Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-03-17


admit of no consolation, and we left her In
state bordering on Madness"
sGn my younger days, my dear General,
knew much of Hamilton-the playmate OF IN
children-I was almost domesticated in his ia
| mily, and have often said my lesson to him (anc
said it very badly, for was very bad boy)
He was most amiable and kind to his children
and to all about him singulariy absent: have
often seen him with his hands clenched, M
eyes nearly closed, and his head erect. medi
tating gigantic plans Of policy or finance run
against post, or be brought up by chm
ney sweep or wheelbarrow. The bird o.
Ceracci is very like him, the contraction where
the brow and nose are joined, betokens that
intense power of Thought, for which he was SC
remarkable.
0Upon his resignation of the Office of Score
tary of the Treasury, which he filled from the
commencement of the government, Hamilton
observed to my old friend Colonel Lear, 81 an
not worh fire hundred dollars IN the ,cmld!-
my best services have been devoted to my q
dopted country-my family too hath its claims. .
Like Aristides poor, had this great man have
died at this period of time, mindful of his IL
lustrious services, like ancient Greece, his
country must have portioned his orphan chill
dren."
cdr Craik, used to relate revolutionary an
ecdote of Hamilton. At the battle of Mon.
mouth, on the retreat of the advanced corps,
Hamilton leaped from his horse, let the horse
go, and drawing his sword, turnedto the CON-
mander in chief and exclaimed, General we
are betrayed: the time is come when every
true friend to our country and her cause, must
be ready to die in their defence" The Gene
raj, always collected, calmly observed, "Col.
Hamilton, recover your horse" being as
much as to say, "tbis is my business, not
yours"
"The late Robert Goodloe Harper told a very
ludicrous circumstance which occurred in
Philadelphia, during the short residence of the
celebrated Talleyrand in this country. Har-
per was in those days gay man, and sat up
late. One morning very early, Talleyrand
burst into his room, exclaiming "Get up Mon
sieur Harper, have enthe most wonderful
thing in the whole world' Harper rubbing
his eyes, enquired "What the Devil is the
matter" The Ex-Bishop, then Sans Culotte,
now Prince, continued to vociferate, till his
amazed nearer, supposed nothing less could
have happened than the restoration of the
Bourbons, dethronement of George the Third,
discovery of Perpetual Motion, or some such
wonderful thing. At length Talleyrand be-
came composed. related, that at five o'clock
that morning, he had seen Alexander Hamil-
ton, in the United States of America, ,vriting
for a Erehhood; and continued, "and if this is
not the most wonderful thing, that is, that ever.
was, or that ever can be, do not know what
is strange or wonderful in the world"
"The penetrating genius of Hamilton pierced
the gloom of futurity, far beyond our own
times. He has been reproached for his IDEAS of
our Government-yet his ideas amounted to
simply this: that while we are young and
virtuous people, our present constitution will
bind us to our mutual interests and happiness,
but when we become old and corrupt weshall
be no longer willing to be governed by the
mild reign ofreason, and Of truth"
ssYou have seen Jefferson, General, during
your late tour in Virginia. He is old, but is
the youngest of the surviving signers of the
declaration o. independence" eyes, while
riding from Monticello to the University, we
conversed of men and things, his powers of
conversation have not suffered the usual decay
of advanced age. He observed, "With Ha-
milton often differed in the cabinet, on mat
tiers of state. We were, each of us, some
times right, and sometimes wrong, but the
Old Chief al,cays right The principles Of
Washington, were generally considered as
more highly republican, than those Of Hamil-
ton There may have lived men of finer ge-
MUS, or more brilliant fancy, than the father of
his country, but Of sounder intellect and more
perfect Judgment, none :"
'Laurens was unhappy. His was the CHI
valric character Of the heroic ages. He re-
sembled Frenchman in appearance, having
been much in France, and speaking the Ian
guage well. On the commencement of the
revolution, he proposed to free his slaves, and
form them into regiment to fight for Ameri-
can liberty. His manly and decisive conduct,
while at the court of France, gavea weight
and interest to the American character abroad,
and was the means of our obtaining those sue
cors, which mainly contributed to the success
ofthe campaign of 1871, and the establishment
ofindependence. The attachment Of Hamil-
ton to the commander in chief, was ardent
and sincere, that of Laurens DEVOTIONAL"
81 am asked, in what relation stood Colonel
HAnRIsoS TO the General-in-C Chief answer,
as the last of the military family of Washington,
ought to know something about my associ.