Such a wife as I want will, I know, be difficult to be found, but if you succeed, it will be the stronger proof of your zeal and dexterity. . .

But as you have done it, and as we are generally indulgent to those we love, I shall not scruple to pardon the fraud you have committed, on one condition that for my sake, if not for your own, you will always continue to merit the partiality, which you have so artfully instilled into me. . .Īnd Now my Dear as we are upon the subject of wife, I empower and command you to get me one in Carolina.

You should not have taken advantage of my sensibility, to steal into my affections without my consent. You know the opinion I entertain of mankind, and how much it is my desire to preserve myself free from particular attachments, and to keep my happiness independent of the caprice of others. I shall only tell you that 'till you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you. My friendship for you will burn with that pure flame which has kindled you your virtues.' Hamilton, who had not yet married, playfully raises the subject of marriage as a substitute or displacement for his own love of Laurens, as an opportunity to explore his own feelings and to gauge the other man's response.Ĭold in my professions warm in my friendships I wish, my Dear Laurens, it were in my power, by actions rather than words, to convince you that I love you. Laurens had married in 1776, but his letters were passionate on the subject of friendship, as when he wrote to his friend Richard Meade: 'Adieu: I embrace you tenderly. . . Hamilton wrote to Laurens while Laurens was organizing black slaves to fight the British in South Carolina in 1779, and after Laurens' capture in 1780. He was killed in a minor foraging party on August 27, 1782. On his release, he went to France to raise funds for the Revolutionary Army, which he rejoined on his return. In 1780 he was held prisoner of war by the British at the defeat of Charleston, South Carolina. The aristocratic Southerner John Laurens (1754–1782), also an aide to General Washington, once fought a duel to defend Washington's honour. His long-time adversary Vice President Aaron Burr killed him in a duel in 1804.

After the war he helped to found the Federalist Party (writing many noted essays in The Federalist) and influenced national politics. He served in the Continental Congress 1782–3, then began a law practice in New York. Revolutionary Love The Gay Love Letters of Alexander Hamilton Excerpts from My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through theĬenturies (1998), Edited by Rictor NortonĪlexander Hamilton (1757–1804) was a pamphleteer in support of Colonial freedom, and fought in the American Revolutionary Army under George Washington and Lafayette. Gay Love Letters through the Centuries: Alexander Hamilton

Alexander hamilton's writings