pay for the men, and also from a breach of faith in detaining them beyond their term of enlistment. But, in fact, the Confederacy was altogether disorganized; and the finances were in such a condition that it was almost impossible to raise money for any purpose. Hamilton, who saw more clearly than most men the full danger of the situation, was also one of the first to divine the causes of the existing evils, and to suggest a remedy. He traced the weakness and insolvency of the Congress in a great measure to the want of a central authority, and to the loose way in which the States were held together, without any settled government for the whole Confederacy. And already his busy and versatile mind had sketched the plan of a Constitution for the Union. "At the age of three-and-twenty," says an able American writer, Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, "he had already formed well-defined, profound, and comprehensive opinions on the situation and wants of these States. He had clearly discerned the practicability of forming a confederated government, and adapting it to their peculiar conditions, resources, and exigencies. He had wrought out for himself a political system, far in advance of the conceptions of his contemporaries."

And, until a definite Constitution could be agreed upon, he suggested, as measures of primary importance-1st. An army raised for the war, and not for any shorter term. 2d. A foreign loan, to extricate the Congress from the immediate pressure of insolvency. 3d. Full powers to the same body, to deal with all matters of war, peace, trade, and finance, that concerned the common interest. 4th. The appointment of executive officers, instead of boards, to administer the several departments of the public service. 5th. The establishment of a national bank, to regulate the issue of notes, and to place the currency of the country on a solid basis.

Yet all this activity of mind did not prevent his attending to interests of a more tender nature. He was at this time paying his addresses to Miss Eliza Schuyler, second daughter of the gallant general of that name, and in December, 1780, he was married to the lady of his choice, at her father's house in Albany. She is described by a French traveller as a charming woman, who united to grace and beauty "all the candour and simplicity of an American wife." By this marriage, Hamilton became permanently established as a resident in the State of New York.

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And now an event occurred which has occasioned much discussion, and which certainly cannot be recorded without regret. A misunderstanding arose between Washington and his favourite aide-de-camp, which led to the resignation by the latter of his place on the staff. Hamilton's account of the affair is con

tained in a letter to General Schuyler :

"Since I had the pleasure of writing you last, an unexpected change has taken place in my situation. I am no longer a member of the general's family. This information will surprise you, and the manner of the change will surprise you more. Two days ago the general and I passed each other on the stairs ; he told me he wanted to speak to me. I answered, that I would wait upon him immediately. I went below, and delivered Mr. Tilghman a letter to be sent to the Commissary, containing an order of a pressing nature.

"Returning to the general, I was stopped on the way by the Marquis de Lafayette, and we conversed together about a minute on a matter of business. He can testify how impatient I was to get back, and that I left him in a manner which, but for our intimacy, would have been more than abrupt. Instead of finding the general, as is usual, in his room, I met him at the

head of the stairs, where, accosting me in an angry tone-Colonel Hamilton,' said he, 'you have kept me waiting at the head of the stairs these ten minutes. I must tell you, sir, you treat me with disrespect.'— I replied without petulancy, but with decision: 'I am not conscious of it, sir; but since you have thought it necessary to tell me so, we part.'- Very well, sir,' said he, if it be your choice,' or something to this effect, and we separated. I sincerely believe my absence, which gave so much umbrage,. did not last two minutes.

"In less than an hour after, Tilghman came to me in the general's name, assuring me of his great confidence in my abilities, integrity, usefulness, &c., and of his desire, in a candid conversation, to heal a difference which could not have happened but in a moment of passion. I requested Mr. Tilghman to tell him-1st, that I had taken my resolution in a manner not to be revoked; 2d, that, as a conversation could serve no other purpose than to produce explanations mutually disagreeable, though I certainly would not refuse an interview if he desired it, yet I would be happy if he would permit me to decline it; 3d, that, though determined to leave the family, the same principles which had kept me so

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long in it would continue to direct my conduct towards him when out of it; 4th, that, however, I did not wish to distress him or the public business, by quitting him before he could derive other assistance by the return of some of the gentlemen who were absent; 5th, that, in the meantime, it depended on him to let our behaviour to each other be the same as if nothing had happened. He consented to decline the conversation, and thanked me for my offer of continuing my aid in the manner I had mentioned.

"I have given you so particular a detail of our difference, from the desire I have to justify myself in your opinion. Perhaps, you may think I was precipitate, in neglecting the overture made by the general to an accommodation. I assure you, my dear sir, it was not the effect of resentment; it was the deliberate result of maxims I had long formed for the government of my own conduct.

"I always disliked the office of an aide-de-camp, as having in it a kind of personal dependence. . . . It has often been with great difficulty that I have prevailed upon myself not to renounce it; but while, from motives of public utility, I was doing violence to my feelings, I was always determined, if there should ever happen a breach between us, never to