THE SUB-TREASURY BUILDING.
From an original print in 1834.
similar to an ancient Greek temple, a form best adapted to the ground, and will present two fronts, the principal one in Wall Street, and the, other in Pine Street, each with eight Grecian doric columns, and three return columns at each side of the flank, and nine pilasters attached to the wall and projected boldly from its surface; all elevated some seventeen steps above the pavement of Wall Street, by which spacious apartments will be gained in the basement. This edifice it is said will surpass any other in the Union for permanence in the materials and execution, as well as for its classical beauty. It will be one hundred and eighty feet long and ninety feet wide, and will occupy the entire end to the plot of ground east side of Nassau Street, between Wall and Pine. The cost of this vast and beautiful edifice will probably not be much less than five hundred thousand dollars, and the time consumed in its erection is expected to be nearly four years."
Under the government of the Province the Collector of the Port of New York was called the Receiver-General, and commanded a salary of £55. He was chosen from the highest respectability, and usually represented the largest opulence. Men of wealth only were eligible to the office. When the new Government of the Republic was inaugurated, the importance of this post was, as hitherto, esteemed of the first moment; and from among the men of note whose lives and characters were above reproach, and whose private resources were ample, the appointments were in all the future to be made. The first Collector after the Revolution was the sterling patriot General John Lamb, who resided in the mansion illustrated in a former chapter, and, in the exercise of a spirit of benevolence which characterized his life, kept open house for all soldiers who had fought and bled for the American flag, of whatever rank. His term of serv-
