man to drive in such manner with such of the above instruments and at such times and place, yearly and every year forever, within ten miles of the demised premises * * * as said Morgan Lewis * * * shall direct." The lease then provided in case of default in paying rent for twenty days or performing the other services that then "the estate created be void
and cease * * * that said Morgan Lewis * * * re-enter, re-possess and enjoy as in his first or former estate." A further condition was that the tenant should grind all such grain raised on the farm at any grist mill owned by General Lewis * * * as they shall direct, within six miles of the premises.
Politics in New York when Morgan Lewis was Governor, 1804- 1807 Caroline F. Ware The years when Morgan Lewis was governor of the State of New York do not stand out in the history of the state. Inconspicuous as they are, however, they can reveal to us the conditions of political activity in the state as other years dominated by absorbing issues, might fail to do. In his administration we see reflected three aspects of contemporary politics. We see the characteristic dominance of personal and family loyalties in place of party affiliations. When Lewis became governor, the Federalist party was dead; immediately after his election the leading figure in the Republican ranks found ostracism and disgrace the price of one of the most tragic duels in our history; during his term, family rivalry between the Clintons and the Livingstons was the outstanding issue of each political battle. We see, too, the role which appointments played and the completely personal character of political placements. Lewis' principal activity revolved around the appointing power of the
governor and his council. In addition, we see here the relation between political and economic life in the storm raised over Lewis' action in chartering the Merchants' Bank. Let us look more closely at each of these three aspects of the years under our view. The governorship to which Morgan Lewis succeeded for a three year term in 1804 had been filled only by men of great distinction and eminence in both state and national affairs. George Clinton, the state's first governor, served continuously from the organization of the state until 1795. Throughout his earlier terms there had been no alignment on a party basis. The alignment was, rather, a family one under the leadership of the three great families of the state, the Clintons, the Livingstons, the Schuylers. It was characteristic of the politics of the period that these families of wealth and social prestige should be also political leaders, as were the planter aristocrats of Virginia. To use the words of a re35
