ealous than successful. From the very
beginning of his career, he never thought of liberty, save as the
closest associate of law. Diligently devoting himself to the study of
the military art, and particularly to gunnery, he asked for the command
of an artillery company, and obtained it after a thorough examination,
being made captain on the 14th of March, 1776, when but two months
beyond his nineteenth year. He completed his company, and expended the
very last money he received from his relatives in making it fit for the
field. Even at that time he advocated promotion from the ranks, and
succeeded in having his first sergeant made a commissioned officer: a
fact worthy of mention, when it is recollected that his enemies have
always represented him as an aristocrat, there being nothing less
aristocratical than the placing of the sword of command in the hands of
men who have carried the musket. While pursuing his military duties, he
did not neglect the study of politics; and his notes show that before
the Declaration of Independence he had thought out a plan of government
for the nation that was so soon to come into existence. Among them is
this inquiry: "_Quaere_, would it not be advisable to let all taxes, even
those imposed by the States, be collected by persons of Congressional
appointment? and would it not be advisable to pay the collectors so much
per cent on the sums collected?" This, as his son says, "is the
intuitive idea of a general government, truly such, which he first
proposed to Congress, and earnestly advocated." He was in his twentieth
year when he showed himself capable of understanding the nature of the
situation, and the wants of the country. Probably no other person had
got so far at that time, and it required years for the people to reach
the point at which Hamilton had arrived intuitively. With them it was a
conclusion reached through bitter experience. The lesson has not been
perfectly acquired even at this time.

Hamilton's company belonged to that army which Washington commanded, in
1776, in New England and New Jersey; and it was while the army was on
the heights of Haerlem, in the autumn of 1776, that he attracted the
notice of Washington. The General inspected an earthwork which the
Captain was constructing, conversed with him, and invited him to his
tent. This was the beginning of an acquaintance that was destined to
have memorable consequences and lasting effects on the American nation.
On the