USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. II > Part 54
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The press was in a formative state, like all other institutions. Journal- ismi had not yet become a profession. Existing newspapers were few, and managed by ambitious political chiefs, as armies are manipulated by their generals. The sheets were small upon which they were printed, and crowded with advertisements. The reading matter, what there was of it, was contributed by scholars and politicians, but nearly every writer was bound to party, and many years were to elapse before the germ of what is now one of the chief glories of America acquired anything ap- proximating to full freedom of thought and action.
In the early part of 1784 the New York Legislature, learning of the death of John Holt, the printer, who had been " of eminent service to his country," employed Mrs. Elizabeth Holt, his widow, in printing the journals and other matters connected with the government; she also con- ducted the paper for a time which Holt had published in Poughkeepsie during the conflict, and resumed in New York in 1783, called The Inde- pendent Gazette, or New York Journal revived. Four newspapers flour-
the Rev. Charles McKnight was carried a prisoner to New York, where he died January 1, 1778. He was present at the battle of Princeton, and stood so near General Mercer when he fell as to receive a severe saber-cut on his head. He was one of the trustees of Princeton College.
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ished in the city during the greater period of its occupancy by the British troops; in order to have the advantage of a daily newspaper, an arrangement was made with the proprietors of each to publish on differ- ent days. Thus Rivington's Royal Gazette, which was the most notable of any for its extraordinary untruths and abuse of the Americans, ap- peared on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Hugh Gaine's Gazette or Mercury on Mondays, and two others of lesser importance on Thursdays and Fri- days. As the war drew to a close Rivington's loyalty cooled. He wished to continue his residence in New York, where he had established a bookstore. His paper dropped its appendages of royalty and appeared as a plain democratic newspaper, entitled Rivington's New York Gazette and Universal Advertiser. But he was disturbed by the people, and relinquished the enterprise before the end of a twelvemonth. Hugh Gaine's paper closed with the war. He had been distinguished by the facility with which he could balance himself upon the political fence ; when fortune was with the British he was the most loyal of kingly sub- jects, when with America he was a patriot of deepest dye. "When the contest was doubtful he was the completest pattern of a genuine doubter." Samuel Loudon, editor of The New York Packet and American Advertiser, returned from Fishkill to New York on the conclusion of peace; in 1785 he changed his publication, which was the political opponent of The New York Journal, from a weekly to a daily. Loudon himself was an elder in the Scotch Presbyterian Church of New York.
The population of the city, a practical fusion of many elements and nationalities, was in a changeful condition during the entire period com- prehended in the present chapter. Homes were little more than resting- places. Everything was mixed and uncertain. Houses were occupied one day and vacant the next. People moved into the town, but others moved away; thus there was no material increase of abiding citizens. Rubbish and ruins still marked the track of the great fire of 1776, and one or two hundred horses and cows might have been seen grazing in the open fields about Reade Street, where there was a burying-ground for negroes, and scarcely a single house. In the rear of the Old City Hospital, between Duane and Anthony Streets, was a rural orchard so secluded that it was chosen for the scene of a duel in 1786, in which one of the parties was mortally wounded. The map of Manhattan Island (page 68) forcibly illustrates the size of New York City at this juncture, a mere speck in comparison with its present proportions. Its population did not at any time within these four years exceed twenty-four thousand. Its first directory, published in 1786, was a little primer of eighty-two pages, containing nine hundred names of individuals and firms, with statistics
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of a varied character, an almanac, and a table of coins ; this was produced by David Franks, who advertised himself as an attorney, and Shepherd Kollock, formerly of The New Jersey Journal, both editors as well as enterprising printers ; Kollock was also a judge of common pleas for thirty-five years. Public whipping was still in vogue for various mis- demeanors, men were imprisoned for debt, and colored slaves occupied a niche in every household of importance.
Several prominent military characters passed away during the same period. Lord Stirling died in Albany, in January, 1783. He had ren- dered constant and important services to the country since the beginning of the war, and was deeply lamented by all who knew him in public or in private life. His estates were sacrificed at forced sales, and nothing was left his family of value. Oliver De Lancey died in England in Novem- ber, 1785, at the age of sixty-seven;1 he had fought for George III. with a self-sacrificing heroism vastly exceeding that of England's native gen- erals ; but from his life-long connection with New York affairs, the news of his death was received with tearful sadness. Alexander McDougall died in June, 1786. He was a member of the New York senate at the time of his decease, one of the most fearless of politicians, with original and intelligent views. Isaac Roosevelt succeeded him as President of the Bank of New York. The same month was marked by the death of Nathaniel Greene, who next to Washington was esteemed one of the greatest generals America had as yet produced. He breathed out his valuable life at the beautiful plantation near Savannah which had been presented to him by the State of Georgia.
Meanwhile there were many notable occasions for rejoicing. Both La- fayette and Washington were received with august ceremonies by the city. Another great day was when John Jay returned from his successful Euro- pean mission, July 24, 1784. The mayor and corporation greeted him with an address of welcome, presenting the freedom of the city in a gold box.
1 Oliver De Lancey, fifth son of Etienne De Lancey (born in 1718, died in 1785), married Phila, daughter of Jacob Franks, of Philadelphia, in 1742. (See Vol. I. 531, 532.) Their six children were : Stephen, married Cornelia Barclay, afterwards Chief Justice of the Bahamas and Governor of Tobago ; Oliver, who succeeded Andre as Adjutant-General of the Brit- ish army ; Susanna, married General Sir William Draper ; Phila, married Stephen Payne Galwey, counselor to the Governor of Antigua ; Anna, married John Harris Cruger ; and Charlotte, married Field Marshal Sir David Dundas, K. C. B. The only son of Stephen (elder son of Oliver) was Sir William Howe De Lancey, K. C. B., who was killed at the battle of Waterloo. The eldest daughter of Stephen, Susan De Lancey, married for her second husband Sir Hudson Lowe, Governor of St. Helena during the captivity of Napoleon the Great. . Susanna, the sister of Oliver De Lancey, who married Sir Peter Warren (see Vol. I. 586, 588), had three daughters : Anna, married (1758) Charles Fitzroy, first Baron Southampton ; Charlotte, married (1768) Willoughby Bertie, fourth Earl of Abingdon ; Susanna, married William Skinner of New Jersey, whose only child, Susan Maria, married her cousin, Major-General Henry, third Viscount Gage.
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The utmost enthusiasm prevailed. He was caressed and fêted. Every one delighted in doing him honor. The whole city was brilliant with festivities. While upon the eve of sailing for home he had received a farewell letter from David Hartley, exceptionably interesting in this con- nection as an illustration of the good-will, respect, and confidence which our New York envoy commanded in Great Britain, in which occurs the following paragraph :-
" Your public and private conduct has impressed me with unalterable esteem for you as a public and private friend ; . . . if I should not have the good fortune to see you again, I hope you will always think of me as eternally and unalterably attached to the principles of renewing and establishing the most intimate connection of amity and intercourse and alliance between our two countries. I presume that the subject of American intercourse will soon be renewed in Parliament, as the term of the present act approaches to its expira- tion. The resumption of this subject in Parliament will probably give ground to some specific negotiation - you know my sentiments already. I thank you for your inquiries concerning my sister. She continues much in the same way as when you were at Bath - that is to say, as we hope in a fair way to final recovery, though very slowly. My brother is well, and joins with me in sincere good wishes to yourself and family, and to the renovation of all those ties of consanguinity and friendship which have for ages been interwoven between our respective countries."1
Chancellor Robert R. Livingston wrote on the 30th from Clermont, congratulating Jay upon his safe return. Livingston had retired from his position as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1783, but Congress had not yet been able to fill his place satisfactorily. The responsible office was tendered to Jay ; and while the question of his acceptance was in abeyance, the legislature of New York appointed him one of its delegates to Congress, which convened in November at Trenton. Jay did not hesitate to pronounce the place of meeting inconvenient, and, fully aware of the necessity of secrecy in diplomatic affairs, was unwilling to assume the duties of state unless he could have the selection of his own clerks - appointments hitherto under the control of Congress. After consid- erable spirited discussion it was determined that New York City should be the future seat of Congress, to which place it removed on the 23d of December, 1784. Elbridge Gerry wrote to General Warren, under the same date: -
"It is fortunate that we arrived here as we did, for otherwise Congress would by this time have been in Philadelphia, and the treasury in such hands
1 David Hartley to John Jay, March 2, 1784. This letter, from among the private papers of Chief Justice Jay, and for which the author is indebted to the courtesy of Hon. John Jay, is now for the first time published.
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as you and I could not approve. There was a stronger party formed against us than I remember to have seen, but I think it will subside and matters be in a good train again. We have carried two great points to-day by passing an ordinance, first, to appoint three Commissioners to lay out a district on the branch of either side of the Delaware, within eight miles of this place, to pur- chase the soil and enter into contracts for erecting suitable buildings ; secondly, to adjourn to New York and reside there until suitable buildings are prepared. This I consider a fortunate affair in every respect but one. It is so disagreeable to our worthy secretary, that there is reason to apprehend he will resign his appointment. We have been so happy also as to remove some objections on the part of Mr. Jay to the acceptance of his office, and he yesterday took the oaths and entered on the business of his department."
Thus the year 1785 dawned upon New York City as the capital of the nation. The corporation tendered Congress the use of the City Hall on Wall Street, together with such other public buildings as might be necessary for its accommodation. Bishop Provost was appointed chap- lain, through the nomination of Walter Livingston. Foreign affairs were organized by John Jay on a modest scale. But he found them peculiarly burdensome through the want of executive authority in the administration. His thoughts were at once directed towards altering the existing Constitution. "Until this be done," he wrote on May 10, 1785, " the chain which holds us together will be too feeble to bear much oppo- sition or exertion, and we shall be daily mortified by seeing the links of it giving way and calling for repair, one after another."
An interesting commercial event thrilled New York before the end of May. The ship Empress, the first vessel ever sent from the United States to China, returned to this port with flying colors. May 19. An official account of the important voyage was at once communicated to Secretary Jay, which he laid before Congress. The respect with which the American flag had been treated by a people who had hitherto but confused ideas of the new republic, together with the successful estab- lishment of a direct trade with that distant empire, gave fresh impulse and energy to every branch of industry, and opened new objects to all America.
Spain by this time found it expedient to solicit the friendship of the United States. After signing the treaties in Paris, she had invited Jay to resume his negotiations at Madrid, which he declined; and America had since shown no inclination to court her favor. But before Congress adjourned for the summer, a Spanish plenipotentiary arrived, and Secre- tary Jay had the singular satisfaction of conducting him to the Congress chamber in Wall Street, and announcing him to the dignified body there
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assembled. When his commission and letters of credence had been delivered and read, Don Diego Gardoqui addressed the president and members, standing uncovered while declaring the affection of his master, the King of Spain, for them, " his great and beloved friends."
Full powers had been given to its ministers in Europe by Congress to treat with Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. John Adams, still in Holland, had been actively studying the habits and forms of these African governments and their treaties. He was in Versailles, consulting Ver- gennes about money and presents - who said that "the Emperor of Morocco was the most interested man in the world, and the most greedy of money " -- when news came that he had been elected to represent the United States at the Court of Great Britain. In reply to the felicitations of Vergennes, he said he did not know but it merited compassion rather than felicitation. " Ah, why ?" asked Vergennes, with astonishment. " Because, as you know, it is a species of degradation in the eyes of Europe, after having been accredited to the King of France, to be sent to any other court." " But, permit me to say," continued Vergennes, "it is a great thing to be the first ambassador from your country to the country you sprang from. It is a mark." The Duke of Dorset congratulated Adams, and told him he would " be stared at a great deal." Adams replied that he " trembled at the thought of going there; and was afraid they would gaze with evil eyes." One of the foreign ambassadors, surprised to learn that Adams had never been in England but once, ex- claimed, " But you have relations there ?" "None at all," replied Adams. " None ! how can that be ? You are of English extraction ?" "Neither my father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, great-grandfather or great-grandmother, nor any other relation that I know of or care a farthing for, has been in England these hundred and fifty years ; so that you see I have not one drop of blood in my veins but what is American." " Ay, we have seen proof enough of that," answered the Minister.
Before the end of May Adams was in London, where he was treated with distinguished consideration. The incidents of his first interview with George III. were faithfully published to the remotest ends of the civilized world. The king pronounced his address "extremely proper," and in reply said, "I will be very frank with you. I was the last to consent to the separation ; but, the separation having been made, and having become inevitable, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independent power." During the conversation which followed, the king asked Adams if he was just from France, and being answered in the affirmative, laugh- ingly remarked, " An opinion prevails among some people that you are
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not the most attached of all your countrymen to the manners of France." With graceful pleasantry Adams admitted the truth of the speculation, saying, " I have no attachment but to my own country." " An honest man will never have any other," was the quick rejoinder of the king.
Wall Street, notable for having been the scene of many of the most significant and exciting events in American history, was not only where the first ambassador was chosen for Great Britain, and his instructions elaborately prepared by Secretary Jay of New York, but it was in a tumult of enthusiasm one chilly day late in the autumn of this year, on the occasion of the reception by Congress of the first Nov. 24. consul-general from George III. to the United States, Sir John Temple, whose commission had been executed in February. Here, too, in the old historic City Hall, which was soon to be burnished anew, Thomas Jeffer- son was elected (March 10) Minister to France, Franklin having earnestly asked permission to return to America, and John Rutledge was appointed to the Netherlands (July 5) in place of Adams; here the grave ques- tions necessary for the dignified maintenance of the peace secured with the various nations of Europe were discussed daily; here Secretary Jay met the offers of Spain in regard to the navigation of the Mississippi, with the offer to forbear navigating its waters below the southern boundary of the republic for a term of twenty or thirty years, while re- fusing to relinquish the right - which the Spanish Minister would not concede ; and here the remonstrance of Congress at what was deemed an infraction of the treaty, embodied in a memorial to the British Ministry, demanding the immediate removal of its garrisons from no less than seven specified military posts on the frontiers, was penned, and a secret act immediately passed, limited to one year, giving Secretary Jay dis- cretionary power to inspect letters in the post-office. The probable motive for this last extraordinary measure was to discover the nature of instructions sent from England to the commanders of the garrisons, but it is not known that the power was ever exercised.
Congress elected Samuel Osgood, Walter Livingston, and John Lewis Gervais commissioners of the treasury. But the New York Legisla- ture repealed an act which granted the revenues of its port to the United States, and established a custom-house and a system of its own. Every effort to restore to Congress the disposition and control of this revenue proved unsuccessful. The city was the great commercial mart of the Union ; and the collectors were appointed by, and made amenable exclusively to, the State authorities. In 1786 the legislature made the import duties payable to the bills of credit issued by the State. Congress, perceiving the national credit more than ever endangered by this enact-
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ment, requested Governor Clinton to convene the legislature for its recon- sideration. He declined, upon the ground that no sufficient cause was shown for the exercise of this extraordinary power, the decision having been recent and the result of mature deliberation. Shortly afterward a proposition to negotiate a loan in Europe was referred by Congress to Secretary Jay, who reported that it appeared to him improper to inaugu- rate any such proceeding, as the Federal government was rather paternal and persuasive, than coercive and efficient. "Congress," he said, " can make no certain dependence on the States for any specific sums, to be required and paid at any given periods, and consequently is not in a capacity safely to pledge its honor and faith as a borrower." Congress, indeed, had not even the power to regulate trade so as to counteract the un- friendly regulations of other TÍNHSUIT LENG nations ; each State having reserved to itself the right of imposing, collecting, and ap- propriating duties on its own commerce.
To add to the pecuniary embarrassments of the time, forged notes and counterfeit bills circulated to an alarm- ing extent, notwithstanding the severe penalties involved. William Stephens Smith, sec- retary of legation under Adams in London, had de- tected and arrested several persons in this employment while in the execution of his office as commissioner to superintend the embarkation FIVE SHILLINGS of loyalists from the port P Y a Law of the State of New-York, this BILL Thall be received in all Payments into the Freafury, for RIVE Day of Morils of New York. The sketch is the fac-simile of a curious relic preserved by Egbert Specimen of Counterfeit Money. [Copied through the courtesy of Mr. Robert Benson. ] Benson; it was delivered into court by the grand jury in May, 1787, with bill against Mr. Field, the man who attempted to pass it, "knowingly."
The first banking institution in New York originated in the brain of Alexander Hamilton, and commenced operations in 1784, under " articles
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of association," drawn by Hamilton, who was a member of its first board of directors. Hamilton, as well as Gouverneur Morris, had materially assisted Robert Morris in the establishment of the " Bank of North America " at Philadelphia, the first organized bank in the United States, chartered December 31, 1781; and Hamilton had filled the office, for a considerable period, of receiver of the Continental taxes in the State of New York, exerting himself the while to impress upon the legislature the importance of his favorite financial ideas concerning a national bank. The " Bank of New York " was not, however, chartered until May 21, 1791.
" It takes time to make sovereigns of subjects," wrote Jay to Jefferson in the autumn of 1785. The pressure of a common danger having been removed, the defects of the existing confederation were actually menacing the country with ruin. The loyalists were exultant, and said the Ameri- cans had found "their idol, their phantom, independency, a mere ignis fatuus," in short, that they were incapable of governing themselves. It was clear that one body of men, daily changing its members, could never manage the three great departments of sovereignty - legislative, judicial, and executive -with convenience or effect. Obstacles of a startling character interposed to prevent the execution of the treaty, and there were symptoms of uneasiness among the Indians, and rumors of secret preparations in Canada, as if for another war. Congress discovered, upon investigation, that laws enacted by at least five of the States, of which New York was one, restrained the collection of debts due to British sub- jects, in manifest violation of the treaty; and it called upon them to repeal such acts, but had no authority to compel acquiescence.
Affairs were approaching a crisis. Meanwhile a convention, proposed by James Madison in the legislature of Virginia, to consider the expedi- ency of a uniform system of commercial regulations, was held at Annapolis. Delegates were present from five States, Virginia, Delaware, Penn- 1786. sylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Alexander Hamilton, who Sept. had recently attacked the problem of self-government with the keen in- stincts of a veteran, represented New York. Nothing of importance was accomplished by this assemblage except a recommendation to Congress, which resulted in the appointment of delegates to meet in Philadelphia the following May, for the sole and express purpose of revising the articles of confederation.
Richard Henry Lee was president of Congress in 1785, and Charles Thompson secretary. To the latter we owe the careful preservation of the journals of Congress through the stormy period. He was the sole secretary from 1774 to 1789, and made two copies of the records with his own hand. His life was singularly noble and upright, and his devotion
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to the interests of the nation in its infancy deserving of immortal honor. He was a classical scholar as well as a cultivated gentleman, and the friend of all the great men of his time. President Lee entertained guests three times a week, but never invited ladies, having none at his own house ; John Quincy Adams enjoyed his hospitality during a visit to New York in the hot summer of 1785, and writing to his sister in Lon- don of the duties of the presidential office, said, " He is obliged, in this weather, to sit in Congress from eleven in the morning until four in the afternoon, the warmest and most disagreeable part of the day. It was expected that Congress would adjourn during the dog-days, at least, but they have so much business that a recess, however short, would leave them behindhand."
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