Quere.  Would it not be advisable to let all taxes, even those imposed by the States, be collected by persons of Congressional appointment; and would it not be advisable to pay the collectors so much per cent. on the sums collected?

Hamilton was nineteen at this time, and while there are many instances of mental precocity in the history of mankind, it is doubtful if there is a parallel case of so great a range of intellectual curiosity, or such versatility combined with pursuit of knowledge as distinct from information.  But the above notes are chiefly significant as showing that long before he could have dreamed of directing the finances of the United States, while he was wild with delight at the prospect of military excitement and glory, a part of his mind was imperiously attracted to the questions which were to become identified in American history with his name.

Washington often came in and sat for an hour with him; and although they talked military science and future campaigns invariably,—­for Washington was a man of little reading and his thoughts moved in a constant procession to one tune,—­this was perhaps the happiest period of their intercourse.  The Chief demanded nothing, and his young friend was free to give or not, as he chose.  In that interval nothing gave Hamilton such pleasure as to see Washington come into the cool library, his face softening.

“You have a streak of light in you that never goes out,” said the man of many burdens once.  “When I catch a spark of it, I am cheered for the rest of the day.  When I am close to it for a time, I can feel the iron lid on my spirits lifting as if it were on a bubbling pot.  I believe you are something more than human.”

During the first of these conversations Hamilton suggested the advisability of keeping up the spirits of the raw troops by drawing the enemy in separate detachments into constant skirmishes, a plan in which the Americans were sure to have every advantage; and this policy was pursued until Washington fell back into Westchester County.

The American troops under Washington numbered about nineteen thousand men, in one-third of whom the Chief felt something like confidence.  Many were grumbling at the prospect of a winter in the discomforts of camp life; others were rejoicing that their time of service drew to a close; all were raw.  Nevertheless, he determined to give the British battle on the shore of the Bronx River, where they were camped with the intention of cutting him off from the rest of the country.

Both armies were near White Plains on the morning of the 28th of October.  Most of the Americans were behind the breastworks they had thrown up, and the British were upon the hills below, on the opposite side of the Bronx.  On the American side of the stream was an eminence called Chatterton’s Hill, and on the evening of the 27th Colonel Haslet was stationed on this height, with sixteen hundred men, in order to prevent the enfilading of the right wing of the army.  Early the next morning McDougall was ordered to reinforce Haslet with a small corps and two pieces of artillery under Hamilton, and to assume general command.