Alexander Hamilton 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 16, he became a student of Columbia college, his mother having
emigrated to New York. He had not been in that institution more than a
year, before he gave a brilliant manifestation of the powers of his
mind in the discussion concerning the rights of the colonies. In
support of these he published several essays, which were marked by
such vigor 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 supposed, at first, to be the author. When it had become 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 19, 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 20 years of age. From this time, he continued the inseparable
companion of Washington during the war, and was always consulted 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 Brandywine, 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, Oct. 14, 1781. In this affair, he
displayed the most brilliant valor. After the war, colonel Hamilton
then about 24, commenced 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 influence 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 prepared 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 eminent
at the bar. In 1786, he was chosen a member of the legislature of his
state, and was mainly instrumental in preventing a serious collision
between Vermont 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
constitution for the United States. As the doors of the convention
were closed during its sittings, and its records have never been given
to the world, it is not possible to state the precise part which he
acted in that body. It is well ascertained, however, that the country
is, at least, as much indebted to him for the excellencies of the
constitution, as to any other member of the illustrious assembly.
Hamilton and Madison were the chief oracles and artificers. After the
adoption of the constitution by the convention, he associated himself
with Mr. Madison and Mr. Jay, for the purpose of disposing the public
to receive it with favor. The essays which they wrote with that
design, addressed to the people of New York, during the years 1787 and
1788, are well known under the name of the _Federalist_, and
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 member of the state convention of New York, which met to
deliberate on the adoption of the federal constitution, 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 situation 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 altogether
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, the principles which he
advocated in them still continue to exercise a great influence in the
revenue department of the American government. Whilst secretary of the
treasury, he was, _ex officio_, one of the cabinet counselors of
president Washington; 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 concurrence. 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 between 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 apprehended 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 Hamilton 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 command. The title of
lieutenant-general, however, to which he was then entitled, was, from
some unexplained 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 practice, 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 required, in offensive language, to
acknowledge or disavow certain expressions derogatory to the latter.
The tone of the note was such as to cause him to refuse to do either,
and a challenge was the consequence. July 11, the parties met at
Hoboken, and on the first fire Hamilton fell mortally wounded, on the
same spot where, a short time previously, his eldest son had been
killed in a duel. He lingered until the afternoon of the following
day, when he expired. The sensation which this occurrence produced
throughout the United States, had never been exceeded on this
continent. Men of all political parties felt that the nation was
deprived of its greatest ornament. His transcendent abilities were
universally acknowledged; every citizen was ready to express
confidence in his spirit of honor and his capacity for public service.
Of all the coadjutors and advisers of Washington, Hamilton was
doubtless the one in whose judgment and sagacity he reposed the
greatest confidence, whether in the military or civil career; and, of
all the American statesmen, he displayed the most comprehensive
understanding and the most varied ability, whether applied to subjects
practical or speculative. A collection of his works was issued in New
York, in three octavo volumes, some years after his death. His style
is nervous, lucid and elevated; he excels in reasoning, founded on
general principles and historical experience. General Hamilton was
regarded as the head of the federalists in the party divisions of the
American republic. He was accused of having preferred, in the
convention that framed the federal constitution, a government more
akin to the monarchical; he weakened the federal party by denouncing
president Adams, whose administration he disapproved, and whose
fitness for office he questioned. But his general course, and his
confidential correspondence, show that he earnestly desired to
preserve the constitution, when it was adopted, and that his motives
were patriotic in his proceedings towards Mr. Adams. Certain it is
that no man labored more faithfully, skillfully and efficiently, in
organizing and putting into operation the federal government.