USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V.1 > Part 29
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" From the college and the church the affair passed into the newspapers. The faculty published in the daily journals a lengthy vindication of their course, and were answered by a rejoinder from the graduating class, and by 46
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replies from others who were present. A complaint was made to the grand jury, and seven of the principal actors, -Stevenson, Verplanck, and Maxwell being included,- were indicted ; and, at the August term of the Court of Sessions, or, as it was then popularly called, the Mayor's Court, they were arraigned and put upon their trial for the criminal offense of creating or assisting in a riot. De Witt Clinton, being then Mayor of the city, presided ; and from the unusual circumstance of such an occurrence in a church upon such an occasion, and the fact that all who were indicted were members of leading families of the city, the trial excited the deepest interest. Verplanck and Maxwell defended themselves, and three of the most eminent counsel of that day, David B. Ogden, Josiah O. Hoffman, and Peter A. Jay, appeared for the other defendants. The principal members of the faculty were examined as witnesses, conspicuous among whom was Dr. Mason, the provost of the college, in the earnestness and zeal which he displayed to secure a conviction. He was at the time the most eloquent preacher in the city, or, indeed, in the country, and in giving his testimony brought all the weight of his popularity and his intellectual gifts to bear with great effect against the accused.
" Verplanck addressed the jury upon his own behalf. He declared, which was no doubt the truth, that he was moved to do what he did solely from his sense of the injustice of the college authorities, in publicly refusing to confer the degree because the young man would not utter their political sentiments. 'There was,' he said, 'gentlemen of the jury, a lofty spirit of gallantry about the conduct of Mr. Maxwell, with which, at the time, I could not but sympathize, and which now I cannot but admire. He was bold in the cause of friendship and of character. I ap- proved of his behavior, and I am proud that I did so ;' and then gratified his own feelings, at least, by telling the jury
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that Dr. Mason was 'a man towering in the proud con- sciousness of intellectual strength, little accustomed to yield, or even to listen to the opinions of others, that he appeared as a witness pouring forth upon him and Max- well all the bitterness of his rancor and the overboiling of his contempt ; throwing off the priest and the gentleman and assuming the buffoon ; showering upon them his deli- cate irony, his choice simile of the congregation of snakes, and all the other savory flowers of rhetoric, in which he was so fertile, and had poured forth in such abundance,' and, appealing to the jury, asked, ' What credit will you give to a witness, inflamed by passion, smarting with wounded pride, and mortified self-confidence ?'
" It was very doubtful whether the offense, which the law denominates a riot, had been proved, or in fact com- mitted-whether there was any thing more than a strong expression of disapprobation on the part of the audience, an occurrence more or less incident to the nature of public assemblages, which became a scene of disorder from the faculty persisting in refusing to give the young man his diploma. No actual violence on the part of any of the defendants was proved, nor was what occurred of a nature to create public terror, a necessary ingredient in the crime of riot. There was probably nothing more than a breach of the peace.
" It was pertinently suggested by Mr. Jay, that, if the college permitted the students to discuss a political ques- tion, as a part of the public exercises at a commencement, they should have been allowed the free exercise of their own views in the discussion of it, and that the supervision of their remarks should have been confined to the correc- tion merely of literary defects; that otherwise there was no freedom in the debate, but the students were simply mouth-pieces to utter the political views and sentiments of the professors; that there was nothing in the statutes
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of the college which imposed the penalty of a refusal of a degree if a student would not incorporate in his speech what a professor directed him to put in ; that a resolution had been inserted in the minutes of 1796, subjecting the compositions of the students to the inspection of the faculty, and, if any such penalty as the deprivation of a degree were attached, the students were left in ignorance of it, as there was nothing of the kind in the college statutes; and he argued that it was not the young men upon trial, but the faculty, who were responsible for the disturbance ; that they had, perhaps, without sufficient reflection, fallen into an error, which their pride prevented them afterwards from admitting. They had committed a palpable act of injustice, and it was their unwillingness to recede from it, and their determination to persist in it, that had exasperated the audience. They, consequently, were the real authors of the riot, if there was one; but he insisted, as did the other counsel for the defense, that, in the sense of the law, there had been no riot.
" Clinton, however, had no misgivings in respect to the law. He charged the jury that the offense had been committed, that all the defendants were guilty of it, and got rid of the definition of a riot by Hawkins, a learned elementary authority upon the criminal law, by declaring it to be 'undoubtedly bad.' He commented upon the con- duct of the defendants with great severity, and was espe- cially severe upon Verplanck. It was difficult, he said, to speak of his conduct in terms sufficiently strong; that he was one of the principal ringleaders ' in the scene of dis- order and disgrace,' and that in his reply to the provost, and in his moving a vote of thanks to Maxwell, he evinced 'a matchless insolence.' He told the jury that they were bound ' by every consideration arising out of the public peace and the public morals, and by their regard for an - institution venerable for its antiquity, to bring in all the
James monroe
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defendants guilty ;' that he had no hesitation in declaring that the disturbance was ' the most disgraceful, the most unprecedented, the most unjustifiable, and the most outra- geous, that had ever come to the knowledge of the court.' " Under this charge the jury found the defendants guilty. Verplanck and Maxwell were fined two hundred dollars each, which was imposed, says Renwick, Clinton's biographer, in an address conveying a severe, merited, and pointed reprimand. They were required, in addition, to procure sureties for their future good behavior; and the same authority states that Clinton hesitated for some time whether he was not called upon, by a regard for justice, to inflict also the disgrace of imprisonment."*
But before New York city was to attain to her present high position, she was destined to pass through another
* " But the result of the prosecution did not produce the effect which its promoters anticipated. Public feeling, especially in the Democratic party, was with the defendants, and the course of Clinton, upon the trial, greatly aug- mented the hostility of the Madisonian Democrats to him. We were then on the eve of a war with England. The measures of Madison had not been suffi- ciently energetic to satisfy the more ardent of the Democrats; and Clinton, relying upon a diversion of the dissatisfied portion of that party in his favor, had taken the field as a candidate for the Presidency against Madison, and at this very time was intriguing to secure the support of the Federalists. By the Democrats his course upon the trial was attributed to a desire to ingratiate him- self with the Federal party, and matters subsequently brought to light disclose that this belief was not wholly without foundation. Dr. Mason, a Federalist of the straitest sect, either shortly before or about the time of the trial, had acted as the private friend of Clinton in bringing about an interview between him and John Jay, Rufus King, and Gouverneur Morris, three of the principal Federal leaders, which failed of its object through Joli Jay's disgust at hear- ing Clinton say that he had never sympathized with the Democrats, but had always been in favor of the policy of Washington and Adams' administrations -an extraordinary statement from the man whose denunciation of the Federal leaders as ' men who had rather reign in hell than serve in heaven,' had rung through every part of the Union. It was, therefore, not without some ground that he was exposed to the suspicion of having been actuated upon this trial by a desire to do something that would gratify the Federalists, and especially his negotiator with them, a man of imperious temper and despotic will, who had set his heart upon the success of this prosecution."-Chief-Justice Daly's Discourss.
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period of darkness and depression-the War of 1812-a period, moreover, which was to be rendered additionally trying by the crippling of its resources by the terrible con- flagration of 1811. The late Hon. G. P. Disosway, who, with a few yet living, passed through this fiery ordeal, gives his personal reminiscences of this fire as follows :
" An extensive fire broke out in Chatham Street, near Duane, on Sunday morning, May 19th, 1811, raging furiously several hours. A brisk north-east wind was blowing at the moment, and the flames, spreading with great rapid- ity, for some time baffled all the exertions of the firemen and citizens. Between eighty and one hundred buildings, on both sides of Chatham Street, were con- sumed in a few hours.
" We well remember this conflagration. The writer was then a Sabbath- school boy, and a teacher in a public school-room near by, at the corner of Tryon Row. The school was dismissed, and, as usual, proceeded to old John Street Church, thick showers of light, burning shingles and cinders falling all over the streets. That was the day of shingle roofs. When the teachers and schol- ars, thefr number very large, reached the church, the venerable Bishop Mcken- dall occupied the pulpit, and seeing the immense clouds of dark smoke and liv- ing embers enveloping that section of the city, he advised the men ' to go to the fire and help in its extinguishment, and he would preach to the women and children.' This advice was followed.
" By this time the scene had become very exciting, impressive, and even fearful. We have not forgotten it, and never will. The wind had increased to a gale, and far and wide and high flew the blazing flakes in whirling eddies, throwing burning destruction wherever they lit or fell.
" The lofty spires near by of the 'Brick Meeting,' 'St. Paul's,' and ' St. George's Chapel,' enveloped in the rapidly passing embers, soon became the espe- cial objects of watchfulness and anxiety. Thousands of uplifted eyes, and, we doubt not, prayers, were directed towards these holy tabernacles, now threatened with speedy destruction. And there was cause for fear. Near the ball at the top of the ' Brick Church,' a blazing spot was seen outside, and apparently not larger than a man's head. Instantly a thrill of fear evidently ran through the bosoms of the thousands crowding the Park and the wide area of Chatham Street. They feared the safety of an old and loved temple of the Lord, and they feared, also, if the spire was once in flames, with the increasing gale, what would be the terrible consequence on the lower part of the city.
"'What can we do?' was the universal question-' What in the world can be done ?' was in everybody's mouth. The kindling spot could not be reached from the inside of the tall steeple, nor by ladders outside; neither could any fire-engine, however powerful, force the water to that lofty height. With the deepest anxiety, fear, and trembling, all faces were turned in that direction. At this moment of alarm and dread, a sailor appeared on the roof of the church, and very soon was seen climbing up the steeple, hand over hand, by the light- ning-rod !- yes, by the rusty, slender iron! Of course, the excitement now became most intense; and the perilous undertaking of the daring man was
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watched every moment, as he slowly, step by step, grasp after grasp, literally crawled upward, by means of his slim conductor. Many fears were expressed among the immense crowd, watching every inch of his ascent, for there was no resting-place for hands and feet, and he must hold on, or fall and perish ; and should he succeed in reaching the burning spot, how could he possibly extin- guish it, as water, neither by hose nor bucket, could be sent to his assistance ? ' But where there is a will; there is a way,' says an old maxim, and it was at this crisis he reached the kindling spot, and, firmly grasping the lightning-rod in one hand, with the other he removed his tarpaulin hat from his head, and with it literally, blow after blow, thick, strong, and unceasing, extinguished or beat out the fire! Shouts of joy and thanks greeted the noble fellow as he slowly and safely descended to the earth again." The ' Old Brick ' was thus preserved from the great conflagration of that Sunday morning. Our hero quickly disappeared in the crowd, and, it was said, immediately sailed abroad, with the favorable wind then blowing. A reward was offered for the person who performed this daring, generous act ; but it is said that some impostor passed himself off for the real hero, and obtained the promised amount.
" The cupola of the ' Old Jail,' which stood on the spot now occupied by the . Hall of Records,' also took fire. This was extinguished through the exertions of a prisoner ' on the limits.' This was the famous, generous institution where unfortunate debtors formerly were confined and barred in with grated doors and iron bolts, deprived of liberty, and without tools, books, paper, or pen, expected to pay their debts. It was a kind of 'Calcutta Black-Hole,' and the inmates having no yard-room, the prisoners frequented the top of the building for open-air exercise. Here they might be seen every hour of the day. Gen- erally discovering fires in the city, they gave the first alarm, by ringing the ' Jail-Bell.' This became a sure signal of a conflagration, and on this occasion they saved the legal pest-house from quick destruction. The Corporation rewarded the debtor who fortunately extinguished the threatened cupola.
" If the building had been destroyed and its inmates only saved, there would not have been much public regret, for it had been a sort of 'Calcutta Black-Hole' to American prisoners of war during the Revolution. After Gen- eral Washington's success, during 1777, in New Jersey, a portion of these poor prisoners were exchanged ; but many of them, exhausted by their confinement, before reaching the vessels for their embarkation home, fell dead in the streets These are some of the historical reminiscences of the ' Old Debtors' Prison,' which so narrowly escaped burning in the great fire of May, 1811."
Scarcely had the citizens of New York recovered from the disheartening effects of this fire, when, on the 20th of June, 1812, the news was received in the city of President Madison's declaration of war against 1812. Great Britain, issued a few days previous. A meeting was immediately called at noon of the same day, in the
* This sailor was the father of the late Rev. Dr. Hague, Pastor of the Baptist Church, corner of Thirty-first Street and Madison Avenue .- Letter from Thomas Hays to the Author.
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park, at which the citizens solemnly pledged themselves to give the Government their undivided support. Clinton, also,-although, as chief magistrate of the city, he could with perfect propriety have pleaded his official duties as an excuse for not taking an active part,-hastened to offer to the commander-in-chief his personal services for active operations in the field. These were preferred in a letter addressed to Governor Tompkins, by their mutual friend,. Thomas Addis Emmet. But the patriotism of Mr. Clinton did not stop here. The declaration of war had found us as a nation wholly unprepared for war. The treasury 'was empty, and its credit, at that time, impaired. It was, accordingly, soon perceived that, if the city of New York was to be defended, the funds for that purpose must be provided by her own citizens. At this crisis, Mr. Clinton suggested to the Common Council that they should borrow the necessary funds on the credit of the city, and loan the amount thus raised to the United States. The plan was approved. An impressive address, drafted by Mr .- Clinton, was made to our citizens, and a million of dollars -- at that time a large sum to be secured in this manner -- was raised by subscription for the defense of the city.
Nor was it only in repelling outside foes that the 1813.
virtues of Clinton's character were exhibited. His patriotism, his unshaken firmness in supporting the laws and in preserving the peace of the community, were at this time most conspicuous.
A state of war in every country produces a body of men who, under various specious pretexes, excite to acts of riot and disorder, which they turn to the gratifica- tion of their private and personal resentments, or their own malignant passions .* Disgraceful scenes of lawless violence and of bloodshed had recently occurred in a
* Vide, for example, the " Draft Riot" in New York in 1863.
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sister city, and gave fearful omen of what might likewise be expected in New York, unless restrained by the strong arm of the law. Mr. Clinton foresaw the crisis, and his correct and intrepid spirit prepared for the emergency. In an address to the Grand Jury, he alluded to the riotous scenes in Baltimore, and, with a view to prevent a repe- tition of similar occurrences in New York, he digested and prepared a system of police regulations for the pre- servation of the peace of the city, which was adopted by the Common Council. The result was that the city re- mained tranquil and undisturbed by tumult of any sort. " The character of Mr. Clinton," says Dr. Hosack, in alluding to this circumstance, " was an assurance to the community that these regulations would not remain a dead letter, but be faithfully and promptly executed. His well known firmness gave tranquillity to our city; the vicious were awed; the virtuous, under his auspices, felt additional confidence."
But, as a city, New York did well. Her conduct, in view of the severe blow which it was perceived would at once be given by the war to the prosperity of New York, was no slight proof of patriotism; and many who at the beginning of the war were rich, found themselves, when the treaty of peace was signed on the 24th of December, 1814, ruined. The condition in which 1814. New York was at the close of the war, as well as the extravagant demonstration of joy with which the news of the termination of hostilities was received, is thus graphically described by the late Francis Wayland, who was an eye-witness of the scene :
" It so chanced that, at the close of the last war with Great Britain, I was temporarily a resident of the city of New York. The prospects of the nation were shrouded " in gloom. We had been, for two or three years, at war with the mightiest nation on earth, and as she had now 47
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concluded a peace with the continent of Europe, we were obliged to cope with her single-handed. Our harbors were blockaded, communications coastwise between our ports were cut off; our ships were rotting in every creek and cove where they could find a place of security ; our immense annual products were mouldering in our warehouses; the sources of profitable labor were dryed up; our currency was reduced to irredeemable paper; the extreme portions of our country were becoming hostile to each other ; and differences of political opinion were embittering the peace of every household; the credit of the Government was exhausted; no one could predict when the contest would terminate, or discern the means by which it could much longer be protracted .*
* The following lines, entitled "Hard Times," published in New York city at the close of the War of 1812, seem, with one or two exceptions, written for the present day. History has repeated itself, except in the case of the geese and turkeys ! Would that a " good fat goose " could now be bought for five shillings !
" No business stirring, all things at a stand, People complain they have no cash in hand. Dull times' re-echoes now from every quarter, Even from father to the son and daughter. Merchants cry out no money to be had, Grocers say the times are very bad ; Mechanics work, but they can get no pay, Beaux dress genteel, and ladies too are gay. Cash very scarce, dancing twice a week- Business dull-amusement still we seek. Some live awhile, and then, perhaps, they fail. While many run in debt and go to jail. The females must have ribbons, gauze, and lace, And paint besides, to smooth a wrinkled face ; The beaux will dress, go to the ball and play, Sit up all night and lay in bed all day, Brush up an empty pate, look smart and prim, Follow each trifling fashion or odd whim. Five shillings will buy a good fat goose, While turkeys, too, are offered fit for use. Are those bad times when persons will profess To follow fashions and delight in dress ? No! times are good, but į cople are to blame, Who spend too much, and justly merit shame."
New York Virtute & Yorston
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" It happened that, on a Sunday afternoon, in February, 1$15, a ship was discerned in the offing, which was sup- posed to be a cartel, bringing home our Commis- sioners at Ghent, from their unsuccessful mission. 1815. The sun had set gloomily before any intelligence had reached the city. Expectation became painfully intense, as the hours of darkness drew on. At length, a boat reached the wharf, announcing the fact that a treaty of peace had been signed, and was waiting for nothing but the action of our Government to become a law. The men, on whose ears these words first fell, rushed in breathless haste into the city, to repeat them to their friends, shouting as they ran through the streets, 'Peace ! PEACE! PEACE!' Every one who heard the sound repeated it. From house to house, from street to street, the news spread with electric rapidity. The whole city was in commotion. Men bear- ing lighted torches, were flying to and fro, shouting like madmen, 'PEACE ! PEACE!' When the rapture had par- tially subsided, one idea occupied every mind. But few men slept that night. In groups they were gathered in the streets, and by the fireside, beguiling the hours of midnight by reminding each other that the agony of war was over, and that a worn-out and distracted country was about to enter again upon its wonted career of prosperity."*
* At the time that the news of peace was received, S. G. Goodrich (" Peter Parley ") happened to be in the city. Speaking of the joyful effect produced, he says : " I had gone in the evening to a concert at the City Hotel. While listen- ing to the music, the door of the concert-room was thrown open, and in rushed a man breathless with excitement. He mounted on a table, and swinging a white handkerchief aloft, cried out, 'Peace ! Peace! Peace!" The music ceased ; the hall was speedily vacated. I rushed into the street, and oh, what a scene ! In a few minutes, thousands and tens of thousands of people were marching about with: candles, lamps, torches-making the jubilant street ap- pear like a gay and gorgeous procession. The whole night Broadway sang its song of peace. We were all Democrats, all Federalists! Old enemies rushed into each other's arms; every house was in a revel ; every heart seemed melted by a joy which banished all evil thought and feeling. On Monday morning, I set out for Connecticut. All along the road, the people saluted us
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The winter of 1817 was unusually severe. As late as the 15th of February the Hudson was frozen over from the city to the New Jersey side, so that people 1817. crossed on the ice from shore to shore. "Several gentlemen," records the Evening Post for February, " set out for a sleigh-ride on the ice from Flushing to Riker's Island, where they arrived in safety. . This was the first sleigh that was ever known to visit the island, and, as it passed down the bay, it drew forth numbers of people on the shore to view so singular an event." The suc- 1818. ceeding year, also, witnessed the same intensity of cold, Long Island Sound being entirely closed by ice between Cold Spring and the Connecticut shore. The Hudson likewise was again frozen so firmly that heavy teams crossed to the Jersey side. Many persons, like the Canadians, when the ice-pont forms between Quebec and Point Levi, sought to make gain out of this unusual circumstance. Accordingly, they erected tents on the ice and sold in them liquor, roasted clams, and oysters. An attempt was also made to roast an ox, but the experiment failed, on account of the ice becoming weak near the fur- . naces where the cooking was done .*
with swinging of hats and cries of rejoicing. At one place, in rather a lone- some part of the road, a schoolmaster came out, with the whole school at his heels, to ask us if the news was true. We told him it was; whereupon he tied his bandanna pocket handkerchief to a broom, swung it aloft, and the whole school hosannaed, ' Peace ! Peace !'"
* An amusing anecdote was told at this time of a certain Jeremiah But- man, around whose tent the ice had become quite thin, from the effects of the stove and several days of mild weather. One of his customers, happening to step upon a weak spot outside of his tent, broke through, and was struggling in the water, when a friend put his head inside of Butman's tent, saying, "Jerry, there is a man gone down your cellar !" " Is it so ?" said Jerry. "Then it is about time for me to leave these premises." The man, however, was finally extricated, the tent struck, and all were safely taken to the land on a sled.
On account of the severe winter, provisions were considered very dear. At the present day, however, the prices that then ruled would be considered
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In the same year (1818) the Legislature of New York -- De Witt Clinton, Governor-ordered the remains of General Montgomery to be removed from Canada to New York. This was in accordance with the wishes of the Continental Congress, which, in 1776, had voted the beau- tiful cenotaph to his memory that now stands in the front wall of St. Paul's Church, in Broadway. When the funeral cortege reached Whitehall, New York, the fleet stationed there received them with appropriate honors; and on the 4th of July they arrived in Albany. After lying in state in that city over Sunday, the remains were taken to New York, and on Wednesday deposited, with military honors, in their final resting-place at St. Paul's. Governor Clinton, with that delicacy for which he was always remarkable, had informed Mrs. Montgomery when the steamer Richmond, with the body of her husband, would pass her mansion on the North River. At her own request, she stood alone on the portico at the moment that the boat passed. It was now forty years since she had parted from her husband, . and they, had been married only two years; yet she had remained as faithful to the memory of her " soldier," as " she always called him, as if alive. The steam-boat halted before the mansion; the band played the " Dead March ;" a salute was fired; and the ashes of the venerated hero and the departed husband passed on. The attendants of the Spartan widow now appeared, but, overcome by the
remarkably cheap. The following are the quotations taken from the Colum- bian of December 5th, 1818 :
Best beef, per lb. 1212c.
cwt. $7 to 12
10c.
= " cwt. $8.
Veal, per lb. 10c. Mutton, per lb. 8c.
Turkeys, apiece (good). $1 56c. Fowls, per pair 56c. Geese, per piece 50c. to 56c.
Butter, fresh. 33c.
In firkins. 23c. to 26c. Pork, per lb.
Potatoes, per barrel 56c. Turnips, " 31c.
Cabbages, per 1,000 $6 to $7
Wood, oak, per load. $2 25c.
Walnut " $3 50c.
Pine " : $1 6212c.
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tender emotions of the moment, she had swooned and fallen to the floor .*
The gallant dead, though surrounded by the turmoil of a busy city, is still permitted to rest beneath the turf made radiant by the unsullied blossoms of early spring. The brave Wolfe, who fell on nearly the same spot sixteen years previous, sleeps within the splendid mausoleum of Westminster Abbey. But as we stand over the simple grave of Montgomery, we recall the quaint and beautiful language of Osborne : "He that lieth under the herse of heavenne is convertible into sweet herbs and flowers, that maye rest in bosoms that wolde shrink from the ugly bugs which may be found crawling in the magnificent tombs of Heny the VII."t
On the 22d of February, 1819, a grand ball was given by the Fourteenth Regiment,¿ in honor of General Andrew
. * Janet Livingston, the sister of the distinguished Chancellor Livingston, and the wife of General Richard Montgomery, met the latter when he was a Captain in the British army, on his way to a distant frontier post. The meet- ing left mutual tender impressions. Returning to England soon after, Mont- gomery disposed of his commission, and, emigrating to New York, married the object of .his attachment. But their visions of anticipated happiness upon a farm at Rhinebeck were soon ended. He was called upon to serve as one of the eight brigadier-general's in the Continental army. He accepted sadly. declaring that " the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose between liberty and slavery, must be obeyed." His excellent wife made no opposition ; and, accompanying him as far as Saratoga, received his last assurance : " You shall never have cause to blush for your Montgomery." Nor did she, for le fell bravely at Quebec. Having reduced St. John's, Chambly, and Montreal. he effected a junction with Arnold before the walls of Quebec, where he was shot through both his thighs and head, while leading his men, on the 31st of Decem- ber, 1775. In person, General Montgomery was tall, graceful, and of manly address. At the time of his death he was only thirty-nine years of age.
+ For the inscription on the cenotaph, and also for a letter from General Montgomery, explaining the reason for his coming to America,-which has always been involved in obscurity-see Appendix, No III.
# The Fourteenth (now the Seventh) Regiment-also known as the Govern. or's Guards, from the fact that it had once been detailed by Governor Daniel D. Tompkins (at the time a Major-General in the Army of the United States as his special body guard-was distinguished for its splendid discipline and its
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