USA > New York > Albany County > Albany > The annals of Albany, Vol. X > Part 17
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He was extremely fluent and event eloquent in conver- sation. But he had little knowledge of the world, and the predominance of interest or of passion, left his judg- ment too often at fault. He had the finest eye and fore- head that ever belonged to mortal man, but every other feature of his face was either indifferent or defective. His countenance, therefore, was a correct index to the character of his mind-incongruous, mixed, and full of contradictions.
The Albany Register, which he so long and ably edited, was pronounced, by Judge Spencer, to be the " Political Bible of the Western District." A greater compliment was certainly never paid to the conductor of a political journal.
Mr. Southwick held, at different periods, the office of
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state printer, clerk of the house of assembly, sheriff of the county of Albany, president of the Mechanics' and Farmers' Bank, and postmaster of the city. Even in the cloudy days of his latter years, when friends, fame and fortune, had forsaken him, when every objectionable act of his life was spread upon the record, and all his faults and weakeness blazoned to the public eye; even then he received over thirty thousand votes for governor of the state.
Of the clergy of those days, if I am wise, I shall say but little: first, because I recollect but little; and se- condly, because, with me, the subject is not a debatable one. One's opinions, unless moulded early, are often formed by accident, or spring up as the result of circum- stances. It has often occurred to me as not a little sin- gular, that my attention should have been turned to the unkindred subjects of politics and religion, at about the same period of time. The noise and triumph of Mr. Jefferson's election to the presidency, led me to look a little into the mysterious philosophy of party politics ; and the preaching of Dr. Nott, carried me, nolens volens, into the Presbyterian brick church of South Pearl street. Thus I acquired, at nearly one and the same time, a de- cided inclination to church and state ; or, in other words, a marked taste for politics and preaching. No one, cer- tainly, could have studied under abler masters: and for many of the opinions I entertain to this day, I hold those masters responsible.
But the only names belonging to the church, of which my memory took cognizance, at the period referred to, or of which I have any distinct recollection, are those of Nott, Romaine and Bradford.
Mr. Bradford was a well educated, well read, and gentlemanly man. He was, moreover, one of the hand- somest men in the city, which in the minds or fancies of the fairer part of his congregation, added no doubt to his eloquence, and of course to his usefulness in the church. Mr. Romaine was an able man, of a denunciatory and vehe- ment style of oratory-altogether too Calvinistic to suit
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the taste of his hearers. But it must be remembered " That no rogue e'er felt the halter draw With good opinion of the law."
Doctor Nott, I should say, was neither a Calvinist nor a Lutheran. In other words, he was no bigoted secta- rian; and in this respect, he bore, and still bears, I think, but little resemblance to many of his clerical brethren. In mind, as well as in manner, he stood alone.
The narrow dogmas, and common place oratory of the church, were beneath him. His ambition was to make men wiser and better, rather than to promote the secta- rian interests and speculative tenets of the church. The eloquent enforcement of that single injunction "to do unto others as you would have others do unto you," would to an unsophisticated mind be of more efficacy than a dozen dry discourses upon evidence, which no no- vice requires, or upon those knotty points in theology, which no intellect can comprehend. But it is not my business to preach, nor am I disposed to criticise the preaching of others. All I mean to say is, that Doctor Nott was by far the most eloquent and effective preacher of the period to which I refer; that he drew together the largest congregation-made the deepest impression, and commanded the profoundest respect.
His church was filled to overflowing. His appearance in the pulpit, his style of eloquence, his very look,
" Drew audience and attention still as night, Or summer's noontide air.
His elocution was admirable, and his manner altogether better, because more impressive, than that of any other preacher of the day : yet he could not, I think, have been over twenty-eight or thirty years of age when I first heard him, which was in 1803. Shortly afterwards, I had the pleasure of becoming personally acquainted with him, and soon found he possessed powers and qualities of which his congregation little dreamed. His talents were by no means confined to pulpit eloquence, nor even to the wider range of clerical duties. His information ex- tended to almost every department of life; and with the
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whole fabric of human society, he was perfectly familiar. He understood the animal man, not only in the abstract, but in all the detail of action, passion and propensity. He was, moreover, a mechanist, a political economist, a philosopher, and what is of more consequence in any walk of life, a man of keen observation and sound sense. But he is still living, and too widely known, to require any portraiture from my pen.
BATTLE IN STATE STREET.
Among other incidents and events, falling within the range of these reminiscences, was the famous passage of arms, that took place between an eminent citizen and a distinguished general, in one of the principal streets of the city in open day. It was a perilous, hand to hand encounter, that brought together, at least, one half of the male population of the town-not as spectators merely, but as combatants, who, like the knights of old, entered the lists with an alacrity and a spirit, that would have done honor to the heroes of chivalry, when chivalry was in its prime, and knighthood in its glory. The full breadth of State street, from Pearl down to the intersec- tion of Court and Market, was literally filled with the combatants; while the doors, porches, windows, and even the house tops on both sides, were crowded with astonished and terrified spectators. The street, viewed from any elevated position, resembled a tumultuous sea of heads, over which clattered a forest of canes; the vast body now surging this way, now that, as the tide of com- bat ebbed or flowed. It was certainly, one of the most classic or Greek-like battles that had been fought since the wars of Ilium, and the heroic days of Hector and Achilles. But as it respects the origin of the war, the names of the combatants, and the details of the fight, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel ! If not, they may perhaps, be found in the chro- nicles of the lives of the illustrious fathers of the city.
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Certain it is that the battle has already been described; and the record, like the Iliad, will be found imperishable !
It is a little curious, when we consider what Albany now is, to look back and recollect, that so late as 1803, there was but one public house in the city; or at least, but one in any respect better than a common signpost tavern, such as no gentleman of the present day would put his foot in: but that one was an excellent one. I allude to the Tontine Coffee House in State street, kept by Mr. Gregory: a house distinguished from all other public houses of that day, by the quiet order that reigned through all its departments ; by its perfect neatness, and the total absence of a bar. The higher rates of fare charged at the Tontine, and the fact that no liquors were sold except to its own boarders, nor ever seen except at table, excluded the low and thirsty, and left it, as it were by a law of its nature, open to good company alone. I need not say that it was well filled: it was, at least half the year, redundantly full. All travelers of any note or consequence; all foreigners of distinction ; in one word, all gentlemen put up at the Tontine. For a period of some ten or twelve years, Mr. Gregory had no competi- tion, no rival house to contend with; and was therefore compelled, I do not say reluctantly, to make a fortune!
Manners, 'tis said, change with customs; and customs, we all know, change sometimes for the worse. I have seen something of public houses and hotels since Mr. Gregory's day, and am forced to acknowledge, that on the score of gentlemanly habits, politeness, and courtesy among their guests, and in reference also to the civility of their keepers and waiters, the present bears no com- parison with the past. The inmates of the best hotels of the present day, are as varied in their aspects, habits and character, as were the motley herd that took lodg- ings in the ark; while of their keepers and waiters the best that can be said, is, that they are in keeping with the character of their company. An occasional excep- tion does but strengthen the rule.
It was at the Tontine that I became acquainted with
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many of the leading politicians and distinguished men of the state. It was there I first saw De Witt Clinton, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, Doctor Mason, Morgan Lewis, Daniel D. Tompkins, John Armstrong, Chancel- lor Livingston, and many others. It was while there, I had the opportunity and the pleasure of examining lei- surely, and with a critical eye, that lightest twig of the great Corsican tree, Mr. Jerome Bonaparte; and of ob- serving the fine form, the careless, abandoned air, and soldierly aspect of the celebrated Moreau, the rival at once of Xenophon and Napoleon. The Tontine was, indeed, for several years, my local observatory, from which I watched the transit of the political planets, and noted the restless movements of the wandering stars. It was, in fact, the best school house I ever entered, and the only one, I am sorry to say, in which I ever took much de- light.
I can not resist the temptation (though I know I shall make nothing of it) to relate a ludicrous circumstance which took place at the Tontine, in the summer of 1804. I am well aware that many a good joke has been spoiled, and many a laughable incident rendered grave, by an attempt to put them on paper. 'Tis useless, said Doctor Johnson, to print Quin's jokes, unless you print his face with them. Nevertheless, I shall venture to relate the circumstance to which I have referred. I shall call it.
THE STORY OF MONSIEUR GARROT.
Among the many foreigners at the Tontine in the traveling season of 1804, was a French gentleman by the name of Garrot, apparently about twenty-five or thirty years of age; remarkable for the simplicity of his man- ners, for his taste in music, and for his inability to speak a word of English. His personal appearance was greatly in his favor; being stout, well made, and of a most agreeable countenance. Sitting near him at table, and speaking a little French, I soon became acquainted with him. He was, I found, a German by birth, born in
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Frankfort, but a resident of Nantes. He remained seve- ral months in the city, was flush of money, and liberal, not to say profuse, in his expenditures.
His object, if indeed he had any, was to obtain infor- mation as to the form and character of our government ; the institutions and condition of the country; its extent, population, trade, commerce, agricultural products, arts, manufactures, &c., &c. Of all the travelers I had ever met with, he was the most inquisitive. He asked ten thousand questions about things of which I knew nothing, or next to nothing-questions, some of which, it would have puzzled Chief Justice Marshall, Mr. Madison, Mr. Clay, or Mr. Anybody Else, save John Quincy Adams, to have answered off-hand. But as I perceived he enter- tained a high opinion of my abilities, I had not the heart, nor was it indeed my business, to undeceive him. I was ashamed to confess ignorance upon any point, and there- fore gave him prompt and specific answers to each and every question, let it relate to what it might: but the mischief of it was, they were all taken for gospel, and immediately noted down in his tablets.
I could not but laugh at the idea. It was, perhaps, unfair on my part, but the fault was his. To suppose a young man of twenty-two or three, of sufficient authority for the history and statistics of an empire, was absurd. He should have known better. Many a book, however, has been written upon information of an inferior quality to that with which I furnished Monsieur Garrot, and from a less rational, not to say reliable source. It was through the priests and poets of Egypt and Assyria, that Herodotus obtained the materials for his famous history; and who thinks the less of his history on that account? The credulity and child-like simplicity of the author, together with the traditional and poetical charac- ter of its testimony constitute, in fact, its greatest attrac- tions.
But Monsieur Garrot, no doubt, congratulated himself upon his good fortune in finding a person so full of infor- mation, and so ready to impart it. On the other side, I
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did the best I could, under the circumstances. I studied day and night to prepare myself for Mr. Garrot's ques- tions; and if monsieur published his book, I flattered myself that it would be found in the truth of its state- ments and the accuracy of its details, at least equal to the history of Herodotus, or the travels of Basil Hall!
But this has nothing to do with the circumstance which it was my intention to narrate. It may serve, however, as a preface to the story, which runs thus :
Monsieur Garrot and myself after a long walk one Sunday afternoon, returned to the Tontine about six o'clock. The weather was extremely hot; and as the private parlors below were filled with strangers, I ac- companied Mr. Garrot to his own chamber, where, com- plaining of the heat, he threw off his coat, and, some- what to my surprise, continued the operation of stripping, until he came to the last article, over which, however, he threw a light silk morning gown-light, indeed, as gossamer : this he tied loosely at the neck, and then sticking his toes into a pair of yellow slippers, began walking backward and forward between the window and door, both of which were thrown open to admit the air. The window looked into the street ; the door opened into a wide hall, with dormitories on either side. While thus cooling himself in the breeze, which swept his loose drapery from side to side, he suddenly turned to me and inquired whether I was fond of music. I answered, of course, in the affirmative. When, without further cere- mony, he opened a long case filled with musical instru- ments of various kinds, and asked me which I preferred. I could hardly believe it possible that he really meant to exercise his musical talents on that day of the week; but being a little curious, and, I must confess, a little mis- chievous at the same time, I pointed to the violin, which he immediately took out, and began to twang and tune. The discharge of a 12 pounder in the hall, would not have set the house in greater commotion. The first scrape of the bow brought half a dozen chambermaids to [Annals, x.] 19
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the door; who, catching sight of monsieur's bare legs, &c., ran down stairs, and reported that there was a Frenchman fiddling in the chambers, stark naked ! By this time, my friend Garrot had got fairly a going; and, with his head inclined to one shoulder, and his eye turned upwards, stalked up and down the room, fiddling as if the devil, together with Apollo and the whole nine were in him. The figure he cut was so ridiculous, that I thought I should have died in the effort to suppress my laughter.
In less than five minutes from the time he began, it ap- peared to me that not less than five hundred heads had passed the door, each one catching something more than a glimpse of monsieur's fine form. The wind seemed to increase with the music, and the stride of the performer became more lofty and majestic. At every turn the morning gown filled and swelled with the breeze-now waving and flapping in the cross current, and now ex- tending out, as it were, upon a taught bowline. The hall was literally crowded with spectators, and the seve- ral questions Who is he? Where did he come from ? Is he mad? were whispered in rapid succession. But Mon- sieur Garrot saw nothing but the ceiling of his room- heard nothing but the clarion voice of his own fiddle.
I was amazed at his abstraction-at his enthusiasm; and yet found it difficult to prevent myself from laughing aloud. He fiddled with such force and energy, that his elbow seemed to move like a whipsaw driven by steam. I had no idea that 'twas in the power of a single instru- ment to produce such a tumult of sounds.
The Battle of Prague, roared from ten "forty piaz- zas" (as Johnny Robison used to called them) would be a mere tinkling, compared with this uproar of Mr. Gar- rot's fiddle. I could not but confess, that in variety, force and compass, he surpassed even my old friend Mr. Giles. This is no light compliment. A greater, indeed, could not in sincerity be paid to the most celebrated per- former.
But Mr. Gregory, at length, made his appearance, and as he worked his way through the crowd at the door, I
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could perceive that he was not only angry, but a little frightened. He was about to speak to Mr. Garrot, but Mr. Garrot was too much engaged to take the least no- tice of him ; he therefore addressed himself to me, and said-" For God's sake, Mr. Jones, what is the meaning of all this?" I was so full of laughter that I could not speak, and of course said nothing. He then turned to Mr. Garrot, and raised his hand as a sign for him to stop. Now, Mr. Gregory had no more the appearance of an innkeeper than he had of an emperor. It was natural, therefore, that the Frenchman should consider him as an intruder, and order him out of the room; which he did. But 'twas in French, which he perceived Mr. Gregory did not understand. He therefore collected all the English he was master of, and exclaimed, in an offended tone, " Vat you vont ?", Mr. Gregory was about to reply, when monsieur, waving his hand, cried " Go vay ! go vay !" and thereupon commenced fiddling fiercer than ever. This produced a universal burst of laughter; and so loud and long was the peal (in which I was compelled to join), that monsieur paused, and seemed now, for the first time, to be sensible that there was an unusual col- lection in the hall, and that something was wrong some- where.
The scene at this moment was picturesque in the highest degree. There stood Mons. Garrot, in the middle of the room, with his fiddle in his hand; his pantaloons hanging upon a chair, and his morning gown floating be- hind him; looking first at Mr. Gregory, then at me, then at the cluster of heads at the door, utterly at a loss to know what it all meant. There stood Mr. Gregory, too, in his neat drab colored coat and Sunday inexpressibles, the very impersonation of order, decency and decorum, looking at the brawny, half naked Frenchman, with wonder and surprise. There, too, was the crowd of cu- rious faces, male and female, peering in at the hall door ; exhibiting every variety of expression, from the most serious to the most comic; all staring in profound silence, at the Frenchman and his fiddle. It was ridiculous
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enough ; and had it continued a moment longer, it would have been discreditable too. At my suggestion, Mr. Gregory left the room. I then closed the door, and en- deavored to explain to Mr. Garrot the cause of the col- lection in the hall, and the motives of the individual who had interrupted him. But I found it difficult to make him comprehend it; for I was not a little puzzled myself to shape the matter in such a way as to render the ex- planation satisfactory, as well as plausible. At length he seemed to understand it; and taking out his tablets, wrote down what I suppose he considered the substance of my explanation, and then handed it to me and read. It ran thus: " Americans have very little taste for music, and never listen with pleasure to the violin on Sundays, except in church!"
'Tis very well, said I, monsieur; 'tis very well.
Half an hour afterwards, we walked deliberately down stairs, and took our seats at the tea table, as carelessly and as composedly, as if nothing had happened. But I observed, what Monsieur Garrot probably did not, that every eye in the room was occasionally turned upon him. Though in one sense the author of the mischief, and certainly the most censurable of the two, yet I received the thanks of Mr. Gregory, for having put an end to the confusion occasioned by the musical taste of Monsieur Garrot.
It is near the breakfast hour and the city boarders, I perceive, are already dropping in. That well dressed, handsome faced gentleman standing upon the stoop, with his hat under his arm and a rattan in his hand, is Mr. James Kane, of whom you have heard me speak so fre- quently. The tall, spare man, with whom he is con- versing, is Mr. Walter Clark, a merchant of the city, plain and simple in his character and manner, but polite and gentlemanly. The person that has just joined them, is an exceedingly clever man in his way-a little self- complacent, perhaps, but a gentleman and a wit: the latter he inherited, among other goods and chattels, from his father, who had a great deal more, by the by, than he
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bequeathed to any one. He is, as you perceive, extremely civil and polite; but it is rather because he deems it due to himself, than to others. His wit, though perfectly good natured, is not scattered at random. It has its mark, and is always intended to tell. But notwith- standing his piquancy, and self appreciation, he is a cle- ver companion, particularly over a bottle of good Ma- deira. His fine rosy face shows this. In short, among the gentlemen of the Tontine, Mr. Caldwell holds no second rank.
That young man standing in the centre of the group on the left, is a Mr. - , somewhat remarkable for his flow of spirits and fluency of speech. He has acquired some reputation in the city, as a business man, and is quite a favorite with Mr. Kane. He is said to be something of a reader too, and, by the aid of a retentive memory, sus- tains himself in the midst of a class of young men, much better educated than himself. He has a disposition to satire, which he frequently indulges at the expense of others, but without any taint of malignity. In his open and somewhat random mode of talking, he certainly says some things, and tells some truths, which it would be difficult for any other person to utter without giving offence. He has the advantage, too, of being older, if not abler, than he looks; and, under the guise of a frank and heedless manner, is keenly observant of the conduct and character of those around him. I have no doubt that he has, at this moment, in his portfolio, a full length portrait, not only of many of his personal friends and acquaintances, but of most of the distinguished men of the state. But he is no scholar, and can not give to his sketches an abiding interest.
That plain but gentlemanly looking man, now talking with Mr. Kane, is Mr. Sedgwick, a member of the bar, and one of the most promising young men in the city. His character may be read in his countenance : in which, I think, you may also read that he is from Massachusetts. He brings with him the advantages of family reputation, character, and talents; and sustains these antecedents by
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personal merit, purity of mind, and cleverness of manner. He is the professional partner of Mr. Harmanus Bleecker, a gentleman of sterling merit, and withal the best Dutch scholar in the city.
Dutch Church.
Ancient Costume.
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REMINISCENCES OF ALBANY.
. From Memoirs of Elkanah Watson, p. 267.
1788.
Curiosity conducted him to the " old Dutch city of Al- bany," that he might compare their habits and manners with those of the cities of Holland, from whence their an- cestors had emigrated more than one hundred and fifty years before ; the one surrounded by the progress and re- finement of Europe, and the other in contact with savage barbarism. At that period Albany was the second city in the state, containing about six hundred dwellings, general- ly constructed on the old Dutch model, but was rapidly modernizing, as well in its architecture as customs. The city he regarded as awkwardly situated upon the declivity of a hill. The houses were principally of brick, and many were elegant. Vessels of eight feet draught plied con- stantly and in great numbers between the city and New York. The trade was immense, and rapidly increasing. A branch of this trade, formerly of great value, had then become nearly extinct-the traffic in furs, which the British had found means to avert from this avenue, chiefly by the ascendency they derived from their forts, within our own territory.
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