Part 2 (2/2)

J Campbell, Esq

Martin Van Buren was a political friend of my father's from almost his earliest ate he received the following confidential letter from Mr Van Buren As will be seen, it was before the days when he wrote in full the prefix ”Van” to his name:

_Private_

My dear Sir,

Mr Hoyt wishes me to quiet your apprehensions on the subject of the Elector[2] I will state to you truly how the matter stands My sincere belief is that we shall succeed; at the same time I am bound to admit that the subject is full of difficulties If the members were now, and without extraneous influence, to settle the matter, the result would be certain But I know that unco, by the outdoor friends of Adams & Clay to effect a co-operation of their forces in favor of a divided ticket Look at the ”National Journal” of the 23d, and you will find an article, prepared with care, to o Mr Adams would have revolted at such a publication It is the desperate situation of his affairs that has brought hith than hehiet a part of this State The certain decline of Adath in the east alarm his friends on the same point Thus both parties are led to the adoption of desperate land Adams has now no reason to expect more than his three or four votes in Maryland A partial disco him below Mr Clay's western votes, & if it should appear that he (Adao to Crawford If nothing takes place s, we hope to defeat their plans here But if you lose your asse the effect itthus particular with you is to conjure your utmost attention to that subject About the Governor's election there is no sort of doubt I am not apt to be confident, & _I aver that the matter is so_ But it is to the assembly that interested men look, and the difference of ten members will (with the information the members can have when they come to act) be decisive in the opinion of the present members as to the complexion of the next house

There are _other points of viehich I cannot now state to you, in which the result I speak of may seriously affect the main question Let me therefore entreat your serious attention to thisplace, & what you tell to one man in confidence is soon in the mouths of hundreds You can i me with it Do so

Your sincere friend,

M V BUREN

Albany, Octob 28, 1824

James Ca sentence of this letter was Jesse Hoyt, another political friend of my father's who, under Van Buren's adIsland he made my father occasional visits, and in subsequent years lived opposite us on Hubert Street He was the first one to furnish me with a practical illustration ofchild I consented to have my ears pierced, when Mr Hoyt volunteered to send s, but he failed to carry out his proo several letters addressed to Hoyt by ”Prince” John Van Buren which he begins with ”Dear Jessica”

Table appointments at this time were most simple and unostentatious

Wine coolers were found in every well regulated house, but floral decorations were seldoiven upon special occasions, the handsoed to my mother's family The forks and spoons were of heavy beaten silver, and the knives were made of steel and had ivory handles Ice cream was always the dessert, served in tall pyramids, and the universal flavor was vanilla taken directly from the bean, as prepared extracts were then unknown I have no recollection of seeing ice water served upon any well-appointed table, asit had yet to appear, and cold water could always be procured from pumps on the pre the usual condiueur_; while the linen used in our home was imported from Ireland, and in some cases bore the coat of arms of the United States with its motto, ”_E Pluribus Unum_” My father's table accommodated twenty persons and the dinner hour was three o'clock

These social functions frequently lasted a nuhted by la sperm oil and candles in candelabra These were the days when h boots

I still have in my possession an acceptance froiven by my father, written upon very small note paper and folded in the usual style of the day:

Mr W Astor will do hireeable to his polite invitation

May 28th

James Ca dinner given by uests was Philip Hone, one of the etic Mayors the City of New York has ever had He is best known to-day by his remarkable diary, edited by Bayard Tucker to the contemporary history of the city Mr Hone had a fine presence with ance of manner, and was truly one of nature's nobleo Arent Schuyler de Peyster, to whom I am indebted for many traditions of early New York society, told me that upon one occasion a conversation occurred between Philip Hone and his brother John, a successful auctioneer, in which the latter advocated their adoption of a coat of arms Philip's response was characteristic of the iven ns and their acco, Cleveland's Secretary of the Treasury, used upon certain of his cards of invitation a crest with the le does not catch flies”) This brings toanecdote frolish in 1826 by D N

McDonnel: ”Casti, an Italian poet who fled fro written a scurrilous poem in which he made severe animadversions on the Czarina and soe in Austria Joseph II upon co in contact with hi punished there, as well as in Russia, for having insulted his high friend and ally The bard's steady reply was 'Aquila non capit muscas'” Sir Francis Bacon, however, was the first in the race, as long before either Manning or Casti were born he made use of these exact words in his ”Jurisdiction of the Marshes”

In arden on Broadway near White Street, and it was the first establish the suht a cool place and pleasant society, where they ht eat ice cream under shady vines and ornalasses, and the price paid for it elve and one-half cents Nickles and di, equivalent to twelve and one-half cents, and the quarter of a dollar, also Mexican, were in circulation

There were no such places as lunchrooms and tearooms in my early days, and the only restaurant of respectability was George W Browne's ”eating house,” which was largely frequented by New Yorkers The proprietor had a very pretty daughter, Mrs Coles, as brought prominently before the public in the suust Belmont and Edward Heyward, a prominent South Carolinian, followed by a duel in Maryland in which Belmont is said to have been so seriously wounded as to retain the scars until his death

Alexander T Stewart's store, corner of Broadway and Chaoods emporium, and for many years ithout a conspicuous rival William I Tenney, Horace Hinsdale, Henry Gelston, and Frederick and Henry G Marquand were jewelers Tenney's store was on Broadway near Murray Street; Gelston's was under the Astor House on the corner of Barclay Street and Broadway; Hinsdale's was on the east side of Broadway and Cortlandt Street; and the Marquands were on the west side of Broadway between Cortlandt and Dey Streets