms to General Putnam, immediately to despatch his continental troops to AA^ashuigton. Tavo days later, at Fishkill,°Hamilton gathered such information of the movements of the enemy at New \ ork as to show that heaA-y reenforcements had gone from there to General HoAve, and that in conse quence of this General AVashington Avith his scanty force must be placed in a situation of extreme peril Ag^ui he Avrote to Gates, conveying this information; and exhorting him to forAvard more troops. This was his last step in the prosecution of one of the most delicate and difficult tasks Avhich fell to the lot of any officer in the Revolutionary AVar He had substantially accomplished the purpose of retin- forcing General AA^ashington to as great an extent as could reasonably be expected. He had Avrested the reenforcements from generals .so reluct;int, that, had they been m the secret pay of Great Britain, they could hardly, without betraying the fact, liave op posed more obstacles, active and passive, to the per- THE REVOLUTION. 43 ^ forraance of the acts required of them. Yet so skilfully had he done this, Avith persistence but with out arbitrariness, that, whatever Avrath and indignation might have been boiling beneath, none found its Avay to the surface. Strict decorum prevailed, and any thing like a public expression of disagreement, with all its attendant mischief direct and indirect, was happily avoided. For his reAvard, the aide-de-camp had the satisfaction of receiving the Unqualified appro bation of his commander. " I approve entirely of all tbe steps you have taken," wrote Washington to him ; " and have only to wish that the exertions of those you have had to deal with had kept pace with your zeal and good intentions." But the physical — and much more Ave may belicA-e the mental — toil and harassment had been more than Hamilton's constitu tion could bear. During several days before the completion of the business he had been suffering under an attack of fever and "violent rheumatic pains ; " and, Avhen the fcxsk came to an end, he Avas obliged to succumb and to allow overtaxed nature to avenge herself by a sharp attack of illness. In the autumn of 1779, Colonel HamUton was again selected for a mission of nearly equal military impor tance but less fortunate result. Count d'Estaing, ANith a French fleet and troops, arrived off the coast. It Avas essential that allies so distmguished, who Aveie doing so much for us, and'Avere expected to do so much more, should be received Avith the highest degree of courtesy and consideration. It was further necessary to concert with them the military measures m Avhich the American army and- the French war ves sels and land forces could most effectively cooperate. 44 LIFE OF ALEXANDER HAMILTON. A personal meeting between the count and General Washington, then having his headquarters at West Point, Avas impracticable. Accordingly, Hamilton and the French General du Portail Avere despatched to represent the commander-in-chief. The scheme which AVashington hoped might be consummated was nothing less than an investment of the city of New York. Divers cu-cumstances combined to render the present moment especiaUy auspicious for this un dertaking, and AVashington felt an unusual anxiety to see it vigorously entered upon. If the Frenchman would, engage to employ his whole naval and land force against the British fleet and array at Ncav York, tUl the winter should be so far advanced as to render it nnpracticable to retain the vessels longer in port, General AA^'ashington proposed upon his part to "bring twenty-five thousand effective men into the field," and to " exert all the resources of the country in a A'igorous and decided cooperation." Of this impor tant scope Avas the business AA'hich the euA'oys had iu charge ; and beyond this, also, the authority conferred upon them Avas almost unlimited. The commander- in-chief, in fact, put his army and himself at their disposition for the purpose of making any arran