and if Jefferson discoursed unctiously and
at length, whenever the opportunity offered, upon the lamentable
consequences of a lamentable measure, and indulged in melancholy
prognostications of a general ruin, in which the Government would
disappear and be forgotten, Hamilton replied for a time with but an
occasional sarcasm, and a change of subject. One day, however, a
long-desired opportunity presented itself, and he did not neglect it. He
was well aware that Jefferson had complained to Virginia that he had
been made to hold a candle to the wily Secretary of the Treasury in the
matter of assumption, in other words, that his guileless understanding,
absorbed in matters of State, had been duped into a bargain of which
Virginia did not approve, despite the concession to the Potomac.

About two months after Congress opened, Washington, as his Cabinet
seated itself, was detained in his room with a slight indisposition, but
sent word that he would appear presently. For a time, Randolph and Knox
talked feverishly about the Indian troubles, while Hamilton looked over
some notes, and Jefferson watched his antagonist covertly, as if
anticipating a sudden spring across the table. Hamilton was not in a
good humour. He was accustomed to abuse in Congress, and that it was
again in full tide concerned him little, for he was sure of ultimate
victories in both Houses; and words which were powerless to result in a
defeat for himself, or his party, he treated with the scorn which
impotence deserved. But it was another matter to have his private
character assailed day after day in the press, to watch a subtle pen
insinuate into the public mind that a woman imperilled her reputation in
receiving him, and that he was speculating in secret with the reckless
friend whom he had warned over and over, and begged to desist. Freneau
sent him three copies of the _Gazette_ daily, lest he miss something,
and he had that morning left Betsey in tears. Fenno was fighting the
Secretary's battles valiantly; but there was only one pen in America
which could cope with Jefferson's, and that was Hamilton's own. But
aside from his accumulating cares, it was a strife to which he did not
care to descend. To-day, however, he needed but a match, and Jefferson,
who experienced a fearful fascination in provoking him, applied it.

"I hear that Duer is on the verge of failure," he remarked sadly.

"Yes," said Hamilton; "he is."

"I hold it to be a great misfortune