doug hamilton back their representatives ancestor alexander hamilton in the society.here is only one hamilton, right? >> [inaudible] there was a backup plan on the older ones. >> i think the episcopal church has an arrangement like that with bishops, too. but it's a hereditary society. it has been going on for all of this time. it was considered a really, really dangerous thing by certain people after the war. of course, thomas jefferson was really fearful of the society of cincinnati. he was fearful of any organization -- she did not like the military -- but he was fearful of any organization that seem to be elitist and that he thought might become an instrument which would undermine the liberties of the american people. cincinnatus, of course, was this great roman general. we remember him because he was at that point in history the only one who having put together this big army and oneness major campaign left it and went home and became a farmer again. of course, washington is often considered to be like cincinnatus. lot of parallels made to cincinnatus, more than t

one of his descendents is sitting in the back there, doug hamilton, who was the fifth grade grandson of alexander hamilton who would make him a sixth great grandson of philip skyler. anyway, skyler writes this incredible letter to his son. to whom he has just given a part of his estate and is explaining how things are going to be shared and what will happen when something happens to him and to his wife, and what he has to say in here is pretty interesting. happiness ought to be the aim and end of the exertions of every rational creature and spiritual happiness should take the lead. in fact, temporal happiness without the former does not really exist except in name. the whole idea of happiness was an incredibly powerful philosophical strain that runs through this generation and they had so many different ways to address it, so many different ways to work at it, but they all believed that was really the chief aim of human beings, that we need to be happy people. we think about happiness in completely different terms but i think they really decided that happiness is best achieved by work