USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 2
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" ' All this under no less penalty than to have my throat cut, my tongue taken from the roof of my mouth, my heart plucked from under my left breast, the same to be buried in the sands of the sea, the length of a cable rope from shore, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours ; and my body burned to ashes and scattered upon the face of the earth, so that there shall be no more remembrance of me among Masons. So help me God.'"
Henceforward the growth of the organizations may be traced in the frequent notices of Masonic meetings which appeared in the public prints, until it embraced many of the most distinguished men of the period.
The principal historical incident of 1738, was the memorable contested election between Adolphe Philipse and Gerrit Van 1738. Horne, in connection with which the Jews were disfranchised. Philipse, who had been speaker of the House for a dozen years, lost his seat in the general election of 1737: Gerrit Van Horne, one of the members elect from the city, died shortly after, and a special election was held to fill the vacancy. Cornelius Van Horne, the son of the deceased, was the can- didate in opposition to Philipse ; and when the latter was declared chosen, the former entered a complaint of dishonesty in the counting of votes against the sheriff. The House ordered that neither Philipse nor Van Horne should be admitted to membership until the sheriff had been ex- amined. William Smith appeared as counsel for Van Horne, and Robert Murray for Philipse. The latter, according to Parliamentary usage, moved for a scrutiny of votes. This was carried, in spite of all efforts to the con- trary, and the success provoked a spirited attack upon Alexander, who as a member of the Upper House could not rightfully occupy a seat in the Lower House. Alexander quickly responded that he had not acted in council since his election, and was ready to promise not to do so during
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the continuance of the Assembly; whereupon the House resolved, that while he kept his pledge he was duly qualified, but that upon the breach of it he should be expelled.
Philipse and Van Horne were directed to exchange lists of questionable electors ; the sheriff had already been acquitted of fraud, as far as he was concerned. Smith denied the qualification of the Jews as electors, some of them having voted for Philipse. A singular debate on the subject was the result, which occupied several days. Murray urged the authority of the law which gave the suffrage to all free-holders of competent estates, not excepting " the descendants of Abraham, according to the flesh."
Smith - whose captivating eloquence equalled, if not surpassed, that of Andrew Hamilton, and was possibly not excelled by even that of Patrick Henry, when he dethroned the reason of the court and led captive the jury in the great tobacco case in Virginia, a few years afterward -made a speech which convinced his audience that the honor of Christianity and the preservation of the Constitution was at stake. It was delivered in plain and vigorous English, and with the assurance and confidence that is only born of power. He covered all the possibilities of his adversary's case, reviewed the history, and expressed the most tender pity for the Jews, revealed a knowledge of the Bible which astonished both lawyers and representatives, and then turned to the sacrifice of Christ, and so patheti- cally described the bloody tragedy on Mount Calvary, that one of the members cried out in agony, begging him to desist, declaring his convic- tion. Strong men wept; and the unfortunate Israelites were content to lose their votes, could they escape with their lives. Such was the effect of this remarkable oratory, that the massacre of every Jew in Christendom for the ancestral sin of crucifying Jesus of Nazareth, would have seemed at the moment, in the minds of many, as not only just and proper, but a solemn duty.
After some little delay, the House decided, 1, that Jews could not vote ; 2, that non-resident freeholders had a right to vote ; 3, that such as were freeholders of £40, three months before the test of the writ of election, were voters ; but, 4, a grantee of a mortgage in fee forfeited, who has been in possession of the mortgaged premises for several years, was declared not entitled to a vote by virtue of such mortgage.
Although the Jews were denied the right of suffrage, the fact that non- resident freeholders were entitled to the same, gave Philipse the final victory, and he was declared a member. The next year he was again chosen speaker, and remained in the chair until 1745. He then retired from public service, being eighty years of age. He owned about twenty by twelve square acres of land in Putnam County, and thereabouts, em-
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bracing Lake Mahopac, and its picturesque surroundings. This property was let out to such as would come and settle on it, rent free for a few years. Philipse built a small log-house for his own accommodation, when- ever he should choose to make the fifty-mile journey from New York to look after his possessions. He actually made this journey in 1744, then seventy-nine years of age, and caused the first road to be laid out through his twenty-mile farm, by marking trees and erecting stakes.1
The presence of Philipse in the House strengthened the conservative party, and caused many a warm discussion. And when the tempest within was abated by the settlement of a point, a tempest without gener- ally commenced, for the Council rarely approved of any Act of the Lower House without first embarrassing it with a variety of amendments. The loss altogether of certain bills, for the regulation of elections and feeing of officials, produced great dissatisfaction. The Assembly finally became stiff and unyielding, and instead of complying with Clarke's desire for the adoption of measures which would provide for the payment of salaries, and the creation of a sinking fund for the redemption of the bills of the colony, it resolved, unanimously, to grant no supplies on the principles advanced by the lieutenant-governor.
Clarke was indignant, and dissolved the body "for taking," he said, " such presumptuous, daring, and unprecedented steps that he
could not look upon it but with astonishment, nor could he with Oct. 20. honor suffer their authors to sit any longer."
To add to the disagreeable agitations of the season, the Triennial Act, which passed the House in 1737, for the frequent election of rep- Nov. 30. resentatives to serve in General Assembly, and for the frequent calling and meeting of the General Assembly so elected, was repealed by the king.
The next election occurred in the spring; in the choice of a speaker, after much commotion, Lewis Morris, Jr., was set aside, in favor
1739. of Adolphe Philipse. Lewis Morris, Jr., was a much younger man than his rival, being only forty-one. He was strikingly unlike his father, who was now in the gubernatorial chair of New Jersey, had less forensic ability, rarely indulged in offensive sarcasm, and possessed great suavity of manner, with genuine humor. As a politician he was wary, self-reliant, and equal to any emergency. What he once maintained he would never abandon or lay aside for an instant. He avoided speech- making, but when driven to it through any extraordinary excitement he never lacked expression, though some of his rhetorical flights were re-
1 He died in 1750, and his estate reverted to his nephew, the second Lord of the Manor.
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garded as pedantic, and his pluck almost reached audacity. He had great gift in repartee, and was singularly entertaining in society. He was a handsome man, bearing a striking resemblance in face and figure to his grandfather, James Graham,1 He married for his first wife Trintie, daughter of Dr. Samuel Staats. His elder son, Lewis, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence; his second son, Staats Long Morris, adhered to the crown in the Revolution, married Lady Catharine Gordon, daughter of the Earl of Aberdeen, and widow of the Duke of Gordon, and died a full general in the British army. His third son, Rich- ard, was Chief Justice of New York from 1779 to 1790. He married for his second wife, in 1746, Sarah, daughter of Nicholas Gouverneur. Their son was the celebrated Gouverneur Morris, United States Minister to France at the period of the French Revolution.2
The Twenty-Second Assembly was as unmanageable as its predecessor. The demand for a permanent-supply bill was met by an obstinate refusal. The autumn session was held in a small house on the bank of the Hudson, two miles out of town, on account of the small-pox, which was raging in the city. It would only grant annual supplies to the govern- ment, and it was about to trench yet further upon the royal preroga- tive, by insisting upon specific applications of the revenue, indicated by a clause to be inserted in the bill.
Clarke was perplexed indeed. He finally prorogued the body Oct. 13. for a few days, for the express purpose, he said, " of affording the members leisure to reflect seriously upon the line of duty required of them by the exigencies of the country." He then brought the subject before the Council. He was not inclined to revive old animosities, or create new ones by another summary dissolution. The Council referred the question to a special committee, of which the Hon. Daniel Horsemanden was chair- man. He was one of the most energetic supporters of kingly power ; but, in consequence of the existing posture of affairs, and the necessity of a speedy provision for the public purse, the committee reported unanimous- ly against a dissolution. They gave their opinion "that the Assembly, and the people whom they represented, had the disputed point so much at heart that it would be impossible to do business with them unless it was conceded." Governor Morris of New Jersey had recently established
1 The picture of Lewis Morris, son of Governor Lewis Morris, was erroneously published for that of his father, in the Volume of Papers of Governor Lewis Morris, by the New Jersey Historical Society.
2 In the possession of Mr. Robert Rutherford, of the city of New York, is the family Bible of Judge Lewis Morris above mentioned. It is a Dutch folio, bound in embossed pig-skin, with brass clasps and corner-pieces, illustrated with copper-plates, and bears the imprint of Peter Rotterdam De Jonge, Dort and Amsterdam, 1714.
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JOHN CRUGER.
the precedent by yielding a similar point to the Legislature of that State ; should a dissolution take place, there was no reason to suppose the next Assembly would be less tenacious in asserting the offensive principle. And the lieutenant-governor acquiesced. A better state of feeling was the result ; the Assembly made various appropriations for the defense of the province, in view of a threatened rupture with Spain, which shortly after occurred.
John Cruger was appointed mayor of the city in October. He was an eminent merchant, who had resided in New York since the commence- ment of the century. He married Maria Cuyler in 1702. He was held in high estimation by his contemporaries ; was chosen successively for twenty-two years - from 1712 to 1733- alderman of the Dock Ward (now the First Ward). He had two sons, Henry and John, the latter of whom was at this time a stirring young man of twenty-nine, and subse- quently became one of the most trusted officers of the crown, the favorite representative of the people, mayor of the city, one of the founders and the first president of the Chamber of Commerce, in short, the central figure among the remarkable personages of that eventful colonial period just prior to the birth of a great nation. Henry was also a prominent public character, serving in the Assembly and in the Council for many years. Of the sons of the latter, John Harris Cruger was chamberlain of the city prior to the Revolution, and in the struggle, remained true to the king and became a distinguished officer in De Lancey's brigade ; Henry Cruger went to England and was colleague of Edmund Burke in Parliament, and afterwards mayor of Bristol; and Nicholas Cruger was the successful West India merchant under whose patronage Alexander Hamilton came to this country. The Crugers were large ship-owners engaged in general trade, chiefly with Bristol and the West Indies. Their place of business was on Cruger's Wharf, east of Whitehall Slip, on the East River.1
The recorder of the city (from 1736 to 1747) was Daniel Horsemanden, who was also a member of the Executive Council, and one of the judges of the Supreme Court. He was a man of some forty-five years. He came to New York with Governor Cosby. He was born in Gouldhurst, Kent County, England. His education and natural abilities fitted him for
1 The family of Cruger is supposed to be of Danish origin. The first of the name in Eng- land are reputed to have emigrated from the continent in the reign of Henry VIII., and settled in Bristol, where numerous ancient monuments to the family exist in the churchyard attached to the cathedral. John Cruger was the earliest of the name in New York ; he first appears in 1698, as supercargo of the trading ship, The Prophet Daniel, Captain Appel, which weighed anchor at New York, bound to the coast of Africa, where she fell into the hands of pirates, - a misfortune of which Cruger published a curious account on his return. Chamber of Commerce Records, pp. 5 - 18. By John Austin Stevens.
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almost any station in life, but his mind was tinctured with notions ac- quired in the early part of his career, long before he came to this coun- try, which rendered him unfriendly to the fair development of colonial character. He was hostile to Catholicism, biased in favor of existing forms of government, and unreasonably prejudiced against the Dutch. He became in course of time (in 1763) chief justice of the province. But he was never quite equal to the full and impartial examination of facts and circumstances in cases where party interests were involved. The office of city recorder was his reward for energetic exertions in behalf of Clarke in opposition to Van Dam. His subsequent vicissitudes of for- tune were many ; he was at one time in the depths of pecuniary distress, through his suspension from all offices of emolument by Governor Clin- ton, but an advantageous marriage with Mrs. Vesey, the widow of the Rector of Trinity Church, saved him from the horrors of a debtor's prison, and he was finally restored to the bench with increased consideration.1
Governor Lewis Morris, although devoted to the administration of New Jersey, still had the affairs of New York very much at heart. His letters to Sir Charles Wager, and other of the English noblemen, were a reve- lation in themselves. Speaking of the people in either province, he said they were permeated by insincerity and ignorance, and with so rooted a jealousy of governors, that it required more temper and skill to rule wisely than fell to every man's share. The voters who made the Assem- bly could not always read, but they knew enough to clamor for the sole direction of the government. He could hardly decide whether it were better to attempt to drive or lead them. As for the Assemblymen them- selves, they spent the larger part of their time in unprofitable disputes. There was so much choler among them that they shunned the conver- sation of each other out of the House, in about the same ratio that they failed to preserve the rules of common decency within. If a bill was pro- posed, however meritorious, by one party, the other opposed it, seemingly or really, for opposition's sake; and both sides descended to downright scolding, giving the lie, threatening to spit in the face, and often getting together by the ears. Morris said he made these little unpleasantnesses
1 Horsemanden was restored to his place on the bench July 28, 1750, and resumed his seat in the Council in September, 1755. Council Minutes, XXV. On the resignation of Judge Chambers in 1672, he was appointed second judge of the Supreme Court ; and chief justice in March, 1763. He was the last chief justice of New York as a province. He adhered to the royal cause upon the breaking out of the Revolution, and was one of the nine hundred and forty-six loyalists who presented an address to Lord Howe in 1776, and on the same day, he addressed Governor Tryon in behalf of the same persons. Sabine. He died in 1778. In his will he made several bequests for public objects, chiefly connected with Trinity Church ; £ 500, however, were bequeathed to King's College.
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POLITICAL PARTIES.
rather a matter of diversion than otherwise, occasionally expressing sur- prise that good men should think so ill of each other. He was friendly to Clarke, and spoke of him in terms of commendation. But he said the latter was in an unfortunate dilemma. He had conducted himself in such a way that he was considered one of the most artful of beings. The party who supported Cosby believed that Clarke had been the director of all his measures ; and when Clarke denied the charge in order to curry favor with the opposition, and accredited the missteps of the late gov- ernor to Mrs. Cosby (who really was an intriguing, managing, unprinci- pled woman, and doubtless exerted a very unhealthful influence over her weak husband), he gained nothing, while he lost the good-will and fellowship of those who had been his most ardent co-workers; they at first grew cool towards him, then they fell to upbraiding him in private, and, growing more free, finally seemed to lose patience with courtesy, and attacked him in all companies, finding fault with his acts and measures, even descending to a pitch of rudeness unpardonable in the superlative degree, which it must have been difficult indeed to have overlooked. Peter EXPLANATION THE FORT IN NEW YORK De Lancey, the son-in-law of Dr. 1-The Chappell 2-The Governors House S 3-The Officers Lodgings 6 0 Colden, and brother to the chief 4-The Soldiers 18 10 19 11 5-The Necessary House 6-The Flagstaff & Mount 8 justice, meeting Clarke one day 7-The Sentry Boxes 8-Ladders to mount ye Walls 9-The Well in the Fort 51 21 close by the fort wall, expressed 10-The Magazine 11-The Sallyport E 12-The Secretary's Office 4 himself in terms of the most con- 13-The Fort Gate 14-A horn-work before it 15-The Fort Well & Pump temptuous abuse, because of cer- 16-Stone Mount 17-The Iron Mount E 18-The Town Mount 12 8 3 GD tain recent proceedings attributed 19-Two Mortar pieces 7 20-A turn stile 14 21-Ground for additional build- 4 to the influence of "his Excel- ing to the Gov's House 2 16 15 22-The Armory over the Gov's Kitchen - lency," notwithstanding that N Mrs. Clarke and her daughter Plan of Fort George. were walking upon the ramparts of the fort, within hearing of his ungracious utterances. The opposition interpreted Clarke's indifference to such attacks as sheer pretense. They regarded the whole as a sort of mysterious blind for their eyes. Sus- picion had not only taken deep root but flourished. 1
A traveler passing through New York not far from this period gives a humorous account of how he was entertained by the different political parties. He dined with some of the prominent " courtiers," who called everybody black except themselves. "Fine times for a Dutch moh to judge of prerogatives !" said one. "These Dutchmen will fancy by and by that they are in Holland, and treat us like a parcel of burgomasters !" exclaimed another ; and thus the banquet was enlivened to the end. He thought it would be more agreeable to go among the no-party men, but,
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although the evening commenced propitiously, he soon discovered, to his surprise, that they were as violent " courtiers " as any he had ever seen. He was invited to a club consisting of both-party men, and thought they would have devoured each other before they separated. He spent an evening with some Zengerites, whose discourse was peppered with invectives against the "courtiers," whom they considered the common enemies of mankind. He almost became a convert to the opinion that no man could have good sense - he must be a fool or a rascal - if he differed from his neighbor on any of the topics of the day. But he had yet to make the acquaintance of the " Prudents," those who in their hearts were resolved to court the rising power, without giving umbrage to the minority. Their maxim was, " Differ with no one who has the power to injure you." He thought the maxim tended too much towards depriving men of their liberty ; and that the "Prudents " themselves were monotonous bores. He finally resolved to visit the ladies. Alas ! they were more zealous politicians than the gentlemen. He found " courtiers," and " Zengerites," no-party women, both-party women, and " Prudents "; and they were, as he expressed himself, " as warm as scalloped oysters in their discussions, although exceptionally good-mannered."
It was during the year 1739 that a market-house, forty-two feet long by twenty-five broad, arose in the middle of Broadway, on the site of the old wagon-stand, opposite Liberty Street. It was an improvement, al- though progress soon converted it into a hideous deformity as far as the street was concerned. Trinity Churchyard was about the same time en- larged and beautified.
Just north of Trinity Church was the elegant De Lancey mansion, which was subsequently converted into the City Hotel. It was an immense edifice, encircled by balconies, with a wide piazza reaching the entire length of the rear of the house. The water view from this point, with the Jersey shores and heights reaching far into the distant horizon, was mag- nificent. The highly cultivated grounds ran down to the water's edge, and Thames Street was the alley-way of the property. It was the resi- dence of Hon. Stephen (Etienne) De Lancey, and, after his death, of his son, Chief Justice James De Lancey. It was where the beautiful Susanna De Lancey was courted, and married to Admiral Sir Peter Warren; and where her still more captivating sister, Ann, was united in wedlock to Hon. John Watts.
1740. In the spring of 1740, Mrs. Clarke, the wife of the lieutenant- May 19. governor, died, and her remains were tenderly deposited in Trinity Church. She was regarded with enthusiastic affection by the people of New York, and the whole city was thrown into the deepest affliction. Her
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THE NEGRO PLOT.
generosity to the poor had given her the title of " Lady Bountiful," and, on the day of her funeral, the corporation ordered, "that, as it was a pleas- sure to her in life to feed the hungry, a loaf of bread should be given to every poor person who would receive it." 1
Ever since the horrible affair of 1712, the citizens of New York had been more or less afraid of the negro slaves, who comprised so large a part of the population of the city. Stringent measures had been adopted from time to time to keep them under surveillance ; if three negroes were at any time seen together, the penalty was forty lashes on the bare back, and if a negro was seen walking with a club in his hand, outside of his master's grounds, he was sure to receive a like number of lashes. The colored people would steal; they seemed to have no moral ideas beyond the pun- ishment awaiting them, and were constantly being detected in petty thefts, and subjected to the barbarous treatment characteristic of the times.
Things grew worse instead of better, until the " Negro Plot " made 1741. the year 1741 memorable in history.
On the 28th of February the house of Robert Hogg, corner of Feb. 28. Broad and South William Streets, was robbed. Mary Burton, an indented servant to a tavern-keeper of low character, in gossiping with a neighbor, said her employer was in the habit of receiving and secreting stolen goods in his house. This reaching the ears of the city magistrates, the whole family were arrested, and committed for trial; as also two ne- groes, Prince and Cæsar, who were accused of the robbery.
One day about noon, some three weeks later, the governor's March 18. house in the fort - occupied by Clarke - was suddenly discovered to be on fire, which, together with the little chapel, secretary's office, and several adjoining buildings, was totally consumed. The accident was at the time supposed to be the result of the carelessness of a plumber, who had left fire in a gutter between the house and the chapel.
But, within the following week, the chimney of Admiral Sir Peter War- ren's house took fire one morning; it was extinguished, however, with slight damage. Then a fire broke out in the store-house of Winant Van Zandt, which was charged to the heedlessness of a smoker. Three days subsequently the hay in a cow-stable near the house of Mr. Quick was discovered burning. The alarm was sounded, and the flames suppressed. Before the people had reached their homes there was a fifth alarm ; a fire was emanating from between two beds in the loft of a kitchen occupied by two negroes, in the house of Mr. Thompson. The next morning coals were found under a haystack near a coach-house in Broadway. The fol- lowing day a fire burst forth from the house of Sergeant Burns opposite
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