To Alexander Hamilton from Isaac Ledyard, 17 February 1792
From Isaac Ledyard
N York 17 Feby 1792
Dear sir
I can not see a necessity for Mr. Burrs having cause to consider you as unfriendly to him.1
The circumstance of Mr. Jays candidateship2 he knows is a conclusive objection to your aiding his views & for you to be publicly & declaredly Mr. Jays advocate here would have questionable consequences with respect to the advancement of his cause. Mr. Burr has reasons to be unwilling to offend even me by offending you on whose account principally he knows I have been his friend, from just before the time Mr. Hazard3 visited you in Phila. I shall therefore presume to act as a bond of union between you untill I have the honor to hear further from you.
I have just recd. yours4 & am suddenly leaving Town. I shall do myself the pleasure to write you more fully anon, and am with every sentiment of respect & attachment your
Isaac Ledyard
A Hamilton Esqr
ALS, Hamilton Papers, Library of Congress.
1. H was opposed to giving Federalist support to Aaron Burr in the New York gubernatorial election. See Philip Schuyler to H, January 29, 1792; Ledyard to H, February 1, 1792; James Watson to H, February 2, 1792.
2. On February 9, 1792, a meeting of Federalists in New York City had voted to support John Jay as governor and Stephen Van Rensselaer as lieutenant governor (The [New York] Daily Advertiser, February 17, 25, 1792). The traditional account of Jay’s candidacy, repeated by most historians who have written on the subject, is that H persuaded Jay to run and dictated his nomination to the New York Federalists. No letters by H, however, have been found to substantiate this version.
3. Nathaniel Hazard.
4. Letter not found.