The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-04-05

81, had few educational advantages,
,ackaI the superficial graces and &C.
eomplishments about which most young
xom,u think SO much, was gentle In
manner and retiring in disposition.
They c!asped hands in the stately
mansion in Albany. y. V. where her
father. ajor- General Of the Continental
olu,on He was blue eyed, fair Of face.
rosy Of cheek, slender and under me.
dun height. She was black eyed,
pretty. beautifully proportioned and
rather shy.
He was little more than a boy-only
%. hut already a power in the fighting
colonies She was six months his Junior.
He was aide de camp. confidant. coun-
sellor practically the right hand Of the
commander in chief of the patriot
army. She was descendant of the first
PATRON. a patrician Of patricians. He
was poor. She was a daughter Of one Of
the greatest of the landed proprietors.
He was scholar She was maid who
knew more OF cookery. Of indian raids
and Of needlecraft than Of the classics.
The man Of destiny was Alexander
Hamilton. The maid was Betsy Schuy.
Ter. He was bringing orders to her
father concerning the coming cam.
palgn. She was having the honor Of
an introduction to the gallant young
soldier.
He looked into the depths Of those
black eyes Of the Albany maid and saw
more there than man ever had seen
before. And from that moment he
loved her.
Hamilton was a glorious lover. II she
were a queen ne could not have been
more devoted. He lavished upon her all
the wealth Of his tender affection. He
was part Scotch. part French. He sang
to her, wrote verses to her, paid court
morning. noon and night. When he had
TO leave he sent letters back by every
messenger. She had bewitched him., To
him she was the most beautiful Of her
sex. He wasn't satisfied with telling
her how charming she was-he wrote
about her to her father. to her sisters,
to her friends. Here Is what he said in
one OF his letters:
"She is most numerically handsome
and so perverse that she has none Of
those pretty affections which are the
prerogative Of beauty. Her good sense
is destitute Of that happy mixture Of
vanity and ostentation which would
make It conspicuous. She Is so strange
a creature that she possesses all the
beauties. virtues and graces Of her sex
without; any Of those amiable defects
which others possess
The sorrow Of Hamilton's Efe at that
time was that his duties kept him from
her. hut he had the great JOY a little
later to meet her when she accompanied
Gen. Schuyler to Morristown, and there
were fetes and stately functions in which
she played her modest part.
Il was not Hamilton alone who would
WOO the pretty Betsy. There were half
dozen Of the gay blades Of the army
who were her slaves Four OF her sis
tiers had eloped She had any number Of
PROPOSALS, but she wasn't as Eighty as
the others She turned the heads Of so
many Of the young men that Hamilton
wrote in spirit Of banter to her sister
Angelica as follows:
ut Is essential to the safety Of the
State and to the tranquility OF the army
that one or two things take place.
Either that she be Immediately removed
from our neighborhood, or that some
other nymph qualified to maintain an
equa sway come into 1t. BY dividing
her empire 1t will be weaker and she be
much less dangerous when she has a
rval equal in charms to dispute the
prize with her solicit your aid"
VIII al his love and all the glory Of
his prospects Hamilton was III at ease.
There was shadow on his life that he
feared might blight his happiness As
an honest man ne had to make con-
fess'on hcfore he asked the girl to wed
him. H.. had to tell her that he was
born out # wedlock and that the brand
Of tho bar sinister was upon him. Wfat
ehect this Information had upon her Is
evidenced by the fact that early In 1880,
little more than year after he first
me- her. they were married.
T The credit of stout hearted old
Peter Schuyler, her father, be it said he
wrote Hamilton at the time he looked
upon i as an honor to have the young
man mo into his family,
The honeymoon Of Hamilton and Betsy
va a. too short \ few days OF COM
partnership and he had to hurry back to
III mp Of Washington, He was
won ~ those days. more OF a wonder
evca 'ln IN the later period when he
MI argcr role in the public eye.
81. details OF the army manage
me- Mere in his hands. Washington
Uu INN implicitly. He labored from
ear norm until late at night. He wrote
in clear and beautiful hand Of his
M |'s Of letters, every one so plain.
90 Vordcd. so clear that there could
De 4 nd