Old Taverns of New York

The Dancing Assembly held their meetings at the Province Arms; those during the winter of 1779-80 were held on Wednesdays. There was also a Card Assembly which met at the Province Arms where they had their Card Rooms. It was the temporary home of many of the British officers. Here Benedict Arnold lived for a time, and it was from this place that Sergeant Champe planned to abduct him.

Attempt to Capture Arnold

After the treason of Benedict Arnold and the capture of Major André, General Washington was anxious to gain positive information as to whether there was any other officers involved, as was by some suspected, and also if possible, to get possession of the person of Arnold. To carry out this delicate and dangerous enterprise he needed the services of a man who would be willing to enter the British lines as a deserter and do the work desired. Major Lee, who was to have charge of the undertaking, picked out among the men of his command, Sergeant Major Champe, of Loudoun County, Virginia, full of courage and perseverance, who was, at first, very reluctant to undertake the task, but this reluctance being overcome, entered into the project with the greatest enthusiasm. Major Lee and his men were in the neighborhood of Tappan and it was not easy to get beyond the American lines, for patrols were numerous, and the whole neighborhood to the south was covered by scouts.

To make this desertion appear genuine, Champe could receive no noticeable assistance, Major Lee only promising, in case his departure should be soon discovered, to delay pursuit as long as possible. This he did, but pursuit was made after Champe had been on his way about an hour, a few minutes after twelve o’clock. A little after break of day, the pursuing party caught sight of Champe in the distance. Once or twice they lost track of him. Champe, finding himself hard pressed, resolved to flee to the British galleys lying in Newark Bay, and as he dashed along prepared himself for the final act. He lashed his valise to his shoulders, divested himself of all unnecessary burdens, and when he got abreast of the galleys, quickly dismounted and plunged into the water, swimming for the boats and calling for help, which was readily given. His pursuers were only about two hundred yards behind him. All were convinced that he was a genuine deserter. Champe enlisted under Arnold. He soon discovered that the suspicion of any other officers being connected with the treason of Arnold was groundless; but the plans for the abduction of the arch-traitor miscarried. Champe, after suffering many hardships, finally escaped while serving under Cornwallis at Petersburg, Virginia. We give his own account of the affair, as related after the war to the British officer in whose company he served.

“If I were to attempt to make you feel any portion of the excitement under which I labored during the period of my sojourn in New York, I should utterly waste my labor. My communications with spies were necessarily frequent; yet they were carried on with a degree of secrecy and caution which not only prevented your people from obtaining any suspicion of them, but kept each man from coming to the knowledge that the other was in my confidence. Of the political information which I forwarded to Gen. Washington, it is needless to say much. It was so complete, that there scarcely occurred a conversation over Clinton’s dining table there never was formed a plan, nor a plan abandoned, of which I did not contrive to obtain an accurate report, and to transmit it to headquarters. But it was the project for seizing Arnold which most deeply engaged my attention. Several schemes were brought forward and rejected for that purpose; till at last the following, which but for an accident, must have succeeded, was matured.

“The house in which Arnold dwelt, was situated, as you doubtless recollect, in one of the principal streets of the city, while its garden extended on one side along an obscure lane, from which it was separated by a close wooden rail fence. I found that every night, before going to bed, Arnold was in the habit of visiting that garden, and I immediately resolved what to do. Working after dark, I undid a portion of the fence, and placing it up again so nicely, that no cursory examination would have sufficed to detect the spot where the breach had been made, I warned my associate that he should provide a boat in the Hudson, manned by rowers in whom he could trust. I then furnished myself with a gag, and appointed a night when my confederate should be admitted within the garden, so that we might together seize and secure our prey. Everything was done as I wished. Maj. Lee was informed of the state of our preparations, and directed to come down with spare horses, and an escort, to a spot on the river which I named. How often have I regretted since, that I should set thus deliberately about the business! By Heavens! there occurred twenty opportunities, of which, had I been less anxious to accomplish my purpose, I might have availed myself. But I permitted them to pass, or rather, I felt myself unable to take advantage of them, because I had judged it imprudent to keep less trusty agents too often on the alert. So, however, it was to be.

“Time passed, and now a few hours only intervened between the final adjustment of the details of our project and its accomplishment. Lee was on the stir – was willing to hazard all – the boat’s crew was provided, and their station pointed out.

“It was our purpose to seize Arnold unaware, to thrust the gag in his mouth, and placing each of us an arm within that of our prisoner, to hurry him through the least frequented of the streets towards the quary. We were to represent him as a drunken soldier, whom we were conveying to his quarters, should any person meet or question us, – and by G – , the deed was done, but the traitor’s star prevailed. That very morning, an order was issued for the immediate embarkation of the legion, and I was hurried on board the ship without having had time so much as to warn Maj. Lee that the whole arrangement was blown up.”

The present Thames Street was undoubtedly the “obscure lane,” down which Champe intended that he and his assistant should carry Arnold to the boat; there is no other that would so well fit into the story told by Champe.

Roubalet retained possession of the Province Arms until near the time of the departure of the British troops, and it was at his house that many meetings were held by the refugees and loyalists in reference to provisions being made for them by grants of land in Nova Scotia.

X

Fraunces’ Tavern

Return of The Exiles

News of the signing of the provisional treaty reached this country in March, 1783, and the return of peace was celebrated throughout the land in April, but the British army remained in possession of New York City until the latter part of the following November. During this time they were very busy caring for those who had remained loyal to the crown, and now sought and claimed its protection. Thousands came into the city, and it is said that more than twenty-nine thousand loyalists and refugees (including three thousand negroes), left the State of New York for Canada, Nova Scotia and other British possessions, during the year. After the news of peace, there was little restraint on going in or out of New York, and many who had abandoned their homes when the British entered the place, or before, now prepared to return, but found when they came into the city that they could not obtain possession of their own property. While those who had thus abandoned their property in the cause of independence were anxious to return, many of those who had remained loyal to the crown were preparing to leave the city for new homes to be made on land provided by the government; and between these two classes there was no friendly feeling. Few, therefore, ventured to bring in their families, or even remain themselves, until they could obtain the protection of the American army.

General Washington and Sir Guy Carleton met near Tappan in May to arrange matters relative to the withdrawals of British troops in the vicinity of New York. On this occasion Sam Francis came up from the city to provide for the American officers and their British guests, whose bill, says a Philadelphia newspaper, amounted to the modest sum of five hundred pounds. Francis, after serving in the army, had gone back to New York on the news of peace to reclaim his abandoned property. When a dinner was to be served to do honor to the cause of liberty, there was no one among all the Americans who could so well do it as Sam Francis. He was well known to Washington, but whether his aid was sought on this occasion or whether he proffered his services we have no means of knowing. At any rate, we are confident that the thing was well and properly done. It is said that it was through the instrumentality of Francis’s daughter, who was housekeeper at Richmond Hill, the headquarters of General Washington, that the attempt on his life and that of General Putnam, called the Hickey plot, was discovered and frustrated. The house of Francis was one of those which suffered when H. B. M. S. Asia fired on the city in August, 1775.

Freneau thus speaks of it:

“Scarce a broadside was ended ’till another began again —
By Jove! It was nothing but fire away Flannagan!
Some thought him saluting his Sallys and Nancys
’Till he drove a round-shot thro’ the roof of Sam Francis.”

On Tuesday, June 18, 1776, an elegant entertainment was given by the provincial congress to General Washington and his suite, the general and staff officers and the commanding officers of the different regiments in and near the city. The newspapers do not state where this dinner was served, but all the circumstances indicate that it was at the house of Samuel Francis. At this dinner many toasts were drunk, but instead of commencing with a toast to the King, as had formerly been customary, the first was Congress, the second, The American Army, the third, The American Navy, etc. Independence had not yet been declared. Francis had gone out with the defeated army of Washington, and was now returned and making preparations to receive the Americans when they should enter the city. He was the harbinger of Washington and the returning patriots.

Dinner at Orangetown

On Saturday, the 3d of May, 1783, General Washington and Governor Clinton, accompanied by General John Morin Scott, and Lieutenant Colonels Trumbull, Cobb, Humphreys and Varick, went down the river from headquarters in a large barge, dined with General Knox, in command at West Point, lodged at Peekskill and arrived at Tappan Sloat on Sunday morning, about ten o’clock. After partaking of a small repast provided by Francis they went up to Orangetown, where a dinner was provided for them. Sir Guy Carleton came up the river in the Perseverence Frigate, accompanied by Lieutenant Governor Andrew Elliot, Chief Justice William Smith, and others, but did not arrive till Monday evening. On Tuesday, General Washington, attended by two aides-de-camp only (Humphreys and Cobb), went down to Onderdonck’s in Tappan Bay, met Sir Guy at landing and received him in his four horse carriage, which carried them up to Orangetown, followed by the other members of the party. Here, after a conference and much general conversation on the subject of the treaty and matters incident thereto, about four o’clock in the afternoon, a most sumptuous dinner was served by Sam Francis to about thirty, who ate and drank “in the Peace and good fellowship without drinking any Toasts.” On Wednesday the Commander in Chief, the Governor, General Scott, Lieutenant Colonels Humphreys, Cobb, Trumbull, Smith and Varick, Major Fish, and Messrs. Duer and Parker went to dine on the Perseverence. They were received with a salute of seventeen guns. “An Elegant Dinner (tho’ not equal to the American) was prepared,” to which they “sat down in perfect Harmony and conviviality.” Then, after a short conference between the two generals, the Americans left the ship, when they were again saluted with seventeen guns. “Thus,” it is said, “ended that great formal Business.” The British troops were drawn in from Westchester County on the 14th.

It was about this time that Sam Francis seems to have assumed the name of Fraunces. Before the war we do not find other than Francis, and in the deed of the De Lancey house to him in 1765, the name is Francis. This celebrated old house is known to-day as Fraunces’ Tavern.

The celebration of the return of peace was held at Trenton, New Jersey, on April 15, 1783. After the governor’s proclamation declaring a cessation of hostilities had been publicly read in the court house, a dinner was given at the house of John Cape, who was then landlord of the French Arms, a tavern at this place, and had been a lieutenant in the Continental line. Before the evacuation of New York by the British troops, Cape entered the city and secured control of the old Province Arms, and was here to welcome the army of Washington when they marched in. He took down the old sign which had swung in front of the house since 1754, and in its place hung out the sign of the Arms of the State of New York. From this time the house was known as the State Arms, or more generally as the City Tavern.

A large number of the inhabitants of New York, lately returned from a seven years’ exile, met at Cape’s Tavern, Broadway, on Tuesday evening, November 18th. At this meeting it was requested that every person present, who had remained in the city during the late contest, should leave the room forthwith; and it was resolved that no one who had remained or returned within the British lines during the war, be admitted to any future meetings. They pledged themselves to prevent, to the utmost of their power, all disorder and confusion that might follow the evacuation of the city by the British troops, and a committee of thirteen was appointed to meet at Simmons’ Tavern in Wall Street to settle on a badge of distinction to be worn on evacuation day, select the place of meeting, and agree as to the manner in which they should receive his Excellency, the Governor, on that day. This committee was directed to report at the next meeting at Cape’s on Thursday. At the meeting on Thursday evening, Colonel Frederick Weissenfels in the chair, it was agreed that the badge of distinction to be worn at the reception of the Governor in the city should be “a Union Cockade of black and white ribband on the left breast and a Laurel in the Hat.” The manner in which Governor Clinton, and General Washington, should he accompany him, should be received was arranged and a committee of thirteen was appointed to conduct the procession, who were directed to meet the next morning at the Coffee House. It was resolved that Daniel Green be requested to carry the Colors of the United States on this occasion. No loyalist or neutral was to be allowed any part or share in the reception.

The Evacuation

Tuesday, November 25, 1783, the time appointed for the evacuation of the city by the British troops, was a great day for New York. General Washington and Governor Clinton were at Day’s Tavern on the Kingsbridge road, where they had been for three or four days. General Knox, in command of the American troops, marched down from McGown’s Pass in the morning to the upper end of the Bowery, where he held a friendly parley with the British officer whose men were resting a little below. It was then about one o’clock in the afternoon. The programme of procedure which had been arranged was carried out nearly as agreed upon. As the British passed down the Bowery and Pearl Street to the river for embarkation, they were followed by the American troops, who passed through Chatham Street and Broadway to Cape’s Tavern, where they formed in line. General Knox, with the Main Guard, passed on down to the Fort to take formal possession of the city; after which, joined by the citizens who had assembled at the Bowling Green, on horseback, each man wearing the Cockade and Laurel, he returned to the Bull’s Head Tavern in the Bowery, where Washington and Clinton were waiting to make their formal entry. Here a civic procession was formed which marched down Pearl Street to Wall Street and then up to Broadway to Cape’s Tavern. General Knox with his men had left the line of march, and going through Chatham Street and Broadway was here to receive them.

At Cape’s they dismounted and an address was presented to General Washington from “the Citizens of New York, who have returned from exile, in behalf of themselves and their suffering brethren.” In it they said: “In this place, and at this moment of exultation and triumph, while the Ensigns of Slavery still linger in our sight, we look up to you, our deliverer, with unusual transports of Gratitude and Joy. Permit us to Welcome you to this city, long torn from us by the hand of oppression, but now, by your wisdom and energy, under the guidance of Providence, once more the seat of Peace and freedom; we forbear to speak our gratitude or your Praise – we should but echo the voice of applauding millions.” A reply was made to this address by Washington. An address was also presented to Governor Clinton, which was replied to by him.

After the formalities attending the reception Governor Clinton gave a public dinner at Fraunces’ Tavern, at which the Commander-in-Chief and other general officers were present. After the dinner thirteen toasts were drunk; the twelfth was: “May a close Union of the States guard the Temple they have erected to Liberty.”

Dinner to the French Ambassador

At Cape’s Tavern on Friday, November 28th, an elegant entertainment was given by the citizens lately returned from exile to the Governor and Council for governing the city, to which Washington and the officers of the army were invited. On the following Tuesday, December 2d, at the same place, another such entertainment was given by Governor Clinton to the French Ambassador, Luzerne, to which invitations were also extended to Washington and his officers. For this Cape rendered a bill to the State, in which he made charge for 120 dinners, 135 bottles of Madeira, 36 bottles of Port, 60 bottles of English Beer and 30 Bowls of Punch. In putting away this liberal supply of drink, they must have had a jolly time, and that some of them became very unsteady is indicated by a significant charge made by Cape for 60 broken wine glasses and 8 cut glass decanters. In the evening there was a grand display of fire works in celebration of the Definite Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and the United States of North America, at the Bowling Green, in Broadway. These, it is said, infinitely exceeded every former exhibition of the kind in the United States. On the next day, December 3d, Washington wrote to Major General Knox, expressing his satisfaction and requesting him to present to Captain Price, under whose direction they were prepared, and to the officers who assisted him, his thanks for the great skill and attention shown on this occasion.

Washington had issued, under date of November 2d, from Rocky Hill, near Princeton, New Jersey, his farewell address to the army of the United States, and he was now about to bid farewell to his officers. The place appointed for this formality was the Long Room of Fraunces’ Tavern. It has given a celebrity to this house which can never be effaced. The Long Room of Fraunces’ Tavern had recently been used for the dinner given by Governor Clinton on the day the American army entered the city. It was thirty-eight feet long and nineteen feet wide, its length extending along Broad Street, probably just as it exists to-day in the restored house. On the morning of December 4, 1783, Washington and his officers met here for the last time as soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. No exact record exists as to who were present on this memorable occasion, but it has been stated, that there were forty-four. Among these were Generals Greene, Knox, Wayne, Steuben, Carroll, Lincoln, Kosciusko, Moultrie, Gates, Lee, Putnam, Stark, Hamilton, Governor Clinton, and Colonels Tallmadge, Humphreys and Fish.

Washington’s Farewell to his Officers

They had been assembled but a few minutes, when Washington entered the room. His emotion was too strong to be concealed, and was evidently reciprocated by all present. Alter partaking of a slight refreshment, and after a few moments of silence, the General filled his glass with wine, and turning to his officers said: “With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.” After the officers had responded in a glass of wine, he requested that each one of them should come and take him by the hand. General Knox, who was nearest him, turned and grasped his hand and they embraced each other in silence. In the same affectionate manner every officer parted from the Commander-in-Chief, who then left the room without a word, and passing through lines of infantry drawn up to receive him, walked silently to Whitehall, where a barge was waiting to carry him to Paulus Hook. He was on his way to Annapolis, to surrender his commission to the Continental Congress, and then to his beloved Mount Vernon.

These were the closing scenes of the war. The first act in the drama of A Nation’s Growth was ended. After a seven years’ struggle of blood and suffering a new nation had been born. The curtain drops. Vivat Republica.

Cornelius Bradford, who had abandoned the Merchants’ Coffee House, when the British entered the city, and had since been living at Rhinebeck, came back in October, and again took possession of it. In his announcement he calls it the New York Coffee House, but the name of the Merchants’ Coffee House clung to it, and it is so spoken of in the public prints. He prepared a book in which he proposed to enter the names of vessels on their arrival, the ports from which they came and any particular occurrences of their voyages, so that merchants and travelers might obtain the earliest intelligence. Bradford’s Marine List appears in the newspapers of that period. He also opened a register of merchants and others on which they were requested to enter their names and residences, the nearest approach to a city directory that had yet been made. Bradford, by his energy and intelligence, revived the good name of the house, and it became again the rendezvous of merchants and traders, and the daily scene of sales of merchandise of all kinds. The neighborhood again became a place of great importance and trade. Near the Coffee House, both sides of Wall Street were occupied by auction stores, and received the name of the Merchants’ Promenade or the Auctioneers’ Row.

A Bank Organized

New York had hardly been relieved of British control, when a project was set on foot to organize a bank. On the 24th of February, 1784, and again on the 26th the principal merchants and citizens of New York met at the Merchants’ Coffee House, in response to a call, for the purpose of establishing a bank on liberal principles, the stock to consist of specie only. Proposals were made for the establishment of a bank with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars in gold or silver, which were unanimously agreed to, and a committee was appointed to receive subscriptions. When one-half of the stock had been taken, a meeting of the stockholders was held at the Coffee House at ten o’clock on the morning of Monday, March 15, 1784, when General Alexander McDougal was elected president, twelve directors, and William Seton cashier of the bank. Thus was organized the Bank of New York, the first bank of deposit in the State.

Chamber of Commerce Reorganized

The Chamber of Commerce and the Marine Society met regularly at the Coffee House. After the war it was held that the Chamber of Commerce had forfeited its charter and the State legislature then sitting in New York, in response to a petition, granted a new charter, April 13, 1784. The signers of the petition met at the Merchants’ Coffee House April 20th and reorganized under the name of Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York. By resolution of Congress, New York became the seat of government in December, 1784, and shortly after, on January 19, 1785, the Marine Society, to animate its members and promote the object of the society, provided an elegant dinner at the Merchants’ Coffee House, and were honored with the company of the President and members of Congress, the mayor of the city, Major General McDougal, and a number of other gentlemen. In the early part of February the Chamber of Commerce had the honor of entertaining the same distinguished guests at a dinner, also given at the Merchants’ Coffee House.

The society for the promotion of manumission of slaves held its meetings at the Coffee House, also the society for promoting useful knowledge. Here the Masons had their Grand Lodge Room and here they gathered on the anniversary day of St. John the Baptist, in 1784, and marched in procession to St. Paul’s Church, where a sermon was preached to them by the Rev. Samuel Provost. These formalities seem to have been of yearly occurrence.

In 1785 the Governor of the State, the Chancellor, the Hon. John Jay and other distinguished citizens dined with the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick at the Coffee House on the anniversary day of their saint, and on November 30th the St. Andrew’s Society of the State held its anniversary meeting here. At sunrise the Scottish flag was raised on the Coffee House and at twelve o’clock an election of officers was held, when the Hon. Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of the State, was chosen president and Robert Lenox, secretary. The society, honored with the company of the Governor of the State and the Mayor and Recorder of the city, then sat down to dinner. The toasts were truly Scotch; among them a few that need be interpreted to us by some antiquarian Scot.

On the 9th of November, 1786, Cornelius Bradford died, much regretted by his many friends, at the age of fifty-seven, and his funeral was held at four o’clock on the afternoon of the 17th at the Coffee House. He seems to have been a man much respected in the community. The New York Packet, in an obituary notice, says of him that not only “was he distinguished as a steady patriot during the arduous contest for American liberty, but that he always discovered a charitable disposition toward those who differed from him in sentiment,” and adds that “the Coffee House under his management, was kept with great dignity, both before and since the war, and he revived its credit from the contempt into which it had fallen during the war.” His widow kept the house after his death until 1792, and continued to enjoy the patronage of Bradford’s old friends.

Although Sam Fraunces came back to the city after the war and took up his old business in the house which had been known as the Queen’s Head, he did not remain there long, but retired to a country life in New Jersey. He sold the house in 1785. The deed is dated April 23d of this year and states that “Samuel Fraunces, late of the City of New York, innkeeper, but at present of the County of Monmouth, New Jersey, farmer, and Elizabeth, his wife,” sell to “George Powers, butcher, of Brooklyn,” all his dwelling house and lot, bounded, etc. The price was £1,950.

The Assembly Balls Revived

The dancing assemblies which had been regularly held before the war at the Province Arms for many years, were renewed, the first one after the close of the Revolution being held at Cape’s, or the City Tavern, on the evening of Thursday, December 19, 1783. James Rivington, the loyalist, in announcing the ball in his paper, added that he had “for sale a supply of white dancing gloves for gentlemen, with stockings, dress swords, and elegant London cocked hats,” which were, no doubt, a part of the stock he was carrying during the war to supply the British officers. Mr. Pickens and Mr. Griffiths, dancing masters, both gave balls in the assembly room of Cape’s Tavern. Mr. Griffiths was using the room for his dancing school in 1786, and announced that he would give a ball once a fortnight during the season. Tickets were six shillings each. A grand ball at the assembly rooms in Broadway was announced by Mr. Griffiths, to be held on February 20, 1786. To insure an attendance of desirable persons it was stated that no person would be admitted whose appearance might give umbrage to the company. Such balls as those given by the dancing masters were continued for many years.

The Cincinnati

A meeting of the New York State Society of the Cincinnati was called to meet at Cape’s Tavern on the 2d of February, 1784, in order to frame By-Laws for the society and for other important purposes. Benjamin Walker, secretary of the society, gave notice “that such persons as are entitled to become members of the society and have not yet signed the institution, may have an opportunity of doing it by applying to him at Cape’s Tavern.” Major General Alexander McDougal had been elected president of the New York society in July, at Fishkill. John Cape, the landlord of the City Tavern, was a member of the Cincinnati, and he also appears to have been a Mason, for, although the rooms of the Grand Lodge were at the Coffee House, notice was given that the members of the Grand Lodge were desired to meet “at Brother Cape’s Tavern” on Broadway on Wednesday evening, March 3, at six o’clock to install the Right Worshipful the Hon. Robert Livingston, Grand Master.

In February, 1786, Cape suddenly disappeared, leaving his creditors in the lurch. The furniture and all the stock in the tavern were sold out under execution by the sheriff, and the house was taken in March by Joseph Corré, who opened it as a traveler’s house. Having been a professed cook he gave notice that “any person wishing to have their servants taught the art of cookery may apply to him for terms.” Travelers, coming into the city from the north and east, put up at the City Tavern, and, on their way to the south, crossed the Paulus Hook Ferry from the foot of Cortlandt Street, and took the stage coach or wagon on the Jersey side for their destination. A line of stages had been established between New York and Albany and another between New York and Boston, and announcement was made in 1780 that the stage would leave the old City Tavern, kept by Joseph Corré, during the six winter months on Monday and Thursday of each week, at precisely five o’clock in the morning, for Albany and Boston, and in summer on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Extensive preparations were made to celebrate the anniversary of the Independence of the United States on July 4, 1786. The opening of the day was announced at sunrise by a salute of thirteen guns and the ringing of all the bells in the city. At twelve o’clock a procession started from the City Hall, going through Broad Street and down Queen Street to the residence of the governor, who, joined by the lieutenant governor, the chancellor, the judges of the Supreme Court, and the other state officers, with the mayor and aldermen, the Marine Society, and the Chamber of Commerce, proceeded to the residence of the President of the United States Congress, where they presented to his excellency, the compliments of the day. They then proceeded to the City Tavern, attended by numerous citizens, and partook of a collation which had been provided by the corporation. As the procession moved from the City Hall, all the bells in the city commenced to ring, and continued to ring for two hours. As they arrived at the City Tavern thirteen guns were discharged, and at sunset another discharge of thirteen guns closed the day. Fireworks having been prohibited in the city by the common council, some brilliant pieces were exhibited on Governor’s Island, which entertained a large concourse of citizens assembled on the Battery. The anniversary meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, of the State of New York, in commemoration of the day, was held at the City Tavern, when the Hon. Baron de Steuben was elected president of the Society.