halls, grand staircases, and spacious rooms. The parlor was some fifty feet long, with a graceful bow opening upon a rear porch, large enough for a cotillion party. The banqueting hall was a magnificent apartment, with walls and ceilings artistically decorated. In its palmy days its grounds extended to the water's edge, and were handsomely terraced and cultivated with fastidious care. After the death of his first wife Captain Kennedy married Ann Watts, the daughter of Hon. John Watts, whose home was a great old-time edifice adjoining that of Kennedy. The rooms in the second stories of the two houses were connected by a staircase and bridge in the rear, for convenience when either family gave large parties. The Watts garden like those of its neighbors extended to the water, and was overlooked by a broad piazza that was often kissed by the spray in a high wind. Kennedy afterward became the eleventh earl of Cassalis, and his eldest son, born in this house, was not only the twelfth earl of Cassalis, but the first marquis of Ailsa.

Lieutenant-Governor James De Lancey's home, at the time he received his commission from the king, was a spacious mansion in Broadway, on the site of the present Boreel building. Much has been said about the historic associations of the old City Hotel, but prior to 1793 the explorers of to-day seem to extract very little light. It is an interesting fact that the entire block above Trinity church was the site formerly of one of the handsomest private dwellings in New York. It was erected by Étienne De Lancey (or Stephen, as Anglicized), the son of a French Huguenot nobleman, who brought to New York in 1686 many evidences of wealth and culture. He engaged in commercial enterprises, and became one of the richest men in the province. In 1700, he married the daughter of Hon. Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and the latter conveyed to him the property in Pearl Street, corner of Broad, on which he built the old homestead, still standing with two added stories, and known as "Fraunces' Tavern," which enjoys the distinction of being labeled with a crude board sign bearing the words "Washington's Headquarters," it having been immortalized by the presence of our great chief, and particularly as the scene of Washington's parting with his officers at the close of the Revolution. After residing in this home for a quarter of a century or more, Étienne De Lancey moved into his new and larger house in Broadway, which at his death, in 1741, became the property of his eldest son, James, the lieutenant-governor. It was an immense edifice for the period, all its decorations and appointments costly and elegant, and it was encircled by balconies, with a broad piazza on the river side, commanding one of the most beautiful views in the world, while its cultivated

gardens and grounds with winding walks and stairs extended to the water's edge. What is now Thames Street was the carriage-way to the stables.

Admiral Sir Peter Warren was one of the frequent and favored guests in this New York home, and here he courted and married Susan, the beautiful daughter of Étienne De Lancey. It was here also that her captivating sister Anne, the belle of the household, gave her heart and hand to John Watts, who, like her brother James, had been liberally educated in Europe. One of the tutors of young De Lancey at Cambridge was Dr. Thomas Herring, who became successively Bishop of Bangor, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury, and the master and pupil kept up an intimacy by letter long after the one became primate of all England and the other chief-justice and lieutenant-governor of New York. The genius and marvelous abilities of James De Lancey have rendered him a conspicuous figure of the century prior to the Revolution. No ruler of the province, foreign or domestic, ever exerted more healthful influence, or possessed to such a degree the elements of popularity. His bearing was princely, as if born to command; but the people, knowing that he was the richest man in America, instead of a foreign invader seeking to enrich himself with their surplus earnings, pinned their faith to his honesty, because he could have, they thought, no possible motive for stealing the public money. He was intellectually strong, extremely affable and condescending to inferiors, and his scholarship, culture, magnetic presence, vivacity, and wit made him a favorite with all classes. His political opponents were many and sometimes atrociously malicious, and he could not with grace tolerate opinions differing from his own-was haughty and overbearing whenever he was thwarted in his purposes. At the same time, neither the elegance of his style of living nor his beautiful horses and gilded chariot, with outriders in handsome livery, excited envy or criticism. New York was proud of him. His tact and statesmanship were brought into full play after the suicide of Sir Danvers Osborne, in adjusting the permanent revenue question, which had rankled for two-thirds of a century, and been the source of more torment to the English governors, and angry retort and resistance on the part of New York's little parliament, than all other subjects combined. De Lancey, as a jurist of great legal acumen, had repeatedly advised the legislators never to submit to the unreasonable demands of the crown. As a full-fledged officer of the crown he must now obey instructions, the same as those which his predecessors had found so thorny. The difficulty of the position was only equaled by

its delicacy. In addressing the assembly he chose such language as won the confidence of the ministry, and at the same time convinced his audience that he was not about to compel obedience to ministerial orders. He urged that supportbills should be so framed that he could act in relation to them consistent with his official dutyand the members were unruffled, believing that the genius of the man who had been their chief adviser for twenty years, and had proved himself a lover of the country of his birth as well as a just judge, would guide them safely even through the perils of continued opposition. When the bill for his salary on the old plan was sent for his approval, he promptly rejected it, and sent all the resolutions and addresses concerning the measure to the ministry, and whenever he could do so with propriety he wrote to the chief men in England counseling concession to the iron opinions and wishes of New York.

[After painting in possession of New York Historical Society.]

He continued to decline assenting to the annual money bills, and for three years received no salary. Finally, the battle was won in triumph. for New York, the ministry in 1756 assenting to annual support-bills for the future, and the spirited controversy was settled. De Lancey was in correspondence personally, as well as officially, with English statesmen during the critical period of the war with France, and his opinions and suggestions were noted and quoted at the court of St. James. He did not live long enough to exert his powerful influence against taxing the colonies. The French war had proved severely costly, and the lords, while sipping their wine at the king's table, said there was wealth enough in

VOL. XXI.-No. 3.-14

New York alone to pay the whole debt of England, and graphic stories were told of the triumphal reception and prodigal entertainments given to officers of the British army in the spring of 1760, with special descriptions of the display of "brilliant massive silver" at William Walton's dinners in the old Walton house in Franklin square. The colonists, they argued, were wasting their substance in mad extravagance. The next day in parliament the subject assumed grave proportions. Before the news of how this logic was being turned to account reached New York, Lieutenant-Governor De Lancey suddenly died at his beautiful country-seat in the Bowery, just above Canal Street, 30th July, 1760. His sister, Lady Warren, who was in England, went immediately to Secretary Pitt and asked that her younger brother, Oliver De Lancey, might be appointed to the vacant office. The minister received the application coldly. "I hope," exclaimed the lady with warmth, " that you have had reason to be satisfied with the brother I have lost?"

"Madam," was the answer, " had your brother James lived in England, he would have been one of the first men in the kingdom."