English had possession of the settlement, as in the coffee house met all the great and learned men of the place, as well as the wits and visiting celebrities; and great was the flow of wit and reason over the favorite beverage, as they discussed the news that was interchanged and circulated to an extent that would cast into the shade the far-famed locutionary powers of the fairer portion of the community—but of course men will never admit this.

In the year of '86 all this was changed, for an official order had been issued that all letters coming by ships should in future be sent direct to the Custom House; consequently the "Coffee House Delivery' became a thing of the past.

American spirit, however, was not to be thus easily conquered; for when later on the British government started a post office, continental post was likewise started, and patronized to such an extent that the governmental one had very little to do.

Although letters were no longer distributed there, the coffee houses still held their own in the public affection as places of general resort; holding amongst our ancestors the place the club houses of the nineteenth century do to their descendants. There, matters of great importance as well as matters of no importance at all were discussed, from wars and rumors of wars abroad to a runaway horse at home. Every ship arrival supplied a stock of news to be exchanged or retailed in greater or lesser quantities as suited the will of the giver and the moderate or immoderate desires of the recipient.

When the subject of taxation without representation was discussed, and, later on, that of an independent government mooted, the meetings, formerly of a social nature, assumed a seriousness befitting the matters discussed, and sittings were long and frequent. It was in the coffee house known as "The City Arms," which

faced Bowling Green that opposition to the Stamp Act was first started. This old building stood until a comparatively late date, when it was taken down to make way for modern improvements. It was built partly of brick, the sides and rear being of wood, and was surrounded by a garden in which musical entertainments were given. Tradition says that Benedict Arnold lodged in this house after his treason.

During British occupation, the coffee houses merely existed. Fraunce's held its own, however, although it was more of a hotel than coffee house proper. This old building is still standing at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets, and has been enlarged, it being at that time only three stories in height; it is of brick and was built in the early part of the eighteenth century by Mr. S. Delancey, who resided in it. It is still quite firm and may be identified by the green marble slab set in the corner, stating that within its walls Washington delivered his parting address to the army. After that event it declined in importance.

After the War of the Revolution, nationality seemed forgotten, and the descendants of the English, Dutch, and French met in a loving brotherhood born of their late common grievances; and they chose for their place of mutual resort the "Merchants' Coffee House," which stood at the corner of Wall and Water streets. It is described as a three-story building, a store occupying the lower part. On the second floor was the "Long Room" in which public meetings were held. Here statesmen and politicians, merchants and literary men, discussed the affairs of the nation over their cups of coffee or tea.

Amongst its frequenters might be seen the majestic figure of Washington and the angular one of Thomas Jefferson, his political opponent, the brilliant Alexander Hamilton and the intriguing Aaron Burr, Ben Franklin, who never contradicted any one, and Gouv

erneur Morris, who found fault with every one except General Washington, the refined Chancellor Livingston and that rock of sense, John Jay, George Clinton, the anti-Federal governor, and John Adams with royalistic tendencies, John Morin Scott, the versatile lawyer, and William Bradford, the first public printer of New York, Hugh Gaines, the champion of the free press, and his insatiable satirist, Philip Freneau; these, and many others perhaps as well known, found ample subject for present discussion and future conjecture. Here Washington was received upon his arrival in the city for the inaugural ceremonies. The Chamber of Commerce held here its first meetings, and the insurance business was started within its walls, as was also the first bank of New York. The compilation of a city directory," the size of a Westminster Catechism," was herein essayed, and the "Loyal Sons of St. Andrew" and the "Grand Lodge of Free Masons," as well as many other associations, held their meetings inside its doors; but with the removal of the national government to Philadelphia its sun sank to rise no more.

The

The year 1686 was a marked one in the little colony. The mother country had seemed to awaken to the fact that its infant, and future prodigy, was still acting under the seal of Holland; and forthwith a larger and more elaborate one was granted it. same year Governor-General Dongan, who had accorded a kind reception to the Huguenots since 1683, deemed it necessary to extend the city limits to meet the requirements of the increased population; he therefore ordered a survey of the northern boundary of the settlement, and a removal of its walls to a more remote locality.

Hitherto the line of the present Wall Street had been defined by a palisaded work erected as a means of defence against the Indians; it extended the entire

width of the island from the shipyard of Rip Van Dam, now comprised in Trinity churchyard, but at that time the western limit of the island, to " Bucther's Pen," adjoining the river on the eastern limit. At the head of Broadway was a large gate, which was closed every evening by the city watch; and nearer the river on the eastern side was another, called the "Water Gate," through which ran the road to the ferry to Breucklin, now Pearl Street. Beyond this gate stood the ferry-house, by the door of which hung a tin horn; any one desiring to cross, by winding the horn, would summon a boatman to conduct him to the opposite shore, for the moderate sum of one-half

cent.

In many places the works had fallen down; which rendered the duty of closing the gates at night quite a nominal one; except that the fact of doing so gave the inhabitants a certain sense of security; which was a great thing in itself. The guns too had disappeared, and the ditches and trenches were in a ruinous condition.

By the governor's orders, the palisade was removed to the present line of Chamber Street, running from the river bank on the west side to the old Ferry house on the east side, now Catherine Street; at every short distance a block-house was placed. The line of the old palisade was laid out into a street, which took its name from the wall that had once occupied its place. The streets, that same year, were paved, and they were also lighted by means of lanterns suspended from every seventh house; and a watch patrolled them all the night, who sang out the hours as they passed.

The city limits were at that time more circumscribed than at the present; Greenwich Street then formed the western boundary, and Pearl Street the eastern one. All ground beyond these streets has been made by filling in.

Recently, in excavating in the lower part of Front Street, the ribs of a vessel were unearthed; they were thought by some to have been those of the "Morning Star," a powder ship blown up in the harbor August 7, 1778. This fact goes to prove the encroachment of the city upon the water limits.

The French refugees were relegated to the eastern side of Broadway below Wall Street, and in the vicinity of the "Bucther's Pen," this being an unfavored part of the city, where the laboring portion of the community dwelt, and there were many unused lots.

The frequent Indian incursions had caused the settlers to centre around the fort to such an extent as to endanger its safety; so much so that certain officials complained to the home government that it might be easily scaled by placing ordinary-sized ladders upon the surrounding houses.

This old fort deserves a word for itself, it being the first and oldest structure of the settlement; and, according to the author already quoted, "one of the best Pieces of Defence in the north parts of America." I am inclined, however, to the opinion that Mr. Lamothé would have said of it the same as he said of an old fort on the Jersey side of the river, "It is no great things."

This venerable piece of Dutch antiquity, that was destined never to hand down its name to our republican times, indeed, to bear none for any great length of time, - was erected in the year 1614 by the Nieu Amsterdamers as a defence from the attacks of the Indians. It is described as a mere palisaded work, but its form and dimensions have not been stated; it went by the name of Fort Manhattan until 1626, when its increase in extent, and number of inhabitants, caused a more substantial work to be constructed, which upon completion was called Fort Amsterdam. It is most probable that the plan of De