eye of Washington soon perceived the manly spirit which animated his youthful bosom.  By that excellent judge of men he was selected as an aid, and thus he became early acquainted with, and was a principal actor in the more important scenes of our revolution.  At the siege of York he pertinaciously insisted on, and he obtained the command of a Forlorn Hope.  He stormed the redoubt; but let it be recorded that not one single man of the enemy perished.  His gallant troops, emulating the heroism of their chief checked the uplifted arm, and spared a foe no longer resisting.  Here closed his military career.

Shortly after the war, your favor—­no, your discernment, called him to public office.  You sent him to the convention at Philadelphia; he there assisted in forming the constitution which is now the bond of our union, the shield of our defense, and the source of our prosperity.  In signing the compact, he exprest his apprehension that it did not contain sufficient means of strength for its own preservation; and that in consequence we should share the fate of many other republics, and pass through anarchy to despotism.  We hoped better things.  We confided in the good sense of the American people; and, above all, we trusted in the protecting providence of the Almighty.  On this important subject he never concealed his opinion.  He disdained concealment.  Knowing the purity of his heart, he bore it as it were in his hand, exposing to every passenger its inmost recesses.  This generous indiscretion subjected him to censure from misrepresentation.  His speculative opinions were treated as deliberate designs; and yet you all know how strenuous, how unremitting were his efforts to establish and to preserve the constitution.  If, then, his opinion was wrong, pardon, O pardon, that single error, in a life devoted to your service.

At the time when our Government was organized, we were without funds, tho not without resources.  To call them into action, and establish order in the finances, Washington sought for splendid talents, for extensive information, and above all, he sought for sterling, incorruptible integrity.  All these he found in Hamilton.  The system then adopted, has been the subject of much animadversion.  If it be not without a fault, let it be remembered that nothing human is perfect.  Recollect the circumstances of the moment—­recollect the conflict of opinion—­and, above all, remember that a minister of a republic must bend to the will of the people.  The administration which Washington formed was one of the most efficient, one of the best that any country was ever blessed with.  And the result was a rapid advance in power and prosperity of which there is no example in any other age or nation.  The part which Hamilton bore is universally known.