Complete Works. Hamilton Alexander
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for a tract of land contracted for with A. Burr & Advice.
An inspection of a large number of trial notes and briefs shows that Hamilton prepared his cases with great care, in which work he was usually unaided. His artistic handwriting, as a rule, was fine, but often bold, attracting the eye in places by the underscoring of words. It varies but little in character. He was never careless, and the end of a brief was as legible as the beginning. He rarely, as has been pointed out, "crossed his t's,'" and never "dotted his i's," but was scrupulous in punctuation and arrangement, and his use of English was perfect. There is, in his briefs, great freedom from corrections, indicating that when he wrote anything it was well thought out and decided upon before hand. The trial notes intended for his own use are most interesting, containing as they do frequent apt and pungent suggestions to be used in court, and are all orderly and free from redundancies. He never repeated himself, while his headings of subjects and lines of argument prepared to demolish his antagonist were progressive in their pertinency and gained in force as he proceeded. In the Le Guen trial, the little duodecimo booklet of manuscript fastened together at the back with a needle and thread contains many curious reflections, among which are the following:
"A man must have been a blockhead who would part with such a valuable lien knowingly," and again he says that it is "the clearest case he ever met with. We could not expect that any judge would be unwilling to be wiser today than tomorrow." He insists that he "will want no books [to convince the jury] but will appeal to principle written in the heart of man." As a compliment to the judge, under the caption of "Politesse," he says, "This- proves he did right to send it [the case] to a Jury," and again, "How necessary for those who sit in judgment, when life, fame, &c is concerned to preserve their minds cold and dispassionate." He observes satirically that there is much extenuation. "Immoral acts are not always morally wrong." And that "persons habituated to deal where verbal contracts are not attended to, merit more loose in their conversation. They will hazard more with reason." He refers to his antagonists as the "dupes of their own virtues."
He never went into court without a preparedness which is shown by the arsenal of authorities usually referred to in abbreviated titles, and enumerated on the left-hand side of the paper. Elsewhere we find long and very legible Latin quotations of which he might avail himself, as was the custom of the day.
In these times the progress of a trial is often interrupted by a recess granted for the purpose of sending out to the library for an authority. No such thing occurred in the early history of our courts, if we may judge from Hamilton's notes, and it is probable that all the lawyers of the time followed his example. The chief works referred to are Vatel, Blackstone, Fonblanque, Burrowes, Atkyns, Lord Raymond, Coke, Comyns, Grotius. Among Hamilton's own law books were the standard folios, many of which are printed in Latin. One of his English books was "Practice Commonplaced; or Rules and Cases of Practice in the Court Arranged, Etc.," by G. Crompton, which was published in London in 1783. A copy that recently found its way to an auction room bore his signature on each of ten pages, including the title-page and fly-leaf, with MS. notes on various other pages. This was one of his first books, bought by him in 1785 and used during his early years of practice.
One may almost grasp and appreciate the mental operations of Hamilton when he prepared his notes, for they today almost breathe his individuality. He freely uses the index mark, either singly or in multiple, to direct attention to points of varying importance which he is to emphasize; again, there is not only curious underscoring, but words or sentences are printed in large letters or bracketed. There are interesting comments upon the veracity of the witnesses, and his opinions of them and these are not always complimentary. In one place he makes the note to "Speak rather lightly of