Complete Works. Hamilton Alexander

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СКАЧАТЬ are firm and his expression decided; his manner is frank and martial. He was aide de camp to Gen. Washington who had great confidence in him, and he well merited it. Mr. Hamilton has the determined air of a Republican— Mr. Madison the meditative air of a politician."

      The Duke de Rochefoucauld-Liancourt was a chivalrous loyal gentleman of another kind, and remained with his king as long as he could without actual danger to his neck, escaping to England with other Royalists. It will be remembered that he was the Grand Master of the king's wardrobe, when he broke the news of the capture of the Bastille to his royal master, and was the first person to tell Louis XVI that the Revolution had actually begun.

      At a later period, when Louis was urged to escape to England, he offered him protection, the whole of his fortune, reserving only one hundred louis a year for his children, and an asylum in the Chatteau de Gallon, near Rouen. On August 7, 1792, the king accepted this magnificent and unselfish offer, but almost immediately after changed his mind, as he was so in the habit of doing.

      He, too, finally had to leave France, and came to America with a letter of introduction 'to Alexander Hamilton from John Jay who was then in London, and the following from. Angelica Church, and later became one of Hamilton's warmest friends.

       Angelica Church to Alexander Hamilton

      London, September 19, 1794.

      My dear Brother: I have very particular and very good motives to ask your kindness for the Duke de Liancourt, he loved liberty with good sence and moderation; and he meant so well towards his country as to introduce into France a better system of Agriculture and to soften the situation of the Lower class of people there. Virtue, has not found its reward, for in the many scenes of distress that has afflicted his unfortunate country, he like many more good men, has been obliged to leave his possessions and seek an Asylum in this country.

      He goes to America, and goes there without a friend, unless my dear Brother, who is always so good, will extend to Monsieur de Liancourt his care—besides many good qualities, this gentleman is the friend of the Marquis de La-Fayette.

      Adieu my dear friend, remember me to Beaumetz and Monsieur de Talleyrand.

      Angelica Church.

      In writing later he said: "I met again in New York M. Hamilton, one of the most interesting men in America. He united with dignity and feeling, and much force and decision, delightful manners, great sweetness, and was infinitely agreeable. As was generally known he exerted a positive influence, and at the same time had much to do with the administration of General Washington during the last year of the Presidency." And again: "Mr. Hamilton is one of the finest men in America, at least of those I have seen. He has breadth of mind, and even genuine clearness in his ideas, facility in their expression, information on all points, cheerfulness, excellence of character, and much amiability. I believe that even this eulogy is not adequate to his merit."

       FAC-SIMILE OF APPOINTMENT AS AIDE-DE-CAMP

       Alexander Hamilton to Angelica Church

      Philadelphia, Dec. 8, 1794.

      Liancourt has arrived, and has delivered your letter. I pay him all the attention due to his misfortunes and his merits. I wish I was a Croesus; I might then afford solid consolation to these children of adversity, and how delightful it would be to do so. But now sympathy, kind words, and occasionally a dinner are all I can contribute.

      Hamilton's personality appears from all sources of information to indicate a mixture of aggressive force and infinite tenderness and amiability. The former led him always to speak his mind freely—perhaps too freely for his own comfort when he knew he was right, and when he had a wrong to master or disclose, or an end to accomplish.

      This he did with an unselfishness and absolute fixity of purpose, and he often wondered why others did not think and act as he did, the righteous necessities of the case seemingly being so apparent. The energy of his nature is often shown in his letters, some of which are full of resentful impatience. In writing to Rufus King in regard to repudiation of the national debt, he says:

       Alexander Hamilton to Rufus King

      Kingston, Feb. 21, 1795.

      My dear King: The unnecessary and capricious and abominable assassination of the national honor by the rejection of the propositions respecting the unsubscribed debt in the House of Representatives haunts me every step I take, and afflicts me more than I can express. To see the character of the government and the country so sported with—exposed to so indelible a blot—puts my heart to the torture. Am I, then, more of an American than those who drew their first breath on American ground? Or what is it that thus torments me at a circumstance so calmly viewed by almost everybody else? Am I a fool—a romantic Quixote—or is there a constitutional defect in the American mind? Were it not for yourself and a few others, I could adopt the reveries of De Paux as substantial truths, and could say with him that there is something in our climate which belittles every animal, human or brute.

      I conjure you, my friend, make a vigorous stand for the honor of your country! Rouse all the energies of your mind, and measure swords in the Senate with the great slayer of public faith-the hackneyed veteran in the violation of public engagements. Prevent him if possible from triumphing a second time over the prostrate credit and injured interests of his country. Unmask his false and horrid hypotheses. Display the immense difference between an able statesman and the man of subtleties. Root out the distempered and noisome weed which is attempted to be planted in our political garden, to choke and wither in its infancy the fair plant of public credit.

      I disclose to you without reserve the state of my mind. It is discontented and gloomy in the extreme. I consider the cause of good government as having been put to an issue and the verdict rendered against it.

      Introduce, I pray you, into the Senate, when the bill comes up, the clause which has been rejected, freed from embarrassment by the bills of credit, bearing interest on the nominal value. Press its adoption in this, the most unexceptionable shape, and let the yeas and nays witness the result.

      Among the other reasons for this is my wish that the true friends of public credit may be distinguished from its enemies. The question is too great a one to undergo a thorough examination before the community. It would pain me not to be able to distinguish. Adieu. God bless you!

      P. S.—Do me the favor to revise carefully the course of the bill respecting the unsubscribed debt and let me know the particulars. I wish to be able to judge more particularly of the under-plot I suspect.

      He never hesitated to assail the corrupt wherever they were to be found, to quickly ferret out abuses and to publicly expose them. For this reason he made numerous bitter enemies, who did not hesitate on repeated occasions to try to ruin him. In a way he was at times tactless, but it cannot be denied that he rarely erred in judgment. The passing of years undoubtedly has increased the number of his admirers, and has diminished the force of such faults as he had during his lifetime. As to his influence with men, reference may be made to the words of Oliver, who says:

      "No man whose object is personal glory will sacrifice his popularity to his opinions, and this was Hamilton's constant habit. At no great crisis of his life do we ever find him engaged in considering whether a certain course of action will or will not conduce to his personal aggrandizement. He belonged to the class of men with whom the accomplishment of their objects is their most powerful motive. In the pursuit of renown he hardly rose above the average of public characters, but his desire for achievement was a passion."

      John СКАЧАТЬ