CHAPTER   XII
 

LIEE  IN  NEW-YORK  AT   THE   CLOSE  OF   THE   COLONIAL   PERIOD
 

^^1^ UDGE THOMAS JONES, in his loyalist history of New-
/^^■^ York, introduces his subject with the statement, "In the
/^^■r^ year 1752 New-York was in its happiest state. We had
no foreign or domestic enemy. Great Britain was at peace
with all the world. The Colony was extending its trade, encouraging
the arts and sciences, and cultivating its lands. Its inhabitants were
daily increasing in riches and wealth
and opulence. They were at the
same time laborious, industrious,
and frugal, lived in the most hos¬
pitable manner though with great
economy. Luxury was unknown in
the province; ... at this happy time
all discord had ceased; parties were
forgotten and animosities forgiven.
The disposition, the conduct and
behaviour of the people in general
bespoke harmony, concord, mutual
love, and reciprocal affection." The
judge closes his somewhat idyllic
rhapsody with the declaration that
this was the "Golden Age of New-
York." There is no reason to ques¬
tion the correctness of this picture if considered only in its moral
light, but it would be hardly safe to attribute the material prosperity
of the city to the fact that Great Britain was at peace. War had few
terrors for the people of New-York. The religious contest was by no
means at an end, and might break out afresh at any moment.
 

REV.   JOHN   OGILVIE. 1
 

1 The Rev. John Ogilvie was born in New-York
city in 1722, and died there in 1774. Graduating
at Yale in 1748, he entered the ministry and spent
several years as a missionary among the Mohawks.
In 1764 he was  appointed assistant minister in
 

Trinity Church, New-York, a position which he
occupied for the remaining ten years of his life.
He received the degree of D. D, both from King's
College and from the Aberdeen University in Scot¬
land.                                                      Editor.