USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress Vol. III > Part 5
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Matters gradually adjusted themselves, and regrets for New York were lost in the agreeable and stirring events of the winter. Congress com- menced its third session on the 6th of December, and was actively busy with public affairs until the 3d of March, 1791. Two im- Dec. 6. portant measures, the tax on distilled spirits of domestic manufacture,
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
and a national bank, were vehemently and angrily discussed, and finally adopted. The opponents of the bank denied its necessity or utility, and said that Congress had no authority from the Constitution to create any corporation whatever. The question involved principles of the ut- most importance to the United States, and the subject was viewed in every shade of light. Hamilton, with scholastic logic, calmly reasoned that the measure in question was a proper method for the execution of the several powers which were enumerated, and also contended that the right to employ it resulted from the whole of them taken together. The preamble to the bill foretold " that it would be conducive to the success- ful conducting of the national finances, give facility to the obtaining of loans for the use of the government in sudden emergencies, and be pro- ductive of considerable advantage to trade and industry in general." Jefferson was intolerant of banks. He said they were "instituted by a moneyed aristocracy," and that the public was "abandoned to avarice and swindlers by a paper currency." Hamilton's projects were in his eyes only powerful engines for the completion of machinery by which the whole action of the legislature would be under the direction of the Treasury - and shaped to further a monarchial system of government. Hamilton and Jefferson wrangled continually. "Why should either of you be so tenacious of your opinions as to make no allowance for those of the other ?" exclaimed Washington.
The bank went into operation, and although the question of its expedi- ency agitated the public mind and divided the national councils for many years afterwards, experience has shown the absolute necessity of such an institution to enable the government to manage its great concerns.
The city of Washington was not yet laid out, and immediately after Congress adjourned in the spring of 1791 the President made a tour through the Southern States, his first business being to confer with the landholders and arrange for the purchase of the site of the future capital.
1791. He left Philadelphia on the 21st of March, precisely at noon, and March 21. was attended for some miles by Jefferson and Knox. The roads were so muddy that he was five days in journeying to Annapolis. In his diary, he wrote: "I was accompanied by Major Jackson ; my equipage and attendance consisted of a chariot and four horses drove in hand, a light baggage-wagon and two horses, four saddle-horses, besides a led one for myself, and five dependents, to wit, my valet de chambre, two foot- men, a coachman, and a postilion."
New York languished for several months after the removal of the seat of government. The winter was particularly dull. The chief excitement grew out of the election of Aaron Burr to the Senate of the United
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AARON BURR.
States. Schuyler had, on casting lots, drawn the shortest term, which would expire with the present session of Congress ; hence it became necessary to fill the seat thus made vacant. Schuyler was a candidate for re-election, and Burr was his competitor. Schuyler was a man of integrity and commanding appearance, but a strong partisan, who bore the scars of former political contests ; and he was thoroughly identified with Hamilton, whose financial scheme was rending the community in twain. Personally he was reputed austere and aristocratic, which did not enhance his popularity. Burr was a new man in politics, was opposed to the ultras of both parties, and stood before the people an educated and accomplished gentleman, who would represent the State fairly through his moderation. He was opposed to Hamilton's measures, and he was to all appearances equally opposed to Clinton. He was thirty-five years of age, small of stature and well-formed, with handsome features, black eyes of piercing brilliancy, and an irresistibly pleasing address. His specialty was to shine. Except Hamilton, he was thought to be the finest orator in the State, and by many was considered one of the most eloquent and persuasive public speakers of the age. It was nine years since he puzzled the writers of biographical gossip by marrying Mrs. Prevost, the widow of a British officer ten years older than himself, who had two rollicking sons, and no great estate. The lady was not even beautiful ; but she was highly cultivated, with great loveliness of character, and the marriage had proved a happy one, notwithstanding Burr's moral defects. They were not much in society ; but Burr often said in after years that if his manners were superior to those of men in general it was owing to the insensible influence of his wife. He had been two years Attorney Gen- eral of the State, prior to which time, in addition to great industry in his profession, he had served one term in the Legislature. He had also been one of three commissioners, in 1790, upon whom New York devolved the duty of classifying and deciding upon the claims of individuals for ser- vices rendered and losses sustained in the Revolutionary War. These claimants were legion. Some had served in the State militia, others in the Continental army, many in both. Some had supplied provisions to both descriptions of troops, others had had their estates overrun and houses pillaged or burned by the enemy. Some of the claims were for thousands of dollars, others for the value of horses, cattle, or a few tons of hay. In the throng of claimants were numberless rogues whose accounts needed the closest scrutiny. And when, after all the trouble, the justice of a claim was established, it was often a difficult point to decide whether it was the national or the State government that ought to discharge it. In some cases both seemed liable, and the commissioners must decide in
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what proportion. The investigation occupied many months, and at its close Burr drew up a report which was remarkable for its clear and concise statement of the principles upon which claims had been allowed, rejected, or excluded from consideration, and which was accepted by the Legislature without opposition or amendment.
In 1791 he was appointed to serve on another commission of grave importance, the issue of which advanced the reputation of no one con- cerned. It was to dispose of the wild unappropriated lands in the State of New York, which at the close of the war amounted to more than seven millions of acres. As a matter of State policy it was thought best to offer inducements to such persons as were willing to find a lodgment in the vast wilderness, therefore a law was enacted authorizing these commis- sioners to sell land "in such parcels, on such terms, and in such manner as they should judge most conducive to the interests of the public." Powers more unlimited were never confided to any body of men, not ex- cepting the old Dutch mercantile companies. The vote in the Legislature creating the statute was nearly or quite unanimous, and evidently met the approval of both political parties. The commission consisted of Gov- ernor Clinton, the State secretary, Lewis Allaire Scott, the attorney-general, Aaron Burr, the State treasurer, Gerard Bancker, and the auditor, Peter T. Curtenius.
During the summer these gentlemen sold the enormous quantity of five and a half millions of acres, at an average price of about eighteen cents per acre, in prodigious tracts -one for three shillings an acre, another for two shillings, and some for one shilling. The most extraor- dinary sale of all was one to Alexander McComb, of more than three million six hundred thousand acres, at the seemingly incredible price of eightpence per acre, payable in five annual instalments, without interest, subject to a discount of six per cent if paid in advance. Large parcels were sold to other persons, among whom were James Caldwell and John and Nicholas Roosevelt.
As soon as these transactions were made public an outcry arose in all parts of the State, and resolutions of censure were moved in the Legisla- ture. It was broadly insinuated that the governor and his friends were personally interested in the purchases. This met with a total denial on the part of the commissioners, who emphatically asserted that no higher offers for the land could be obtained, and that the chief object of the State in selling was to bring private interest to bear upon the actual settlement of the waste places. Hammond says, " After a long and acrimonious discussion of the resolutions of censure, they were finally rejected, and Melancthon Smith, as pure a man as ever lived, introduced a resolution
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approving of the conduct of the commissioners, which was adopted in the Assembly by a vote of thirty-five to twenty."
One of the curiosities in the turn of the political wheel was the sup- port given to Burr, in opposition to Schuyler, by the Livingstons. The Chancellor suddenly veered from the Federal party, giving as a reason his want of sympathy with the views of Hamilton. Some said he was disappointed in not having been made Chief Justice of the United States, or at least tendered some of the great offices of the general government. His brother-in-law, Morgan Lewis, received the appointment of attorney- general when Burr took his seat in the Senate. Schuyler felt his defeat acutely, and Hamilton was excessively annoyed. As for Burr, his trans- cendent abilities and corrupt principles were henceforward cast into the political caldron. His career as a senator commenced October 24, 1791, with the compliment of being named chairman of a committee of three, to prepare a reply to the annual speech of President Washington before the two Houses assembled in the Senate Chamber.
The merchants of New York about this time formed an association with the purpose of providing a business center for the commercial community, called the " Tontine Association " in honor of Tonti, a Neapolitan, who introduced a similar scheme into France in 1653. The word "Tontine" was to designate "a loan advanced by a number of associated capitalists for life annuities, with benefit to survivorship." The Tontine building was erected on the corner of Wall and Water Streets, between the years 1792 and 1794, and the Association was formally incorporated during the year last mentioned. Among the merchants who pushed forward the enterprise were John Broome, John Watts, Gulian Verplanck, John Delafield, and William Laight.1
1 John Broome, for six successive years lieutenant-governor of the State, was born and educated in New York, studying law in the office of Governor William Livingston, although diverted from the legal profession into the importing business by his brother, Samuel Broome, who married Miss Nugent, niece and adopted daughter of Admiral Sir Peter Parker, com- mander of the British fleet on our coast. Biographies of Francis Lewis and Morgan Lewis, by their granddaughter, Julia Delafield. His father was an Englishman, his mother a French- woman, Marie de la Tourette. The parents of this lady were the young Count and Countess de la Tourette of an ancient Huguenot family, and were residents at the old château in La Vendée, when the Edict of Nantes was revoked. The count was informed that his name was on the list of the proscribed, and that an unsuccessful attempt to escape would cost him his life. He proceeded to give a large entertainment to which all the neighboring gentry were invited, and when the gayety was at its height, stole with the countess from the banqueting hall and escaped on foot to the sea-shore, where a vessel bound for Charleston lay at anchor, taking with them only their jewels and their Huguenot Bible. The ship was cast away on Staten Island, where the countess gave birth to the daughter who subsequently became the mother of John Broome. The reader has observed the name of this gentleman on the Revo- lutionary committees and in the New York Congress during the war. He married Rebecca
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Gouverneur Morris wrote constantly from France, and his letters were filled with the shocking excesses of the Revolutionists in that troubled 1792. kingdom. In the spring of 1792 he was appointed by the Presi-
dent, minister plenipotentiary to the French Court ; but his ser- vices in that direction were destined to be of short duration. Down to this period the great mass of Americans were ardent sympathizers with the French reformers. But Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Rufus King, and other leading conservatives began to think the French Revolu- tion essentially diabolical, an opinion which deepened when the news came that Lafayette had lost his authority and was in personal danger, and that the French nation was governed by Jacobin clubs. "Ah ! the fact is," said Jefferson, "Gouverneur Morris is a high-flying monarchy man, shutting his eyes and his faith to every fact against his wishes."
Meanwhile New York must needs elect a governor, as Clinton's term of office expired in the summer. Both political parties were intensely ex- cited on the subject. The Federalists were some time in fixing upon a candidate. They applied to Judge Yates, and to Stephen Van Rens- selaer, the patroon, both of whom declined. Chancellor Livingston was invited and declined. Chief Justice Jay was much desired, but his high office under the national government and his aversion to party warfare made it seem improbable that he would permit his name to be used. Aaron Burr was suggested. Through the influence of Schuyler and Hamilton, Jay finally accepted the nomination, and Stephen Van Rens- selaer that of lieutenant-governor. On the other hand, George Clinton and Pierre Van Cortlandt were nominated for a re-election.
The council of appointment consisted of David Pye, Philip Van Cort- landt, the military son of the lieutenant-governor, Stephen Van Rens- selaer, and William Powers. The State canvassers were David Geltson, Thomas Tillotson, whose wife was one of the Chancellor's sisters, Melanc- thon Smith, Daniel Graham, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr., David McCarty, Jonathan N. Havens, Samuel Jones, Isaac Roosevelt, Leonard Ganesvoort, and Joshua Sands. The election was the closest and angriest the State had yet seen, and the issue exasperated parties more than the strife itself. There was an informality in the canvass, and both sides claimed
Lloyd, of Lloyd's Neck. He was an alderman of the city, at one time City Treasurer, Presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce, and also President of the New York Insurance Company. His daughter Sarah married James Boggs, many years President of the Phoenix Bank ; and his daughter Julia married Colonel John Livingston, great-grandson of the second Lord of the Manor, who purchased an estate on Lake Skaneateles and afterwards, received a premium for the best cultivated land in the country, and who was also marshal of the northern district of New York for twenty-seven years. Mrs. Boggs left two daughters, Mary, married Rich- ard Ray, and Julia Augusta, married Lewis H. Livingston.
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the victory. Of the eleven canvassers named, seven announced that Clin- ton had carried the State by a majority of one hundred and eight votes, while the remaining four declared that the victory belonged to Jay. After many stormy discussions they agreed to request the opinion of New York's two United States Senators, Rufus King and Aaron Burr.
It was a peculiar question. The law then required the votes of a county to be sealed by the inspectors of election, and delivered to the sheriff, who was to convey it intact to the Secretary of State. On this occasion the County of Otsego had no sheriff. Richard R. Smith had held that office, but his term had expired. Another sheriff had been appointed, but had not yet been sworn in; and during the interregnum the important business of receiving and conveying the votes had pre- sented itself. Of course Smith performed the duty. But he was not the sheriff. He had been elected to the board of supervisors, an office incompatible with that of sheriff, and had actually taken his seat at the board and performed official acts. The Republicans protested that the votes received and sent by him could not be legally canvassed. The county had given Jay about four hundred majority, and if those votes were not excluded Jay was governor. The two senators, upon conference, found that an irreconcilable difference of opinion existed between them on the subject. King was for admitting the votes, Burr for rejecting them. Each consulted several of the best lawyers in the land before giving his opinion, and could exhibit an imposing array of names in its support. King was for having justice done; Burr for having the law observed. The canvassers, thus left to choose, followed the political preferences of the majority of their number, and pronounced George Clinton duly elected.
The exasperation of the Federalists was, for a time, almost beyond control, and the State seemed in danger of anarchy. As each senator had decided in favor of his own party, the motives of both were assailed. Public meetings were held, and the governor was denounced as a usurper and the canvassing committee as corrupt. Loud protests were made against the legality of Clinton's acts. At this juncture nothing but the conduct of John Jay saved the State from temporary confusion.
He was holding Circuit Court at Bennington, in Vermont, when the decision of the canvassers was made known. Upon his return his politi- cal friends met him in crowds at the State line, and his journey home was one continued ovation. Public dinners, addresses, and salutes of artillery greeted him at Albany, Lansingburg, Hudson, and other towns on the route. When within eight miles of New York City, he was met by a body of citizens and escorted to his house with every demonstration
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of affection. A public meeting was called, and amid highly inflamma- tory addresses expression was given to the general indignation be- cause of the measures taken to deprive him of the office to which he had been elected. Jay was calm and dignified through all these ex- citing scenes, and his words breathed such a spirit of conciliation and moderation that order was restored. "They who do what they have a right to do, give no just cause of offense," he said, " therefore every consid- eration of propriety forbids that difference of opinion respecting candidates should suspend or interrupt the mutual good-humor and benevolence which harmonize society and soften the asperities of human life and hu- man affairs." A few days later a public dinner was given to Jay, and on retiring from table, the whole company, as a mark of respect, waited upon him to his house. It was an unusual spectacle, that of a popular leader striving to modify the temper of those who believed him to be the right- ful governor and were burning to redress his wrongs. Governor Clinton took the oath of office on the 18th of July, and on the 19th a great July 19. dinner was tendered him by his political friends. Samuel Os- good, as chairman of a committee, addressed Clinton, animadverting with much severity on the conduct of his opponents ; to which Clinton replied in a gentlemanly and conciliatory manner. When the legislature con- vened in November, petitions on the subject of the canvass Nov. 6.
poured in from all parts of the State. A tedious investigation ensued. The law regulating elections had made the decisions of the canvassers final ; and after some time the Assembly, by a majority of four votes, resolved, "That it does not appear to this House that the canvassers conducted themselves with any impropriety in the execution of the trust reposed in them by the law."
National affairs absorbed the public mind as winter approached. The second election of a chief magistrate occurred, and Washington was again chosen by a unanimous vote. Not so the Vice-President. Herculean efforts were made to defeat the re-election of Adams, and Governor George Clinton was the opposing candidate. The force of the blow was directed chiefly against the measures of Hamilton. Clinton's strength was feared by the Federalists. He was a man of property, integrity, unblemished private life, and had been distinguished above all others in the United States for his resistance to the adoption of the Constitution. Jefferson and Burr were named as candidates in private circles and in public prints, though not regularly nominated.1 Hamilton thought Burr ap-
1 In Aaron Burr's letters to his wife he said he dared not trust the public mail with polit- ical secrets. When he wrote about politics it was in ciphers. As, for instance, he requested " 18 to ask 45, whether, for any reasons, 21 could be induced to vote for 6, and if he could,
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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.
peared upon the stage to play the game of confusion in favor of Clinton, and wrote to Rufus King, " I take it he is for or against nothing, but as it suits his interest or ambition. He is determined, as I conceive, to make his way to the head of the popular party, and as much higher as circumstances will permit. Embarrassed, as I understand, in circum- stances, with an extravagant family, bold, enterprising, and intriguing, I feel it to be a religious duty to oppose his career." The electoral votes, being cast in their respective States, were forwarded to the seat of govern- ment, and opened on the 13th of February, 1793. Clinton re- 1793. ceived the entire vote of New York, of Virginia, of North Carolina, Feb. 13. and of Georgia. But Adams was declared elected by a small majority.
It was a trying moment in the affairs of America when Washington took the oath of office, and entered upon his new four years' term of labor and self-sacrifice. The French Revolution had just March 4. reached its highest point of fanaticism, and war threatened all Europe. Would the United States escape the storm ? The King of France had been dethroned and murdered, and a republic declared ; should the United States receive a minister from that republic ? Were the treaties annulled by the Revolution ? " What the government of France shall be is the very point in dispute," wrote Hamilton to Jay on the 9th of April. " A regent will doubtless arise who may himself send an ambassador to the United States. Should we in such case receive April 9. both ?" Two days later Hamilton wrote again to Jay : "Would not a proclamation prohibiting our citizens from taking commissions on either side be proper ? Would it not be well that it should include a declara- tion of neutrality? If you think the measure pru- such a thing as you would much you would." Jay re- us do everything that may The enclosed will dent, could you draught deem proper ? I wish plied without delay : " Let be right to avoid war. show what my present mation are; it is hastily about treaties, it speaks the expression, because
April 11. ideas of a procla- drawn, it says nothing of neutrality, but avoids in this country often as- DEO DUCE PE ANDUN sociated with others. I on my way to Richmond. shall be in Philadelphia Jay Arms. I think it better at pres- ent that too little should be said than too much."
The difficulty and delicacy of deciding what course to pursue was only
whether 14 would withdraw his opposition to 29, and 11 exert his influence in favor of 22." This mode of correspondence was not unusual at that time among politicians, but Burr was one of the most mysterious of them all.
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equalled by its importance. Washington sought the advice of his Cab- inet. With England diplomatic intercourse had been opened by the appearance of George Hammond in 1791, the first minister plenipo- tentiary to the United States from that government, but little progress had been made in adjusting differences. Hammond, indeed, had no pow- ers to conclude a treaty of commerce, and Jefferson had interpreted his lack of authority as an evidence of unfriendly sentiments on the part of the British nation. War might easily be precipitated. The multitude who fancied that a brand snatched from our own altars had lighted the fire of liberty upon the wrecks of ancient tyranny, that a political millen- nium had begun, was ready to plunge into any extreme. Would it not be better to avoid partnership in European jealousies and confusions ?
On the 22d the celebrated Proclamation of Neutrality was issued. Its April 22.
necessity was proven by the uproar it created and the strifes it enkindled. The opposing party broadly accused the administra- tion of hostility towards their former allies. Meanwhile Edmond Charles Genet, sent on a secret mission by the unsettled republic to involve the United States in a war with England, and thus effect a diversion in behalf of France, was already in South Carolina, distributing naval and military commissions. Chief Justice Jay, holding court in Richmond, when it became known that privateers were being fitted out in American ports to prey upon British commerce under commissions furnished by Genet, gave the public to understand in his charge to the jury that the Supreme Court would fearlessly discharge its duty and punish acts forbidden by the neutral position of the nation. But Genet, regardless of the opinions of courts, the proclamation of the President, and the remonstrances of indi- viduals, continued to direct, within the United States, naval and military operations against the enemies of France; and the British Minister at. Philadelphia presented a long catalogue of complaints to Washington, demanding restitution. The news of the declaration of war by France against Great Britain and Holland, coming at the same time, increased the excitement, and disposed men everywhere to co-operate with their former friend against their old enemy. Genet's progress from Charles- town to Philadelphia was marked by the most extraordinary evidences of popular infatuation and diplomatic arrogance. Public authorities and private citizens vied with each other in glorifying the representative of European democracy. French views of universal reformation spread like a prairie fire. Foreigners were pouring into the United States, and, although never having known liberty, were most anxious to teach it. Europe following the example of America ! The very notion was blind- ing to the national eyesight. Few Americans knew the direction events
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