Name/Title
Letter from William Duer to Alexander HamiltonEntry/Object ID
HHV 007.9Description
Letter from William Duer to Alexander HamiltonSubject
Panic of 1792 and Fair Creditor, assess the terms of fair creditor, the practice of usary, class, classes, system of morality, contracted, contract, agent, debtors' prison, jailSubject Person/Organization
William Duer (1743-1799), Alexander HamiltonSubject Place
* Untyped Subject Place
New York, Philadelphia, PA, GallipolisCollection
Duer Manuscript CollectionTranscription
March 22d. 1792.
My dear Friend
I know not how to Express to you the Consolation / I have derived in reading your Letter _: to [preserve] your Affection, and to deserve it—is my Principal, and Ardent / wish _ this I am sure will be the Case, if I strictly / follow the Line you mark out. _ The Object of this Letter which I send by Express _ / is to know precisely what Idea you Assess to the Term / fair Creditor which you use in your [inserted: Letter] _ The Practice / of Usary has so Infected all Classes in this City where this / Doctrine is maintained by Persons whose Names, you would / be astonished to Learn_: “That their Claims ought to Come / in for an Equal Dividend with all others.” _ At present neither / my judgment, or Feelings accord with this Opinion; and I / have rigidly opposed it in the Spite of all Measures, (and (shall [crossed out; illegible] I tell you my Friend) Even at the Risque of Life)_ / If on the best Estimate I can at present form of my affairs / the admission of this Description of a Man to a Dividend, would / [crossed out; illegible] pare down to almost nothing, the bona fide claims of / Creditors of other Descriptions, or the honorable Claims of Friends_ / Shall I consent to this new System of Morality? _ The / Bulk of the present Claims was contracted by an Agent on / most Extravagant, Usary; with whose appropriations I am at / present Unacquainted _ Give me your mature, and candid / opinion—it shall be (if you chuse), preserved by me in / [WRITTEN IN MARGIN] inviolable Confidence _ and whatever may happen, I will submit to present / Calumny, & Clamors rather than obtain precious Tranquility, at the Expence / of solid, and [crossed out, illegible] permanent Esteem, of yourself, and the few Valuable / Friends I have still left _ May heaven preserve your life—and make you / and yours as happy, as I am at present miserable.W Duer [END OF PAGE 1]
[ADDRESSED TO]
ToAlexander Hamilton Esq.Phila.
[REVERSE OF ADDRESS]
22 Nov 1792Wm DuerNo 6 [LATER]As to his affairs _ H’s advice
[END OF LETTER]Other Names and Numbers
Other Numbers
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Former NumberOther Number
H 3007Number Type
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D 3007General Notes
Note Type
DepartmentNote
Library
