“No, sir,” replied Burr, whom an archangel could not have rebuked.  “In the present condition of things all methods are justifiable.  Hamilton is great but adaptable.  I respect him for that quality above all others, for he is quite the most imperious character in America, and his natural instinct is to come out and say, ’You idiots, fall into line behind me and stop twaddling.  I will do your thinking; be kind enough not to delay me further.’  On the other hand, he is forced to be diplomatic, to persuade where he would command, to move slowly instead of charging at the point of the bayonet.  So, although I have no sympathy with his pronounced monarchical inclinations, I respect his acquired methods of getting what he wants.”

“What do you mean by pronounced monarchical inclinations?” snorted Governor Livingston, who could not endure Burr.

Burr gave his peculiar sardonic laugh.  “Will you deny it, sir?”

“Deny it?  I certainly am in Mr. Hamilton’s confidence to no such extent, and I challenge you to indicate one sentence in his published writings which points to such a conclusion.”

“Ah, he is too clever for that; but his very walk, his whole personality expresses it, to say nothing of the fact that he never thinks of denying his admiration of the British Constitution.  And did he not defend the Tories after the evacuation, when no other lawyer would touch them?  I admired his courage, but it was sufficient evidence of the catholicity of his sentiments.”

“Mr. Hamilton defended the abstract principle of right against wrong in defending the wretched Tories against the persecutions of an unmagnanimous public sentiment,” said Jay, witheringly.  “I should advise you, young gentleman, to become a disciple of Mr. Hamilton.  I can recommend no course which would prove so beneficial.”  And he turned on his heel.

He had hit Burr.  The jealousy born in Albany had thriven with much sustenance since.  Hamilton was by far the most prominent figure at the New York bar, and was hastening to its leadership.  Burr was conspicuous for legal ability, but never would be first while Hamilton was in the race.  Moreover, although Hamilton had not then reached that dizzy height from which a few years later he looked down upon a gaping world, he was the leader of a growing and important party, intelligently followed and worshipped by the most eminent men in the Confederation, many of them old enough to be his father; and he was the theme of every drawing-room, of every coffee-house group and conclave.  His constant pamphlets on the subject nearest to all men’s hearts, his eloquent speeches on the same theme upon every possible occasion, and the extraordinary brilliance of his legal victories, gave people no time to think of other men.  When he entered a drawing-room general conversation ceased, and the company revolved about him so long as he remained.  When he spoke, all the world went to hear.  For an ambitious young man to be told to attach himself to the train of this conquering hero was more than poor Burr could stand, and he replied angrily:—­