Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/433

 ALEXANDER HAMILTON 419 interview with Hamilton, Monroe's memo- dum of which was not communicated to him) that the alleged intrigue was a falsehood invented by Hamilton and sustained by forged letters and receipts to cover up his illegal stock speculations. After a sharp correspondence with Monroe, whose explanations as to his memorandum and the credit he attached to it were not satisfactory, Hamilton published a pamphlet containing not only the correspon- dence with Monroe, but that also which he had exhibited to Monroe and his associates ; a step into which he considered himself forced by the position assumed by Monroe. The difficulties with France consequent upon the ratification of Jay's treaty soon reached a point little short of war. A French invasion was apprehended. In the summer of 1798 additions were made to the regular army, further additions were pro- visionally authorized, and Washington was ap- pointed commander-in-chief with the title of lieutenant general. He accepted with the un- derstanding that he should not be called into active service except in the event of hostilities, and on the condition that Hamilton should be major general, thus throwing upon him the de- tails of the organization of the army. While thus engaged Hamilton wrote in defence of the policy which had led to these military prepara- tions. On the death of Washington, Dec. 14, 1799, Hamilton succeeded to the command in ief; but satisfactory arrangements having n made with France, the army was soon dis- ded and he resumed the practice of law in New York. The appointment made by Adams, in September, 1799, of a new embassy to France contrary to the advice of his cabinet, was strongly disapproved by the more ardent fed- eralists, and among others by Hamilton. This produced a breach in the federal party; but Hamilton and his friends, considering the strong influence of Adams in New England, could not venture openly to oppose his reelection as presi- dent. The most they could do was to endeavor by a secret understanding to secure a greater number of votes for the other candidate who might be placed on the federal ticket ; candidates being voted for, as the constitution then stood, without designating whether for president or vice president, the first office falling to him who had the highest vote. Whether the federalists would be able to command a majority of the electoral votes seemed likely to depend on the political complexion of the legislature of New York, and that in its turn on the character of the delegation from the city of New York. To secure that delegation, Hamilton on the one side and Aaron Burr on the other made every possible exertion. Burr, who was a master of the arts of political intrigue, succeeded in car- rying the day. Shortly after this election the breach in the federal party became fully ap- parent. Adams dismissed the chief members of his cabinet, whom he accused of being under Hamilton's influence and belonging with him to a British faction. Hamilton in his turn printed a severe criticism on Adams's politi- cal character, intended for private circulation among the leading federalists, but of which the publication became necessary in conse- quence of extracts from it which found their way into some of the opposition newspapers. The presidential election went against the fed- eralists, but the result showed an equal vote for Jefferson and Burr. The federalists in the house of representatives (to which body it fell to decide between them), being strong enough to control or neutralize the vote of half the states, favored the election of Burr ; but Ham- ilton, who entertained a very unfavorable opin- ion of Burr, remonstrated strongly against this attempt to make him president. In the trial in 1803 of Croswell for an alleged libel on Jeffer- son, he supported the doctrine that to publish the truth is no libel. The court charged against him, and the jury gave an adverse verdict ; but the doctrine which he maintained was adopted by the legislature in 1805, and has since prevailed throughout the United States. Burr, having lost the confidence of his party, and being unable to obtain a renom- ination as vice president, sought to be elected governor of New York. He hoped to receive the support of the federalists, then in a mi- nority and unable to elect any candidate of their own. Hamilton's opinion of Burr had undergone no change, and at a federal caucus he warmly opposed the project of supporting him for governor. He took no active part in the election, but his opinions were frequently quoted by those who did. Burr was defeat- ed by Morgan Lewis, as he believed, through Hamilton's instrumentality, and became eager for vengeance. He called on Hamilton to dis- avow having used pending the election any expressions derogatory to his personal honor, and finally challenged him. This challenge was accepted by Hamilton, but not in the spirit of a professed duellist. The practice of duel- ling he utterly condemned; indeed, he had himself already been a victim to it in the loss of his eldest son, a boy of 20, in a political duel in 1802. This condemnation he recorded in a paper which under a premonition of his fate he left behind him. It was in his character of a public man that he accepted the challenge. "The ability to be in future useful," such was his own statement of his motives, "whether in resisting mischief or affecting good in those crises of our public affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable from a conformity with prejudice in this particular." The meeting took place, July 11, 1804, at Wee- hawken on the Hudson opposite New York, and at the first fire Hamilton received a wound of which he died the next day. The object alike of bitter hatred and of the warmest ad- miration, Hamilton enjoyed among his contem- poraries, both friends and foes, a reputation for extraordinary ability, which he still retains. He was under the middle size, thin in person, and very erect, courtly, and dignified in his