USA > New York > New York City > Leslie's history of the greater New York, Volume I > Part 27
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INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON- SCENE IN WALL STREET, APRIL 30, 1789.
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much to the disgust of the Liberty Boys. His levees were held weekly on Tuesday afternoons at three o'clock, and punctuality was a virtue he practiced himself and required of others. Mrs. Washington had her receptions on Friday evenings from eight to ten. It was distinctly un- derstood that at these receptions there was to be no promiscuous in- flux of the " hoi polloi "; we are told that " they were select and more courtly than have been given by any of the President's successors. None were admitted to the levees but those who had either a right by official station, or by established merit and character; and full dress was required of all." Bitter were the accusations of the disap- pointed ones, that the President wished to affect a royal state. But, if at any time, it was necessary at the beginning of our Republican institutions to set high the tone of official dignity. The residence on Franklin Square proved too cramped in room and too inconvenient in situation for these necessary social events. So in March, 1790,. the President moved to the Macomb house, where now 39 Broadway is located. It was a broad. lofty structure, and easy of access to all. The city was preparing to build an executive mansion on the site of the old fort when the exigencies of politics compelled Hamilton to bargain away the selection of a capital elsewhere for far more solid beneficial results to New York and the rest of the country; and on August 30, 1790, Washington left the city. On the 28th he gave his last dinner, the guests being Governor Clinton, Mayor Varick, and the members of the Corporation. He assured his guests he left New York with great regret, for he had much enjoyed its delightful social life. As he had wished them to keep secret the time of his depart- ure, but very little ceremony attended the President and his wife on their way to their barge, which lay at the Macomb's Wharf. on the North River, almost in the rear of their residence. A few people were assembled in the vicinity, who cheered as the boat pushed ont into the stream, and the authorities caused a salute of thirteen guns to be fired from the Battery as the party came opposite. In this quiet man- ner the President left our city, destined never to look upon it again during the remaining nine years of his life.
Both as a matter of local pride in the man, and for the important results of his work in financial and commercial lines, which have made her the greatest city in this hemisphere, and the second in the world, New York must ever look with satisfaction upon the fact that Alexander Hamilton was made by Washington the first Secretary of the Treasury. As such he was called upon to organize the finances and the business of the country, and it is most remarkable that this vonng man of only thirty-two years of age did it singly. "So great was his genius for organization." observes Prof. Fiske, "that in many essential respects the American government is moving to-day along the lines which he was the first to mark ont." In the course of a year he submitted four reports, on a national bank. on the mint. on the
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excise, and on manufactures. " From these reports," says Senator Lodge, " came the funding system, the revenue system, the sinking fund, national banking. the currency, and the first enunciation of the protective policy. They carried with them the great doctrine of the implied powers of the constitution, and opened up the important ques- tion of internal improvements. So far as public policy could do it they laid the foundation of the material prosperity of the United States. A successful financial policy meant the successful
establishment of the new government. . . He armed the govern- ment with credit and with a productive revenue; he won for it the hearty good will of the business world." Washington had not judged amiss when he selected his young friend to be the mainstay of his ad- ministration. New York can never be indifferent to the consideration that her career as the commercial and financial capital of a nation leading the world in mercantile and manufacturing resources, in en- terprise and skill, was made possible by the work accomplished in a brief term of office, without prece- dents, by one of her own citizens.
But the strength- ening of the Fed- eral Central Gov- ernment was seen with alarm-let us call it sincere-by a great portion of the citizens of the new nation. And out of this differ- HAMILTON GRANGE. ence in the point of view grew the first great division of the country into parties,-a division which in a general way has continued to prevail down to our day. It was indeed the time-honored division into Whigs and Tories which had characterized English polities for so long then, and continued to do so for a long while after, and does still to-day, except that the more general and descriptive terms of Liberals or Progressives and Conservatives, have taken their place now. Different names have designated the two classes or parties in our country. At that time the Federalists, the strong central government party, were the conservatives; and the op- posite party were fain to adopt the awkward cognomen of anti- Federalist. soon to be changed into Republicans, and. in New York. a little later into Democrats. The pity of it was that party spirit produced at once all the bitterness and hatred of hostile camps. In New York Governor George Clinton had always, with his powerful
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following, opposed the Constitution. He had been elected Governor term after term. In 1792 the Federalists put John Jay in nomination, now Chief-Justice of the United States, as he had been of New York State. The results only embittered more than ever the conflict of par- ties which preceded them. Clinton had 8,440 votes, JJay had 8.332, not counting the returns from three counties, where there had been some technical irregularities about the appointment of sheriff's or other officials charged with the count. These three counties gave a major- ity of four hundred votes for Jay. The question of the irregularities was then submitted for arbitration to the two Senators from the State in Congress, Rufus King and Aaron Burr. King decided that the ir- regularities were not such as to invalidate the returns. Burr sided with the canvassers who had ruled them ont. King was a Fed- eralist, Burr was an anti-Federalist, or chose to take that line then. George Clinton was once more inaugurated as Governor. But the " counting-out " process aroused a storm of indignation, and Burr sowed seeds that were to bear bitter fruit. At the next election, in 1795, Jay was again nominated, and an unqnes- tionable majority now carried him into the Governor's chair. Clinton not daring even to be nominated in opposition. Jay was again nominated and elected in 1798, and finally retired from polities at the end of his second term in 1801. During his second term the City of New York ceased to be the capital of the State, after hav- ing served in that capacity since the foundation of the common- wealth, or for over one hundred and seventy years. In January, 1798. the seat of government was removed to Albany, and New York was now neither a State nor a federal capital. It only remained for it to become the metropolis of a nation and of a hemisphere.
When JJay was elected Governor in 1795 he was absent from the country upon a mission of the greatest import for the destiny of the city of his birth and residence, but which proved the deathblow to his own political aspirations beyond his State. The relations between England and the United States were extremely unfriendly. The Brit- ish Government would not give up the fortified posts on the frontiers. and the Americans would not pay their English creditors; and on commercial grounds the two were seeking to injure rather than ad- vance their mutual interests. Washington felt that this state of things should not be, and could only be remedied by sending a special envoy. But in 1794 the successors of the Liberty Boys were wild with enthusiasm over the French Revolution. JJacobin or Democratic chibs were formed everywhere, and France was loved with as blind an affection as England was hated with a blind antipathy. No peace. but war with the enemy of France, was the ery of the Radicals and anti-Federalists. Yet Washington and other wise men saw that peace with England would alone secure prosperity; while peace with France was productive of no result but visions and rhapsodies. Jay
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was sent out, seenred amicable terms, in many respects vastly favor- able to American commerce, returned home, and was subjected to violent abuse, burned in effigy, denounced as a traitor who had sold his country to its arch-enemy. At a public meeting in New York Hamilton, trying to reason with the people, was rudely dragged from his place, and compelled to dodge a volley of stones. Then he re- sorted once more to the political essay, and finally the sober sense of the people asserted itself, the New York Chamber of Commerce took a bold and decisive stand in favor of the treaty, Washington signed it, and its advantages ere long began to be felt, and redounded to the honor of the self-sacrificing patriot who had taken his political life in his hands in order to secure this boon to his country. The treaty. as the temper of the British ministry and people then was, was a tri- umph of diplomacy. By it " reciprocal freedom of commerce was es- tablished between the United States on the one side, and British North America and Great Britain on the other." Another foundation was therefore laid for the commercial greatness of New York by the skill and devotion to the nation's interests of one of her sons.
On the very last day of the year 1799 the city was phinged in mourn- ing, and a funeral procession was winding along its streets, on the way to appropriate services in St. Paul's Church. Washington had died on December 14. at his home at Mt. Vernon. He was but sixty- seven, and in the vigor of health when he was stricken by a cold con- tracted by an imprudent exposure, and, spite of every remedy the state of medical science at that day could suggest, a malignant and painful throat trouble carried him off in a few days. On the 19th the sad news was known in New York. On the 26th the Chamber of Con- merce took steps duly to honor the dead patriot by appropriate pub- lie ceremonies, in which they were seconded by every other society of association in the city. The day fixed for the ceremonies was Decem- ber 31. A procession was formed composed of civic and military dignitaries, attended by mounted troops and infantry and artillery. Major-General Hamilton and suite occupied a place of honor near the head. He was followed by members of several social, political, and national associations, representatives of the banks and other finan- cial institutions, Regents of the University, trustees of Columbia, members of the bar, the clergy, the Lieutenant-Governor of the State, the Consuls of foreign powers in the city. Twenty-four girls in white dresses immediately preceded the funeral urn, which was carried upon a bier, in the form of a palanquin, six feet long by four wide, supported upon the shoulders of eight stalwart soldiers; a horse ca- parisoned in mourning attire was led behind the bier, and members of the Cincinnati followed in the capacity of chief mourners. The corporation of the city and mounted troops closed up the rear. In this order the procession advanced to St. Paul's, and filed into its pews. Here Bishop Provoost read prayers and the office for the dead,
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and Gouverneur Morris delivered an eulogy. Next Washington's Birthday, February 22, 1800, President Adams appointed as a day of devotion and prayer in memory of the illustrious dead. On that day the corporation and the Cincinnati attended the Dutch Church on Nassau Street to listen to a sermon by Dr. William Linn, one of the pastors of the Collegiate Reformed Church, said to be the most elo- quent preacher in the country. One sentence deserves especial men- tion: " That calumny which has sought to tarnish his fame will soon become dumb, and the name of Washington be revered until the fash- ion of this world has wholly passed away." A hundred years have not yet put this prophecy to shame.
When Washington was twenty-five years old Hamilton was born; when he assumed the command of the armies of the republic. Hamilton was eigh- teen years old. Yet with this great differ- ence in their ages their careers in the service of their con- try were almost ex- actly coterminons. In 1798 when the exas- perating conduct of France under Napo- leon had compelled a declaration of war against our former ally, and Washington RICHMOND HILL. had again been called to the chief command. he accepted on the condition that Hamilton be made senior Major- General, ranking next in command to himself. In that brief period of his last public position Hamilton flashed out one more sein- tillation of his versatile genius in an entirely new direction. for the benefit of his country and his city, by preparing a plan of defenses for New York which forms the basis of her formidable system of forti- fications to this day. United with his chief in what was with both the last public service, it was but five years after Washington's death that Hamilton came to his untimely end. We at once pass on to that across the intervening years, as this sad episode was in itself the cul- mination of events in the history of country, state, and city which must have their record in narrating it. The catastrophe, occurring within the precincts of our city, constitutes one of the most startling and sensational incidents of our local history.
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We have already once or twice come upon the name of Aaron Burr. He was the gallant aide who led General Putnam's forces on a safe retreat from the lower part of Manhattan Island even after the Brit- ish had landed at Kip's Bay. We have encountered him as the United States Senator from New York who countenanced the infamous counting out of John Jay in 1792 by a mere partisan decision. The man is a problem in heredity. His father was the Rev. Aaron Burr, widely respected as a godly minister and profound scholar, Presi- dent of Princeton College. His mother was the choicest flower of a choice family, the danghter of the celebrated theologian and revival- ist, Jonathan Edwards. Both parents died while their child was but a few years old, and somehow or somewhere he received a moral or religious twist which unbalanced his character. Burr left the army before the war was quite over, studied law at Albany, and began practice in New York some time before Hamilton. Both young and both brilliant, in professional and social circles they constantly met on the best of terms. Burr was almost always in financial straits, and coming to Hamilton in distress at one time, the latter was instru- mental in raising a loan of ten thousand dollars among his friends. They were together in the famous Sands case, a young lady mysteri- ously murdered whose lover was accused of the crime. Burr's plead- ings, joined to Hamilton's skill in sifting evidence, procured a verdict of " not guilty " from the jury after but four minutes' deliberation On Mrs. Jay's " dinner list " mentioned above, their names are con. stantly together. But political differences gradually alienated them, and led to a bitter hostility not to be appeased except by murder of the genteel sort called dueling. Burr's political management, as well as undoubted abilities, joined with his unscrupulousness, had caused him to forge ahead steadily, until, as is well known, at the Presiden- tial election of 1800, Jefferson and Burr came out at the head of all other candidates, with 73 electoral votes to the credit of each. This tie vote threw the election into the hands of the House of Represent- atives. Burr knew he was not wanted for President by his party, but he waited the chances of the vote in the House. Thirty-seven ballots were cast, when the Presidency finally went to Jefferson, because one Federalist from Delaware voted for him upon the advice of Hamilton, who, while disliking Jefferson and his political principles much, had much more distrust of the moral character of Burr. Four years later the anti-Federalists showed what they thought of Burr for having sought to supplant their idol Jefferson by not even nominating him, George Clinton being taken instead, and elected Vice-President. There happened to be due an election for Governor of New York that same year, 1804, and Burr conceived the idea that here was an oppor- innity for " vindication," as the modern political phrase has it. He would run for Governor of his State to offset the snub on the field of national politics. His own party, having just set him aside for Clin-
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ton, would not nominate him. He had a mind to court the favor of the Federalists, for he was not very fixed in his political faith so long as personal ends were to be gained, but his overtures were not ac- cepted. Then he resorted to the expedient of running himself as an independent, self-nominated candidate. His popularity might draw many away from the anti-Federalists, and divided counsels might cause some of the Federalists to swell his vote and carry him to vic- tory. The Federalists, however, were kept from aiding this scheme by the same warning voice that had prevented them from defrauding Jefferson of the Presidency his party had intended for him. Hamilton again crossed Burr's path, and he was left stranded a political wreck.
A deadly hostility now took possession of Burr's unscrupulous na- ture. Hamilton must be put out of his way, and the duel was a con- venient cover for murderous vengeance. His case was desperate. Should Hamilton's bullet lay him low, his condition could scarce be worse than it was now, being politically dead. Should Hamilton fall Burr might hope to rise again over opponents less formidable. Occa- sion for quarrel was readily found. A second-hand report of a conver- sation was seized upon, and an explanation demanded. Neither Ham- ilton nor the hearers could remember the precise words or statement objected to. The groundlessness or irrelevance of such a position was earnestly pointed out by Hamilton, whose personal bravery was genu- ine and unquestioned, but who honestly sought to avoid the duel, as it was a practice he disapproved of. The words forming the basis of the quarrel were those of a Dr. Cooper, who was reported in a news- paper to have said: " I could detail to you a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr." Ham- ilton asked: " How shall I annex any precise idea to language so in- definite? How could you be sure that even this opinion had exceeded the bounds which you would yourself deem admissible between politi- cal opponents? " If Burr had had any other than a murderous intent he would have acknowledged the force of these considerations. The wrifer was told by the grandson of one of the members of the Cincin- nati who was at the society's dinner on July 4, 1804. exactly a week before the fatal duel, that his grandfather had often assured him that if the members had known of the duel and its circumstances. they would never have suffered it to take place. This proves that no very serions point of honor was involved, and that Hamilton's explanation was amply satisfactory, or else the customs of the day and the feel- ings of gentlemen and soldiers would not have permitted them to in- terfere.
To a person accustomed to note dates of important events in the more or less distant past, the days July 11 and 12 will never be with- out a sad interest. A resident of New York especially should not let them pass by without a thought of the event which has made them memorable. For on July 11. 1804. Hamilton and Burr met on the
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fatal ground at Weehawken, and on JJuly 12 Hamilton's great agony ended in death. On the morning of July 11, shortly after dawn, two boats were crossing the Hudson simultaneously, bound for a point on its western shore, about opposite Fifty-sixth Street. One came from a northerly direction, for Hamilton was then staying with his family at the Hamilton Grange, a house still preserved, although moved a little distance from its former situation. It now adjoins closely, and is in use as the rectory of St. Luke's Episcopal Church. on the corner of Convent Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-first Street. Thir- teen plum trees planted by Hamilton's own hand are standing near the house, surrounded by a fence, the spot having been purchased by a New York gentleman to prevent the removal and destruction of this sacred landmark. The other boat came from a southerly direction,
THE HAMILTON-BURR DUEL.
Burr then occupying the country seat of Richmond Hill, once Wash- ington's Headquarters, and Vice-President Adams's residence while in New York, on the corner of Varick and Charlton streets. The dueling ground at Weehawken was well adapted to its sinister pur- pose, and was often utilized by gentlemen whose honor must seek satisfaction at the point of pistol or sword. It was a place of omi- nous association and sad foreboding for Hamilton, for here only three years before his eldest son, Philip, had been shot down at the age of twenty, charged by his father not to shoot at his opponent. There was a grassy ledge about twenty feet above the river, affording a surface not more than ten feet wide and forty feet long, the lofty bluff of the Palisades rising on one side. Rocks provided an almost
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natural staircase to the platform, and once here combatants were perfectly safe against interruption or detection. The advent of the West Shore Railroad has completely removed all traces of the his- torie spot, and could not even spare a few rude memorials of the event placed there by the St. Andrew's Society. It must have been some- where near where the railroad tunnel now pierces the Palisades.
The details of the fatal meeting need not be dwelt on. Hamilton had no intentions whatever of firing on Burr, unless indeed a second fire had been necessary and had unmistakably exhibited a murderous purpose on the part of his antagonist, when self-defense might have demanded it. But Hamilton fell at the first fire. Burr had diligently occupied the interval between the date of the acceptance of the chal- lenge and the duel in practicing shooting with a pistol at a target in the Richmond Hill garden, and the pistol practice had not been in vain. The bullet entered Hamilton's body in the region of the second and third false ribs, and tore through some of the most vital organs below the diaphragm. A hurried departure from the fatal spot fol- lowed, Burr's party leaving first. Let us follow him for a few mo- ments and then dismiss him from these pages. Arrived once more at Richmond Hill perhaps at the hour of seven in the morning. he quietly settled himself in his library to write to his daughter Theo- dosia. James Parton informs us that a relative from Connectient ar- rived about the same hour after an all-night journey. At eight o'clock breakfast was served to the two gentlemen, for Burr was a widower, and a little later the consin walked down to the city. It was only when he saw the commotion in the streets that he learned what had taken place. The day after Hamilton's death Burr was indicted for murder by a coroner's jury, and had to flee the city to escape ar- rest. He went to Philadelphia, and thence to Washington, and in December took his chair as President of the Senate. When his office expired he could not return to New York and face the obloquy and in- dignation directed against him there. Soon he launched upon the romantic scheme of empire in the Southwest. for which he underwent a trial for high treason. But there was not enough evidence to con- viet him. Ruined in fortune and reputation. he spent several years in Europe, and returned after the War of 1812 to New York. resuming the practice of the law. Near his end he married Madame Jumel, who owned the Morris mansion on One Hundred and Sixty-first Street. now called after her, but ere his death he was divorced from her. At last came the end of his strange career, on September 14, 1836. amid the bitterness of disgrace, ostracised from society, with but a few friends to adhere to him.
Hamilton's party, tenderly bearing his stricken frame, was a little longer in getting off. It did not return up the river, but pointed southward, intending perhaps to take the wounded man to his town house. But near the foot of the present Jane or Horatio street they
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