had been obtained by bribery.

There is no evidence that he, himself, did the actual bribing or was in
any way concerned in it. In all of the legislative investigations
following charges of bribery, the invariable practice was to throw the
blame upon the wicked lobbyists, while professing the most naive
astonishment that any imputations should be cast upon any of the members
of the honorable Legislature. As for the bribers behind the scenes,
their names seldom or never were brought out or divulged. In brief,
these investigations were all of that rose-water order, generally termed
"whitewashing." But whether Astor personally bribed or not, he at any
rate consciously profited from the results of bribery; and, moreover, it
is not probable that his methods in the East were different, except in
form, from the debauching and exploitation that he made a system of in
the fur regions. It is not outside the realm of reasonable conjecture to
suppose that he either helped to debauch, or connived at the corruption
of legislatures, just as in another way he debauched Indian tribes.

Furthermore his relations with Burr in one notorious transaction, are
sufficient to justify the conclusion that he held the closest business
relations with that political adventurer who lived next door to him at
No. 221 Broadway. This transaction was one which was partially the
outcome of the organization of the Manhattan Bank and was a source of
millions of dollars of profit to Astor and to his descendants.

A century or more ago Trinity Church owned three times the extent of
even the vast real estate that it now holds. A considerable part of this
was the gift of that royal governor Fletcher, who, as has been set
forth, was such a master-hand at taking bribes. There long existed a
contention upon the part of New York State, a contention embodied in
numerous official records, that the land held for centuries by Trinity
Church was usurped; that Trinity's title was invalid and that the real
title vested in the people of the city of New York. In 1854-55 the Land
Commissioners of New York State, deeply impressed by the facts as
marshalled by Rutger B. Miller,[118] recommended that the State bring
suit. But with the filing of Trinity's reply, mysterious influences
intervened and the matter was dropped. These influences are frequently
referred to in aldermanic documents.

To go back, however: In 1767 Trinity Church leased to Abraham Mortier,
for ninety-nine