YORK. 



an i..aitution eftabli(hed in 1787. T'}'^' y^LT'' ioc^l 

 I.n.verfity of the State of New York ; be^ ^ J-^ 



dill.naion, and the Columbia college claims h,gh repu 



'^tn'his'rat^therra're fifteen banking companies with a 

 very confiderable fum of capital (lock, which >s fa.d to have 



amounted in .8,1 to .2,380,000 dollars; and •'=-?- 

 rated alTurance companies. The manufaaure of this il.te, 

 confiding of woollen, linen, and cotton cloths, leather, paoer 

 hats, iron, &c. are in an improving condition, and are Uid 

 to have amounted, in 18. i, to 30,000,000 dollars, ofwnich 

 ,2,000,000 were produced by houfehold induftry ana enter- 

 prife. If we judge of the commerce of this ftate by the re- 

 turns of 1810, it mull appear to be very confiderable. 1 he 

 domeftic exports of that year amounted to 10,928.573 dol- 

 lars, and the foreign to 6,313,757, making a total ot 

 J ,7^242,330 dollars; andit is faid that the port of New York 

 yie'lds about one-fourth of the revenue of the United States, 

 arifing from commerce. The exports, exclufive of articles 

 from foreign countries, confift principally of beef, tallow, 

 pork, hams, lard, wheat, maize, rye, butter, cheefe, pot 

 and pearl afhes, flax-feed, peas, beans, horfes, cattle, lum- 

 ber, flour and meal, bread and bifcuit. The foreign exports 

 are compofed of important articles. Wheat, which is the na- 

 tional ftaple, is exported annually to a very great amount ; 

 and about 6,000,000 of bulhels on an average, after dedud- 

 ing the fupplies for the country, are fent to market from the 

 iuVplus produa of this ftate. The average annual payments 

 into the treafury of the United States, for duties on imports, 

 tonnage, &c. exceed 4,000,000 of dollars from the diftria 

 of New York. 



The Societies for promoting ylgriculture and the Arts m this 

 ftate are numerous. It has alfo feveral Tlft'^iW S'ociV/i^ ; an 

 Hijlorical Society ; and alfo an Academy of Arts lately efta- 

 bUlhed at New York. Bible and Mijfmnary Societies are in- 

 ftituted in New York, Albany, and fome other counties ; 

 and the Charitable and Humane Societies abound. In the city 

 of New York alone there are about forty benevolent inlHtu- 

 tions ; and there are focieties of the fame kind, as well as 

 thofe of a liter.nry nature, in Albany, Hudfon, Schenec- 

 tady, Troy, Poughkeepfie, Kingfton, Newburgh, Utica, 

 and moll of the large towns. 



The Slate-Prlfon, or Penitentiary, is about two miles from 

 the city-hall, in the city of New York, on the E. bank of 

 the Hudfon: it was built in 1796-7, and together with its 

 buildings and courts comprifes four acres of ground. The 

 immediate government of the prifoii is committed to feven in- 

 fpeaors. The convia? are all drcfled in uniform, the fexes 

 kept feparate, and all are comfortably clothed and fed. Great 

 care is taken of their morals, in the benevolent hope of a 

 reformation. 



The Natural Curiofilies of this ilate comprehend the cata- 

 rafts or falls of Niagara, of the Mohawk, of the Hudfon, 

 of Weil Canada creek, of Black river, Seneca river, Genefee 

 river, and fome others of lefs note. It is probable, that the 

 fouthern and weftern parts of this ilate were occupied by a 

 confiderable proportion of Indians at a remote period. So 

 long ago as the year 1535, the country about the lake 

 Onondaga was confidered as a favourite fituation by the 

 wandering tribes : but their condition was not much known 

 tillabout the year 1635. At that time, the Iroquoife, or Five 

 Nations, occupied the countries from lake Erie to Ontario, 

 the St. Lawrence, around lake Champlain, and the whole 

 of that watered by the Hudfon down to the Highlands, were 



very numerous and warlike. Such was their afcefldancf, 

 that the Indians of the lower country of the Hudfon, ou 

 the Conneaicut, the Delaware, and Sufquehanna rivers, were 

 in a kind of fubjeaion to them. Onondaga was the principal 

 fettlement, and the feat of Indian power. Their combina- 

 tion confided of Onondagas, Oneidas, Mohawks, Cayugas, 

 and Senecas ; and it was then fo powerful as to be able to 

 fend feveral thoufand warriors on diftant expeditions. The 

 firft Chnftian colonids, availing themfelves of Indian wars, 

 which they promoted, taught the Indians to defpife and 

 abhor thofe for their hypocrify and perfidy whom they had 

 firft confidered as beings of a fuperior order ; and thus ori- 

 irinated the implacable enmities wiiich not only continued but 

 increafed wheu the French and Britifh became rival nations. 

 About the year 1690, the Englifh ereaed a ftrong fort at 

 Onondaga; and in 1696, the French fent a confiderable 

 force againft the Indian fettlement, and fucceeded in deftroy- 

 ing it. From this time, colonies of each of thefe nations 

 were planted there at different periods. But we forbear, to 

 purfue their hidory, and to trace the fanguinary conflias 

 that ferved mutually to irritate and incenfe Indians and pro- 

 feffed Chridians. At this time, the principal fettlements of 

 the Indians are at Oneida and Onondaga, on the Genefee 

 and Alleghany rivers, Buffalo creek, and Tufcarora, befides 

 other places which we have not room to enumerate in detail. 

 But we mud haden to finifh this (Icetch of the New York 

 ftate by a brief abdraa of its hiflory. 



Soon after the difcovery of America, towards the com- 

 mencement of the 1 6th century, the prefent ftate of New- 

 York was pofTeded by the Iroquoife, and Canada by the Al- 

 gonquins, two rival nations of Indians. About the year 

 1608, the French planted colonies in Canada, which they had 

 laid claim to from having firft failed up the St. Lawrence as 

 far as the prefent Montreal. In 1609 Champlain, the foun- 

 der, difcovered lakes Champlain and George, when he de- 

 feated a fmall party of the Iroquoife. In 1608 Hudfon, an 

 Englifhman, difcovered the Eail and North rivers, afcend- 

 ing up the latter as far as the prefent Albany ; and foon 

 after he fold his right to the Dutch. In 16 14 the States 

 General of Holland ereaed a fort at Albany, and granted 

 an exclufive trade on Hudfon river to the Dutch Weft India 

 company ; and in 1629, Wouter van T wilier, the firft go- 

 vernor, arrived, and took the command of New Netherland, 

 as it was then called. The Englifh, who dill laid claim to 

 this country, objeaed to the fale of Hudfon ; and in 1663-4, 

 the Englifh king granted the whole to his brother James, 

 duke of York and Albany, afterwards James II. A fmall 

 armament fubdued the colony for England, which then 

 took the name of New York, as did the city alfo. In 

 1673 New York was conquered by the Dutch, but reftored 

 in 1673-4. The duke's grant was confirmed, and the co- 

 lony afligned to the Englifh by treaty ; and this right they 

 held till the Revolution. From the furrender of the pro- 

 vince in 1664 to 1683, the duke of York poffelFed full fo- 

 vereignty. He appointed the governor and the council, 

 who made rules and orders that were acknowledged as laws. 

 Thefe were called the duke's laws ; they werecolleaed and 

 arranged about 1674, and a copy of them is depofited among 

 the records of the ftate. Thofe, it is faid, which were 

 made in 1683, and after the duke's acceffion to the throne 

 of England, when the people were admitted to a participa- 

 tion of the legiflative power, are defaced or loft. No regard 

 is now paid to any laws made here antecedently to 1691, 

 when the firft legiflative affembly was organized. New 

 York was then divided into nine counties, and the houfe 

 confifted of feventeen delegates. The fecond legiflative 

 affembly was convened in 1 708. We fhall not minutely 



trace 



