t to present a forcible written brief
was another thing. So young Hamilton put his reasons on paper, and their
success surprised the boys at the boarding-house, and the college chums
and the professors, and probably himself as well. His name was on the lips
of all Whigdom, and the Tories sent messengers to buy him off.

But Congress was willing to pay its defenders, and money came from
somewhere--not much, but all the young man needed. College was dropped;
the political pot boiled; and the study of history, economics and
statecraft filled the daylight hours to the brim and often ran over into
the night.

The Winter of Seventeen Hundred Seventy-five passed away; the plot
thickened. New York had reluctantly consented to be represented in
Congress and agreed grumpily to join hands with the Colonies.

The redcoats had marched out to Concord--and back; and the embattled
farmers had stood and fired the shot "heard 'round the world."

Hamilton was working hard to bring New York over to an understanding that
she must stand firm against English rule. He organized meetings, gave
addresses, wrote letters, newspaper articles and pamphlets. Then he joined
a military company and was perfecting himself in the science of war.

There were frequent outbreaks between Tory mobs and Whigs, and the
breaking up of your opponents' meeting was looked upon as a pleasant
pastime.

Then came the British ship "Asia" and opened fire on the town. This no
doubt made Whigs of a good many Tories. Whig sentiment was on the
increase; gangs of men marched through the streets and the king's stores
were broken into, and prominent Royalists found their houses being
threatened.

Doctor Cooper, President of King's College, had been very pronounced in
his rebukes to Congress and the Colonies, and a mob made its way to his
house. Arriving there, Hamilton and his chum Troup were found on the
steps, determined to protect the place. Hamilton stepped forward, and in a
strong speech urged that Doctor Cooper had merely expressed his own
private views, which he had a right to do, and the house must not on any
account be molested. While the parley was in progress, old Doctor Cooper
himself appeared at one of the upper windows and excitedly cautioned the
crowd not to listen to that blatant young rapscallion Hamilton, as he was
a rogue and a varlet and a vagrom. The good Doctor then slammed the window
and escaped by the back way.

His remarks raised a laugh in whi