Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-17
PERTH AMBOY IN HISTORY
By H. e. PICKERsGnL

I full, secret body of men is alleged
to be endeayoring to bar another
part FROM civil rights because of its
religious adherence. His lordship
said that he would %acquaint the
gentlemen with the fact hat Her
Majesty had been graciously pleased
to grant all her subjects in this prov
ince Liberty of Conscience-except
Papists! 1t may be of further in
terest to know that this earliest
imperial kleagle of New Jersey was
the most thoroughly detested man
England yer sent to the province.
He was governor of New York as
well as New Jersey and during the
time that he afflicted the early col
onists with his presence. Lady Corn
bury died while in New York with
him. 1t seems that there was an
ordinance at hat time in the en-
bryo metropolis which made IL neces-
sary to secure from the aldermen a
permit for any kind of a procession.
Governor Cornbury asked the alder
men for a permit for a funeral pro-
cession in honor of Lady Cornbury
and 1t was promptly refused. At
the same time. the aldermen added
insult to injury by informing the
bereaved husband that it would be
a pleasure at any time to allow a
funeral procession for His Lordship.
. > >
A great deal of interesting history
naturally attaches itself to book
auctions, when it is Americana that
Is being c~atalogued and sold. This
week a collection of early American
plays and poems was sold by a New
XorIy hntfua Av naiohf hn axnnnfa6
Perth Amboy and all New Jersey
had a part in the catalogue. Will
liam Dunlap was represented by two
unknown and undescribed works
and by a volume which had been
presented to him by its author. One
of the discoveries was CHAINS of the
Heart, with additions by Dunlap,
published in 1904, and another was
an addition to yankee Chronology,
one of Dunlap's plays published in
1913.
Richard Stockton. one of New
Jerseys five signers of the Declara-
ton, died during the war and the
cause of his death was a cold con-
tracted while held prisoner in the
old Jail which stood on what is now
the high school property. Rev. Sam
uel Stanhope Smith preached his flu
neral ermon and it was printed and
sold by Isaac Collins, the Quaker
printer, at Trenton in 1881 the year
of Stockton's death. A copy sold
this week contains two poems COM
posed by Mrs. Stockton upon the
death or her esteemed husband.
The sale also contained a poem
printed in 1889 with the title "Rhap-
sody". The author, whose name
does not appear, recommends his
work only to those who are finely
sensible of the beauties of nature,
who are pleased with something
more than the music of poetry. AS
the catalogue put it, the romantic
spirit is evident throughout the de-
scriptions of the New Jersey coast
and in the %ironical illusions to the
vices of city life". This is the earl
lest poem praising the beauties of
the New Jersey coast, since then the
theme of a thousand poets.
Students of early American fiction /
and of the literature of the drama
are familiar with the name of SUSAN
nah Rowson. Many who do not
know of her otherwise remember her
fondly as the author of Charlotte
Temple, which someone has called
the classic of factory girls. Few,
however, know that Mrs. Rowson's
husband was the father of the late
William s.. Rowson. who lived many
years and died in this city. Mrs. |
Rowson lived n wrote many years
before the nineteenth century dawn
ed. Her husband is not generally
known to have been a writer, but this
week sale contained a version of
Mrs. Inchbald's comedy Every One
Has His Fault" with alterations by
William Rowson. the husband of
Susannah. who was herself in the
cast of the play when it was pre- |,
sented in Philadelphia. In the book
Mr.. Rowson was listed as the
prompter and he was given full
credit for the additions to the play.
The Library of Congress was the
successful bidder for the little book, |
published in 1894 in Philadelphia.