a 
en ee ere 
ALEXANDER HAMILTON 
Every age has its great men, men of various countries, 
those within whom we can find biographical consolation, re- 
ceive inspired thoughts, having our imagination aroused with 
scenes of celebrity, actions of the brave, the good, the im- 
mortal. Bring forth any age, country, or renowned personage, 
then contemplate said time, place, and being, and we will not 
find, biographically, the life of one human being more inter- 
esting, more worthy of historical consideration than he upon 
whom we now contemplate. 
January 11, 1757, in the West Indian island of Nevis, Alex- 
ander Hamilton was born; thus, in 1769, being twelve years 
of age, he entered the counting-house of a merchant in Saint 
Croix, where he acquired habits of order and methodical in- 
dustry. In 1772, he was sent to New York, whereupon, in 
the following year, 1773, he entered King’s College; in July, 
1774, he addressed the citizens of New York in a public speech, 
which was inspired by the spirit of freedom, causing him to 
be highly applauded. On the other hand, in March, 1776, he 
applied himself to the study of military tactics, and was ap- 
pointed captain of a company of artillery. Hence, he served 
with distinction at the battles of Long Island, White Plains, 
Trenton, Princeton, and was appointed aide-de-camp to “en- 
eral Washington—with the rank of lieutenant, in the month 
of March, 1777. 
Hereupon he gained the special favor and confidence of 
Washington, who employed him as secretary, becoming the 
depositary of the most secret thoughts of his chief, and the 
organ of their promulgation; he also assisted in planning cam- 
paigns and devising means to support the army. On the other 
hand, November, 1777, being only twenty years of age, he 
was sent to Albany to urge General Gates to send reinforce- 
ments to the army of Washington; June, 1778, he took an 
active part in the battle of Monmouth, whereupon he was 
highly commended for his conduct in said affair. In 1780 he 
married Eliza, a daughter of General Schuyler, of Albany, and, 
in February, 1781, retired from the staff and military family 
of Washington. Contrariwise, in the spring of 1780, he wrote 
a celebrated letter to James Duane on the state of the nation, 
in which he urged the necessity of a new constitution, ¢x- 
pressing the opinion that “Congress should have complete 
sovereignty in all that relates to war, peace, trade, finance, 
simultaneously to manage foreign affairs,” and so on; here 
he also recommended a national bank, and, in July, 1781, he 
obtained command of a battalion of the army of Washington; 
he led this body at the siege of Yorktown, and took a redoubt 
