THE OLD MERCHANTS OF NEW YORK CITY
 

CHAPTER I.
 

Among the many powerful names enumerated among
these " Old Merchants" since their commencement,
who have lived and moved in this great commercial city
for seventy j'ears, who had added to its glory and pros¬
perity, who have given names to families of which their
descendants may well be proud — who have been re¬
markable for their extended commerce, their wealth,
their bold operations, embracing a world — as remark¬
able for their intelligence as for their integrity, for their
capability and their correctness in every relation of life:
of vigorous intellect, of a continued perseverance for
years and years, of unwearied diligence; yet of how
little consequence beyond their owa sphere, or " off
change," have any of them been ?

How very few have wielded party influence, or ob¬
tained political power ? The exceptions to this rule are
so remarkable, that one can count upon his fingers the
names of almost every prominent man, who in the last
half century, among merchants, has been elected to the
lower house of Congress, or even to either branch of
our State Legislature.

J. G. King was in Congress, but from New Jersej,
wiiere he has resided while he was alive.
1*