States till within two days of the expiration of his term of service as vice-president; the last public duty of any importance performed by him having been to preside at the trial of Judge Chase, who was impeached by the House of Representatives for 'high crimes and misdemeanors.' It was not very long afterwards that he formed the scheme of his singular, and even yet not satisfactorily explained, western expedition, which led to his arrest, and trials at Richmond, in Virginia, in August and September, 1807, for treason first, and then for a misdemeanor. He was acquitted or both these charges. In June, 1808, he embarked from New York for England; induced to take this step, in a certain degree, by the personal and political prejudices that had been excited against him, by the death of Hamilton, and by the equivocal course he had pursued in the western country, but, in a degree also, by an expectation of being able to obtain encouragement and assistance from some of the European governments, for attempting the emancipation of the Spanish American colonies from the oppressive domination of the mother country,—a project which he had long contemplated. His efforts in this respect were, however, entirely unsuccessful; and he returned to the United States in June, 1812, after an absence abroad of 4 years. He opened an office in the city of New York, and practiced the law there, but without attracting the attention of the public to any considerable extent. In 1816, General Toledo, then in the city of New York, and whose object in visiting the United States was 'not only to obtain the means of continuing the war (of Mexico against Spain), but to seek the person best capable of employing them,' invited him to 'assume the management' of the 'political and military affairs' of the Mexican republic. Colonel Burr declined this invitation. But again, in 1819, he received a commission from the government of Venezuela, authorizing him to raise troops for the sea and land service of that republic, and pledging itself to pay all debts of his contracting in the exercise of the authority granted him. Colonel Burr died on the 14th of September, 1836, in the 81st year of his age, on Staten Island, where he had passed the summer for the benefit of the pure air. Agreeably to his own request, his body was conveyed to Princeton, to be there buried.
ALEXANDER HAMILTON.
Alexander Hamilton was born in 1757, in the island of Nevis. His
father was a native of England, and his mother of the island. At the
age of 16, he became a student of Columbia college, his mother having
emigrated to New York. He had not been in that institution more than a
year, before he gave a brilliant manifestation of the powers of his mind
in the discussion concerning the rights of the colonies. In support of
these he published several essays, which were marked by such vigor and
maturity of style, strength of argument, and wisdom and compass of views,
that Mr. Jay, at that time in the meridian of life, was supposed, at first, to
be the author. When it had become necessary to unsheath the sword, the
ardent spirit of young Hamilton would no longer allow him to remain in
academic retirement; and before the age of 19, he entered the American
army, with the rank of captain of artillery. In this capacity, he soon
attracted the attention of the commander-in-chief, who appointed him his
aid-de-camp, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. This occurred in 1777,
