Excerpt from Scandalmonger by William Safire, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Then she told me that her husband had been engaged in speculation in claims on the Treasury," Hamilton recounted. "She said he could give me useful information about the corruption of some persons in my department. That was when I sent for him and he came to see me."

When neither investigator asked the reason, Wolcott put in, "What did Reynolds want from you?"

"Employment in the Treasury Department. I may have used vague expressions which raised his expectations. My situation with his wife naturally inclined me to conciliate this man, but the more I learned of him, the more inadmissible his employment in public service became. I hazarded his resentment by refusing. Whatever the impropriety of my private behavior, my refusal to put him on the public payroll demonstrates the delicacy of my conduct in its public relations."

"I think we need proceed no further," said Muhlenberg, his discomfort obvious at prying into a man's private passion.

"On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, I insist that you see everything, to lay this to rest once and for all."

Hamilton proceeded to lay out letter after letter, written in a feminine hand and with egregious misspellings, that he said had come from Maria importuning him to meet her, professing her love, confiding her misery: "Let me once more see you and unbosom myself to you...."

He interspersed these purported cries for his affection with near-illiterate notes from James Reynolds pleading for money. One proclaimed he had discovered their affair and forgave them, wanting only $90 for his pain, another that "she is determined never to be a wife to me any more" because of her love for Hamilton. Reynolds then in effect offered to sell his estranged wife's exclusive affections to her lover.

"This proves that they acted in concert, from the start," Hamilton concluded, "to entrap me."

Wolcott, eager to believe his friend, was not sure that such collusion in entrapment was proven; it would be fairer to say it was indicated. He hoped the investigators would be too stunned by the sexual revelations to pursue this point, and was relieved when they did not.

"They tried to use my own vile weakness," Hamilton concluded, "to extort from me the employment of Reynolds in a position where he could debauch the public trust. Not only that, but they tried to bleed whatever money they could from my personal funds, which they mistakenly thought were limitless."

Muhlenberg was shocked into an apology. "We need trouble you no more, sir."

Monroe, however, was not completely persuaded. "There is the matter of Reynolds's visit to you after his release from jail and then his disappearance," he said. "His note to Clingman, the one with the part erased, says you were providing money for his flight."

"Nonsense," Hamilton retorted, "and the 'part erased' casts suspicion on the note itself. How am I responsible for his disappearance? Isn't it probable Reynolds fled to avoid detection and punishment in other cases, and was deeply in debt? What more natural than after being jailed for a crime, to run from creditors as fast and as far as possible?"

"That's only logical," Muhlenberg agreed.

"My crime is moral, not pecuniary," Hamilton said in summation. "I have cheated my wife, and am profoundly ashamed of my behavior, but I have never cheated the public by engaging in or permitting speculation based on advance information of Treasury actions." He paused. "Do you think this indelicate amour -- deserving personal censure, but not involving the public monies -- is a fit subject to be brought before President Washington?"

"No," said Muhlenberg.

"I am inclined not to trouble him with it," Monroe agreed, to Hamilton's evident relief. "But I want to put together the complete record before making that decision final." He gathered up all the letters on the table. "May we have your notes as well?" Hamilton, determined to demonstrate that he had nothing to hide, offered up his original notes, asking only that copies be made and returned to him. "Your privacy will be respected," Monroe assured him. They were all, after all, men of honor. "The copying will be done by the Clerk of the House and given only to us."

Copyright William Safire February 2000. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the publisher, Simon & Schuster