Complete Works. Hamilton AlexanderЧитать онлайн книгу.
after the inhabitants had been undivided by Mr. Dean's1 imprudent address, in which he promised us great discoveries, tho' he had made none; and by which he raised a jealousy of Congress, and put many upon clamouring against them. In this crisis, and I conjecture thro' conversation leading to it, you was betrayed into a speech tantamount to the representation made me. You was not the only one that spoke unguardedly all this season. Persons of equal or with superior talk are known to have done it, and many in the military department having been soured by the hardships they had undergone and an apprehended neglect of their grievance and on the part of Congress backwardness, to redress them, seemingly took a part with Mr. Dean; and the unguarded expressions that fell from them, then and afterwards, proved alarming to weak but good minds. I was much hurt in my own feelings because of the wrong, I am convinced, it led some to do his Excellency, in fearing that such sentiment were dropt in his presence, without meeting with a further check. My informer told me, that he took notice to you of the unsuitableness of such like expressions, with which you was rather displeased, but that he insisted further upon it, and that then it ended. I should infer from its representation given me that, there were others in Company. I have not mentioned his name; but if you cannot possibly recollect having said anything like what he reported; continue to view it as a calumny; and insist upon knowing him, I do not imagine he would object to it, but, whether he do or not, shall mention him, upon your assuring me upon your honour, that you will neither give nor accept, cause to be given nor accepted, a challenge upon the occasion, nor engage in any recounter that may produce a duel -- for tho' do not in general produce more than the honorable settlement of a dispute, yet they may be the unhappy cause of the publick's losing good and useful members; and upon the principles of religion I am totally averse to them. You must further assure me, that you will admit of the matter's being thoroughly examined into by Congress, or individuals of the first character. The oversight of individuals too often raise prejudices against a whole body. It is common, and yet commonly condemned. I am convinced that notwithstanding the natural tendency of martial manners, there are as good citizens in the military line, as out of it; and I hope that the event will ever show that by far the majority of our officers love the liberties of citizens more than any earthly command whatsoever. I as earnestly wish, that the citizens of the United States may do justice to the army, and their own engagements by keeping it up to the spirit of them wherein it is possible, that so our brave brothers may not have any just cause of complaint when affairs are brought to a settlement.
Sir
Your most obedient humble servant
William Gordon
Alexander Hamilton to the Rev. William Gordon
DEAR SIR: I have received your letter of the 25th of August which you will probably not be surprised to hear is by no means satisfactory. Instead of giving up the author of the accusation, you charitably suppose me guilty, and amuse yourself in a stream of conjecture (which whatever ingenuity it may have was certainly unnecessary) -- about the manner in which the affair happened and the motives that produced it. Your entering a volunteer to apologize for me is no doubt a mark of your condescension and of your benevolence, and would make it ungrateful as well as indecent to suspect, that the conditions with which you fetter a compliance with my request, proceed from any other cause than a laudable, though perhaps in this instance, an officious zeal, for the interests of religion and for the good of society. It shall never be said, that you had recourse to a pitiful evasion, and attempted to cover the dishonor of a refusal under a precious pretence of terms, which you know as a gentleman, I should be obliged to regret -- I venture however with every allowance for the sanctity of your intention and with all possible deference for your judgment to express my doubts of the propriety of the concessions you require on my part, as preliminaries to a discovery, which I still think you are bound to make as an act of justice. This is a principle from which I can never depart; and I am convinced I shall have the common sense and feelings of mankind on my side. An opinion of my inexperience seems to have betrayed you into mistakes -- Whatever you may imagine Sir, I have read the world sufficiently to know that though it may often be convenient to the propagator of a calumny to conceal the inventor, he will stand in need of no small address to escape the suspicions and even the indignation of the honest and of the disinterested. Nor can I but persist in believing that, notwithstanding the confidence which from a very natural partiality you place in your own character, the delicacy of your sentiment will be alarmed at the possibility of incurring this danger and will prevent your exposing yourself to it, by refusing, or delaying any longer to comply with so reasonable a demand.
It often happens that our zeal is at variance with our understanding. Had it not been for this, you might have recollected, that we do not now live in the days of chivalry, and you would, have then judged your precautions on the subject of duelling, at least useless -- The good sense of the present times has happily found out, that to prove your own innocence, or the malice of an accuser, the worst method you can take is to run him through the body or shoot him through the head. And permit me to add, that while you felt an aversion to duelling on the principles of religion, you ought in charity to have supposed others possessed of the same scruples -- of whose impiety you had had no proofs. But whatever may be my final determination on this point, ought to be a matter of indifference. Tis a good old maxim, to which we may safely adhere in most cases, that we ought to do our duty and leave the rest to the care of heaven. The crime alleged to me is of such enormity, that if I am guilty it ought not to go unpunished, and, if I am innocent, I should have an opportunity of vindicating my innocence. The truth in either case should appear, and it is incumbent upon you, Sir, to afford the means, either by accusing me to my civil or military superiors, or by disclosing the author of the information.
Your anxiety to engage me "to admit of the matter's being thoroughly examined into by Congress or individuals of the first character" was equally superfluous. I am at all times amenable to the authority of the state and of the laws; and whenever it should be the pleasure of Congress, the means of bringing me to justice for any crime I may have committed are obvious and easy, without the assistance of a formal stipulation on my side. I shall not expose myself to the ridicule of self-importance by applying to Congress for an inquiry, nor shall I invite the charge of impertinence, by promising to do what I have no power to refuse. I shall only declare for my own satisfaction, that so far as concerns myself, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to undergo the strictest scrutiny in any legal mode in the rectitude of my conduct, on this and on every other occasion as a soldier or as a citizen. With respect to an examination by individuals of character, whenever I have it in my power to confront my accuser, I shall take care to do it in presence of witnesses of the first respectability, who will be able from what they see and hear, to tell the world that I am innocent and injured and that he is a contemptible defamer.
It is, no doubt, unfortunate for me that you have prejudged the case and are of a different opinion. You profess to give credit to the story, because, you say, your informer "is a man of veracity and could not be mistaken." From this description he is probably not a soldier, or you would have been more inclined to suppose him fallible. But whoever he may be you have certainly shown a facility in believing that does honor to your credulity at the expense of your candour. I protest, Sir, this is the first time I have heard my own veracity called in question. Had you not given a sanction to the contrary by your example, I should have indulgently flattered myself, that I had as much right to be believed as another, and that my denial was a counterballance to the assertion of your informant, and left the affair in suspense to be decided by the future circumstances. You persue a different line, and in the overflowing of your pious hatred to political heresy, have determined, that I must be guilty at all events. You ascribe the denial to a deficit of memory, and pretend to think it more likely that I should have lost all recollection of the fact, than that you should have been misinformed. Far from accepting, I absolutely reject the apology you make for me, and continue to believe it impossible, I could have made a declaration similar to the one reported; for I abhor the sentiment, it contains, and am confident it never could have had a momentary place in my mind, consequently never could have dishonored my lips. The supposition is absurd, that I could have used the expressions when I cannot recognize the remotest trace of an idea, at any period, that could possibly have led to them.
In this consciousness, I again appeal to you, and demand by all the ties of truth, justice, and honour, that you immediately