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Convention, and subsequently as Senator in the first Congress of the United States under the Constitution-certainly Columbia College could not have entered upon her new career under a worthier head. He remained president till 1800, when from the infirmities of age—he was then seventy-three-he resigned, to pass the remainder of his life at Stratford, where he lived to the venerable age of ninety-three. Few things are more worthy of notice in these annals of old New York than the long periods of service in many of her representative men, including the leading clergy of the city, as Vesey, Rodgers, Livingston, whose prolonged influence imparted a consistency and stability of the utmost importance in a formative period of affairs.

and went in like manner. The post-office was then a very simple affair.

Of the early local events in New York after the Revolution, no one for a long time was better remembered than what with a singular misapplication of phrase, showing the leaning of popular prejudice in the matter, was known as "The Doctors' Mob." The physicians were the sufferers; the mob was composed of the usual element. In small communities, where science is seeking to a foothold, and where the public hospitals and almshonses do not readily furnish sufficient subjects for dissection, there is apt to be suspicion and jealousy of the anatomical studies of the faculty, which require to be pursued with prudence and privacy. The old feeling which would deny to surgeons the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the practice of their profession existed in New York in the time of which we are writing, as it prevailed generally sixty years ago. Many years later, the eminent surgeon, Dr. Valentine Mott, then a student in the city, Quaker though he was, felt obliged to violate the law, and at the risk of personal safety and reputation, provide himself by stealth with the means of pursuing those studies by which he afterward so greatly benefited the world. His biographer, Dr. Samuel Francis, tells us of a midnight excursion in which, without companion or assistant, he mounted a cart dressed as a common laborer, and, proceeding out of town, received at the side of field eleven bodies, which he carried in triumph to the Medical College in Barclay Street. The "Doctors' Mob,' for which we may suppose there was some previous in

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graves, originated in an accidental way. One Sunday— the 13th of April, 1788—a boy, playing with his fellows in the grounds about the Hospital, ascended a ladder or scaffolding placed against the building for repairs, and looking in at the window of the dissecting-room, saw various dissevered portions of human bodies. A yourger surgeon who was present held up before him a human arm telling him it was his mother's.

The publication of the first New York Directory in 1786 enables us to introduce several interesting notices of the day derived from its pages. It was prepared by David Franks, an enterprising Irishman, who practiced as a conveyancer and accountant in the city. Nine hundred and twenty-six names of persons are given, with | their occnpations and residences, with various special lists and classifications of office-holders, members of the Bar, and others. The old Congress of the Confederation was then holding its last sessions in New York, presided over by his Excellency John Hancock, who resided at No. 5 Cherry Street, then a fashionable quarter of the city. Charles Thomson, perpetual Secretary of the Congress, lived at 28 King Street, as Pine Street was then called. The body had not then many distinguished members compared with those who attended its earlier sessions; but among them were Rufus King and Theo-centive, in rumor more or less exaggerated of rifled dore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, and Richard Henry Lee, Henry Lee, and James Monroe, of Virginia. John Jay, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was to be found at No. 8 Broadway, and the Hon. Henry Knox, Secretary of War, at 15 Smith Street, the name then given to William Street between Old Slip and Liberty Street. The Hon. Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State, resided at No. 3 Broadway. The residence of Mayor Duane was at 26 Nassau Street; that of Richard Varick, the Recorder, at 46 Dock Street, as Pearl Street, between Broad Street and Hanover Square, was then named. In the list of lawyers, Aaron Burr, at 10 Little Queen Street-now Cedar-is followed by Alexander Hamilton at 57 Wall Street. A number of other lawyers were to be found in Wall Street, as Brockholst Livingston, William S. Livingston, Thomas Smith, Daniel C. Verplanck. Edward Livingston was at 51 Queen Street. Isaac Roosevelt was the President of the Bank of New York, which was open for business from ten to one o'clock in the forenoon, and from three to five in the afternoon, good citizens, we presume, devoting the intermediate hours to dining and repose. The rate of discount was six per cent. The "Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves and Protecting such of them as have been or may be Liberated," with John Jay for president, met at the Coffee House. A list of 167 regular members of the Cincinnati of the State of New York is given-Alexander McDougal, president, and Baron Steuben, vice-president. The members of the St. Andrew's Society of the State follow, and of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen. A list of members belonging to the Society of Perukemakers, Hair-dressers, etc., closes the catalogue of the societies-a body not to be overlooked in the days of wigs and powder. A very few lines suffice for the arrivals and departures of the mails at the post-office. From November to May the New England and Albany mails were due on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 7 P.M., and for the remainder of the year at 8 P.M. The Southern mails came

It happened unfortunately, to continue the narrative in the words of an eye-witness of much that subsequently occurred, the late President Duer, of Columbia College, "that the boy's mother had died not long before, and was buried in Trinity Churchyard, and, taking the doctor at his word, he set off to inform his father, who was at work, as a mason, at Macomb's Buildings, in Broadway. He repeated his son's story to his comrades; who, seizing such of their tools as they could best use as weapons, followed their leader in a body to the hospital. Their force increased as they advanced, and when they arrived there, meeting with no resistance, they proceeded to ransack the building. Several subjects were discovered in various states of dissection, but none that could be identified. It was then proposed to examine the grave in which the body, to which the arm in question was supposed to have belonged, had been laid; and accordingly the whole party, with the new reinforcements it gathered on the way, proceeded to the churchyard. On opening the grave it was found empty It was forthwith resolved to repair to the dwellings of the doctors, in search of subjects, and with threats of making them. The first house they visited was that of Dr. Cochrane, nearly opposite to the church; but they found nothing there, although they ransacked it from the cellar to the garret. Fortunately, they omitted to open the scuttle and look out upon the roof, or they might have executed their threat of making more subjects where they found but one, for a certain Dr. Hicks, who was vehemently sus pected to be the guilty party at the hospital, had taken

refuge there, and lay snugly ensconced behind the chimney. Night coming on, the search was discontinued and the mob in a great measure dispersed. Small parties, however, patrolled the streets during the night, and the next morning the assemblage was greater than ever. The mob was now joined by parties of sailors, headed by the steward of the British packet lying in the harbor, who became thenceforward the ringleader of the whole force. But in the meantime the militia had been ordered out, and the doctors had taken refuge in the jail. There they were besieged by the mob, and were in great jeopardy until the siege was raised by the military. Matters had now assumed so serious an aspect as to create a general alarm, and call forth the exertions of the principal citizens to aid in restoring the public peace. Among those who interposed their personal influence for the purpose was Mr. Jay, then Secretary of Foreign Affairs to Congress. In proceeding to the scene of action, he received a severe wound in the head from a stone thrown through the glass of his chariot. Governor Clinton (old George), accompanied by the Mayor, Recorder, and some of the principal inhabitants of the city, among whom was Baron Steuben, repaired to the jail to direct the operations of the militia. As they were passing along Chatham Row the Governor declared his determination to resort to the most vigorous and decisive measures for quelling the riot. The baron, in the benevolence of his heart, remonstrated with the Governor against ordering the militia to fire; when, in the midst of his harangue, he was struck in the forehead by a brickbat, which, according to the Governor's account, not only knocked the good baron down, but overset his humanity and brought his compassion with his body to the ground; which he no sooner touched, than he cried out, lustily: Fire! Governor, fire! I saw the poor baron brought bleeding into my father's house, and after he had retired to have his wound dressed, I heard the Governor relate the story."* The fire of the military dispersed the mob. Five persons were killed, and seven or eight severely wounded. The students, against whom the chief animosity had been directed, withdrew for a time from the city till the excitement subsided. A ludicrous incident connected with the affair was an attack by a portion of the mob upon the house of the British Consul, Sir John Temple. His premises were saved with difficulty. The illiterate marauders are said to have mistaken "Sir John" for "Surgeon."

mation of the nation. In March, 1786, John Jay wrote to Washington, "An opinion begins to prevail that a general convention for revising the articles of confederation would be expedient"; suggesting at the same time that, if the project were entertained, Washington should take a prominent part in the council.

It was by the vote of the Legislature of New York, instructing its delegates to prepare the measure, that Congress was encouraged to appoint a day in May, 1787, for the meeting of the Convention at Philadelphia, with express instructions to report to Congress and the several Legislatures "such alterations and provisions in the old articles of confederation as shall, when agreed to by Congress and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of the Government and the preservation of the Union."

Hamilton was sent by New York to the convention, where he displayed his usual force of intellect, independence and candor; and when debate was over, and the proposed Constitution was on trial before the people, it was mainly from his pen that the masterly exposition and vindication of the work, in the papers of the "Federalist," proceeded. Of the eighty-five numbers of which the publication was composed, fifty-one were written by Hamilton; the rest, with the exception of five by Jay, were from Madison. Jay's contributions were arrested by the injury he received in his efforts to repress the "doctors' mob." A New York journal, the Daily Advertiser, first gave these papers to the world, between October, 1787 and the Spring of 1788, and the first three editions of the collected work were issued by New York publishers. In the State Convention the ability and exertions of Hamilton, Jay and Chancellor Livingston were chiefly instrumental in securing the acceptance of the Constitution, in face of the powerful opposition.

The ratification was passed at Poughkeepsie on the 26th of July, 1788, and is said to have been hastened by an imposing popular demonstration in the City of New York, three days before, in honor of the adoption of the Constitution by the requisite number of States. This great civic jubilee-for such it was in its spirit and proportionswas intended to commemorate also the action of New York, and had been delayed waiting the opportunity. As it was, it expressed in language not to be mistaken the estimate the city placed on the prospect of security, financial integrity, and all that goes to make the wealth of a nation, promised under the new government.

The Federal procession in New York, vying with that in Philadelphia directed by Francis Hopkinson, represented the intellect and various industries of the city. It was by a certain spontaneous action, a simplicity and effect, significant of the honest enthusiasm of the day. The vast array, marshaled in ten divisions, emblematic of the ten States which had already ratified the Constitution, was formed in the Fields, and paraded down Broadway to Pearl Street, thence to Hanover Square, and by the outlet of Chatham Street to an orchard in the grounds of Alderman Nicholas Bayard, near the present intersection of Broome Street and Broadway, where a brilliant festai entertainment was prepared. A troop of city light horse, with a company of artillery, led the way. In the first division a citizen personating Columbus, in appro

The formation of the Federal Constitution is a national rather than a municipal topic, yet, during the period of its discussion few subjects more deeply agitated the City of New York. Certainly none could have been of more importance to its welfare in the establishment of that community of interest and national credit, the very lifeblood of a commercial people. The politics of the State, however, in the new division of parties, were largely antiFederalist. Jealous of infringement of State rights, and of the concession of new and untried powers to a supreme authority, Governor Clinton was at the head of the opposition to the new Constitution. When the vote for the ratification was finally taken, in the Convention at Pough keepsie, it was passed by a majority of only three in a body of fifty-seven delegates, and after the requisite number of nine States had resolved in favor of the meas-priate costume, represented the era of discovery; forest

ure.

Yet it was to statesmen of New York, their influence and earnest counsel, that the country was greatly indebted for the early promotion and final adoption of a work second only to the struggle of the war in the for

"Reminiscences of an Old New Yorker," p. 33-35.

ers, with axes, suggested the clearing of the land; following whom came two distinguished citizens in farmer's dress, Nicholas Cruger and John Watts, the one leading six oxen attached to a plow; the other, a yoke of oxen and pair of horses drawing a harrow. Baron Poelnitz, a recent immigrant from Germany, who was cultivating a

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small farm on the present Broadway, exhibited a newly- | mounted on a tun of ale and a venerable Silenus astride invented threshing-machine in operation.

The trades of the city were in full force. The bakers paraded on a platform, the "Federal Loaf," made of a whole barrel of flour; the brewers, a boy Bacchus

of a porter-hogshead; the coopers, decorated with oak branches, were hooping the Cask of the Constitution; the butchers, always conspicuous in New York processions, brought a bullock of a thousand weight to be roasted

whole on the grounds; a now obsolete class of artisans, the leather-breeches makers, appeared in buckskin waistcoats, breeches, gloves, and gaiters, with bucks' tails in their hats; the furriers were reinforced by Indians in costume and two bears mounted on packs of furs on a led horse. Hugh Gaine and Samuel Loudon, on horseback, preceded the printers, who were striking off from a press, upon a platform, and distributing to the people, an ode and song written for the occasion. The procession increasing in honor as it neared its termination, on came the gentlemen of the Bar in their robes, heralded by the sheriff and coroner, John Lawrence, supported by John Cozine and Robert Troup exhibiting the Constitution of the

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In the centre of this long procession-in which five thousand persons are said to have taken part (about one-sixth of the population of the city), the most conspicuous object of the whole, appeared the Federal Ship Hamilton, built expressly for the occasion by the ship-carpenters, a frigate of thirty-two guns, twenty seven feet keel and ten beam, completely rigged and manned with a full corps of officers, seamen and marines, under command of Commodore James Nicholson. Her manoeuvres were worthy of her veteran captain's reputation. At the proper signal she was boarded by a pilot from Beaver Street, when she made sail for the fort at the foot of

VIEW OF NEW YORK CITY IN 1787.- FROM A CONTEMPORANEOUS PRINT.

Broadway and saluted with thirteen guns the President | teen master pilots, in white uniform, commanded by

and members of Congress who were assembled at that point. In Pearl Street a suit of colors presented by Mrs. Logan was received with cheers. At Old Slip the Hamil ton returned the salute of the Spanish packet, and so passed on amid general rejoicing to the dining-grounds. The genius of the French architect, Major L'Enfant, to whose taste and skill the exhibition doubtless owed much of its effect, was particularly shown in the arrangements of the building constructed for the civic feast, which appropriately closed the performances of the day. Three pavilions connected by colonnades formed an obtuse angle, the pavilion at the apex terminating in a dome, surmounted by a figure of Fame trumpeting the coming time. Other colonnades radiated from the centre, affording space for the numerous tables at which the guests were seated, including members of Congress, foreign Ministers, and strangers of distinction-for New York, having been the seat of the Continental Congress since 1785, was then the court city of the old Confederacy. The dinner closed with thirteen appropriate toasts, emphasized by salvos of artillery. So the City of New York, anticipating the action of her Convention, generously pledged herself, with full confidence of prosperity in store, to the new era of the Constitution.

Commodore Nicholson, hero of the brilliant civic achievements on board the Federal Ship Hamilton, held the President and his suite. As they approached the Kills numerous boats dressed with flags followed in their wake. General Knox and other officers, in a large barge, presented themselves at the entrance into the bay, which was alive with gayly decorated craft eager to join the procession. The President was twice saluted by parties of ladies and gentlemen, who approached his barge in their vessels singing in his praise odes written for the occasion. On nearing the city the yards of the Spanish shipof-war in the harbor were suddenly manned, and the flags of different nations sprang from every part of the rigging as a salute of thirteen guns was fired. The North Carolina, a Government vessel in the harbor, fired a similar salute. Everywhere the shipping of the port streamed with flags. The piers were crowded with spectators. On landing at Murray's Wharf, Washington was received by Governor Clinton and the chief officers of the State and city. A carriage was provided to convey him to his residence at the corner of Cherry Street and Franklin Square, a building which had been occupied by the Presidents of the old Congress, but he preferred walking, and he was accompanied by a long procession of the city military and a host of official personages, foreign ambassadors and others, followed by a crowd of citizens. Everywhere as he passed the houses were decorated with flags and various devices. In the evening he dined with Governor Clinton, and there was a general illumination of the city.

A week elapsed, when the citizens were again summoned to take part in a more imposing ceremony, the Inauguration of the President. The proceeding was conducted throughout with extraordinary solemnity and simplicity. On the morning of the 30th, the churches of the city were opened at nine, to invoke the blessing of Heaven upon the nation and its appointed guardian. After this earnest service the military gathered to lead the procession of civilians, the committees of Congress and other officials appointed to conduct the President from his residence to the City Hall in Broad Street, where Congress was assembled. This building, which now bore the name Federal Hall, had been enlarged and greatly improved, under the direction of Major L'Enfant, at the expense of a number of wealthy citizens, to meet the wants of the new Government. The front had been advanced to a level with the wings, new entrances had been made, and an open central gallery constructed leading from the Senate Chamber on the second floor, surmounted by an architrave and pediments supported by four Doric columns. A carved eagle and other emblematic devices ornamented the front; within, the decorations were of a significant and tasteful character. Upon the arrival of the procession in front of the Hall, Washington alighted from his carriage, and passed through the ranks of the military, drawn up on either side, to the Senate Chamber, where he was received by the Vice-President, John Adams. Arrangements were made for the ceremony of the day in the open gallery in sight of the assembled multitude, who filled the spacious street in front and occupied the

The ratifications of the several States were submitted to the old Congress sitting at New York, which expired with dignity as it made the necessary appointments for the inauguration of its successor. Presidential Electors were directed to be chosen in January, 1789, to make their choice in February. The new Government was to meet at New York in March. There was but one man, the chosen of the people, for the Presidency, George Washington. Congress was slow in getting a quorum to receive the vote of the Electors, which was not counted till April. On the 14th, Washington was notified of his election by the President of the Senate, and two days after he reluctantly left his beloved residence on the Potomac to enter upon the duties of the Presidency at New York. His progress to the city was a triumphal procession; and certainly no conqueror ever bore his honors more meekly, or would have shielded himself from them with more satisfaction. All great undertakings begin in doubt and despondency, but a true man takes to the height the measure of his work, and no one in a world of uncertainties can be light-hearted under a sense of responsibilities. So Washington wrote in his "Diary" on the day of his departure from home: "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New York with best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations." Notwithstanding, as he passed on he must have been animated by the spontaneous tributes of a people's affection paid to him. At Alexandria, through Maryland, at Baltimore, at Philadelphia, at the scene of his military trials and fortitude in New Jersey, every honor that pride or gratitude could lavish upon him was bestowed. On arriving at Elizabethtown Point, on the morning of the 23d, he found himself in the hands of the Committee of New York, includ-windows and roofs of the adjoining houses. Here Washing the heads of the departments of Congress, and the ington, dressed in a dark-brown suit of American manuChancellor and other high officers of the State. The facture, with dress sword, white silk stockings, his hair rest of the journey was to be performed by water across dressed and powdered in the fashion of the day, presentNewark Bay, through the winding lake-like passages ing himself to the people, bowed, and was cheered with which separate Staten Island from the opposite shore great enthusiasm. He then retired to a seat by the side and afford an entrance to the inner Bay of New York. A of a table, on which rested a richly bound Bible. The barge, expressly built for the purpose, manned by thir-applause having been succeeded by the hushed silence of

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