the fact related by Lafayette, that, during a familiar association of five years, not an instance of disagreement occurred, is a remarkable evidence of the tone of feeling which prevailed.

Harrison, who was much the elder, treated Hamilton with parental kindness, and soon after he had entered the family, gave him the epithet of "The Little Lion," a term of endearment by which he was familiarly known among his bosom friends to the close of his life.

CHAPTER V.

[1777.]

On his appointment to the staff of Washington, Colonel Hamilton, immediately after his recovery from a very severe indisposition, induced by the hardships of the campaign, wrote to the New-York convention, apprizing them of his change of situation, and suggesting the transfer of his company to the continental establishment.

A reply was received from Messrs. Morris and Allison, announcing "that they had been appointed a committee of the New-York convention, to correspond with him at head quarters," and concurring in his suggestion, as to the disposal of his company. A long and interesting correspondence ensued, parts of which will be presented in their appropriate connexion.

Having served with distinction through the most arduous campaign of the revolution, and having thus entitled himself to rapid promotion in the line of the army, Hamilton hesitated much before he consented to relinquish this prospect for a place in the staff. His high sense of personal independence, had already induced him to decline a similar invitation from two general officers; but influenced by the reputation of the commander-in-chief, he relinquished his objections, and entered upon the discharge of his duties with all the devotion due to his early and illustrious friend.

This larger and more appropriate sphere of action, gave to his mind not only a wider but a loftier range. He was called, not merely to execute subordinate parts, but to assist in planning campaigns, in devising means to support them, in corresponding with the different members of this extensive empire, and in introducing order and harmony into the general system.

The situation of an aid-de-camp to the commander-inchief, from the position in which he stood, was among the most arduous that can be imagined. The pressure of the correspondence was that which the general principally felt; and in the selection of the members of his staff, "as to military knowledge," he says in a letter to Colonel Harrison, of the 9th of January, 1777, "I do not expect to find gentlemen much skilled in it; if they can write a good letter, write quick, are methodical and diligent, it is all I expect to find in my aids." And in a subsequent letter to congress, calling for additional assistance, he remarks "the business that has given constant exercise to the pen of my secretary, and not only frequently, but always, to those of my aids-decamp, has rendered it impracticable for the former to register the copies of my letters, instructions, &c. in books; by which means, valuable documents, which may be of equal public utility and private satisfaction, remain in loose sheets, and in the rough manner in which they were first drawn."

The principal labour of the correspondence fell upon Colonel Harrison; and even to a limited knowledge of its extent, it is surprising how much and how well it was performed. Soon habituated to the mind of the commanderin-chief, with the brief memoranda which were before him, he seized upon his thoughts, and though in a style perhaps too diffuse, and sometimes hurried, placed them in a most perspicuous light. Tilghman's style partook more of the character of his sprightly temper. His sentences were brief and simple, giving results rather than the processes by which they were reached, and might often be supposed to have been written on the drum-head, but still always breathing throughout a general air of elegance. The more elaborate and important communications, which did not

* Dated New-Windsor, April 4th, 1781,- Addressed to the President of Congress.

proceed from the commander-in-chief, devolved upon Hamilton.

Soon after he had entered the General's family, having closed a correspondence with Governor Livingston as to the punishment of disaffected persons, he was called upon to serve him in that line in which he had become most conspicuous. Amid the various high duties which engrossed his cares, the attention of Washington was at this time particularly directed to a negotiation with the enemy relative to the exchange of prisoners, -a matter always of difficult adjustment, and arousing much national feeling; but in a civil war, such as this, where the policy of England was closely adhered to, of treating it as a rebellion, attended with peculiar embarrassments.

The capture of St. Johns, in the preceding autumn, first invited the cares of congress to this interesting object. In a spirit not less dictated by a liberal view of the interests of nations at war, than by the humanity which is due to the subjects of its calamities, but which is so often forgotten, they immediately directed an equal exchange of prisoners, which was followed by successive resolutions, giving them a choice of residence; directing them to be treated with kindness; making the same provision for them as for their own troops; appointing a commissioned officer to protect them from neglect; and assigning the punctual payment of their allowance as the especial duty of the president of each state convention, or of the speakers of the assemblies.

These regulations were strictly enforced, and every instance of inattention promptly redressed.

The measures taken by the commander-in-chief had corresponded fully with the intentions of congress, and from the commencement until the close of the contest, under the most trying circumstances, he sought every opportunity of adding to the valour of the American arms, the lustre of humanity.

An opposite line of conduct had been adopted by the enemy, and the greatest indignation had been excited by the recitals which were made of the indignities suffered by those Americans who had fallen into their hands.

In the hope of establishing a general principle of exchange, a negotiation had been opened with General Howe, before the commencement of the preceding campaign, to which he had acceded; but, in his career of success, looking to an early triumph, this agreement had been departed from, and difficulty after difficulty arose in its execution.

The treatment of the prisoners who capitulated at Fort Washington, had been keenly felt at head quarters, and had quickened Washington's anxiety to remove all artificial obstacles; but the circumstance which at this time chiefly interested him, was the situation of General Lee, who had been captured at Baskenridge, by Colonel Harcourt, and carried to New-York. On learning this event, congress offered in exchange six field officers of inferior rank, one of whom was Colonel Campbell. This proposition was rejected, and General Lee was placed in close confinement, with an intimation that his treatment would be different from that usual towards prisoners of war.

Congress, indignant at this procedure, immediately ordered Colonel Campbell and the Hessian officers into close custody, and threatened retaliation for every indignity offered to the American prisoners.

These decisive measures alarmed the enemy, and on the third of April, 1777, Lord Cornwallis enclosed to General Washington a letter from Colonel Walcott, which was alleged to have been previously delivered to Colonel Harrison, but had not been received.

The temper displayed by the English commissioner evinced little disposition to produce a favourable issue. It seemed rather to have been his design to indulge in a tone of arrogant crimination of the American army, and im