No More Learning

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? PREFACE.
It is generally known, that the charge of pre-
paring a Biography of Alexander Hamilton
has been committed to different gentlemen of dis-
tinguished abilities, by whom, from various and
sufficient causes, it was not performed.
After the lapse of many years, I was requested
to undertake this work; but a deep conviction of
my incapacity, the want of the necessary prepar-
atory studies, and a distrust of the natural bias of
my feelings, prompted me to decline it.
An earnest appeal was then made by me to an
individual, whose eminent qualifications indicated
him as the most appropriate Biographer of his
friend,obut without success. Thus often disap-
pointed in an object of very dear interest, the
request was renewed from a quarter which I felt
I had not the right to refuse; and I yielded a
reluctant, though, I fear, it will be deemed a too
ready assent.
After these pages had been laid aside for fu-
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? IV PREFACE.
ture revision, and while engaged in researches
relating to this subject, it was ascertained that a
hurried narrative was in progress.
An anxiety to prevent the promulgation of new
errors, and the earnest wishes of my friends, in-
duced me to waive the benefits of a more delibe-
rate examination; and I consented to commit
this production to the press, imperfect as it is.
J. C. H.
Man-York, February 1,1S34.
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? CONTENTS
FIRST VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
Birth, Parentage, and Education of Hamilton--Letter to Edward Stevens
-- Enters a Counting House -- Early Studies--Visits St Eustacia--Writes
a discription of a Hurricane -- Repairs to America -- Joins a Grammar
School at Elizabethtown -- Early Poetical Efforts -- Visits Dr. Witherspoon
-- Enters King's College--Writes for the Press, . . . . p. 1
CHAPTER II.
Early stand of New-York in defence of her rights-- Causes and course of
her Opposition -- Address of A Son of Liberty--Imprisonment, Trial, and
Triumph of Mc Dougal -- Popular Violence--Arrival and Destruction of
Tea in the harbour of New-York--Great Public Meeting, . . p. 13
CHAPTER III.
Hamilton visits Boston -- Defence of the Ministry, by A. W. Farmer --
Full Vindication--View of the Controversy, by A. W. Fanner-- The Farm-
er Refuted-- Ministerial Assendancy in New-York -- Unsuccessful Oppo-
sition by Schuyler and Clinton--Popular Violence -- Election of a Provin-
cial Convention -- Battle of Lexington -- Excitement throughout the Conti-
nent--Measures of the Opposition in New-York--Remarks on the duebec
Bill -- Hamilton joins a Volunteer Corps--Commotions in New-York, p. 25
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? VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Disasters in Canada--Hamilton appointed a Captain of Artillery--Letter
to the New-York Convention -- Battle of Long Island -- Retreat to Harlem
-- Retreat through New-Jersey -- Hamilton appointed Aid-de-Camp of
Washington -- Members of the General StaffJ . . . . p. 51
CHAPTER V.
Correspondence with the New-York Convention -- Negotiations for an
Exchange of Prisoners -- Prospects of the Campaign of 1777 -- Letter of
William Duer -- Letter of Hamilton to Dr. Knox -- Hamilton's first Mission
to Congress -- Landing of Howe -- Battle of Brandywine -- Advance of the
Enemy--Hamilton's second Mission to Congress -- Letter to Hancock --
Mission to Philadelphia-- Second Letter to Hancock -- Fall of Philadelphia
-- Position of the Hostile Armies, p. 65
CHAPTER VI.
Alarms of the State of New-York -- Letter to the Convention -- Council
of War--Hamilton's Mission to General Gates -- Letters to Gates--Letters
to Washington--Meritorious Conduct ofGovernour Clinton -- Fall of the
Fortifications on the Delaware -- Army Enters Winter Quarters, . p. S9
CHAPTER VII.
Particulars of Washington's appointment as Commander-in-Chief--Origin
of the Cabal--Its Progress, Measures, and Defeat, . . . p. 117
CHAPTER VIII.
Organization of the American Army -- Insubordination of the Militia --
Arrival of Foreign Officers--Letter of Hamilton to Duer--Appointment of
Inspector-General -- Letter of Hamilton to Duer -- Plan for the Employment
of the Indians -- Rejection of the Conciliatory Bills--Letter to General
Greene--Hamilton appointed to Negociate Exchange of Prisoners, p. 165
CHAPTER IX.
Military Prospects--Howe leaves Philadelphia--Crosses the Delaware--
Hamilton moves with the Advance -- Letters to Washington--Suspicious
Conduct of General Lee -- March of the Enemy--Battle of Monmouth--
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? CONTENTS. Vll
#
Exertions of Washington's Staff--Result of the Action -- Enemy moves to
Amboy-- Trial and Sentence of Lee -- Duel between Lee and Laurens,
p. 189
CHAPTER X.
Plan of operations for the year 1779 -- Harrassing Inroads of the Enemy--
Attempt to Capture General Wahsington -- Projected Reprisal on Sir Henry
Clinton--Capture of Stoney Point--Letters of Duane and Steuben -- Arri-
val of French Fleet -- Mission of Du Portail and Hamilton--Hamilton to
President of Congress--Laurens to Hamilton, . . . p. 209
CHAPTER XI.
State of Public Credit--Financial Expedients--New Emission -- Defect-
ive Administration by Committees and Boards -- Anonymous Letter of Ham-
ilton to Robert Morris -- View of the State of the Currency -- Remedies
Suggested -- First Plan of a Bank of the United States -- Sufferings of the
Army -- Proposals to Confer Extraordinary Powers on Washington -- Expe-
dition to Staten Island -- Mission of Hamilton for the Exchange of Prisoners
-- Letters to Committee of Co-operation -- Arrival of French Army-- Wash-
ington proceeds to Hartford--Capture of Andi6 -- Letter of Hamilton to
Laurens, p. 241
CHAPTER XII.
Hamilton to Sears -- Hamilton to Duane -- Battle of Camden -- Appoint-
ment of Greene to the Southern Command--Harrison to Hamilton -- Greene
to Hamilton--Project of appointing a Dictator and Vice-Dictators -- Con-
templated Attack upon New-York -- Hamilton asks a Separate Command--
Suggests Special Mission to France--La Fayette to Hamilton--Marriage
of Hamilton, p. 281
CHAPTER XIII.
Mutiny in the Army -- Hamilton Projects a Plan for its Supply -- Schuyler
to Hamilton--Mission of Laurens to France -- Instructions -- Hamilton re-
signs as Aid--Letter to Schuyler--La Fayette to Hamilton--Hamilton
asks a command in the Line--Washington's Reply--La Fayette to Hamil-
ton-- Organization of Executive Departments--Conventions at Springfield,
Philadelphia, and Hartford-- Proposals of an Impost, a Census, and a Conti-
nental Judicature -- Hamilton to Robert Morris--Financial Views -- Projects
a National Bank -- Observations on the Policy of Banking--Plan of a Bank
-- Morris to Hamilton--Bank of North America -- The Continentalist,
p. 323 .
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? VU1 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
Washington proceeds to Newport--Army moves to Dobb's Ferry--Ha-
milton obtains a Command -- Arrival of De Grasse -- Interview of Robert
Morris with Washington--March of the American Army--Letters of Ha-
milton-- Position of Lord Cornwallis -- Americans approach York Town--
Its Siege -- Attack and Capture ofEnemy's Redoubts--Surrender of York
Town--Return of American Army--Washington visits Congress--Hamil-
ton repairs to Albany, p. 373
CHAPTER XV.
Prospects of Peace--Hamilton to Washington-- Hamilton to Meade--
Commences Study of the Law--Writes a Manual on the Practice--Letter
of Robert Morris to Hamilton and Reply--Appointed Continental Receiver
--Interview with a Committee of the New-York Legislature -- Resolutions
for a General Convention-- Appointed a Delegate to Congress -- Letter to
Robert Morris--Plans a System of Taxation-- Letter to Meade -- To Mor-
ris-- Address to the Public Creditors -- Hamilton resigns the Office of Con-
tinental Receiver, p. 393
Errata. -- Tagc 56, line 18 -- for " Chatham" -- " tho King. " Pago 159, line 4-- for " in
vain; and"--"too late; for" --lino 5--for "one"--"three. " Pago 384, lino 9 --for "<<ug-
gcits" -- " and indicates. "
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? THE LIFE OF
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
CHAPTER I.
Alexander Hamilton was born in the island of Nevis,
on the eleventh of January, seventeen hundred and fifty-
seven. On his father's side his origin was Scottish, and
his lineage may be traced in "the Memoirs of the House
of Hamilton,"* through the Cambuskeith branch of that
House to a remote and renowned ancestry.
His grandfather, "Alexander Hamilton of Grange," (the
family seat situate in Ayrshire,) about the year seventeen
hundred and thirty, married Elizabeth, the eldest daughter
of Sir Robert Pollock, and had a numerous issue, of whom,
James, his fourth son, was the father of the subject of this
memoir.
Being bred a merchant, and the West Indies opening an
extensive field to commercial enterprise, he left Scotland
for St. Christopher's, where, though at first successful,
* "Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton, with
Genealogical Memoirs of the several branches of the family. " By John An-
derson, Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. 1825.
Vol. i. 1
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? THE LIFE OF
through a too generous and easy temper he failed in bu-
siness, and was, during the greater part of his life, in re-
duced circumstances.
In the early period of his reverses, he was supported by
his friends in Scotland, and in his advanced age, by his son
Alexander. He died in St. Vincents in the year seven-
teen hundred and ninety-nine, having declined, by the
advice of his physicians, the earnest solicitations of his son
to join him in the United States.
On his mother's side Hamilton's descent was French.
His maternal grandfather was a Hugonot, a race to which
America owes many of her most illustrious sons, who in this
remote region, and after a lapse of two centuries, proved,
during the war of independence, how proudly they had che-
rished the virtuous and determined spirit of their progeni-
tors.
His name was Faucette. In the general expatriation of
his protestant countrymen, which followed the revocation
of the edict of Nantes, he emigrated to the West Indies, and
settled in Nevis, where he successfully pursued the practice
of medicine.
He was a man of letters and of polished manners;
whether his original profession was that of a physician, or
it was assumed after his emigration, is not ascertained.
Hamilton was the offspring of a second marriage. His
mother's first husband was a Dane, named Lavine, who,
attracted by her beauty, and recommended to her mother
by his wealth, received her hand against her inclination.
The marriage proving unhappy, she applied for and ob-
tained a divorce, and removing to St. Christopher's, there
married the father of the subject of these notices, and had
by him several sons, of whom Alexander was the youngest.
His mother died when he was a child; but the traces of
her character remained vividly impressed upon his memory.
He recollected her with inexpressible fondness, and often
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? HAMILTON. 3
spoke of her as a woman of superior intellect, highly cul-
tivated, of elevated and generous sentiments, and of unusual
elegance of person and manner.
On her decease, the indigence of her husband threw their
only surviving child upon the bounty of his mother's rela-
tives, Mr. Peter Lytton and his sister, (afterwards Mrs.
Mitchell,) who resided at Santa Cruz, where he received
the rudiments of his education, commencing at a very ten-
der age.
As an instance of which, rarely as he dwelt upon his
personal history, he mentioned his having been taught to
repeat the Decalogue in Hebrew, at the school of a Jewess,
when so small that he was placed standing by her side on
a table.
Many endearing traits of that generous and independent
temper which were so conspicuous in his after life, appear-
ed during his childhood. Hence, though his superiority
occasionally awakened the envy of his comrades, it was
soon disarmed by the amenity of his manners.
There is reason to believe, from the low standard of edu^"
cation in the West Indies, that the circle of his early stu-
dies was very limited, probably embracing little more than
the rudiments of the English and French languages, the
latter of which he subsequently wrote and spoke with the
ease of a native.
It is not, however, to be inferred, that his boyhood was
spent in indolence ;--with a strong propensity to literature,
he early became a lover of books, and the time which other
youth employ in classical learning, was by him devoted
to miscellaneous reading, happily directed by the advice of
Doctor Knox, a respectable presbyterian divine, who, de-
lighted with the unfolding of his mind, took a deep interest
in his welfare.
The fervent piety of this gentleman, whose society he
frequently enjoyed, gave a strong religious bias to his feel-
/
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? 4 THE LIFE OF
ings; and the topics of their conversation, opened to him
an early glimpse of those polemical controversies which
have called forth the highest efforts of intellect.
In the autumn of seventeen hundred and sixty-nine, he
was placed in the counting house of Mr. Nicholas Cruger,
an opulent merchant, and most worthy man, then residing
at Santa Cruz. Foreign as such an avocation was to his
inclinations, he nevertheless gave to it all his habitual assi-
duity, and soon mastered its details; but the inward prompt-
ings of his mind looked far beyond it. He thought of im-
mortality, and fondly contemplated from his island home,
those fields of glory and summits of honour which displayed
themselves to his imagination from beyond the deep.
The kindness of an early friend preserved the following
letter, written at this time to his school-fellow, Edward
Stevens, in which his youthful aspirations are fully de-
veloped.
St. Croix, Nov. 11, 1769.
DEAR EDWARD,
This serves to acknowledge the receipt of yours per
Capt. Lowndes, which was delivered me yesterday. The
truth of Capt.
Lightbowen and Lowndes' information is now
verified by the presence of your father and sister, for whose
safe arrival I pray, and that they may convey that satisfac-
tion to your soul, that must naturally flow from the sight of
absent friends in health; and shall for news this way, refer
you to them.
As to what you say, respecting your soon having the hap-
piness of seeing us all, I wish for an accomplishment of
your hopes, provided they are concomitant with your wel-
fare, otherwise not; though doubt whether I shall be pre-
sent or not, for to confess my weakness, Ned, my ambition
is prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling condition of
a clerk, or the like, to which my fortune condemns
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? HAMILTON. 5
me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my cha-
racter, to exalt my station. I am confident, Ned, that my
youth excludes me from any hopes of immediate prefer-
ment, 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, we have seen such
schemes successful, when the projector is constant. I shall
conclude by saying, I wish there was a war.
I am,
Dear Edward,
Yours,
Alex. Hamilton.
P. S. I this moment received yours by William Smith,
and pleased to see you give such close application to study.
Addressed to " Edward Stevens, in New-York. "
Such was Hamilton before he had reached the age of
thirteen.
During the period which followed the peace of Paris, an
unusual impulse was given to the commerce of the West
Indies, and an active traffic being kept up by a free inter-
course with the American colonies, the duties of his count-
ing house became very laborious.
His aptitude in conforming himself to his situation was
such, and his advancement so rapid in the confidence of his
respected principal, that before he reached his fourteenth
year he was left by Mr. Cruger, who made a visit* to the
American continent, at the head of his extensive establish-
ment.
Such of his letters as are preserved in the books of his
employer, written to various persons in the islands, in Eu-
rope and in America, display a capacity for business, which
shows that this unusual trust was not misplaced.
? 1770.
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? 6 THE LIFE OF
f~
This occupation was the source of great and lasting be-
nefit to him ; he felt himself amply rewarded for his labours,
by the method and facility which it imparted to him; and
amid his various engagements in after years, adverted to
. Sit as the most useful part of his education.
The little leisure which he could command from his mer-
cantile duties was devoted to study: his knowledge of
mathematics was enlarged; he became fond of chemistry;
and although his proficiency in it was small, he often urged
it as a pursuit well adapted to excite curiosity and create
new combinations of thought.
Among the books to which he had access, he preferred
those which treat of some branch of ethics. His fa-
\f vourite authors were Pope and Plutarch; on the latter of
which there remain several curious observations from his
youthful pen; but even these were often laid aside for
the more profound researches of severer writers.
He often also, at this time, exercised himself in compo-
sition on moral topics, to which he afterwards occasionally
resorted as a relaxation from the arduous labours of his
professional life; and thus, by his varied studies, his mind
became rich in materials awaiting his call.
His aversion to mercantile pursuits, and his aspiring tem-
, per, leave little reason to suppose that he could have con-
formed his life to the sphere in which it commenced.
While "arms" seemed to have been his predominant
passion, the world was at peace. Fortune appeared to have
cut him off from every avenue to political distinction, and
thus without a theatre of action, or prospect of preferment,
it would be difficult to pronounce what, at this time, was
his probable destiny; but an event which would seem to
be the last that could bode good to any being, lifted the
veil.
In August, seventeen hundred and seventy-two, soon after
he had returned from a commercial expedition to St. Eu-
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? HAMILTON.
statia, the Leeward Islands were desolated by one of those >
terrific hurricanes which so often visit the tropics. Before
the terrors of the scene had worn off, and while its effects
were still visible, a description of it appeared, which though
published in the neighbouring island of St. Christopher's,
attracted universal attention at St. Croix; and such was
the impression it produced, that the governor and some of
the principal persons of the island made an especial effort
to discover its author, and ultimately traced it to Hamilton.
This simple incident decided his fate. His wishes were
consulted, and it was determined to send him to New-York
to complete his education.
A short time after he left the West Indies in a vessel
bound for Boston, where he arrived in the month of Octo-
ber, 1772, having escaped during his passage an imminent
peril; for, as he approached the American continent, the
vessel was discovered to be on fire, which was with diffi-
culty extinguished.
He proceeded thence to New-York, where, through the
kindness of his friend Dr. Knox, he was introduced to
Doctors Rogers, Mason, and other gentlemen of distinc-
tion.
His relations had provided him with ample funds, and
had made arrangements for future remittances. It
only remained for him to choose the place of his instruc-
tion. By the advice of these friends, he joined a celebrated /
grammar school at Elizabethtown, which was conducted
under the patronage of Governor Livingston and Mr. Bou-
dinot, in whose families he became intimate.
The principal of this school was Francis Barber; a man
of strong sense, considerable attainments, and respectable
connexions. Fired by the prospect of distinction, and by
his love of country, he broke up his school at the commence-
ment of the revolution,--entered the army, soon rose to
the rank of colonel, and in the course of the contest was
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? O THE LIFE OF
often and much distinguished. Among his school-fellows
were Jonathan Dayton, afterwards Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Brockholst Livingston, and other indi-
viduals, who subsequently acquired celebrity.
His industry at this school kept pace with his enlarged
prospects. During the winter, while at the house of Go-
vernor Livingston, he was accustomed to labour until mid-
night. In summer, it was his habit to retire at dawn to
the quiet of a neighbouring cemetery, where he was often
seen preparing his lessons for the day. By these exertions,
he made rapid progress.
During this time, his habits of composition were continu-
ed: his essays occasionally touched upon political topics.
He wrote an elegy on the death of a young lady in whose
family he was intimate, which is remembered as possess-
ing much merit. He also composed a prologue and epi-
logue for a play, which was performed by the officers of a
company of British soldiers stationed in the vicinity of
Elizabethtown.
His friend, Mr. Boudinot, having lost an infant, he sat up
to watch the corpse the night prior to its interment. During
the performance of this gloomy office of friendship, he wrote
some consolatory verses, which were presented to its mo-
ther as a tribute of regard, and were long preserved with
great interest.
Before the end of the year, he was deemed by his instruc-
ter qualified to enter college; and after returning to New-
York, proceeded with Mr. Hercules Mulligan,* in whose
* Mr. H. Mulligan was a brother of Mr. M. , of the firm of Kortwright &
Co. , to whom West India produce was consigned, to be s-old and appropriated
to the support of Hamilton. He outlived most of the revolutionary race, and
had been very active in its earliest scenes. He was chosen by the citizens of
New-York one of the revolutionary committee of one hundred; and after the
battle of Long Island, left the city, was captured on his journey, and detained
there during the war. After Hamilton entered the family of Washington,
Mulligan became the confidential correspondent of the commander-in-chief,
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? HAMILTON. H
V;
house he subsequently lodged, and from whom many of the
incidents of his youthful life are derived, on a visit to Doc-
tor Witherspoon, then president of the college at Princeton.
On his introduction to this distinguished individual, he
underwent a private examination. He then stated his de-
sire to be admitted to either class which his attainments
would justify; but upon the condition that he might be per-
mitted to advance from class to class, with as much rapidity
as his exertions would enable him to do. The president,
after listening to this novel proposition, replied that it was
a subject resting in the discretion of the trustees, and pro-
mised'him an early decision. On his return to New-York,
an answer was received from the president, that the esta-
blished usages of the institution forbade a compliance with
his wishes, but expressive of regret that he could not be
admitted on his own terms, "inasmuch as he was convinced
that the young gentleman would do honour to any semina-
ry in which he should be educated. " He then entered
Kings, (now Columbia College,) in the city of New-York,
and under the auspices of that liberal institution, with
the aid of a tutor, proceeded in the plan which he had
marked out for himself, having been received as a private
student, and not attached to any particular class.
To his collegiate studies, he soon added that of anato-
my, attending the lectures of Doctor Clossey; -- a branch
of knowledge which he was anxious to acquire, having been
led from his early fondness for chemistry, to entertain the
idea of selecting the practice of medicine as his permanent
pursuit.
Here, together with his earliest companion, Stevens, and
his long-cherished and devoted friends, Robert Troup and
Nicholas Fish, he joined a debating club, which continued
and furnished the most important intelligence. On the evacuation of that city,
Washington complimented him by taking his first breakfast with the patriotic
tailor.
VOl. I. 2
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? 10 TJIE LIFE OP
in existence until the college was dispersed, where they
relate, that "he gave extraordinary displays of richness of
genius and energy of mind. "
"At this time," says Colonel Troup, in a letter to a friend,
"the general was attentive to public worship, and ^n the
habit of praying on his knees night and morning. I lived
in the same room with him for some time, and I have often
been powerfully affected by the fervor and eloquence of his
prayers. He had read many of the polemical writers on
religious subjects, and he was a zealous believer in the fun-
damental doctrines of Christianity. I confess, that the
arguments with which he was accustomed to justify his be-
lief, have tended in no small degree to confirm my own faith
in revealed religion. "
This religious temperament is strongly contrasted with
the bold and energetic character of his ambition, but they
may be traced to a common source. The ardour of his
feelings clothed every object of his attention with a power-
ful interest; and the wise instruction of his youth had taught
him that the flame of devotion does not burn less purely
for being kindled on the same altar with the fires of a vir-
tuous emulation.
A hymn, written at this time, entitled the "Soul enter-
ing into Bliss," has been preserved, possessing not a little
poetical merit, and strongly illustrative of the state of his
feelings.
This train of sentiment did not cast a melancholy shade
over his character. Constitutionally happy, he mingled
gaily with his friends; and often, as Mr. Mulligan relates,
"used to sit the evening with his family, writing doggrel
verses for their amusement, and was always amiable and
cheerful. " Histalentfor satire wasalso frequently exercised.
"John Holt," says Troup,"who then published a whig paper
in New-York, had, by his zeal in the American cause, drawn
upon himself the invectives of all the ministerial writers;
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? HAMILTON. 11
these invectives Hamilton burlesqued in doggrel rhyme,
with great wit and humour. He also presented me with
a manuscript of fugitive poetry, which I considered as a
strong evidence of the elasticity of his genius, and have often
lamented that it was lost with my books and papers during
the war. "
But the term of his youthful studies was fast approaching
its close. The repeated invasions of the rights of the colo-
nists, gave an impulse to the public mind, which could not
be restrained; and the unbounded prosperity which they
had so long enjoyed was soon to be succeeded by the deso-
lating scenes of civil war.
A brief sketch of the events which led to this result, as
connected immediately with the province of New-York, the
youthful theatre of Hamilton's life, must, for a short space,
interrupt the progress of this narrative.
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? CHAPTER II.
Among the conflicting claims for precedence, in resist-
ing the aggressions of the mother country, the early stand
taken by New-York, has been in a great measure over-
looked.
Peculiar causes concurred to give an unusual share of
influence to the ministerial party in that colony, and to
render the adoption of a course of resistance the subject of
much cautious consideration: among these, its exposed
geographical position, diversity of population, discordance
of religious creeds, unequal distribution of property, the pe-
culiar tenure of the landed interest, and the limited provision
for education, are most prominent. With these also were
united the influence of a large expenditure and extensive
patronage, and the fearful apprehension which the exist-
ence of hordes of savages roaming within its limits, or
hovering on its frontiers, necessarily kept alive. Notwith-
standing which, the records of this colony show, that from
the earliest period of its existence, the colonial rights were
maintained, and usurpations resisted with a vigorous and
determined spirit.
During its first struggles, most of the dissensions which
arose were usually healed by the removal of an obnoxious
Governor, and by a temporary compliance with public feel-
ing. But the great question of supplies which began to be
discussed in British America at the commencement of the
eighteenth century, continued to be a fruitful source of con-
troversy until closed by the Revolution.
As early as seventeen hundred and eight, the Assembly
of New-York avowed the principle that, as freemen, their
rights of property were unalienable, and not to be controlled
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? 14 THE LIFE OF
except with their own consent; and to the assertion of this
First Great Principle of Representative Government and of
Liberty, on which the whole question of the Revolution
turned, they adhered during a period of nearly seventy
years. The administration of Sir George Clinton, which
preceded the war of seventeen hundred and fifty-six, had
been unusually turbulent, and the assembly for a long time
gave a surly compliance to his requisitions, and observed
a watchful supervision of the civil expenditures. With a
temper little disposed to conciliation, and unable to control
by patronage the growing dissatisfaction, application was
made by him to the British ministry to interpose their
authority, which at last departed reluctantly from their
systematic policy, and addressed a letter to the assembly
of New-York, urging them to abandon their practice of
annual appropriations, and to provide a civil list for a term
of years. This unexpected interference was met with an
angry remonstrance, and was pronounced a gross usurpa-
tion of their colonial rights.
The war which ensued with France diverted the atten-
tion of the assembly from this subject; but, within a year
after its close we find the same colony adopting a spirited
address in opposition to the statutes which had been re-
cently enacted, designated under a common appellation
as "The Acts of Trade," claiming their repeal on the same
principle, "that the colonists could only be taxed with their
own consent. "
This elevated tone did not proceed from these acts alone,
the conferring upon their judges equity powers was another
source of complaint; but the great cause of umbrage was
an act of parliament restricting the emission of colonial
bills of credit.
This expedient had been resorted to in the year seventeen
hundred and nine. The redemption of the issues was se-
cured by duties, and by an excise on the imports, and a
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? HAMILTON. 15
measure embraced at first from necessity, had from the same
cause grown into a usage. The colony had emerged from
the late war with a heavy debt, and this ill-timed restric-
tion, connected with the commercial check produced by the
acts of trade, threatened an almost universal bankruptcy.
While a system of unlimited issues upon government
credit was justly condemned, those who looked beyond the
immediate effect of this parliamentary interference regarded
it as part of a systematic plan to wrest from New-York the
control of her resources, and to appropriate them to the
purposes of a national revenue.