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How to Fry
Everything
A Fried Cookbook Filled with Delicious
Fried Recipes
By
BookSumo Press
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LEGAL NOTES
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Transmitted In Any Form Or By Any Means. Photocopying, Posting Online,
And / Or Digital Copying Is Strictly Prohibited Unless Written Permission
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Text Is Permitted For Use In Reviews Written For The Public.
Table of Contents
Crunchy Shrimp Butterflies 7
Buttermilk Chicken Breasts with Creamy Gravy 10
Crunchy Cajun Fish Fillets 12
Hot Fried Buttermilk Chicken 13
Crunchy Milky Crabs 14
Urban Chicago Fried Chicken 15
Deep Fried Steak with Gravy 16
Deep Fired Paprika Chicken 17
Classic Fried Chicken 20
Tipsy Crunchy Chickenc 21
Asian Panko Shrimp 22
Crunchy Fried Fish and Potato Chips 23
Salted Crispy Chicken 24
Herbed Crispy Chicken 25
Toothy-Fruity Beef Empanadas 26
Matzoh Pancake 27
Crunchy Lobster Tails 30
Crunchy Pumpkin Fries 31
Plantain Chips 32
Broccoli Chips 33
Cucumber Chips 34
Tempeh Chips 35
Apple Chips 36
Straight Chicken Fries 37
Spinach Chips 40
Crunchy Cauliflower Bites 41
Crusted Chicken pieces 42
Italian Turkey 43
Sweet and Salted Potato Chips 44
Okra Fries 45
Zucchini Chips 46
Crispy Asparagus Spears 47
Cabbage Fries 50
Cream Oreo Chips 51
Tropical Stir Fried Rice 52
Crisp Livers 53
Russet Sweet and Salty Fries 54
Creole Fried Turkey 55
Chard Stir Fry 56
Salted Potato Chips 57
Bell Corn Stir Fry 60
Green Rice Stir Fry 61
Sweet Brussels sprouts Stir Fry 62
Japanese Shrimp Fry 63
Bell Chips Stir Fry 64
Sweet Corny Onion Stir Fry 65
Hot Fried Louisiana Turkey 66
Grilled Rice Stir Fry 67
Crunchy Walleye Fingers 70
Crispy Chicken with Southern Gravy 71
Indian Style Fried Chicken 73
Chicken Steaks with Gravy 74
Crunchy Prep Time: 25 mins
Ingredients
1 lb. large shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 C. fresh bread crumbs
and butterflied 5 C. oil for deep frying
1 quart water
1 1/2 C. cornstarch
2 eggs
Directions
1. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large deep frying pan or electric fryer to 350 F.
2. Get a mixing bowl: Whisk in it the cornstarch with eggs and water until they become
smooth. Coat the shrimp with the mix then coat them with the breadcrumbs.
3. Once again coat the shrimp with the cornstarch batter and cover it with the breadcrumbs
to make a second layer. Deep fry the shrimp until it becomes crunchy and has a golden
to brown color to it.
4. Serve your shrimp butterflies with your favorite dip.
5. Enjoy.
Gravy Fat
Carbohydrates
21.3 g
85.6g
Protein 32.7 g
Cholesterol 140 mg
Sodium 1151 mg
Ingredients
2 C. buttermilk 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder Salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 C. chopped fresh parsley 2 eggs
1/4 C. chopped fresh tarragon 2 tbsp whole milk
1/4 C. chopped fresh sage Ground black pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika 2 C. grapeseed oil for frying
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast 1/2 C. quick-mixing flour
halves, halved 2 C. whole milk
2 C. all-purpose flour 1 pinch salt and ground white pepper to
1 tsp garlic salt taste
1 tsp onion salt
Directions
1. Get a mixing bowl: Add the buttermilk, onion powder, parsley, tarragon, sage, paprika, and
1 tsp cayenne pepper. Mix them well to make the dipping batter.
2. Coat the chicken breasts in the batter and transfer them to a large container. Place the
chicken in the fridge for 10 h.
3. Get a colander: Place the chicken breasts in the colander and place them aside.
4. In the meantime: Get a mixing bowl: Mix in it 2 C. all-purpose flour, garlic salt, onion salt,
1 tsp cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Transfer the mix to a large zip lock bag.
5. Get a small bowl: Place in it 2 tbsp of milk with eggs, a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread
the half C. of purpose flour on a shallow plate and place it aside.
6. Heat some grapeseed oil in an electric fryer or a deep drying pan until it starts sizzling.
7. Dust the chicken breasts in the shallow plate with flour then coat them with eggs mix and
place them in the zip lock bag with the flour mix.
11
CRUNCHY
Cajun Fish Fillets
Prep Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Ingredients
1 egg 2 C. crushed cornflake crumbs
1 1/2 C. beer 1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 C. all-purpose flour 1 quart oil for frying
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 lb. cod fillets
Directions
1. Get a mixing bowl: Add the egg, beer, flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix them well.
Dip the cod fillets in the batter.
2. Get a mixing bowl: Add to it the cornflake crumbs and Cajun seasoning. Coat the fish fillets
with the mix.
3. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet until it starts sizzling. Cook in
it the Cajun fish fillet until they become crunchy and golden in color.
4. Serve your fish fillets with your favorite dip.
5. Enjoy.
Ingredients
1 (3 lb.) whole chicken, cut into pieces 2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and ground black pepper to taste 1 tsp paprika
1 quart buttermilk Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tbsp hot pepper sauce Vegetable oil for deep frying
1 tsp cayenne pepper
3 C. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
Directions
1. Season the chicken pieces with some salt and pepper. Get a deep baking dish and place
the chicken in it.
2. Get a mixing bowl: Add to it the buttermilk, hot pepper sauce, and 1 tsp of cayenne
pepper. Whisk them well to make the marinade. Pour the mix all over the chicken pieces.
3. Use a piece of plastic wrap to cover the chicken pan and place it in the fridge for 3 h.
4. Get a large zip lock bag: Add the flour, 1 tbsp of cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika,
and salt and pepper. Mix them well.
5. Drain the chicken from the marinade. Place the chicken pieces in batches in the zip lock
bag with the flour mix and coat them with it.
6. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook in it the Cajun
fish fillet until they become crunchy and golden in color for about 12 min on each side.
7. Serve your fried buttermilk chicken with your favorite dip.
8. Enjoy.
Ingredients
4 soft-shell crabs Salt and pepper to taste
1 egg 4 C. oil for frying, or as needed
1/2 C. milk
1 C. all-purpose flour
Directions
1. Pull out the gills from the pointed side of the shell of each crab and discard them. Place the
shell in its place and do the same thing for the second shell.
2. Remove the tail flap from the bottom side and discard it along with the crab's face by
using some scissors. Wash and clean the crab completely with some cold water and place
it aside.
3. Repeat the process with the remaining crabs.
4. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 365 F.
5. Combine the milk with eggs in a shallow plate. Mix them well. Get another shallow plate:
Mix in it the flour with a pinch of salt and pepper.
6. Dust the crabs with the seasoned flour and coat them with the eggs mix then roll them
again in the seasoned flour. Cook the crabs in the hot oil until they become golden brown
on both sides.
7. Serve your crabs with your favorite dip.
8. Enjoy.
Ingredients
30 saltine crackers 1 egg
2 tbsp all-purpose flour 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 tbsp dry potato flakes 2 C. vegetable oil for frying
1 tsp seasoned salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Directions
1. Get a large zip lock bag. Put the crackers in it and crush them until they become coarse.
Stir in the flour, potato flakes, seasoned salt, and pepper. Mix them well.
2. Get a shallow plate: Place in it the eggs and whisk them well. Dip the chicken breasts in
the eggs and place them in the crackers bag then shake them to coat them with it.
3. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook the chicken
breasts in the hot oil until they become golden brown on both sides.
4. Serve your chicken with your favorite dip.
5. Enjoy.
Ingredients
4 (1/2 lb.) beef cube steaks 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 C. all-purpose flour 3 C. vegetable shortening for deep frying
2 tsp baking powder 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda 4 C. milk
1 tsp black pepper Kosher salt and ground black pepper to
3/4 tsp salt taste
1 1/2 C. buttermilk
1 egg
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce
Directions
1. Press the steak with a kitchen hammer or a rolling pin until it becomes 1/4 inch thick.
2. Get a shallow plate: lay in it 2 C. of flour.
3. Get a large shallow bowl: Place in it the baking powder, baking soda, pepper, and salt. Add
the buttermilk, egg, Tabasco Sauce, and garlic. Mix them well.
4. Dust the steaks with flour and dip them in the buttermilk mix then coat them once again
with the flour.
5. Before you do anything heat the shortening in a large heavy skillet to 325 F. Cook the
steaks in it until they become golden brown on both sides.
6. Drain most of the cooking shortening until it almost 1/4 C. of it is left. Add 1/4 C. of flour
and mix them well.
7. Drizzle the milk on them gradually while whisking all the time. Cook the gravy until it
starts simmering and thickens slightly. Adjust the seasoning of the gravy.
8. Serve your steaks with gravy and enjoy.
9. Enjoy.
Ingredients
1 (4 lb.) chicken, cut into pieces Salt and pepper to taste
1 C. buttermilk 2 quarts vegetable oil for frying
2 C. all-purpose flour for coating
1 tsp paprika
Directions
1. Season the chicken pieces with paprika, some salt and pepper.
2. Get a zip lock bag and place the flour in it. Place the chicken pieces in it and coat them
with flour. Transfer the chicken pieces to a baking sheet and cover them with a dish
towel.
3. Place the tray aside to until they warm up and the flour becomes most and look like a
paste.
4. Before you do anything fill 1/2 of a large heavy skillet with oil and heat until it starts
sizzling. Cook the chicken breasts in the hot oil until they become golden.
5. Lower the heat and put on the lid then let them cook for 32 min. remove the lid and turn
the heat to high medium.
6. Cook the chicken again until it becomes crunchy then place it aside to drain the excess
oil on some paper towels.
7. Serve your crunchy chicken with your favorite dip.
8. Enjoy.
Ingredients
1 (3 lb.) whole chicken, cut into pieces 1 tsp paprika
1 C. all-purpose flour 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
Salt to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
Directions
1. Sprinkle the chicken with some salt, pepper and paprika. Dust them in the flour.
2. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook the chicken
pieces in the hot oil until they become golden brown on both sides.
3. Serve your chicken with your favorite dip.
4. Enjoy.
Ingredients
3 C. all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tbsp garlic salt 2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tbsp ground black pepper 1 1/2 C. beer or water
1 tbsp paprika 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning 1 (3 lb.) whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 1/3 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
Directions
1. Get a mixing bowl: Add the flour with garlic salt, 1 tbsp black pepper, paprika and poultry
seasoning.
2. Get a mixing bowl: Stir in it 1 1/3 C. flour, salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, egg yolks and beer.
3. Brush the chicken pieces with some water and coat them with the dry flour mix then dip
them in the beer batter. Coat the chicken pieces again with the dry flour mix.
4. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook the chicken
pieces in the hot oil until they become golden brown on both sides.
5. Serve your chicken with your favorite dip.
6. Enjoy.
Ingredients
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled (tails left 2 eggs, beaten
on) and deveined 1 C. panko crumbs
1/2 tsp salt 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 C. all-purpose flour
1 tsp paprika
Directions
1. Get a mixing bowl: Stir in it the shrimp with garlic powder, a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Get a small bowl: Place in it the paprika with flour. Mix them well.
3. Beat the eggs and place them in a shallow bowl. Place the breadcrumbs in another shallow
bowl.
4. Dust the shrimp with the flour paprika mix then coat it with the egg and cover it with
panko crumbs.
5. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 375 F. Cook the shrimp in
the hot oil until they become golden brown on both sides.
6. Serve your shrimp with your favorite dip.
7. Enjoy.
Ingredients
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into strips 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
1 C. all-purpose flour 1 1/2 lb. cod fillets
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 C. milk
1 egg
Directions
1. Get a large bowl and fill it with cold water then place it in the potato.
2. Get a mixing bowl: Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper. Mix them well. Add the
eggs with milk and whisk them until no lumps are found.
3. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook the potato in
the hot oil until it becomes golden and crisp. Drain it and place it aside to drain.
4. Coat the fish fillet in the flour batter then cook them in the hot oil until they become
golden brown on both sides. Drain them.
5. Serve your fish and chips warm with your favorite dip.
6. Enjoy.
Ingredients
2 (2 to 3 lb.) whole chickens, cut into Salt and pepper to taste
pieces 4 eggs, beaten
3 C. all-purpose flour 1 quart vegetable oil for frying
5 tbsp seasoned salt
3 tbsp garlic powder
Directions
1. Get a shallow bowl: Stir in it the flour, seasoned salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place
the eggs in another shallow plate.
2. Dust the chicken pieces with the flour and coat them with the beaten eggs.
3. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 375 F. Cook the chicken
pieces in the hot oil until they become golden brown for 5 min on both sides.
4. Put on the lid and reduce the heat to the lowest setting then cook them for 12 min.
Remove the lid and increase the heat to high then cook the chicken pieces for another 5
min on each side.
5. Serve your chicken with your favorite dip.
6. Enjoy.
Ingredients Directions
1 (3 1/2) lb. chicken, cut into 8 pieces 1. Get a mixing bowl: Stir in it the chicken
1 tsp black pepper pieces, black pepper, salt, paprika, rosemary,
1 tsp salt thyme, oregano, sage, white pepper, and
1 tsp paprika cayenne.
1/4 tsp dried rosemary 2. Add the buttermilk to the chicken mix
1/4 tsp ground thyme and stir them well. Place it in the fridge to
1/4 tsp dried oregano marinate for 7 h. drain the chicken pieces
1/4 tsp dried sage from the marinade.
1/2 tsp white pepper 3. Get a shallow bowl: Add the flour, salt,
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, white
2 C. buttermilk pepper, and onion powder. Mix them well.
For the seasoned flour: Dust the chicken pieces in the flour mix.
2 C. flour
4. Before you do anything heat the oil in
1 tsp salt
a large heavy skillet to 350 F. Cook the
1/2 tsp paprika
chicken pieces in the hot oil until they
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
become golden brown on the first side for
1/2 tsp garlic powder
12 min.
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder 5. Flip them and cook them for 14 min on the
2 1/2 quarts peanut oil for frying other side. Drain them and place them aside
for 10 min to lose the excess oil for 10 min.
6. Serve your chicken with your favorite dip.
7. Enjoy.
Ingredients
4 1/2 C. all-purpose flour 1 tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 C. shortening 1/2 C. raisins
1 1/4 C. water, or as needed 1 tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil 2 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped 1 quart oil for frying, or as needed
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp paprika
Directions
1. Get a mixing bowl: Add to it the salt with flour and shortening. Mix them well until they
become coarse. Add the water gradually while mixing all the time with a fork until you
get a dough ball.
2. Place a large frying pan over medium heat. Heat the oil in it and cook in it the onion for
4 min. add the beef with salt, paprika, cumin and black pepper. Cook them for another 4
min.
3. Discard the excess grease. Add the vinegar with raisins and stir them well to make the
filling. Place the mix in the fridge until it cools down completely.
4. Shape the dough into 2 inches size balls and roll them on a floured surface until they
become thin.
5. Add the chopped eggs to the filling and stir them well. Divide the filling between the balls
circles and place them in the middle. Then fold them in half and seal them with your
fingers or a fork.
6. Before you do anything heat the oil in a large heavy skillet to 365 F. Cook the empanadas
in the hot oil until they become golden brown on both sides.
7. Serve your empanadas with your favorite dip. Enjoy.
26 Toothy-Fruity Beef Empanadas
Matzoh Prep Time: 10 mins
Ingredients
1/2 tsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp butter, divided
2 C. hot water Kosher salt to taste
2 (6 inch) matzo sheets
2 large eggs
1/8 tsp kosher salt
Directions
1. Place a large skillet over medium heat and heat the oil in it.
2. Divide the matzo sheets into several small size chunks and place them in a large bowl
then cover them with some hot water. Let them sit for 2 min.
3. Get a mixing bowl: Add the 1/8 tsp of salt with eggs. Stir them well. Remove the Matzoh
from the water and drain it then add it to the bowl with eggs. Stir them well.
4. Remove the oil from the pan and melt in it 1/2 tbsp of butter. Pour in it the matzo mix
and put on the lid then cook it for 11 min.
5. Transfer the pancake to a plate and place in another place on it then flip it.
6. Heat the remaining butter in the pan then slide the Matzoh pancake to the pan and cook
it for 10 min on the other side with the lid on.
7. Serve your pancake warm.
8. Enjoy.
Matzoh Pancake 27
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propaganda—War party keeps presses busy with Harper’s speech—Other
war pamphlets—Clergy joins war hawks—‘Why so much anger in the heart
of a divine?’—Terrorizing Jeffersonians—Jefferson ready—Bache
assaulted—Hamilton goes gasconading—His amazing letter—Democrats
fight for time—Jefferson insulted—Ostracized—Spied upon—Mail opened
—Abusive toasts—Persecution of Lyon—Of Livingston—Of a Boston
editor—The Alien Law—Hatred of the Irish—Political reason—
Jeffersonians and English Whigs versus Hamiltonians and Pitt—
Hamiltonians and Irish Rebellion—King’s part—Otis’s ‘wild Irish’ speech
—Sedition laws proposed—Hamilton shocked at original bill—Mobbing
Democrats in debate—Livingston’s speech on Alien Bill—Wild talk in
Sedition Bill debate—Yellow fever again—Dr. Rush—Death of Fenno—Of
Bache—Elections of ‘98—Washington an active and extreme partisan—
Marshall’s campaign—Opposes Alien and Sedition Laws—‘Porcupine’s’
comment—Reign of Terror begins—College degrees for Federalists
—‘Patriot’ mobs—Jeffersonians discharged from jobs—A Bishop’s
sermon.
Index 519
ILLUSTRATIONS
Thomas Jefferson Frontispiece
From a copy of the Thomas Sully portrait, painted by Nancy Clifton
M. Randolph, wife of Thomas Jefferson Randolph IV, a lineal
descendant of Jefferson
Alexander Hamilton 22
From an engraving by E. Prud’homme after a miniature by Archibald
Robertson
Mrs. William Bingham 128
From an engraving in Rufus Wilmot Griswold’s Republican Court
after the painting by Gilbert Stuart
Four Hamiltonians 140
Fisher Ames
From a portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Robert Goodloe Harper
From a painting
George Cabot
From a woodcut after a pastel of Cabot at the age of sixteen, the only
known portrait
Gouverneur Morris
From an engraving after a portrait by Thomas Sully
Four Jeffersonians 148
Albert Gallatin
From a portrait by Gilbert Stuart
Edward Livingston
From an engraving by E. Wellmore after a drawing by J. B. Longacre
William Branch Giles
From a miniature painted in Washington in 1812, reproduced in
heliotype in The Centennial of Washington’s Inauguration, by Clarence
Winthrop Bowen
James Madison
From a portrait by Thomas Sully
Facsimile of Hamilton’s Letter to Oliver Wolcott
Appointing Him Auditor in the Treasury Department 332
From the original pasted in George Gibbs’s own copy of his
Administrations of Washington and Adams
The Griswold-Lyon Fight in the House 360
From a contemporary cartoon
‘Mad Tom in a Rage’ 384
From a contemporary cartoon typical of the Federalist attacks on
Jefferson
DAYS OF COMEDY
II
If the lawmakers had been derelict, the people of New York had not. They
at least appreciated the possibilities of a capital. The task of designing
Federal Hall in which Congress was to meet had been entrusted to L’Enfant
—who was to win undying fame by planning the city of Washington—and
he had done his work well—some thought too well. Ames was rather
delighted over the fact that it had cost ‘20,000 pounds York money,’ but
Ames was a lover of luxury, and the more democratic Wingate, while
conceding that the city had ‘exerted itself mightily,’ was afraid it had done
so ‘excessively.’[6] In truth there was dignity and beauty in the stately arches
and the Doric columns, in the lofty vestibule paved with marble and lighted
from an ornate dome, in the design and decorations of the chambers, with
their graceful pilasters and their crimson draperies. There was richness
enough to disturb the republican souls of members from the rural districts
and the small towns.[7] Among the members who sat down amidst these
surroundings were a number who were nationally known and brilliant, but
the majority were comparatively obscure and mediocre. Looking over his
colleagues, the enthusiastic and impressionable Ames found himself ‘less
awed and terrified’ than he had expected; for while it was ‘quite a republican
assembly’ because ‘it looks like one,’ he could see few ‘shining geniuses.’[8]
To the more experienced Madison, the outlook was not so pleasing. ‘I see on
the list of Representatives a very scanty proportion who will share in the
drudgery of business,’ he wrote.[9]
III
It was to require more heroic treatment than this, however, to cool the
senatorial ardor for high-sounding names. Even before Adams had been
elected, he had participated in serious discussions in Boston as to whether
the President should be called ‘Majesty,’ or ‘Excellency,’ or nothing at all.
Of course the Senators and Representatives should be given the honest
English title of ‘Most Honorable’ for Major Russell in the ‘Centinel’ had
been doing that all along. But the time for decision had come. The President
was approaching. It had been decided that on his arrival at the Senate
Chamber for his inauguration, he was to be met at the door by Adams,
conducted to a chair, and informed that both houses were ready to attend him
when he took the oath. But how should he be addressed? Should it be as ‘Mr.
Washington,’ ‘Mr. President,’ ‘Sir,’ ‘May it please your Excellency,’ or
what? Adams took his troubles to the Senate. Should it be as ‘Excellency,’ as
in the army? Adams was free to admit that he preferred it to ‘Mr. President,’
which ‘would put him on a level with the Governor of Bermuda.’
There were Senators who instantly caught the importance of the point.
One proposed the appointment of a committee to determine.[12] But these
troubles came, not singly, but in battalions. What was Mr. Adams to do when
Washington was in the Chamber? He did not know whether the framers of
the Constitution ‘had in view the two Kings of Sparta or the two Consuls of
Rome when they formed it,’ He could not tell whether the architect of the
building, in making his chair wide enough for two, had the Constitution
before him. He was Vice-President—but he was also President of the Senate.
‘When the President comes into the Senate, what shall I be?’ he asked
plaintively. ‘I cannot be President then. I wish gentlemen to think what I
shall be.’
It was a solemn moment. Adams, with an air of distress, sank into his
chair. The silence was depressing. The leveler from the frontier of
Pennsylvania, Maclay, found ‘the profane muscles of his face in tune for
laughter,’ but controlled himself. Ellsworth, a practical man, was seen
feverishly turning the pages of the fundamental law. At length he rose to
announce the result of his research. It was clear enough that wherever the
Senate was, ‘there, sir, you must be at the head of them.’ But—‘here he
looked aghast as if some tremendous gulf yawned before him’—but ‘further,
sir, I shall not pretend to say.’[13]
Thus the great day arrived to find the Senate caught unawares by a new
crisis. Adams had just risen to explain that Washington would probably
address the Congress, and to ask instructions as to ‘how I shall behave.’ It
was a congenial subject for discussion. Lee of Virginia rose to explain the
ways of the Lords and the Commons. Izard of South Carolina, who had been
educated abroad and wished it understood, told how often he had been in the
Houses of Parliament. Lee had observed that, while the Lords sat, the
Commons stood. True, admitted Izard, but there were no seats for the
Commons. Adams here interrupted to tell the Senate how often he too had
been in Parliament. Old Carroll of Carrollton, who lived like a lord, but did
not think like one, grumblingly suggested that it did not matter what the
English did.
And just then—consternation! The Clerk of the House was at the door!
How should he be received? The discussion was feverishly resumed. Lee,
getting his cue from the Commons again, was sure that he should be met at
the door by the Sergeant-at-Arms with his mace on his shoulder. Confusion
worse confounded—the Speaker and members of the House were now at the
door! Members left their seats in their embarrassment, the doors were
opened, the House filed in. Some one had blundered![14]
Meanwhile, with increased animation, the debate over the title for the
President was resumed. Of course there should be titles, said Lee. Venice,
Genoa, Greece, Rome—all had them. Ellsworth began to find virtue in
kings; Izard was impressed with the antiquity of kingly government. Old
Carroll, grumbling—or laughing—as usual, did not care for kings. But the
President’s title—what should it be? Ellsworth thought ‘President’ common.
Adams eagerly added that there were ‘presidents of fire companies and
cricket clubs.’ ‘Excellency?’—suggested by Izard. ‘Highness?’—proposed
by Lee. ‘Elective Highness?’[15]
At length it was settled—‘His Highness the President of the United States
and Protector of the Rights of the Same.’ Adams was disgusted. ‘What will
the common people of foreign countries; what will the soldiers and sailors
say to “George Washington, President of the United States”? They will
despise him to all eternity.’[16]
The rabid republicans began to laugh. Speaker Muhlenberg dubbed
Maclay, ‘Your Highness of the Senate.’ Maclay himself, usually sardonic,
grew facetious in debate, and thought the title satisfactory if the President
was really high ‘and gloriously greased with a great horn of oil’ to make him
conspicuous. Even Robert Morris complained that the Congress was also
‘Protector of the Rights of the People.’[17] But alas, it was a case of love’s
labor lost, for when the ponderous title reached the House, James Madison
quietly announced that the Constitution had given the head of the State a title
—‘President of the United States’; and so it has been from that day to this.
The more thoughtful had witnessed the tempest in a teapot with some
misgivings. Madison thought the success of the Senate plan would have
‘given a deep wound to our infant Government’;[18] and Ames thought it ‘a
very foolish thing to risk much to secure’ and wished ‘that Mr. Adams had
been less disguised.’[19] But they who continued for twelve years to refer to
‘the court’ were not content. A correspondent of Fenno’s ‘Gazette,’ the
‘court journal,’ continued to plead for ‘titles of distinction’ and to pray
piously that Congress would ‘not leave the important subject to chance, to
whim, caprice, or accident.’[20]
IV
Now let us take a turn around the city and familiarize ourselves with the
setting of the drama. It will not take long, for the little city of thirty-five
thousand was compactly built. Broadway, the most promising and
pretentious of the thoroughfares, was paved only to Vesey Street—beyond
that, mud. The houses, most of them modest, were surrounded by gardens.
From the west side of Broadway to the west side of Greenwich, the town
was well built up from Bowling Green to Reade. Beyond that, only the
hospital and a few widely scattered houses. On the east side, building
extended as far north as Broome. Were we on a shopping expedition we
should seek Nassau and William, the heart of the retail district, passing on
the former many attractive homes including that of Aaron Burr. Were we
bent on a promenade, to meet the ladies and the dandies, we should betake
ourselves to Wall, where, notwithstanding the auctioneers, the shoemakers,
the grocers, the tailors, the confectioners, the peruke-makers, we should pass
handsome homes. Perhaps we should jostle the statesmen emerging from the
boarding-houses along the way.
These narrow, crooked streets we should find more tolerable by day than
by night. The street lamps were at wide intervals and frequently unlighted. If
we escaped a highwayman in the night, we should be lucky to escape the
mud of the poorly paved sidewalks, and if we did not bruise our shins by
collision with the town pumps, we should be fortunate not to stumble over a
pig. Off somewhere in the darkness we should probably hear the curses of
some unfortunate wanderer fallen over an obstruction, the grunting of hogs
rooting in the gutters, the barking of innumerable dogs.[33] The long line of
negroes bearing burdens toward the river might pique our curiosity did we
not know that they were the sewage carriers of the city doing their nightly
routine work.
Even by day we should find traveling not without its risks, for many of
the streets were torn up for improvements.[34] Thus ‘the Hon. Mr. Huger,’
thrown from his sedan chair and painfully bruised, lays claim to immortality
in the pages of Maclay[35] and in the yellowing sheets of Fenno’s journal.[36]
Faring forth in search of the political celebrities, we should not have far to
go, for most were herded in boarding-houses. Hamilton lived comfortably at
Broad and Wall Streets, Burr around the corner on Nassau. Jefferson was
soon realizing his dream of comfort on Broadway after living in a little
house in Maiden Lane. Randolph, the Attorney-General, had found a modest
place in the country for two hundred and fifty dollars with ‘an excellent
pump of fresh water.’[37] Knox was living beyond his means on Broadway,
and Adams was at Richmond Hill. But most of the lawgivers found
boarding-houses more congenial to their purses. Thus, within a few steps on
Great Dock Street we should find Robert Morris, Caleb Strong, Pierce
Butler, Fisher Ames, and Theodore Sedgwick; in Maiden Lane, James
Madison; on Smith Street, Charles Carroll, and on Water Street, Oliver
Ellsworth.
Turning from the celebrities to the lowly and the base, we could visit the
slave market which was then active, for there were more than two thousand
negroes in bondage in the city. While the orators at Federal Hall were
speaking reverently of liberty, the hammer of the auctioneer was knocking
down negro girls to the highest bidder, and the local papers were running
‘rewards’ for the capture of runaway slaves.[38] Were we in the mood to
walk to the end of the pavement on Broadway, we could regale ourselves, in
the grove where the City Hall now stands, with a view of the gallows
enshrined in a Chinese pagoda where the executioners competed
successfully at times with the debaters in attracting the curious. There, too,
stood the whipping-post.[39] In the midst of so much that was grim, little
wonder that the statesmen resented the frequent ringing of funeral bells. ‘The
gentlemen from the country complain exceedingly of this noisy, unmeaning
and absurd custom,’ wrote ‘A Citizen’ to his favorite paper. ‘This is the
moment to abolish it, and give an evidence of a disposition to please
them.’[40] But it is not of record that the ‘gentlemen from the country’ were
permitted to interfere with the privileges of the dead.
Were we to turn from these grim specters to amusement, we could get a
conveyance at one of the city’s six livery stables to carry us into the country
to the Florida tea-gardens on the North River; thence to Perry’s on the
present site of Union Square, or to Williamson’s, near the present site of
Greenwich and Harrison.[41] But were our mood of darker hue, we could
find no dearth of entertainment at the taverns. When Congress quarreled and
struggled at Federal Hall, and Washington dwelt on Cherry Street, one
hundred and thirty-one taverns were licensed in the city to which flocked all
manner of men. There, with liquor or ale, we could enjoy a cock-fight and
pick the winner, or gather about the table and gamble at cards. Laborers,
loafers, sailors, criminals infested these dives, and if we preferred cleaner
company, we might get an invitation to the Black Friars, the one social club
in the city.[42] Or, if more intellectual entertainment were desired, it could be
found in the wooden building painted red on John Street, a stone’s-throw
from Saint Paul’s Church where Washington had his pew, where the Old
American Company regaled the people of the pit, the boxes, and galleries
with the plays of Shakespeare, Sheridan, Goldsmith, Garrick, and some of
indifferent merit.[43] Here ‘The Father,’ by William Dunlap, the historian of
the American theater, had its first presentation—a notable event, since
Washington, a spectator, was seen to laugh at the comedy.[44] Indeed, his
health permitting, the President was frequently seen in his box which bore
the arms of the United States, and the press was not amiss in keeping the
public informed when the great man went to the play.[45] He had been in the
house on Cherry Street but a few days, when, disregarding the frowns of the
purists, he went to see the ‘School for Scandal.’ Two days before, the ‘Daily
Advertiser’ had gayly hinted of the prospective visit. ‘It is whispered that
“The School for Scandal” and “The Poor Soldier” will be acted on Monday
night for the entertainment of the President,’ it said. And then it added, by
way of gentle admonition to the players: ‘Mrs. Henry ought on this occasion
to condescend to give passion and tenderness to Maria.... Mrs. Henry ought
to act Norah and improve the delightful farce by the melody of her voice.
Mrs. Henry ought to take no offense at the suggestion.’[46] We may be sure
it was a festive occasion, for Fenno’s ‘court journal’ said that ‘there was a
most crowded house and the ladies, who were numerous, made a most
brilliant appearance.’[47] One sour Senator in the presidential party did not
take kindly to the play. ‘I think it an indecent representation before ladies of
character and virtue,’ he wrote—and there were ladies in the party![48] The
President, however, was pleased to go again quite soon to see ‘The
Clandestine Marriage,’ again subjecting ‘ladies of character and virtue’ to
temptation, for Mrs. Morris and Mrs. Knox were with his party when ‘Mrs.
Henry and Mrs. Morris played with their usual naïveté and uncommon
animation’ due to ‘the countenance of such illustrious auditors.’[49]
Other forms of entertainment, all too few, were not neglected by the
celebrities. ‘The President and his Lady and family and several other persons
of distinction were pleased to honor Mr. Bowen’s wax-works exhibit with
their company at 74 Water Street’—looms among the announcements of the
‘court journal.’[50]
VI
Nor were the entertainments dependent wholly upon the residents and
governmental dignitaries. The little city was bravely simulating the airs of a
real capital. The social climbers, hearing of the ‘court’ flocked to town from
the four corners with their wives and daughters.[51] The cost of living
mounted alarmingly, and the rental of suitable houses was prohibitive to
many. Oliver Wolcott, hesitating about accepting a place paying fifteen
hundred dollars a year, had been assured by Ellsworth that a house could be
had for two hundred dollars, wood for four dollars a cord, hay for eight
dollars a ton, but that marketing was twenty-five per cent higher than at
Hartford.[52] But soon after his arrival, the discouraged official was writing
his father that ‘the expense of living here will be greater than I had
imagined.’[53] The leading tavern, on the west side of Broadway, near Cedar,
was a modest establishment with immodest prices.[54] And to make matters
worse, ‘society’ had set a giddy pace.
We are especially interested in this society because Jefferson, on his
arrival, was shocked at its unrepublican tone. The inner or select circle did
not number more than three hundred.[55] A French traveler was impressed
with its tendency to luxury, its love of grandeur, and ostentatious display.
‘English luxury,’ ‘English fashions,’ the women in ‘the most brilliant silks,
gauzes, hats, and borrowed hair,’ the men, more modest as to dress, but
taking ‘their revenge in the luxury of the table’ and in smoking cigars from
the Spanish islands.[56] The Loyalist families were forward in asserting their
social prerogatives in the shadow of the Republican ‘Court.’ Did they not
have money and the prestige of having wined and dined and danced with the
officers of His Majesty in the days of the occupation? None more
conspicuous than the Henry Whites with a fine house on Wall Street, with
one son in His Majesty’s army, another a rear admiral in His Majesty’s navy.
About the Misses White—‘so gay and fashionable, so charming in
conversation, with such elegant figures’—the young blades gathered like
moths about the flame. Giddy were the parties there, the men Beau
Brummels in the extreme of fashion, and out of the few fugitive pictures we
catch a glimpse of Mrs. Verplanck dancing a minuet ‘in hoop and petticoats,’
and a young beau catching cold from ‘riding home in a sedan chair with one
of the glasses broken,’ after partaking too freely of hot port wine.[57]
Balls and teas there were aplenty, but ‘society’ preferred to dine and talk.
Hamilton in his home on Wall Street gave frequent dinners insinuating when
not boldly proclaiming his doubts of the people. Van Breckel, the Dutch
Minister, entertained lavishly, making his dining-room the resort of the little
foreign circle—and every one tried to keep up the pace.
It was the pace that killed—financially. The Henry Knoxes then began
their journey toward bankruptcy, living elaborately on Broadway,
maintaining horses and grooms, five servants, and giving two dinners a
month. Almost a ninth of his salary went for wine alone. What with his own
hair-dressing, and that of the expansive Lucy, who wore her hair, after the
extreme fashion, ‘at least a foot high, much in the form of a churn bottom
upward,’ the family account with Anthony Latour, hair-dresser, was no small
matter,[58] and his annual deficit was a third of his salary.
Nor was the Secretary of War unique. The social life was a hectic swirl of
calls, teas, entertainments. ‘When shall I get spirit to pay all the social debts
I owe?’ wrote one lady of quiet tastes.[59] It was harvest-time for the
dressmakers, the jewelers, the hair-dressers. The ball given in compliment to
Washington by the French Minister called for special costumes, for there
were ‘two sets of Cotillion Dancers in complete uniforms; one set in that of
France and the other in Buff and Blue,’ while the ladies were ‘dressed in
white with Ribbands, Bouquets and Garlands of Flowers answering to the
uniforms of the Gentlemen.’[60] And so with other functions equally gay.
But after all, the ‘court’ had come to town, and if there was no Majesty
on Cherry Street, it was not because the ‘court set’ did not pretend it so. The
illusion of vanity was fostered by the snobbery of Fenno of the ‘court
journal.’ When Madame Washington arrived, ‘conducted over the bay in the
President’s barge rowed by thirteen eminent pilots in handsome white dress,’
the editor enumerated the ladies who had ‘paid their devoirs to the amiable
consort of our beloved President.’ There were ‘the Lady of His Excellency
the Governor, Lady Sterling, Lady Mary Watts, Lady Kitty Duer, La
Marchioness de Brehan, the ladies of the Most Honorable Mr. Langdon, and
the Most Honorable Mr. Dalton ... and a great many other respectable
characters.’[61] This was too much for ‘A Republican’ who worked off his
fury in a scornful letter to the opposition paper referring to the ‘tawdry
phraseology,’ to the ‘titular folly of Europe’s courts,’ and suggesting that we
‘leave to the sons and daughters of corrupted Europe their levees, Drawing
Rooms, Routs, Drums, and Tornedos.’[62] It was to require more than this,
however, to jar the high-flying Fenno from the clouds, and his readers were
soon informed that ‘His Excellency the Vice-President, His Excellency the
Governor of the State, and many other personalities of the greatest
distinction will be present at the theater this evening.’ It was not for nothing
that the pedagogue pensman from Boston had launched his paper with the
hope ‘that the wealthy part of the community will become patrons of this
publication.’[63] The ‘inconveniency of being fashionable’ was impressed
upon one Senator on finding a colleague, who, having ‘set up a coach,’ and,
embarrassed in his plans by the irregular adjournments, was wont to sit alone
in the Chamber ‘in a state of ennui’ as much as ‘two or three hours’ waiting
for his carriage ‘to take him three or four hundred yards.’[64]
But while there was much of this ridiculous affectation, society was not
without its charms; for Mrs. Hamilton had her days for receiving, and her
drawing-room was brilliant, and all the more interesting because her
vivacious sister, Mrs. Church, just back from London, bringing with her ‘a
late abominable fashion of Ladies, like Washwomen with their sleeves above
their elbows,’ was there to assist.[65] And all the men were not on stilts, for it
is on record that the congressional delegation from Pennsylvania would
occasionally break through the ‘court circle’ to dine from three to nine, and
indulge in ‘a scene of beastial badness’ with Robert Morris proving himself
‘certainly the greatest blackguard in that way.’[66] There was the usual small
gossip to bring the soarers to earth. The cream served at the table of Mrs.
Washington was not the best. Mrs. Morris had been compelled to ‘rid herself
of a morsel’ of spoiled food there, but ‘Mrs. Washington ate a whole heap of
it.’[67] Mrs. Knox amused the Mother Grundys because so fat, and her
blundering misuse of words caused much tittering behind fans and much
whispering among her friends.
But it was on the Wall Street promenade that the gossips depended for
their choicest morsels. The Wall Street of that day was just beginning to
displace Pearl as the abode of fashion. True, there were a few business
houses, a tavern, a fashionable caterer, a jeweler, but from Broadway to
Pearl there was a row of substantial residences in which dwelt people of
importance. It was there in the promenade that the political celebrities were
encountered, but more appealing to the gentlemen of pleasure were the fine
ladies who passed in their finery—gay silks and satins—walking or taking
the air luxuriously in their sedan chairs. The cronies of Dan McCormick, the
unsnared and lordly entertainer, who gazed out of the windows of his House
of Gossip at Number 39, and from his front steps surveyed the parade with
the eyes of connoisseurs, must have been trying to the modesty of the timid
—but perhaps none such passed that way. If they laughed over the latest
blunders of Mrs. Knox as she hove into sight like a huge ship in full sail, and
made merry over the sister of the French Consul as she was borne
luxuriously along in her sedan chair, we may be sure that they were
appreciative of the pretty. And these crowded the narrow street for the
promenade, quite as much bent on amusement and flirtation as the men
about town on the steps of the House of Gossip.
For it was an age of gallantry, the men quite as vain as the women dared
be, and there, in addition to political celebrities, paraded the local blades of
society in their white buzz wigs, their three-cornered hats, and silver shoe
buckles. Here the elegant Hamilton in banter with a blushing belle, there the
courtly Burr bowing over the hand of a coquette unafraid of the fire, and
yonder Dr. John Bard, who prescribed pills for the fashionable, pounding the