OF A'-EW  YORK  CITY                        93
 

CHAPTER. XIL

A glorious occupation on this continent Is that of a
merchant ! He has no superior. There Is no class of
citizens that excel, or even equal him, except It be edit¬
ors. Lawyers are respectable, if they conduct their busi¬
ness properlj'; but in this community they rarely raise
their heads, unless so lucky as to become patronized by
merchants.

Take Daniel Lord, Jr., the late George Griffin or
George Wood, Charles O'Connor, Francis B. Cutting,
Francis R. Tilyon, John H. Power, James T. Brady, or
Levv'is B. Woodruff, or Charles P. Daly. Would these
men, however great may be their abilities, ever have
risen to the distinction they have reached, unless they
had received the patronage and confidence of merchants ?
No. They are all rich. Would they have become so,
but for the business afforded by merchants ?    No.

Take our lawyers who have turned their attention to
politics •— a class that the live merchant despises — but
still men who have got a right to attach the doubtful
meaning word " Honorable " to their names, say, W. B.
McClay, John McKeon, Ellsha Ward, Hoiace Clark,
Judge James I. Roosevelt and that class. As practising
lawyers they are dead. Having been in Congress, the
Administration gives an office to some of them, if asked