USA > New York > New York City > Recollections of persons and events, chiefly in the city of New York; being selections from his journal > Part 3
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But if still he goes on, and his discovery is found to put money in his purse, then comes the tug of war. If he has obtained a patent for his discovery or his invention, every species of art will be employed to evade it. When he has put down one assailant, another will start up, as if to weary him out with endless strife; and too often they break his heart, and wrest from him what, if enjoyed, would have been but a moder- ate compensation for the trials of a lifetime, others growing rich by reaping the harvest that in justice belonged to him.
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Through all these stages of trial Mr. Fulton had to pass, and he felt them deeply, at times, indeed, painfully. During the latter years of his life, and while he was spending his time, his 4 strength, and his money, with even prodigal pro- fusion for the public, an application was made to the legislature of New York for the repeal of the law granting to Livingston and Fulton, for a limited period, the exclusive right to the waters of the state for navigation by Steam. Mr. Ful- ton appeared in defence of his rights with Thomas Addis Emmet, Esq., as his counsel. Mr. Emmet was the man for the occasion. After he had finished his argument before the House, he turned to Mr. Fulton, who was sitting near him, and ad- dressed him in words so eloquent and prophetic that they well deserve a place in this connec- tion.
"I know and feel, and I rejoice in the convic- tion," he said, "that for the present, at least, your interests, my friend, are perfectly secure ; but do not therefore flatter yourself that you will be in- volved in no future difficulties, on the same ac- count. Those whom I have just addressed will certainly decide with enlightened liberality and
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a scrupulous regard to public faith; but their power and authority will pass away. Your present antagonist, I also hope, will become con- vinced by this discussion of the impropriety of his application, and refrain from repeating it; but interest and avarice will still raise up against you many enemies. You rely too implicitly on the strength of your rights, and the sanctity of the obligations on which they are founded. You ex- pect too much from your well-earned reputation, and the acknowledged utility to mankind of your life and labors. You permit your mind to be en- grossed with vast and noble plans for the public good. Your knowledge and your fortune are freely bestowed upon every thing that can con- tribute to the advancement of science, or of the elegant and useful arts. I admire. and applaud you for your readiness to devote to the service of the public, the opulence you derive from its grateful remuneration. Let me remind you, how- ever, that you have other and closer ties. I .
know the pain I am about to give, and I see the tears I make you shed. But by that love I speak ; by that love which, like the light of heaven, is refracted in rays of different strength upon your
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wife and children, which, when collected and combined, forms the sunshine of your soul; by that love I do adjure you, provide in time for those dearest objects of your care. Think not I would instil into your generous mind a mean or sordid notion; but now that wealth is passing through your hands, let me intreat you, hoard it while you have it. Artful speculators will as- suredly arise with patriotism on their tongues, and selfishness in their hearts, who may mislead some future legislature, by false and crafty dec- lamations against the prodigality of their prede- cessors ; who, calumniating and concealing your merits, will talk loudly of your monopoly ; who will represent it as a grievous burden on the community, and not a compensation for signal benefits; who will exaggerate your fortune, and propose, in the language of Marat to the French Convention, 'Let the scythe of equality move over the republic.' In a moment of delusion, (unless some department of our government shall constitutionally interpose an adamantine barrier against national perfidy and injustice,) such men may give your property to the winds, and your person to your creditors. Then, indeed, those
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who know your worth and services, will speak of your downfall as of that portentous omen, which marked a people's degradation, and the success- ful crime of an intruder.
" ' A falcon towering in his pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed.'
"Yes, my friend ! my heart bleeds while I utter it ; but I have fearful forebodings that you may hereafter find in public faith, a broken staff for your support, and receive from public gratitude a broken heart for your reward."
Such is too often the way of the world. High time that it should mend its ways; for though justice will generally be done to great public benefactors at last, how often must they wait for it until they are laid in their graves, and are equally beyond the smiles and frowns of men. We build the tombs and garnish the sep- ulchres of the prophets, whom our fathers, or we ourselves have killed by injustice and in- gratitude, if not by calumny and cruelty.
Whatever wrong may have been done to Ful- ton and others in this respect, the Magnetic Tel- egraph has led to a different result. Locomotion
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by steam, whether on land or water, and the transmission of intelligence by electricity, are among the greatest achievements of our day ; and the memory of Fulton is not more intimately con- nected with the one than the name of Morse with the other. It was through a long and exhaust- ing conflict that Professor Morse at -length reach- ed his triumph. He had to contend against ridicule, jealousy, wrongs in almost every sense ; but he persevered with a firmness of purpose not to be overcome, and is now reaping his reward. His friends have now the pleasure to see him en- joying the fruit of his labors in a wide spread fame, and in the receipt of a liberal income which he employs with a generous hand in promoting the great ends of public welfare.
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CHAPTER IV.
AN EVENING WITH DR. MASON .- HIS EXUBERANCE OF SPIRIT AF- TER PERIODS OF DEPRESSION .- ANECDOTES RESPECTING GOUVER- NEUR MORRIS, BISHOP MOORE, DR. LIVINGSTON, DR. BISSET, DR. WITHERSPOON, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, MR. WHITFIELD .- COMPARISON OF WHITFIELD WITH MASON .-- CHIEF POINT OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO AS PREACHERS .- DR. MASON'S TALENT AS AN EXPOSITOR.
FROM 1811 to 1813 a warm controversy perva- ded the Associate Reformed Church on the sub- ject of Free and Open Communion, as it is gen- erally termed. Dr. Mason's conspicuous position, being at the head of their Theological Seminary, . and the example he had set in admitting to the Communion Table Christians of other denomi- nations, drew upon him animadversions from many of his brethren, which at times lay heavily on his spirits. He was the man to feel such things. He had both a warm and a large heart. Mighty as he was in battle, he had no relish for it. He delighted in other scenes. A child could not be more fond of the language and
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looks of affection than Dr. Mason; and opposi- tion, or misrepresentation from brethren whom he loved, sometimes brought on him the dejection to which he was liable. He has frequently come into my study, when suffering under his sorrow, with his eyes still wet with the tear which probably had been lying there as he pass- ed through the street. One of these occasions was so remarkable for what passed, that I made a distinct note of it at the time. It was in the evening, and as he entered the room, holding out both his hands to me, I asked :
" Well, Doctor, how are you this evening ?"
He replied. " Ah, bon ami, blundering along as usual; yes, blundering along; that's the best I can say of it; but amidst all my blundering, I feel that, through mercy, I still gain a little on the way towards Heaven."
After pouring out his whole heart in strains which it was edifying and affecting to hear, he felt relieved. His face brightened up, and the remainder of the evening was spent in great good humor. He was unusually full of anec- dotes relating to his brethren or fathers in the ministry.
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He had a high respect for Bishop Moore, a man noted not only for the purity of his char- acter, but also for the retiring modesty of his disposition, and for the general favor in which he was held. As the story ran : A dinner was given by some one of Gouverneur Morris's friends when he was about departing for Europe. Bish- op Moore and his wife were of the party. Among other things that passed in conversation, Mr. Morris observed that he had made his will in prospect of going abroad; and turning to Bishop Moore, said to him :
" My reverend friend, I have bequeathed to you my whole stock of impudence."
Bishop Moore replied : "Sir, you are not only very kind, but very generous; you have left to me by far the largest portion of your estate."
Mrs. Moore immediately added: "My dear, you have come into possession of your inheritance remarkably soon."
Another instance of smart repartee he related, as having occurred between Dr. Livingston, of the Dutch Church, and Dr. Bisset, of the Episco- pal. To see the point of the reply, it should be remembered that over an outer door of one
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of the Dutch Churches was a figure of an open Bible; and in the centre of the pediment, over the columns in front of St. Paul's there was, and still is, the figure of the Apostle. The two reverend gentlemen chanced to meet in Broad- way, just opposite St. Paul's, when Dr. Living- ston, pointing to the statue before thiem, remark- ed to Dr. Bisset :
" I am sorry to see, my dear Sir, that our Episcopal brethren have turned the Apostle out of doors."
Dr. Bisset instantly replied: "If that is so my good friend, we have not yet shut the whole Bible out into the street."
" Speaking of wit and talent for ready replies," he continued, "as we sometimes find them among the Clergy, I have often admired the way in which Dr. Witherspoon put down a cockney infidel on a journey from London to Edinburgh. They were travelling in a stage-coach as was the custom in those days, and soon after the company had set out, the young Englishman began to rail against the Scriptures, and to speak in high admiration of such heathen philosophers as Plato, Socrates, and others, as infinitely surpassing the wisest and
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best men described in the Bible. And yet," he exclaimed, " here are all our parsons would have us believe that none of these great and wise men of former times can be admitted to Heaven, because they never saw the Bible. For his part, he had too much good sense to believe any such thing. He believed that the wise men of Greece and Rome had a better chance in the world to come, than half the preachers who would allow them no chance at all;" and waxing warm on the sub- ject, he turned toward Dr. Witherspoon, who was sitting on a back seat in the coach, pertly asking, " Well, old gentleman, what do you say on the subject ? Do you join with others in shutting out Socrates from Heaven because he was not a be- liever in Christianity ?"
" Aweel," said Dr. Witherspoon, slightly using the Scotch accent, which he did sometimes for his own gratification, "I have just this to say. If I should be so happy as to get to Heaven, which I hope I may; and if you should get there too, which I greatly fear you will not-if we find Socrates there, we'll baith be glad to see him ; and if he is not there, the Judge will be able to give us a good reason for his absence, if we ask
تشرففة
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him." The cockney found he had waked up the wrong passenger, and from that time till the end of the journey, he had little more to say about Socrates or any one else. " But was not the reply admirable ?" continued Dr. Mason. " It con- tained in a nut-shell all that can well be said on the subject."
He had an anecdote, also, respecting Whit- field. The incident occurred when Whitfield was in Philadelphia, preaching and collecting funds in behalf of his Orphan Asylum in Geor- gia. Dr. Franklin was induced to go and hear him on one of these occasions; but having a due regard for his reputation as a calm philoso- pher, he went, determined not to be moved by Mr. Whitfield's appeals. To be the more safe against yielding, and submitting to a heavy drain upon his purse, he put some silver in the pocket of his vest, intending to give so much of it as he might judge proper when he heard the claims of the Orphan House fairly stated; but he put his gold into his purse, and stowed it away so that he could not well reach it in a crowd. As Whitfield went on with his sermon, Franklin soon made up his mind that he would give all
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his silver. Not long afterwards he was strug. gling for elbow-room that he might get at his purse and all his gold. When the sermon was finished he felt a desire to enlarge his contribu- tion still further; and, with strong marks of emotion in every feature of his face, he applied to a friend (a Quaker) who stood near him for the loan of a guinea, or whatever more he could .spare.
" Any other time, Benjamin," was the reply, " any other time thee can have whatever thee wants; but nothing now; thee seems to be not in thy right mind."
The telling of this anecdote led us very nat- urally into a discussion respecting Whitfield's character and the secret of his success as a preacher of the Gospel. In the progress of the conversation, I repeated a remark which had been made to me by an aged lady who had of- ten heard him, and which has always appeared to me both graphic and just.
"Oh, Sir," she would say, "He made me feel as if God was looking right into my heart, and was about to call me before Him for judgment."
"There," said Dr. Mason, as he turned his
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deep, melted eye upon me, "there lay his power. He was clothed in his Master's might, and made his hearers feel that he spoke in his Master's name."
It was so, no doubt. Whitfield's manner, as well as his matter, tended to fill the minds of his hearers with a sense of God's presence. It was something of what Paul describes as the effect of Gospel preaching on the sinner in his days : " And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face, he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth."
Whitfield's sermons ought never to have been issued from the press. When read, they do him great injustice. He was a preacher to be heard; and his sermons were not for the eye, but for the ear, accompanied by what the eye saw in the preacher. I have been told by those who were frequently among the crowds that followed him, that even when you could not hear a word he was saying, the mind was filled with solemnity and awe by what was seen in the face covered with tears and raised to Heaven, in the hands stretched out toward his
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hearers, trembling as if with anxiety to embrace them and bring them to Christ. And when to this spectacle were added those tones of voice that sometimes seemed to thunder the words of God's law, and at others to soften down into the liquid accents of mercy and promised forgive- ness, we can no longer be surprised at Whit- field's wonderful power over his audience. Few speakers or hearers ever reached his level in this respect. He could arrest and overcome the learned and the unlearned; the scoffing infidel and the cold formalist; the very child whose faculties seemed just budding forth into activity, and the aged man who sat leaning on his staff, with few powers of intellect left from the waste of years.
It has been frequently said that there was a resemblance between Whitfield and Mason in the impassioned character of their eloquence; in its power to melt and subdue their hearers. There was, probably, much to warrant the observation ; and yet there were marked points of difference in the ministry of the two men. If the one might claim a superiority in reaching and rous- ing the conscience, the other was far the superi-
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or in enlightening the mind. As an expositor of Scripture, Dr. Mason had very few equals. Even his tone and manner of reading a context would prepare his readers to understand it; and then he would seize on the leading idea of the inspired writer, and show all its aspects and bearings with a clearness which would make you wonder you had not seen it all before. This fondness for Biblical Theology, as he loved to call it, may have rendered him, as a Professor in a Theological Chair, somewhat too indifferent to "Systems of Divinity," as was sometimes said of him. But he was not to be moved from the plan of teaching he had laid down for himself, making " The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible," the true way to raise up a well furnished ministry to the Church. And if he did too much undervalue systems, we should re- member that it required a strong mind and a strong will like his, to rescue Theological Educa- tion from that bondage which had insensibly created something like another race of schoolmen in modern days. lle greatly contributed to bring in the era of liberty, which gives to the Bible its appropriate supremacy, and to systems their proper
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dependency, and which we now find recognized in our best Seminaries of sacred learning.
There was another feature in the character of Dr. Mason's mind, which I have rarely seen equalled. His thoughts were often uttered with a terseness and a compactness of expression that rendered their impression indelible on the minds of his hearers; and he abounded in those ema- nations from his brilliant intellect, quite as much in conversation as in preaching.
As an instance: There was a case of sickness among his church-members, which had given him much anxiety; and he invited me to go with him on a visit to the sufferer, who was then drawing near the grave. He was a man naturally of strong and warm passions; had been somewhat irregular in his life; but was very penitent on his death-bed. When we had made our visit and were on our way home, Dr. Mason, heaving a sigh, observed,
"I trust there is hope for poor L ----. He had much to contend with in his past days. He was of a make that exposed him to easily beset- ting sins. His blood seemed to be always at fever heat."
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With an anxious look, he asked me what I thought of him. I expressed the hope that he might find peace in his end, and alluded to the constitutional temperament of the man, when the Doctor immediately replied :
" Yes, yes. In forming our opinion of any man's spiritual condition, we must take into ac- count his temptations, arising from the circum- stances of his life and the peculiar infirmities of nature with which he had to contend. We must be careful to make due allowance for all that. Happily for us all, we are to be judged by Him who 'knoweth our frame, (repeating the words,) and remembereth that we are dust.'"
He paused for a moment, and then added, with the earnestness which so belonged to him- self:
"Indeed, I have often thought that it required as much grace to keep the Apostle Peter from knocking a man down in the street, as to make the Apostle John look like an angel."
By' such strong epigrammatic and original language he sometimes gave a volume in a single sentence; the coin always bearing his own image and superscription. It was Mason's wherever
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you found it. It was gold, not copper, nor even silver; small in bulk, easily portable, but of per- manent intrinsic value, and capable of being expanded and applied to an almost infinite variety of uses.
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CHAPTER V.
DE WITT CLINTON, STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER, JAMES KENT, ABRAHAM VAN VECHTEN .- SKETCHES OF THEIR CHARACTER . AND APPEARANCE .- CONVERSATION ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS .- CAUSES WHICH HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO BANISH INFIDELITY FROM THE MINDS OF PUBLIC MEN .- OPINIONS RESPECTING CALVIN .- ORIGIN OF CIVIL FREEDOM OR GOVERNMENT BY REPRESENTATION FOUND IN THE BIBLE.
THE great men have not all died out. The race is far from being extinct. Every age of the world has its portion of them, and I am persuaded our generation has its full share. It could not well . be otherwise. The leading men of the present day are the sons of those heroic spirits who were the fathers of the American Revolution. "There were giants in the earth in those days," and well did they perform their gigantic work. Their sons show by whose hands they have been trained, and they do honor to their lineage.
I was strongly reminded of this yesterday at Gov. Clinton's, who had assembled a few friends to dinner and to spend the evening at his house. I never saw him appear to more advantage. The
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topics introduced, and the company around his table were well calculated to draw him out. Among them were Chancellor Kent, Judge Platt, Abraham Van Vechten, Esq., Gen. Stephen Van Rensselaer, and others who have at various times and in various ways swayed the destinies of our State. They formed a fine group for the eye.
A first glance at Clinton showed that he was no ordinary man. The majestic was a predom- inant feature of his mind and body. You saw it in his figure, in his manner, in his countenance, all indicating him as the right man to be Gov- ernor of the Empire State, and to create an era in her history that should never be forgotten. He has left his mark on her progress to prosper- ity and power too deeply engraven ever to be effaced. He began public life with an inheritance of great advantages in his favor. He was the son of James Clinton who had held a high com- mand in the armies of the Revolution; and he was a nephew of George Clinton, who had ren- dered important services both in the armies and in the councils of the nation during that memorable struggle, and was afterwards, for several terms of office, Governor of the State of New York, much re-
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spected for the wise policy of his administration. The name of Clinton had thus become a kind of household word in the history of the State, when De Witt Clinton came into office as her chief magis- trate; and well did he employ the influence he derived from it to promote her best interests. Posterity will award to him the chief credit of the Erie Canal, whatever may have been said or done during his life by the small men who were envious of his fame. It is idle to reply that others thought of the work and talked of it before him. He was the man who took it up and carried it through, staking his reputation on his success; and no one could be with him long enough to see the large scale on which his conceptions were formed, and not feel persuaded that he was just the statesman for such a noble work.
Gen. Van Rensselaer was a fine model of the Christian gentleman. Not only were his manners courteous and affable, but there was an habitual expression of kindness and good will in his lan. guage and looks that seemed never to forsake him. His judgment was eminently sound and discriminating, both as to men and things; and it always told powerfully on behalf of any meas-
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ure when it was known that Gen. Van Rensse- laer was in favor of it. . Nor did he ever con- fine his approbation to mere words. His large fortune was employed with a liberal hand to promote every object, whether in Church or State, which his judgment approved. He was the early friend of the internal improvements which have added so greatly to the resources of the Commonwealth. His cordial approbation of the Erie Canal when first proposed, was of great importance to the successful issue of the enterprise. Especially in its infancy, it needed just that influence which his reputation for sound judgment was able to give it. It was at first ridiculed by many as a great ditch, in which both the credit and resources of the State would be
buried. But he stood by it as its fast friend till he saw it completed, and acknowledged as a stream of wealth to the City and State of New York. Whatever credit may be due to Gov. Clin- ton in the work, he was always ready to acknowl- edge how deeply he was indebted to Gen. Van Rensselaer for his hearty and uniform support.
Chancellor Kent's eye was always radiant with clear intelligence. There was nothing dim or in-
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animate about him. Every lineament was strongly defined. On whatever subject he spoke, you saw that he had at his command a vast body of thought; and with a simplicity of manner, a quickness and agility in all his movements almost juvenile, he was a delightful companion, especially when he let his mind have full play.
The various and high positions in his profes- sion which he had reached, gave him great ce- lebrity as a lawyer.
Mr. Van Vechten was a fine specimen of a class whom he loved to represent. If he was somewhat heavy in his appearance, and slow in his movements, he had all the staid solidity and. strength which marked the Hollanders in their best days, and he never appeared, either in public or private, without commanding universal respect.
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