" Shortly after the publication of the address, my
husband and myself were walking in Broadway when an old soldier
accosted him with the request of him to purchase General
Washington's farewell address, which he did, and turning to me
said, "That man does not know he has asked me to purchase my own
work."
The whole circumstances are at this moment so perfectly in my mind
that I can call to mind his bringing General Washington's letter to
me, who returned the address, and remarked on the only alteration
which he (General Washington) had requested to be made.
New York, Aug. 7th, 1840.
ELIZABETH HAMILTON. JAMES A. WASHINGTON. JA.R. MACDONALD.
In 1797 Hamilton was forced by treachery and the malignancy of
Jacobinism into the most painful and mortifying act of his public
career. He had been hailed by certain enthusiastic Federalists as the
legitimate successor of Washington. It was a noble ambition, and there
is no doubt that Hamilton would have cherished it, had he been less of a
philosopher, less in the habit of regarding a desire for the impossible
as a waste of time.
Pages:
798
799
800
801
802
803
804
805
806
807
808
809
810
811
812
813
814
815
816
817
818
819
820
821
822