elections, and it was where dinners and other entertainments were given to persons of distinction. The edifice was completed in 1754.
Another writer, Rev. Mr. Burnaby, lifts the curtain to give us a passing glimpse of the people of that decade, as they appeared to his view:—
"The inhabitants of New York in their character very much resemble the Pennsylvanians. Being, however, of different nations, different languages, and different religions, it is almost impossible to give them any precise or determinate character. The women are handsome and agreeable, though rather more reserved than the Philadelphia ladies. The amusements are balls and sleighing expeditions in the winter, and, in the summer, going in parties upon the water and fishing, or making excursions into the country. There are several houses, pleasantly situated up the East River, near New York, where it is common to have turtle-feasts. These happen once or twice a week. Thirty or forty gentlemen and ladies meet and dine together, drink tea in the afternoon, fish, and amuse themselves till evening, and then return home in Italian chaises, a gentleman and lady in each chaise."
In the summer of 1752, quite a sensation was created by the announcement in the papers of the marriage of President Aaron Burr, of the New Jersey (Princeton) College, to the daughter of Rev. Jonathan Edwards, with hints that the wedding was a very odd affair. The romance was ere long in the possession of the social world. The excellent, accomplished, and brilliant divine had recently made a journey to the Stockbridge wilderness, and spent three days in the family of the distinguished preacher, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, with whom he had had a previous and intimate friendship. Henceforward the beautiful and vivacious Esther made no more lace and painted no more fans for the ladies of Boston. Burr returned to Newark, and presently sent a college boy to conduct his bride-elect and her mother to New York City. They arrived on Saturday, and on the following Monday the nuptial ceremonies were celebrated between the bachelor of thirty-seven and the charming maiden of twenty-one. And all the gossips wondered.
Burr was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Newark for twenty years, as well as president of the college, which his toil and tact fostered into a healthy growth. His son, Aaron Burr, the future New York lawyer, and Vice-President of the nation, was born in the old parsonage on Broad Street in that city, February 6, 1756.
1753.
Clinton grew more and more impatient to return to England. He attributed his rheumatic sufferings and general debility to the severity of the New York winters. The cold was so intense during nearly all the month of January, 1753, that heavily laden sleighs drawn
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