on the peace establishment, without emoluments, and unattached to any corps, as an honorary reward for the time I have devoted to the public. As I may hereafter travel, I may find it an agreeable circumstance to appear in the character I have supported in the revolution.

"I rest my claim solely on the sacrifice I have made; because I have no reason to believe that my services have appeared of any value to Congress, as they declined giving them any marks of their notice on an occasion which appeared to my friends to entitle me to it, as well by the common practice of sovereigns, as by the particular practice of this country in repeated instances.

"Your Excellency will recollect, that it was my lot at Yorktown to command, as senior officer, a successful attack upon one of the enemy's redoubts; that the officer who acted in a similar capacity in another attack, made at the same time by the French troops, has been handsomely distinguished by the government to which he belongs; and that there are several examples among us, where Congress have bestowed honors upon actions, perhaps not more useful, nor, apparently more hazardous.

"These observations are inapplicable to the present Congress, further than as they may possibly furnish an additional motive to a compliance with my wish.

"The only thing I ask of your Excellency, is, that my application may come into view in the course of the consultations on the peace establishment."

Hamilton had been too prominent in his opposition to the cabal against the Commander-in-chief, to be forgiven by its partisans in Congress. Hence the injustice done him. Consecrated in the public affections, Washington could not be directly attacked by his enemies. It was at Hamilton, as a buckler, the incessant blows were struck.

The Commander-in-chief replied on the sixth of November.

"Congress, after resolving to adjourn upon the twelfth of this month, did, equally unexpectedly and surprisingly to me, finish their session at this place the day before yesterday; without bringing the peace establishment, or any of the many other pressing matters, to a decision.

66

Finding that this was likely to be the case, I showed your letter to some of your particular friends; and consulted with them on the propriety of making known your wishes with my testimonial of your services to Congress; but they advised me to decline it, under a full persuasion that no discrimination would, or indeed could, be made at this late hour, as every other officer from the highest to the lowest grade (not in actual command) were retiring without the retention of rank; and that the remainder, upon a peace establishment (if a continental one should ever take place), would come in upon the new system, under fresh appointments; so that unless you wished to come into actual command again (which none supposed), they saw no way by which you could preserve your rank. "I have the pleasure to inclose you a brevet, giving you the rank of full colonel."

66

Hamilton was now looking to the evacuation of New York. What a tide of thoughts must have passed through his mind as he now sailed the tranquil Hudson, on whose margin he passed many of his happiest after hours, and breathed his latest sigh! How changed his present from his former feelings, when hastening along its alarmed borders on his lonely, anxious way-amid deserted dwellings, forsaken fields, a discordant population-to extort reluctant aid from Gates, he detected those incipient intrigues which would have lost Washington to his country!

Where, before, the timid shallop rarely ventured to dart

its course across the mournful stream, was now seen the bold canvass of its unrivalled craft wafting to their liberated mart its joyous fugitives; each point and inlet, as he passed, reviving some incident of his own eventful career, or of his country's glorious history.

Poughkeepsie would recall the moment, when, in concert with Schuyler, were framed those memorable resolutions, the first to recommend a general convention to establish a constitution. Approaching Fishkill, he would recur to the time when, with early wisdom, he portrayed the evils of a weak and the blessings of an efficient government. As his eye turned upon the heights of Newburgh, now gleaming in the morning sun, he would behold, as it were again, the dark cloud which hung threatening over his companions in arms, ready to burst and overwhelm them, until dissipated by his powerful interposition. West Point, crowned with autumnal gloom, spoke of the weary hours of anxious consultation with his chief, the marked victim of a deep laid treason. The detection, the pursuit, the escape of Arnold, were all before him. Beyond, the scene of André's fate, immortalized by the touching narrative which would have veiled his error with his misfortunes. The humble ferryhouse at Greensburgh would awaken happier associations, where, retiring in the pride of a manly temper from the family of Washington, he devoted his first leisure to those capacious plans of national polity which placed him in early manhood among the foremost sages of the revolution. And now, New-York opened before him in all the often recollected magnificence of its capacious bay, its world-inviting waters, its peaceful shores, its guardian isles, whence proudly rose against the evening sky, the flag of the Union, announcing that the conflict was over, and seeming to in vite him to new triumphs in this much-loved scene of his youthful imaginings, efforts, and distinctions. Cordial were the greetings of this grateful city, as it welcomed, in its

once stranger boy, the now powerful advocate of mercy to its apprehensive denizens, hastening to shield them from persecution for the venial offence of mistaken loyalty.

The impression which his congressional career had produced, is shown in the letters received by him at this time. McHenry, who had recently taken a seat in congress, writes:

DEAR HAMILTON,

Princeton, Oct. 22, 1783.

The homilies you delivered in congress, are still recollected with pleasure. The impressions they made, are in favour of your integrity, and no one but believes you a man of honour and republican principles. Were you ten years older, and twenty thousand pounds richer, there is no doubt but that you might obtain the suffrages of congress for the highest office in their gift. You are supposed to possess various knowledge, useful, substantial, and ornamental. Your very grave, and your cautious-your men who measure others by the standard of their own creeping politics, think you sometimes intemperate, but seldom visionary, and that were you to pursue your object with as much cold perseverance as you do with ardour and argument, you would become irresistible.

In a word, if you could submit to spend a whole life in dissecting a fly, you would be, in their opinion, one of the greatest men in the world. Bold designs-measures calculated for their rapid execution-a wisdom that would convince, from its own weight-a project that would surprise the people into greater happiness, without giving them an opportunity to view it and reject it—are not adapted to a council composed of discordant materials, or to a people which have thirteen heads, each of which pays superstitious adorations to inferior divinities.

I have reported on Fleury's case on the principle you recommend. I fear his half-pay will not be granted.

Adieu, my dear friend, and in the days of your happiness drop a line to your

MCHENRY.

P. S.-Our exemplification of the treaty has passed, and will be transmitted to the state officially.

The other was from Jay, at Passy :

66 DEAR SIR,

"You was always of the number of those I esteemed, and your correspondence would be both interesting and agreeable. I had heard of your marriage, and it gave me pleasure, as well because it added to your happiness, as because it tended to fix your residence in a state of which I long wished you to be and remain a citizen.

"The character and talents of delegates to congress daily become more and more important, and I regret your declining that appointment at this interesting period. Respect, however, is due to the considerations which influence you; but as they do not oppose your accepting a place in the legislature, I hope the state will still continue to derive advantage from your services: much remains to be done, and labourers do not abound.

"I am happy to hear that the terms of peace and the conduct of your negotiators give general satisfaction. But there are some of our countrymen, it seems, who are not content, and that too with an article which I thought to be very unexceptionable, viz: the one ascertaining our boundaries. Perhaps those gentlemen are latitudinarians.

"The American newspapers for some months past contain advices which do us harm; violences and associations against the tories pay an ill compliment to government, and impeach our good faith in the opinion of some, and our magnanimity in the opinion of many. Our reputa