Duke of Hamilton in 1643 and in 1648 he encountered Cromwell in battle at Preston, in England, and suffered a crushing defeat. Cromwell sent him to Westminster, where he was beheaded in 1649. After this the fortunes of the family became somewhat variable and stormy. Meanwhile great families had. sprung from the Hamiltons: the Dukes of Abercorn, the Earls of Selkirk, Orkney, Ruglen and Haddington, and the Lords of Bargeny and Belhaven. The names of their descendants are to be found among the early pioneers abroad, and the subject of this sketch was born in the West Indian Island of Nevis, in 1757. He was the son of a Scottish merchant and, at the age of 12, began his industrial career in the counting house. His remarkable abilities, however, attracted the attention of influential friends and he was aided by them in securing an education in the United States. When attending King's College, New York, the trouble between Britain and the American Colonies began, and young Hamilton became deeply interested in the questions at issue. In 1774, at a meeting held in New York, he had the courage to address the meeting, and everybody saw that the boy before them was of surpassing natural ability. It was the period of the pamphlet writers, and young Hamilton began the writing of a series of pamphlets, the authorship of which was ascribed to several of the eminent men of the day. pith of matter and elegance of style the letters written by Hamilton are not surpassed in military annals. He participated in the chief battles of the Revolution and was conspicuously gallant in the final attack and capture of the British army at Yorktown. The utter lack of financial resources of the country called forth Hamilton's most valuable abilities and he anonymously presented his plan of a United States bank which was practically adopted and remains in operation at the present time. In the construction period, between 1783 and 1789, he was chief among the active spirits that molded the national fabric, and in a series of masterly essays he propounded his view which culminated in the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. This achievement, the work of a young man of 24 years of age, has no parallel in history. In the debates in Congress he devoted his great ability chiefly to financial questions and especially to the establishment of a permanent national revenue. During this period he started The Federalist, a periodical devoted to the discussion of national questions, of which papers he wrote the greater part, and the ideas promulgated by Hamilton at that time are still the moving forces that maintain the principles of the government of our own day. On the inauguration of Washington as President, in 1789, Hamilton took control At the outbreak of hostilities he joined of the Treasury Department and sucan artillery company. He soon came under the notice of Washington, who offered him a place on his staff which was accepted, and in which position Hamilton's ability and facility as a writer soon made him exceedingly valuable to the General. In dignity of manner, in ceeded in having all of his views adopted and the finances of the young Republic immediately set upon a firm basis. As Daniel Webster eloquently said of Hamilton: "He smote the rock of national resources and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of public credit, and it sprang upon its feet." Under President Adams, Hamilton was appointed Inspector-General of the Army, and in this department he displayed a wonderful talent for organization. The unpopular administration of Adams injured the Federalist party and on the election of Thomas Jefferson as President, Hamilton withdrew from politics and engaged in the practice of law in New York, where he was immediately recognized as the leading legal authority of his time. The election of Aaron Burr, an unscrupulous politician, as Vice-President, became the subject of bitter acrimony, and when in 1804 Burr was nominated for Governor of the State of New York, Hamilton opposed him by every means in his power and did more than other opposition to him. Burr became savage and implacable and the result led. to the tragic event which culminated in the death of Hamilton. Being challenged by Burr on some pretext easy to arrange, Hamilton accepted the challenge and the meeting took place at Weehawken on July 11, 1804. Hamilton fell mortally wounded and died next day. He is described as having been of a small, lithe figure, bright and ruddy in complexion, his hair light colored, his blue eyes luminous with intelligence, his conversation full of fine flashes of humor and pleasantry which made him a delightful companion. Every one seems to have felt the charm of his fine personality and the rare grace of his manner. He was unquestionably the most consummate statesman among that remarkable group of eminent men who were active in carrying the revolution to a successful issue, and who afterwards achieved the greater triumph of converting a loose confederation of States into a nation. The framework of the Constitution-the most masterly compendium of the political wisdom of the ages-the adoption of the measures whereby a happy combination of a system of plastic State Governments acting in harmonious relationship with a powerful centralized government is largely owing to the masterly genius and ceaseless energy of Alexander Hamilton. It is not easy to measure the exact proportions of a great man. It is given to only a few men to impress their individuality upon the history of a great nation. In addition to being the greatest "There is no man who knows the history of Britain, no man of American blood, who is not proud of it, proud of the fact that Great Britain first reared in America the right of self-government, proud of what she has done for liberty. and civilization, proud of her soldiers GEORGE MacPHERSON HUNTER. and seamen and of the great deeds they have wrought under the British flag."Mr. Griggs, President McKinley's Attorney-General. An Irishman working in a farmhouse in England was told one day by the mistress to go and fix the half-door of the stable, as the cats were jumping over it and soiling the clothes. Pat, setting to work with all energy, took the half-door from the bottom and fixed it on the top. Pat felt pleased with his job, and went in to the missis and exclaimed-"Begorra, now, mum, they can't jump over it now." "Arthur and I are engaged-but for goodness' sake, dear, don't tell anybody." "Why not?" "Why, Arthur doesn't know it yet, and I want to surprise him." The important position of Secretary of the Seamen's Friend Society, New York, is being worthily filled by our esteemed countryman, Rev. G. MacP. Hunter, at graduate of the University of Glasgow, and New Brunswick Theological Seminary. Previous to attending the theological seminary Mr. Hunter was an engineer at sea for five years, and holds the second highest certificate granted by the British. Government to engineers. Mr. Hunter is an linguist, and previous to his appointment accomplished as secretary of the Society had acceptably filled the pulpit of the Rochelle Park, N. J., Reformed Church for three years. In addition to the exacting duties of his office Mr. Hunter contributes extensively to periodical literature, and has also undertaken the establishment of a new Home for Seamen in this city. the oldest employee of the Aberdeen Railway, long ago absorbed with the Caledonian Railway system. Angus entered the railway office there when 13 years old and began railway life as a telegraph clerk. Later he was moved to Arbroath, the headquarters of the mechanical department, and was for a time the telegraph clerk in the office of Thomas Yarrow, locomotive superintendent. From the office he was transferred to the repair shops, where he passed through a sound mechanical training that was afterwards supplemented by some engine running experience. Mr. Sinclair came to this country in 1873, and went to work on what is now a part of the Erie Railroad system. He afterwards went West, and after drifting about for a few years took to running a locomotive on a road in Iowa. While running an engine out of Iowa City, he attended the chemistry classes in Iowa State University and acquired sufficient knowledge of that science to enable him. to act as chemist for the railroad company. While running a locomotive he prepared a series of articles on "Locomotive Engine Running and Management," which were afterward published in book form, and have attained a sale of 23,000, which is almost unprecedented for a scientific book. He is author of several other engineering books. Mr. Sinclair left railway life in 1883 to join the editorial staff of the American Machinist, and he remained in the newspaper field. He is now president of the Angus Sinclair Company, publishers of Railway and Locomotive Engineering, the Automobile Magazine, and of a line of technical educational books. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the St. Andrews Society, is a member of the Lawyers' Club, of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and is altogether an enthusiastic lover of Scotland and of Scottish literature, always ready to dilate upon their glories, particularly upon that gem of his country known as the Mearns. Mr. Sinclair is still in the prime of life, and his mental and physical activity is surprising, even in this strenuous age. As author, editor, engineer, lecturer, and latterly as golf player, he has the restless impetuosity of youth, superadded to the ripe experience of a man of the world. Of a genial and kindly disposition, he is a unique and popular character at literary and social meetings of the many societies. to which he is attached. As a story-teller his mastery of the Mearns dialect is finely tempered to suit the American ear, and his short, pointed anecdotes, like dramatic comedies, finely interwoven with the more serious matter in question, never fail to set the house in a roar. His career is a fine illustration of the fact that limited early educational advantages need not hinder a man from rising to the highest peaks of professional activity. writer he has acquired a style which, in point of simplicity and directness, illumined with a gentle humor, has made his books the most popular of their kind in the world. As a mechanical engineer, especially in railroad appliances, he is not surpassed by any man of our time. As a Well to suffer is divine; -J. G. WHITTIER. |