624 



HAMILTON. 



the secret letters of Nelson to her, and thus threw a 

 stain upon the memory of this hero. 



HAMILTON, WILLIAM GERARD ; a statesman and 

 parliamentary orator of the last century, who, on 

 account of the extraordinary impression produced by 

 the first and almost the only speech he ever deliver- 

 ed in the British house of commons, obtained the 

 appellation of Single Speech Hamilton. He was 

 born in 1729. In J754, he obtained a seat in parlia- 

 ment, when he made his memorable speech ; and he 

 was subsequently made one of the lords of trade and 

 plantations. On the appointment of lord Halifax to 

 the vice-royalty of Ireland, Hamilton went thither as 

 his secretary, and was accompanied by the celebrated 

 Edmund Burke as his own secretary. In the Irish 

 parliament, he supported the reputation he had pre- 

 viously gained as an orator, and for many years held 

 the office of chancellor of the exchequer in that king- 

 dom. He relinquished that post in 1784, and spent 

 the latter part ot his life in literary retirement. His 

 death took place in 1790. The letters of Junius have 

 also been attributed to this gentleman. His works 

 were published in 1808. 



HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, a distinguished Amer- 

 ican officer and legislator, during the contest for inde- 

 pendence, was born in 1757, in the island of Nevis. 

 His father was a native of England, and his mother 

 of the island. At the age of sixteen, he became a 

 student of Columbia college, his mother having emi- 

 grated to New York. He had not been in that in- 

 stitution more than a year, before he gave a brilliant 

 manifestation of the powers of his mind in the discus- 

 sion concerning the rights of the colonies. In sup- 

 port of these he published several essays, which were 

 marked by such vigour and maturity of style, strength 

 of argument, and wisdom and compass of views, that 

 Mr Jay, at that time in the meridian of life, was sup- 

 posed, at first, to be the author. When it had be- 

 come necessary to unsheath the sword, the ardent 

 spirit of young Hamilton would no longer allow him 

 to remain in academic retirement ; and before the age 

 of nineteen, he entered the American army, with the 

 rank of captain of artillery. In this capacity, he soon 

 attracted the attention of the commander-in-chief, 

 who appointed him his aid-de-camp, with the rank of 

 lieutenant-colonel. This occurred in 1777, when he 

 was not more than twenty years of age. From this 

 time, he continued the inseparable companion of 

 Washington during the war, and was always consult- 

 ed by him, and frequently by other eminent public 

 functionaries, on the most important occasions. He 

 acted as his first aid-de camp at the battles of Brandy- 

 wine, Germantown, and Monmouth, and, at the 

 siege of Yorktown, he led, at his own request, the 

 detachment that carried by assault one of the enemy's 

 outworks, October 14, 1781. In this affair, he dis- 

 played the most brilliant valour. After the war, 

 colonel Hamilton, then about twenty-four, commen- 

 ced the study of the law, as he had at that time a 

 wife and family depending upon him for support. 

 He was soon admitted to the bar. In 1782, he was 

 chosen a member of congress from the state of New 

 York, where he quickly acquired the greatest influ- 

 ence and distinction, and was always a member and 

 sometimes chairman of those committees to which 

 were confided such subjects as were deemed of vital 

 interest to the nation. The reports which he pre- 

 pared are remarkable for the correctness and power 

 which characterize every effort of his pen. At the 

 end of the session, he returned to the practice of his 

 profession in the city of New York, and became emi- 

 nent at the bar. In 1786, he was chosen a member 

 of the legislature of his state, and was mainly instru- 

 mental in preventing a serious collision between Ver- 

 mont and New York, in consequence of a dispute 



concerning territorial jurisdiction. He was elected 

 a delegate of New York to the convention which was 

 to meet at Philadelphia, in order to form a constitu- 

 tion for the United States. Hamilton and Madison 

 were the chief oracles and artificers of the constitution. 

 After its adoption by the convention, he associated 

 himself with Mr Madison and Mr Jay, for the pur- 

 pose of disposing the public to receive it with favour. 

 The essays which they wrote with that design, ad- 

 dressed to the people of New York, during the years 

 1787 and 1788, under the name of the Federalist, 

 contributed powerfully to produce the effect for which 

 they were composed. The larger portion of them 

 was written by Hamilton. In 1788, he was a mem- 

 ber of the state convention of New York, which met 

 to deliberate on the adoption of the federal constitu- 

 tion, and it was chiefly in consequence of his efforts 

 that it was accepted. On the organization of the 

 federal government, in 1789, he was appointed to the 

 office of secretary of the treasury. This was a situa- 

 tion which required the exercise of all the great 

 powers of his mind ; for the public credit was, at 

 that time, in the lowest state of depression ; and, as 

 no statistical account of the country had ever been 

 attempted, its fiscal resources were wholly unknown. 

 But before Hamilton retired from the post, which 

 he did after filling it during somewhat more than five 

 years, he had raised the public credit to a height al- 

 together unprecedented in the history of the country, 

 and, by the admirable system of finance which he 

 established, had acquired the reputation of one of the 

 greatest financiers of the age. His official reports to 

 congress are considered as masterpieces, and the 

 principles which he advocated in them still continue 

 to exercise a great influence in the revenue depart- 

 ment of the American government. Whilst secre- 

 tary of the treasury, he was, ex efficio, one of the 

 cabinet councillors of president M'ashington ; and 

 such was the confidence reposed by that great man 

 in his integrity and ability, that he rarely ventured 

 upon any executive act of moment without his con- 

 currence. He was one of the principal advisers of 

 the proclamation of neutrality issued by Washington 

 in 1793, in consequence of an attempt made by the 

 minister of France to cause the United States to take 

 part with his country in the war then waging be- 

 tween it and England. This measure he defended in 

 a series of essays, under the signature of Pacificus, 

 which were successful in giving it popularity. In 

 1795, Hamilton resigned his office, and retired to 

 private life, in order to be better able to support a 

 numerous family by the practice of his profession. 

 In 1798, however, when an invasion was apprehend- 

 ed from the French, and a provisional army had been 

 called into the field, his public services were again 

 required. President Adams had offered the chief 

 command of the provisional army to Washington, 

 who consented to accept it on condition that Hamil- 

 ton should be chosen second in command, with the 

 title of inspector-general. This was accordingly 

 done; and, in a short time, he succeeded in bringing 

 the organization and discipline of the army to a high 

 degree of excellence. On the death of Washington, 

 in 1799, he succeeded, of course, to the chief com- 

 mand. The title of lieutenant-general, however, to 

 which he was then entitled, was, from some unex- 

 plained cause, never conferred on him. When the 

 army was disbanded, after the cessation of hostilities 

 between the United States and France,, general 

 Hamilton returned again to the bar, and continued to 

 practise, with increased reputation and success, until 

 1804. In June of that year, he received a note from 

 colonel Burr, between whom and himself a political 

 had become a personal enmity, in which he was re- 

 quired, in offensive language, to acknowledge or dis- 



