Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/433

Rh HAMILTON 413 and even increased. He was married in 1780 to Eliza beth, second daughter of General Philip Schuyler, a distinguished soldier and statesman of the Revolution. For a brief space Hamilton occupied his time in exposing the inherent defects of the existing confederation by a series of excellent papers known as The Continental ist. But the country once more needed his more active aid ; he returned to the army, led one most brilliant attack, and was present with a command at the surrender of Lord Corawallis. The war to maintain the declaration of independence was fought, but it did not make nor leave the United Colonies a nation. A new system of government and &quot; a coercive union &quot; were insisted upon by Hamilton and other foremost men as necessary. But many obstacles stood in the way. Historical prejudice and the selfishness of local interests were against concessions to a union of the States. Tradi tional dread of centralized government, traditional dread of an hereditary aristocracy, dread that a national legis lature, if allowed full authority, might assert and act upon the repudiated doctrine of an omnipotence of parliament, dread that a supreme general government might absorb, or even usurp, under the plea of care for the public welfare, those local interests which the States were now able to maintain, and which the Confederation was meant to pro tect the concurrence of these several causes contributed to bring out opposition whenever a more perfect union was proposed. The first suggestion towards the establishment of an adequate and permanent government came, as it is now conceded, from Hamilton. It was contained in a letter written by him, September 3, 1780, to James Duane, a delegate from New York to the Congress at Philadelphia. He wrote a yet more remarkable letter the following year (April 30) to Robert Morris, the famous financier of the Revolution, in which not a mere suggestion but a matured and complete scheme of national finance, including a plan for a United States bank, was discussed an-d laid out. These letters are, indeed, the principia of the American government in its organization and administration. When the convention of delegates met at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786, the influence of Hamilton upon the destinies of his country began to be favoured by circum stances. Although the object of that convention was limited to simply commercial projects, yet, under his and Madison s prudent management, an address was finally issued which brought about the great and conclusive con vention of 1787 at Philadelphia. The form of government then instituted is, in its groundwork and its principal features, a restoration and perfecting of the ancient consti tutional liberties of England. While the particular plan proposed by Hamilton was, as were other projects, laid aside, yet it was the spirit of the system conceived by him which then prevailed and has since been a controlling principle in the administration of government. Guizot says of him that &quot; there is not in the constitution of the United States an element of order, of force, of duration, which he did not powerfully contribute to introduce into it and to cause to predominate.&quot; It was at this period that Hamilton, in association with John Jay and James Madison, wrote his parts of The Federalist. At the convention, called by the State of New York, which met at Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson River, June 1788, to ratify the proposed National Constitution, the superb ability of Hamilton for organizing and leading intelligent public opinion displayed itself fully. The utility of candid, earnest, reasonable debate has seldom been more approved by its results. A most disheartening minority of the delegates when the convention first met were in favour of the Constitution. When Hamilton ceased his efforts, not only had he gained to his support a majority, but even ultimately he had the aid and vote of his most eloquent and most powerful antagonist. At length Hamilton arose in the convention, and, stating that Virginia had ratified the Constitution, and that the Union was thereby an accomplished fact, moved that they cease their contentions and add New York to the new empire of re publican states. That day his labours culminated in entire success. Washington, when forming the cabinet for his first presi dential administration, naturally turned to Robert Morris as the proper person to take the secretaryship of the treasury; but Morris declined, insisting that Hamilton was &quot; the one man in the United States &quot; fitted by studies and ability to create a public credit and bring the resources of the country into active efficiency. Washington found his former military secretary more than equal to the task. The fiscal affairs of the country were at once organized, and prosperity quickly came. Hamilton achieved an immediate success which all agree is without parallel. He also was really the organizer of the administration of the new Government, and in its chief department it remains to this day without change. His state papers, written during the two presiden tial terms of Washington, are regarded as of the highest character for knowledge of the case, wisdom, and practical method ; and his report on the constitutionality of a national bank, in which he fully develops his favourite policy of the implied powers of the Government, and the other report, nominally upon manufactures, which embraces in its range every pursuit of human industry susceptible of encouragement under such a government as he wished to see that of the United States, are those productions in which the rare qualities of his mind abundantly manifest their force and precision. President Van Buren declared the latter paper to be &quot; Hamilton s masterpiece.&quot; After these labours Hamilton, though offered the position of chief-justice of the United States, remained at the bar of his adopted State. He soon rose to its highest rank, and was esteemed its unrivalled leader. As a citizen, and without the desire of public office, he continued always actively interested in public aft airs. His intense and un compromising moral nature engendered many political antipathies, though personally few were more loved for amiability and respected for their honour. Among those men whom he deemed it a patriotic duty to defeat in a personal ambition was Aaron Burr, the vice-president of the United States. Party lines were marked and party spirit fierce. Burr appreciated what would be the effect of Hamilton s continued opposition to his political designs, and knew that he w : as a man to be neither conciliated in this respect or outmanoeuvred. He eagerly watched for an opportunity to impute offence. A trivial and inadequate occasion soon came. An indiscreet person repeated a remark which he said Hamilton made in a familiar con versation at the house of a common friend, to the purport that he had a &quot; despicable &quot; opinion of Burr. Upon this gossip Burr acted; and so subtle was the manner with which he managed the correspondence for his determined purpose that he, according to the tone of society at that time, made it, in Hamilton s misconception, an obligation, due to his continued usefulness in public affairs, to accept a challenge. They met early on the morning of July 11, 1804, at a sequestered place beneath the hills of Wee- hawken, on the west bank of the Hudson River, opposite to the city of New York. Hamilton was mortally wounded at the first fire. As he fell, his own pistol was by accident discharged, arid the ball struck the ground near him. He did not himself intend to fire. He died the following day, in the forty-eighth year of his age. His death was considered a national calamity. Eight of- his children,