OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 233 



manufactures, the excise tax system, and finally on the public 

 credit and extinction of the national debt. 



Politically he was very active, incurring the enmity of Thomas 

 Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. In 1795 he 

 withdrew from the cabinet in order to recuperate his personal 

 finances and became New York's leading attorney. On the elec- 

 tion of John Adams he clashed repeatedly with the new president, 

 but on being created inspector-general of the new army and war 

 department, he found so much of organization necessary, that his 

 politics for a time were laid aside. However, due to Jefferson 

 and Aaron Burr, the Federal party was defeated in New York 

 and he was forced to come to the front once more to defend his 

 party. A widening breach developed between Burr and Jeffer- 

 son, but the former's intrigues against the latter for president 

 were too much for Hamilton's tastes and he was led to support 

 Jefferson. The quarrel was made personal by Burr, and in 

 July, 1804, he was challenged by the latter to a duel. Hamilton's 

 common sense prompted him to refuse it, but, as he feared that 

 the country was approaching the chaotic condition of France 

 under the Revolution, and as he felt his services for order might 

 be hampered if he appeared a coward, he accepted. Burr was 

 acquitted of treachery in prematurely firing, although Hamilton's 

 friends have never accepted the verdict. The wound was mortal, 

 and his tragic fate evoked a universal burst of grief. He became 

 the country's first political martyr, and his fame has grown with 

 the years. 



