CHAPTER II.

NEVIS, one of a cluster of the Antilles, was his birthplace. This small island, which rises like a cone from the ocean to a great height, is supposed to have been so called by Columbus, from its resemblance in form and its volcanic discharges to an elevation in Spain, known as the mountain of "Snows." Watered with salubrious springs and rivulets from its base to its summit, it presents in its successive acclivities the luxuriance of the tropics and the growths of the temperate zone. First occupied by the English, the little colony never passed from their sway, and, owing to the paternal cares of its earliest governor, was a model of virtue, order and piety.* This beautiful spot was the quiet abode of Hamilton's infancy.

His father was a native of Scotland, who looked back upon his ancestry with pride, tracing his lineage in a direct line to Bernard, a near kinsman of Rollo, the first duke of Normandy, and progenitor of William the Conqueror. Of the proud and warlike family of Hamilton, conspicuous throughout the history of Scotland and England, he was of the CAMBUSKEITH branch, the head

History of West Indies, by Thomas Coke, LL. D. Histoire Philosophique et Politique des etablisemens et du commerce des Europeans dans les deux Indes.-Par Rayna!, vii. 376.

of which was Walter, son of the first Sir David de Hamilton, Lord of Cadyow.*

His grandfather, Alexander Hamilton of Grange, the fourteenth in descent, married, about seventeen hundred and thirty, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Sir Robert Pollock, and had a numerous issue, of whom James, his fourth son, was the father of the American Hamilton.

With a just value of the advantages of birth, and a proper disregard of family pretensions, he wrote to a near friend, "Thus my blood is as good as that of those who plume themselves upon their ancestry."

His father being bred a merchant, and the West Indies opening a field to enterprise, he left Scotland for St. Christopher's, where, though at first successful, through a too generous, easy temper, he failed in business, and was, during the greater part of his life, in reduced circum

stances.

On his mother's side, Hamilton's descent was French. His maternal grandfather, whose name was Faucette, was a Huguenot, a race to which America owes many of her most illustrious sons, who, in different climes, proved how warmly they had cherished the virtuous and determined spirit of their exiled forefathers.

In the general expatriation of his Protestant countrymen which followed the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, he settled in Nevis, where he practised medicine. He was a man of letters and polished manners.

Hamilton was the offspring of a second marriage. His mother's first husband was a Dane, named Lavine, who, attracted by her beauty, and recommended to her

"Historical and Genealogical Memoirs of the House of Hamilton, with Genealogical Memoirs of the Several Branches of the Family;" by John Anderson. Edinburgh, 1825. Appendix A. Geneology.

mother by his wealth, received her hand against her inclination.

The marriage proving unhappy, she obtained a divorce, and subsequently married the father of Alexander, to whom she gave birth on the eleventh of January, seventeen hundred and fifty-seven.

His mother died during his childhood, a woman of superior intellect, elevated sentiment, and unusual grace of person and manner. To her he was indebted for his genius.

After her decease, the misfortunes of her husband threw their only surviving child upon the bounty of his mother's relations who resided at Santa Cruz, where he received the rudiments of his education, commencing at a tender age. As an instance of which, rarely as he alluded to his personal history, he mentioned with a smile, his having been taught to repeat the decalogue in Hebrew, at the school of a Jewess, when so small that he was placed standing by her side upon a table.

There is reason to believe, from the low state of edu cation in the West Indies, that the circle of his youthful studies was very limited, probably embracing little more. than the English and French languages, which he wrote and spoke with fluency. With a strong propensity to literature, he early became a lover of books; and the time that other youths devote to classical learning, was by him employed in miscellaneous reading, happily directed by the advice of Doctor Knox, a respectable Presbyterian divine, who, delighted with the precocity of his mind, took a deep interest in its development.

The fervent piety of this gentleman gave a strong religious bias to his feelings, the topics of their conversation opening to him a glimpse of those polemical controversies which have called forth the highest efforts of intellect.

In the autumn of seventeen hundred sixty-nine, he was placed in the counting-house of Nicholas Cruger, an opulent and worthy merchant then residing at Santa Cruz. Foreign as such an avocation was to his inclinations, he nevertheless gave to it his characteristic assiduity. But his inward promptings looked far beyond the desk. He thought of immortality; and fondly contemplated from his island home those fields of glory and summits of honor which opened themselves to his imagination from beyond the deep.

A letter written at this time to his schoolfellow, Edward Stevens, then in New York, shows his aspirations.

DEAR EDWARD,

St. Croix, Nov. 11th, 1769.

This serves to acknowledge the receipt of yours per Capt. Lowndes, which was delivered me yesterday. The truth of Capt. Lightbowen and Lowndes' information is now verified by the presence of your father and sister, for whose safe arrival I pray, and that they may convey that satisfaction to your soul, that must naturally flow from the sight of absent friends in health; and shall for news this way, refer you to them.

As to what you say, respecting your soon having the happiness of seeing us all, I wish for an accomplishment of your hopes, provided they are concomitant with your welfare, otherwise not; though doubt whether I shall be present or not, for to confess my weakness, Ned, my ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling condition of a clerk, or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my station. I am confident, Ned, that my youth excludes me from any hopes of immediate preferment, nor do I desire it; but I mean to prepare the

way for futurity. I'm no philosopher, you see, and may be justly said to build castles in the air; my folly makes me ashamed, and beg you'll conceal it; yet, Neddy, we have seen such schemes successful, when the projector is constant. I shall conclude by saying, I wish there was a

war.

I am,

Dear Edward,
Yours,

ALEX. HAMILTON.

P. S. I this moment received yours by William Smith, and pleased to see you give such close application to study.

Such was his aptitude for business and his advance in the confidence of his principal, that in his thirteenth year he was left by Mr. Cruger, who made a visit to New York, at the head of his establishment. His letters of this period, preserved in the books of his employer, written to various persons, evince a capacity and prudence which show that this unusual trust was not misplaced.*

This occupation proved a great and lasting benefit to him. Amid his various engagements in later years he adverted to it as the most useful part of his education. The little leisure his mercantile duties left him was well employed. His knowledge of mathematics was increased; he became fond of chemistry, and in after life urged its study.

Occasionally he read works upon ethics, but his favorite authors were Pope and Plutarch, on the latter of which there remain some curious observations from his youthful pen.

He frequently, also, exercised himself in composition,

Hamilton's Works, I., 2, 3.