The old merchants of New York City / by Walter Barrett.

274

THE OLD.MERCH.lN'TS

immeldiately endeavorel to find out the man that llad
s)oken the words, and was so far from abusing or reflecting upon the Irish people, that he expressed his disapprobation of such conduct, and endeavored to put a stop
to the report by having the matter cleared up. We were
so sensible of Mr. Smith's innocence, that when it was
reported at the last election that he had made use of
the above reflection, we declared to several gentlemen
at the Coffee House that he was not the person that did
reflect upon the Irish people.
THOMAS RANDALL.
WILLIAM BROWN.
New York, Jan. 22, 1769.
Phillip Livingston had been speaker of the previous
Assembly.
Later, there was a noted place where the Liberty
Boys met. It was the house of Mr. Howard in the
Common, or " Howard's noted Tavern in the Fields."
It was in Broadway, by the Park.
Another place for resort and meetings was the King's
Arms Tavern.
In the times when Phillip Livingston was a candidate,
the inn of the fing's Arms stood in Broadway, between
Crown (Liberty) and Little Prince (as Cedar, West of
Broadway, was then called.) It was, perhaps, more
noted than any other place I have named before the
Revolution. It was much visited by the officers quartered in Fort George, and by those that resided near
the Oswego Market place. That Market was erected
in 1737 in the middle of Broadway, and faced Crown
Ltreet (now Liberty) east and west. At the southwest
corner was the King's Arms Tavern.
Lord Cornbury, a son of the Earl of Clarendon, came
out as Governor and Captain-General, in March 1701.
He was here until 1708. The inn of the King's Arms
was built before that time, For the Lord Cornbury was