#fisher ames

[temp-kiehls]

A sketch of the character of Alexander Hamilton - Fisher Ames (x)

[howcomethatthisishappening]

So after previously only ever being amazed at other people on here finding and exposing Chernow falsities, I am now proud to say that I have now uncovered one all on my own (though of course someone else might have found this already but if they have I haven’t found them saying so).

It’s about a quote describing the appearance of Alexander Hamilton that Chernow claims is by Fisher Ames, a federalist, member of the Essex Junto and great admirer of Hamilton (spoiler: it isn’t).

(Very long post. There’s a tl;dr at the end if you don’t want the details or how I got there.)

In the article “The Erotic Charisma of Alexander Hamilton” (read here or on JSTOR) the author writes:

“His good friend and fellow Federalist Fisher Ames (1758–1808) rhapsodized about him, particularly admiring his eyes (“of a deep azure, eminently beautiful”) and his physical deportment (“one of the most elegant of mortals” with “easy, graceful, and polished movements”).”

That’s Fisher Ames

The eye part is probably the more widely known part of this quote but the most elegant of mortals part is the funnier one. Now this isn’t too crazy but still quite the thing to say about someone. Not that I wouldn’t have thought Fisher Ames to be capable of that, he did write what I call the glazing manifesto about Ham after his death after all. You can read that here, it’s fun. But still, I thought, I’d check where it came from.

The citation was of course Chernow. Since the man sometimes just doesn’t cite at all, I went to the copy I acquired some time ago for these purposes to check if he did cite here. And he did!

On page 51 he writes: “His later federalist friend Fisher Ames left some graphic impressions of Hamilton’s appearance. Of his eyes he said, “These were of a deep azure, eminently beautiful, without the slightest trace of hardness and severity, and beamed with higher expressions of intelligence and discernment than any others that I ever saw.” Ames often bumped into Hamilton on his daily walks and said “he displayed in his manners and movements a degree of refinement and grace which I never witnessed in any other man … and I am quite confident that those who knew him intimately will cheerfully subscribe to my opinion that he was one of the most elegant of mortals. […]””

This is footnote 26 of this chapter (three) and that is the following citation: New York Mirror, n.d. Copy in LC-AHP, reel 31.

With LC-AHP he means the Papers of Alexander Hamilton as hosted by the Library of Congress, he has an abbreviations key for that fortunately because all kinds of things abbreviated AHP are hosted by the Library of Congress and the Ham papers isn’t one of them. They’re PAH but whatever.

So firstly I searched for New York Mirror in the PAH and found there to be no such document. Then I went to the reel 31 that he cites specifically and again that doesn’t exist as a document.

Turns out it’s not a document of its own, it’s just a clipping in the file “Clippings” of the file “Miscellany” (which is one of two files titled reel 31) but Chernow couldn’t be bothered to add that to his citation and instead made me go through all of reel 31 which took me some time because I was supposed to be doing other things.

(I did find all kinds of funny stuff doing that though, so that’s positive. I might share some of it later.)

Because it’s just a newspaper clipping we’re missing some information, like Chernow says it’s not dated (n.d.), we don’t have the full context and as you will see we also can’t say who wrote that. But the quote is in fact there and real. Let’s get into it.

So first of all it’s way more insane than Chernow let’s on so read it yourself here in full (on danger of choking on your drink)

Secondly, the context:

So apparently there was some sort of description of AHam printed in the New York Mirror, our not-Fisher Ames had gripes with it and wrote to the Editor of the New York Mirror, his corrections being subsequently printed as well. Then someone requested it and it was re-printed in “The American” (I can’t say what paper that is, there were many with The American in their title).

Then there’s part one of the elegance quote:

This is quoted correctly but I included the sentences before that because Chernow says “Ames often bumped into Hamilton on his daily walks”. Is it just me or does the first sentence sound less like them walking together and more this person watching (stalking) Ham?

Here’s the most elegant part:

There’s some insane glazing in between but I’ll spare you that, you can just go read it yourselves if you wish.

The eye part:

I’ll be nitpicky because why not, it’s “They were” not “These were”. And he left out the best part of this honestly. “Human face divine” lmao. We’re quoting John Milton for this I guess. (It’s a quote from Paradise Lost)

Lastly, we have a sign off:

“Remembrancer”

So it’s anonymous…

After finding the quote where Chernow vaguely said it was, I expected him to have been correct but I really don’t know where he could have possibly gotten Fisher Ames from in relation to this. Did he just pick someone who would seem realistic because they were glazing Hamilton anyway?

Because not only is there no indication of this Remembrancer being Fisher Ames (it’s anonymous and also has no private information that would point towards him. Even if we’re assuming Chernow got it from somewhere that Ames did often accompany Ham on walks and this person was walking with him too, what kind of evidence is that??? Generally this could have been anyone who knew him personally in his later years.) it’s actually impossible for this to have been Ames.

The “New York Mirror” was first published in 1823. There were other newspapers of that or a similar name later but seemingly not before. Fisher Ames died in 1808!

At first I thought the original quote might have been re-printed in the NYM but alas, that’s not it. It was clearly a correction addressed explicitly to the editor of the New York Mirror which didn’t exist while Ames was alive.

Subsequently this is not Ames but some unidentified contemporary AHam fanboy or fangirl and Chernow is wrong! (Unless he knows something he doesn’t want to share with the class?)

Ha! I fact-checked you, Ron!

So there you have it. Of course, if someone else knows anything more about the mystery writer or does in fact have information debunking what I just explained too elaborately, let me know.

If you read to the end, congratulations and I love you. Have a cookie 🍪

tl;dr: The quote exists and is correct but it’s not by Fisher Ames as Chernow claims because that guy was dead by the time it was written. Instead it’s some anonymous writer. (Who’s kind of in love with and potentially used to stalk AHam.)

[icarusbetide]

screaminggg i was rereading the fisher ames quote on hamilton's eyes and i forgot that it was basically him going

"some dumbass said hamilton's eyes were gray when they were azure. unforgiveable. the most beautiful eyes god has ever gifted to humanity and you're talking about gray?"

I'm not joking, here's the quote from the New York Mirror:

The same writer remarks that General Hamilton’s eyes were grey. This is a mistake. They were of a deep azure, eminently beautiful, without the slightest trace of hardness or severity, and beamed with higher expressions of intelligence and discernment than any others I saw oscillate in the “human face divine.”

"This is a mistake." with the hard stop is killing me for some reason.

Link

[yr-obedt-cicero]

“It deeply laments, when it turns its eyes back, and sees what Hamilton was; but my soul stiffens with despair when I think what Hamilton would have been. His social affections and his private virtues are not, however, so properly the object of public attention, as the conspicuous and commanding qualities that gave him his fame and influence in the world. It is not as Apollo, enchanting the shepherds with his lyre, that we deplore him; it is as Hercules, treacherously slain in the midst of his unfinished labors, leaving the world overrun with monsters.”

Works of Fisher Ames: With a Selection from His Speeches and Correspondence, Volume 2

[littlewritingrabbit]

Honestly? I aspire to someday have the eloquent reverence for something that Fisher Ames had for Hamilton’s eyes.

[aswithasunbeam]

What was Ham’s relationship (if there was one) with Fisher Ames like? I read a quote not long ago along the lines of vaguely “when Washington died he left Hamilton, when Hamilton died he left Ames but Ames did not leave a equal.” so I imagine he was a pretty high ranking federalist & that Ham would of interacted with him?

Great question! Fisher Ames was a Massachusetts Federalist who served as a representative in the House from the first Congress in 1789 through 1796. He certainly ran in Hamilton’s circle, and was also friendly with other high ranking Federalists such as Oliver Wolcott, Rufus King, and George Cabot. Ames’ letters to Hamilton are full of respect and evidence a friendly relationship between the two. For example, at the end of a long letter regarding Ames’ opinion on an association of state banks dated 15 August 1791, Ames remarked dryly: “We have you exhibited here in Wax. You see that they are resolved to get money by you in every form.”

Ames was also one of the Federalists urging Hamilton not to split the party during the election of 1800 by attacking John Adams or attempting to swing votes to Charles C. Pinckney. On 26 August 1800, he wrote to Hamilton regarding his planned Adams pamphlet:

I am therefore clear that you ought not with your name, nor if practicable in any way that will be traced to you, to execute your purpose of exposing the reasons for a change of the executive. But a strong appeal to the sense and principles of the real Federalists would not, or need not, contradict or discredit the language above stated. I have tried to compress as much as I can into one sheet. But I have much more I wish to suggest to you. I have no occasion to say how highly I respect your judgment, but I exceedingly desire to discuss with you the point of the changes which the Jacobins may force the nation to make in the plan of the Govt.

George Cabot had written Hamilton a few days earlier, on 21 August 1800, with similar thoughts, ending his letter with the caution that by publishing the pamphlet, “Ames & I agree that you will give the enemy an advantage to which he has no claim.” (Hamilton, of course, failed to take this advice.)

Despite the divisive 1800 election, Ames retained feelings of great warmth and respect for Hamilton. Ames wrote a moving speech about Hamilton soon after the fatal duel in 1804. Describing Hamilton as a friend, Ames wrote: 

Such is the infirmity of human nature, it is very difficult for a man, who is greatly the superior of his associates, to preserve their friendship without abatement; yet, though he could not possibly conceal his superiority, he was so little inclined to display it, he was so much at ease in its possession, that no jealousy or envy chilled his bosom, when his friends obtained praise. He was, indeed, so entirely the friend of his friends, so magnanimous, so superior, or, more properly, so insensible to all exclusive selfishness of spirit, so frank, so ardent, yet so little overbearing, so much trusted, admired, beloved, almost adored, that his power over their affections was almost entire, and lasted through his life. We do not believe that he left any worthy man his foe, who had ever been his friend. (Works of Fisher Ames, pp. 284-285.)

[wrathofgnon]

“It has never happened in the world, and it never will, that a democracy has been kept out of the control of the fiercest and most turbulent spirits in the society; they will breathe into it all their own fury, and make it subservient to the worst designs of the worst men.” 

— Fisher Ames, 1805

[johnmarshall]

[James Madison] is probably deficient in that fervor and vigor of character which you will expect in a great man.... [He is] too much of a book politician...[and] too much attached to his theories.

An absolute savage, Fisher Ames, 1789.