USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 23
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were concerned in the matter. The shot was imme- diately followed by another, which struck the nurse, killing her instantly. The news of this outrage aroused the citizens ; the captain was instantly arrested and brought to shore, and the governor petitioned to bring him to trial ; but Clinton coolly disclaimed all jurisdic- tion in the matter, saying that his commission gave him no power over any of the ships of war, and that the offender could only be proceeded against in England. The people were exasperated almost to madness ; but there was no redress; they were forced to be silent.
In the meantime, the conduct of Clinton had alienated Colden, who had gone over to the party of the opposi- tion, and Smith, Alexander and Johnson alone remained as his chief supporters. Under the leadership of De Lancey, the Assembly grew more and more refractory, and, after repeated efforts to obtain his demands, grow- ing weary of the contest, the governor at length pro- rogued them. Finding that his power in the province was gone, and worn with the struggle against a powerful opposition, Clinton at last dispatched his resignation to England, and Sir Danvers Osborne was appointed in his stead.
The new governor arrived on the 7th of September, 1753, charged with instructions to maintain the royal prerogative, and to demand of the Assembly a perma- nent revenue to be disbursed by the governor alone, with the advice and consent of his council. Three days after, he took the oaths of office, and published his com- mission at the City Hall. The people welcomed him with shouts and huzzas, mingled with deep invectives against
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King's College. Erected in 1756.
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Clinton, who walked by his side. This expression of feeling wounded him deeply. "I expect the same treat- "ment before I leave the province," said he. On his return to the council chamber, the corporation met him with a bold address, expressing their hope that he would be as averse to countenancing as they should be to brook- ing any infringement upon their civil or religious liber- ties. A splendid entertainment, however, was given by the city in honor of the new governor ; bells were rung, cannon fired, and the whole town illuminated; yet it was whispered that this was due more to the appointment of De Lancey-now the idol of the people-as lieutenant- governor, than to the accession of Sir Danvers Osborne.
On the morning of the 12th, the new governor con- vened the council and laid his instructions before them. "The Assembly will never yield obedience," said they. " Is this true ?" said he, turning to William Smith, who stood by his side. "Most emphatically so," answered the chief-justice in reply. " Then what am I come here " for !" exclaimed he, gloomily, bowing his head on the window-sill and covering his face with his hands.
The next morning the whole city was in commotion. The body of Sir Danvers Osborne had been found sus- pended by a handkerchief from the garden-wall of John Murray's house in Broadway, where he had lodged since his arrival in the city. The unfortunate man had been deranged and had even attempted his life before his departure from England. The loss of a beloved wife had unsettled his reason, and his friends, hoping to work a cure by constant occupation and a change of scene, had procured him this post and sent him to New York
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to assume the government. But the fractiousness of the people over whom he had been sent to rule had proved too much for his enfeebled brain, and, seeing the impos- sibility of enforcing his instructions without becoming as odious as his predecessor, he had retired to his chamber after his stormy interview with the council, burned his papers, set his affairs in order, and deliberately put an end to his life. His remains were buried in Trinity church, the obsequies being performed with some reluct- ance. by the rector, who protested that the burial service was forbidden by the rubric to those who had died by their own hands. This objection, however, was over- ruled by the council, who declared that insanity was equivalent to disease, and that the governor had as much right to Christian burial as though he had died of a fever ; and the body of the unfortunate Sir Danvers Osborne was at last permitted to repose in consecrated ground. The government devolved upon James De Lancey, now grown a favorite with a large portion of the people.
CHAPTER XIII.
1753-1763.
New York Previous to the Revolution.
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR JAMES DE LANCEY now assumed the direction of affairs. His accession was hailed with delight by the people, to whom he had endeared himself by heading the party opposed to the " permanent reve- "nue " scheme of the royal governors. Strangely enough, the parties had changed sides. The ex-royalist faction -aristocratic, as it was satirically termed by its oppo- nents-comprising most of the wealthy and influential citizens, De Lancey, Van Rensselaer, Colden, Philipse, Heathcote, and many more, was now openly ranged on the side of the popular rights, while Smith, Livingston and Alexander, once the leaders of the people, had gone over to the other side, and had been foremost in the councils of the late governor. Under these circum- stances, De Lancey found himself in an embarrassing position. The royal instructions bequeathed to him by Sir Danvers Osborne directed him to insist on a perma- nent revenue and absolutely to refuse to sign all annual
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appropriations, while he was pledged as the leader of the popular party to a policy diametrically opposed to this proceeding. He extricated himself from this diffi- culty with seeming inconsistency, but wisely in truth ; while, on one hand, he fulfilled his oaths of office by urg- ing the Assembly to conform to the royal instructions, on the other, he pressed the claims of the people upon the notice of the home government, and was eventually instrumental in obtaining the desired concession.
After a series of bloody campaigns, in which the chief advantage on the side of the English had been the bril- liant conquest of Louisburg, the third intercolonial war had been terminated in 1748 by the peace of Aix-la- Chapelle, which, much to the discontent of the colonists, restored to France all the newly-acquired territory. But this peace was of short duration. The Canadians soon recommenced their aggressions upon the frontier settle- ments, and on the 19th of June, 1754, a congress of depu- ties from the several provinces met at Albany to concert measures for the common safety. Over this assembly, De Lancey presided. The alliance with the Iroquois was strengthened by presents and speeches, and plans were projected for mutual defence. The chief feature of this congress was, however, a plan for the union of the colonies, which was drawn up and presented by Benja- min Franklin. This proposal, though opposed by De Lancey, was adopted by the convention. It was not, however, adapted to the times ; the people opposed it as giving too much power to the king, and the king, as giving too much liberty to the people ; thus, pleasing neither, it was never carried into effect ; yet it sug-
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gested the idea of a confederated power which finally matured into the Federal Union.
On the 31st of October, 1754, De Lancey signed and sealed the charter of the projected college, though, owing to internal. dissensions in the management, it was not delivered until the following May. Doctor Johnson, the Episcopal minister at Stratford, Connecticut, had already been invited to fill the president's chair of the institution, and Mr. Whittlesey, the Presbyterian minis- ter at New Haven, was chosen as vice-president. By the provisions of the charter, however, none but Episcopa- lians were made eligible as presidents-a regulation which occasioned much ill-feeling among the dissenters. The Presbyterians, headed by the Livingstons, used every effort to break down the college, and the city journals joined in the controversy. These had somewhat changed in character since the Zenger trial. William Bradford had died in the city in 1752, at an advanced age, and the Weekly Journal of Zenger had been discontinued in the same year. In January, 1743, James Parker, an apprentice of Bradford, had commenced a new weekly called the New York Gazette or Weekly Postboy, and this speculation proving successful, had published a monthly styled the American Magazine and Historical Chronicle, in October of the same year. The Weekly Mercury, the government organ, was published by Hugh Gaine at his office opposite the Old Slip Market. These falling into the hands of the Episcopalian party, the Presbyterians established a new journal in 1753, called the Independent Reflector, in which their side of the college controversy was fully argued. The Episcopalians, however, pre-
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vailed, thanks to the influence of their leader, De Lancey, and long retained control of the institution. The dis- putes were preparatory to the founding of the college ; the corner-stone of the building being laid in 1756 by the new governor, Sir Charles Hardy.
In April, 1754, a scheme for the foundation of a pub- lic library was first projected, and a considerable amount being soon raised by subscription, trustees were appointed for the ensuing year. These trustees were James De Lancey, James Alexander, John Chambers, John Watts, William Walton, Rev. Henry Barclay, Benjamin Nicolls, Robert R. Livingston, William Livingston, William P. Smith, and Mr. Williams. The following autumn, the first books arrived, and were deposited in the City Hall with those belonging to the Corporation Library. The further progress of this first City Library-the embryo of the present Society Library-we have sketched elsewhere.
In 1754, the " Walton House," at that time the palace of the city, was built in Pearl street by William Walton, a merchant and son-in-law of De Lancey, who had amassed a fortune by successful ventures in foreign trade. This house was elegantly fitted up in the fashion of the times, and furnished luxuriously ; and the fame of its splendor extended to England, and was quoted there as a proof of the mad extravagance of the colonists, and their ability to support unlimited taxation. The house was built of yellow Holland brick, with five windows in front, and a tiled roof, encircled with balustrades. The garden extended down to the river. At a later date, it was the scene of the marriage of Citizen Genet, the Minister of France, to the daughter of Governor Clin-
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ton. It still stands, stripped of its primitive splendor, the lower story transformed into warehouses, and the upper part into an emigrant boarding-house. In the
ENEN
The Walton House, as it now stands.
following year, a ferry was first established between New York and Staten Island, which now possessed a consid- erable population. During the same year, Peck Slip was opened and paved.
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War having again been declared between England and France, the fortifications were strengthened, volunteers enlisted, and a thousand stand of arms ordered for the defence of the city in the event of an invasion. On the 2d of September, Sir Charles Hardy, the newly-appointed governor, arrived in the city, and was proclaimed the next day at the City Hall with the usual ceremonies. Hardy was a sailor, an admiral in the English navy, and knew far better how to steer a ship than to guide the affairs of a turbulent province. Fortunately, he was conscious of this fact himself, and frankly expressed it with sailor-like bluntness. "Gentlemen," said he to a group of the New York lawyers, "I can't pretend to " say that I understand the law. My knowledge relates " to the sea-that is my sphere. If you want to know " when the wind and tide suit for going down to Sandy " Hook, I can tell you that." Such is the confession of incapacity which Chief-Justice Smith attributes to the royal governor. But a knowledge of the science of government was deemed altogether superfluous in these officials by the English Court; and even Pitt, the so-called friend of America, afterwards said in Parlia- ment, " There is not a company of foot that has served "in America out of which you may not pick a man of " sufficient knowledge and experience to make a gover- "nor of a colony there." Such was the estimation in which the intellect of the colonial subjects was held by the mother country.
Sir Charles Hardy having assumed the nominal direc- tion of affairs, De Lancey resumed his seat as chief-jus- tice ; but, wisely recognizing his own incapacity, Hardy
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N.ORR-CO. SC.
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Entrance Hall of the Walton House in olden times.
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Sitting Room of the Walton House in olden times.
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left him in actual command of the province, and enacted the part of a lay figure in the government. This insipid mode of life soon wearied the active sailor, and he entreated to be restored to his former command. After some delay, his request was granted ; the post of rear- admiral was conferred upon him, and he sailed from New York for the capture of Louisburg, leaving the government again in the hands of De Lancey.
In the first year of Hardy's administration, the city had been deprived of its chief magistrate by death, and John Cruger, the son of the former mayor of that name, had been appointed to fill his place. It was not long before he became involved in difficulty with the royal officials. At this time, the French and Indian war was raging in the province, and Lord Loudon, the commander-in-chief of the American forces, sent a thousand of his troops to New York with directions to the city authorities to find quarters for them among the inhabitants. This order they regarded as an infraction of their rights, and quar- tering the soldiers in the barracks in Chambers street, they left the officers to take care of themselves. The incensed general hastened to New York, and ordered them at once to find free quarters for his officers, saying that such was both the law and the custom, and that, if they did not instantly comply, he would bring thither all the troops in North America and billet them himself upon the inhabitants. This outrageous demand, though opposed by De Lancey, was supported by the governor. The indignant citizens refused to obey, the corporation neither dared nor wished to enforce them, and the matter was finally settled by providing for the officers by private
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subscription. But the demand once made, was repeatedly renewed, and was one of the chief grievances that urged the people on to the struggle for independence.
The war, meanwhile, went on with unabated vigor, and large bodies of militia marched from New York to aid in the defence of the English forts and the conquest of Canada. Spurred on by the inhuman massacre of Fort William Henry, the colonists spared neither blood nor treasure in avenging their murdered countrymen. Louisburg, Frontenac, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, Niagara and Quebec fell successively into their hands, and the capture of Montreal in 1760 finally concluded a disastrous war and secured to England the conquest of Canada.
In the meantime, the province had again been left without a ruler. On the morning of the 30th of July, 1760, Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey was found by one of his children expiring in his study .* He had dined the day before at Staten Isiand with a company of friends, then had crossed the bay in the evening, and rode out to his country-seat, where he had retired to his library to repose in his arm-chair, as he was often forced to do from a chronic asthma. His remains were escorted the next day by a large concourse of citizens from his house on the east side of the Bowery, a little above Grand street, to Trinity Church, where he was interred in the middle aisle, the funeral services being performed by the Rev. Henry Barclay. Mr. De Lancey was a states- man of marked ability, and his persistent support of the
* See Appendix, Note M.
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system of annual appropriations-finally conceded dur- ing the administration of Hardy-won for him a de- served popularity.
The government now devolved upon Cadwallader Colden, the former protégé of Hunter, at this time seventy-three years of age. The new governor had long been actively engaged in public affairs, and was known to possess literary and political talent of no common order. But he assumed the reins of government at a critical period, and wrecked his popularity by taking oaths which compelled him to sacrifice the rights of his countrymen upon the shrine of official duty.
Soon after his accession, an affair occurred which tended to increase the feeling of bitterness which was rapidly springing up in the hearts of the colonists against the mother country. The system of impressment was now in vogue, and the captains of the British men-of-war claimed the right to board colonial vessels and take thence the men required to complete their quota ; or failing in this, to land and kidnap citizens to serve in the British navy. These outrages excited the indignation of the citizens almost beyond forbearance ; but such were the laws; there was no alternative but to obey. In the August following the death of De Lancey, a mer- chant vessel arrived from Lisbon, and a man-of-war lying in the harbor immediately sent a boat on board to demand some of her men. On seeing the movements of the English sailors, the crew seized the captain and officers and confined them below, and, taking possession of the ship, refused to suffer the intruders to come on board. The captain called to them from the cabin win-
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dow that he and his officers were prisoners, and there- fore unable to obey; but, without heeding his position, they at once opened a fire upon the offending merchant- man, killing one man and wounding several others. The affair caused much excitement, yet it was but a sample of the constantly recurring outrages perpetrated upon the colonial traders.
In October of the same year, General Amherst, the conqueror of Canada, visited the city and was received with enthusiasm. A public entertainment was given in his honor, the freedom of the city in a gold box was pre- sented to him by the corporation, and an address, couched in the most flattering terms, was tendered him in behalf of the citizens. Salutes were fired, colors were displayed, and the whole city was illuminated in honor of the successful termination of the long-continued con- flict which, for so many years, had drained the energies of the harassed colonies.
Early in the following year, news reached the province of the death of George II., and the consequent acces- sion of George III. to the throne of England. The city was hung in mourning, and funeral sermons preached in all the churches for the departed ; then, one week after, salutes were fired and illuminations made in honor of his successor.
The winter proved one of intense severity. The Nar- rows were frozen over, and men and horses crossed on the ice. When spring opened, the work of public improvement went on, and streets were regulated and paved, wells dug, and other improvements made for the benefit of the city. Fulton, then Partition street, was
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one of these ; and though it had long had a partial exist- ence, it was now for the first time graded and paved, and classed among the legitimate streets of the city. A theatre was also opened in Beekman street under the auspices of Colden, but the Assembly frowned on this as detrimental to good morals, and the mayor attempted to obtain the passage of a law prohibiting all dramatic per- formances within the precincts of the city. Failing in this, the, corporation turned their attention to the amuse- ment of raffling, which had grown quite common among the boys and negroes, and interdicted it with all similar games of chance, under penalty of a fine of three pounds, half to be paid to the churchwardens and half to the informer. A variety of municipal ordinances, regulating weights and measures, markets and docks were also passed, indicative of the constantly increasing prosperity of the city.
In October, 1761, a governor's commission arrived from England for General Robert Monckton, who was then commanding the forces on Staten Island. Monck- ton was a careless young soldier, devoted to his profes- sion, and somewhat profligate withal, but his appoint- ment was not distasteful to the people, many of whom were enemies to Colden. On the 26th, he published his commission at the City Hall, declaring that, as for instructions, he had none, and hoped never to have any ; an announcement especially pleasing to the citizens, to whom the word was a signal for rebellion. On the 30th, the usual freedom of the city, with the accompanying gold box, was presented to the governor by the corpora- tion, and graciously received. The new Assembly, who
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detested Colden, gave Monckton a warm reception, and his administration opened auspiciously.
Affairs now seemed to be gliding on smoothly and everything promised peace and prosperity. After a long and tiresome contest, the English government had con- ceded to the colonies many of the representative rights which they demanded, the permanent revenue was no longer insisted on, the citizens were permitted for the most part to tax themselves, and the province was steadily growing in importance. The main aggressions still continued, for the governors disclaimed all jurisdic- tion over the waters, and the naval officers were petty sovereigns in their own right, forcing all colonial vessels to lower their flags in token of homage, boarding them and impressing their men, and firing on them at the slightest provocation. But the citizens had faith in the future redressal of all these grievances; despite their mutinous demonstrations, their loyalty still remained unshaken, and a separation from the mother-country was a treason of which even the boldest had not dared to dream. The rights of English subjects-the same which were enjoyed by their fellow-countrymen on the other side of the water under a limited monarchy-were all that they claimed, and had these been judiciously conceded, England might long have continued to wear America as the brightest jewel in her crown. The city had increased to some fourteen thousand inhabitants, its streets were constantly encroaching on the waste land, public edifices were springing up here and there, and the spirit of commercial enterprise was fast gaining ground, despite the harsh restrictions imposed upon colonial
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commerce by the arbitrary Board of Trade. Grievances enough were still existing, yet the political horizon was calmer than it had been for many years. It was a deceitful calm ; the thunders of the coming tempest were gathering in the distance, and preparing to burst with blighting force upon the doomed city.
Not many days after his accession, Monckton received orders to repair with his forces to the Island of Mar- tinique ; and he accordingly set sail on the 15th of November, leaving Colden again in command at New York. The expedition proved successful, the island was captured with scarce a show of resistance, and Monckton soon returned to his government.
During this year, the old plan of lighting the streets by lanterns suspended from the windows was definitely abandoned, and public lamps and lamp-posts were erected in the principal streets which were lighted at the public expense. Laws were passed, regulating the prices of provisions, some of which are worthy of being quoted as affording an idea of the standard of the times. Beef was sold at fourpence-halfpenny per pound ; pork, at fivepence-halfpenny ; veal, from fourpence-halfpenny to sixpence ; butter at fifteen pence per pound, and milk at six coppers per quart. An assize of bread had been established from the earliest times, varying every two or three months in proportion to the rise or fall of flour ; at this time a loaf of one pound twelve ounces sold for four coppers.
In 1763, Dr. Johnson, the first president of King's College, tendered his resignation, and Dr. Cooper was chosen in his stead. Soon after, a bequest of twelve
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hundred volumes was made to the institution by Dr. Bris- tow of England, which, added to a collection which had been bequeathed to it in 1757 by Joseph Murray, formed the foundation for a substantial library. The graduates at this year's commencement were Messrs. Cuy- ler, Depeyster, Livingston, Hoffman, Wilkins, Bayard, Verplanck, Marston, and Watts ; all names which have grown old in the history of the city. In the May com- mencement of the following year, held at St. George's Chapel, John Jay, then a youth of nineteen, won his maiden honors, and first became a candidate for the public favor in a dissertation on the blessings of peace -a theme prophetic of his future career.
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