GREAT MEN'S BODIES
profound statesman; the learned and eloquent lawyer would probably have disappeared in a great degree before the character of the sage philosopher, instructing mankind by his wisdom; elevating his country by his example."—Lodge's Life of Hamilton.
And yet things did not always go as he wanted, judging from the following: "Alexander Hamilton wrote thus to John Laurens, September 12, 1780:
"'With one set I am considered as a friend to military pretensions, however exorbitant; with another, as a man who, secured by my situation from sharing the distress of the army, am inclined to treat it lightly. The truth is, I am an unlucky, honest man that speak my sentiments to all and with emphasis. I say this to you because you know it, and will not charge me with vanity. I hate Congress; I hate the army; I hate the world; I hate myself. The whole is a mass of fools and knaves; I could almost except you and me. Adieu.
"'My ravings are for your own bosom. The General and family send you their love.
"'Newbridge, September 12, 1780.'"
—Bulletin of the New York Public Library, February 28, 1898.
"In person Hamilton was well made, of light and active build, but very small, much below the average height. His friends were wont to call him the 'little lion'; and it is somewhat remarkable that his stature seems to have interfered so slightly, if at all, with his success as an orator.
"Inches of stature and of girth were lacking, but he was none the less full of dignity. In this, of course, his looks helped him. His head was finely shaped, symmetrical, massive, and unusually large. His eyes were dark, deep-set, and full of light and fire. He had a long, rather sharp nose, a well-shaped, close-set mouth, and a firm jaw. The characteristics of the spare, cleancut features are penetration and force."—Lodge's Life of Hamilton.
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