Glass. Book^l_£a <^ HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. HISTORY OF THE LATE PROVINCE OF NEW-YORK, ITS DISCOVERY, APPOINTMENT OF GOVERNOR COLDEN, 1762. BY THE HO\. WILLIAM SMITH, Formerly of New-York, and late Chief Justice of Lower Canada, VOL. II. — OQ®— VEVV-YORK: PUBHSHEL* LNDER THE DIRECTION OP THE NtW-YOKK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. J (iraltan, Print. 1830. /JTT, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OP NEW-YORK, ss. Be it remembered. That on the 7th day of November, A. D. J629, in the 54tli year of tlie Independence of tlie United States of America, JOHN DELAFIELD, of the said District, Jiath deposited in this office the title of a boolt, the right whereof he claims as proprietor in the words following, to wit : " The Historif ef the Province of JVeio- York, from its discovery to the appointment of Go- vernor Colden, in 1762. By the honourable William Smith, formerly of Jfew-York, and late Chief Justice of Lower Canada. Published under t!ie direction of the Mew- York Historical Society. In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled " An act for the en- couragement of Learning by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times tlierein mentioned." And also to an Act entitled " An Act, supplementary to an Act, enlitied an Act for the encouragement of Learn- ing, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending thebdneflls thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prinfs." FRED. J. BETTS, Clerk of the ■^ovthern District of Ketc-Yorh. ADVERTISEMENT. At the close of the first volume of my father's Histoiy of New-York, he has stated the reasons which induced him not to publish it beyond a certain period : however forcible they might have been at that day, they no longer exist, and I therefore have taken the resolution to offer to the public the Continuation of this History, written with his own hand. I read it with the utmost attention before I resolved upon the publication. I put the work into the hands of some of my friends, conceiving that it would have been pre- sumption in me to have trusted to my own partial decision, and ihey encouraged me to ofier it to the public, as a curious and interesting book. Wht n 1 resolved to follow this advice, it was a circumstance of great weight with me, that as it would probably be published nt some future day, and might fall into the hands of an editor, who, not being actuated by the same sacred regard for the reputation of the author which I feel, might make alterations and additions, and obtrude the whole on the public as a genuine and authentic book. The continuation of the history is therefore published as it was left by the author, with only a few verbal alterations end corrections. WILLIAM SMITH, Member of his Ma jetty's Cmmtl. CONTENTS. CPIAPTER I. PAGE. From Colonel Cosby's appointment to liis death ; and the appointment of Mr. Clarke as President of the Province, in 1736, 1 CHAPTER II. From Governor Clarke's return to England, to tiie appointment of Go- vernor Clinton. 82 CHAPTER III. From tho resignation of Governor Clinton, to the appointment of Sir Danvers Osborn as Governor, 182 CHAPTER IV. From the death of Sir Danvers Osborn, to the accession of Lieutenant Governor Delancey, 196 CHAPTER V. From the time of Lieutenant Governor Delancey 's ceasing to administer tl)c government, to the arrival of Sir Charles Hardy as Governor, 26.'? CHAPTER VI. From the absence of Sir Charles Hardy on an expedition against Mar- tinico, to the second assumption of the administration by Lieutenant Governor Delancey, 297 CHAPTER VII. From Lieutenant-Governor Delancey's death, to tiio appointment ol' Lieutenant-Governor Colden, during tho absence of Sir Charles Hardy, .„.,.... 347 THE HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. CHAPTER J. FROM COLONEL COSBY's APPOINTMENT TO HIS DEATH ; AND TO THE APPOINTMENT OF Mil. CLARKE AS PRESIDENT OF THE PROVINCE, IN 1736. Upon the death of Mr. Montgomorie, the province was committed to the care of colonel William Cosby: he had formerly governed Minorca, and exposed himself to reproaches in that island, which followed him across the Atlantic. It was by his order that the effects of one Coppodoville, a Catalan merchant, then residing at Lisbon, were seized at Port Mahon, in 1718, several months before the war of that year was declared against Spain ; and he was charged with scandalous practices to secure the booty, by denying the right of appeal, and secreting the papers tending to detect the iniquity of the sentence, and enabling the proprietor to procure its reversal. lie arrived here the 1st of August, 1 732, and on the 10th spoke to the assembly, who had met several days before, agreeably to an adjournment. After inform- VOL. Tl — I 2 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. ing the house, that the delay of his voyage was owing to his desire of assisting the agents for defeating a bill brought into parliament, partial to the sugar islands, he declared his confidence in their willingness to provide for the support of government, by settling a revenue as ample and permanent as in any former instance ; urged their attention to the Indian commerce, and promised his power and interest to render them a happy and flourishing people. The assembly were more liberal in the address with their thanks than their promises ; for they merely engaged in general to contribute to the ease of his administration, and therefore he repeats his request when they come before him to present it. From their dread of the success of the sugar act, they did not hesitate about a revenue to support the government for six years ; nor to secure out of it the payment of a salary of fifteen hundred and sixty pounds to the governor, with the emoluments of four hundred pounds per annum in fuel and candles for the fort, and one hundred and fifty pounds for his voyage to Albany, besides a sum for presents to the Indians. But it was late in the session before they voted any compensation for his assistance to the agents, and not till after the support bill had been passed. They then agreed only to present him with the sum of seven hundred and fifty pounds. The governor, who had intelligence of it, intimated his disgust, but in terms which, though it procured him an augmentation of two hundred and fifty pounds more, lost him their esteem. He accosted Mr. Morris, one of the members, on this occasion, in terms HISTORY 01' NEW-YOUK. 3 exprossing a contempt of the vote. "Damn them," said he, " why did they not add, shillings and pence? Do they think that I came from England for money? I'll make them know better." . This year was the first of our public attention to the education of youth : provision was then made for the first time to support a free school, for teach- ing the Latin and Greek tongues, and the practical branches of the mathematics, under the care of Mr. Alexander Malcolm of Aberdeen, the author of a Treatise upon Book-keeping. The measure was patponised by the Morris family, Mr. Alexander, and Mr. Smith, who presented a petition to the assembly for that object; such was the negligence of the day, that an instructor could not find bread, from the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants, though our eastern neighbours had set us an example of erecting and endowing colleges early in the last century. The bill for this school, drafted by Mr. Philipse the speaker, and brought in by Mr Dclancey, administered to some merriment. It had this sin- gular preamble : " whereas the youth of this colony are found, by manifold experience, to be not inferior in their natural geniuses to the youth of any other country in the world, therefore, be it enacted," &c. The opposition to the sugar act, which now engrossed so much the public attention, was unsuc- cessful. Mr. President Van Dam, the council, and the assembly, had all concurred in a petition against it to the king, while Mr Cosby was in England. They represented the islands as aiming at a mono- poly injurious both to the colony and the mother 4 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. country: asserted that this colony took oft' more British woollens than all the islands together, except what was imported by Jamaica for the Spaniards ; that the act would reduce them to raise their own clothing; that the provisions, horses, and lumber exported from this, and the colonies of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania, brought returns from the foreign as well as British islands, in money, rum, sugar, molasses, cocoa, indigo, cotton, all which, except the rum and molasses, were either consumed here, or furnished remittances to Great Britain for her balance against us ; and the specie sent from .this colony alone, they conceived to be more than from all the British islands together, Jamaica only ex- cepted: they denied that the British sugar islands could take off half the provisions raised by the three northern colonies aforementioned, or supply us with rum without lessening the exports of sugar. Nothing could be more importunate than their sup- plications for the king's protection against the West India project : and now the assembly devoted one hundred and fifty pounds per annum, with fifty pounds more for disbursements, to any person whom certain merchants of London should nominate as their agent, to assist this colony in what they con- ceived to be threatening them with ruin ; for they apprehended that all purchasers from the foreign islands for our products, were to be totally pro- hibited ; a design, however, not countenanced by the act. While Mr. Van Dam was in the chair, it became a question in council, on drawing the warrants for the governor's salary, whether the whole or only the HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. O moiety should be received by the president. The assembly were consulted upon it, but declined an opinion The council then advised warrants to Mr. Van Dam tor the whole salary, and he received the money. Mr. Cosby came out with the king's order of the 3 1st of May, 1732, for the equal par- tition between himself and the president, of the salary and all p(.Tquisites and emoluments of government during his own absence. Van Dam was contented, if the governor would also divide with him the sums which came to his hands in England, for he confessed his own receipts to amount to no mure than one thousand nine hundred and seventy-five pounds, seven shillings and ten pence, and insisted that the governor's were six thousand four hundred and seven pounds, eighteen shillings and ten pence Colonel Cosby would not consent to this demand, and the president, who thought him his debtor, refused to tender him a farthing, and demanded a balance The governor, to compel the payment and prevent any discount, was advised to proceed against Van Dam in the exchequer, for in a suit at common law he dreaded a set off and the verdict of a jury, the president being a popular and reputable merchant. In chancery no measures could be taken, for there the governor presided, and could not be an unexceptionable judge in his own cause. The supreme court exercised the ample authorities both of the king's bench and common pleas, and its sittings, or terms, had been fixed by ordinances of the governor, with the advice of the council. In certain instances the judges had proceeded 6 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. according to course of the exchequer, their commis- sions directing them "to make such rules and orders as may be found convenient and useful, as near as may be agreeable to the rules and orders of our courts of king's bench, common pleas, and ex- chequer." Hence the hint for proceeding in equity before the judges of the supreme court, as barons of the exchequer, the majority of whom, Messrs. Delancey and Philipse, were the governor's intimate friends. In Mr. Morris, the chief justice, he had not equal confidence. As soon as Bradley, the attorney-general, brought a bill in this court against Mr. Van Dam, the latter resolved to file a declaration at common law against Mr. Cosby, before the same judges, for his moiety as money received by the governor to his use, and required his excellency, by a letter of the 27th August, 17^53, to give orders for entering his appear- ance at his suit. The governor slighted his request, and Van Dam, by his counsel, moved the judges in the subsequent term of October, for their letter to his excellency, similar to the practice of the chancery where a peer of the realm is defendant. The judges permitted him to file his declaration, but refused the letter, as unprecedented at law, and left him to choose the ordinary process. A summons was then offered to the clerk of the court for the seal, but he would not affix it to the writ. The attorney-general had in the mean time proceeded before the same judges in equity, to a commission of rebellion, and Van Dam found himself compelled to a defence. Tt is natural to imas^ine that Van Dam's hard and HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 7 Singular situation would excite pity, and that the populace might be induced to redeem him from oppression. He had early engaged Messrs. Alex- ander and Smitii, two lawyers in high reputation, for his counsel. They took exception to the juris- diction of the court, and boldly engaged in support of the plea. 15ut when judgment was given by the puisne judges for overruling it, the chief justice opposed his brethren, in a very long argument in writing, in support of his opinion ; at which the governor was much offended, demanded a copy, and then the judge, to prevent misrepresentation, com- mitted it to the press. The exceptions were three : — that the supreme court, which claimed this jurisdiction in equity, was established by an ordinance of the late king George the first, and expired at his demise, and had not been re-established in the present reign : — that his present majesty, by his commission to governor Montgomorie, under the great seal of Great Britain, having commanded him to execute all things in due manner, according to the powers granted by that commission, and the instructions therewith given, by the 89th article of which he was required to grant commissions, with the advice of the council, to persons fit to be judges, and that he had com- missioned Mr. Delancey and Mr. Philipse without such advice : — that they had no jurisdiction or authority to compel the defendant to appear upon oath, concerning the matters in the bill ; and there is no prescription, act of parliament, nor act of assembly, to establish any supreme court, nor to o HISTORY OP NEW-YORK. empower any court or persons to hold cognizance of pleas in a court of equity, in or for this province. Mr. Cosby went to his government in Jersey very soon after the order for overruling the plea, which was the 9th April, 1733, in the presence of a crowded and exasperated audience ; and upon his return in August presented Mr. Delancey, at the council board, with a commission to be chief justice, and had issued another advancing Mr. Philipse to the second seat. The members present, besides Delancey, were Clark, Harison, Colden, and Ken- nedy, so that he could not form a board for this step, there wanting the necessary quorum of five compe- tent members. He did not ask their opinion or advice on this unguarded measure, which added fresh oil to the flame already spread through the colony, and excited the fears of the multitude. The assembly meeting soon after in autumn, Mr. Morris was chosen to represent the county of West- chester, in the place of a deceased member ; but he did not present the indenture of his return till the last day of a short session, in which nothing of much moment was transacted. The court (for all the province was already divided into two parties) made an ineffectual oppo- sition to Mr. Morris's introducing his son Lewis into the assembly, as the burgess of the town of West- chester. One Forster, a schoolmaster, and appointed clerk of the court by Mr. Cosby, was set up against Mr. Morris, and supported by Mr. Delancey and Mr. Philipse, who canvassed against the old judge, who offered himself to the county. The quakers were HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 9 all set aside by the sheriff, Cowper, who insisted upon an oath instead of the affirmation, to prove their freeholds ; a violence, however, which laid the foundation for a law in their favour, while it added, for the present, to the general discontent, already risen so high in the capital, that their joy on Mr. Morris's next arrival there was announced by the explosion of the cannon of the merchants' ships in the harbour, and by the citizens meeting and con- ducting him, with loud acclamations, to a public and splendid entertainment. The arts, common in such ferments, were played off by the leaders of the opposition. Zenger's Weekly Journal was engaged in their service, and a great part filled with extracts from the spirited papers of Trenchard, Gordon, and other writers on the popular side ; while Bradford's Gazette was employed to defend the governor and his party. In the course of the winter of 1734, two vessels arrived for provisions from Louisburgh, where such strong fortifications were erecting as excited the jealousy of all the northern colonies ; and the cir- cumstance of their sounding the passage up from the Hook being discovered, an advantage was taken of it, and an affidavit, taken to prove it, published in th«i papers Thn, so he would not act in council during the continuance of that assembly ; and a resolve, that while he kept it, he was duly qualified, but that on the breach of it, he should be expelled. Van Home and Philipse were directed to exchange lists of the exceptionable electors ; but the sheriff and Van Home were first heard, and the former acqiiitted of the charge of misbehaviour. In the debates between the candidates, Mr. Smith made a question, whether the jews were qualified for electors, some of them having voted for Mr. Philipse. The cavil was taken up hastily in one day, and referred for argument on the next : and a resolve carried against the Hebrews by the mere dint of eloquence. The auditors of this memorable debate of the 23d September, never menti«*n it without the highest encomiums upon the on of the orator.* Mr. Murray, as counsel for Mr. Philipse, drily urged the authority of the election law, giving a *= Mr. Smith was born 8th October, 1697, at Newport Pagnel, Buckingham- shire, England ; was then at the ago of 40 : he had his first education from Mr. Stannard, the minister of Simpson m Bucks, and Mr. Woodward and Mr. Lettm, of iNewport Pagnel m that county. He left London with liis father's family, 24th May, 1715. and arrived at New- York 17th of August in the same v«ar. 48 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. vote to a/Z freeholders of competent estates, without excepting the descendants of Abraham, according to the flesh ; and with astonishment heard a reply, which captivated the audience into an opinion, that the exception must be implied for the honor of Christianity and the preservation of the constitution. The whole history of the conduct of England against the jews, was displayed on this occasion, and arguments thence artfully deduced against their claims to the civil rights of citizenship. After expressing the emotions of pity naturally arising upon a detail of their sufferings under the avaricious and barbarous policy of ancient times, he turned the attention of his hearers to that mystery of love and terror manifested in the sacrifice of Christ ; and so pathetically described the bloody tragedy at mount Calvary, that a member cried out with agony and in tears, beseeching him to desist, and declaring his conviction. Many others wept ; and the unfor- tunate Israelites were content to lose their votes, could they escape with their lives ; for some auditors of weak nerves and strong zeal, were so inflamed by this oratory, that, but for the interposition of their demagogues, and the votes of the house in their favour, the whole tribe in this dispersion would have been massacred that veryday, for the sin of their ancestors in crucifying Jesus of Nazareth, and imprecating his innocent blood upon them- selve and their children. It is at such moments that the arts of persuasion show their power, and few men were more eminently possessed of them than Van Home's counsellor. He had the natural advantages of figure, voice, HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 49 Vivacity, memory, imagination, promptness, strong- passions, volubility, invention, and a taste for ornament. These talents were improved by the assiduous industry of a robust constitution, with uninterrupted health and temperance, in the pursuit of various branches of science, and particularly in tlie law and theology. His progress in the latter was the more extensive, from an early turn to a life of piety and devotion. He studied the Scriptures in their originals, when young, and in advanced life they were so familiar to him, that he often read ihem to his family in English from the Hebrew or Greek, without the least hesitation. He was bred a dissenter in Buckinghamshire, and attached to the doctrines of Calvin ; a great part of his time was spent in the works, French, English, and Latin, of the most celebrated divines of that stamp. He was for some time in suspense about entering into the service of the church Dr. Colman of Boston, upon the perusal of a letter of his penning, in the name of the presbyterian church of New York, requesting a minister to take the care of it, declared that no man could be more fit than he who had so well described the character of a proper subject for that vacancy. These things are mentioned, to account for that surprise of his auditors at that copia and oratory which Mr. Smith indulged, when he laid aside his law books and took up the bible in the debate I have mentioned. He imagined that the house would reject the votes of all the non-resident freeholders, and if the Jewish voices were struck out of the poll-lists, that his client would prevail. His religious and political creeds were both inflamed \nT,. u. — 7 50 HISTORY OP NEW- YORK. by the heat of the times. It was natural to a mind, trembling several years past for the liberties of the colony, and himself then under the rod of oppres- sion for asserting them, to take fire at the prospect of the most distant inlet of mischief. And perhaps he was not himself conscious at that time, of the length to which his transition, from ihe impolicy of a Jewish interposition in the legislation of a christian community, to the severity of exercising it, would carry him. That severity was then to be justified, and to this he reconciled his judges by an affecting representation of the agonies of the cross. He prepared no notes for this memorable speech : it was delivered within a i^ew hours after the thought of an implicative exception in the election act was first conceived ; and the astonishment of the audience rose the higher, by the rare instance of so much pulpit eloquence from a law character at the bar of the house. But though the Israelites were rejected, the non-resident voices were accepted, and Mr. Philipse, with his nephew the second justice, admitted to a share in councils which they could neither sway nor control. And yet this act of justice to the old speaker gave great offence without doors ; the majority adopting Mr. Alexander's erroneous opi- nion, contrary to legal exposition and parliamentary usage, that a personal residence was as requisite in the elector, as communion of interests by a compe- tent freehold. The judges too, about this time, grew not only impatient under the reproaches incurred by the order for silencing Zenker's counsel, but fearful of its HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. 51 consequences. The populace wisliing for an oppor- tunity, by action for damages, to repay them the losses they had sustained, their resentment rose the higher, as Mr. Smith, who had lately visited Virginia, was importuned to remove to that colony. To effect a reconciliation, the lieutenant-governor and Mr. Murray were employed to feel the pulses of the two popular lawyers, and testify the wishes of the judges that they would return to the bar. After some punctilios, honore servando, the judges agreed to cancel their injurious order, upon the promise of the latter to release all actions and damages, under the pretext of gratifying the timidity of their wives, who were said to be in constant anxiety from the apprehension of prosecutions and outrages. And in the October term this year, Mr. Alexander and Mr Smith appeared again at the bar, Avithout any iurther condescensions on either side. The patriots obtained a variety of popular laws in the course of the session. The militia was modelled ; the practice of the law amended ; tri- ennial elections ordained ; the importation of base copper money restrained ; courts for the summary decision of petty suits established ; a mathematical and grammar school encouraged ; extravagant usury prohibited by the reduction of interest from eight to seven per cent.; pedlars regulated ; Oswego sup- ported, and the Indian commerce promoted ; paper money emitted, and a loan office erected ; provision made for preserving tlie metropolis from destruction by fires ; and the precedent set for compelling the officers of government to a reliance upon the annual provision of the assembly for their support. 52 HISTORY OF NEW-YORii. But these institutirms were nevertheless inade- quate to the elevated expectations of the multitude, and short of the intentions of their leaders. Other bills were brought in, which did not at that time pass into laws They meant to regulate elections, and totally to exclude the influence of the crown ; to appoint inspectors oft^xported flour; to restrain the sale of strong liquors to apprentices and servants, and to others, upon credit ; to reduce the fees of officers ; to engross the appointment of an agent at the court of Great Britain; to promote ship- building ; and to give the quakers a further indul- gence, by exempting them from the trouble of producing the certificates of the quarterly meetings, required by the late act, of their having been mem- bers of that persuasion a year before the offer of themselves for an affirmation. Some of these bills failed by the opposition of the council, who, on the day of the final debates between Van Home and Philipse, n2th October,) signified their concurrence to two bills in a way not usual, by their clerk. There had never been more than three instances of that kind, and those were messages to the late assembly, between whom and the council, there was a perfect concord upon party principles. The ancient usage of the council, was to send by one of their own mem- bers ; and the present assembly resented the inno- vation, and demanded satisfaction for the insult. The clerk brought an answer to it a few rator, but for ofticiating as a Popish priest, upon an old law of the colony, passed at tlie instance of the earl of Bellamont, to drive the French missionaries out of the territories of our Indian allies ; and ho was convicted on both indictments. A letter from general Oglethorpe, the visionary Lycurgus of Geor- gia, to Mr. Clarke, of 16th of May, gave weight to the suspicions against this wretch. After the dis- covery that some Spanish catholic slaves, taken in certain late prizes, were accomplices in the plot, the letter contained the following passage : — " Some intelligence I had of a villanous design of a very extraordinary nature, and it was very important, viz. that the Spaniards had employed emissaries to burn all the magazines and considerable towns in the English North America, thereby to prevent the subsisting of the great expedition and fleet in the West Indies ; and that for this purpose many priests were employed, who pretended to be physicians, dancing masters, and other such kinds of occupa- tions, and under that pretence to get admittance and confidence in families." Mr. Smith assisted, at the request of the government, on the trial against Ury, who asserted his innocence to the last ; and when the ferments of that hour had subsided, and an opinion prevailed that the conspiracy extended no farther than to create alarms, for committing thefts with more ease, the fate of this man was lamented by some and regretted by many, and the proceed- ings against him generally condemned as harsh, it' not cruel and unjust There was no resisting the torrent of jealousy, when every man thought himself in danger from a foe in his own house, '^i'li'^^' ipf^'^ \or.. ff,-— -10 /4 HISTOKy OF NEW-yOllK. tion seized the whole legislature, who were convened when these tragedies were acting in the court and tlie fields. The grand jurors presented a petition for severer laws against these unfortunate Africans ; and they had the thanks of the house for their zeal and vigour in the detection of a conspiracy to burn the town and murder the inhabitants, encouraged by their opportunities of assembling at taverns, and at the common reservoir of tea-water in the suburbs, and their indulgences on Sundays for sport and recreation. The old laws were thought not sufficiently severe, and yet this enslaved part of our species were under regulations demonstrative of the dangerous spirit of petty legislatures, even under all the sunshine of the benevolent and merciful doctrine of Christianity. Their children were made slaves, if such was the condition of the mother, by a law in 1706, which contained no provision in their favour, even when they were the offspring of a lawful marriage ; so that it remained a question whether the father's slavery did not subject the legitimate issue of a free woman to servitude. They were witnesses in no case against a free man ; and by the act of 1 730, they were incapable of any contract, or the purchase of the minutest article necessary or convenient to the comfort of life. The power of the master in cor- recting them was dispunishable in all cases, not extending to life or limb. They were exposed to forty lashes, by the decree of a single magistrate, aa often as three of them were found together, or any one walking with a club out of his master's ground vvitliout leave; and two justices midit inflict anv HISTORY OF :m;\\-voi{k. 75 punishment short of tleatli and amputation, lor a blow, or the smallest assault uponanyciiristianor jew. Nay, their masters are punishable for pardoning or compounding for their faults, and all others for harboring or entertaining them, who when suspected are made subject to an oath of purgation. Every manumission of a slave is invalid, without security in two hundred pounds to indemnify tlic parish. They are subjected to the summary trial of but three justices and five freeholders, without a chal- lenge, even on accusations touching life ; and in the case of a negro, every homicide, conspiracy, or attempt to kill a freeman, unless in the execution of justice, or by misadvantage ; a rape, or an attempt to commit one ; the wilful burning of a dwelling- house, barn, stable, out-house, stacks of corn or hay; nay, or mayhem, if wilful, exposes to the punish- ment of death. Ought not humanity to revolt at these sanguinary institutions ? I should be chargeable with partiality if I did not add, that, like other immoderate laws, either neglected or working their own remedy, they are seldom executed ; negroes, when capitally im- peached, being often tried in the ordinary course of justice, and admitted to the rights and privileges of free subjects under like accusations. Mr. Clarke brought his assembly together again, and spoke to them, on the 17th September. General AVentworth having called for fresh recruits to the army in the West Indies, the lieutenant-governor asked their aid for victualling them, and the r( j)a- ration of the ruins in the fort. He renewed his demand for a srenerous and durable revomip. ns what 7*i HISTORY OF i\EW-Y01iK. the king expected, and the expected governor would insist upon, and what he thought it their interest, as Avell as duty, to grant ; concluding with the remark, that as this would be his last speech, these instances could flow from no selfish motives, which weak minds might ascribe to them. The members firmly attached to the new and po- pular mode, soon after presented him with a long, harsh, ill-penned address, expressing great exultation on the prospect of Mr. Clinton's arrival, and their hope that he would bring with him the expected military stores, with presents for the Indians. They intimate, that the quit-rent fund ought to contribute to the erection of a new house for the governor ; testify their disinclination to give money for the levies, till they are actually raised ; refer him to their former address for an answer to his last speech, on the subject of the revenue ; adding now, as a reply to what dropped from him in words after it was delivered, that the revenue, properly considered, was a term only applicable to the quit-rents and other dues to the crown, and that these then did, and always had, passed to the hands of the receiver- general, and that since they had ceased to be applied to the support of government, the assembly had not demanded any accounts of their amount. Then, to prove an assertion in their former address, they observed, that though a thousand pounds were given at the beginning of the last French war, for building batteries at the Narrows, not a single stone was ever laid out towards that work ; whereas the late erection of forts showed the propriety of giving the trust to commissioners of their own appointing-. HISTORY or NF tlir Inte divisions. H6 HISTORY OF NEW -YORK. On the prospect of a rebellion in Scotland, the lords justices despatched orders for military prepa- rations, which occasioned a call of the assembly in April, 1744, and the governor's renewal of his importunity for a supply of the magazine, rebuilding the fort, appointing agents, attending to Oswego, strengthening the hands of the commissioners for Indian affairs, and for guarding those allies against the intrigues of the French. Both houses strove to outvie each other in this alarm ; and a joint address was immediately pre- sented, to testify their abhorrence of the Scottish rebellion and a Popish Pretender ; large sums were given for the fortifications ; three thousand pounds voted towards a mansion-house for the governor : and the arrears due to Mr. Barclay, the Mohawk missionary, paid off. After which the house ad- journed to July, when the war having been declared, and the Indians visited by the governor, he called upon them for further expenditures on the northern frontier, not only for adding to the works, but to co-operate with commissioners from Massachusetts Bay, in cultivating a more firm and extensive alliance with the savages of the wilderness. He recom- mended also the fitting out armed vessels to guard the coast, and made his third request to them for constituting agents at the British court. He backed his speech with a message, more particularly to explain his general requisitions ; and very properly proposed the construction of a fort, at the joint expense of this and the eastern colonies, in the neighbourhood of Crown Point, and another at h'ondequot, or near it, at a common charge, to secure HlSTOUy OF ^KW-VuRlv. 87 ilio tidelity of the Scnccas, the strongest and most wavering of all the six confederated tribes. lie was still more importunate on these subjects after the flight of th(; Indian traders from Oswego upon the news of a declaration of war ; and added his demands for the support of certain prisoners brought in by the privateers. The house, perceiving the insufficiency of their duties upon commerce to raise a competent fund for the public exigencies, and that it was expedient to lessen that income and encourage privateering, by exempting prize goods from all impost, proceeded with some hesitation, being disinclined to that ge- neral taxation to which they would be obliged to submit, and foreseeing their own animosities in the assessing of the county quotas for a partition of the burden. At this juncture, the council, to quicken their motions, requested, by Doctor Golden and Mr. Murray, a free conference, to which they assented. Mr. Delancey opened it, and urged the necessity of strengthening the garrison of Oswego, lately de- serted by the traders ; and they were brought to join in an address, imploring the governor to send a detachment of fifiy men to that fortress, for whom the lower house immediately voted a supply ; and agreeing to give* a sum for the support of the pri- soners in the colony, they addressed the governor, complimenting him on his vigilance and clemency, and entreated that he would find means to send them away. When iheyhad provided the ordinary yearly sup- port, and for many other expenses, and were desirous >ii5 IllSTOKY OF NEW-YORK. of a recess, Mr. Clinton, observing that no provision was made for the general Indian alliance proposed by the Massachusetts Bay assembly, entreated their attention to it as a great and important object, much urged by governor Shirley^in a late letter ; but their generosity being exhausted, or their fears excited, they resolved it to be imprudent to engage in the scheme, without a previous plan of it ; and they were sent home on the 21st of September. The French attempt upon Annapolis having roused the eastern colonies to the bold design, which they accomplished in the year 1745, by the reduction of Louisburgh ; Mr. Clinton, animated by Mr. Shirley's example, sent them ten pieces of field ordnance, with the necessary warlike implements, and in March solicited the assembly to co-operate in that enterprise. He took the same opportunity to press the equipment of a guard-ship for the defence of the coast ; the appointment of agents ; the con- struction of more inland forts ; further presents to the Indians ; money to defray the march and transportation of the detachments and supplies to Oswego ; liberal sums for contingent expenses ; further aid for supporting prisoners ; provision to enable him to send commissioners to join with others in a general treaty with the Indian nations ; and a union with the rest of the 'colonies, both of force and councils, agreeably to a royal instruction continued from the revolution to this day.* The assembly, conscious of their neglect of his recommendation for constituting an agent, took the * Spp tioIpF. HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. 89 repetition unkindly. They had, on tliat account, been much censured without doors, a bill having been brought into parliament for preventing the colony paper money from being a legal tender, and to prevent which no steps had been taken, though it was known here before their last rising. But the other colonies awakened the popular attention, and compelled the city members and several merchants to join with the council, in the recess of the house, to co-operate in the necessary remonstrances to the commons of Great Britain for postponing the bill. They had not then, as they now asserted, given any more than the title of it, and consequently knew nothing of the scope of its last two clauses, which alarmed all the colonies with apprehensions of a design to overturn the liberties of the plantations, by compelling our legislators to obey all the orders and instructions of the crown. One of the first objects, therefore, of their present attention, was a report upon these transactions ; thanks to the managers of them ; the reimburse- ment of the money sent to Messrs. Samuel ami William Baker of London, who had been charged with the opposition to the bill offered to the com- mons, and the approbation of the objections urged against its passing into a law. In this ill humour they presented no address and, though Mr. Clinton sent them the papers, necessary for their information concerning iIk eastern expedition, with a copy of the instruction referred to in his speech on the 14th of March, they continued for several days inattentive to it ; sliLdited VOT.. IT. 12 90 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. Ilis opinions concerning additional fortifications ; ordered tlie city members to inquire for and consult some engineer ; intimated a design to lessen the garrison of Oswego ; declined the project of a guard ship ; rejected that for appointing joint com- missioners to treat with the Indians for mutual defence ; voted but three thousand pounds to the New England expedition ; resolved to appoint no agents at present, and declined the provision of pre- sents for the Indians. Expecting nothing from them in this temper, lie convened both houses before him on the 13th May, passed three bills sent up to him by the council, and dissolved the assembly, delivering a speech at the same time, in which he not only expresses his own resentment with insinuation of the receipt of personal incivilities, but endeavours to render them odious to their constituents. The late sudden dissolution had very little influ- ence upon the minds of the community at large, for nearly the same members were returned ; but it influenced the new house, for, in answer to the governor's speech of the 25th of June, they presented an address promising attention and despatch, and testifying their persuasion, that he had the king's service, and the welfare of the colony, sincerely at heart, and promising their assistance in cultivating harmony between the several branches of the legis- lature, for the great ends they all had in view. What he had proposed was the erection of several batteries in the capital, more forts on the frontiers and aid of ships, men, and provisions, to the New ICngland enterprise upon Louisburgb, which pro- HISrOKY OF NEW-YOUK. !H mised success by tlio capture of one of the batteries and a sliip of 64 guns. Mr. Jones, who had long acquired tlie reputation of an economist, was now placed in the chair. They immediately ordered in a bill to give live thousand pounds towards the Cape Breton expedi- tion, another for the necessary fortifications, and others for finishing the governor's house, presents for the Indians who were wavering and had lately made a visit to Canada. His design for an immediate treaty with them was his apology for convening the assembly. They voted six hundred pounds in addition to four Jmndred pounds not yet expended, and he went immediately to the Indian treaty at Albany. After his return in autumn, he informed the house, by a message of 2d of November, that the French Indians had broken the neutrality and made incursions upon New England ; that he dreaded an attack upon this colony; that the Six Nations agreed to take a part in the war, and had his orders for action. They did not part before the governor's prediction was verified in the destruction of the scattered village of Saratoga, within forty miles from Albany. The party of French and Indians, from Crown Point, surprised those settlements on the night of the 16th of November, and burnt the fort and several other buildings, killed some of the inhabitants and carried others into captivity. The country being uncovered down to the very city of Albany, this event not only spread a i,reneral consternation amoiiu the northern settlers, who ;dl fled from tlieir habila- tions, but raiser] a ireneral dissatisfaction. Mr. 92 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. Clinton, indeed, was unblameable, having frequenti}^ endeavoured to excite the assemblies, and so had Mr. Clarke, to erect a fortress on tlic northern frontier ; but the censures of the multitude being loud and clamorous, the governor indulged more heat than prudence, and sent a message to the house respecting the tragedy at Saratoga, and threatened to draw out detachments of the militia, expressing himself in such sharp reproaches for their inattention to his former requisitions, as were not soon forgot. At present they suppressed their resentment, and entered a resolve, that they would, at all times, concur in every reasonable measure, not only for the defence of the province, but the assistance of their neighbours, in any well concerted plan con- sistent with her circumstances, to distress and attack the enemy ; adding, that this was and ever had been the firm purpose and unanimous resolution of the house. The session being nearly at an end, they passed votes of credit, offering rewards for scalps, the payment of scouting parties, the erection of redoubts, the transportation of detachments, provisions, and ammunition for the Indians. The rejection of Mr. Holland, who claimed a seat in the house, as member for the township of Schenectady, contributed not a little to the acrimony of the governor's message. Though he had a majority of electors, his petition was, at first, unreasonably postponed, and himself, at last, excluded (1st November) under the pretext of his wanting qualifications required by the town charter ; but, in truth, because he was a resident at New-York and a friend to the governor. Mr. ITnl- HISTOUY OF KliW-YOIlK. 93 land lost nothing by this injury, for it procured him the mayoralty of the metropolis, and a place in the council. The bills providing salaries for the year, in which they continued the gift of twenty pounds made for several years past to Mr. Barclay, the missionary to the Mohawks, being passed with several other acts, the session terminated on the 29th of November. Importuned by colonel Philip Schuyler of Albany, whose brother was massacred in the late descent upon Saratoga, for a detachment of three hundred of the militia of the lower counties, and the rebuilding of the fort there, and by the commissioners for Indian affairs on other proposals for the security of the frontiers, and stimulated by letters from Doctor Golden and others, who gave alarms of attacks intended on the western side of Ulster county, as well as by the peoi)le of Massachusetts, for a con- federacy with the eastern colonies in a plan of general defence ; Mr. Clinton gave the assembly a recess only till the 20th of December, and then held up these objects to the attention of the house in a message, asking at the same time for some efficacious amendments to the militia act, and tartly taxing them with the neglect of the important particulars laid before them for the service and honour of the province. They asked leave to adjourn to the 7th of January 1746, and before he consented, voted one hundred and fifty pounds for rebuilding Oswego. They concurred, at the next meeting, in amending the militia act ; prepared to fulfil their late engage- ments: called for a conference with the council 94 HlSTOltY OF NEW-YORK. respecting the New England confederacy ; voted the erection of a line of block-houses on the frontier, and for rangers to defend the western quarter ot Ulster and Orange ; added to the fortifications in the capital ; resolved on a lottery, and a new emis- sion of ten thousand pounds in paper money, to be sunk by a tax.* They nevertheless made their advancements with disgust, and fell into quarrels with each other, dividing often upon the partition of the general burthen among their counties, and at length for several days met only to adjourn. The governor passed the bills that were ready for him, and pro- rogued the house for a few days. On re-assembling, on the 4th of March, the small-pox prevailing at Greenwich, where they had lately sat, they requested an adjournment to the second Tuesday in April, at some other place. Nothing could be more reason- able than a change of the place, whatever the objections might be as to the time. The answer was this : " Gentlemen, — My present indisposition prevents me from speaking to you in public. 1 most earnestly recommend to you to make ample provision, and that with the utmost despatch, for all those services I recommended to you the last session, and hitherto remain unprovided for." Upon which they resolved, that their speaker and five members have power to adjourn from day to day, but that not less than a majority transact any other business, and upon ail questions the names of the members *Thoy would not confer witii the council upon the bill for this cmisslc considerinff it as a money hiW.—Fide .Tovrnnl,25ih Ffhruary, 174B. HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 95 be entered and published in the journals ; and then they adjourned to the evening of the next day. Mr. Clinton called his council together in the interim, and sent a message consenting to their meeting on the 12th instant, at the borough of Westchester. They met there, and first voted a request to meet at Brooklyn on Long Island, but rescinded it the same day, and desired to return to New- York ; and remaining inactive for several days, the governor, with the advice of the council, preferred Brooklyn to the capital, where the small- pox prevailed, and ordered them to adjourn thither accordingly. Sixteen days had now elapsed to no other purpose than incurring the ridicule of the wits, and sharpen- i n spirits before sufficiently disquieted ; and as soon as the house met at Brooklyn, on the '20th of March, they appointed a committee to answer a re- presentation, which the council had presented to the governor, on the late refusal of the house to confer with them on the bill to emit ten thousand pounds of paper money. The governor now opened their business by a message, demanding provision for constructing six new block-houses on the northern frontier; the punctual payment of their militia garrisons, and twenty-five men to be posted in two others at Sche- nectady ; notified them that the Six Nations had refused to act in the war ; urged an alliance with the New-England colonies, to lessen the expense of repurchasing the aid of the six cantons ; insisted upon more money to strengthen the hands ol the • ommissioners, pro re nata ; demanded a further 96 HISTORY OF INEW-YOUK. aid of provisions for the Oswego garrison ; a quota of mon to garrison Louisburgh, till others arrived from England ; and to ingratiate himself with the people without doors, concluded with declaring, that " the enemy cannot be more industrious for the ruin of the colony, than he could be careful to preserve it in the quiet possession of his majesty's subjects." After this, they called a conference with the coun- cil for nominating commissioners to treat with the other colonies, and agreed to recommend to the governor, Messrs. Philip Livingston, Horsmanden, and Murray, of the upper house, and Mr. Verplanck and Mr. NicoU, of the lower house. They desired the governor to inform them whether he had any objection to the emission of paper money ; but to this he gave the proper answer, that " when the bill came to him he would declare his opinion." They proceeded then to votes for the services that were recommended, and increased the emission bill to thirteen thousand pounds, and projected a lottery. To lessen the expense, they proposed to the coun- cil a joint address to the governor, for his posting at Schenectady sixty men of the independent compa- nies in the pay of the crown ; and about the same time, Mr. Clinton stimulated them again for their quota to maintain the garrison at Louisburgh, where an attack was expected ; and for an allowance to captain Armstrong, an engineer, sent over at his instance by the crown, to plan the intended fortifica- tions. The first of these they immediately refused, assigning for their excuse, the exposed and weak state of the colon v. HISTORY OF NEW-YORk. 97 On the 3d of May, he gave them a recess for a month; and then passing the lottery bill, to raise three thousand three hundred and seventy-five pounds for fortifying the city of New- York ; another for the like purposes in other parts of the colony ; a third for a military watch in the county of Albany ; another authorizing commissioners to take affidavits in the country to be used in the supreme court ; and that for issuing thirteen thousand pounds in bills of credit to be sunk by a three years' tax ; the annual levies of which, here subjoined, show the compara- tive opulence of the counties at that time : — New-York, £ 1,444 8 11 Albany, 622 3 9i ,. * Kings, 254 18 Oi Queens, 487 9 54 Suftblk, 433 6 8 Richmond, 131 6 Si Westchester, :.-... 240 14 Si Ulster, 393 18 9i Orange, 144 8 104 Dutchess, 180 11 14 £4,331 10 8 To guard the reader, unacquainted with the petty cabals of a distant colony, and who may be deluded by the seeming precision of these quotas, it is proper to add, that the members for the metropolis always complain of the intrigues of the country gentlemen, in loading their city with a third part of the public burdens, for the ease of their own counties ; and that but for the fear of losing their bills in the council. VOL. I!. — 13 98 HISTORY OF ISEVV-YORK. which is generally composed of citizens of influence, a still greater share would fall upon that small island forming the city and county of New-York. In the recess, Mr. Clinton found it necessary to add three hundred of the militia to the one hundred and twenty in the block-houses, and those thirty posted at Saratoga : this occasioned fresh demands upon the assembly, to which they readily complied, with an augmentation of one hundred and fifty more, besides fifty Indians : and, three days after the first message, the governor informed them of the desig- nation of this aid, by another, brought to Brooklyn by Mr. Banyer, deputy clerk of the council ; and the same day opened a new and extensive scene, in a speech, acquainting them that the duke of New- castle, in a letter of the 9th of April, had signified his majesty's pleasure to set forward an expedition against Canada, commanding levies in all the colo- nies for that purpose ; that every company should consist of one hundred men, to be raised from New- York to Virginia, inclusive, in one corps, under Mr. Gooch, the governor of Virginia, as brigadier-gene- ral, and the whole force to be as great as could be collected before the time of their march. The project was Mr. Shirley's : it was commu- nicated in a letter of the 1 3th of January, and ap- proved by our assembly on the 25th of February. They were to be joined by regular troops from England. This intelligence was received with the greatest exultation by the general mass of the people. The assembly therefore expressed themselves that very day with all the ardour of patriotic zeal : — *' The HISTORY OF iVEW-YORK. 99 inoment we leave your excellency," said they, " we shall employ our hearts and our hands to the great work before us, and come to such resolutions as shall immediately forward the important design ; and the whole course of our proceedings shafl be conducted with such unanimity and effectual des- patch, as may add to the pleasing hopes of a happy success, and prove us fully sensible of our duty, loyalty, and gratitude to his majesty, our regard to the ease, welfare, and security of those we represent, and of that just resentment that should animate us in opposing the perfidy and cruelty of the most dangerous enemy. Bounties were raised for volunteers, and for the purchase of provisions and ammunition; exportations of provisions prevented ; the Indians called to a meeting; the other colonies excited to join in col- lecting presents to conciliate their aid ; artificers impressed for public works ; part of the militia de- tached ; a forty thousand pound tax imposed, to sink that amount, now supplied by a new emission of paper money ; thanks given to the king for for- warding an enterprise so necessary to us, and for advancing the trade of the empire in general. They hesitated about nothing necessary to give it success, except furnishing provisions for the In- dians, unless the neighboring colonies would bear a part of the expenses ; and any contribution for the transportation of stores, for which they refused to advance money to the crown, even upon loan, con- ceiving that it ought to be raised by bills of exchange, a hint which Mr. Clinton improved greatly to his own emolument. They separated on tho 1.5th of 100 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. July, and the governor, in a few days after, went to the Indian treaty at Albany. He could prevail upon none of the council to attend liina, except Doctor Colden, Mr. Livingston, and 'Mr. Rutherford. From Mr. Delancey, by whom his measures had formerly been directed, he was to expect no aid. They had quarrelled in their cups, and set each other at defiance. The governor then gave his confidence to Mr. Colden. The chief justice, inflated by his popular influence, the rise of Sir Peter Warren, his brother-in-law, and the patro- nage of Dr. Herring, formerly his tutor and now his correspondent, in the elevated station of archbishop of Canterbury, and, by Mr. Clinton's incaution, ren- dered independent by a renewal of his commission during good behaviour — in other words, for life — had begun in the course of last winter, to domineer over the governor, who, on a certain occasion, expressed, with some tartness, his resolution to maintain the dignity of his station. The altercations ran so high, that Mr. Delancey left the table with an oath of revenge, and they became thenceforth irrecon- cilable foes. The governor left no stone unturned to procure a numerous assembly of the Indians. The interpre- ter had exerted himself for that purpose among the more distant tribes, while Mr. Johnson,* at his request, practised upon the Mohawks in his neigh- * This gentleman owed his elevation from the obscurity of a solitary resi- dence in the wilderness to the incidents of this period. He was a nephew to Captain, afterwards Sir Peter Warren, and until his ambition was fanned by the party feuds between Clinton and Delancey, aspired no higher than to the life of a genteel farmer in the vicinity of fort Hunter, surrounded by the Mohawks. Whfin colonel Philip Schuyler (who was the son of the celebrated Peter,) held tlie HISTORY OF JVEW-YORK. 101 bourhood. The day the governor arrived, he was pre- sented with two French scalps, taken near Crown Point ; and the 8th of August, Mr. Johnson, to whom Mr Clinton had given the rank of colonel, entered the town at the head of iMohawks, painted and dres- sed in their manner. The governor being indis- posed at the opening of the conference, it was left to Mr. Colden to deliver a speech of his own drafting; and in his excuse for the absence of Mr. Clinton, he describes himself to the Indians as the next person in the administration, for lieutenant-governor Clarke having gone to England, he was then the eldest member of the Council. He reminded them of the antiquity of the covenant chain, and that one intent of the present interview was to confirm it. He informed them of the French attack upon Annapolis Royal, of the reduction of Louisburg, in resentment for that injury, of the subsequent incursions of the enemy, and of their promises of assistance; rebuked their inactivity; revealed the design to attack Canada on this side, by troops from this and the western colonies, while those to the eastward, with the nary, ascended the St. Lawrence. For exciting the sava- ges to co-operate with us, and raise and spread their fame among all the Indian nations, he calls to their remembrance the ancient insults their fathers had received from the French at Onondaga, Cadaracqui, aftection of the Six Nations, lie iiidiscrectiy attached himself to Delancoy, A door was then opened to Mr. Jolinson, who became a favourite of Clinton's, and im- proved his advantages, as the sequel will show, to the acquisition of honor and power, and such avast estate of the crown lands, as cannot fail to support the iiereditarj' di-jnity of an English baronet, to which he arrived in the course of a few years, in consequence of his celebrated victory over baron Dieskau and the French troops at lake George, in 1756. 102 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. and in the Seneca country, applauds the prowess of their ancestors in the invasion of Montreal, in- veighs against their listening to the seducing wiles of the French priests, and then requests their joining with us in the grand enterprise of driving all the French out of the country, as essential to their and our safety. These addresses were, after the Indian manner, divided into short paragraphs, and belts of wampum given for memorials. A Sachem, on the delivery of every belt, turning to each tribe, uttered the word, "yo-hay," do you hear 1 They answered, and when the war-belt was given, there was a general shout. Mr. Clinton appeared the next day, and an Onon- daga orator replied for all the nations. They promised to hold fast the ancient silver chain ; engaged, from the bottom of their hearts, to make use of the hatchet against the French and their children, (meaning their Indian allies) ; threw down a war-belt as a testimony of their union, and recommended unanimity among all the colonies. They denied that the French priests lulled them asleep, declared their abhorrence of them, and that the remembrance of the cruelties of the French made their blood boil. They gave assurance, that they would send in their warriors, with some from the Missisagacs, a nation of five castles and eight hundred men, between the lakes Erie and Huron, who were represented by their delegates then present. The presents from the crown, Virginia, and Mas- sachusetts bay, were afterwards distributed. The governor left it to the Six Nations to srive a share IIISTOHY OF NEW- YORK. lOt^ to the Missisagacs ; intimated his discovery, that certain of their warriors, being in Canada when the tidings of the reduction of Louisburg arrived, had joined the French for the defence of Quebec. He promised arms, clothing, and ammunition, to such as would now go out in the British service. After they had delivered the presents, they hung on the war-kettle, painted themselves as in their wars, and danced till late at night. They performed this singly, in a low motion, to a plaintive tune. One of the Missisagacs' deputies died at Albany of the small-pox ; and, towards the last stage of his disease, requested the governor, that the first French scalp taken in the war might be sent to his mother; and, this promised, he without reluctance resigned himself to death. Mr. Clinton, about the same time, convened and spoke to the Mohendars, under which name are com- prehended all the other savages near this part of the sea coast, and on the banks of the rivers Hudson, Connecticut, Delaware, and the Susquehanna ; to these also, a set of dastardly tribes, he gave presents for promises which they never meant to perform. There were, soon after this congress, such insi- nuations of the scantiness of the governor's gifts, whether true or false cannot be determined, that he thought it requisite, in vindication of his character, to publish an account of the treaty and transactions: it was written by Mr. Golden ; but, though it evinces the propriety of the speeches to draw the Indians into the war, it contained no list of the articles actually distributed among the savages, and wanting 104 HISTORY OF NEW YORK. this proof, the scandsil was rather confirmed than refuted by that incautious publication. Meeting his assembly again in October, the go- vernor, now guided by Mr. Colden, set the public wheels in motion in an unusual manner: being indis- posed, he sent for the speaker, and, through him, laid a copy of his speech before the house. They pronounced this mode irregular and unprecedented; but, to prevent delay, went into the consideration of the business recommended. The speech complains of the difficulty he had to engage the savages to go out into this war ; ascribes the ill temper of the Indians to neglect or misconduct in the management of their affairs, and the inefficacy of the design, to Mr. Gooch's declining the service, the non-arrival of the fleet, and the news of the Brest squadron's hovering on the coast of Nova Scotia with many land forces. Having given orders for a winter camp in the north, and the erection of more small forts, the governor demanded further supplies for those purposes, as well as the management of Indian affairs. He reprobates all parsimony as real prodi- gality at this juncture. His persuasions to harmony excited to discord. He hinted that distrusts were often aggravated by artful designing men : and in- sisted that every branch of the legislature should act within its own limits, according to the model of the British constitution, adding, at the close, " that when unhappy differences have arisen in our mother country, from an imprudent or wanton stretch of power in any one of the parts of government, a cure has been attempted by throwing an over-measure of that power into some other part, by which the HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 105 balance between the several parts of government hag been destroyed. The cure became worse than the disease, whereby confusion and calamity always en- sued, till the balance was again restored. I am told that something of the like nature has more than once happened in this government. Let us, then, guard against such mischiefs, and let us resolve to show by our actions as well as by our words, that' we under- stand and love the English constitution, and thereby convince each other of the sincerity of our intentions for the good of our country ; and then, I make no doubt, all of us shall enjoy the pleasures which necessarily arise from the good effects of such a resolution." The assembly voted six thousand five hundred pounds for victualling the troops in their winter quarters, and two hundred more to transport the provisions to Albany ; but would not provide, in future, for the militia detachments of May and June. The governor, to whom the address was presented, took the hint, that they did not mean to pay for the land-carriage from Albany; and, therefore, insisted that this expense should be provided for. The volunteers amounted to thirteen hundred and eighty men. He said there were one hundred and eighty men without their bounty money, and requested blankets both for them and part of the king's inde- pendent companies, who were to join the little army on the northern frontier. The flame soon broke out. The assembly turned their attention to the civil list ; for the year voted only the deficient bounty money, and ordered a re- presentation to be drawn up in answer to the gover- voi,. n. — 11 106 HISTORY OF NEW-¥011K. nor's speech and message, and a bill to be brought in to raise two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds by lottery, towards erecting a college.* On Wednesday, the 24th of October, they ad- journed, without leave, to Friday, then to Monday, and the day after received, approved, engrossed, and sent to the governor a representation reported by colonel Philipse, colonel Morris, colonel Schuyler, Mr. David Clarkson, and Mr. Henry Cruger. It is to be observed, that while this instrument was preparing, advice arrived from Albany, that Henry Holland, the sheriff of that county, by order of colonel Roberts,* had broke into the commissioners' storehouses, and taken out the provisions entrusted to their care for the use of the army. The representation of the assembly, after declar- ing their ignorance of the bad disposition of the Indians and the authors of it, sullenly observed, that they last year provided for his voyage to a treaty with them, and that he and those he employed can best tell what service it had answered. They professed their willingness to inquire into the neglect or misconduct of the Indian affairs, and for that end, they asked for the correspondence upon this subject between him and others since his arrival. They disapproved of his winter camp, intimating their apprehensions that deaths and desertions, •*< 23d October 1746. i An officer of one ofthe independent companies, now raised by Mr. Clinton to the rank of colonel in the intended expedition. He had been a cornet of horse at the accession of George I. and was connected, by his first marriage, to the earl of Halifax. His second wife was a daughter of that Mr. Harrison who had so deep a share in the feuds of Cosby and Van Dam. HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 107 through the severity of the weather, would frustrate the king's design of any expedition to Canada the next year. They boasted of further contributions to it than the king expected, and then alleged that they are at a loss to discover the meaning of his dissuading from parsimony, a term not so much as once mentioned in their house. They are surprised at his opinion, that the legis- lature are not in perfect harmony. They are apprised of the necessity of it ; think themselves capable of guarding against the private views of artful and de- signing men, and would be sorry any such should prevail on him to disturb the harmony necessary to the general preservation ; that if any by persuasion excited his distrust of the legislature at this juncture, they affirm that they are not friends to the country, but men of sinister views. They confessed that differences have formerly happened, but they were thought to arise rather from bad advice to governors, than wantonness in the people, and ought to serve as land- marks to avoid the like evils. They affirm, that upon the communication of the duke of Newcastle's letter, they provided for victualling the troops, and gave eight pounds bounty, with a blanket, to each vo- lunteer, and never intended their commissioners should deliver out the subsistence at Albany ; that the circumstances of the colony (of which they were the most competent judges) would not admit of any further step, and beyond this they meant not to go. The governor who, when Mr. Gooch declined Ins appointment, acted in his stead in the direction 108 HISTORY OF rsE^V-YORK. of the troops intended for Canada, had, before he left Albany, ordered the commissioners to deliver out provisions to the four independent companies destined with others to the carrying place above Saratoga, on the route to the French fort at Crown Point. Colonel Roberts had the command to re- quire an unlimited quantity of provisions for the whole party, and to surmount the refusal of the commissioners, gave an order on Mr. Holland to impress provisions for fourteen hundred men for two months. It has been before observed, that a law was passed authorizing the impress of artificers ; it extended to horses, wagons, and other things necessary for the success of the expedition, and Mr. Clinton had left a warrant with Holland, the sheriff, for carrying it into execution. Provisions had been demanded for one hundred and thirty men more than were in service, and three companies had already drawn out their quota. The house considered the governor, therefore, as in the scheme of forcing the transportation, the expense of which they had refused to defray, and the rather because doctor Colden, when at Albany, had insisted upon it, menacing the commissioners if they did not comply. Hence ihe clamours in the country, the prognosti- cations in the governor's message, and the severities of the representation, though it was four days afterwards tliat the house resolved, that the gover- nor was ill advised in granting the warrant for the subsistence of the king's independent fusiliers; that the commissioners obeyed the law in refusing to comply with it ; that colonel Roberts' order was HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 109 arbitrary and illegal ; that the breaking open the stores was a violation of the rights and liberties of the subject; and that Golden, Roberts, and Holland, were guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors; and that it would be in vain to furnish provisions for subsisting the forces in the expedition against Canada, until assurances were given that an effec- tual stop should be put to such proceedings; and an order was made for requesting the governor's command to the attorney-general to prosecute the delinquents. Mr. Clinton's message of the 10th of November, in answer to the representation of the fifth, contri- buted nothing to the extinguishment of these discontents. Displeased with the commissioners of Indian affairs, he charges the untowardness of the savages upon them, as traders with them ; promises to give orders to the secretary for that business to prepare copies of the correspondence ; expresses high disapprobation at the public testi- mony of their dissatisfaction with his winter camp, as countenancing a contempt of orders, and the printing it without waiting for his answer; and threatens to complain to the king of the difficulties he had passed through in the last six months ; and, with respect to the resolves of the 8th, he observes, in another message of the 24th, for the vindication of his own measures, and to wipe oflf aspersions upon others, that the troops at Albany, by concert between himself, Mr. Shirley, and Mr. Warren, were destined against Canada ; that he added to them a part of the independent companies ; that the new levies, which they had agreed to supply 110 HISTORY OF i\EW-YORK. with provisions, were at first sixteen hundred men, exclusive of commission officers ; that these, by desertions and disease, were reduced to fourteen hundred, including the officers ; that he could not imagine it disagreeable to them that he supplied the defect of two hundred out of the independent companies ; that when he issued the orders to march, he sent major Clarke to the commissioners with assurances that, if the assembly disapproved of the supplies, he would replace the quantum ; that the form of the warrants they complained of are settled in council ; that he authorized doctor Colden's request to the commissioners for trans- porting and delivering out the provisions to the captains, and on their objecting, to engage payment for the expense of the carriage, and that if they refused this, to intimate his intention to appoint other commissioners; that Mr. Golden reported their consent, and Mr. Cuyler, one of them, confirmed it. He then refers them to the minutes of a council of war, held at Albany by colonel Roberts, colonel Marshal, major Clarke, and major Rutherford, on the 16th October, at which colonel Roberts presided, showing that after Mr. Clinton left Albany, Mr. Cuy- ler refused to transport the provisions, assigning the want of money as his reason, or to appoint a com- missary to deliver them out, if they were transported by the army; nor would he deliver them at Albany to any commissioner or quarter-master, though colonel Roberts promised to be accountable, and to produce the captains' receipts, insisting, that the letter of the act required the commissioners to deliver them only to the captains. HISTORY OF NEW-\OUK. Ill That the council then considering that the cap- tains could not find separate storehouses on the frontiers, nor could their services in scouting parties enable them to preserve the provisions from waste, he advised colonel Roberts to impress their provisions, give a receipt for them, appoint a commissary to be recommended by the commissioners to issue them out ; and that such conduct was, in their opinion, not inconsistent with the intent of the act of assembly, and that, without it, the expedition for guarding the frontiers would be neglected. The governor added, that he thought himself in the line of his duty in ordering the march ; the council right in their advice from the great law of necessity, and that neither Roberts nor Holland were to blame ; that he could not therefore give any orders for pro- secuting them. He promised to assist in the discovery of embez- zlements, if any there had been, and for obtaining justice to be done to the colony, and that the provi- sions impressed should be accounted for. He urged them to chang^e the commissioners for others less in- clined to embarrass the service, obliquely impeaches them for deficiencies of rum ; and, after censuring their freedoms with persons in his and doctor Col- den's stations, remarks that their resolves deserve their most serious consideration. The house resolved this answer unsatisfactory ; that whoever advised or endeavoured to create jea- lousies and encourage a breach of the laws were enemies to the constitution ; that they would grant no more supplies while such notorious abuses were committed ; but that upon proper assurances of 112 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK, redress, they would grant further aids for the sub- sistence of the troops. The governor, alarmed, asked for the sustenance of the troops, agreeable to their engagements, pro- mising that what had been experienced should not happen again, and that exact accounts of the con- sumption should be kept and laid before them ; and to divert their attention from the last object, made new requisitions to pay for female scalps ; smiths among the Senecas and Onondagas ; arrearages for provisions at Oswego, and the repairs of the fort at Albany. But, unwilling to prolong the session, they postponed these considerations, and were prorogued on the 6th of December, when thirteen acts received the governor's assent. Care was taken to prevent desertions from the army, to raise the taxes, to maintain a military watch in Albany, to keep up the militia, to provide winter subsistence for the troops, support the civil list for a year, and raise two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds by lottery for founding a college, a project early in the eye of the patrons of the public school, formerly trusted to the care of Mr. Malcolm, favoured by the pupils of that institu- tion now rising to manhood, and forced by a general spirit of emulation on discovering the sundry ad- vantages our youth had acquired by an academical education in Great Britain and Ireland, but chiefly at tlie neighbouring colleges of New England. The author observed in the first records of the colony of New-Haven, vulgarly called the blue laws,* that this was an object of the very first adventurers in that country, long before their charter, uniting * See note F, that and the Hartford colony, was obtained. Tlie inhabitants of New-Haven (to whose honour be it mentioned) raised a large sum to begin the institu- tion within five or six years from the date of their Indian purchase of tliat town, then called Quinipiack. It was from this seminary that many of the western churches in New- York and New -Jersey were after- wards furnished with their English clergymen. Mr. Smith, who was a tutor and declined the rector's chair in Yale college, vacant by the removal of Dr. Cutler, was the first lay character of it belonging to the colony of New- York. Their numbers multiplied some years afterwards, and especially when, at his instance, Mr. Philip Livingston, the second pro- prietor of the manor of that name, encouraged that academy by sending several of his sons to it for their education. To the disgrace of our first planters, who beyond comparison surpassed their eastern neighbours in opulence, Mr. Delancey, a graduate of the university of Cambridge, and Mr. Smith, were, for many years, the only academics in this province, except such as were in holy orders ; and so late as the period wc are now examining, the author did not recollect above thirteen more, the youngest of whom had his bachelor's degree at the age of seventeen, but two months before the passing of the above law, the first towards erecting a college in this colony, though at the distance of above one hundred and twenty years after its discovery and the settlement of the capital by Dutch progenitors from Amsterdam.* '' See nole G. VOL. II. 15 114 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. The assembly being convened again in the spring of the next year, Mr. Clinton, in his speech of the 25th of March, observed, that the late provision for the levies extended only to May 1st ; that he had secured the Six Nations without any charge to the colony, and had hopes of drawing some of the re- mote savages into an alliance, and for this purpose he required supplies to be distributed in presents ; that, agreeable to a concert with Mr. Shirley, two forts were intended to be erected at the portage on the route to Crown Point, to favour the expedition to Canada, for which the king's orders were daily ex- pected; that no money being sent from England, and the council of this colony and the commissioners from the Massachusetts having proposed to pro- secute the expedition at the immediate expense of the colonies, in certain rates there stated, he impor- tuned them for their concurrence and proportion ; and by a message he also desired a provision for scouting parties to be kept up while the army went forward on the main design. Bent upon renewing the hostilities of the last ses- sion, they did not vote any address, and resolving not to recede from the declaration that they would not transport the provisions from Albany, they agreed to victual their levies for three months, and pay for one hundred scouts, and only to pay one hundred and fifty pounds for the expenses of his journey to the intended Indian convention. The enemy were, at that time, ravaging the fron- tiers and practising most merciless acts of cruelty. The house, to make a handle of a pathetic petition presented to them, and for embarrassing and calum- iiisroiJY or ,m;\v-vuhi\. 115 niating- the oovernor, asked one liundred men out of the little army destined to Canada for scorning the woods, offering every private a shilling per day be- yond the pay of the crown, and introducing it with a recital, that the levies were victualled at a very great expense, and had been hitherto unemployed ; and to raise the popular outcry the higher, they be- sought him to pass the bill providing for the hundred rangers to which the council had consented eight days before, intimating that they would then do nothing more, and desiring a recess. The governor thought himself compelled, for his vindication, to inform them, that when last at Al- bany he could not engage a man to range the woods under the wages of three shillings per day, with pro- visions besides ; that their offer of one shilling was, therefore, no motive for their acting in that service, and if they agreed to it, the house had made no pro- vision for their officers ; that he had engaged the Six Nations at the sole expense of the crown, who also bore all the other charges of the army except provi- sions; that parties of Indians and the new levies had been employed in divers excursions ; that when the expedition to Canada was laid aside for the year, he ordered a camp to be fortified at the carrying place, that from thence they might intercept parties from Crown Point, and by collecting magazines there, forward the intended services of the present year against Canada; that this design was obstructed by the late obstacles respecting the issuing provisions, till the frost compelled them to winter at Saratoga; that he had posted a part of the army in the Mohawks' pountrv, others at nnd bovond Schenectady, throe J 16 JII.STORV OF NEW-YORK. companies at Schaghticoke, four at Half Moon, two at Niskyuna, and others at Albany, leaving a force at Saratoga — " so that there were garrisons in aline from east to west, across the northern frontier, in every place where they could be placed in safety during the winter season ;" there were other places where forts ought to have been erected, but that he could not put that charge upon the crown, they them- selves not thinking them necessary for their own safety; that to keep the enemy at home, he had sent out parties of the Mohawks against their borders ; that his project of a fort at the carrying place was approved of by Mr. Shirley, and some of the neigh- boring colonies were willing to contribute to it, if the assembly of this colony would set the exam- ple, and when he urged their concurrence, he had avoided all ground for fresh controversy. He proceeds then to complain of their declining every necessary expense for the common security, and of their disrespectful behaviour which obliged him, as he says, " from that common justice which every man owes to himself, to speak out some things which otherwise I should have thought proper to conceal." That the principal traders and richest men in Albany do not wish well to an expedition against Canada, from an attachment to a trade with that country, engrossed by a few, and which he had effectually obstructed.* * Tl.e keenness of this insinuation will escape the reader's attention, unless he recollects the representation drawn up by Mr. Golden and others, in governor Burnet's administration, against a petition promoted by Mr. Delancey's father, who derived great advantages by the Indian trade through lake Champlain^and was. therefore, in opposition to the new trading house at Oswego. HISTORY Crt<' NKW-YORlv, 117 To this he ascribes liis difficulties witli the Indians, and a message from the governor of Canada per- suading the savages to a neutrality, and promising from his pity of their brethren at Albany to turn his Indians on their most inveterate enemies of New England. He then reminds them, that before the late negro plot information was given of popish emissaries, and that he suspects them among us, working upon men of wrong heads, violent j)assions, and desperate fortunes, as had been the case in tiic late Scotch rebellion. He shows the danger of false insinuations to raise jealousies among the people of their rulers and go- vernors ; asks, with what truth it can be said the new levies have been hitiierto unemployed, and sug- gestions publicly hinted of his neglect of duty ; and promises an answer to their request for a recess, when he knows their resolution to take care of the colony. They formed themselves into a committee of the whole house, and agreed upon another representa- tion. To give them time to cool, he adjourned them from the 2d to the I9th of May, but with what suc- cess the reader will determine, after he reads the following abstract of the long answer of seven folio pages and a half in print, then reported by a com- mittee consisting of Messrs. David Clarkson, Cor- nelius Van Home, Paul Richard, Henry Cruger, Federick Philipse, John Thomas, Lewis Morris, David Pierson, and William Nicoll. It was read, engrossed, and presented the same afternoon, with a request for leave to adjourn. Thev disown anv intention to offend by the request 118 IIISTOKY OF NEW-YOKK. for employing the new levies for rangers, to which they were excited by information that they were wil- ling to serve with an allowance beyond the king's pay of nine-pence or one shilling per day ; by asser- ting that they were unemployed, was only meant that they. were not then on the expedition to Canada, and that they might have been on short scouts without any injury to the service ; that they were well appri- sed of the importance of the Indian alliance ; that, therefore, they had put one thousand pounds in his hands in 1745 for presents, though he had then money, before voted for that purpose ; that those Indians had, as yet, done nothing agreeable to their assurances of their engaging in the war if further depredations were made. That they consider the king's order to make pre- sents as an intimation that the charge ought not to fall on the colony ; that he went to Albany last sum- mer at their expense, but what he gave the Indians they know not ; that the crown was also, doubtless, at other great charges, which turned out to the pri- vate interest of some individuals. They think their loyalty very manifest since his arrival, and suppose him well convinced of it; that he spoke well of the people in his first speech, but the change of his opinion obliged them to remind him that they gave him one thousand pounds as an earnest of their respect for him ; have raised as much for his support as for any of his predecessors, and built a noble edifice for his residence on his own plan, and paid his house-rent while the house was constructing. They recollect the burning of Saratoga, November 1745, and hint, that if the independent companies IIISTOHY OF iMEW VOKK. 119 had not been drawn from that post, this destruction would not have happened. That money was given for a fort at the carrying place accordmg to his own design, which was never- theless applied to re-building that at Saratoga ; that they contributed a part of the miliiia to garrison it ; that then a line of block-houses was recommended from New England to the Mohawks' castle ; they had provided for this scheme, and the money laid out in detachments of the militia posted by his order on the frontiers. They declared their willingness to contri- bute to two forts at the carrying place, and seem to doubt his declaration that any other colonies will bear a part of this burden. They declare, that no- body acquainted with the climate could be surprised at the disappointment of the attempt to fortify a camp at the time he fixed upon for that work. They assert, that the money raised for the expedition is nearly expended by the nine-pounds bounty per man, the victualling of sixteen companies, one hundred men each, and other military purposes. These they think proofs of their care for themselves, and do not forget their gift for the cape Breton expedition, with the further expense of transporting ten cannon, their carriages, (fee. They conceived that their advancements have been unskilfully laid out, for want of an engineer, and lament the delay of the person expected. Respecting the scheme of commissioners for a joint prosecution of the war with the other colonics, they mention their having provided for it, and add: " how it has happened that nothing lias been done upon that commission, is only to be conjectured.' 120 HISTORY OF I\E\V-Y0KK. They censure the late negotiations at Albany, towards erecting two forts at the carrying place and attacking Crown Point, with the assistance of only three of the council, while there were six gentle- men in commission for that purpose, and no other government had commissioners there but Massa- chusetts bay. They declared that they had not confidence in the success of the expedition, and chose to wait till experienced officers, daily expected, arrived from England. They confessed, that ever since he had placed his confidence in a person obnoxious to and censured by that house, the public affairs had been perplexed, and not attended to with that steadiness and good conduct which their importance required, and did appear in the measures pursued before he bore so great a part in his councils. To him they imputed certain late speeches and messages, and the interruption of the public harmo- ny; denied that the traders of Albany wished ill to the Canada expedition, and charged the insinuation to the inveterate prejudices of his minister, who had grossly calumniated the distressed inhabitants of Albany, and abused his confidence. That part of his message descriptive of the prac- tices of Popish emissaries, they applied to another person then in his favor,* who was bred a protestant, resided several years in Canada, married a woman there of the Romish church, after havino- first abjured his religion, alleging that he was a person of desperate fortunes. To his intrigues and false - ' John Henry Lidius, whose fatlifiv was a Dutch uuuister at Albany. HISTURV UF INEW-VOKlv. 121 lioods they imputed the iinlavorable temper of the Indians, and to popish emissaries the perplexities of his administration. They then assert it to be reported, tliat two-thirds of tlie Indian presents in 1745 were embezzled; and that the French and Spanish prisoners were sold, under colour of his authority, to owners and captains of flags of truce, at a pistole a head ; and these things they affect to mention as with a design to give him an opportunity to punish the delinquents. They hoped that, from the whole tiiey have evinced, they have had a due care not only of their own, but his honour and interest. Mr. Clinton commanded an adjournment for a few days, and contented himself only with a threat of complaining to the king, and a remark, which every body else had made without doors, that this violent and acrimonious composition was not two hours before the house ; so that the engrossed copy sent to the governor, must have been prepared before the draft was brought in by the committee. It has been before observed, that this petty army, raised upon the duke of Newcastle's letter of the 9th of April, 1746, was to be paid by the crown. Hitherto Mr. Clinton had dra\Vn bills to raise money for that purpose ; and whether because the design seemed to be neglected at home, and he really apprehended the non-payment of his bills, or sought an occasion to embarrass the assembly, he gave them intimations that the troops threatened to disband for want of pay ; and he exacted their indemnity of his estate against the protest of lii> VOL. II. — IfS 122 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. bills, or their providing money to keep the army together. The projector of this device certainly could not reasonably hope to draw any other advantage from it, than a demonstration to government that Mr. Clinton's drafts, which already amounted to nine thousand pounds, and for which he had the advice of his council, were absolutely necessary, and that end it did serve, and that only; for the house absolutely refused to counter-secure him, declaring that his drafts were necessary to prevent the total desertion of the levies, and that his refusal to continue drawing would imply distrust of the king, and render himself answerable for the lives and estates of his subjects. From the 4th of June, they only met and adjourned to the 4th day of August, when he called upon them to join with Massachusetts bay and Connecticut in the attack of Crown Point, aided by as many Indians, of whose temper he spoke favorably as to their being animated to action. But they laid hold of the objections, that as no estimate was found of the whole expense, nor the quotas of the respeptive colonies ascertained, they refused to concur till these preliminaries were settled. Mr. Clinton continued his drafts for the army, till the languor of administration exhausted his hopes of any co-operation from that side of the water; and on the 31st of August, when he flatly refused any longer to victual the four independent companies and southern levies, or to expend money upon the Indians, or transport provisions to HISTOKY 01' JNi:\>-Y0l5l\. 12^ {Saratoga, he urged them to take those expenses upon themselves, for two months, till when he hoped to draw the other colonies into some contribution, and to be better informed of his majesty's intentions. He also notified them that Oswego was in danger ; colonel Johnson, the con- tractor for the supply of that garrison, requiring guards to convoy the provisions, a late incursion of the enemy upon the German flats in that route having doubled the expense of transportation. On which the house resolved, that the provisions of the independent companies ought not to be a charge either to the crown or the colony, while posted at Albany, they having always subsisted themselves out of their own pay, except when at Oswego or the outposts; when there, they were and should be supplied by the colony : that the southern colonies ought to subsist their own forces ; that having the king's orders to make advancement to cultivate the friendship of the Indians, it is his duty to continue them till the contrary be signified by the crown ; that his bills for transporting pro- visions to Saratoga being paid, that expense ought to be forborne ; that colonel Johnson cannot ask an additional allowance, the governor having in- formed them on the 2d of December, 1740, that the colonel had contracted against all events ; but to protect the county of Albany, they agreed to provide for one hundred and fifty rangers, to be formed in three companies, and kept up for fifty days. The prospect of the desertion of the fort of Sara- toga by the New- Jersey troops posted there, for want of provisions, hownver. filled every man witJi 124 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. terror ; and after a call of the house, they requested the governor either to send a part of the New- York levies there, or, if his powers over them were deter- mined, a detachment from the independent fusiliers, for whom they in that case promised supplies of provisions. He repeated his declarations, that he would no longer disburse money at the charge of the crown ; and they, their instances for the preservation of Saratoga. Holding up the consequence of their refusal to secure the Indian interest, and guard the frontiers, the governor adds, *'If you deny me the necessary supplies, all my endeavours must become ineffectual and fruitless : I must wash my own hands, and leave at your doors the blood of the innocent people that may be shed by a cruel and merciless enemy." On the 17th of September they were adjourned to the 22d ; only two bills being then passed, there was another adjournment to the 29th, and again to the 5th of October. These provoked to a resolve, that to him were to be ascribed the delays in providing for the defence of the frontier ; and that a remonstrance be presented on the condition of the colony, to be prepared by Messrs. Clarkson, Van Home, Richard Cruger, Philipse, Thomas, Jones, and Cornel. Before the draft was reported, the governor, by a message of the 6th of October, laid before them a compact of their own commissioners with others from Massachusetts bay and Connecticut. These gentlemen had so concerted matters, as to cast the burden of maintaining the Indian alliance entirely upon the crown, thousfh Mr. Clinton had HISTORY OF .NEW-YORK. 125 importuned them to make that and the erection of forts subjects of contract. The message, therefore, warns them of tlie necessity of an immediate atten- tion to these objects, as well as those for which the contracting colonies were to provide ; and to show them the expectations of the Indians, he communi- cated a copy of the conferences he held with some of their chiefs on the 26th of September last, with colonel Johnson's report to a committee of the council on the 3d of October. This was soon followed with resolves to execute their part of the plan concerted by the commission- ers ; to provide for the defence of the northern frontier, and for presents for the Indian sachems then in town ; that eight hundred pounds be devoted to supply the governor's failure to support the Indian interest, though he had made large drafts for that purpose, and of which they had heard of no disposi- tion ; that the usual provision be made for Oswego ; that they would bear their proportion of the expense towards erecting forts in the Indian cantons, as asylums to their wives and children, while their war- riors were abroad ; that they will take a part of the army for the security of the frontiers into pay, as soon as they are advised of their being discharged by the crown; that they would victual the garrison of Sara- toga, and transport the provisions wanted there ; and the messenger sent with a copy of these resolves, was also to request infortnation whether any, and what number of troops was ordered to Saratoga. The answer of that day was so extraordinary, that ihe author cannot help transcribing it. " By your votes, I understand you are going upon 126 HISTORY OF Ni:W-¥ORK. things very foreign to what I recommended to you. I will receive nothing from you at this critical junc- ture, but what relates to the message I last sent you ; viz. by all means immediately to take the preserva- tion of your frontiers and the fidelity of the Indians into consideration. The loss of a day may have fatal consequences. When that is over, you may have time to go upon any other matters." They then resolved it to be their undoubted right to proceed in such order as they conceived most conducive to the interest of their constituents ; that the attempt to prescribe to them, was a manifest breach of the rights and privileges of that house and of the people ; that the governor's declaration was irregular, unprecedented, and manifestly tended to the subversion of their rights, liberties, and privi- leges : and that his adviser had attempted to under- mine and infringe them, violate the liberties of the people, subvert the constitution of the colony, and was an enemy to its inhabitants. The next day, the 9th of October, Mr. Clarkson brought in the remonstrance, to which the house, immediately after reading it, ordered their speaker to set his name : they sent it to the governor that morn- ing by seven members,* who reported that he would neither hear it read, nor suffer it to be left with him. While they were in suspense upon the next step to be taken, he sent them a message on the 13th of October. That he was pleased with their approbation of the scheme concerted by the commissioners of the three •f= Mr. Clarkscn, colonel Philipse, Mr, Thomas, Mr. Cruder, colonel Beekman colonel Chambers, and colonel Lntt IIISTURY OF NEW-YOUK. 121 colonies, so nearly agreeing with that he had planned in October last, with governor Shirley and commo- dore Warren. That he was also pleased that his council, before the commissioners met, had approved of his proposal concerning the erection of two forts at the carrying place, and had made it an instruction to their com- missioners to effect it at the charge of the colonies. He observes, in an air of triumph, that when he had before urged these things, they were to have been executed at the expense of the crown ; and that now they became a colony charge, through the obstruc- tions he had met with by their clogs on the transpor- tation of provisions to the army. He then proceeds to refute the insinuation, that the money raised by his drafts for Indian expenses was not expended ; recounts the Indian services ; alleges that last year he could not get twenty of them on a scout, but that now colonel Johnson could collect a thousand of them for service ; that this gentleman had detached many of them from the French ; that their object in the denial of money for these services, was to wrest the prerogative of making treaties from the crown, and place it in the hands of popular agents of their own appointing. He accuses them also with a design to share in the military authority of the executive ; declares he will not consent to it ; avers that Saratoga was burnt, and afterwards abandoned, by their negligence of his requisitions. He then attempts to justify his mes- sage to confine them to what he had recommended for the care and preservation of the colony ; calls their late votes to shut their door, a farce, unless it 128 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. was designed to exclude his messages ; and if so, in that case he pronounced it a high insult on the king's authority, and the withdrawing their allegiance for a time. He denied their authority to act as an assembly, except by virtue of the royal commission and instruc- tions, alterable at the king's pleasure. After which he thus expressed himself: You seem to place it upon the same foundation with the house of com- mons of Great Britain, and if I mistake not, by the resolves of the 9th of this month, assume all the pri- vileges and rights of the house of commons of Great Britain If so, you assume a right to be a branch of the legislature of the kingdom, and deny your depen- dence and subjection on the crown and parliament. If you have not the rights of the house of commons of Great Britain, then the giver of the authority, by which you act, has or can put bounds or limitations upon your rights and privileges, and alter them at pleasure, and has a power to restrain you when you endeavour to transgress. And I must now tell you, that I have his majesty's express commands not to suffer you to bring some matters into your house, or to debate upon them ; and for that reason, the cus- tom has been long established of the clerk of your house to show every day to the governor, the minutes of the proceedings of your house : and it is undutiful behaviour to keep any thing secret from me, that is under your consideration. In short, gentlemen, I must likewise tell you, that every branch of the legis- lature of this province, and all of them together, may be criminal in the eye of the law ; and there is a power able to punish you, and that will punish you, if IllSTOKY OF NEW- YORK. 129 you provoke that power to do it by your mis- behaviour, otherwise you must think yourselves independent of the crown of Great Britain." He then complained of the late method of serving him, by members, with copies of their resolutions, as JU-mannerly and unconstitutional ; and then adds — " This leads me to consider a most indiscreet beha- viour of some of the members of your house, who, in a quarter of an hour after I was served with a copy of your resolves of the 9th instant, came into an apartment of my house, where I was busy, and, with- out the least previous notice, one of them offered to read a large bundle of papers, which, he said, was a remonstrance from the house. Does not every pri- vate man in this country think his own house his castle ? And must your governor, when in his private apartment, be thus intruded upon ? Would any private man bear such behaviour in a stranger ; and must your governor bear it with patience ? I think, therefore, from such behaviour, without any other, I had too much reason to refuse to receive it, or to suffer it to be left with me : and from some past re- presentations which have been openly made by your house, I never will hereafter receive any thing from your house in public, the contents of which are not previously communicated to me in private, that I may judge wiiether it be necessary for his majesty's ser- vice and the public good, to give access to me for that purpose." He charged their omit;sion to acquaint him of their first meeting, to design ; their resolves against his late adjournments and prorogations, as enrroach- VOL. 11. — 17 130 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. ments upon the prerogative ; — taxes them witli unreasonable precipitation in adopting drafts of representations, as marks of their being led by a spirit of faction ; with an attempt to defame him, and with asserting known falsehoods. To oppose the malignant imputation of his em- bezzlement of the Indian presents, he states all his receipts at but eighteen hundred pounds currency ; and urges to show the reduction of it before the goods were delivered, the necessary expenditures for maintaining such vast numbers at Albany, private gifts to particular sachems, a sum to the Senecas for a release of their claim to Oswego, the transporta- tion of the Indians in wagons from and to Schenec- tady, and provisions for their return. He insisted that, if they had any suspicions of waste, they ought to have asked information, or complained to the king. He denied that they were moved by any zeal for their country in this attack ; remarks that, though they have put sixty thousand pounds into the hands of their relations and friends, no accounts are as yet exacted. He ascribed their attacks on his friends and assistants to malice ; and declares that he will with- draw the independent fusiliers from Albany, unless they will supply them with provisions as they do others ; desires them to reflect whether their con- duct is not owing either to a firm principle of disloyalty for delivering up the country to the king's enemies, or to support a neutrality with Canada, as in Queen Anne's reign, to the prejudice of the other colonies, or to overturn the constitution ; or. HISTORY OF IMEW YORK. 131 Jastly, to gratify the malice of a few, known to have a share in tlieir private consultations. He concluded with renewing his demands for securing the frontiers and the fidelity of the Indians; and, to prevent delays, informs them that he will not assent to any bill for issuing the public money, but as his commission and instructions direct, or to limit or clog the prerogative respecting the disposi- tion of the troops. " If you make any thing," says he, "contrary to his majesty's commission or instruc- tions, a condition of your granting the necessary supplies for the safety of the people of this province, I now tell you, that it will be trifling with the lives and estates of your constituents, by exposing them, in this time of danger, without policy, for I never will yield to it." It was agreed by the commissioners, that gun- smiths should be sent to each of the six cantons, except the McJhawks and Tuscaroras, with goods to the value of three hundred pounds, for presents ; and, as the season advanced, the assembly signified (15th October) to the governor, their willingness to advance the money on the credit of the confederate colonies, that he might forward this service before the winter. But he put them in mind the next day of other provisions equally urgent, especially as ho informed them on the 19th, that the king had laid aside the expedition against Canada, and ordered the troops to be discharged, except such as were necessary for the defence of Nova Scotia ; and tiiat, by his majesty's command, he was to recommend it to them to pay their own levies, and trust to n parliamentary reimbursement. 1^2 HISTORY OF NEW-YORlv. The privates had been paid up by the governor to the 24th of July last, and two months' pay given to the subalterns. He renewed his desire for taking them, or a part of them, into the service of three colonies ; and they immediately voted to pay half of their levies, or eight hundred men, to the first of August, leaving it to the rest of the colonies to act at their pleasure ; but they declined the discharge of the arrears, assigning their poverty and distresses for their disappointment of the royal expectations. On the 24th of October, the governor thought proper, by a written order under his hand, to forbid James Parker, who usually printed the journals of the house, to publish the assembly's remonstrance, which provoked Mr. Clarkson to relate, and the rest of the committee to confirm, the history of what passed at the offer of it to the governor. That they knocked at the outward door, and told the servant who attended, that they had a message. That after retiring to an inner room, he came out, followed by a gentleman, and showed them into it, where they found the governor, who expressed no displeasure. They informed him that they came as a committee of the assembly with a remonstrance, and Mr. Clarkson offered to read it, which the governor would not permit, nor suffer it to be left ; on which they decently withdrew, Mr. Clinton only intimating, that this proceeding without the speaker was not parliamentary. Upon this, Parker was ordered to attend, and having produced the governor's prohibi- tion, a copy of which he had published in hi.s gazette, they resolved that the attempt to prevent History of iNEw-yokk. 1{33 the publication of their proceedings, was a violation of the rights and liberties of the people, and an infringement of their privileges ; that the remon- strance was a regular proceeding ; that the gover- nor's order was unwarrantable, arbitrary, and illegal, a violation of their privileges, and of the liberty of the press, and tending to the utter subversion of all the rights and liberties of the colony ; and that the speaker's order for printing the remonstrance was regular, and consistent with his duty. That the reader may form his own judgment of it, we here give him a succinct analysis of its principal parts. It professes their design to open to him the state of the colony. They conceive that his late messages reflect upon their conduct ; and that his prorogation of the 29th of September and adjournment of the 5th of Octo- ber, were designed to prevent their vindication of themselves. Bewailing the alteration of temper and sentiments in the several branches of the legislature, they proceed to its causes. Their proceedings discover that there was per- fect harmony on the 6th of June, 1746, when the king's pleasure for an expedition to Canada was announced — all conspired with one heart to promote the service, and his speeches and messages were clear, express, and intelligible ; but ever since he had put his confidence in the person who styles himself, " the next in administration," arts have been used to distract and divide. They esteemed his falling into the liands of a man so obnoxious, aiming at nothing but his own 134 HISTORY OP NEW- YORK. interest, a great misfortune to the country. To prove their suggestions, they proceed to a history of their late intercourse. On the 9th and 1 1th of September, they had importuned him to keep up a garrison at Saratoga, and agreed not only to supply but transport pro- visions to it. On the 16th, they voted for the preservation of Oswego, and to consider, (tliough he had taken all risks upon himself,) of colonel Johnson's demands for subsistence, if by unforeseen accidents he was likely to suffer. To the governor's assertion, that they were acquainted with the temper of the Indians before his treaty of last year, they answer with a denial of any such knowledge, on account of the secresy he had affected respecting Indian affairs, which he had diverted from their ancient channel by taking the business out of the hands of the commissioners, and to this they assign their present perplexity and distraction. They admit the reluctance of the Indians to engage in the war ; and, for removing aspersions, observe, that the Caghnuagas, in Canada, are re- lated to the Six Nations ; that they were, therefore, inclined to a neutrality, and the rather as they had declared, because their wars end only in extirpation ; and they avow the opinion, that such a neutrality would have been most advantageous to the public. Against his boasting of their utility, they deny that there has been any conflict between ours and the French Indians, or that they had brought in more than three French scalps and some prisoners ; and impute his magnifying the late treaties, to a HISTORY or >F.W-Y011K. 135 design to countenance his drafts on the crown for Indian presents, some of which drafts they suggest as being made the last summer, when no gifts were made, and that therefore he had a considerable sum in bank on tliat score. They dispute his professions of zeal for the welfare of the country ; charge the blood spilled at Saratoga in 1745, to his withdrawing the garrison from that post ; blame him for not ordering the new levies at Albany to go up and assist the farmers in the vicinity of that village to gather in their harvest ; calling in the troops from the frontiers to Albany, and then posting them on the opposite side of the river, where they could more easily desert ; for not sending out the one hundred and fifty rangers they had raised ; for injustice and unfairness in his agents, respecting the musters of the army : " a matter," as they assert, " worthy of the most strict inquiry." They then charge him with contemptuous speeches both of them and their constituents, " from a very early time of his administration, in terms so oppro- brious as are not fit to be published ;" and, to vindi- cate themselves from the charge of neglecting the general interest of the colonies, they recite his requisitions, their compliances, and his obstacles to their further designs, by adjournments and proro- gations. In the close, they aver that, since the war, the colony had expended near seventy thousand pounds; and as a caution against the advice of managing an assembly by harassing them with adjournments, they declare, ** that no inconvoniencies will divert 136 HISTOllV OF iVEW-YOKK. them from, or induce them to abandon, the interests of their country." Mr. Clinton alarmed the house by a message, requiring supplies for detachments he purposed to make from the militia, for the defence of the fron- tiers. As nothing could be more disgusting to the multitude than a call to services of that kind, the house dreaded their rage, and the committee to whom the message was referred, reported their surprise at this requisition ; and, considering the intimation of the king's orders to discharge the army, and their late vote to take eight hundred men into pay, for the defence of the frontiers, declared their opinion, that whilst his excellency was governed by such unsteady councils, his messages were continually varying and ambiguously penned, and that they were embarrass- ed with difficulties in providing for the public safety. The governor, says the entry of the day, in the copy brought by their clerk, (for they did not, on this occa- sion, pursue their late practice of sending it by their membersjj and by another message of the 2d of November, reproaches them with refusing to give the king credit for the army's arrears of pay, till pro- vision could be made by parliament; and though they had voted to take eight hundred men of these levies into service, yet have you not, says he, by your speaker, communicated to me as terms of that vote, that there be a reduction of one half of the pay of the officers ; which no man deserving trust will accept, it being below the earnings of tradesmen and the wages of laborers ? Will any man be retained but on the footing on which he was enlisted ? Having no hope of engaging men upon these terms, he saw no wav of HISTORY OF WEW-YOUK. 187 saving the country witliout the aid of the militia ; and charged their allectation of surprise to a desire of exciting the disobedience of the militia. " And for what other purpose," says he, "are the reflections of unsteady councils, continually varying, &c. thrown out at this time r Certainly councils must vary, as the events on which they arc founded do. You only have given occasion to any variation in my councils." In the reply, they confess that he had proposed to retain both officers and privates in the British pay : that on the speaker's objecting as to the officers, the governor then expressed doubts of their success, but promised that he would do all he could for the service of the colony, when he had fixed, with Mr. Shirley and Mr. Knowlcs, a time for the dismission of the army. They therefore repeat their surprise at the requisition for supplies to detachments of the militia, before the result of his consultations respecting the day of general discharge was published ; and think this a justification of their late answer of instability, and a proof *'that it was neither his intention nor inclination that these forces should be received into the pay of the colony, but rather that, through want of clothing, and other hardships, they should be driven to the necessity of desertion; that the frontiers being by that means left defenceless, he might be furnished with a plausible pretence (in order to harass the poor people of this colony, for whom he continually expresses so great concern,) to make detachments from the militia for the defence thereof. They conclude, that any further expectation of having the new levies continued on the frontiers, will be vain ;" and immediately voted for raising VOL. ir.— 1« 138 HlSTOUi' OF NEW-YORK. eight hundred other volunteers. They requested him to issue warrants, and to take all the proper measures to expedite the enlistments, and to pass a bill, then ready, for forming a magazine of provi- sions at Albany. The governor refused to see the messengers, or receive a copy of the vote, without the speaker. Upon this, they compelled the printer to publish their remonstrance, and deliver ten copies to each member ; and presented an address in form, implor- ing him to pass the bill for provisions, before the winter rendered it impracticable to transport them to Albany. It was now the 13th of November. He gave them this answer : That he took blame to himself for passing two bills of that nature. He had urged the necessity of the service in his excuse, and he would venture once more ; but warned them, in their bill for paying the forces, to insert no clauses derogatory to the pre- rogative, but to guard against misapplications and embezzlements. He added a demand of provisions for the independent companies at Albany, who, for want of supplies, were upon the point of deserting. On the 25th of November he passed the provi- sion bill ; another for a new tax of twenty-eight thousand pounds, for the defence of the frontiers, with two others of lesser moment ; and then deli- vering his mind in a free speech, he dissolved the assembly. We shall neither abstract this, nor a composition published in answer to it, under the title of" a letter to the governor," from some of the members, as they lead to a repetition of the history of transac- HISTORY or r^EW-YORK. 139 lions, which have perhaps already exhausted the patience of the reader. They are both in the printed journals of the house, and are further specimens of the scribbling talents of doctor Golden and Mr. Horsmanden, the latter having held the pen for the assembly, or rather for Mr. Delancey, for which he was suspended from the council, and removed from that bench and the recorder's place, and cast upon the private bounty of the party by whom he was employed, applauded, and ruined : for such was his condition, until he raised himself by an advantageous match, and, by forsaking his associates, reconciled himself to Mr. Clinton, when that governor broke with the man, whose indiscretion and vehemence the chief justice had improved, to expose both to the general odium of the colony. Until his marriage with Mrs. Vesey, Mr. Horsmanden was an object of pity ; toasted, indeed, as the man who dared to be honest in the worst of times, but at a loss for his meals, and, by the importunity of his creditors, hourly exposed to the horrors of a jail ; and hence his irreconcilable enmity to doctor Golden, by whose advice he fell, and to Mr. Delancey, whose ambitious politics exposed liim to the vengeance of that minister. Mr. Clinton could not hope for any change of measures by the late dissolution. He saw Mr. Jones again speaker of the house, and all the chief leaders of the last came up to the assembly, on the 12th of February, 1748. The first object was the execution of the plan agreed on by the commissioners, 28th of September last, approvod by Connecticut, and, all but the 140 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. eleventh article, by Massachusetts bay, with some alterations ; then he called their attention to the Indian interest, and the employing parties from these tribes to scour the woods ; to the civil list not provided for last fall ; an augmentation of colonel Johnson's allov^^ance for provisions to the garrison of Oswego ; repairs of forts, and supplies of ammu- nition ; rewards for scalps ; the maintenance of prisoners ; the charges of transporting and victual- ling the levies on the frontiers ; the removal of the cannon from Saratoga to Albany ; necessary ex- presses ; gunsmiths in the Indian countries ; the rent of his house ; completing the new mansion in the fort, stables, and other conveniencies ; and, after persuading to harmony, promises his concurrence in all measures conducive to the king's service and the interests of the colony. He had a very short address from the house, intimating their satisfaction in his promises, as ends truly worthy his pursuit; promising attention and despatch, but expressing some discontent with Massachusetts bay, for not ratifying the compact framed by the commissioners. The governor informed them of intelligence that preparations were making in Canada for an attack on the northern parts of this colony ; and hoped as Massachusetts had substantially concurred, their alterations in the compact would be no obstacle to our exertions against the enemy. But they imme- diately after voted, that the alterations would in a great measure defeat the end proposed, and that they would not agree to them. He then communicated a letter from the duke of HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 141 Newcastle, directing measures for cultivating the Indian fidelity, at the expense of the crown ; and advised their improving tiiis juncture for concerting some vigorous enterprise, in conjunction with the other colonies, against the common enemy. On the 19th of March, and when no cross inci- dent had as yet intervened, the house adopted the measure, so often recommended, of appointing an agent in Great Britain. They voted two hundred pounds for this purpose, among the other provisions in the animal bill for the civil list ; and, to facilitate the design, introduced the vote for an agent to apply for his majesty's assistance and to manage our public affairs, with the following preamble ; " As this colony is so situated, that its northern frontiers are a barrier and defence to all his majesty's other colo- nies to the southward on the continent, and lying nearest to the enemy, is continually exposed to their incursions and ravages ; to prevent which, it has long been, and still is, exposed to a very great and insupportable expense, in building fortresses and maintaining forces for its defence, being at this juncture obliged to keep nearly one thousand men in continual pay on its northern frontiers, by which means the southern colonics are in a great measure secured and defended from the incursions of the French and Indians from Canada, without contri- buting any thing towards the heavy expense thereby occasioned." The real design of this was to elude the necessity of the governor's concurrence in a legislative ap- pointment of the person, and to cngros;s the agent by his dependence solely on the pleasure of the 142 HISTORY OF NEW-YOUK. house, for they meant to make him their own servant against the governor ; and the sequel will show their success. Mr. Clinton repeated his instances, on the 30th of March, for an united attack upon the enemy, as conducive to our own safety ; the recall of their emissaries from the Indians, with whom they were intriguing ; and to encourage the assembly, engaged at the expense of the crown, to keep any fort they might take. But he could only procure a vote ap- proving the design, and promising to pay the expense of commissioners in meeting to concert a plan ; and a few days afterwards the session ended, with appa- rent harmony, several bills having been previously passed, viz. for a military watch ; building block houses ; the defence of the frontiers ; raising eigh- teen hundred pounds more fur a college ; and the payment of the salaries of the governor and other officers for a year ; to which the assembly had also tacked a reward of one hundred and fifty pounds to Mr. Horsmanden, for his late controversial labours, under the pretext of drafting their bills, and other public service. But as it might have been, and perhaps was, foreseen, the house, just before they were called up to witness the governor's assent and subscription, named Robert Charles, Esq. for their agent at the court of Great Britain, and authorized their speaker to instruct and correspond with him, and at present to direct him to oppose the royal confirmation of a late act in New Jersey, respecting the line of partition, conceived to be injurious to this province. Mr. Charles's appointment gave the highest plea- HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 14t^ sure to the party who led the opposition against the governor, and not without reason ; Mr. Warren's activity at Louisburg having procured liim not only an interest at court, and a knighthood, but vast popular applause, and excited his iiopcs of procuring what his wife's relations of the Dclancey lumily ardently wished for, his appointment to the govern- ment of this colony. The Newcastle interest in favour of the possessor, had hitherto rendered the colony politics unsuccessful, and there was a neces- sity for some pointed exertions against him by an agent at court, to improve and give them success. They now had this advantage ; and on the very day Mr. Charles was nominated, Mr. Speaker Jones despatched a letter to him, which, as it exceeded the authority given him by the vote of the houee, gives some countenance to Mr. Clinton's assertions, which every one knew to be true, that the late assembly had been influenced from without doors.* The governor and his assembly came together again on the 21st of June, when he informed the house, that unless the Indians could be engaged in some enterprise, he feared their total defection, and pressed the attack on Crown Point. He purposed to meet them and distribute presents, in July, at the expense of the crown ; and proposed an act to prevent purchases from the Indians, of arms, am- munition, and clothing, and sales of rum to them, without his license. He asks for money for new fortifications, according to the plans of captain Armstrong, an engineer sent out to direct in tJiat * See note H. 144 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. business ; recommends the defence of their com- merce against privateers then infesting the coast ; provision for maintaining French prisoners, and the redemption of our own people, and rewards for scalps. Mr. Clinton had, on the 18th of February last, given the command of the troops in the pay of the colony, for the defence of the frontiers, to colonel Johnson — the same who, living in the Mohawks* country, on the route to Oswego, had been contrac- tor for supplying the garrison there with provisions, and he took this opportunity to ask an allowance for his trouble. The house gave a vote of credit for a lElag to Canada for an exchange of prisoners ; expressed surprise. at his urging the Crown Point expedition, since the Massachusetts province would not ratify the compact of the commissioners, and had with- drawn their stores from Albany ; agreed to take up the other matters recommended in the fall ; and now only sent up a bill, which was passed, agreeably to his own request in the message. They sat but ten days, and without open animosity, though a motion of colonel Beekman's had given an oppor- tunity to revive it. Certain discharged soldiers of a company com- manded by captain Ross, raised for the Canada expedition, had sued, and others intended to bring actions against him, for their pay. The governor had written to a country court judge, and Cather- wood, his secretary, to the clerk and sheriff, against the issuing and service of the process. The house, ??greeably to the motion, appointed a committee to UI.STORY OF NEW- YORK. 145 make the proper inquiries, and report their opinion. But nothing further was done ; for the governor, upon sight of the journal, wrote to the speaker, owning that letters were written touching deserters, and only recommending it to the officers of the courts to put a stop to the claims of deserters with his majesty's arms and clothing, who had thereby forfeited their pay ; and that if this could be con- strued a violation of the laws, it was owinor to inadvertency, and without any injurious intention, and that he was ready to recompense all damage the public had sustained. The house referred this letter to a committee of the whole, and took no further notice, at that time, of Mr. Beekman's information. When they met in the autumn, (14th October,) he congratulated them on the prospect of peace, and complained of inequitable terms proposed by the governor of Canada for a release of prisoners ; and asked a five years' support, agreeably to precedent in the times of his predecessors, Hunter, Burnet, Montgomery, and Cosby ; said he had not started objections to the annual provisions on account of the war, the advice he then received, and his desire to give content ; but that he now thought it a proper time to resist the innovations which had weakened the king's government ; that he should consent to their annexing the salaries to the officers in the act, but not to the officer by name. He then urged a discharge of two thousand one hundred and thirty- eight pounds, withheld from colonel Johnson, by reason of the deficiency of the fund out of which VOL. n. — 19 146 HISTOKV UF JNEVV-iURli. he was to be satisfied ; provision for arrears to the army, for expresses, the exchange of prisoners, and the finishing the new edifice at the fort. This was raking up the old embers, and disagree- able to every body but Golden and Delancey. Their address intimated a disinclination to continue the rangers in pay ; that the three independent compa- nies at Albany (which ought to consist of a hundred men each) would suflice, with the old peace garrison at Oswego. Their ill success in the Canada cartel, they impute to the low characters of the envoys he had sent to Mr. Vaudreuil, the governor of that country. They declared that they would not depart from the modern method of annual support bills ; adding^ with Mr. Horsmanden's pen, that " had the salaries been annexed to the ofl[ice, himself (under the un- happy influence he then was) would have filled the oflice of third justice of the supreme court, with some unworthy person in the room of a gentleman of experience and learning in the law, whom you removed from that station without any colour of mis- conduct, at least as we ever heard of, under the sole influence of a person of so mean and so despicable a character, (as the general assembly has several times heretofore occasionally signified to you,) that It is astonishing to us that your excellency should persist in submitting your conduct to his sole council and guidance." They told him not only that he was well advised when he first assented to the annual support, but that " he did it for ample and sufiicient reasons, and good HISTURY OF INEW-YORK. 147 and valuable considerations, as we have understood, in acceding to those terms." After a copy was sent to the governor, he signi- fied by a message, that they had shown no regard to decency, and that he should not receive such an address. He then repeated what was most necessary for the public service ; says his envoys to Canada were the best he could get ; and adds " you are pleased to give the characters of some persons that I have had better opportunities to know than you can have had ; however, I believe that by this paper, (the address,) some men's characters will be very evident to every man who shall read it, and who has the least sense of honour." On this they made an entry of the declaration of their messengers, who were sent to know when he would receive the address in substance, that he said he had not seen a copy of it ; on which they had given it to him without any order of the house so to do ; and thereupon they resolved, that it is irregular, and contrary to the course of parliamentary proceed- ings, to send a copy, and that the governor had no right to insist on such a copy ; that it was their right to have access to him on public business ; that his denial of access was a violation of their rights, con- trary to his solemn promise to the speaker, tending to the destruction of all intercourse, and to the utter subversion of the constitution ; and that whoever advised it, had endeavoured to create dissentions, stop the intercourse for public business, and is an enemy to the general assembly of this colony, and of the people whom they represent. 148 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. Notwithstanding these violences, the governor passed three bills on the 28th of October : one for reviving that to raise eighteen hundred pounds for a college by a lottery : another to continue the duty act for the support of government ; and a third, for the payment of the forces. On the 12th of Novem- ber, he sent for them again, and passed three more bills, and then, in a speech in answer to their resolves, observed : That it was his duty to preserve the king's autho- rity ; that they violated the rules of decency, and were answerable for the consequences ; that their right to access, and his promise to allow it, are con- nected, and both to be, when the king's service and the public good require it, of which he had a right to judge as well as they. He then censures their appealing to the people instead of the crown, to whom he had told them he should send their paper of address. He confesses that he passes some of their bills with reluctance, and only on account of the public exigencies ; and then put an end to the services of the year, by a long prorogation to the 14th of March. The poverty and number of the public creditors, and the sufferiogs of the unredeemed captives in Canada, called for an earlier meeting of the assem- bly than the 28th of June, a season of all others most inconvenient to a senate of husbandmen, who were just then entering into their harvests. The governor had need, therefore, of an apology for postponing the session ; and his expectations of direction from government on the modern mode of providing annually for the civil list, was the pretext HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 149 tor this delay. The speech hekl up no other object to their attention ; what he demanded was a revenue, and the payment of debts, in a manner comformably to the directions of the king's commission and instructions. Having at the last session passed the revenue bill, without another to supply it, which had not been offered to him, he now observed, that there was money in the treasury granted to his majesty, not a farthing of which he could pay out. This he called an inconsistency, repugnant to the constitu- tion, prejudicial to the king's service, and which, he said, must be remedied ; and he required an answer in direct and positive terms, before they took up any other business, whether they would grant a revenue agreeably to royal directions, or not. With a copy of his speech he gave them a clause of his commission, dated 3d of July, 17-U, declaring it to be his majesty's pleasure, that all public moneys be issued by the governor's warrant, with the advice of the council, and disposed of for the support of government, and not otherwise ; with copies of the fifteenth and thirty-second instructions of the lOtli of September, 1741 ; the former requiring, that no law for any imposition on wine or other strong liquors, be made to continue for less than one whole year; and that all other laws for the supply and supp;)rt of government, be indefinite and without limitation, except the same be for a temporary ser- vice, to expire and have their full effect within the time therein prefixed , — and the latter, commanding him not to sull'or any public money whatsoeviu* to be issued or disposed of, otherwise than by warrant under his hand, with the advice of the council : with 150 HISTORY OF ^EW-YOUK. leave to the assembly nevertheless, from time to time, to view and examine the accounts of money, or value of money, disposed of by virtue of laws made by them, which he is to signify to them as there should be occasion. After seven days, their committee brought in their address, which was instantly approved, and the speaker ordered to sign the very copy prepared, of which mention is here made to show their unanimity, though the governor thought it, and not without reason, a proof of the resignation of the members to an implicit confidence in their leaders. They tell him that his instructions are not new, though he insinuates that they are, but more ancient than the modern annual provision ; that they perceive no command for a five years' support, nor, that if the crown officers are paid, that it makes any difference whether the provision be annually, or for a given term of years ; that they retain the opinion they suggested last autumn, having since received no new light, that the distresses of the public credi- tors are imputable to his prorogation of the 12th of November, by which the application bill was lost : they remind him of their votes for the redemption of the captives ; and conclude with asserting, that "the faithful representatives of the people can never recede from the method of an annual support." The governor refused to receive this address, until he had a copy of it ; and they resolved as before mentioned, that he had no right to insist upon it. He, on the other hand, alleged, that the king always had copies of addresses before they were HISTORY OF NEW YORK. 151 publicly preferred, and that such had been the usage in this colony ; and that he claimed a right to know their transactions, because he had authority to restrain them to a due course. Taxing them with heat and precipitation, he observed, that they met after nine o'clock, when they received and approved the address ; and that the messengers were with him for fixing a time to present it, before ten the $ame morning. Confessing now that he had seen it in the minutes brought by the clerk, he informed them that they might present it immediately. This done, he ad- journed them from the 7th to the 11th; and the day after, by a message, he observes, upon the difference between his conduct and theirs, that after every prorogation, he spoke as though they had never disagreed, but that they constantly calum- niated his administration. He proceeds then to vindicate himself from the suggestions, that the non-redemption of the Canada captives was his fault ; that he could not find a man who would perform any services for them upon the credit of their resolves, nor was it to be wondered at, since they had not, though urged to it, paid the expenses of the last flag, contracted on their vote of the 27th of June, 1748. He complains of their pervert- ing his speech, with a view to mislead ; denies that his present demand was for a five years' sup- port, but that it chiefly referred to the method of issuing public money ; that he knew the sentiments of administration, " and they might have at least guessed at them, by the bill lately brought into parliament, and published in this place, for cnlorc- 15:2 HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. ing the king's instructions.* It is an essential part of the English constitution, that the power of grant- ing the money and of issuing it, be in different branches of the constitution, as the best method to prevent misapplication ; for if those who grant the money, had likewise the power of distributing it among their friends and relations, under any pre- tences of public service, there can be none to call them to account for misapplication." And again : " You have given money to private persons for services not recommended, and for services of which I to this day remain ignorant ; and by mixing of the grants in the same bill wherein you provided for the support of government, or other necessary services, you put me under the necessity of giving my assent to them, or of leaving the government without support. This is so dangerous an invasion of his majesty's prerogative, and so injurious to the people of this province, that you may assure yourselves it will not be suffered to continue." He importunes them for satisfaction to colonel Johnson ; and closes with entreating them to con- ■'■ A bill to regulate and restrain paper bills of credit in the colonies, prevent them from being a tender, and to enforce the king's instructions. It was ordered to be brought in the 16th of February, 1749, by Mr. Horatio Walpole. Lord Dapplin, Mr. Alderman Baker, and others. It had been long in agitation at the board of trade, and was nearly on the model of one brought into parliament four years before. Mr. Charles gave early notice of it to the speaker, by a letter of the 2d of March, 1749. The last four clauses insidiously gave the royal instruc- tions the efficacy of laws. It was at first little adverted to, and when its ten- dency was discovered, the advocates disowned the intention ascribed to it. When the counsel were ready, (1st of May, 1749,) they were directed by the speaker to confine themselves to the first parts of it, in consequence of a declara- tion made by some of its promoters, that the other parts would be dropped. Tlie bill, after debate, was postponed for furtlier information concerning the state of tlie paper currency in the plantations, and the king applied to for orders on that siibiect HISTORY OF NEW-YOUK. 15'J sider " the great liberties they are indulged with, and what may be the consequences, should our mother country suspect that you have a design to lessen the prerogative of the crown in the plantations. "The Romans did not allow the same privileges to their colonies which the other citizens enjoyed ; and you know in wluit manner the republic of Holland governs her colonies. Endeavour, then, to show your great thankfulness for the great privileges you enjoy." The house tells him, by another address, that he had renewed the diflerences by the demand of a five years' support. They had agreed suddenly to their last address, but it is true, and not the less so for being spoken in half an hour. They see still no reason why the captives were not released ; their waiting for accounts, was the cause of their delay in providing for the expenses of the late flag, and the satisfaction of colonel Johnson's demands. To his boast, that he had neither invaded liberty or property, they reply with a wish, that the breach upon the stores at Albany, the letters to the judge, sheiilf, and clerk of Dutchess, and his attempts upon the liberty of the press, were buried in oblivion. Thqy submit to the judgment of the world, whether the 6bject of his last speech is not an indefinite sup- port. They insist that many services are provided for by parliament, not recommended by the crown ; that for every provision they make, the act mentions the service ; that it is himself who endeavours to mislead the people. They admit it to be the usage of parliament to raise sums for uses, and leave the disposition to the king : but tiiore is n difference between kings and governors — the case of a people VOL. 11.-20 154 HlSTOltY OF NEW-lfOKK. under the royal eye, and those at a distance. The kinsf can have no interest disunited from his sub- jects, and his officers are amenable to justice in Great Britain ; but governors are generally stran- gers, and without estates in the places they govern ; seldom regard the welfare of the people ; uncertain in their stay in offices, all engines are contrived to raise estates ; and they can never want pretexts for misapplication, if they had the disposition of money ; nor can there be any redress ; the representatives cannot call them to account — they cannot suspend the council ; the lords of trade have thought it reasonable to oblige the assembly, as much as pos- sible, with the disposition of public money ; they will not believe the king has other sentiments. The governor refused this address, but proposed to throw the services not recommended by him into a separate bill ; and sent them a copy of his twelfth instruction, importing, that for different matters distinct laws be enacted, but nothing foreign from the title inserted, and that there be no implicative repeals. The house flamed again ; renewed their resolves on the right of access, and the enmity of his adviser ; refused to proceed, until they were satisfied for. the injury their address received ; and that they would then provide for the public creditors, whose disap- pointments they impute to his prorogation of the 12th of November. To these which they sent him, be returned his former answer, that the address wanted respect, and he should lay it before the king's ministers ; and re- implored their commiseration of the public creditors. HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. 155 This message they voted not only unsatisfactory, but a breach of their privileges ; and did nothing after it but meet and adjourn, from the 21st of July to the 4th of August ; when, after deliveringa long, heated vindicatory speech, he prorogued the assembly. Mr. Clinton began to discern, that the heated councils of Mr. Golden on the one hand, and of Chief Justice Delancey on the other, might endan- ger his recall to England, or the appointment of a new governor. He now became intimate with Mr. Chief Justice Morris, who was meditating a voyage to England, to give success to the project of the general proprietors of New- Jersey, for establishing the line of partition between that colony and this. I have already observed that Mr. Charles, though agent, was directed in April, 1748, to oppose the royal confirmation of the Jersey act for running the line. Mr. Morris, who was named in a commission with Mr. Alexander and Mr. Parker, had produced the commission and a copy of the act to our assem- bly, on the 28th of June following, and desired, if there were objections to it, that they might be com- municated to the commissioners, or to the government of New-Jersey. On the 20th of October, there was a petition from certain persons affected by the New- Jersey claims, to be heard against the new act. They were heard the 28th of October ; and the next day the house resolved, that their objections were strong and well grounded, and the petitioners order- ed to prepare written proofs to support them, to be communicated to Mr. Charles ; and a motion of colonel Morris's, for charginsr the proprietors with 156 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. the expenses of the controversy, rejected on the previous question. It was expedient to the governor that the king's ministers should be made acquainted with the true springs of the opposition to Mr. Clinton, and his conduct defended by suggestions, not easily, nor perhaps safely, to be communicated upon paper. Mr. Morris's voyage furnished the governor with a solicitor of no mean art and address, and he under- took the office with the more cheerfulness from the animosity which had long subsisted between the families of Morris and Delancey, the hope of becom- ing lieutenant-governor by Mr. Clinton's interest, and of engaging the influence of the Newcastle patronage in favour of the proprietary object for establishing an advantageous boundary projected by Mr. Alexander in the year 1719. Mr. Colden could not be an advocate in every part of this scheme, as it would deprive him of the succession to the command as eldest counsellor, and he hoped by his zeal for the prerogative to recom- mend himself to the rank aimed at by Mr. Morris. He was, therefore, to be used no longer than till he had assisted in such representations of the state of the colony as Mr. Morris was to be charged with, in justification of the governor, and for drawing- down the resentment of the crown upon his oppo- sers. The governor's intentions, in favour of Mr. Morris, were to be a secret. Mr. Colden was after- wards dismissed, and the loss of his services sup- plied by Mr. Alexander, with whom Mr. Clinton had a good understanding, and for, or by whom, he had been prevailed upon to write a letter to the lords of * HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 157 trade, on the 7th of October, 1748, (not discovered till 1753,) calculated to facilitate the king's confirm- ation of the Jersey act, for the establishment of the line of partition so much desired by the proprietors of the eastern part of that colony.* The lords of trade were easily excited to espouse the cause of the governor, and began an exhibition of the state of the colony to his majesty, but proceeded so slowly that Mr. Clinton's hopes of a victory over the assembly, whom he had frequently prorogued in expectation of it, were exhausted. He, therefore, dissolved the liouse, determining, if he was not supported by the ministry, to give way to the anti-Cosbyan doctrine of annual supplies, and the rather, because it was impossible fur him to form a party in his favour, till the clamours of the public creditors were appeased. Mr. Jones had the honour to be seated again in the chair when the new assembly met, on the 4th of September, 1750, in which but six new members were introduced. The business opened by the speech was : the support of Oswego; an attention to the Indians; provision for the officers of government, who had been two years unpaid ; and the discharge of the public debts. In framing bills for raising money, he recommended a conformity to his commission and instructions, remarking, that these were planned at the revolution by those great ministers so dis- tinguished by their knowledge and zeal for the constitution. This was thought necessary, not only *• See Nolc I. 158 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. to prevent a popular triumph, but that the governor might not, by the arrival of any instructions, be ex- posed to retract vi^ith disgrace. Besides, it inspired the house with some dread — many of the public creditors imputing their disappointments rather to party rage than patriotic designs. The assembly, unwilling to cavil at the com- mencement of the session, presented a short and cold address — thanking the governor for his pro- mise to promote the peace and prosperity of the colony, and giving him theirs of an immediate attention to what he had recommended. The session continued to the 24th of November, the governor and his assembly proceeding with equal caution. They fearing that he would reject the annual support bills, and he their keeping them back. Both were, therefore, pleased at the close of it, for thirty-five acts were then passed of general or particular utility : the currency of paper money prolonged ; the credit of our staple of flour secured ; most of the public creditors satisfied; the arrears of the officers of government paid, and provision made for them and the agent for the ensuing year ; and the digest of the laws of the colony, beginning at the revolution. Among the causes for the present moderation of the assembly, I must not omit the intelligence of the attention of government to the true sources of the public animosities. It was communicated to the house by Mr. Charles, and it cooled the ardour of their leaders. " I am informed (says he in his letter of the 29th of March, 1750,) that the board of trade are now preparing a representation of the state of HISTORY OF WEW-VORK. 159 the province of New- York, to be laid before his majesty in council ; and I understand, time will be given to all persons interested to be fully heard, before any determination shall be made thereupon." It was at this session that the expense of opposing; the Jersey partition act was voted to be a provincial charge, an advantage derived to the New- York proprietors from the party spirit of that day, in- fluenced by the Delancey family, and stimulated, in part, by a small interest they then had in the patent of the Minisink, affected by the Jersey claim ; but much more to sacrifice to the idol of popularity, and cross the new confidants on whom Mr. Clinton now relied. It will appear in the sequel, that they duped their countrymen more for the same views, till they were no longer of any use to their ambition, and that when one of the demagogues of that house became himself, several years afterwards, a pro- prietor of New-Jersey, the interest of New- York was abandoned, and by his influence and artifice sacrificed to his avarice. Mr. speaker Jones's letter to the agent showed not only the spirit and idea of the assembly respect- ing the New York title, but chief justice Delanccy's opinion was then strenuously contended for in all companies by him and his party. Mr. Charles had hinted at the propriety of leaving the controversy to commissioners, as the proper mode for settling it ; to which it is answered — " As to your intimation of having commisiioners appointed for ascertaining the line of partition, I am to acquaint you, that inasmucli as the crown is concerned as well as many hundreds of his majesty's subjects of tliis colony, we choose to 160 IIISTORV OF NEW-YORK. have a hearing and rely on the merits of our cause, unless the agents for New-Jersey will agree to be governed by the boundaries of the patent granted by King Charles the second to his brother James, Duke of York, the 12th March, in the 16th year of his reign, which boundaries, given by the crown to the Duke of York, are as follows, viz: 'All that island or islands, called by the several names of Masowacks or Long Island, situate, lying and being to the west of Cape Cod, and the narrow Higgan- sett, upon the main land between the two rivers there called or known by the several names of Con- necticut and Hudson's river ; together with the said river called Hudson's river, and all the lands from the west side of Connecticut river to the east of Delaware bay, with the powers of government.' If then the Jersey agents will agree, that the head of Delaware bay, which is at Reedy Island, is their north bounds on Delaware, which we conceive is conformable to the patent from King Charles the second to the duke of York, and run a line from thence to the latitude of 41 degrees on Hudson's river, we are willing commissioners should be ap- pointed to see the line run ; for as to the boundaries described in the patent granted by the duke of York to John Lord Berkley, &,c. we conceive, they are no otherwise to be regarded in this dispute than as fixing the north bound on Hudson's river, because the said duke could not extend his grant to them higher on Delaware bay or river than was granted to him by his brother King Charles the second ; the north boundary of which grant from King Charles we take to be at Reedy Island, or the head of Dela- HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 161 ware, at that place where that river divides itself into two branches, commonly called the Forks of Delaware, and run a line from thence to forty-one degrees of latitude on Hudson's river — this colony, with the assent of the crown, will agree to it, and that commissioners shall be api)ointed to see it run ; otherwise you are to proceed to a hearing, and to insist on the boundaries granted by King Charles to his brother the duke of York." So early as at this time Mr. Clinton gave notice of the activity of the French emissaries in practising upon the Indians on the river Ohio. He proposed a treaty with them, in conjunction with Mr. Hamilton the governor of Pennsylvania, to secure their fidelity. The assembly excused themselves in an address, on account of their burdens during the war, of which that province, though benefitted by them, had borne no part. The governor gave them a calm answer, and offered his services if they would provide for the expense. The house then voted eight hundred pounds for presents, and one hundred and fifty pounds more for his disbursements in attending a new treaty with the Six Nations ; but offering to pro- vide for them by a separate bill, to which the council proposed amendments, (not concurred in because it was a money bill,) it was lost, but the substance ol' it tacked to the salary bill. The French scheme of settling and fortifying in that part of the Indian country, was one of the principal causes of the new war of 175G; nor shall I omit, that it was at this session the house adjudged the arrest of a candidate on the day before his election to be a member of the bourse, to be illegal. VOL. II. — 21 162 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. It was the case of Mr. Tappen, chosen one of the representatives of Dutchess county. The sheriff had him in custody on civil process for debt, and his colleague, colonel Beekman, moved for his enlargement and attendance. The prisoner brought his habeas corpus returnable in term, while the house was sitting, and moved to be discharged by the court. There were, at that time, but two judges. The legality of the imprisonment on the day of election was contested at the bar, and the court being divided, the prisoner continued in con- finement till he carried his point in the house, but not without a division, in which Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Richards, and others, supported a motion, that it was dangerous to the country to take a man from the jail for debt and admit him into a house consist- ing but of twenty-seven members. He afterwards absconded, and a writ issued for a new election. The opinion of the majority gave no small offence without doors ; but the contradiction on the bench was applauded as a master-stroke of policy to pre- serve the concord which subsisted between the judges and assembly — Mr. Philipse being a mem- ber, and Mr. Delancey's opinion agreeable to the judgment of the majority in favour of Mr. Tappen — the judges reading the reasons for their respective decisions with rapidity. The puisne judge's real or affected passion on Mr. Delancey's argument and opinion, afforded no small merriment to the prac- tisers, this diversity being ascribed to the policy of the Chief Justice, who had no inclination to differ with any of the leading members of the house. It is proper to remark, that there was no act of the colony HISTORY or ^E^v-\0Kh. IGiJ in force rcspecling tlio' privileges of the members, from which the junior judge drew consequences, which Mr. Delancey eluded by rising to the higher sources of the common law, and by applying the liberty of attending on the judicatures and courts to those on the court of elections, he deduced by arguments, ah inconvenienti, and his main conclu- sion, that the arrests of Mr. Tappen were void. It was a fault of this assembly that no applications were made to parliament on the bill respecting the importation of iron from America, by which the colonies were restrained from erecting slitting mills, &c. The agent had given early notice of it in his letter of the 29th of June, 1749: — " It gave me pleasure," says he, " to find by some hints thrown out in the house, that there is a probability of getting something done to encourage the iron mines of America. This is a matter in which most of the colonies are concerned, and well deserving their joint efforts. It likewise demands the atten- tion of this kingdom, as nothing is more demon- strably the interest of Britain than to receive from her own colonies, in exchange for British manufac- tures, a commodity for which a balance is now paid in money to foreigners ; and it is to be hoped, that an encouragement of this kind would, in its conse- quences, be a means of promoting the growth of hemp as a fit assortment of a cargo for Britain." Nor was it enough that their speaker had desired Mr. Charles to use his greatest efforts against the four last clauses of the bill relating to paper money, for enforcing the obedience of the colonies to the royal instructions, of which we were apprised before 164 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. the last session of the preceding assembly; the speaker's letter, for the opposition, bearing date the 29th of June, 1749. The party animosities of the day engrossed the general attention ; and the proprietors of the iron furnaces, (of which there were only two, that at Sterling, owned by Mr. Smith and others, and Mr. Livingston's at Ancram,) less vigilant than Mr. Allen, who instantly began a slitting mill in Jersey, lost an opportunity for advancing their own and the interest of the colony. While the iron bill was under con- sideration in the house of commons, Mr. Chief Justice Morris, to serve his country, consented to be examined respecting the w^orks in America, and felt all the distress which tiie public detection of a want of information will necessarily create in a delicate mind, where there is a disappointed ambition to excel. He could never recollect that hour without a great degree of that confusion and anxiety which led him to counterfeit a sudden indisposition for withdrawing himself from a situation in which he could neither sustain the ridicule of others, nor his own consciousness of incapacity and disgrace : some members of the committee, whose aims he was brought to traverse, addressed him on their ques- tions by the title of " my Lord Chief Justice," that his imperfect answers might have the less weight ; and certainly they succeeded in their design ; for though Mr. Morris had professed his knowledge of this branch of business, he found himself entirely ignorant, not only of the process of the work, but of the artificers employed in it, and the wages they received both in Great Britain and America. HISTORY OF Ni:W-YOUK. 1C5 Mr. Clinton improved the interim before the next call of the assembly, in animating several other go- vernments to watch affainst the French artifices in corrupting the fidehty of the Indians, intending to hold a treaty with the Six Nations in the summer of 1751. Previous to his voyage to Albany, he called the members to a condolence on the death of the Prince of Wales, and to a further contribution fur the savages — both ends were answered. An affectionate address, in which they all joined, was transmitted to the king ; the design of a treaty approved, with promises to supply the deficiency, if any there should be, for brightening the chain of alliance with the *' Six Nations, who depend immediately ujwn this colomj^ But at their interview in October, there were early indications that tlie spirit of party was not yet extinguished, though some of the chiefs of the opposition were dead.* The speech asked for the discharge of what was still due to the public creditors ; an attention to the Indians, the French being assiduously intent upon debauching them ; and for the support of govern- ment, with a due regard to the royal commission and instructions. There was an immediate call of the house, and in the address, a promise to provide for the govern- ment ; to pay just debts; an intimation of surprise at further demands for the Indians ; a complaint that some of the members had not circular letters to notify this meeting, and a request that it may not be omitted in future. It was another bad symptom, • Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Justice Philipse, and Mr. Mirlioaiix. 166 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. that they did not send him a copy of it. The answer, therefore, was communicated by a message. That they should have an account of the thousand pounds he had distributed among the Indians ; that the deputy secretary had orders to send letters to all the members, and he had assured them they were despatched to every one except the speaker, but that this last was not usual, it being customary for him to attend the governor before a prorogation expired. He recommended a union of councils, and hoped, he said, to convince them that no considera- tion whatsoever was any weight with him, but the welfare and prosperity of the people committed to his care. The flame did not break out till the 18th of November, when colonel Johnson came down with a message from the council for the vouchers of the several demands provided for in a bill sent up for the payment of the colony debts, and the accounts which the governor had sent or recommended for discharge. They voted this an unprecedented and extraordinary demand. The council asserted it to be their right, and resolved not to proceed on that bill until they were gratified ; and sent down another of their own, for applying five hundred pounds for Indian affairs and the repair of Oswego. This the assembly would hear but once, and rejected it for intrenching "on the great, essential, and undoubted rights of the house, to begin all bills for raising and disposing of money." They then prepared an address, lamenting the want of more money for the Indians, suggesting that the unsettled state of their affairs proceeds HISTORY OF jNEVV YORK. 167 from misconduct or inattention, and that they made no provision for repairs at Oswego for want of estimates ; complaining of the council as tlie authors of all the bad consequences of the bill to discharge the colony debts, it being a breach of trust to consent to their claim of inspecting accounts ; and praying that he would pass such bills as he approved, and give the house a recess for the winter. After the delivery of this address, the governor declared he could give no answer to it before he had consulted the council ; and two days afterwards informed them that colonel Johnson had the merit of dissuading the Indians from their old practice of going to Canada for an exchange of prisoners, and inducing them to intrust them to the governor, as subjects of Great Britain ; and at the same time communicated a copy of a letter from the Indian interpreter, demonstrating that the French were indefatigable in endeavouring to defeat this advan- tageous innovation. On this they resolved, with a puerile censorious inuendo, at their first meeting after May, to provide for the "strings and belts of wampum which the interpreter might find necessary for transacting the business he had in charge from the governor;" that it is no part of their speaker's duty to attend governors in the recess of the house ; that the omission of a circular letter to the speaker was dangerous and dilatory ; and for an address that it be not hereafter neglected. Mr. Clinton prudently shunned all altercation — convened both houses the next morning, passed the bills that were ready, and, without the least previous 168 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. intimation, and to the astonishment of all present, dissolved the assembly, who, finding themselves laughed at without doors, repented their passmg the support bill for the year so early in the session, which gratified the oflicers of government, while their neglect of the colony creditors added to the governor's party, already strengthened by Mr. Alexander's temper, the appointment of colonel Johnson to the council, and Mr. Chambers to the second place on the bench. The influence of the chief justice was, never- theless, so prevalent, that he had a great majority of friends and relations in the new assembly, convened on the 24th day of October, 1752. Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith,* upon whom the governor now relied, knew their connexions before Mr. Jones was re-elected to the chair, and saga- ciously advised to short and general speeches, and such messages afterwards as were least calculated to enkindle the party fires which Mr. Colden's incautious, luxuriant compositions and high prin- ciples had so often exasperated, to the advancement of the popularity of the person he meant to pull down. The whole speech, the address and answer, as contrasts to the prolix transactions appearing in the journals of former years, are here transcribed. * From the abatement of tlie Cosbyan quarrels, in Mr. Clarke's time, ISlr. Smith had totally resigned himself to that wide field of business which his eloquence had opened to him, wiliout interfering in the general politics of the country. On the death of Mr. Bradley, the attorney general, he could not avoid giving his assistance to the governor, in gratitude for his unsolicited appointment to the succession. His private dairy has a memorandum in these words : "28th August, 1752, Richard Bradley died, and I was, without asking, appointed attorney and auditor general. On the 31st August received my commission and was sworn into the office," HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 1(JU •' As sundry acts vvliicli greatly concern the trade and welfare of this province will, by their own limitation, expire the first day of January next, I have appointed this meeting with you, to give you an opportunity cither to continue those acts, or provide otherwise in the place of them. The state of the Indian affairs, and of the frontier forts and fortifications in general, require your most serious consideration, timely provision, and aid. 1 shall, by the deputy secretary, lay before you the informa- tion I have had concerning them. " Gentlemen of the Assembly j " The season of the year will naturally lead you to make provision for the support of his majesty's government. " Gentlemen of the Council and General Assembly, " I assure you, that whatever bills you shall agree on for the benefit of this province, consistent with my duty to pass, shall most readily have my assent.'' THE ADDRESS. " We, his majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the General Assembly of the colony of New- York, return your excellency our thanks for your speech. "The concern your excellency expresses for the trade and welfare of this colony, demonstrates your excellency's care for the public good, and it cannot but be extremely pleasing to every one who has his country's interest sincerely at heart. 'I'he advanced season of the year, the dilliculties of attending tiic public service at tiiis place, and the dniiL-^ers which vor. II.—':??. 170 HlSTORl OF WEW-lfOKK. such members who have not had the small -pox apprehend themselves even here to be exposed to, all concur to induce us to postpone the consideration of every matter, not immediately necessary to be provided for, and shall do therein what shall be for his majesty's service and the vi^elfare of this colony." He suppressed any remarks on the novel omission of a previous copy, and, three days after, called them to hear this ANSWER. " Gentletnen of the General Asschibly, " I return you my thanks for this obliging address, and the assurances therein given me ; and as soon as you shall have made provision for the immediate and necessary service of the province, I shall readily grant you a recess as you desire." They sat only to the 11th of November, and having voted to provide at the next meeting for repairing the fortifications, the establishment of a college, and the usual presents for the Indians, and other Indian affairs, he passed their bills, and, among the rest, the duty bill, and for issuing out of that fund the salaries of the officers to the first of September, 1753. It may gratify the curiosity of the reader to know, that of the members of this assembly, Mr. Chief Justice Delancey was nephew to colonel Beekman, brother to Peter Delancey, brother-in-law to John Watts, cousin to Philip Verplanck and John Baptist Van Rensselaer : that Mr. Jones the speaker, Mr. HISrOKI' OK M2W-Y0KU. J7I Richard, Mr. AValton, Mr. Cruger, Mr. Philipse, Mr. Winner, and Mr. Le Count, were of his most intimate acquaintances ; and that these twelve, of the twenty-seven which composed the wliole house, held his character and sentiments in the highest esteem. Of the remaining fifteen he only wanted one to gain a majority under his influence, than which nothing was more certain ; for, except Mr. Livingston, who represented his own manor, there was not among the rest a man of education or abilities qualified for the station they were in : they were, in general, farmers, and directed by one or more of the twelve members above named — Mr. Dowe, by his colleagues, Mr. Winner and Mr. Rens- selaer ; Mr. Thomas, by his brother-in-law, the speaker, and his colleague, Mr. Philipse ; Mills, by Mr. Watts and his cousin gcrman, Mr. Nicoll; Cornel, by his colleague, Mr. Jones ; Mr. Lot and Mr. Vandevier, Mr. Junton and Mr. Dupue, by all the city members ;* Mr. Walton, of Staten Island, by his cousin, a New-York member, and his col- league, Mr. Le Count ; Mr. Filkin, by colonel Beekman, whose interest brought him in ; Mr. Snedikcr and Mr. Samuel Gale, by the members for the capital ; and Mr. Mynderse, of Schenectady, by Mr. Winner and Mr. Rensselaer. Of the whole house, the only wealthy able member, neither connected with Mr. Delancey nor in the sphere of Jiis influence, was Mr. Livingston. His station on the bench, with the independent tenure of good behaviour, added to his amazingf V, MossTH. Riflinrtl. CiMi-j-pr. Watts, and Walton 172 HISTORY OP NEW-YORK. power, which was again augmented by the inferior abilities of his assistants and his incessant assiduity, joined to his own affluence and that of his family, in cultivating all the arts of popularity from the moment he was disgusted by Mr. Clarke, in the year 1737: nor was he without dependants even in the council, though by the death of some weak men introduced by his interest, the suspension of Mr, Horsmanden who ventured too deeply in measures against Mr. Clinton, and the introduction of Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Holland, and colonel Johnson, he had lately lost ground at that board ; but, not many years afterwards, he found means to regain and almost engross the whole sway in the executive department. To him, therefore, who barely considers the inveterate animosity between this demagogue and the king's governor, such a session as the last may appear not a little mysterious. The truth is, that he began to be fearful of having overacted his part. It was clear from the success of Mr. Clinton's recommendations to office, that the representation prepared by the lords of trade, could not be fa- vorable to the party that opposed him ; and besides the hints dropped by Mr. Chief Justice Morris and others in England, of meditated vengeance, corres- ponded v/ith the intimations from Mr. Charles ; and many persons had ventured to predict, that the heated councils by which the assembly had been so long led, would end in the ruin of the province. The agent had informed the speaker, by a letter of the 30th of May, 1751, "that the report touching the state of this colony, was at last transmitted from History of aew-yokk. 175 the board of trade to the king in council." He adds : "It is said to be very long and particular, and to consist of a quire of paper, with two quires more by way of appendix, whereof I can have no copy till it is read in council and referred to a committee, when I shall move for a copy to be transmitted to the general assembly for their instructions there- upon. The affair of the Jersey line remains yet unproceeded upon." On the 22d of June following, he sent a copy of the act to regulate and restrain paper money in the four New-England colonies, carried through by the patronage of the board of trade, with a disagreeable prognostication, that it appeared to him " to be a prelude to a total abolition of paper credit in the colonies ; for, as what is allowed to be issued even on the greatest emergen- cies, is not a legal tender between man and man, I apprehend the conveniency and utility of it is quite taken away." He then adds : " The representation touching the state of your province, has not yet been read in council, owing possibly to some late changes in the ministry, the earl of Granville being declared president of the council, and the earl of Holder- nesse secretary for the southern department, in which America is included. I will carefully watch its progress and acquaint you therewith." His letter of the 29th of July following, has this clause : " I am in constant expectation of hearing that the represen- tation touching the state of your colony, will be taken into consideration ; upon which subject I am sorry to say that, as far as I can learn, it contains volumes of paper of which I am denied a sight, and can yet have no copv. Severnl rights and privileges 174 MfSTORY OF NEW-YORK. claimed by the general assemblies of your colony, of which they have been many years in possession, are struck out ; and complaints are made ofparticu- lar persons, which I was in hopes had long ago been dropped. 1 heartily wish the whole of this matter may not discompose the peace and tranquillity which had an appearance of being re-established in the colony. The affair of the Jersey line is not yet proceeded upon ; for carrying on which, I have received the remittance of one hundred pounds, men- tioned in your letter. I have now only to add, that I understand a commission lies prepared at the secretary of state's office, appointing Robert Hunter Morris, esq. to be Lieutenant-Governor of New- York." His letter of the lOth of August is this : "I am to acquaint you, that on the 6th instant, the lords of the committee of his majesty's most honorable privy council, entered upon the conside- ration of the reports of the commissioners for trade and plantations, touching the state and condition of the colony of New- York, and referred the same, as I am informed, for further consideration. Having repeatedly applied to know whether, as agent of the colony, 1 might obtain a copy of this report, and of the papers accompanying it, (both which are very long,) and being given to understand there were orders against giving any copy, and that the matter would be taken up and considered as an affair of state, I believed it my duty to take the earliest opportunity of renewing that application. As soon as the report was read, I therefore wrote a letter to the secretary of the council, which he did me the favour to lay before their lordships of the committee, HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 175 who, as I am informed, not having yet resolved whether they will allow a public hearing on the sub- ject matter of the report, and a copy of it being yet denied me, I must remain contented to watch its progress and to take their lordsliip's pleasure If their lordships proceed herein as a council of state only, it will be from the orders and instructions that may be issued, that your colony will be able to judge of the principal points of the report : and if the regulations proposed do sensibly affect your colony, you will no doubt thereupon make such humble representations to the crown as you shall judge necessary, which must bring the whole at last to an open and public discussion. Mr. Morris's commis- sion to be lieutenant-governor of your colony, lies yet incompleted." On the 4th of May, 1752, he writes thus : " The further consideration of the report of the board of trade, touching the state of your colony, has not been resumed in council since August last ; and I am still not permitted to have any copy or extract of it, though I continue in hopes that their lordships of the privy council will not come to any resolution thereupon, without hearing the parties that may be affected by it. Being thus deprived of the means of informing the house with certainty, in points that may be of great conse- quence, I can only, under these circumstances, take measures for their service as opportunities arc given me, of which I will not fail to make the amplest use in the discharge of my duty. Nothing material is yet done in the affair of the boundary line between your colony and New-Jersey. The intended com- mission to Mr. Morris, as licutenant-srovcrnor. '\f< 176 HISTORY OP NEW- YORK. quite laid aside. I cannot conclude without express- ing my sincere wishes that a good understanding may be restored between the several branches of your legislature, and may subsist, for the general welfare and tranquillity of the colony." In this precarious situation of affairs, it could not subserve Mr. Delancey's popular interest to increase the indignation of government against the colony, the numerous families whose estates were affected by the Jersey claims, growing extremely jealous of any further broils between the assembly and the governor. Those contests, besides, were inauspi- cious to the success of his designs of obtaining the lieutenant-governor's place, by which he hoped to find an escape for himself and his friends, if Mr. Golden took the command of the colony as president of the council, an event which he could not turn his eye to without horror. It was therefore expedient, while Mr. Delancey's friends were negociating in England for the gratification of his ambition, to suspend hostilitie;? against Mr. Clinton : and the reader now has the new key to the seeming inatten- tion of the assembly to that part of the governor's speech in October, 1751, requiring. their conformity to his commission and instructions, to the governor's courage in the last dissolution, and the subsequent pusillanimity of the new assembly during the rest of his administration. Mr. Clinton furnished a fresh proof of the stability of his interest at court, by introducing a new mem- ber into the council. He had procured the royal mandamus for Mr. Smith, in preference to colonel Morris, for whom some solicitations were made bv IllSiuRir Ul- iNEVV-iOKK. 1 / / his brother, then in England, and before Mr. Oliver Delancey, whose sister was the lady of sir Peter Warren. Mr. Smith was sworn in on the 3()th of April, 1753. The assembly was convened a montli afterwards, at Jamaica, the capital being not yet free from the contagion of the small-pox. The speech proposes a revision of the colon laws, and the framing and passing a new digest, according to a model executed in Virginia, and now recommended to our imitation by the lords justice;s and the board of trade, to which some embarrass- ments in the researches for compiling the late representation in the latter, had probably given rise. He assigns the true reason of meeting them at an unusual place ; declares it to be by the advice of the council, and in tenderness to the house ; professes his confidence in their honour and justice, for a due attention to the state of the Indian alliance, the repair of the northern fortifications, and the discharge of the colony debts ; applauds their late resolution to promote the arts and sciences, by establishing a seminary of learning, as worthy their diligent prosecution and most serious attention ; informs them of the intrusions upon the colony by our neighbours ; suggests the expediency of concert- ing measures respecting them, by a committee both of the council and assembly; and promises readily and heartily to join with them in promoting the liappincss of the color.y. The assembly thanked him ; hoped that the new code of colony laws, then just published, would nt»t be disapproved by the king; testified their grafitudo voj,. ir. — 23 178 HISTORY OF iNEW-YORK. for his regard to their safety in the convention at Jamaica ; and promised an immediate attention to matters laid before them. Not a single instance of the want of harmony now appeared. A committee of both houses met on the New England intrusions, and a bill was passed for appointing commissioners to prepare representa- tions upon them to the king's ministers ; a further sum was raised by lottery for the college ; the colony debt discharged, and every message received and attended to ; money voted for fortifications ; large sums given for presents to the Indians ; the critical state of their friendship confessed ; and the governor implored, by an address, to visit and treat with them. Mr. Clinton being indisposed, con- descended to propose a treaty by commission, and to authorize such persons for this trust, as the council and assembly might nominate and recom- mend to him ; and colonel Johnson, such was the policy of the house, became the sole distributor of the presents, and the confidant of both houses. To such as knew the offence taken at Mr. Clin- ton's patronage of this gentleman, and the obstacles raised to avoid the payment of his demands, it afforded no small surprise to see a joint address of both houses, signed James Delancey and David Jones, requesting a treaty for appeasing the ill tem- per of the Indians, and declaring it to be the opinion both of the council and assembly, "that colonel Johnson is the most proper person to be appointed to do this service ; and we humbly hope your excel- lency will commissionate him." Towards the close of the session, which ended HISTORY ol M,\V-Y(>KI\. 17!< tlie 4tli of July, and the last in Mr. Clinton's admi- nistration, lie revealed the secret of his daily cxpce- tation of a successor, and his intention to return to England. It was extracted by their importunity for his making a journey to assuage the Indians. The commissioners appointed for defending the colony against the encroachments of Massachusetts bay* and New-Hampshire, were all members of the assembly ; viz. David Jones, John Thomas, Paul Richards, William Walton, Henry Cruger, and John Watts ; and though the object of that act was a very important one, yet very little advantage was derived from it. The rise of the controversy with New-Hampshire was this : — Before the year 1741, that colony was considered as the tract granted to Mason and Gorges, and extending only sixty miles from the sea-coast, did not by many miles reach the river Connecticut. The commission to Mr. Benning Wentworth, governor of it, issued in that year, and declared his province to extend westward and north- ward, " until it meets with his majesty's other provinces." On the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, that fTOvernor conceived the desicfn of cxteiidinjr his jurisdiction westward to twenty miles from Hud- son's river, because New- York had agreed with Connecticut to such a boundary on the east ; and Massachusetts had of late years intruded so tar upon certain old patents of this province, extending t(» thirty miles east tVom that river. * In the first volume of this work, is inserted tiie repurt ■^^' ''"' '""'i! in Marcli. IT.W. on the prrteniions of Massachiisr Us bnv. 1 80 " HISTORY OF NEW YOKK. The country in the north-eastern corner of this colony was, before the late war, almost entirely unknown, and so exposed to the incursions of the enemy, especially after the erection of the fort at Crown Point, in 1731, that it contained scarce a single inhabitant when Mr. Wentworth began to grant it as a part of the province of New-Hamp- shire, in 1749. Then the quarrel arose. New- York insisted upon Connecticut river as her eastern boundary ; and after several letters had passed between Mr. Clinton and that governor, it was agreed, in July, 1750, to state their claims, exchange copies of their representations, and submit to the royal decision, it being understood that all interme- diate grants should be suspended. Mr. Wentworth, whose narrow views prompted him to greater activity, stated his claim, and despatched it in a letter of the 23d of March, 1750, without the least previous intimation to the governor of New- York ; and soon after, multiplied grants of the controverted territory, under the seal of New- Hampshire. This precipitation, which, by pressing private interest into the maintenance of a point that might have been otherwise settled without difficulty, is the true origin of those disorders in that quarter of the country. New- York afterwards exhibited its title, when advised by the agent of the clandestine conduct of New-Hampshire ; and to support it, and repress the incursions of Mr. Went- v/orth's patentees, was one of the objects Mr. Clinton had in view at the last meeting of his assembly. Nor could he omit the notification ; for the agent, upon the receipt of an extract from Mr. IIIMOKY 01' NKW-VUKK. 181 AVentworth's letter to the lords of trade, from the secretary to that board, who had procured time to consult his constituents, on the 18th of February, 1753, wrote both to the governor and the speaker, and enclosed copies of the New-Hampshire appli- cation for running out the line he liad set up tor a partition between the two colonies. The se(|uel will show how much the unseasonable neglect of the rights of the colony at this jimctnre. was afterwards to he regretted. THE HISTORY OF NEW-YORE CHAPTER III. FR03I THE RESIGNATION OF GOVERNOR CLINTON, TO THE APPOINTMENT OF SIR PANVERS OSBORN, AS GOVERNOR. Mr. Clinton was at Flushing, in Queens county, where he had resided the whole summer, when sir Danvers Osborn* arrived to succeed him in the command, which was on Sunday, the 7th of October, 1753. He was met at Whitehall by the council, mayor, and corporation, and chief citizens, and attended to the council chamber; and, in the absence of Mr. Clinton, took up his lodging at Mr. Murray's, whose wife was a daughter of governor Cosby, and a distant relation of sir Danvers' deceased lady, a sister to the earl of Halifax. Mr. Clinton waited upon him the next day, and they both dined at * Mr. Charles, in his letter of the 11th of June, 1753, informed the speaker that sir Danvers was "a gentleman of great worth, a member of parliament for Bedfordshire, and brother-in-law to the ear] of Halifax." UIa>TUK\ OF i\EW-\ORK. IbS an entertainment provided by tlie council. On Wednesday morninjr they assembled the council at the Fort, for administering the oaths, and then began the usual procession for reading the commission at the town-hall. The indecent acclamations of the populace, stimulated by the partizans of the late troubles, induced the old governor to take leave of his successor at a short distance from the Fort, while sir Danvers stalked along with the council and magistrates, rather serious than cheerful, amidst the noisy shouts of a crowded throng. After his return to the council chamber, he received the address of the city corporation, of which he had a copy, and with difficulty restrained his intention of begging the alteration of a passage in it, which he thought expressive of jealousy. The words were : " We are sufficiently assured that your excellency will be as averse from countenancing, as we from brooking, any infringements of our inestimable liberties, civil and religious." These particulars are mentioned with the more minuteness, on account of the tragical end to which this unfortunate gentleman was approaching. He told Mr, Clinton, with disapprobation of the party exultations in his progress to, and return from the town-hall, "that he expected the like treatment before he left the government." While at a splendid dinner, given to the two governors and the council by the corporation, there was every demonstration of joy. The city was illuminated, cannon were discharged, and two bonfires lighted up on the common, in the evening, sir Danvers took no part in the general joy. He 184 HISTORY Ul< jNEW-lUKlv. retired early in the afternoon, and continued at his lodgings, while the whole town seemed abandoned to every excess of riot. The last act of Mr. Clinton's administration was the delivery to Mr. Delancey of a commission to be lieutenant-governor. This had been done in the presence of the council, immedi- ately after he gave the seals to sir Danvers, and it contributed much, with the discovery now made of Mr. Clinton's letter to the lords of trade respecting the Jersey claim,* to the mad transports of the populace in the streets and commons. Sir Danvers rose early on Thursday morning, and before the family were about, had, alone, patrolled the markets and a great part of the town. He complained of being somewhat indisposed ; and at dinner said, with a smile, to Mr. Delancey, " I believe I shall soon leave you the government. I find myself unable to support the burden of it." He had convened the council in the forenoon, and appeared in some perturbation at their first assembly, especially when he found that Mr. Pownal, who had the key of his cabinet, was not within. He was desirous to show them his instructions. He informed them, that he * It was divulged at one of the hearings, on the 39th of May, and 5th of June, before the board of trade, after the objections by Mr. Forrester and Mr. Pratt (since the celebrated lord Camden) to the Jersey act, and to show, that the crown had, except some trifling quit-rents, no interest in the controversy. The contents of the agent's letter of the 12th of June, with the history of those debates, were now pubUcIy retailed, and exasperated the New-York landholders near the contested line, for the bounds and reservations of their patents had been authenticated under Mr. Alexander's oath, with information concerning their vast extent, to make unfavourable impressions, as Mr. Clarke expresses it, upon the mmds of the lords of trade ; « which rsays he) may possibly remain." The author transcribed the report, of which Mr. Pratt was the penman, in the former volume, on whicli the Jersey act was repealed by the king. UlSlOKY OF iNEW-VOKK. iii5 was strictly enjoined to insist upon the permanent indefinite support of government, and desired their opinions upon the prospect of success. There was a general declaration, that the assembly could not be brought to adopt that scheme. With a distressed countenance, and in a plaintive voice, he addressed Mr. Smith who had not yet spoke a word: — " What, sir, is your opinion ?" — and when he heard a similar answer, he sighed, turned about, reclined against (he window-frame, and exclaimed, "then what am I come here for ?" In the evening he had a physician with him, talked of ill health, was disconsolate, and retired to his chamber, and at midnight dismissed his servant. While the house was preserved the next morning in the utmost silence, upon an apprehension that he was still asleep, an account was brought that he was hanging dead against the fence at the lower end of the garden. A vein was opened, but to no purpose. The malevolence of party rage would not at first ascribe this event to the insanity of the deceased ; but threw out insinuations, that he had been brought to his end by foul means, and that the criminals were some of those who could not suppress their joy to see Mr. Clinton a private character, and Mr. Delancey at the helm ; nor did these unjust sus- picions soon subside. The council were immediately summoned to Mr. Murray's house, where the tragedy was acted, and every circumstance inquired into, for the satisfaction both of his relations ajid the crown, and the vindica- tion of the party led by the new lieutenant-governor roT. IT. — 24 186 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. to such lengths against Mr. Clinton, who was then preparing for his voyage. On the top of the fence was a row of large nails inverted, to exclude thieves from the garden, over which he had cast a silk handkerchief tied at the opposite ends, and had elevated his neck to it by a small board, which was found near him over his hat upon the ground. After his servant left him, he had consumed a vast number of private, but no public papers, endorsed others, which he preserved; wrapped up a sum of money, borrowed since his arrival, and directed it to the lender. There was lying on his table a paper, written in his own hand, quern deus zult perdere, prius demcntat, and the coroner's inquest believed his testimony, for they found him a lunatic. A man who, before the light of that day, passed the river in a boat under the fence, heard the noise of his heels against it in his last struggles. But Mr. Pownal's testimony surmounted every obstacle in the minds of all persons of candour. This gentle- man (since so well known in the characters of lieutenant-governor of New-Jersey, assistant to the earl of Loudoun, in the war of 1 756, governor of Massachusetts bay, commissary in Germany, and a member of the British parliament) came out as a guide and assistant to sir Danvers Osborn, and revealed the secret, that the baronet had been melancholy ever since the loss of his lady, whom he most passionately admired, and that he had before attempted his own life with a razor ; adding, that lord Halifax, by whose interest he obtained the government, had hopes that an honorable and active Hi.STOlJY ur AKW-VORh. 187 Station abroad might have detached him from the, constant object of his anxious attention. As it may be interesting to know every thing relating to this unfortunate gentleman, and as Mr. Smith was at that time one of the council, and under no bias to the party calumniated at his death, and liis diary kept with such secrecy that none of his children ever knew in his life time that he had one, for the sake of truth these passages are inserted, that the most scrupulous may be satisfied. " Wednesday, lOth October, 1753— -Sir Danvers Osborn published his commission, took the usual state oaths and that relating to trade, and received the seals from the hands of governor Clinton, who then (pursuant to an order from the duke of Newcastle to deliver the commission of lieutenant- governor before his excellency left the government, to James Delancey, esquire,) delivered the same in council accordingly, and sir Danvers took the oath of governor and chancellor, or keeper of the great seal. The commission was afterwards published at the city-hall. The corporation treated the new governor and council at Burns's ; and the whole was conducted, and the day and evening spent, with excessive shoutings, two bonfires, illuminations, ringing of the church-bells in the city, drunkenness, and other excessive demonstrations of joy. " Thursday, llth October — Sir Danvers appeared very uneasy in council. ''Friday, \2th October — Alarmed by the door- keeper of the council, about eight o'clock, desiring me to come to Mr. Murray's, saying, ' the governor had hanged hhnseiP Wont, and found it awfully 188 HISTORY OF INEW-YOliK. true. He had been found in Mr. Murray's garden hanging in his handkerchief, fastened to the nails at the top of the fence. On the first discovery, his body was found quite cold, and upon two incisions no blood issued. He was brought into the house and laid on the bedstead, where I saw him, a woeful spectacle of human frailty and of the wretchedness of man, when left to himself. The council went from Mr. Murray's to the fort, where chief justice Delancey published his commission, and took the oaths in our presence, and received the commission of sir Danvers and seals and instructions, by order of council, from Thomas Pownal, esq. ; but took not the oath of chancellor, lest it might supersede his commission of chief justice, till this point be considered. His commission, after it was read in council, was published only before the fort gate, without any parade or show, because of the melan- choly event of this day. ''The character of sir Danvers Osborn, baronet, of Chichsands, in the county of Bedford, as far as I could observe, having been every day since his arrival with him, was this : he was a man of good sense, great modesty, and of a genteel and courteous behaviour. He appeared very cautious in the word- ing of the oaths, particularly for observing the laws of trade enjoined by the statute of 7th and 8th William HI. He appeared a very conscientious man to all the council in that particular. A point of honour and duty, in sl foreseen difficulty to reconcile his conduct with his majesty's instructions, very probably gave his heart a fatal stab, and produced IllSTUKY OF NEVV-YOKK. 189 that terrible disorder in his mind which occasioned his laying violent hands on himself. •' lie was found between seven and eight in the morning, hanging about eighteen inches from the ground, and had been probably some hours dead. His secretary told me, this morning, he had often said to him, he wished he was governor in his stead. He or somebody else desired me to observe the ashes in the chimney of his bed-room, as being necessary to be observed to excuse his producing of any papers tliat might be expected to be produced by him, and he showed me two pocket-books in which there was nothing remaining. He said, that when the copy of the episcopal church address was shown yesterday, he observed to sir Danvcrs, that he would have an opportunity here, by going to church, to act according to his own mind, and that he (the secretary) with tJie gentleman should wait on him. To which (says Mr. Pownal) he gave me this shocking answer, ^you may, but /shall go to my grave.' "A committee of Mr. Alexander, INIr. Chambers, and the mayor, arc appointed to take depositions concerning the facts and circumstances attending his death. The jury have found sir Danvers (as is said) nan compos mentis. Mr. Barclay* was sent for into council to desire him to read the burial service. He objected, as the letter of the rubric forbids the reading it over any that lay violent hands '■'' This gentleman, who served as a missionary to the Mohawks, was, on liie • ilcath of Mr. Vcwy, in 174G, called to be rector of Trinity i hurrh in the metro poUs. Ilib arrears of twenty pounds were provided for in the support bill of that year, and tliere has been no provncial allowance iince tlinl tiinp inwnrdB the propaffation of "^hri-sti'.initv amori? the Tndia.ris J 90 JILSTORY OF NEW-YOltK. on themselves. Agreed in council, that the meaning ought to be regarded more than the words. I said, qui hcBret in litere, hcBret in cortice^ and if the jury on inquest found sir Danvers non compos, his corpse had as much right to christian burial as the corpse of a man who had died in a high fever. This seemed to satisfy Mr. Barclay, coming from me, seeming worth more of his regard, than if it had come from another.* He said he had not any scruples of conscience, but he desired to avoid censure, as we have people of different opinions amongst us. "Sabbath, \^th October, 1753. — Last evening attended the funeral of sir Danvers Osborn, as a bearer, with five others of the council, and Mr. Justice Horsmanden, and Mr. Attorney-General ; and this day, in the old English church, heard a sermon from Hebr. 10th chap. 24th verse — ^And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good tcorks.^ " Mr. Clinton had no sooner given up the reins than he retired to the west end of Long Island, from whence he embarked ; but not till he had suffered the keenest mortification under the late unexpected vicissitudes ; for he not only heard himself execrated, and saw his enemy advanced and applauded, but was a witness to the ungrateful desertions of some of those he had raised and obliged. He had, nevertheless, the spirit to reject some insidious advancements made by Mr. Delan- cey towards a reconciliation ; and thus parting foes, that artful politician, who could not win him by * Mr. Smith was a member of the presbyterian congresfation in communion witjithe church of Scotland. HISTORY UF WEVV-YOUK. 191 blandishment, resolved to parry his resentments and enervate his testimony, by loading him with disgrace. Thus he cut him out work when he arrived in England for the defence of himself. He sailed in the Arundel about the beginning of November Easy in his temper, but incapable of business, he was always obliged to rely on some favourite. In a province given to hospitality, he erred by immuring himself in the fort, or retiring to a grotto in the country, where his time was spent with his bottle and a little trifling circle, who played billiards with his lady, and lived on his bounty. His manner of living was the very reverse of that requisite to raise a party to make friends. He was seldom abroad ; many of the citizens never saw him ; he did not even attend divine worship above three or four times during his whole administration. His capital error was gratifying Mr. Delancey with a commission, which rendered him independent and assuming, and then reposing equal confidence in Golden, who was interested in procuring his recall, or rendering the country his abhorrence. He saw that event, and to prepare for it, ventured upon measures that exposed him to censure. Mrs. Clinton prompted her husband, whose good nature gave place to her superior understanding, to every plausible device for enhancing the profits of his government. He sometimes took money for offices, and sold even the reversions of such that were merely ministerial. He set the precedent for the high fees since demanded for land patents, and boldly relied upon the interest of his patrons to screen him from reprehension. He became after- 192 HISTOltV OF IMEW-VORK. wards governor of Greenwich hospital. It was ti shrewd observation made by colonel Cheat to the author, at Sheffield, in May, 1755, on the controversy line between this colony and the Massachusetts bay, that Mr. Clinton was of all others the man we should have wished for our governor ; for his bottle and a present, he would have granted you every thing within the sphere of his commission ; but by joining Delancey, you became the dupes of private ambition, and brought your colony, through the Newcastle interest, into disgrace with the crown. Mr. Clinton's accounts for expenditures, in conse- quence of the duke's orders of 1746, amounted to eighty-four thousand pounds sterling ; and it was supposed that the governor returned to England with a fortune very little short of that sum. The ambition and strife of Colden and Delancey gave rise to the new instruction, which arrived here without any previous intimation, for the ministry had eluded the vigilance of the agent, who so late as the 11th of June, informed the speaker, that the representations of the lords of trade, on which it was undoubtedly founded, was still unproceeded upon in council. The thirty-ninth article recited that great disputes had subsisted between the several branches of the legislature, the peace of the province had been dis- turbed, government subverted, justice obstructed, and the prerogative trampled upon ; that the assem- bly had refused to comply with the commission and instructions respecting money raised for the supply and support of government, had assumed the dis- posal of public money, the nomination of officer?, IIISTUKY OF i^EW-\OKK. llj3 and the direction of the militia and other troops ; that some of tlie council, contrary to their duty, alle- giance and trust, had concurred with them in these unwarrantable measures ; and, therefore it enjoined the commander-in-chief to endeavour to quiet the minds of the people, to call the council and assembly together, and in the strongest and most solemn manner to declare the king's high pleasure for their neglect and contempt, to exact due obedience, to recede from all encroachments, to demean them- selves peaceably, to consider without delay of h proper law for a permujietit revenue, solid, indfjinitc, and without limitation, giving salaries to all gover- nors, judges, justices, and other necessary officers and ministers of government, for erecting and repair- ing fortifications, annual presents to the Indians, and the expense attending them ; " and, in general, for all such other charges of government, as may be fixed or ascertained." It then permits temporary laws for temporary services, expiring when these shall cease; but such laws, also, are to be consistent with the prerogative royal, the commission, and instructions. It also directs, that all money raised for the supply and support of government, or for temporary emer- gencies be applied to the services for which it was raised, no otherwise than by the governor's warrant, with the advice and consent of the council, not allowing the assembly to examine any accounts; and afterwards it commands, that if any counsellor, or other crown officer in place of trust or profit, shall assent, advise, or concur with the assembly for lessening the prerogative, or raising or disposing money in any other method, the governor shall vol,. II. — 2r> 194 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. suspend the offender and report it to the board of trade. By the 47th, the governor was prohibited from assenting to a law whereby any gift was made to him by the assembly, in any other manner than above-mentioned ; 48th allowed him to take a salary of twelve hundred pounds sterling per annum ; 49th, to receive a further sum, provided it be settled on himself and his successors. Or during the whole of his administration, and that within a year after his arri- val ; 50th required the three last to be communicated to the assembly at the first meeting of the assembly after sir Danvers Osborn's arrival, and to be entered in the registers both of the council and assembly. Upon the supposition that the council and assem- bly would obstinately resist the execution of these commands, of which sir Danvers Osborn could not doubt, he must have perceived that his administra- tion would not only prove destructive to his private fortune, but draw upon him the general odium of the country, and excite tumults dangerous to his personal safety. The council at this period were, Messrs. Golden, Alexander, Kennedy, Delancey, Clarke, junior, Murray, Holland, Johnson, Chambers, and Smith. Of these, Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, as the original projectors of the modern scheme of an annual support ; and Mr. Delancey and Mr. Murray, as the subsequent fautors of that measure ; and Mr. Justice Chambers, who held his office, as well as the chief justice, during good behaviour, must have immediately lost their places at the council board ; and Mr. Secretary Clarke residing in Eng- land^ the governor's reliance in that branch of the IIISTOK^ Ul' .>EVV-YORiv. 195 legislature could only liave extended to Mr. Golden, Mr. Kennedy, the collector of the customs and receiver-general of the royal rents, Mr. Rutherford, a captain of one of the independent companies, Mr. Holland, mayor of the capital, and Mr. Johnson, then colonel of the militia, and residing in the Indian country: nor was it certain that even those four last mentioned would have preferred their offices to their patriotism and the abhorrence of the multitude: and when the sanction for infusing obedience came to be applied to the assembly, the tumult would extend, not only to the depluming of nine of the twenty-seven from their rank in the militia, but many others who were judges and justices of the inferior courts, to say nothing of their relations and friends, and other public officers, in a variety of stations, in all parts of the province, who might interfere in supporting them, and fall under the character of their advisers : besides it was imagined by some, that the instruction was designed for the removal also of the judges, and to bring the question to a trial — whether Mr. Clinton had authority to give them freeholds in their places ? — a point of law ultimately cognizable before his majesty in privy council ; and because attended with dangerous con- sequences, not improbably one of the motives of administration in raising Mr. Delancey to the place of lieutenant-governor, that the ambition of the demagogue might be pre-engaged into the service and aims of tho ministrv. THK HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. CHAPTER IV. FROM THE DEATH OF SIR DANVERS OSBORN TO THE ACCESSION OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR DELANCEY. But the death of sir Daiivers Osborn dispelled the impending storm ; and doctor Golden, who had retired to the country in disgust, cheated by his friends and disappointed by the administration, and whose only consolation, under the scoff of his enemies and the general contempt of the people, was the vain belief that he had spread a net to entangle his old rival, was soon after doubly morti- fied to see him elude it by his craft, and the deep laid plan itself vanish like a bubble. Mr. Delancey's path was a plain one. He must^ indeed, resign the hope of a salary for one, or perhaps, two or three years, but the arrears would not be lost if he could save his station. He had to preserve that assembly — rebuke them publicly, for not obeying the instructions — and privately confede- HISTORY OF ]\KW-YORK. 197 rate with them, not only to remonstrate against tliem, hut to impeach Mr. Clinton, and blunt the edge of iiis accusations. And while this farce was acting, he had nothing to dread from the council, none of them approving of, while others were averse to, the indefinite support ; Mr. Golden excepted, who be- came irreconcileable to the late governor by the private scheme to exalt Mr. Morris, and, therefore, not disposed, nor, by his retreat, in a situation, if willing, to tell any thing on the other side of the water for the gratification of Mr. Clinton's revenge. When Mr. Delancey had been sufficiently regaled by the incense of the most fulsome adulation, pro- moted by his friends, from all ranks and classes, to preserve his popularity on one side of the water, and render it useful to him and his party on both, he convened the assembly, and on the 31st of October, before Mr. Clinton's departure, made a speech, la- menting the death of sir Danvers as a public loss, because he had birth, a liberal education, and a distinguished character; communicated a copy of the obnoxious instructions, that they might thus be informed of his majesty's displeasure ; asked pro- vision for repairing the city fortifications and the trading house at Oswego ; recommended the pre- servation of the Indian alliance ; condemned the farming of the excise ; advised to train the people to arms by a well regulated militia law ;* applauded the late act for inspecting flour ; urged to the pre- vention of frauds, in the exportation of beef, pork, * A militia law is generally favored both by governors and the assembly, ai it serves the latter in elections, and tlie former by pralifying the member" ai whose instance the militia officers are ordinarily oppoint^-d 198 HISTORY OF j\EVV-101iR. and other commodities : and, to give appearance of zeal at court, earnestly pressed it upon them, to frame their bills for supporting the government in such a manner as the royal instructions required ; observing, very sagaciously indeed, " that by our excellent constitution the executive power is lodged in the crown," but unfairly adding, (since, as a lawyer, he knew his doctrine asserted in general terms to be unsound) that the legal course for abuses of power was by application to the crown ; which was an abuse of their confidence, public officers being in many instances indictable by a grand jury, and that the annual support had been substituted in this province, to supply the want of relief in some cases for which the laws of England prescribe an impeachment. The assembly, after condoling the death of the late governor, exult in the succession by a person of his known abilities and just principles, and declare themselves extremely surprised to find the colony had been so maliciously misrepresented : they boast of their attachment to the crown ; are at a loss for instances of disorder, except in the obstruc- tion or perversion of public justice by Mr. Clinton's orders, to stop the course of the law in Dutchess county — his appointing judges and justices of ill fame and extreme ignorance, one prosecuted for perjury whom he rewarded, they say, with the office of assistant judge, and others who were so illiterate as not to be able to write their names ; that instead of assuming the direction of the militia, they had declined meddling with it ; they had not the most distant thought of injuring the just prerogatives of HISTORY Ob' iNEW-YOUK. 199 tlie crown ; that the present mode ol" raising and issuing public money had been practised for sixteen years, and they hoped for liis assent to bills accord- ing to the usual course ; that nothing should be wanting to promote the king's service and render his administration easy and happy. He echoes back their testimony in favour of the loyalty of the people, having, in riding the circuits for twenty years, observed not an instance of disaf- fection, and promises to remove such officers as they complain of; but, with respect to his assent to their bills, he engages his concurrence, if they are framed in such a manner as his majesty expects. They proceeded to a variety of acts, in the fullest confidence of their being passed ; and, for form sake, among the rest sent up the annual support bill to the council, and stimulated them for information concerning its progress, but were answered imme- diately that it was rejected.* He had every proof of their willingness to oblige him. Upon a message, with lord Holdernesse's letter, advising of an intended encroachment of the French and Indians, they resolved to assist the neighbouring colonies ; to resist force by force, in case of an invasion ; carried on sham process for * On the 29th November, twelve days bcforo tlie counciPs negative, Mr. Jone« writes to the agent ; "You will doubtless, before this reaches you, hear of the sudden and surprising death of sir Danvcrs Osborn, and of tlic government's being thereby devolved on Mr. Dclancey, our chief justice. Under this adminis- tration we conceived great hopes, that all former disputes would have subsided, but, unluckily for this unhappy colony, the instructions sir Danvors brought with him, with respect to the issuing bills for raising and issuing public money, are such, that I think no general assembly will comply with tiiem ; and, tliere- tbre, I apprehend that no law will be passed for the application of public money ihi« session, nor governor or council recede without permission.'" 200 HISTORY OF NEVV-lfOKK. punishing a printer, who had republished in a newspaper that part of their journals containing the thirty-ninth instruction, only the substance of which he was ordered to reveal. They also voted him a salary of fifteen hundred and sixty pounds, a larger sum than ever was given to any former lieutenant- governor, and equal to Mr. Clinton's allowance ; eight hundred pounds more for Indian presents ; one hundred and fifty pounds for his voyage to Albany ; four hundred pounds for fuel and lights to the garrison ; his arrears as chief justice to the 12th of October ; and after the rejection of the support bill, bound themselves for the expenses of his voyage and the presents he might distribute to the Indians. While the lieutenant-governor, on the other hand, conspired with them in appointing council to defend a quantity of powder in the province stores, seized by Mr. Kennedy, who was a friend to the late governor, and struck at for seizing it as contraband ; passed fifteen popular laws, and continued the session till they had perfected a complaint to the king, and a representation to the lords of trade, against Mr. Clinton ; tenderly remarking before they parted, that they " must be sensible they had not acted in compliance with his majesty's royal instructions ;" and *' that he hoped, after consulting their constituents, they would at thnir next meeting bring with them such dispositions as would eflfectu- ally promote the public service, and then proceed with a due regard to what his majesty justly expected from them, and thereby recommend themselves to his royal grace and favour." The address is a short declaration to the king of HISTORY O^' AEW-VORK. 2U1 their abhorrence of those groundless imputations of disloyalty, most falsely and maliciously "reported to him." " Surel)^ none but men destitute of justice, honor, and veracity, would represent us in a light so distant from truth." It concludes with warm pro- fessions of loyalty and affection, roundly affirming, " that there is not a native of the colony who would not cheerfully hazard his life, fortune, and all that is dear to him in the defence of his person, family, and government." But their complaint to the plantation office is a verbose, angry attack upon the late governor, and is so artless and unguarded as to reproach their lordships by their representation to the king. Relative to the late disputes, they assert that they arose from the mal-administration of Mr. Clinton, who had maligned the colony to escape the cdn- sure himself deserved ; it incautiously alleges that, during Mr. Clarke's time, the peace of the colony was undisturbed, no discord between the branches of the legislature, no accusations of the assembly's assuming the executive or trampling upon the pre- rogative ; that there were no animosities in the first three years of Mr. Clinton's administration, though the public measures were then what they had been since. They then offer to prove that Mr. Clinton was interested in privateers, and hired out the cannon given by the king for the use of the colony ; that Saratoga was lost by his withdrawing the troops to gain benefits by his independent company, and to the loss of the lives of many others of the king's subjects ; that he was the cause of the Indian disaf- Tor. IT, — 26 202 HlSTORl OF i\EVV-i:OKK. fection, by embezzling a great proportion of the presents raised to secure their friendship ; that he demanded subsistence and provisions for two Indian companies, under colonels and other officers of his appointing, when no such companies ever really existed ; that he granted extravagant tracts of land, and exacted twelve pounds ten shillings for every thousand acres, in the remote parts of the colony, *' besides reserving considerable shares in the grants to himself, by inserting fictitious names," to the discouragement of settlements, and the weakening of the northern frontiers, expensively and difficultly defended ; that he obstructed the course of justice, by letters to the judges and other officers of Dutchess county to delay proceedings, and to the sheriff not to execute process in causes merely civil, and by secreting an information filed by the attorney-gene- ral against a person presented by the grand jury for perjury, and afterwards making that very man an assistant judge of the court of common pleas, and a colonel of the militia of Westchester county, though informed by a member of the legislature ; that he openly sold offices, civil and military, and the reversions of some ; that he made frequent, long, and causeless prorogations, and suffered the duties for the support of government to expire ; that he *' commissionated" ignorant and illiterate officers, some not able to write their names, and one to a colonelcy in a northern county, suspected of being attached to the French interest during the war, and misrepresented the dispute to their lordships, touching the limits of this and the province of New- Jersey : and these they assert to be the true grounds HISTOHV OF iM<:W-YOKK. i20S of the dissatisfiiclion during his administration. They alleged, that the charge of assuming the direction of the militia is absolutely false, and that for several of his last years he never mentioned the militia to the assembly. On the great subject of the mode of support bills, the reader shall have their own words. "We further beg leave to assure your lordships, that as it is our duty and interest, so it is our hearty inclination, to do every thing we can conceive that may contribute to his majesty's service and the good of this colony, which we look upon as inseparably connected ; and therefore should have raised a provision for the sup- port of government, in the manner signified by that instruction, but tliat the raising a support of many years has, by long experience, been found to be much more hurtful to his majesty's interest, by giving perpetual occasion for disputes and conten- tions between governors and assemblies, than tl»e method pursued for these sixteen or seventeen years last past. Had we indeed the happiness to be under his majesty's care and inspection, we should think it our duty to raise a support in the manner insisted upon in that instruction ; but, unhappily for us, that is not our good fortune : we are under governors appointed by his majesty, at a great distance from him and his immediate inspection, and wlio, as your lordships must be acquainted, having no inheritance in the province, very often consider the government as a post of profit, which they hold by an uncertain tenure ; and therefore, as it regards not them in what condition they leave the province upon their removal, instead of applying the moneys raised for 204 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. the necessities of government to the uses they were designed, have only been anxious to invent ways and means to convert as much as possible to their own private use and benefit. That this has been the case of most governors here, the assem- blies of this province have, by the many contentions which have subsisted on this head, been but too sensible of, to the great and manifest detriment of his majesty's service, and the good of this province ; which sufficiently convinces us, that it is not for the interest of his majesty and for the public good of this colony, to raise a support in any other manner than has been done for sixteen or seventeen years past, whatever it may be for the private interest of a governor." They then accuse Mr. Clinton, and probably with the agent's* hint, of inattention to the Indians who were at New- York in June last, while the assembly were sitting at Jamaica ; and add, what does not appear in the journal, that the speaker, by letter to Mr. Clinton, on the order of the house, besought him to promise them a meeting at Albany, a distri- bution of presents, and a redress of grievances ; that he would make Hendrick, the chief sachem of the Mohawk's, a present, and that the house would provide for these expenses and the maintainance of * In his letter of the Glh September, 1753, there is this clause; "I cannot avoid acquamting you with the concern it gave me to read at the board of trade, the minutes of a late conference at New-York with seventeen Mohawk Indians, who went away not only expressing their dissatisfaction, but resentment. As their errand appears to me to have been principally about land, I am in hopes they had no authority to speak on public subjects, such as the hatchet and rod, and that they will be discountenanced therein by the Six Nations. I shall be anxious to know the success of the commissioners deputed to treat with them, being very sensible of the critical posture of affairs with respect to the Indians and others," HISTORY or iNEW-YOKK. 205 those Indians ; that the governor, nevertheless, dis- missed them without any thing ; and they were on the way on foot, with their baggage on their backs, when met by a gentleman from Albany, who, out of his own pocket, provided them a passage by water, and the house had reimbursed him, with thanks ; and this they urged as a proof both of his neglect and contempt of the Indians. As a vindication of themselves from the charge of remissness respecting Indian and other affairs, they add, that they had subjected the colony to a tax of above eighty-one thousand pounds, without deriving, as some other colonies had, any recom- pense from the crown. The whole concludes with their favourite expression of a readiness " to hazard their lives, fortunes, and all that is dear to them, against all the king's enemies whatsoever^ The transmission of the address to the king was entrusted to the lieutenant-governor, and a copy with the impeachment, enclosed by the speaker to Mr. Charles, on the 13th of December, the day after the session, in a letter containing the following passages : — " As I hinted before, no bill for the application of money has passed either the council or governor, and I apprehend that none will pass, until there be a countermand of orders from your side of the water. We have, however, contrived to procure a remittance for you of two hundred pounds sterling which we hope will discharge your engagements. As to the Jersey affair, we think it his majesty's right to ascertain the limits of his colonies ; and if the stations once settled with vou, we shall soon iJOti HiSTOHY OF NEVV-YOltK. agree about running the lines. We expect it will not be long before the colonies of Massachusetts bay and New-Hampshire will come upon the stage in the same respect. It seems highly necessary that his majesty should ascertain the boundaries of all his colonies, to prevent disputes among his sub- jects here, for we apprehend they will never agree among themselves." Again : " That party spirit which appeared among us during Mr. Clinton's administration, seems to be vanished, and there appears a great inclination to unanimity among all the branches of the legislature. You have herewith, the remaining parts of the minutes of our house in this present session, and the whole of last session. You have also herewith a representation from us, to be laid before the lords commissioners for trade and plantations. Your own discretion will indicate to you how you are to manage the affairs. We expect to hear from you as quick as possible. Take par- ticular notice of our address in our session at Jamaica, on Nassau island, where we press Mr. Clinton to meet the Indians at Albany." By one of the acts of this session, the importation and passing of counterfeit British halfpence, and the very pos- sessing them, was prohibited under severe penalties, power given to search for them, and all disputes respecting them trusted, under forty shillings, to the summary hearing and decision of one magistrate, and above that sum, to him and two freeholders of his choice. There was at this time an inundation of copper money, but it was not thought safe and expedient to venture a law against any but the adulterated coin. To bring it, however, into dis- IIISTUKY Ul iNEVV-YOKl\. 207 credit, witliout giving umbrage to Great Britain, the house resolved, on the last day of this session, that they would proceed at their next to ascertain the value of halfpence and farthings. The mer- chants in the confederacy immediately gave their vote its effect, by subscribing an agreement not to receive or pay this species of money, but at fourteen copper halfpence to the shilling ; and the practice prevailed universally, after one inconside- rable riot by the mob, in which the lieutenant-gover- nor assisted the magistrates in apprehending the chief rioters, who were punished for the ineffectual tumult they had raised in the capital. The policy of multiplying such summary tribunals, was ques- tioned by the zealous advocates of the old trial by jury ; and there were some who animadverted upon the lieutenant-governor's agency respecting this species of coin, as what would in Mr. Clinton have been represented worthy of reprehension from the crown.* Tn the month of March, 1754, nearly six hundred pounds were raised, towards promoting a spirit of inquiry among the people, by a loan of the books to non-subscribers. The project was started at an evening convention of a few private friends : Messrs. Philip Livingston, William Alexander, (afterwards known by the title of the earl of Stirling,) Robert R. Livingston, William Livingston, John Morin Scott, and one other person. To engage all parties in ■■<■■ It was not till this day, (I2tij December) tiiat ujortgages were subjected to a public registry for tiie prevention of frauds; but the act now passed, though a tiseful one, did not reach all the mischiefs intended to be prevented. In dispute^ concerning their property, the^rj? registered is to be,first paid. 208 HISTORY OF NEW-YOltK. the subscription, it was carried first to the lieute- nant-governor and the council. The trustees of the institution were annually eligible by the subscribers, and had the disposition of the contribution, with the appointment of the librarian and clerk. Every proprietor was to pay the yearly sum of ten shillings; and thus a foundation was laid for an institution ornamental to the metropolis, and of utility to the whole colony ; for the remote object of the pro- jectors was an incorporation by royal charter, and the, erection of an edifice, at some future day, for a museum and observatory, as well as a library. Hitherto it consisted of valwible books in our own language only, which were deposited in the town- hall, under the care of a librarian. The number, by the annual subscriptions, is at pesent considera- bly increased ; but governor Tryon lately gave the trustees a charter, which it wanted to invite to the donations necessary to accomplish the liberal aim of the promoters of the subscription, who found some obstacles at first from the low state of science, and the narrow views and jealousies of sectarian zeal. About this time the continent was alarmed by the attempts of the French to erect forts on the Ohio. Virginia, as most immediately concerned, took the first measures for defence. Mr. Dinwiddle, their governor, resolved to fortify the pass of Mononga- hela, and called upon the sister colonies for aid. Circular letters arrived soon after from the ministry, requiring a congress at Albany, for treating with our Indian allies, and concerting a united plan to defeat the French aim of engrossing the interior HISTORY OF NEW-YOUK. 209 country, and, by a cliain of forts, to restrict the British settlements to the sea-coasts, or at some distant day, to acquire the exclusive dominion of the continent. A design this of vast magnitude, but not difficult to accomplish, if France had at that day the sagacity to have preceded her fortifi- cations by the less suspicious transportation of a few thousand emigrants from her populous do- minions in Europe, to the rich and fertile banks of the lakes and rivers, of which, to our shame be it remembered, we had no knowledge, except by the books and maps of her missionaries and geo- graphers. These events had no ill aspect upon the resist- ance of the assembly to the scheme of an indefinite support ; and yet they met on the 9th of April, 1754, in ill temper, because they had no advices to flatter them with the hope of gratifying their revenge upon the late governor ; and while some conceived that manifestations of liberality and zeal, others were of opinion that tcstiness and parsimony, would be most likely to procure the wished-lor success. The lieutenant-governor very naturally adopted the sentiments of the first class, and bore with some impatience the contradictions of tlie other, which was inauspicious to that favour which he meant to cultivate with his superiors, and render consistent, if possible, with his popular dominion. The speech apprised them of the French designs; of the spirit of Virginia; of her request for aid in the common cause ; of the royal expectation, signi- fied by the earl of Holderness ; and demanded not VOL. II.— 27 210 HISTOKV OF NEW-¥ORK. only supplies for transporting two of the indepen- dent companies to Virginia, fortifying the frontiers, strengthening Oswego, and treating with the six cantons, but that they should take a part in every expense conducive to the public utility. The assembly admitted that the defence was a common concern ; applauded the vigour of Virginia; but complained of the desolations of the last war, and the expenditure of eighty thousand pounds, for a part of which they were still in debt and under taxes, and of the burthen of erecting and support- ing their own fortifications in New- York, Albany, Fort Hunter, Schenectady, and Oswego; reminded him of their vote of credit at the last session, for one thousand pounds to our own Indians, and his expenses at the intended treaty ; declared that they are able only to forward the two regular companies; and, after painting the designs of France in terms adapted to raise the popular resentment, they con- clude with applauding the energy and success of his half year's administration ; for which he thanked them, but with renewed importunities for the sup- plies, that they might the more effectually recom- mend the colony to the crown. They then voted a thousand pounds to Virginia, four hundred and fifty-six pounds for an additional garrison at Oswego, and allowed for Indian presents and the expense of the treaty, eleven hundred and twenty pounds: they engaged to reimburse the necessary charge of repairing Oswego, and to bear their part in the erection of new forts on the frontiers for the common defence. But when he reminded them of their former resolution to repel HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 211 force by force, and that it had raised the expecta- tions of the crown, they evasively resolved, that it did not appear clear to them that any of the king's colonies were invaded ; which drew from the lieu- tenant-governor a message to inform them that the French forts were erected in a country of the Eries, a nation extirpated by the confederate cantons, who, by the treaty of Utrecht, are to be considered as the subjects of Great Britain ; and he ventured a conjecture that the French forts were constructed within the limits of Pennsylvania.* They could not, however, be induced to enlarge their contribution to Virginia ; and had already sent up the bill to raise the sums voted for supplies, without any regard to the thirty-ninth instruction. The council, perceiving that the sums were issuable by the treasurer upon the receipts, and not by warrants from the lieutenant-governor, with their consent, asked a conference, to which, as a money bill, the assembly could not consent. In this exigency Mr. Delancey passed the bills that were ready, and prorogued the assembly till the next day; when, after artfully informing the whole province by a speech, that the council had * Can there be a clearer proof of our infancy or ncjjligcncp, tlian lo find tlie Jcislature at a loss to adjust a geograpliical question respecting a country su near our old maratinie settlements I And docs it not reflect disgrace upon tiie whole nation, that no attempt hai been since made to explore the exterior parts of the continent, at Uic public expense .-' We have added nothing to the Frcnrli discoveries by ourconqucst of <,'anada; (hough it would have bncomc so opulent a people to have penetrated the wilderness before this day, not only to dclrrniinc its breadth and explore its wealtii, but open new objects to tlic view of moral as well as natural philosopiiy. Tiiis has since been done by sir Alexander M*Kenzie, from Canada, and by Clarke and others, bv the autliorify of ihc TTnited Stateii. 212 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. rejected their bill because they thought it their duty to insist on a conformity with the royal instructions, he declared his hopes that they would make the necessary provision in a manner that might lay the council under no difficulty, and urged both unani- mity and despatch. To this they answer in an address, asserting that the delay was not chargeable upon them, their bill being agreeably " to a method long pursued, settled with, and solemnly agreed to, by the late governor Clinton ;" but promise on ** this pressing occasion, in pure regard to his majesty's service and the interest of the country, to endeavour to frame a bill in such a manner as may obviate the objections lately made." And as an evidence of their concord with the lieutenant-governor, which they doubtless wished to have known, they now sent him a previous copy of the address, for he gave it an immediate written reply ; and proceeded, before the renovation of the bill of supplies, to vote the articles of which it was to consist, but left out the aid of one thousand pounds to Virginia. Thus a door was opened for other messages and addresses, for expressing his and their zeal for the king's service ; for, on the 4th of May, he animadverted upon the resolves, and observed, that since they had lately voted the one thousand pounds as necessary, the omission of that bounty would now be disadvantageous to their reputation : and after holding up the council once more to the public, by repeating that they were moved by their attach- ment to the instruction in rejecting the late bill, he HISTORY OF WEW-YOKK. 2\'i^ beseeches them to reflect *' liow far a delay or disappointment of this service may be chargeable upon them." The address of the same day, of which he again had a copy, now roundly asserts, what was only hinted at before, that the council, and not they, are answerable for the delay ; lamented that they could not gratify their inclinations consistently with the interests of their constituents ; denied their omis- sion to be a breach of their engagement, because they do not estimate their contribution to Virginia among the promised provisions, conceiving as they do, that they are not indispensably necessary : they sullenly conclude with a request that they may be dismissed, to go home to their families. The governor had now an opportunity to argue upon the extent of their promise, which he did in another message of the same afternoon, and with some seeming resentment, and a menace of repre- senting their conduct to the king. But without waiting for the effect, as if it was calculated more to recommend himself to the king's ministers than to persuade them, who wanted some excuse to the people for complying with the instructions to serve him, immediately after that message, he passed the bills,* and broke up the session by a prorogation on the 4th of May. One design of these altercations seems to have been, to give the lieutenant-governor a dominion over the council, the majority of whom were not in • One under tlie title of " An act for the payment of several sums of money for the use and security of this colony ;" and another, " To prevent nuisanw"? in the metronoli>-." 214 HISTORY OF ISEW-YORK. the interest of that party of which we had so long been a leader. Before the conference proposed on the bill lost by the prorogation, the lieutenant- governor, thinking the council might be influenced by the emergency, came in amongst them, and advised their yielding to the humour of the assembly. One of them shrewdly asked him, "What then will become of us ?" He answered with a smile, " I will suspend you, according to the instruction, and then pass the bill, and restore you to your places." But Avhat confounded the politician, was a proposal of Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, to escape the dilemma by lending the money which the bill was to raise, on a reliance upon the generosity of the public. He left them, saying that he would himself make the loan, if he did not succeed with the house. This prorogation gave place for originating a second bill, which passed into a law. It was at this session that Mr. Delancey intimated his design of running a temporary line between this and the province of New-Jersey, asking the house to defray the expenses of it : nor is it a mean proof of his influence, that he in the same message requested a further sum for adjusting the partition with Massachusetts bay — not by the commissioners appointed by the late act, but of his own nomi- nating, with the advice of the council, who were to meet others from the Massachusetts bay at the intended congress at Albany. Mr, Charles had, the 4th July, 1753, informed the speaker of the report of the board of trade against the Jersey act ; that " their lordships demanded to know of the parties, whether they UlSJTOKY OF ISEW-YORK. t>15 had any proposals to oflfer for running the lines and ascertaining the boundaries, which their lordships said was necessary to be done, for the peace and quiet of both governments. On both sides it is offered to join in a commission from thence under the great seal. I have requested that they may be disinterested persons taken from the neighbouring colonies ; but the solicitor for the Jersey interest thinks this method will bring on a heavy expense. The matter lies over for further consideration. On the 23d of the same month, the agents of New- Jersey waited upon the lords commissioners for trade and plantations, and declared that, as Mr. Morris, to whom the conduct of the act for running the division line was committed, had his powers only from the proprietors of the eastern division of Jersey, he couhl not take upon himself to join in a commission for ascertaining the boundaries of the whole province. A declaration of this kind was no more than what might be expected from those who, having missed their principal aim, would be well content that this affair should sleep possibly another thirty-four years, till some favourable juncture should offer for reviving it. But I hope I shall be excused for offering, with all submission, my humble opinion that now is the time for pushing those proprietaries in their turn." The reader, therefore, will perceive that the lieutenant-governor's message could neither dis- serve him with the ministry nor the house ; who, on the 25th of April, agreed with him in the expe- diency of temporary lines both with our eastern and western neighbours, and pledged their faith 216 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. for their proportion of the expense, without the least exception to his change of the commissioners in the ordinary exercise of the prerogative of the crown. But the late mock quarrel of the lieutenant- governor and the assembly, did not entirely elude the suspicion that the latter had made some con- descensions more to serve him than the colony : and whether it is to the same or some other motive, that the agent's letter to Mr. Jones, of the 30th of January, 1 754, was long concealed from his fellow- members and the public eye, is left to the reader's conjecture. It was in this that he owned the receipt of their memorable impeachment of the late gover- nor, and ventured some hints unfavourable to the towering hopes of the party in power. "I have delivered in (says he) at the board of trade, your representation touching the thirty-ninth article of instructions to sir Danvers Osborn, and am very apprehensive that that matter will take up a long consideration, as it must come before the king in council, where, at the same time, it is not improbable that the representation of the board of trade, touch- ing the state of your colony, will likewise come under deliberation. I hope time will be given to the colony to answer the charge contained in the preamble of that instruction, which, it is said here, can be supported by facts taken from the public transactions of the general assembly. I also appre- hend that the board of trade will acquit Mr. Clinton with the instances of his mal-ad ministration men- tioned in that representation, and that your house will be called upon to prove the assertions they have made. It will be proper to have the prooft UlSTORV Ul' iNKW-VUKK. "217 ill readiness." He wrote a confideatiiil letter ol" the same date, the contents of vvliicli can only ho guessed at from Mr. Jones's answers of the 1st of June ; the whole of which is herewith transcribed. " In your private letter of the 30th January, yon inquire, * In case we should be called upon for our proofs against Mr. Clinton, how could we prove that two Indian companies never existed, whose muster-rolls were sent home on oath ?' If such companies ever existed, it was certainly with uncom- mon secrecy, since, by the strictest inquiry, no footsteps of any such thing has hitherto been disco- vered. We should be glad to have copies of these muster-rolls, if possible to be obtained, which may probably lead us to further discoveries. The person Mr. Clinton made an assistant justice of, when here, and had a presentment of perjury against, was one Israel Honeywell, of Westchester county; and when Mr. Clinton was made acquainted with it by the representatives of that county, he sent to the attor- ney-general for the information, and would never return it to him again. I am perfectly well satisfied with the reasons which you give for not insisting on a public hearing on the thirty-ninth article of the instructions ; and shall be very well pleased with Mr, Clinton's declininjT a vindication of his conducl. as he must then stand condemned in the judg- ment of every impartial person. As to the alteration you suggest may be made to the thirty-ninth article of the instructions, it appears to me to be so very small, that I am persuaded no general assembly of this colony will consent to it even in that shape. 1 hope the next governor that comes /in f'nse n- VOL. II. — 28 218 HISTUKY OF JNEW-VORK. mitigation be made before) will bring with him instructions less vigorous, and better calculated for the interests of America and his own ease and quiet." Thus for the first letter. The second, of the same date, is this : — " When I wrote to you last, the house was sitting, and I then acquainted you that you might soon expect to hear from me. The session is now ended, and by our votes you will perceive that we have done nothing towards the expedition to Ohio, though we had that affair much at heart. You will find that the obstruction arose from the thirty-ninth article of his majesty's instruc- tions to the late sir Danvers Osborn ; and this, I apprehend, will always be the case, as long as the instruction continues to have a being. You doubtless have already, or soon will hear from Pennsylvania, what progress the French have made on the Ohio, which not only makes them masters of all the fur nations of Indians, but intimidates those which we call ours, and puts it into their power at any time to harass our southern colonies from that quarter, as they do us and our eastern neighbours from Crown Point ; and unless some vigorous resolution be taken, I fear poor English America will soon fall a prey to the boundless ambition of France. I have very lately received your letters of the 30th of January,* via Philadelphia, and shall communicate them to the house at their next meeting. I expect you will hear from our lieutenant-governor, touching '■^ They were not disclosed to the house till the 16tli of October, 1754, though the assembly sat in the spring till the 4th of May, and again from the 20th to the 29th of August, and passed a law. Nor is it certain that these letters were pro- duced even in October, the entry showing tJiat the speaker laid several letters before the house without mentioning their dates. HISTUKY OF NKW-YOUK. 219 the Jersey affair of the line, and also from the commissioners appointed for that purpose, touching Massachusetts bay, &c. I have notliing further to add at present, but that the house seems to be entirely well satisfied with your conduct, &c." The ensuing summer will ever be remembered for the first congress of deputies from sundry of the colonies, for their common defence. Albany was the place appointed, and the time the 14th of June. Mr. Delancey, as the only governor who attended, took the chair, and the rank of the gentlemen who composed that assembly being adjusted, they sat in the following order : — On the right, Mr. Murray and colonel Johnson, two of the council members of this colony ; then the commissioners of Massachusetts bay, Mr. Wells, Mr. Hutchinson, colonel Chandler, colonel Partridge, and Mr. Worthington ; Mr. Wyburn, Mr. Atkinson, Mr. Ware and Mr. Sher- burn, from New-Hampshire ; and from Rliode- Island, Mr. Hopkins and Mr. Howard. Opposite to these, on the lieutenant-governor's left, were two others of the New-York council, Mr. Chambers and Mr. Smith ; then the Connecticut delegates, lieutenant-governor Pitkin, major Wolcott, and colonel Williams; for Pennsylvania, Mr. John l^enn, Mr. Peters, Mr. Norris, and Mr. Franklin ; and colonel Tasher and major Barnes, for Maryland. Mr. Delancey, on the 29th, opened the treaty with the Indians, who had been tardy in assembling, by a speech preconcerted by the commissioners, and the presents were distributed in the name of all the colonies represented at that meeting. It is sufficient to observe, on the whole, that the 220 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. Indians, when dismissed on the 11th of July, were, or affected to be, well pleased, and engaged their co-operation against the designs of the French ; and yet one of these woodland kings, who chalked out a sketch of the interior forests, rivers, and lakes, with a clear discernment of their relations, dropped the jealous but judicious observation, that Louis- burgh was one key of the inland country, and New-York another, and that the power which had both, would open the great chest, and have Indians and all. The main objects of the commissioners were, a compact for the united exertions of all the colonies in future, and a representation to his majesty for the establishment and execution of the plan. To this end it was proposed, that one general government should be formed, under which each colony should retain its present constitution, except in the subsequent instances, directing a change ; that the general government be administered by the president-general appointed and supported by the crown, and a grand council elected by the respec- tive colony assemblies : that when an act of parliament was passed for these purposes, the provinces should choose their delegates, to form the council, in the following proportions : Massachusetts bay , 7 New-Hampshire 2 Connecticut 5 Rhode-Island 2 New-York 4 New-Jersey , S mSTOKY OK .Nt:W-VOlM\. 2'2\ Pennsylvania 6 Maryland 4 Virginia 7 North-Carolina 4 South-Carolina 4 — 48 To meet first at Philadelphia, on the call of the president-general, as soon as conveniently may be after his appointment; that the council be triennial, and every interim vacancy, by death or resignation, supplied at the next sitting of the assembly of the colony he represented ; that after the first three years, the number of delegates to be regulated by their contributions to the public treasury, yet so as to be never less than two to a colony, nor more than seven ; that the conventions of the council to be annual or oftener, on their own adjournments, or the call of the president-general, upon emergencies, with the written consent of seven, with due previous notice to all the members : that they choose their own speaker, and be neither dissolved, prorogued, nor continued to a longer session than six weeks, without their consent, or the special command of the crown : that the wages of the council be each ten shillings sterling per day, eundo, mancndo, ct redeundo, at twenty miles for a day's journey ; the assent of the president-general, to be necessary to all acts, and that it be his duty to carry them into execution ; that he, with the advice of the council, hold all Indian treaties afiecting the general interest, and make peace or war with the Indians, laws regulating tlie Indian trade, all purchases from them for the crown, of lands not now witliin any colony. 222 HISTORY OF KEVV-YOUK. or when reduced to more convenient dimensions ; that they grant out such new acquisitions, nomine regis, reserving a quit-rent for the general treasury ; raise and pay soldiers ; build forts ; equip vessels to guard the coasts on this side of the ocean, lakes, and great rivers ; but not to impress men in any colony, without the consent of its own legislature : that, for these purposes, they make laws, lay and levy general duties, imposts or taxes, equal and just, considering the ability and other circumstances of the several colonies, and such as may be collected with the least inconvenience, rather discouraging luxury than loading industry with unnecessary burdens : that they may appoint a general treasurer, and in each government a particular one ; and either draw for all sums upon the general treasury, or upon each particular treasury, as they find most convenient : yet no money to be issued but by joint order of the president-general and council, except on particular appropriations where the president is previously empowered by an act : that the general account to be annually settled and reported to every assembly ; that the quorum to act, with the president, to consist of twenty-five members, having one or more from a majority of the colonies ; that their laws not to be repugnant, but as near as may be agreeably to the laws of England ; to be transmit- ted to the king in council for approbation, and if not disapproved within three years after presentation, to remain in force : that the speaker of the council, on the death of the president, ofliciate in his stead, until the king's pleasure be known : that all military commission officers for the land or sea service, under HlSTOIiV OF i\EW-Y0KK. !22J> this general constitution, be nominated by tlie presi- dent, with the approbation of the council ; and all civil officers by the council, with the approbation of the president ; but a vacancy in any province, in a civil or military office, to be supplied by the go- vernor of the province where it happened, until the pleasure of the president and council can be known : that the military and civil establishments of the several colonies remain in their present state, this general constitution notwithstanding ; and that on sudden emergencies, any colony may defend itself, and lay the accounts of expenses thence arising before the president-general and council, wlio are to allow and pay as far as they* judge just and reasonable. Except Mr. Delancey, every member consented to this plan, and qualified as he was rather for short altercation than copious debate, he made no great, opposition. Besides, he had objections not to be started before auditors of too much sagacity not to discern the motives which excited them, and who were too unbiased to suppress any disreputable and unpopular discoveries. In so unusual a situation, he was conscious of an awkward inferiority, and found that every effort to resist the scheme only contributed to forward it, for his exceptions and cavil were either obviated, answered, or overruled. But a single member could be influenced, and he was not able to proselyte any body else except Mr. Murray, who had a great merit as a lawyer ; but, unless a question in that profession arose, he was either mute as a fish, or confused, slow, and super- ficial—a man of pride, without ambition, or n "2^4 HisroRk: uF i\e\v-vokk. single talent for intrigue — cold, distant, formal, and disgusting. But the want of unanimity was of no other consequence than the impairing of Mr. Delancey*s reputation ; many, judging from the controversy with Mr. Clinton, had conceived him to be most inclined to the popular branch of the constitution, but now discovered that he had his eye to the other side of the water. The plan adopted would be neither, as he apprehended, to the relish either of the nation in general or to the servants of the crown. They ascribed his unnecessary opposition to an impatience for distinction, prompted by ambition, which threw him off his guard. Being the only governor, amidst a number of rival demagogues, his situation could not but be disagreeable to him. But the scheme, when offered, was not understood as approved by any other governor on the continent. Too inconsiderable to hope for so illustrious a seat as the president's, they could not brook the exalta- tion of private citizens to stations in the grand coun- cil, inflating their vanity, and enabling them not only to traverse their interests at court, but lessen their authority. That a scheme, begot in the frights of the delegates at the repulse of the Virginians, under colonel Washington, on the 3d of July, (the news of which came to Albany, while they were assem- bled,) was disrelished by some of the colonels, who perused the proposal with less discomposure, gave scope to their jealousies, and eyed the power it meant to establish with horror; while multitudes of individuals jarred in their sentiments, as they were more or less attached to monarchical or MISTUKY Ul' iMOW-YUKK. 225 republican principles ; another sort increasing the discord, by their scotls at a model so dissimilar to the British constitutution, which theory, experience, and habit had taught them to admire as the most perfect of all human inventions; in a word, their dread of the French excited the people only to speculate ; it did not rise high enough to curb a diversity of sentiment ; and if it had, that very unanimity here would have furnished an argument | on the other side of the Atlantic, to blast a design considered by administration as accelerating an event dangerous to the union and stability of the] empire.* It was in this month also, that a conibrence was lield between Mr. Murray, Mr. Smith, Mr. Benjamin Nicoll, and Mr. William Livingston, under a com- mission from this colony, with the aforenamed commissioners of Massachusetts bay, concerning the line of partition between the two provinces ; but the result was little more than a discovery of the proofs on which they respectively relied ; a liandle for fresh encroachments from Massachusetts bay, =< The plan was drafted in a commiltcc consisting' of one conimissionor from each colony. Mr. Smith represented New-York. The main object was to reduce the colonics to one head and one pulse. The eastern colonics were mosV. ardent for the union, except Connecticut, who was too jealous of tiic power ot'l the president. Eacli colony took a copy, und.-r a j.romiso to exert thcifj influence upon their constituent, for its establishment by an act of parliament. ( The report gave rise to many debates, and especially r.-spectin;,' the funds for supporting this new government. A duly on spiriU, anri a general slimp duty, were contended for; but it was finally agreed to cast the president on the crown, and the council on the colonies, with a trifling allowance, that none but men oi fortune might aspire to that station. To repress Mr. Smith's earnestness for the scheme'^ the lieutenant-governor hinted to iiim, that Massachusella aiird with an aim to procure the president's cliair for their governor, and predicted, as ho well might, that it would not be much encourage* by New- York- VOL. ir.— 29 226^ HISTOKK^ UF iNEW-YORK. and mutual complaints to the crown. Massachusetts certainly meant nothing, for she gave powers to settle a final line, though pre-admonished that our commissioners were to come only with authority to conclude a temporary boundary. They boasted of their prior possessions, asserted them to be ancient, and offered to be restricted by the distance of sixteen miles from Hudson's river. Desirous as soon as possible, to meet the assem- bly, and, besides his other designs, to make suitable impressions respecting the transactions of the congress, the lieutenant-governor began a session on the 20th of August, when he mentioned the defeat of colonel Washington on the east side of the Ohio, as within the undoubted limits of his majesty's dominions, and exacted their promised aid to Virginia, and preparation for the defence of this colony; the erection of a fort in the Senecas' country, on the tract purchased by Mr. Clarke ; the prohibiting of rum to the Indians; a more extensive militia act ; and laid before them the commissioners' plan, after a suggestion, that from a persuasion that the assemblies were not disposed to join in vigorous measures, the commissioners would not consider his proposal of erecting forts on the frontiers, but preferred an application to parliament for establishing their scheme for a union. A contribution to the defence of Virginia and Pennsylvania, was expedient to humour the minis- try ; and to do it with reluctance, raised the credit of the lieutenant-governor, gratified the parsimo- nious spirit of the people, and prevented suspicions of a sacrifice of the colony to the interests of the iiiSTOKY or .m:w-yori\. 227 predominant party. Tlie house, therefore, presented an artful address of a controversial complexion quoting passages from the lieutenant-governor's speech, to refute his demands, and justify their refusal of anji donations. They confessed that the colonies were reciprocally bound to a common defence ; but they add, there may be instances of colonies already so distressed as to want aid, which therefore, are not bound to afibrd help. To apply this, they paint their own exposed situation in his own language, and ask him whether Virginia and Pennsylvania have built forts and fortifications, and whether they are daily called upon for the repara- tion and support of them. They then promised to give something, but after- wards lament that they had an open frontier. The late war, in which they had expended near one hundred thousand pounds, was a melancholy proof of it ; and how to find a cure to the evil, they knew not. The other colonies derived strength from their settlements in townships, and close order, whilst our lands were granted away in patents, almost without bounds or number ; and though we could erect forts and block-houses, they would serve no end — uncul- tivated tracts being not the objects of protection, but man's life and industry. After addini; their testimony, that he had been faithful to his trust in the distribution of the Indian presents, they beg leave to return to their families, and promise a due attention to every matter he had recommended in the autumn of the year. Would any man without doors, and not in the secret, believe, what is a fact, that they had already 228 IIISTOllY OF ?«EW-Y011K. that very morning, voted a gift of five thousaiitl pounds to their fellow-subjects in Pennsylvania and Virginia ? Mr. Delancey gave them more than thanks ; he confesses the truth of their representa- tions, and applauding their generosity, declared his confidence that they would, at their next meeting, raise ample supplies ; and, by promising to promote the settlement of townships, converted his speech into a proclamation, which opened a wide field of business and profit in the land ofiice ; for this new method, more consistent with the spirit of demo- cracy than the king's instructions, drew emigrants from the crowded colonies of New-England ; and subsequent governors, interested in the innovation, have followed his example, to the increase of our inhabitants, and the extensive diff'usion of the enterprising spirit and principles of those eastern republics. The session continued until the act for issuing the five thousand pounds was passed,* and a vote or two entered, to stimulate him in procuring temporary lines between this and the provinces of Massachusetts * We assure you that it was '.vitli no small difficulty that means have been found for giving that sum. The legislature find themselves so embarrassed by the forms of the instructions, that it is with the utmost difficulty any money can be disposed of for the pubhc service, however urgent or necessary. Mr. Jones's letter to the agent, 29th August, 1754, was perfectly silent respecting the call of congress, as Mr. Delancey had predicted. Mr. Smith, confined at home, attending the death-bed of his wife, and Messrs. Alexander and Murray being absent in Jersey, the council then present consisted only of Mr. Kemiedy, Mr. Holland, and Mr. Chambers, who were prevailed upon to depart from the instructions by a mode perfectly new. The act directed the treasurer to pay the five thousand pounds to the lieutenant-governor; and after retaining three hundred and forty -eight pounds, expended in the victualling and transportation of the two independent companies which sailed in June, the residue was to be delivered, on order, to the order of the governor of Virginia, with the advice of his council. HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 229 bay and New-Hampshire ; and another respecting their quarrel with Mr. Kennedy, the collector, con- cerning the seizure of tlie gunpower, well calculated as the cause was then depending in the admiralty, to put Mr. Morris, the judge of that court, under some kind of awe, as well as to gain one v(Ue in council for the bill then depending there. The house sent a public message, to know what the lieutenant-governor had done towards forwarding a representation to his majesty respecting the seizure, and were satisfied with his answer, that the sentence was not yet passed, which they doubtless had already known from their own council, who all resided in the capital, and one of them, Mr Nicoll, cousin-german, and near neighbour to Mr. Watts, a member for the city. This incident would be trifling, if it did not mark, what is worth attention, the spirit of the day.* When the house met again in October, they knew that Mr. Chief Justice Morris had left England in the character of governor of Pennsylvania f from their agent ; that their vote to repel force by force, on the secretary of state's letter had been uni- versally applauded : that the Jersey proprietors had appealed to the privy council against the report of the board of trade ; that he had offered to join in a commission for running the line ; that the stations could not be ascertained there, conformably to the favourite but erroneous idea of Mr. Delancey, till * Mr. Kennedy was receiver- general of llie quit-rents, and had ^vcn Bomo offence liy tiic importunity of liis nicinorial to the lieutenant-governor lor his recommending a law to enforce tlie payment of the quit rents. + He arrived in the Mermaid frigate, at New- York. September 12th, 1754. 230 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. the controversy concerning the construction of the grants, and what the true boundaries were, was first adjudged on a commission ; that this was the mode also for setting our eastern limits, and that he wished to be ready with the names of the commis- sioners of our choice ; that he kept a watch on the great men of that country, respecting the affairs of the colony, but that nothing was determined as to the representation ; that the address to the king had been sent up to the council, with a letter from the board of trade, and that it would lay over till their report was made upon the representation ; that the board of trade had of late affected great privacy, and were so jealous of the inquiries of the agents, as to give strict orders respecting information, which they think improper, and had got a poor clerk dis- missed from the council office, for giving intelligence about one of their reports : adding, " We have here, some who have expressed so much warmth about the publication of the instruction, that they will spare no pains to blacken the colony, in order, if possible, to justify that measure, should the affair come to a public hearing. There are others who, I believe, are inclinable to push the instruction by a more moderate course to the succeeding governor, and to drop the inquiry about Mr. Clinton's manage- ment, by directing that successor to report how the affair stands. The parliament will be dissolved soon Our sugar islands make a shining figure at present, there being about fifty persons, who, from their estates and connections there, are at the same time using the proper means to have seats in parlia- ment. I fear we shall soon have them pushing not HISTORY OF XNEVV-VOKK. 231 only for the continuance, but tlie extension of that monopoly they now enjoy." Again ; "I take occa- sion of showing how much your colony has to do at home, if a war is to break out, and how unable you are to do that, and give assistance to others, after the heavy expense you have sustained in the late one ; that the interior system of your own government is unhinged by the instruction, which restrains you from providing the usual support, and continuing the taxes necessary for that end. T hope Mr. Delancey has touched upon this matter, because the present state of affairs will contribute more to get you rid of this restraint than any other argument whatever. The complaint of the Virginia assembly, about the pistole fee demanded by their lieutenant- governor, was last week heard and rejected ; and the day after, Mr. Randolph, the attorney-general, who came hither to prosecute that complaint, was told at the board of trade, that his majesty had no further occasion for his services. 1 am heartily sorry for the juncture of time in which this rejection and dismission have happened Much has been said about the warm votes of the assembly, and their assuming a power to make use of public money to support their complaint. No nomination is made of a governor for your colony, and until that is done, other matters will stop, unless the present exigency of aifairs determines tlu- ministry to let the aisembly proceed to provide as usual for the support of the colony."* •Vide Mr. Charles' letters to Mr. Jones, of the 7(h ami 8th of March, 8tii of April, and 27tl» of .Uine, 1754. 232 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. Nor was the prospect of internal harmony so encouraging to Mr. Delancey as at the commence- ment of his administration. Mr. Clinton had a few friends who favoured him, not so much for the sake of his cause, as from a jealousy that the popularity and ambition of his adversary endangered personal safety, or obliged to an humiliating insignificance and a base state of cringing submission. His ac- cession to the command induced to that partiality which was necessary to reward the services of his tools ; and the want of means to gratify the expec- tations of others, increased the number of the discontented. His incaution respecting the institu- tion of the college, enlisted many others on that side ; and the oil of religious zeal being poured upon the coals, kindled a flame, neglected at the beginning, but in its consequences destructive of his popularity, and unfriendly to his repose all the rest of his life. When divers sums had been raised by public lotteries for founding a college, they were, by an act of the legislature, in November, 1751, delivered over to the custody of a set of trustees, consisting of the eldest councillors, the speaker, the judges of the supreme court, the mayor of the metropolis, the province treasurer, James Livingston, Benjamin NicoU, and William Livingston, esquires^ whose trust was to take care of the principal and interest, and all future additions, until disposed of by the legislature. They were afterwards empowered to draw five hundred pounds a year more, for seven years ensuing, out of the treasury, into which it had flowed as a duty of excise : and then they were to IMSTOUY 01' NEW- YORK. 233 begin a course of instruction, under masters of their electing for their new seminary. Soon after the first of these acts, the wardens and vestry of Trinity church, by Mr. Barclay, their rector, offered a part of the estate of their opulent corporation in the suburbs of the capital, for the erection and convenience of the coUece : this was so early as the 8th of April, 1752 ; and in autumn, 1 753, Dr. JohiTson, the episcopal minister of Stratford, in Connecticut, was invited to take the president's chair, and Mr. Whittlesey, a presbyterian minister of New-Haven, to serve under him, as second master of the new institution. The churches of other denominations soon took the alarm, suspecting that the episcopal persuasion intended to engross the government of the college ; and the press began daily to represent the impolicy and injustice of devoting funds raised by all sects for a common use, to the dominion of one. They were no longer in doubt than till the spring of this year, when, on the IGth of May, Mr. William Livingston discovered that his fellow-trustees were bent upon applying to the lieutenant-governor for a charter under the great seal. The plan of its government being exhibited in a draft then laid before the board of trustees, tiiat gentleman pro- tested against their proceeding without the authority of the whole legislature, to whom they were re- sponsible for their fidelity ; but the other trustee? would not sufier the entry till four days afterwards, on their approving a petition which the lieutenant- governor had consented to receive ; the design being avowed, of excluding every man from the president's VOL. II.— 30 234 HISTORY OF JNEW-YORK. chair who was not in communion with the church of England, and introducing the common prayer-book for the reUgious exercises of the college. The lieutenant-governor laid this request before the council for their advice, and the grant passed against the opinions of Mr. Alexander and Mr. Smith, who assigned their reasons in a protest on the council books. Mr. Delancey himself, who either conceived its foundation illiberal, or un- friendly to his popularity, after fruitless endeavours to dissuade the projectors from exacting the fulfil- ment of a promise they had extorted, ordered the seal to be put to the charter with some hesitation, and to the general dissatisfaction of every other religious persuasion in the colony, to whom, in point of numbers, the episcopalians did not constitute the proportion of one-tenth. It therefore concerned the governor and his party, especially as the inquietude occasioned by the irrup- tion of the French and Indians upon Hosicke and Senkaick above Albany was general, to improve the ensuing session for securing the favour both of the crown and the people ; and the autumn session was therefore no sooner commenced, than two popular bills were introduced — one to restrain prosecutions by information, and another to enlarge the power of justices of the peace, by enabling them to decide in civil causes to the value of five pounds. While the assembly were pondering how to fulfil their engagement before the late adjournment in August, Mr. Delancey urged them to several popular laws ; supplies for new works at Albany and the frontiers ; the discharge of the demands of public HISTORY OF iSKW-YORK. 235 creditors, and particularly of that to colonel Johnson, with whom he was reconciled. A few days after- wards, he made further requisitions for purchasing a glebe, and erecting a church for the missionary to the Mohawks: and for the crown, proposed a law, with the specious title of rendering the reco- very of his majesty's quit-rents easier, and "to compel those (says he) who hold large tracts of uncultivated land, to a speedy settlement ;" and, last of all, added a request for bedding to the troops in garrison at Albany. They proceeded to vote the arrears of salaries with the second sum of one hundred and fifty pounds for his extraordinary expenses at the late Indian treaties ; when he was obliged on the 2lst of November, to communicate a disagreeable letter from the lords of trade, which totally disconcerted their design of passing a bill for these debts, and compelled Mr. Delanccy to talk a language which, from the mouth of Dr. Golden, would doubtless have produced a vote that he was an enemy to the colony.* Their lordships approved the council's negative to the late application bill, and observed that an annual revenue may be employed to the purposes of wresting from the crown the nomination of all officers whose salaries depend upon annual appoint- ment, and of disappointing all such services of ■ The speaker's letters of the 14tli November, and 17th December, show tJiai there was a dcsijrn of paying the debts and providing for the year, tlin instruc- tion notwithstanding. In the first, he excites his hopes of tiic discharge of his demands, and a future supply; and in the last, informs liini tlial the bill for paying the public creditors, as well as that for the annual support, went np. but were stopped bv the oonnril. contrary to hi« expectations. 236 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. government as may be necessary even to the very existence of the colony ; declared they were at a loss to conceive what other purposes this point, so strenuously insisted on, of grai^ting the revenue only from year to year, can serve ; for if it is' imagined that the method of establishing a revenue by annual grants, is the only one by which the province can be secured against misapplications on the part of the governor, or other officers of the crown, it will be found to be a mistake •, that it is strict appropriation which produces such security, and not the present mode of granting the revenue annually, which of itself is of no effect at all, and if directed to the above purposes, which the assembly themselves would not allow. They inform the governor, that they have no objections to checks and penalties for preventing and punishing misap- plications; but add, that if the assembly persist, by the means of annual grants, either to attempt arresting from the crown the nomination of offi- cers, or any other executive part of government, on disappointing the most essential services of the province, unless such pretensions are complied with, though they may have succeeded in such attempts, either by the weakness and corruption of governors, or by taking advantage of the necessity of the times ; " yet these attempts are so unconstitutional, so inconsistent with the interests of the mother country, as well as of the crown, and so little tend- ing to the real benefit of the colony itself, that it will be found they flatter themselves in vain, if they imagine they can ever give them a stability and permanency. I hope, therefore, (continued Mr. HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. 2S7 Delanccy,) you will take these weighty reasons into your most serious consideration, and provide a permanent revenue for the support of government, in such a manner as may put an end to any dispute on that head." But he had it also in charge to inform them, that he could no longer consent to any emissions of paper money as a legal tender, nor to any bill for this species of money, though no tender, without a suspending clause till the king's pleasure could be known ; and he desires the house to con- form to these directions. If he *knew, at that time, of the ill success of their address against Mr. Clinton, his reasons for concealing it are obvious.* This produced an address, disclaiming all inten- tion to abridge the executive, though they would not recede from the new mode ; and a declaration, that they could not construct forts without a further emission of paper, nor would they consent to that, unless those bills were made a legal tender. They therefore request him to represent the case of the colony to the king ; engage to provide for its de- fence, 'when he is unembarrassed by instructions ; and give him their promise to provide for erecting a fort to the northward of Albany. The governor, in the reply, professes his satis- faction in their assurances that they mean no en- croachments on his majesty's authority, and L^rnling tenderly over their answer, only asks whether tiie annual support will not have the eflect apprehended; joins in their testimony that there can be no forts 1 See Note K. 238 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. without issuing more bills ; informs them of what they well knew, that the late act of parliament against the paper money in the eastern colonies, was made at the instance of the London merchants, injured by depreciations for want of funds to can- cel the emission; subjoins what the assembly should have witnessed, that the value of our bills, by our superior care, was not such as they had been elsewhere nine for one ; and, upon the whole, proposed an emission of forty thousand pounds, for fortifications, to be sunk by a tax of five thousand pounds per annum, commencing in 1757, when the present taxes were to cease ; and to such a bill he will consent, if there is a clause inserted to make the paper no valid tender for a debt con- tracted in Great Britain. It required some courage to venture this hint; for the merchants in the British trade were instantly alarmed with the prospect of ruin, through the scarcity of silver and gold to discharge their immense debts: but their clamors were suddenly appeased by a set of resolves — that laws with suspending clauses, might expose the colony to ruin before the king's pleasure could be known ; that bills not tenderable, would be useless; and that to make them a tender to some and not to others, would create confusion, and be injurious to commerce. Unable to pass any bills for raising money, they contented themselves with resolves, engaging for the salaries of the officers ; and to put into Mr. Delancey's hands the old allowance of four hundred pounds, for fuel and candles for the independent HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. 239 companies, though two of them had been drawn away to Virginia, and the rest to Oswego ; for when captain King arrived in a few days after the session, to take the command of the governor's company, with Mr. Pitzar, the commisyionary, they found only a sergeant and eleven privates at New-York, with but three good muskets, and not an ounce of powder in the magazine ; and the two sentinels at the lieu- tenant-governor's door, during the sitting of the congress at Albany, were relieved by others who came from the fort, without firelocks. But though there was now a saving of the chief justice's salary of three hundred pounds a year, and an augmenta- tion of fifty to Mr. Chambers on that account, yet nothing was added to their former vote of one hundred pounds to the third judge, who had deserted the party, and made his peace with Mr. Clinton, and been restored to his office, 28th of July, 1753, on the future tenure of good behaviour, and who was therefore out of the reach of their resentment in any other way than by diminishing his support.* There was a necessity at this juncture, that the members of the assembly should be vigilant of their interests. The conduct of the college trustees, and the scheme to give the episcopalians a pre-eminence in the government of the institution, had given umbrage to all the other sectaries, and compelled the house to attend to their clamours. To this end, *■ The honso had some lime before voted Mr. Chanibcra two hundred pounds for the last year's salary ; but after the meseagc on the letter from the lords ol trade, but one hundred and fd\y pounds, with fiUy pounds more on ronsidera- tion of the present burden of the olficc, without expressing any vacancy m thr chief seat of justice. 240 HISTORY OF NEW-VORK. soon after their meeting, they ordered the trustees to report their transactions under the act by which they had been appointed ; and the same day, the ministers, elders and deacons of the Low Dutch, an ancient, opulent, and enchartered church, pre- sented a petition, implying that the college ought to be incorporated by an act of the legislature, and insisted that provision might be made in it for a professor of their numerous denomination. The trustees came up on the first of November, and the contrariety of sentiment amongst them appeared in two separate reports — Mr. William Livingston offering one, and Mr. James Livingston and Mr. NicoU another. They were no sooner read, than the house became divided upon a motion to enter both of them at large on the journals of the house, which was carried by a considerable majority. The capital then in the hands of the trustees, exclu- sive of the annual revenue of five hundred pounds from the excise, was five thousand four hundred and ninety-seven pounds, fourteen shillings and six- pence. When the reports were considered, the assembly resolved, nem. con., " that they would not consent to any disposition of the moneys raised by way of lottery, for erecting and establishing a col- lege within this colony for the education of youth, or any part thereof, in any other manner whatsoever than by act or acts of the legislature of this colony, hereafter to be passed for that purpose." And Mr. Robert Livingston, who represented the manor of that name, immediately had leave to bring in a bill to establish and incorporate a college, which he introduced that very afternoon. JllSTUKY U1-' INEW-YUKlv. 241 The scheme opened by this bill puzzled every branch of the legislature. There was no hope ol" its passing either the council or the lieutenant- governor, not only from its repugnancy to their own religious attachments, as members of the episcopal church, but because it subverted the establishment they had given it by letters patent in the name of the crown : by the assembly it could not be rejected from their dread of the people, nor passed consist- ently with their party prejudices. In this dilemma, Mr. Walton found them a door of escape, by a motion that the committee to whom it was referred be discharged, the consideration of the bill post- poned to the next session, and in the interim printed for the opinion of their constituents. It was intro- duced with observing, "that the subject was of the utmost consequence to the people they had the honour to represent, with respect both to their civil and religious liberties:" and that the advanced season of the year did not give time to consider all the parts of the bill with that attention its vast importance required.* This measure increased the jealousies abroad, especially when it was observed that the house afterwards sot another lottery on foot ; negatived a motion of Mr. Liviiig^ston's, to postpone the second reading of the bill for it to the next meeting, and another for a deposit of the money, till applied by a future law ; and carried a third for striking out ^ II may be seen nt largo, with Mr. William Livingsloji's rca.«oru., in tlio jour- nals of the assembly. The hill wa« clrane.1 by Mr. Scolt, for i..«t.t..tmg a UniTCrsity upon liberal principlos, on a provineial en.low.ncnf, as tree as poMi- hle from all the contracted aims, projudiceP, and partiality of fectinan zc!.!. vol- n. — '^l 242 HISTORY OF jNEW-YORK. a clause for enacting that any member, for moving to apply the sum to be raised by it for any other than the use of the college, should be expelled. Though fully premonished by the agent, that the controversy with New- Jersey would not terminate, unless by the adjudication of a court of commis- sioners constituted by the crown, and urged by memorials and proofs of the distressed condition of the people on the borders ; yet, from an obstinate attachment to the opinion that the stations from and to which the dividing line were to be run were clear, or to protract the controversy, an act was now passed to submit it to the king, and a vote entered as a security for a moiety of the expense.* "An act is passed," says the speaker in his letter of the 7th December, "submitting the dispute to his majesty solely, which we know will bring the matter to a speedy issue." The act to regulate informations for offences prosecuted in England by the clerk of the crown office, was a very popular law, though it much offended the then attorney general,! who had ex- cited the disgust of some merchants of distinction, by lending too easy an ear to trifling complaints and informers of very slight characters. The English statute of the 4th and 5th William and Mary, cap. xviii, made no invasion upon the rights of the king's attorney general, for it affected only the master of the crown office. But this act, * His majesty repealed this act, and, by an instruction of tlie 12tlj of August, 1755, required a law to provide for the expense of executing a com- raission under the great seal of Great Britain. t Mr.Kempe, who, with his family, arrived liere 2d November, 1752. HISTORY OF \EW-Vl)JJK. 24t^ since we liad no siicli officer, was meant to hind the attorney general, wlienever he proceeded lor sucli offences as the master might prosecute in England, and was therefore unskiHully drawn, unless it abridged the confidence reposed by law in the attorney general ; and if it did so, the crown was in some measure affected as well as its attorney, whose emoluments, by a law withdrawing confidence in his prudence and integrity, for slight and frivolous applications were greatly abridged ; for, according to the design of this act, no intormalion for misde- meanors prosecutable by the master of the crown office, could be instituted, but at the risk of costs to the defendant unless it was filed by order of the governor and council, or the judges of the supreme court, or where the court shall certify that there was reasonable cause for the prosecution. The security required, is rarely adequate to the charge of the defence. But it is a much more material fault in legislation, to leave it doubtful when Mr. Attorney proceeds as such, or as master of the crown olhce. It was adjudged by .Messrs. Delancey and llors- manden, October term, 1756, in the case of Gomez and alii ads, Dom. Regis., that tiie informer, if bound ibr the costs, is no witness on tlie trial to l)rove the assault. Sec. upon himself nor his wife. The counsel for the defendants cited (Jil. I'>idence, 121, 122., Trials per p. 12G., 1 Sid. 337-, Hard. 331. KemjfCy attorney-general. Int(;rested witnesses are received where necessary. Per ('uriaiu. 'i'ho objection is unanswc^rablc. Tiic ])rosecnl()r is evidently interested, and ilic wife by necessary consequence. Since the statute of Wiliinm and 244 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. Maiy, of which our act is nearly a copy, a nominal prosecutor is named in the information, to elude this very objection. The defendants were acquitted. The king's bench will not give leave to file such informations on the application of the attorney as Jic may bring ex officio : those cases are not within the statute. 3 Bur. 1565. To give the intended efficacy to this act of assembly, the court should withhold the order in every instance where the prosecution in England belongs to the crown office. The five pound act introduced and passed, was a favourite law of the lieutenant-governor's, for it augmented his influence in every part of the colony. The profits of the justices of peace, who were all of the governor's appointment, and generally nomi- nated by the members of the country, now rendered that employment more lucrative, and tied together the links of corruption between the election jobbers and the assemblymen, and between the latter and the governor, and formed a chain of dependence to which the ruling party did not object, especially as the act was only limited to four years, and might be afterwards dropped or renewed, according to the expediency of the hour. But experience has shown what was obvious enough in theory, that those mischievous consequences of these contemptible, S^ummary, and disorderly jurisdictions, have greatly overbalanced the delay and expense assigned as the motives for this innovation, as will more par- ticularly be observed upon the opposition to the continuation of this dangerous policy in a subsequent administration. Mr. Delancey hesitated several months before he lUSTORV OK i\EW-YORK. 245 consented to take tlie cliancellor's oath ; and at the beginning of the next year, lield a court of errors to the gratification of those who thenceforth were confirmed in the opinion, that by tlie incompatibility between his o\d and now eniph)yniont, his ollice of chief justice was extinct. That ascendency tlicre- fore, wliich he had acquired as an independent demagogue, now began to abate, and his conduct, like other governors, to be suspected, as meditating rather his own and the advancement of the interest of the crown, than the security of the riglits of the people ; and it was his misfortune, that the first adjudication in error riveted these unfavorable suspicions. A bill of exceptions had been taken on a trial at bar to the opinion of the bench, and execution suspended by a writ of error, returnable before the lieutenant-governor and his council. The question above was, whether the writ ought not to be quashed, the king, by one of the instructions, having permitted appeals to them, where the quantum in litigation was upwards of three hundred pounds sterling. The verdict in the present case was for a less sum ; but the council of Bryant, the plaintilf in error, for ll)e retention of his cause, insisted that the writ of error was a writ of right ; that, according to the record, manifest error had intervened ; that the governor and council had been long in possession of the power to redress the errors of the supreme court ; that this nuthority was part of the colony constitution; that though it originated by, yet it did not depend, any more than the supreme court, upon the royal instruc- tions ; that the existence of such a court of errors 246 HISTORr OP NEW- YORK. was essential to the due administration of justice in the colony ; that though the court of the governor and council would not prescribe for their right to take cognizance in error, as the house of lords did in England, it stood nevertheless upon the principles of necessity and utility, which had given birth to the prescriptive right of the peers, and that it was their duty to hold and as far as possible amplify, their jurisdiction : that the authority could not be legally abridged or altered at the pleasure of the crown : that had the instruction the efficacy of a law, yet speaking only of appeals, a term known in the civil law, it could not relate to relief in a course of error, according to the common law ; that it had never been duly promulgated, and was therefore not bind- ing upon the subject ; that the writ of error was itself a commission under the great seal to the lieu- tenant-governor and the council, posterior to the instruction, and for that reason their authority was not affected by the latter : and, lastly, that unless the judgments of the supreme court were reversible in this way, they were so in no other, and the judges, consequently, had an uncontrollable, absolute, and formidable despotism over the property of the sub- ject, in all cases under three hundred pounds sterling — an authority dangerous to the colony and all suitors in it, not trusted by the constitution to any court in England. The hearing upon this popular doctrine was on the 27th of March, 1755, and the decision to over- rule all the objections and quash the writ, agreeably to the king's order, without entering into any inquiry on the merits of the bill of exceptions. The HISTORY OF NEW -YORK. 247 only satisfaction of the counsel for the plainliff in error, (of whom the author was one,*) arose from a discernment that the whole court was conscious of a timid obsequiousness; and the lieutenant-governor and Mr. Murray, more anxious than others, con- travened the doctrine they had endeavoured to inculcate in that opinion, wliich the latter had delivered upon honour to the assembly, to support the court of exchequer, in the year 1734 Before this determination, Mr. Delanccy and the council had fallen under some degree of odium. The undistinoruishinly for the money winch Ijad been raised and put into the hands of the trustees, but it was carried by a majority of two, to postpone the connideration of their requed in f!i<- (nil of the year. vol,. II. 't'f 258 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. TliG account of the death and defeat of general Braddock on the ninth of July, reached us on tlie tenth day after, and gave a shock more easily con- ceived than described. Common sense suggested, that as the attempt against fort Du Quesne was thus become abortive, reinforcements were necessary to give success to the two other enterprises against Niagara and Crown Point — and especially to the former : yet when the assembly met, on the 22d of July, Mr. Delancey adjourned them to the fifth of August, and then delivered a speech for fresh levies of men in such animated terms, as increased the astonishment at his silence a fortnight before, and how he could then think it for his majesty's service that the members should be dismissed, and now utter himself that *' the safety and being of the British colonies are near a crisis. Nothing will tend more to animate our troops, than our proceeding immediately to raise an additional number of men to join them, nor can any thing be more effectual to confirm our Indians in their dependence on us, than to show them we liave strength suflicient to protect them, to defend ourselves, and to chastise our enemies. Let it be exerted with the utmost vigour. As the provincial troops are already on their march, any assistance we give them must be sent without the least delay ; and therefore if a sufficient number of volunteers do not offer, it is necessary drafts should be made, and the succours be despatched with all speed. I recommend it to you to provide funds. I have thought of three, a poll tax of ten shillings or more on every glave from fifteen to fifty, an excise upon HISTORY OF NEW-YOUK. 259 tea, and a stamp duty : if they arc insufllcicnt, make an addition to tlie tax on estates real and personal." Lieutenant-governor Phipps, of the Massaclmsctts bay, had before urged an augmentation of the army destined to Crown Point, and his letter was now communicated to the assembly, and led to the real object of the message ; tor the house instantly sig- nified their concurrence for the reinforcement of tliat body, and a bill was brought in for a new emission of ten thousand pounds to defray the expense, which was sent up to the council on the 12th of August. Objections were now immediately started to it, and amendments proposed. Four hundred men were to be raised, at fifteen pence a day. If volunteers did not offer, the quotas in all the counties, except New-York, were to be drafted by ballot ; but in that, the captains had authority to pick out the individuals. Nothing could be more essential ; and it was imputed to design, to gratify private revenge excited by the opposition to the college, as well as to influence at the new elections, which every body imagined would take place as usual on the arrival of the new governor. The lieutenant-governor, who had set his heart upon the ])ill, intruded upon the council the day it came up, and pressed their assent with an indecent freedom. The intended amendments could not have been rejected, without exposing the lower house to tln^ resentment of the people ; and the council, confi- . from NVw-Jcpm-v. but not before the ''ih of Ortobnr. 268 HISTORY OF JVEVV-YOKK. The speaker's, or rather the committee's, letter of November 4th, under his signature, to the agent, after mentioning general Johnson's army, observed, that " they had got no farther than lake George, and I greatly fear will not reach Crown Point this win- ter. The French, it seems, impatient of our delay, met our forces at that lake on the 8th of September, and endeavoured to storm their camp, but were repulsed with considerable loss. Their chief com- mander with many others were taken prisoners, and their next, with six or seven hundred men, were killed upon the spot. Why this victory was not pursued, and a proper advantage made of it, I can- not as yet account for." After reporting that the second in command was at the defeat of Braddock, he adds : — " Surprising diligence on that side ! but what term to give it on the other, I am at a loss. As to governor Shirley, he is returning without proceeding further than Oswego. What retarded his operations, I cannot yet learn. Sir Charles Hardy, our governor, arrived here on the second of September, and was joyfully received by our lieu- tenant-governor and our province. On the first news of the action at lake George, he immediately went to Albany, with our lieutenant-governor , and several of his majesty's council of this province ; from whence he is not yet returned, though hourly expected, and where it is said he has been remark- ably assiduous in forwarding every thing relating to the expedition. We as yet know nothing of his instructions." Sir Charles did not return to New- York before the 26th of November, nor general Shirley until fiiSTDRv OF m:>\-youk. 26'J the 2d of December ; the former on that day to meet liis assembly, and the latter, shortly afterwards, the congress he had convoked. Sir Charles was now obliged to reveal the dis- agreeable orders he had received, ii})on the long contested quarrel respecting the annual support of the civil list. The niomcmt it was divulged, there remained no further doubt of the truth of the re- ports from Albany, that there had been bickerings between him and general Shirley, and that Mr, Delancey swayed the councils of the new governor. AVith an assembly at the beck of the lieutenant- governor he saw the propriety of surrendering himself into his hands, or of entering into a quarrel, which, considering the exigency of the hour, endan- gered both his credit and his interest. He told them plainly that he was commanded to insist upon a permanent, indefinite revenue, provid- ing in the same law, competent salaries for all the usual officers of government, repairing and main- taining fortifications, annual presents to the Indians, and for unforeseen contingents attending that ser- vice, and in general for all the fixed and ascertainable charges of government : after which he demanded their quota towards the garrisons of forts Edward and AVilliam Henry, and for a discharge of the arrears that were due to the troops in their pay. The scheme concerted was to tack the provision wanted with the payment, not only of what was due to the army, but to the officers of government, who, in consequence of the thirty-ninth instruction, were hitherto unpaid, and thus to create a still greater dependence of the executive upon the pleasure of 'i70 HISTORY OF NKW-YORK. the assembly, who now meant to adopt the practice of paying the officers after the year, as public creditors, instead of securing the payment for services hereafter to be done. The assembly, in their answer, declare that his activity in proceeding to Albany, and forwarding the Crown Point expedition, merited the highest ap- plause ; and that the erecting and garrisoning the two northern forts, (for not a word is lisped concern- ing Oswego,) were " wholesome and well-judged measures." After which they proceed to the grand subject of debate, and warily reply, that they had no convenient funds for an indefinite support, and therefore hoped to be excused for declining a mea- sure opposite to the sentiments of almost every individual of the colony. They added, that they could not help disclosing their concern, that a province so small in numbers, and so cheerful and liberal in supporting the government, was asked to do what others were not ; and concluded with testifying great gratitude to the crown for its eminent favours. The governor replied, that " his majesty having constituted this his province into a government, justly expected a support of that government by a permanent revenue, settled by a law, that shall be indefinite ; and as to the funds or means of raising that support, it lies with you, whom I am extremely happy to find sensible of, and so gratefully acknow- ledging, his majesty's paternal care and favour." The house continued sitting until the 23d of that month ; and then, after passing several laws, ad- journed, without discord, till the holidays were over. llisJTOllY OF INEW-\UUK. 271 The assembly souglit no occasion for controversy, while the governor on his part soothed them with hints of his disapprobation of the orders he had delivered from his master, and with intimations of his unwillingness to take umbraf^c at their non- compliance. By this conduct, and the help of the prevailing party, he grew popular, while the general of the army, by the acts of the same junto, was defamed. Mr. Shirley continued his head-quarters at New- York till the 21st of January, when he set ibrward to Boston, to accelerate a winter expedition against Ticondcroga, which he had planned after his main scheme for the operations of the next campaign was adjusted ; and major Rutherford and captain Staats Morris were despatched with copies of it to the minister. This congress opened on the 12th of December, and consisted of the general, sir Charles Hardy, lieutenant-governor Sharp, of Maryland, Mr. Morris of Pennsylvania, Mr. Fitch of Connecticut, colonel Dunbar, colonel Peter Schuyler, major Craven, sir John St. Clair, and major Rutherford. It soon transpired, that the general intended to drive the French from Frontenac and Toronto, two forts on the north side of lake Ontario, gain a do- minion of that sea, and cut oil' the communication between Canada and the interior dependencies at Niagaria, Fort Du Uuesne, Detroit, Michillim;icki- nac, and the posts on the waters of the Mississippi. By whom the resolutions of the council of war were first divulged, was never discovered ; but very soon after the governors were gone home, one Ev.uis, the 272 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. author of a map of the middle colonies, in print asserted the title of France to the very country proposed to be invaded ; and every body knew that this man was patronized by Mr. Pownal and the partizans of Mr. Delancey. These gentlemen, as lieutenant-governors, the former of New- Jersey, and the other of New- York, were piqued at not being able to assist at the grand deliberations of the day, and took all opportunities to revenge the general's resentment of their intrigues, by sowing discord, while at Albany, between him and sir Charles Hardy, by undervaluing his services on the western expedition, and by magnifying general Johnson's defence at lake George, of which they had before spoken slightly, as the achievement of a hero and the saviour of his country. And thus the man who, when first noticed by Mr. Clinton, was treated with contempt for adhering to that governor, could not obtain the payment of a just debt often demanded from the assembly, was of a sudden introduced into the capital with the pomp of a triumph. A crowd went out to meet him when he made his entry, surrounded with coaches and chariots, into a city illuminated to his honour, though the general, whose interest he came to solicit for the next year's command, had a few days before arrived from Albany, and landed almost without observation. Before Mr. Shirley left New-York, he proposed a winter expedition to surprize and seize the post of Ticonderoga, and sir Charles communicated the secret to his assembly on the 10th of January, 1756, and besought them for their contributions. The house, after three days, declared it to be a HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. ^273 liopoless project, unless the general would, instead of two, send four hundred regulars along with llie provincial troops, and muttered their discontent at the proportion to be supplied by the Massachusetts bay. The general, through sir Charles, informed them that all the troops under colonel Dunbar and lieutenant-colonel Gage, amounted to but six hundred, and that so many as they wished for could not be spared, without reversing the plan just settled in the general congress for the ensuing campaign. The assembly adhered to their first opinion ; and the general, a few days after, proceeded to Boston, in order to excite the eastern colonies to prosecute the enterprise without the aid of New-York, and t(» forward the preparations for the general services of the year. Pownal returned to England soon after Mr. Shirley went to Boston, and sir Charles was now left alone. Before the governor arrived it was reported by Pownal, and believed, because his brother was secretary to the board of trade, and a necessary instrument to the carl of Halifax, who presided there, that a new commission, diirantc bene plaaso, would be sent out to the Chief-Justice, that he might, if he took it up, henceforth be en hriik. Being at Albany in October term, the multitude remained in suspense concerning the part he was to act, till the next court in .lanuary was opened. Mr. Delancey, from the death of sir Danvers Osborn, asserted his title in all companies, nor did he omit his attendances at any of the jovial l«msts and conventions of the profession of flic law. His Vni,. TT.— 35 274 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. partisans at the bar had tested the writs in his name to countenance his pretensions, while others inserted the names of the puisne judges, without his, and some those of all three. The puisne judges uttered publicly not a syllable upon the subject, though they held their places during good behaviour, through dread of his power over the assembly, by whom they were supported, though they had privately declared that his commission was extinct. They waited to see what part the governor meant to take, imagining he would offer Mr. Delancey a new commission, and if he did not, meant to be silent — ^judging then he must have resigned himself to the demagogues, for the easier management of the assembly. The court opened during the moment of suspense on the 20th of January ; and the hall being much crowded, the lieutenant-governor made his appear- ance, struggling through the populace to advance towards the bench. As the sheriff's officers called upon the crowd to give way, he stepped forward, with a countenance of anxiety and confusion, until Chambers and Horsmanden, the puisne judges, took him by the hand with a cringing courtesy, and placed him between them on the bench, where he continued till two prisoners, one charged for a murder and the other for a theft, were arraigned and taken from the bar. His dominion over the gover- nor was no longer doubted by most men, though it was still whispered by a few, that sir Charles took this conduct for a bold attack upon the prerogative; but this continued only until the 4th of February. That day was appointed for arguing a demurrer to a bill of chancery before the governor. The IIISTOUV OF i\EV\-VOUK. 275 author was one of the counsel in that cause, and they waited lung for tlie chancellor's appearance, not suspecting that the perturbation of his mind was the cause of his absence. While the suitors were left below, they were invited into his private apartment, and a conversation ensued, of which the author made a minute, and he therefore transcribed it as being too characteristic of sir Charles to be omitted. Addressing himself to the counsel on both sides, Mr. Murray, Mr. Smith, Mr. Nicoll, and the author, he said, " I beg pardon for detaining you gentlemen. Does this matter turn upon a point of law ? Answer. It is a demurrer to a bill, and raises the question, whether the complainant's relief is not to be at common law ? Sir Charles. I desired the chief justice to be here, and he is not come. I can't take upon myself to say I understand the law. J^lr. Smith. Few governors will ; but it is a branch of your office, sir Charles. Sir Cliarles. I have been justice of the peace in England, but know nothing of the law. My know- ledge, gentlemen, relates to the sea : that is my sphere. If you want to know when the wind and tide suit for going down to Sandy Hook, I can tell you that. How can a captain of a ship know any thing of your demurrers in law r Mr. Smith. A master of the rolls is wanting, with an appeal to the governor and council. Sir Charles. I think so too ; but will the assem- bly support one ? May I expect success if I try it ? Mr. Murray. They don't love to part with money; 276 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. and all agree that he could not flatter himself with any liberal provision for a new officer. Sir Charles. Can't you settle this matter, gen- tlemen, among yourselves? I am sure you can, better than I can for you. 3Ir. Smith. No, sir; we are at variance, and must be determined by your opinion. Sir Charles. Can't you leave it to arbitration ? All. Not without the consent of our clients, and that we can't advise." Mr. Delancey came in, to the great joy of the governor, and the morning being spent, it was pro- posed to adjourn the hearing to another day. At parting, sir Charles said, •' I beseech you, gentle- men, to bring these kind of questions before me as seldom as possible. If you ever dispute about a fact, I can search the depositions, and perhaps tell who has the best of it ; but I know nothing of your points of law." The cause was afterwards debated, and a decree pronounced by Mr. Delancey, who dictated the entry to the register. The governor, who awkwardly sat by, interfered only to pronounce an "Amen." The assembly now instituted two bills for the support of government, one to discharge the arrears of the officers, tacking sums for other services, and another providing for the ensuing year. By the former, Mr. Delancey was to receive three thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven pounds sixteen shillings ; his brother Oliver, about four hundred pounds ; the agent, nine hundred and fifty-four pounds seventeen shillings ; the judges their arrears for two years; and the governor, five hundred pounds I1I8TUKV OF im:u-vuRk. 277 lor his voyage to Albany, and two luindred pounds more under the name of expenses in transporting presents to, and victualling the Indians at that place; and the latter was to operate as a confirmation of his title to the chief justice's commission, by a salary for the current year. This last was sent to the council on the 30th of January, and the former followed five days after it. Possessed of these bills, the council rejected a favourite five pound act ; and the very next day, the assembly played off their old artillery against Mr. Kennedy, by a message to the governor against the seizure of the gunpowder disputed and still unde- cided in the admiralty, and desiring him to complain of that as an injury to the colony, in a representation to the board of trade. The council, who were stimulated to the rejected bill, desired to know the state of one of theirs, to prevent supplies of pro- visions and warlike stores to the French ; and were answered that conceiving it to be impracticable to execute it, they declined any further proceedings upon it.* Before the debt bill and that for the annual sup- port went up, the governor had requested the levy of one thousand men for the Crown Point expedition, • There lias nev^r been any process of outlawry in this colony, nor for waul of the proper courts of law, as 1 can learn, in any of the real ; and ycl, till the 16th of February in this year, we had no law lo oblige a sinjrlo partner to answer for a joint debt without his fellow-contractors. By the art now, he i« compellable to plead ; and if Uie plaintiff prevails, ho recovers against Uio com- pany's lands and rjoods, but cannot have execution against the bodks of the absent partners, nor touch their seperatn cstatoa. That this noviJly came uito our code at so late a day, and lia.s been eiiico btldom practised upon, is a prooN especially considering the scant limiU of the province, of tho narrow nplicrr ..i our comniorce.or of the uprighlne.«.s of our merchants. 27B HISTORY OF IN EW- YORK. and the house voted to raise and supply them : but halting to know the fate of these bills, and doing little for several days, while their party bills were in suspense in the upper house, sir Charles, on the 16th of February, animadverted upon their delays and pressed for powers to detach the militia, if volunteers did not ofter. It was three days after that before the quota bill made its appearance in the house : and when it had a second reading, they desired leave to adjourn from week to week, de- claring that they could not proceed further, till they knew the resolution of the other colonies concern- ing the intended enterprise. In this situation the governor withheld the war- rants for levying the troops ; and being moved by the distresses on the frontiers of Ulster and Orange, ravaged by the Indians, he earnestly demanded their support for a force in conjunction with New- Jersey, to give security to those borders. To gain time, the turn given to this message was a resolu- tion to pay what may be deemed to be our quota of an army of one thousand men, to be raised by us, New-Jersey, and Pennsylvania, towards an expedi- tion against the Indians ; and he was desired to concert what was proper with those governments. Sir Charles, the next day, repeated his instances for their despatch of what respected the joint de- signs against Crown Point, and informed them that Massachusetts and Connecticut were levying men far beyond their proportions, that the service might not suffer by the defaults of any of the southern provinces ; and he now insisted upon the augmen- tation of their intended lew of one thousand men- HISTORY OF ^E\V-YORK. 279 From the 4th to the IGth of March, the assembly artfully met only to adjourn, and then voted seven hundred and fifteen men in addition to the one thousand, but that four hundred of these should be employed in an offensive war against the Indians ; and ordered proper clauses for these purposes to be added to the bill which they had so long retarded, under pretence of waiting for the co-operation of the other colonies respecting the Crown Point expedition, and which, by uniting the provision for both objects in one bill, was still longer delayed. The cruelties in the mean time perpetrated in Orange and Ulster, excited clamours in that quar- ter, and compassion every where else, and the house was censured by a publication in the Gazette of the I5th of March. Doctor Coldcn, who lived in Ulster, being suspected to be the author, the printers were summoned ; but the obnoxious composition being traced to Mr. Watkins, the wrath of the house vanished into smoke ; for he being an episco- pal clergyman, and the dissention running high between church and dissenter concerning the college, he was not even sent for to be reproved till the next autumn, though the two printers were ordered to be committed. This attack, however, quickened their motions; for on the 2(hU of March they sent up their quota bill for raising seventeen hundred and fifteen men. It lay eleven days with the council, where it was opposed by Mr. Smith and Dr. Golden, who came to town during the alarms occasioned by the Indian eruptions into Ulster. Before this time, the rlebt 280 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. bill was in the governor's hands,* but stigmatized by the protest of Messrs. Smith and Golden in so pointed a manner, that sir Charles was fearful of giving it his assent. This was at length forced by the management of the house, who allowed a bounty of five pounds per man for the volunteers against Crown Point, but provided only thirty shil- lings for those who were to act in the harder service against the Indians ; and besides those troops were to be disbanded in forty days, and not at the governor's discretion — a confidence reposed by the province of New- Jersey in governor Belcher. The majority of the council adhered to the objec- tions of Doctor Colden, who spoke both his own and the governor's sentiments. Mr. Delancey, in this delicate situation of affairs, thought proper to absent himself; but finding means, by a member of the assembly, to inform the governor that this bill might be altered, if the debt bill was passed, his excellency, pressed by the advanced season of the year, engaged to pass the debt bill ; and the other being sent down, privately amended so as to take away his own and the objections of the council, the governor sent for both houses the next day, and passed all the bills ready, both parties being so well pleased with the late barter, as to part on an adjournment to the 27th of April. * " We are sitting still. The principal money bill which is for paying the debts of the colony, and, among others, the salaries for the several officers of government for the time past, has passed the council, but has not yet received the governor's assent, and is therefore as yet in suspense. By the next packet, I may perhaps be able to inform you further, particularly with respect to the Jersey line, which is still under consideration." Mr. Jones's letter to the agent, 23d February, 1756. And on the 20th of July, 1756, he adds, " T have now the pleasure to arquaint you. that he has passed it," HISTORY or i\EW-YORK. 281 The opposition to llic debt bill cost Mr. Alexan- der his life. He ventured out tor that purpose in a paroxysm of the gout, took cold, and died the day after the session : and from that time the governor, who had such a demonstrative proof of the devotion of the assembly to the lieutenant-governor, as to obstruct the levies for the service until his interest was secured, in defiance of an instruction, and at the risk of the royal resentment, tamely resigned liimself into his hands. It must, in justice to Mr. Delancey, be added, as the sequel will evince by his policy, the colony obtained a victory over the government as well as the governor ; for after that day, the ministry gave up their objections to tiie popular project of the anti-Cosbian patriots, for holding the officers de- pendent upon the annual support of the assembly. But this assembly were nevertheless culpable, for slighting one of the most favorable opportunities for settling our contested limits, which have since produced such scenes of confusion and distress. Sir Charles, on the first of January, communicated to the house an instruction, urging a provision for one-half of the expense for adjusting the partition line with Jersey by commissioners; and at the same time informed them of general Shirley's readiness to procure the consent of Massachusetts bay, over which he then had a prevailing interest, to joiji in a like commission for ascertaining our eastern boundary. Intoxicated by the spirit of party, thry lost an opportunity to give peace and safety to thou- sands, by a provision for terminating that ami tlic controversy we had also with Now-JTampsliiro : but voT,. rf. — ^n 282 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. it was Mr. Delancey's ambition rather to create than to lessen dependencies on his will ; and the neglect of education left a hard, wicked colony, exposed to his arts. The delay occasioned by the late stratagem, and the hourly expectation of the general from Boston,* obliged the governor to call upon the assembly before the end of the month, for power to supply the want of volunteers by detachments, while the clog upon the operations of the four hundred men who were to be employed against the Indians by the quarrels between governor Morris and the Penn- sylvania assembly, prevented even the issuing of the military warrants for those recruits. Sir Charles therefore, asked for authority to detach men, that the four hundred might be joined to the quota for the Crown Point expedition, that provisions might be collected for troops expected from England, the rates of land carriage ascertained, and the northern militia relieved from unequal burdens in the general service. Within five days, laws were enacted to expedite the levies, and prevent the exportation of provisions, and the bill setting the price of transportation, brought in by Mr. Watts on the 4th of May, was the same day sent up to the council, and on the next passed by the governor — a velocity of proceeding, which if it demonstrates zeal for the service, proves that it sprang from very recent causes, which are left to the conjectures of the reader. * He arrived here 20th April, and sailed the 2d of May for Albany. Sir Charles's message \vas on the 29tli of April. HISTUKV OF i\EW-rOI4K. ^83 But this ardour to fiicilitatc sir Charles's zeal, shortly after abated, upon the disgust he gave to the merchants, by his measures against the illicit commerce which had been long driven with Ham- burgh and Holland, and several seizures were now made by his order, which they ascribed to his loss of one of the independent companies. Nor was the dependence upon him so necessary, it being re- ported that the crown had relinquished the project of an indefinite support. Besides this, he was eclipsed by the new lustre of general Johnson,* who was knighted for his services, and our forces were abated by the arrival of general Webb on the 7th of June, and the royal American officers on the 15th, with general Abercrombie, the two regiments of Otways, and the Highlanders. On the 29th of June, sir Charles informed the assembly that the earl of Loudon was coming out to take the command of the army, and called upon them for aid in recruiting the two regular regiments with soldiers, who were to be discharged at the end of the war, and have each two hundred acres of land, free from quit-rent for ten years. He added, that the sum of one hundred and fif- teen thousand pounds was given by parliament to be distributed by the king among the i\ow- England colonies, this, and the province of New-Jersey; that his majesty expected fresh aids of men for the operations of the year ; the reimbursement of mas- * His majesty lias ordered JC 15,000 to Now- York, i::,,OOG U, major ccncrnl Johnson, for his services, to whom likewise a comim.xsion is iit«u.' when the 302 HISTORY OP NEW-YORK. enemy were still at fort William Henry, (only tour- teen miles distant from fort Edward,) the most advanced post we had in that quarter of the country. I shall order a strict inquiry to be made into the behaviour of the militia, and cause the law to be put into execution against all delinquents. I left Albany the 2 1st, and as soon as I came to New- York, I ordered circular letters to be sent, to call you together as soon as possible ; one of the reasons of which was, to recommend to you the completing the regiments in the pay of this province with the utmost speed, general Webb having written to the other governments to complete theirs, as the troops under his command were very much lessened : this was a measure apparently necessary at that time; but as his excellency the right honourable the earl of Loudon, commander-in-chief of his majesty's forces in North America, is arrived here with a body of troops, the necessity of this measure ceases. The other reason of my calling you is, to recommend to you a further provision for the subsistence of the New- York regiments." The house only gave a vote of credit the next day, to provide after the first of November for pay due after that period, and adjourned. The agent by his despatches of the 16th Feb- ruary, had communicated a copy of the New- Jersey petition for a temporary line, and the report of the board of trade upon it of the 27th January, 1757, advising an order for running the line prayed for ; and first, that the governors of the two provinces be commanded to suppress and prevent all tumults on the borders : — second, that all possessions remain in HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 308 Statu quo :— third, tliat tlic govornor of New-York issue patents for vacant lands on th(; nortli aide of the temporary line, and that the proprietors grant on the south, making a deposit of the profits :— and fourth, that six mouths be allowed to New- York to provide for the expense of a final line. Tho re- port recited that the allegations of the proprietors had been verified by sir Charles Hardy, and that Mr. Charles, styling himself agent for the assembly of New-Y^ork, owned that he had no authority to join in the expense of a comoiission, and therefore, had submitted to such directions respecting a temporary line, as to his majesty should seem proper. The agent wrote, " I prayed for further time before their lordships proceeded upon the petition, in hopes of hearing the resolution of your house, touching the method you proposed for the division of this mutter, as I have repeatedly applied to you fur explicit and positive directions herein, but remaining hitherto without any instruction on that head, and reflecting that by the act passed in your colony, (though disallowed here) you had left the establishment of the line of property, as well as of jurisdiction, to the direction of his majesty, it was not practicable for me to oppose a temporary line of jurisdiction, or to prevent the issue this affair has taken." Nor was the assembly at the same lime unapprised of the expediency of some alteration of the eastern boundary, disputed by the IMassacliuselts bay ; for Mr. Charles, on the 11th of May, added, " i aui now to acquaint you, that upon the representation of sir Charles Hardy to the lords of trade, of divers outrages committed on the borders, between your 304 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. colony and the Massachusetts bay, by his letter of the 22d December last, accompanied with a report of your commissioners at Albany, in 1754, and a map of the country, all which have been communicated to the respective agents, and having attended their lordships on the subject, where I endeavoured to show the inclinations of your pro- vince to brinff this matter to an amicable accom- modation ; first, by imparting to the governor of the Blassachusetts bay, the claims of New-York, as stated in the report of the committee of your council, of the 28th February, 1753, which were rejected by the commissioners of the Massachusetts bay, without any reason assigned, or their stating their own claims and pretensions, their lordships delivered their opinion of a boundary line, proper to be established between the two governments, as contained in an extract of their lordships' journal, whereof I send a copy enclosed, touching which it is probable I may receive the sentiments of your colony before the report of the board obtains the sanction of the king in council." The extract was in these words — " Extract of the journals of the proceedings of the lords on Tuesday, the 27th March, 1757. " Their lordships took into consideration the papers relating to the dispute between the province of New-York and Massachusetts bay, concerning their boundary line ; and the agents attending as de- sired, were called in, and their lordships after having heard what they had to offer, and read and consi- dered the grant to the duke of York, in 1663-4, and the Massachusetts charter, s^ranted in 1691, and HISTORY OF i\E\V-YORK. 305 also a letter from colonel Nicholls, governor in New- York, to the (hike of York, dated in November, 1665, to hear and determine certain points in dis- pute among the New-England governments, vvhicfi papers are upon record in this office; delivered it to be their opinion that a straight line, to be drawn northerly from that point where the boundary line between New-York and Connecticut ends, at twenty miles distance from Hudson's river, to another point, at the same distance from the said river, on that line which divides the provinces of New-Ifamp- shirc and Massachusetts bay, will be a just and equitable line of division between the said province of New-York and the Massachusetts bay; and Mr. Bollan being asked if he had any objections thereto, desired time to consider of it, and that he might have their lordships' opinion in writing, and also copies of their authorities upon record, on which that opinion was founded, which was agreed to by their lordships, and that copies should be likewise given to Mr. Charles, agent for New-York, and then the agents withdrew. Governor Nicholls' letter was this: " I have formerly rendered account of the divi- sion and settlement of bounds between your royal highness and the patent of Connecticut, made by his majesty's commissioners and th,'cd for it, and after repealed applicationi wai told liut it ^ouM not be done. sinr«' there wa« nothinu charc;dilion ajjainft (.'iinada. VOL. If.— 40 314 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. lordship cantoned his troops in several of the pro- vinces with such a magisterial tone as gave fresh and general offence ; but from the civil department he met with no opposition : — their pusillanimity or their interests, made them silent and inactive until the multitude exulted at the news, which not long after arrived, of his being recalled to England. Before the close of this unfortunate year, Mr. Delancey had another interview with his assembly. The small-pox prevailing in the centre of the capital, he convened them in the suburbs, and as it was ludicrously said, at his own kitchen. The truth is, they met on the 6th December in an out-house occupied by the overseer of his own farm upon the skirts of the town. One of the main designs was to procure an indemnity for himself and the council, for diverting £2000, which had been appropriated for fortifica- tions, from that use, for the construction of barracks, that private families might be delivered from the inconvenience of the soldiers billetted upon them by the noble general at the head of the army, and which they ventured to draw out of the treasury at the request of the city corporation, who had en- gaged to replace it ; but he held up other objects to their attention. The salaries of the year, the defence of the western frontiers, the maintenance of the prisoners, restraining the king's troops from intemperance, the regulation of the staples of flour, beef, pork, and butter, a stricter militia law, the con- tinuance of the excise upon tea and the stamp duty, a poll tax upon negro slaves, and a tonnage duty on all vessels, not excepting those from Great Britain. HISTOKY OF NEW-YORK. i515 tjcveral laws for ordinary cases were passed towards the end of tlie month, and among them one to prolong the currency of tiie bills of credit, the royal inhibition notwithstanding, without the least hesitation. To the lieutenant-governor the assembly gave an augmented salary of £1800, and £400 more under the pretext of fire and light for the indepen- dent companies now scattered through the provinces, and the sum of £50 was added to the puisne judges' salaries, as a consideration for their extraordinary services, unassisted as they were, by the chief justice's absence from the bench. And the day before they rose, care was taken to order the speaker to write to sir Charles Hardy, who went from Halifax to England, to answer, as it was conjectured, the double purpose of preserving his commission and prolonging his return. Mr. Jones's letter was doubtless very agreeable to our admiral, just arrived from an unsuccessful expedition. I transcribe it here, and insert beneatii the one to the agent that covered it.* '■'■ Sir— Lncloscd you have a letter to sir Cliarlcs Hardy, our late governor, which you are to deliver to him with your own Jiand?, and to consult and advise with him in affairs relating to this colony. Wo are preatly Hurpri«od to find that their lordships for trade and plantations, have made a second repoit to his majesty on the affair of the Mapsacliusctts line, by which we shall be jjrral losers, because by the course of Hudson's river, a due cast lino from tJjo Mtatmni, we are to run ironi and to, will tall some miles short of twenty which by llio first report wc were to have. You arc therefore to use your best endeavours to pro- vent such a los8 to thi.'i colony. The cominiltoc and commissioners will wTito more largely to you on this head. Wu arc aN3 jfriatly Hurpnticd, tliat tliiM nllair should be transacted without your privity, (which we must suppose to bo tlic case) because you have given u.s no notice of it. If you knew of it, you have boon greatly deficient in your duty, and arc justly liable to censtire f!>r not opi)o»in«» it, and acquainting us with it The house have not yet tinishcd the bu«nom hefore them, and are to m^ot «onn aOor the holidays. .Mlcr thnt I "xpcH to 316 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. " New-York, 24lh Dec. 1757- "Sir, " By the enclosed minutes you will see the autho- rity I have to write to you in the name of the general assembly of this his majesty's colony ; and I assure you sir, that it is with the utmost pleasure I execute this authority, in a grateful acknowledgment of your past and steady attention to the public service of the colony from the first moment of your arrival in it. My station of speaker to the general assem- bly during your whole administration, furnished me with frequent opportunities of observing with plea- sure that the welfare and prosperity of his majesty's subjects committed to your care, was your chief and principal study. Surely no governor ever attended the public service with more assiduity, or more steadily pursued the good of those he governed. This, sir, assures us that though you have left us, you will not forget us, but will on every suitable occasion assist our agent, Mr. Robert Charles, on what may relate to this colony, and represent us in a favourable light to our most gracious sovereign, to whose person, family and government, this colony has a most sincere and inviolable attachment. I do, in the name of the general assembly, most heartily congratulate you on your preferment in his majesty's navy, and assure you, that you have their most ardent wishes, and I am persuaded of the whole province, that success, honour, and happiness, may attend you write to you again on tlie affair of the Jersey line also. An order is made out for your last year's allowance, and the same continued for another year ; but how after that I cannot say. The house have not proceeded to the examinatioii of accounts : when they do, you will fall under consideration. UlSTOKlf OF NEW-YOKK. 317 in that and every other station to whicli Divine Pro- vidence shall call you. " While we were in suspense respecting the plan expected for the operations of the ensuiufr year, the military officers indulged great heats concerning the inactivity of the last campaign. Lord Charles Hay led a party at Halifax in severe reflections on the earl of Loudon. Their animosities spread to New- York, and among the discontented, no man indulged in greater liberties than Mr. Lee, then a subaltern, who did not restrain himself in the open colfce-housc from calling it the cabbage planting expedition ; drawing into question not only the earl's military skill, but his courage and integrity : and others were divided respecting the northern events. There were advocates for Mr. Webb, who insisted that fort Wil- liam Henry was unnecessarily surrendered, while those who adhered to colonel Young, impeached that general, not only for neghict to relieve the beseiged, but for the loss of tlie German i^'lats, by demolishing the f(»rt at the great carrying-place in 1756. For Mr. Webb, it was affirmed that he was not 3000 strong at fort Edward, till the day before the capitulation; that he then wrote to Monroe, that he was on tiie point of marching to his aid, but was over-persuntled by Young to give up the fort. As to the demolition of the western fort ; in order to acquit Webb, it was averred to be in consequence of the earl's positive orders. Whatever the real design, it certainly was owing to the height of these animosities that a winter attack upon Ticonderoga was talked of, and lord Howe mentioned as the person who waste lead that enter- 318 HrSTORY OF NEW-YORK. prise. His lordship then commanded a regiment quartered on Long Island. The carpenters at Albany were employed in framing small sleds to be drawn by hand; snow shoes were provided; worsted caps bought up; a new corps of five hundred rangers formed under colonel Gacre, and Rogers ordered to raise one thousand men, of which he was to be major commandant. But after a few weeks nothing more was heard of this undertaking, and the obloquy was transferred from Webb and Young, to the earl of Loudon, already expressed by the joint calumnies of his own army and the provinces. Mr. Webb win- tered with him in town ; but general Abercrombie took no part in these quarrels, and quietly passed his time at Albany, where he received the public inti- mation of the extensive project of making a conquest of all Canada, and his own advancement to the command of a great army, to be composed of the British troops, augmented by the whole force of the colonies. Mr. Delancey collected the assembly, and made a speech to them on the 10th March, 1758, in which he incorporated the animating terms of Mr. Pitt's circular letter, for setting all the wheels in motion to raise 20,000 provincials. The king was to furnish all the arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions : the levying, clothing, and pay, we were to defray, with a promise of being relieved according to our active vigour and strenuous efforts, by a parliamentary re- imbursement. " I hope," says the lieutenant-governor, " a num- ber of ballot men will have at heart the honour of a brave and the best of kings ; and will voluntarily and HISTORY or iVEW-YORK. 319 cheerlully engage in a service, on the success of which iheir properties, tlieir civil and religious liberties depend. Nothing could be more grateful to the majority of the people than the design proposed. The assembly promised their aid witiiout a moment's hesitation, and resolved to raise, clothe, and pay two thousand six hundred and eighty men, with ten pounds bounty for every volunteer, and twenty shillings to the oftlcer for every recruit. And the lieutenant-governor and council, to favour the levies, laid an inunediate em- bargo. The house voted to maintain every poor soldier's family in his absence; and to defray the expense, bills \vere emitted for £100,000, to be can- celled by a tax for nine years. The necessary law was passed, and the assembly dismissed before the end of the month, without the least jar among the legislators upon this subject, though the council had refused their assent to the favourable project for ex- tending the power of the governmoiit, by enlarging the influence and authority of the trustees of the peace. Mr. Nicoll brought in the five-pound bill on the 1st December preceding, and four days afterwards it was sent to the council. On the 23d they were stimulated as to the progress respecting what "the good people of the colony had so much at heart," and were answered, that while the bill was in com- mittee a petition was presented to be heard against it, which that house intended to grant after the holidays. Another more important message by Mr. Watts and colonel Delancey, respecting it, was delivered on tlie 31st Januarv; addiiur that this 520 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. house, in justice to their constituents, cannot avoid being solicitous about a bill which experience has shown to be attended with such happy effects in the several counties where it took place, and which the disinterested part of the good people of this colony are impatiently expecting to see continued, and therefore, that their just expectations may not be disappointed, and that the city of New- York and such other parts of the colony as have hitherto been excluded, and where its use is apparently necessary, may no longer be deprived of the bene- fits almost universally acknowledged to arise there- from — the house hopes the council will not continue to defer their concurrence thereto. The upper house took no umbrage at the unpar- liamentary mode of arguing and corresponding with each other, but simply replied, that the day formally appointed for the hearing, would not arrive till the 8th instant. Before that they were irregularly adjourned from the 4th of February to the 7th of March, on a letter from the lieutenant-governor to the speaker. I observed that Ke chose to make a speech to them after the receipt of Mr. Pitt's letter, though there had been no end of the session. The council unmoved, sent down the bill with amend- ments, and the same morning (21st March) were informed that the house would not concur in them, and thus the fate of the bill was suspended — the council adhering to their alterations, and the lower house being, as was then supposed, satisfied with the amazing influence which the new commissioners for raising the army would create prior to the elec- tion near at hand, in consequence of the septennial HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. ti21 act passed in the time of Mr. Clinton, who was censured for a practice in whicli h(^ was now en- slaved, that of tilling up vacancies in the counties according to the nomination of the members, some of whom were trusted with blanks to be filled up at their pleasure. But on the nearer approach of the dissolution, the assembly rescinded their vole and concurred with the amendments, and the bill was passed. Mr. Amherst was to accomplish the conquest of Cape Briton, the island of 8t. Johns, and their dependencies. Mr. Forbes commanded in the en- terprise against the French forts on the Ohio ; but the main army for penetrating Canada through the northern lakes was to be conducted by Mr. Aber- crombie. Fort Edward was the place of rendezvous. The New- York troops were all levied and collected there a fortnight before; the stores arrived from England about the middle of June, under convoy of the vano-uard ; not long after which the forces of the colonies came in. By the activity of lord Howe and lieutenant-colonel Bradstreot, the boats were forwarded with speed, and lord Howe led the (irst division of 4000 men, bffore the end of Juno, to lake George. General Abercromhie followed with the main body, and on the Glh July the whole army landed at the north end of those waters. They defeated (to use the words of Mr. Jones' letter to the agent of the 2(1 November) a party wlir» went af^ainst them, and got possession of all the ground between the place of landing and the French fort at Ticonderoira ; btit nioetin? with a VOT,. TT. — Al 322 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. small repulse there, tliey immediately (at least as appeared to us) gave up all the advantages they had gained, and hastily returned back over the lake again, and nothing has been attempted since in that quarter. Where the fault lay we cannot take upon us to say, but it appears to us to be more in the head than the body. Lord Howe, on the march to the lake, fell a sacrifice to his valour in a conflict with the French advanced guard. Brigadier Prevost, in a letter of the 3d August, informed the author, that the army marched in the best order, but from ignorance in the officers, or the indocility of the troops, they took fright on the report of a few muskets, and instantly dispersed. That this happened twice in two hours. The works at Ticonderoga were trifling; they had piled logs on the land side in a line for a breastwork, and trees before it to embarrass the assailants. Mr. Abercrombie, who was two miles in the rear, and not informed that there was at one end an open access to the French encampment, ordered an attack with musketry alone, upon that part of the line which was finished and fortified with cannon, and there we sustained the loss in killed and wounded : nearly two thousand brave men, who were advancing with the utmost difficulty, greatly obstructed by an abattis of trees. The French general, who was just within the lines, perceived our folly, stripped ofi" his clothes, and with a drawn sword, forbid a musket to be fired upon the pain of the severest punishment, until he gave the word. When embarrassed and unable to fly back, he issued the word of command, and our front was UlSTORV OF I^£W-YO£K. tJ23 mowed down like grass. Hearing of the slaughter, Mr. Abercrombie ordered a retreat ; he hurried them on the night of the 7th to the lake, where they cm- barked with the utmost precipitation, nor even then abated their speed till they had passed its whole length. Colonel Peter Schuyler, who was then a prisoner in Canada, informed the author that Mr. Montcalm's whole force there and at Crown Point did not exceed three thousand men; nor their killed and taken both within the lines and at the advanced guard, two hundred and thirty ; and that from a dread of our vast superiority, they had actually before our retreat prepared to abandon Crown Point. Lieutenant colonel Bradstreet, impatient of this disgrace, and hoping nothing from a gcnoral, who, while he calumniated his army as broken-spirited, discovered that he wanted firmness himself, urged an attempt upon Frontenac. Pie was sent to Oswego in 1755, was there again in 175G, and had entered into Shirley's views of the importance of command- ing the waters of Ontario, and oifered his services to conduct the enterprise. Abercrombie gave him a detachment of three thousand men : he rather flew than marched with them through that long rout from lake George to Albany, and thence again up the stream of the Mohawk river, then across the portage, down the Wood creek to the lake of the Oneidas, and the rapids of the Onondaga, to Oswego. Thence he pushed his open boats into the sea of Ontario, traversing the south-eastern coast from point to point, till he crossed the St. Lawrence and surprised the garrison of Frontennc, He invested it. took if. 324 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. burnt an immense magazine for the supply of the interior dependencies, and in twenty four days after having destroyed the vessels on the Lake, returned to assist in securing the important pass in the coun- try of the Oneidas, which Mr. Webb had the year before abandoned to the intimidation of all the six Indian tribes. But either by the fatigue of these vigorous exertions, or the bad quality of the waters of the Wood creek, we lost five hundred men of this detachment, a great part of whom were levies of this colony. The author's letter to governor Morris, enclosing one from Mr, Dubois, who was a captain under Bradstreet, brought the first intelligence of this event to England. He desired an audience to communicate it to Mr. Secretary Pitt, who received him, and unassisted, entered into so copious a dis- play of its consequences, that his informer lost, what was one of the ends of the interview, not having a thought to add to the sagacious remarks of that bold, active, and discerning statesman, who appeared to be accurately informed of the inland geography of America, then understood even in this country only by an inquisitive few. It was imagined that Mr. Abercombie would re- new the attack, but the author learnt from general Prevost that some additional works at lake George engrossed all his attention, and that the campaign would end as shamefully as it had begun. Having communicated the public censures on his conduct in that quarter, so early as the 21st of July, his answer did not admit that the general was culpable in recrossing the lake, and seemed to hint that there could be but little dependence on the provincials. HISTORY OP NEW-YOKK. 325 The author, on the 13th of September, expressed himself thus : — " Though some of the colony troops seemed to discover a temper not very encouragiufr at the first landing, is it not true that they behaved with spirit m the attack ? or, which is sufficient to my purpose, did not the general think so, when orders were given to thank them publicly for their gallantry? was not their universal surprise at the retreat some proof that their minds were then firm, and not broken by a panic r and does not the rapidity with which they were brought otV, demonstrate that no time was spent to examine the temper of the army? what are your reflections on the general's orders of the cannon and baggage to New- York. Provin- cials reduced Louisburgh the last war. Acadie was reduced mostly by provincials. Dicskau was taken by the colony troops. The rangers are colonists. Provincials cut off Killanning ; and by provincials we lately destroyed Frontenac. You will agree with me that irregulars will bo of use for a surprise in a weakly fortified, wooded country. When pro- vincials succeed in one kind of service, most men think them fit for all. This indeed is arguing ill, and nothing will show it to be bad logic so soon as better conduct on the part of the regulars. What think you of rebuilding Oswego? If the war con- tinues another campaign, I can't help thinking that in a general invasion of Canada, five or six thousand troops sent down the Cataraqui stream would greatly favour the descent of a larger army throu;:^ii Cham- plain, and a fleet on the river." 526 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. The reply of the 28th has these passages : — "I have no answer to make in regard to the general's orders to Cummings on the night of the attack, for I am at a loss to defend a had causey as I should be to give up a good one. Provincials have performed all you relate, and had they been pro- perly led, it is my just opinion they might have done more, but for all that, they were not in the least fit for the service we are upon. I do not know veriJy, whether we shall attempt this year to retrieve our losses, but we are in readiness with regard to all the necessary implements and provisions ; and if any thing is still wanting, I am pretty certain it will be at the lake before the reinforcement of the regulars can come from Boston." When the five regiments from Louisburgh landed there, and marched slowly to find winter quarters at Albany, they had not the least intimation that Mr. Abercrombie suspended his re-attempts for their junction, and then heard it for the first time with surprise. The controversy then arose respect- ing the fault, which was at last charged upon Mr. Pownal, the governor of Boston, to whom Mr. Abercrombie had entrusted despatches to Mr. Amherst for reinforcements, immediately after the retreat from Carillon. But the season was elapsed. The French had gathered in their harvest. The British fleet had left the St. Lawrence, and the whole force of Canada was collected on lake Cham- plain, and by the middle of October, the victors from Louisburgh were in winter cantonments. The operations terminated in the north-west, in the construction of a respectable fort in the country iirSTOUY OF NKW-YORK. 327 of the Oneidas, and it was called Stanwix, in com- pliment to the general who commanded in that quarter. Tiie account of the loss of Louisburgh on one side, and of fort Prontenac on the other, arrived at Montreal on the same day. The militia of that island and neighbourhood were instantly CDmmund- ed up the St. Lawrence, to repair the denioli>hed fort. Colonel Peter Schuyler was witness to the consternation of the French colony. Tlie whole force sent to Frontenac did not exceed fift<'en hun- dred men, and upon a false alarm of Bradstreet's second approach, the greatest part of them aban- doned the works, and descended the river with the utmost precipitation — the dispirited populace consi- dering their country as lost. But our success on Ontario had still more exten- sive effects, and verified in fact what Shirley long had beheld in speculation: the Indians now changed their temper. A peace was established at Faston in October, not only with the Six Nations, but all the barbarians on the waters of the Delaware and the Susl,urgh troops across the country from Boston to Alb.nv. and arrived at New-York on th- l-2ll. I)ur-„.l..r. ITV. 332 HISTORY OF new-york. Livingston were sent by the county of Dutchess ; Mr. Hicks of Queen's county had been a partisan of governor Clinton, and with his colleague were preferred to Mr. Justice Jones and Cornel — the people of that county censuring the former as a tool to the lieutenant-governor, and the latter as influenced by his old colleague. Messrs. Hasbrouck and Bruyn, Herring and Wisner, were sent up by Ulster and Orange counties, disgusted by the late ruling party. But Mr. Delancey was not left without hopes. His brother Oliver, and his friends John Cruger, the mayor, and Mr. Lispenard got in for the city, nor did his brother and his cousins Verplanck and Rensselaer lose their seats. Besides, he could rely upon Mr. Nicoll, his cousin-german Mr. Watts, and upon Messrs. Winne, Philipse and Thomas, who were his companions and members of the late house. Add to this, that the Delanceys had gained in the council what they lost in the assembly. He seemed to be fixed in the chair, and therefore awed the whole board. In proportion to their jealousy of the Livingstons, who were considered as the leaders of the non-episcopal denominations, they were willing to draw with the Delanceys, though the latter were not fond of being publicly considered as the head of a sect, though powerful in its influence, yet small in point of numbers ; not to mention that the new members. Watts and Watson, were not only sure votes in that board for the party, but a check upon the freedom of their debates. From this time we shall distinguish the opposition under the name of UiSTOK^f Ob' MiW-YOKK. 6'ii^ the Livingston party, though it did not always pro- ceed from motives approved of by that family. The writs of sunmions were returnable on the 26th January, 1759, but the inclemency of the season preventing their convention, Mr. Delancey pro- rogued them by a proclamation under his private seal, to the 31st. For this irregularity he had the advice of his council, nor was it excepted to by the assembly. The new plan for the year being not yet come to the hands of general Amherst, who had been waiting here in daily expectation of it, the lieutenant-governor, after Mr. Nicoll was chosen speaker, addressed them with congratulations on general Forbes's success against fort Du Qucsne, recommended a more compulsory law for impress- ing horses and carriages, the prevention of frivolous arrests, the payment of public debts, and their con- certing a plan for more populous settlements of the waste lands of tlie crown. These measures were as much for his own interest as for that of the pub- lic; the last mentioned especially, by which his emoluments in the land office might by new grants be greatly increased. They gave him a general answer with warm pro- fessions of zeal for the service of the crown and their country, and entered into the common routine of business, till Mr. Secretary Pitt's despatches arrived the latter end of February, retjuiring an addition to the British troops of at least tw(;nty- thousand men from the colonics of the east, and ol Pennsylvania, upon the terms of the last campaign. It was immediately resolved to raise two thousand six hundred and eighty men, as the proportion <»f 334 HISTORY OF J\EW-YORK. this colony, by giving each individual £15 bounty, and twenty shillings more to the recruiting officer ; and to defray the expense by an emission of £100,000 in paper, to be sunk in nine years by a tax, begin- ning with £12,000 for the present. To quicken the levies, the lieutenant-governor urged the house for power to make detachments, that every man might be interested in procuring volunteers ; and by the 7th of March, the main bill for the levies and one for impresses being ready, they were passed with two or three others of less moment, and the members retired to their counties to forward the enlistments, when great umbrage was taken by the quakers, to whose conscientious scruples the legislature had shown very little regard. But the assembly were soon re-convened for a fresh proof of their zeal. The agents for the motley contractors were out of cash, and the end of the campaign in danger of being frustrated, unless a loan could be made to the crown of £150,000 cur- rency. It was no sooner asked by Mr. Amherst, than a law passed (2d July) upon his promise of repayment in the course of a year, by bills to be drawn by the deputy pay- master of the army, and the cash lent consisted of bills of credit now issued. General Prideaux took the command of the west- ern army destined to Niagara. They advanced the 1st of July, 2200 strong, exclusive of several hundred Indians led by sir William Johnston. They landed, invested the French fort and opened their trenches. The general fell by the unfortunate explosion of a cohorn on the 20th. The American baronet took HISTORY or >EW-YORK. 335 bis place, and sent for Mr. Haldimand, who uiih twelve hundred men had just before repelled sixteen hundred of the enemy in the defence of that post, with a considerable loss to them and none to us. Before Mr. Haldimand arrived, a t^tronir party of thirteen hundred came from Venango to the relief of the besieged, with five hundred savages. Lieu- tenant-colonel Massey advanced with a detachment of five hundred men to meet them. Observing that our Indians sought an opportunity to speak with them, and fearing the ellect of it, the French set up and begun the charge. In less than an hour they gave way with the loss of one hundred and fifty prisoners, the first and second in command, Morang, the Indian leader, and seventeen ofiicers, aoxen of whom were captains. Except the Mohawks, all our own Indians stood aloof till after the route. This victory of 23d July gave us the fort. Through the unskilfulness of our engineers, tlie works were un- hurt ; and having ammunition for only forty-eight Iiours more, sir William was on the point of raising the siege. The garrison capitulated at the instance of the commandants. There were made prisoners of w^ar to the numberof six hundred and seven: their women and children were to be sent to Montreal. General Amherst led the main body. They passed lake George without opposition, and proceeded to the lines so fatal to us the year before. While our trenches were opening, the enemy kept in their fort, but in the night of the 'JGth .luly, blew it up and repaired to Crown Point, leaving twenty men behind who could not find room in their boats. We lost colonel Roirer Townsend the niuht bofore, by a can- 336 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. non shot in the shoulder, while he was imprudently gratifying his curiosity at the trenches. Five days after, M. Bourlemaque abandoned fort St. Frederick, and demolished the works on the approach of Rogers' rangers, and retiring with all the stores to the Isle aux Noix at the north end of lake Champlain, where his whole force collected amounted to two thousand men, who were in a starving condition. Colonel Gage was ordered on the news of the surrender of Niagara, to proceed from Oswego with the western forces down the St. Lawrence to La Galette, while general Wolf was besieging Quebec, that the French force drawn to the two extremes of Canada, might favour general Amherst's descent upon the centre of the colony, with an army of twelve thousand men through lake Champlain. On the flight from Crown Point, few doubted the reduction of Montreal, where they imagined the in- habitants shut out from the rest of the world, and so harassed as to be unable to collect in their harvest, upon the point of perishing by a famine, and by despair ready to resign themselves the moment of general Amherst's landing at St. John's : they relied on the intelligence that the savages in the French alliance were intimidated, and conceived that the immense plunder of Niagara would be sufficient to draw all our Indians to a firm junction with the troops who were to act under Mr. Gage. But of these de- signs not one was executed save that trusted to general Wolfe, and this not till the 13th September. General Amherst who had advanced within thirty iniles of St. John's, and burnt all the French vessels UISTOKY <»K M;\V-\UHK. ^^7 but one, on tlie news of the Quebec victory returned to Crown Point. The multitude however were contented witli a change of fortune so very ditferent from what they liad hitherto experienced, and contented with their successes, a veil was willingly drawn over that inac- tivity which had disappointed our hopes of the total subjugation of the power of France on this continent. The fort of Niagara, though of earth, was res- jiectable, and capable of containing two thousand men. On the sides it was diflicult of access. It had a river on the west, the lake on the north, and on the east a morass. The ditch was largo, and a great part of it wet. The soil near it, like the Seneca country, fertile, rich, and level. About two thousand Indians visited it the ensuing autumn, abject and servile, because aware of their depen- dence on us in future for many articles necessary for their subsistence : but not a single man of tin; Mississages, who inhabited the old country of the Hurons, on the north bank of lake Erie, came there till the close of the campaign, for the French still maintained their post at Toronto, at the north-west corner of lake Ontario, and therefore six hundred men were left the ensuing year as a garrison at Niagara. At Oswego we built a new pentagon fort, and opened a ditch of five and thirty feet. The maga- zine was made capable of containing a thousand barrels. Casenjates and bomb proofs were con- structed, and nine cumpanies left there for its de- fence, with several smidl vppsoIs nnd a bri?antinp VOT.. IT. — ^■^' 338 HISTORY OF >ew-york. of seventy odd feet keel, mounting twenty guns. One hundred men more were posted in a small fort at the Little Falls of the Onondaga, and as many more at the western extremity of the Oneida lake ; fifteen at the eastern end, and four hundred at fort Stanwix. A road was cut from that fortress eighteen miles across the portage to the mouth of the Wood creek, to shorten the passage by that stream, wiiich is more than double that distance. It was then asserted that the plain of the waters of the Wood creek and the Mohawk river, at each end of that carrying place, differed but two feet, which, if true, may one day, give a supply of salmon and many other kinds of fish to the inhabitants upon the bor- ders of the latter of these streams. On the north general Amherst began a fort at William Henry, completed another at Ticonderoga, formed and began to execute the design of such a fortress at Crown Point as would comprehend a circuit of nine hundred yards. The winter garrisons of these three posts amounted to fifteen hundred men. The defeat of the party from Venango facilitated the constructions ordered by Mr. Stanwix at Pitts- burofh, where he exhausted the summer in Indian treaties, and promoting our commerce with the aborigines of the south. The provision for the New-York troops extending only to the first of November, and general Amherst wanting their assistance for securing the ground they had gained, and to prevent the French from repairing their losses, it was necessary to re-convene the assemblv in October : and on account of the HISTORY OF iNLW-YOKlx. SS\) small-pox, Mr. Dclancey ventured to summon them again at his own out-house in the suburbs. General Amherst's patron was Mr. Piit; and the lieutenant-governor, who had hitherto studied to conciliate the graces of that general, did not lose the opportunity to applaud his campaign. After declaring his acquisitions to be important and valuable, and approving the wisdom of his measures, he adds for justifying them : " You must be sensible that the enemy have had very small supplies of provisions this year from France, and that most of the men in Canada having been in arms this summer, their crops must have suffered greatly. In this pressing situation it cannot be doubted they will use their utmost efforts to repossess themselves of their strong holds, if it were only with a design of getting subsistence from our magazines; but if they know that there are respec- table forts to oppose them, and find that the works are completed, they must lay aside all such attempts as fruitless and vain." The house wanted no incitements to continue their aid, and the same day voted the necessary pay and additional clothing suited to the season, and the day after (loth October) were adjourned to the 4th of December. They met then to congratulate each other upon the victory at Mindcn, the defeat of the French fleet on the coast of Algarva, the conquest of Guada- loupe, the reduction of Quebec, and the other suc- cesses of that memorable year, and then proceeded to the ordinary supplies. Mr. Dclancry did not omit a rpqnifitiou for a salary »<> ^h Justire ^o^\nn : 340 mSTOKY UF iNEW-VUKlv. " an officer fsays he) whom the course of justice obliged me to appoint ;*' and for obviating objections, pointed to funds by an increase of the stamp duties and an augmentation of the excise upon strong liquors. The session ended in twenty days without a single division on any question, though upwards of twenty acts were passed, and among them a five-pound act so much before contested ; but it was limited to four years. To the governor they allowed a salary of £1800 with the £400 perquisite ; gave Mr. Chambers £200, without any reference to the chief seat as full or vacant. Deducted £50 from Mr. Ilorsmanden's late allowance, and gave Mr. .Tones £100 a year from the date of his commission, the 6th of December, 1758. Of the five-pound act the committee wrote favoura- bly to the agent. The speaker of the present house lived remote from the capital, declined any part of the correspondence, and it was left to the members of the metropolis, who expressed themselves thus in their letter of the 26th April: " In the last session an act was passed to empower mayors, recorders, &c. to try causes to the value of £5 and under, which has been strenuously opposed by the gentlemen of the law, both out of doors and in the council, but at last consented to for four years. As we are apprehensive that the same opposition will travel to the board of trade, we desire you will sup- port the act, as it has by experience been found very beneficial, and in a few instances only occasioned any discontent ; is greatly satisfactory to all ranks of people, except some of the law, and prevents num- IllSiOKY OF i^EW-VUKh. ;i41 berless suits and expenses, which in many instances amounts in the old practice to more than the sum sued for, and therefore this law is esteemed a very singular public benefit." It was not to be doubted that if the war continued, new efforts would be directed for completinir the reduction of all Canada. Mr. Secretary Pitt's letter for that purpose arriving in good season, the house was again convoked for our aid on the 1 1th March. The assembly voted the like contribution with that of the last year, and there was a new emission of sixty thousand pounds to defray it, and an eight years tax imposed for sinking the bills. The governor had in his speech incorporated Mr. Pitt's letter, commanding him to use his utmost endeavours and influence towards raising the men necessary for the enterprise, which prompted to a motion of Mr. R. R. Livingston for an address inti- mating that a great part of the loan to general Amherst was still unpaid, and that their exertions were made, uninfluenced by any other motives than a sense of their duty to their king and country. But there was a majority for the negative, which is mentioned as a demonstration of his ascendency, even in the present assembly. They adjourned the 22d of that month. Before they met again in May, he informed them that the whole loan was repaid, and at the request of governor Pownal, implored their charity to tin people of Boston, who had suflered by a contlngra- tion which had consumed a great part of that town on the 20th March. Though the province was then indebted to a long list of rreditors for porvicos and 342 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. losses in the war, and of many of these demands only able to advance but a moiety, still they gave out of their treasury £2500 to the poor of Boston. Mr. Delancey passed ten bills on the 10th of June, and then adjourned them. The most remarkable of these, was one to regulate the practice of physic and surgery — professions taken up by every preten- der to the great injury of a credulous people. But the remedy was very inadequate to the evil, for the law which restrained all unlicensed practices under the penalty of five pounds for every offence, was limited to the capital, and gave the right of examin- ing the candidates to incom{)etent judges, a coun- sellor, a judge of the supreme court, the mayor and the attorney-general, assisted by such persons as they should think proper to call upon The lieutenant-governor survived this session only to the 30th July, and died very suddenly. He spent the day before on Staten Island, at an interview with Mr. Boone and Mr. Barnard; the latter leaving New- Jersey for the government of Boston, and the former taking his place and command of New- Jer- sey. General James Prevost, governor Morris, Mr. Walton and others, were of the party, and Mr. Delancey, as it was thought, suffered by the tart raillery of the company and a too free use of the cup; for his constitution, though not much shattered, began to give way to the liberties he had long in- dulged. Crossing the water for several miles in the evening air, he landed in low spirits, drank some wine and water at Mr. Watts's, and rode out to his house about a mile from town. He was found in the morning by one of his infant cbildrrn gaspinir in H [STORY OF MIW-VUUlv. M^ his chair, and in the agonies of death ; and before u physician could be called to his assistance, the vital spirit was gone. Tlie immediate cause was sup- posed to be a fit of the asthma, to which lie had been many years so subject as to be unable to take his ordinary repose in bed. The conversation of the day before certainly put the deceased to his utmost exertions ; for he was treated with the familiarity of an equal in the pre- sence of his inferiors, who ha(] long worshipped him as a genius and character of the first magnitude. Mr. Boone, with Mr. Morris and brigadier Prevost, played off their wit in rallying some of his arts for gaining popularity; and though not a word was ut- tered in a manner interdicted by good breeding, yet there was gall under the disguise of politenes?s and respect, which made his defence the more arduous, especially as the.'-e were three against one, with the smiles of the rest. His daily coffee-house liaunls, his controversy with Clinton, his persuading sir Charles Hardy to resign on contract for Iialf of the salary and emoluments, the subserviency of his tools, his double claim to be chancellor and chief justice, his exaction of the high fees for land grants taken by Clinton, and his receipt of .€400 yearly for the crarrison, after the independent companies were removed, and a tale respecting that money, all touch- ed with delicacy and justified with anxiety, without the appearance of contention, formed the topics of a conversation concluded with evening merriment on both sides ; but when they parted, Mr. Delancey instantly grew serious, and was vexed and silent on the whole passage over the bay. ^544 HISTORV OF NEW-YOKh. The tale alluded to was this : Prevost commanded one of the royal American battalions, which had wintered here before. The author remarked to him in the summer of 1758, when being hors de combat , he spent his time unemployed at a villa near the capital, that this annual gift was a party douceur. He instantly protested he would exact it for his corps, and the next day startled the lieutenant- governor by a demand, which the other endeavored to turn off with a jest. The general left him to con- sider of it, and receiving no satisfactory answer, notified him in form, that he should make it the subject of a letter to the secretary of war ; and at a public dinner told him that he would certainly make that application, because it was the part of a good officer to insist on the rights of his soldiers, and leave it to the governor to support his own honour in the denial if he could. Mr. Delancey was already intimidated, and a few days after, declaring his con- viction of the justice of the claim, paid down a moiety of the money, for which the general took the merit of signing a receipt in full, which the other acknow- leged to be a favourable and indulgent composition. General Prevost was so much pleased with his success, that he could not conceal it ; valuing his triumph over a demagogue who held thousands in awe, infinitely beyond the spoils he had acquired. Mr. Delancey's genius exceeded his erudition. His knowledge of the law, history, and husbandry excepted, the rest of his learning consisted only of that small share of classical scholarship which he had acquired at Cambridge, and by a good memory retained. He was too indolent for profound rer HhSlOKV OF M.W-YOKK. 345 searches in tlie law ; but what he had read he could produce in an instant, for with a tenacious memory he liad an uncommon vivacity; his first thought was always tiie best ; he seemed to draw no advantages from meditation ; and it was to this promptness he owed his reputation. He delivered his sentiments with brevity, and yet with perspicuity. He rarely delivered his opinions in writing, because his com- positions did not merit even his own approbation. It was a labour to him to write, and he only supplied the matter of his speeches to the assembly, which others put into form. The siege of Quebec by the Canadians, and the dread of its returning to its old masters, quickened our levies, and when collected, the news of their retiring from that city in May, stimulated them in their progress. General Amherst left Schenectady in June, to join an army of four thousand regular troops and about six thousand provincials, who were to make their descent into the heart of the French colony, down the stream of the St. Lawrence, while general Murray was to come against it with two thousand regulars from Quebec, and five thousand provincials were to penetrate under colonel Ilaviland throuf^h lake Champlain. Sir William Johnson cave assurances, at the same time, of the elhctual aid of all the warriors of the Six Nations, ot which, nevertheless, only six or seven hundred accompa- nied the western army from Oswego to La CJ alette or Oswegatchie, when all except a few individuals thoufrht proper to return to their own castles. The three divisions advancing and arriving nearly at the same time in the neiirhbourhood of MontreQi. VOL. n. — V* 346 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. the whole force of Canada was driven into the island, and Mr. Vaudreuil, the French governor, being surrounded and unable to make any resistance, sur- rendered all Canada on the 8th of September, and general Amherst returned to New- York the latter end of September, and received the congratulations of a people exulting in the accomplishment which we were taught by our ancestors to pray for, as an event essential to the felicity and safety of all the British colonies in America. THE HISTORY OF NEW-YORK, CHAPTER VII. FROM LlEUTEXAiNT GOVERNOR UELANCEy's DEATH, TO THE APPOINTMENT OF LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR COLDEN, DURING THE ABSENCE OF SIR CHARLES HARDY. On Mr. Delancey's death, the government de- volved on doctor Golden, who immediately came out from his rural retreat in Ulster county, and at the age of seventy-three took up his residence at the province house in the fort, as president of the council. It was the general wish that he would instantly fill up the vacant seat of the chief justice, the ministry having not long before trusted the dispensation of justice in other colonies to persons of such character as filled the nmltitudc with uneasy apprehensions. Jersey had been mortified by the arrival, first of one Ainsley, who was raised to be chief justice from the low station of treasurer to a turnpike in the north of England; and when he died, by a successor still more contemptible, of the name of Jones, a Newgale soli- citor, who left his wife, lady Oliphant, in tlio arms of 348 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. an adulterer, by whose interest he was promoted and sent out of his way.* Mr. Golden was sounded on the propriety of guarding against similar appointments, but delivered his answer in terms of ambiguity ; and while it was unknown that he meant to compliment the earl of Halifax, then first lord of trade, with the nomination, and take that opportunity of showing his own zeal for the interest of the minister, an attempt was made to engage Mr. Morris to change his place in New- Jersey for the same station in this colony. It was apprehended that Mr. Golden, who had heretofore given so much offence, might, to gain popularity, be persuaded to join in the recommenda- tion ; but at the same time it was foreseen that neither Ghambers nor Horsmanden would approve of any other person than themselves. Mr. Watts suggested to governor Boone of New- •Jersey, that his province was happy in Mr. Morris, and added a wish that he had the vacant seat in New- York. This was privately communicated to general Prevost, who consulted the author on the subject, who spoke to Mr. Morris, and he consenting to the trial of our interest, we all met (Mr. Morris and Mr. Walton, who was his friend) at general Provost's in Flatbush. The author was to engage his father's approbation, and Mr. Walton, flattering himself that he could procure the junction of Mr. Watts and Oliver Delancey, he made the attempt, and pressed it with the utmost earnestness, but was unable to prevail with either. The only fruit of it was expos- *Ainsley was said to be recommended to the earl of Halifax by lord Raven? - worth, and Jones by lord chief justice Welles of the common pleas. HISTORY Ol-' NEW-YORK, 34tt ing Watts to the resentment ol' Mr. Jioonc, by Ins denial of what the governor had alleged, and to the contempt of a few who were informed that he was brought to confess that he had forgotten what he said; and thus the president, unsolicited upon this delicate subject, prosecuted his own design of leaving the appointment to the plantation board. On the 22d October he made his first speech to the assembly, and to win the Delanceys, who detest- ed him, he applauded the superior talents of his predecessor; and to recommend himself to general Amherst, passed encomiums upon the conquest of Canada. He then demanded a support, and assured them of his concurrence in every measure conducive to the prosperity of the colony, without even taking the ordinary condition of its consistency with his duty to the crown. Mr. William Livingston penned the address offer- ed in these triumphant moments of joy, and made the congratulatory echo louder than the first sound. Alluding to the reduction of Canada, the house, to pre-engage the retention of it at the peace, speaks of that event as replete with inrmmerable advantages to the nation in general, and exults in our deliverance " from the devastation of a cruel and barbarous enemy, rather bent on the destruction of mankind, than waging war either for their own defence, or even from motives of ambition or concjuest." Again, "no consideration (say they) shall induce us to re- gret the blood and treasure expended in facihtating this inestimable acquisition, save only (to which wc are confident the wisdom and honour of the nation will ever disdain to submit) the surrender <.!' this 350 HISTORY OP NEW-YORK. most important conquest, which, in possession ol the crown, must prove to Britain the source of im- mense riches; and if retained by so perfidious a people, would expose us to the keen revenge of a defeated enemy, who, unreclaimed by our example, and by our clemency unsoftened, would doubtless relapse into their native barbarity, and retaliate our lenity with more signal acts of inhumanity and bloodshed.'^ The session was protracted with great concord to the 8th of November, when Mr. Golden assented to nineteen bills, without the least objection to that for an annual support, or the prolongation of the cur- rency paper bills ; verifying an old remark, that the confidants of governors often advise measures which when themselves are responsible, they will not pursue. By one of the acts he took a salary of £1800 a year, with the ancient douceur of £400 for a garri- son, consisting only of his own family. There was nevertheless some inquietude without doors. The merchants were chagrined at the inter- diction of their commerce with the French and Spaniards of Monte Christi ; when, by the superi- ority of the naval strength of the nation, and the success of our privateers, the enemy were no longer able to navigate the West India seas. We drove a very lucrative trade with Hispaniola, under letters of safe conduct, and afterwards without them at the post above mentioned. Nearly the whole produce of that valuable island came to the British colonies in exchange for provisions and the manufactures of the northern country, and passed to Europe in HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 851 English bottoms. Botli the British and AmoricRn merchants had grown opulent by this CKnunerce. in spite of all the calamiiies of the war, and the hitter felt the check now given to their gains by orders issued at Mr. Secretary Pitt's instance, excited, as fame reported, by general Amherst, with the utmost impatience. Mr Golden nevertheless enjoyed a perfect calm. The enemies he had formerly made were not recovered from the terror inspired by the death of the lieutenant-governor, and having with their popularity lost their power they felt no incli- nation to renew their hostilities ; nor were they yet without hopes from the timidity of his advanced age, and the address of Mr. Watts, that he would voluntarily consent to be led. In a word, the weak- ness of both parties left him undisturbed, while the number of the candidates for the vacant seat upon the bench, produced condescensions friendly to his ease, and flattering to his pride. But this appearance of power having notliing to support it, lasted but a moment. Mr. Oliver Delan- cey having a seat in council, and the lieutenant- governor's son James aiming at a place in the as- sembly, and Mr. Jones, the former speaker, being restless for his old chair, Mr. Golden took fright on the news of the death of the king, and unwil- lingly listened to the doctrine that the demise had wrought a dissolution of the assembly. After some hesitation he issued the new writs, returnable on the 3d of March, 1761. Though there was a change but of seven mem- bers, the return of Messrs. Jones and Gomel for Queen's county being set aside, yet from their for- 1352 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. tunes the Livingston party now added greatly to their strength. The speech (on the 10th, to which they had been prorogued by an irregular proclamation) laments the death of the king, applauds the virtues of his successor, and leaves it to the house to think of domestic provisions, till the instructions then ex- pected enabled him to state the requisitions for the ensuing year. The assembly gave assurances of aid when want- ed, concurred in a loyal address to the new king, and adjourned to the 24th of that month ; when, having received Mr. Pitt's letter, the president demanded an aid of men equal to two-thirds of our levies on the last campaign. They voted seventeen Imndred and eighty-seven men, and fifty-two thou- sand pounds to defray the expense of the pay and clothing, of which the whole, except the sum of seven thousand pounds, was money given out of the parliamentary reimbursements for former exertions. The act for this purpose was passed on the 4th of April, and the house were dismissed to the 4th of May. Then there was a short session for a fort- night, in which Mr. Golden put a negative upon two bills, to remove doubts arising respecting the trans- actions between the death of the late king and our notice of it here, and to compel to the appointment of the judges for the supreme court in future on the tenure of good behaviour. The first was framed on the supposition that the laws enacted in autumn, by one of which he had his support, and the pro- ceedings of the supreme court wanted confirmation, and the last was prompted by the general wish of IIISTUHV OF i\E\V-yORK. .^53 the people, that the judges miirht bo lendcred inde- pendent of the crown, and tlie vacancy in llic chief seat be no longer left open to the danger of a succession in favour of such mean ministerial hire- lings as had been sent to New-Jersey. Mr. Golden was inflexibly set against both. He hud indeed offered the chief justice's place to the author's father, immediately upon the death of Mr. Delancey, upon the tenure of the king's will, informing him at the same time as a secret, that he should not make that proposal to cither of the puisne judges ; but after Mr. Smith refused, he took up the resolution to leave it open to the minister of the day, and to hold all the rest of the judges on the renewal of their commissions in a dependence upon the crown. He could not have pursued a measure more iniiversally disgustful, nor have given a better handle to the disappointed expectants of the vacancy, or the numerous friends of the present judges, who, with n-reat reason, complained of his zeal to enforce an old instruction, which Mr. Clinton broke when he appointed Mr. Chambers to succeed Mr. Thillipse, and which Mr. Delancey had disregarded without censure, when he constituted Mr. Jones to be the fourth judge on the bench.* While the bill relating to the judge's commission was depending, there was a meeting of both houses on intimation that he would give his assent, and to obviate if possible the objections he had urged in * I have seen M. Clintoi.'H apolojry lo (l.o duke of Ncwoasllo, an.l ihr earl of Holdemess's answer, di-.laniiK tl.c kingV upprobatu.n of ilic ronim.s-ion to Mr. Cliambers on the same lenuro will. Mr. DH^ncey. and iUM to Mr. Ph.ll.t.*c, tl.** predecessor of Mr. Chanibor- VOT.. TT. — ^5 354 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. justification of the conduct he meant to pursue. Some were in favour of increasing the allowance beyond the present mean stipends of £300 to the chief justice ; £200 to the second judge ; £150 to the third, and £100 to the fourth, and the constitut- ing a permanent fund for their annual discharge. But others, disinclined to the augmentations, pre- dicted that the vacancies would in future be filled up by mean and ministerial dependants, and the bill, by their division of sentiment, was sent up subject to the full force of Mr. Colden's exception. There were others who thought a fine opportunity was then lost for gaining an independent unbiassed bench, and these contradictions gave rise to mu- tual reproaches, with which Mr. Golden was not a little diverted ; and a confidant of his said, " nei- ther party had any thing to boast of, because he had predetermined to object to their augmentations as inadequate to the dignity of the oflficers, and thus elude their importunity, even if both houses had concurred in doubling the salaries." The judges at first appeared to differ from the opinion of the bar as to the eftect of the late demise of the crown upon their commissions ; but their fears rising on the approach of the term, they applied in form for a renewal of them on the old tenure. Their request was instantly refused by Mr. Golden, who advised them to sit upon their old commissions and the royal proclamation dated at Saville House. Upon mentioning their doubts, whether that procla- mation was issued under the great seal, he let out his own secret : '' Yours (says he) are as good as mine, and you'll stand on the same foundation." IlISTOKY OF NEW-\UUK. 355 They replied very pertinently, " You may run risks and be justified by necessity; you can rcniuvc our doubts witliout incurring blame, and it will be ex- pected you do all the good in your power." The judges sat to prevent a discontinuance of process, and in hourly expectation of being relieved by the arrival of Mr. Pratt, a Boston lawyer, who had obtained a mandamus for the seat of chief justice by the interest of Mr. Pownal, to whom he had been useful when governor of the Massachusetts bay. But if he lost favour on one side of the water, ho increased it by stratagem on the other: the king promoted him to the rank of lieutenant-governor. Under a dread of the clamours of the multitude, ho wrote to his superiors, declaring his apprehensions that he should be compelled to give way to the proposition, and thus lay the foundation for a posi- tive command against any future compliances. His letters became the subject of a report from the hoard of trade to the king on that question, in which their lordships observe : "That the people of New-York could not plead the example of the mother country, because, say they, the change which the tenure of the judges' commissions underwent at the revolution in this kingdom, was founded upon the most conclusive and repeated proofs of arbitrary and illegal interpo- sition under the influence of the crown, upon points of the greatest importance to the constitution, and the liberty and rights of the subject. It was not however by the tenure of their commissions alone that they were rendered independent, i)Ut such salaries were settled or. them ns not oiilv n n.lcrcd 356 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. them less liable to be corrupted, but was an encou- ragement for the ablest men in that profession, which qualified them for such high trusts. "The same circumstance does in no degree exist in the American colonies, where, as there is no cer- tain established allowance that may encourage men of learning and ability to undertake such offices, your majesty's governors are frequently obliged to ap- point such as offer among the inhabitants, however unqualified to sustain the character ; and though a more fit person should afterwards be found, yet if the commission was during good behaviour, such un- qualified person coidd 7iot be displacedy They add, "We are sorry to say that late years have produced but too many examples of governors having been obliged, for want of such establishment as might induce able persons to offer their services, to confer the office on those who have accepted it merely with a view to make it subservient to their own private interests, and who, added to their ignorance of the law, have too frequently become the partisans of a factious assembly, upon whom they had been de- pendants for their support, and who have withheld or enlarged that support according as the conduct of the judges was more or less favourable to their in- terests. It is difficult to conceive a state of govern- ment more dangerous to the rights and liberties of the subject ; but aggravated as the evil would be by making the judges' commissions during good behaviour, without rendering them at the same time independent of the factious will and caprice of an assembly, we cannot but consider the proposition as subversive of all true policy, destructive to the HISTORY OF NEW-YOHK. tJ57 interests of your majesty's subjects, and tendinir to lessen that just dependence which the colonies ought to have upon the mother country." Their lordships take notice of a report of the attorney and solicitor general on a similar law in Jamaica, and of their own board on another passed in Pennsylvania, quote Mr. Colden's letter as con- sonant with their sentiments, declare if he has yield- ed his consent, he deserves the royal displeasure, and advise a general instruction prohibiting in all the royal provinces commissions during good be- haviour. But the lieutenant-governor's letters were secrets when the assembly met him again on the 2d ^r^eptem- ber, and gratified his requisition for a continuance of pay with provisions to one hundred and seventy- three men for the defence of Orange and Ulster against the incursions of the savages, or he would have had more serious proofs of their disgust, already excited by the rejection of the late favourite bills, which were both immediately renewed, and in a few days after sent up to the council. He had ne- vertheless some intimations of their discontent by a bill on Mr. Cruger's motion to interdict stage play- ing, by a set of strolling comedians whom he had permitted to set up a theatre, and by his expression of confidence in the abilities and patriotism of ge- neral Monckton, who was then in hourly expectation of the arrival of his elevation to the chief command of the colony. It has been already observed that Mr. Jones, thouMi ajudgeof the supreme court, had appeared a» a%andidatc with Mr. Cornel for a seat in thr 358 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. assembly. They both lost their aims. The sheriff's first return was set aside for irregularity, and at a new election the second was controverted on a scru- tiny which left a majority against Mr. Jones.* The elections of Mr. Holland for the county of Richmond, and Mr. Schermerhorn for the town of Schenectady, were also disputed before the house ; and it may be of use to state some of the points resolved by the assembly in the exercise of their judicial authority, respecting the qualification of their own members. 1. That the names of voting electors not returned on the poll lists, shall be received and counted. 2. That the possession of the remainder, gained on the death of a tenant for life but twenty-two days before the test of the writ of summons, though the estate might have been devised thirty years before, gives a right to vote. 3. That the acquisition of a freehold within three months before the test, suffices, if it was not fraudu- lently obtained. 4. That an actual possession within three months is not necessary ; and, 5. That a man deaf and dumb from his nativity has no vote. Shortly before the term of October, and when Mr. Pratt was not yet arrived, Mr. Golden, pushed by the dread of the discontinuance of all process, and the clamours it would naturally excite, resolved to bring the judges to the test, declaring in council, that unless they would take new commissions dur- * But this decision was suspended till the close of the year, when Mr. Zebulon Seaman and Mr. Cornel took tlieir seats as the members for Queen's count}" pursuant to the election in April preceding-. HISTORY OF NEW-YOKK. 359 \ng pleasure, he would find others for their places. To the surprise of the board and of the whole colony, two of them consented, but only pro hac rice, to save the term in the absence of Air. IVatt. But Mr. Jones, who resided in the country, learning by the way that this humility was imputctl to mean- ness, turned back and absented liimself the whole term, giving out that he would not accept a com- mission upon so base and precarious a tenure. No distress could exceed Mr. Chambers' the instant he discovered the public disapprobation of his conduct, and that his new commission was thought to leave him as much embarrassed as before ; Mr. Colden's authority to give the last under sir Charles Hardy's commission being considered as invalitl fr^ni the end of six months after the king's death. Mr. Chief Justice Morris stated this exception to him in term time, and it filled him with such terror that he im- plored the attorney-general to bring no criminal cause before them, and to reject motion.s in form for that purpose. The term was no sooner ended, than Mr. Pratt arrived. Mr. Chambers then oflcrcd his first commission to Mr. Moncklon, who at that time declined any agency in the civil dej)arlmcnt. When Mr. Coldcn and his assembly parted on the Uth September, he had no inlluence upon cither of the great parties into which the colony was divided. The eyes of all men wero turned to general Monckton, for it was not certaiidy known that he was destined to the command of the troops which had been several months collected on Staicn Island, on a secret expedition to the West Indies. He resided chiellv at the cami>. wImtc, acreeablv 360 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. to Mr. Secretary Pitt's letter, he performed the ceremonies for investing Mr. Amherst with the insignia of the Knight of the Bath, until the arrival of his commission in the Alcide ship of war, on the 19th of October. Golden soon learnt what Mr. Monckton was at a loss to discover, that it was not accompanied as usual with a book of instructions, and it had been hinted by the lieutenant-governor to a third person, that he thought the want of it an objection to the gene- ral's entering upon the command. Of this, Mr. Monckton was not apprised till just before the day appointed for its publication, and after Mr. Colden's orders were out for arraying the militia, as usual on such occasions: it became him to examine into the weight of this exception so unseasonably started, and which he apprehended the lieutenant-governor would use every argument to induce the council to listen to and approve, when he offered himself for the oaths. The author was consulted the preceding evening by Mr. Boone, (who had presided as governor in Jersey, a place which he now left to Josiah Hardy, esq., a brother to sir Charles, being himself pro- moted to south Carolina,) and delivered his opinion in writing, which was in substance, that the com- mission* conveyed the authority, and the law gave the rule according to which it was to be exercised; that the council, having been appointed by the privy signet and sign manual of the late king, and continued in office by his present majesty's pro- clamation, wanted no new appointment to enable them to administer the oaths; and that therefore the HISTOKY UF m:\v-youk. J^Gl government under general Monckton could be or- ganized without any book of instructions. When Mr. Monckton had produced his commis- sion to the council on the 2Glii October, and it wiia read, the lieutenant-governor asked lor the instruc- tions to enable the board to proceed. The other replied that he had none, and hoped never to have any, that he might be at liberty to copy after the example of his royal master. Not a member of the board stood by the lieutenant-governor, and the oaths being administered, there was a procession and a re-publication of it as usual at the town hall, the militia being drawn up, and an immense mul- titude expressing their joy in loud and repeated acclamations. Mr. Colden's opinion, which soon took air, had no influence on the people. Addresses and congratula- tions were presented from all public bodies, without naming the lieutenant-governor. It being then full term, he had one from the judges and tlic bar, and another from the grand jury, which it seems gave no small offence to Mr. Golden, merely for hinting that the public security was enhanced by the high birth and opulence of the new governor. It would be unfair not to add that th(^ profession of the law gave this governor a public entrrlainmcnt, in return for a very genteel one at his expense to all the gentlemen of the capital, and still more so to conceal some private anecdotes relative to Mr. Monckton's request for securing the moiety of the salary and perquisites of the government that might accrue on ihe expedition to Marlini«|ue. which he was appointed to command. VOT,. II. — ^^ 362 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. It was governor Boone who in his name requested the author to frame some instrument for the purpose. He informed him that the general had resolved to give his own share to Mr. Colden, but altered his mind, after his project for exposing him to the scoff of the public, by excepting to the publication of his commission. That he had alrady written to him, asserting his claim to a moiety, adding, that he should not sail before it was secured ; that he had received no other than a general promise to comply with the king's instructions whenever they arrived. That Mr. Monckton was resolved to waste no time in a captious correspondence, and had now resolved to offer him a draft, and if he refused to execute it without reasons, to suspend him without ceremony. The author devised a bond for the payment of a moiety of the salary, perquisites, and emoluments, and to account upon oath if required, and sent the instruments with blanks for the surety and penalty. Two days after (13th November) general Monckton desired to know why the oath was proposed ; to which it was answered, that himself taking the chan- cellor's chair on his return, he would lose the benefit of that court to compel a discovery, if that should be necessary, and that the bond to account upon oath was expedient to prevent his losing the equitable relief which every other subject enjoyed by the laws of this country. The general showed the author an instrument in the hand writing of Mr. Banyer, the deputy secretary, which Mr. Colden had proposed for his security. It was an indenture consisting of covenants, reciting that, pursuant to the royal instructions to former HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 363 governors, a moiety ol' salary, fees, and perquisites, were payable to the lieutenant-governor in the ab- sence of the governor-in-chief, and agreeing that such share should be paid to INIr. Golden and the other half be received by Mr. 15anyer for the use of general Monckton, unless otherwise applied by ijis majesty's instructions, " hereafter to be received." I then sent him a tripartite indenture between the two governors and the secretary. It recited that by former instructions the lieutenant-governor was to receive a moiety of the salary, perquisites, and emoluments, fthese being the terms in the 99th article to sir Charles Hardy,) that Mr. Monckton was about to leave the province, that he had no instruction, but expected one of that import, and that the government might fall on Mr. Coldcn. Then they were both made to covenant, that all profits should pass into Mr. Banyer's hands, to be equally divided if such instruction came, and if not, the whole to Mr. Monckton. Covenants fol- lowed for Mr. Banyer to receive and obtain all these profits, and to render accounts upon oath when required by either of the governors, and lo pay them their respective shares. And with this inden- ture I proposed a bond from Mr. Banyer and his surety to Mr. .Monckton, for the performance of the covenants. Mr. Monckton embarked on the mth of Novem- ber, but before lie took leave expressed himself to this effect: "After much shuflling, the matter is settled. Coldcn objected to the covenants as putting liim in the power of his servant, and exposing him to the world. I then sent hitu the bond, requiring 4 364 HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. his execution of it without any further trouble. Banyer came from him, with an objection to his being made liable during my commission and ab- sence. I was about to throw all the papers into the fire, but Watts, then with me, prevented me. I ordered Banyer to bring me an abstract of all the patents for lands and commissions for offices since the death of Delancey. He declared he had no doubt Mr. Golden would sign, if I would not per- mit any alteration. Colden's reason is, and so he told me, that he hoped to procure an instruction for the whole profits in my absence. Watts interposing, Banyer took back the bond, asking whether, if the lieutenant-governor executed it, he should bring the abstracts. I replied, you will obey your orders, and bring back the draft of the bond, that I may compare it with the copy that it may be executed." On the 14th of November, the fleet, consisting of one hundred sail, left the Hook for Martinique, under convoy of the Alcide, of sixty-four guns, and the Devonshire, of seventy-four guns, two of fifty, and one of forty guns ; and thus the government devolved again on Mr. Golden, who five days after- wards opened a new session, with a passion, first raised by the two law bills above mentioned, and wound to an excess of indiscriminate rage at the whole profession, bench and bar. The objects to which he pointed were three: the slow proceedings of the courts, tippling houses, and the annual support; but upon the first he dwelt most. "Gomplaints (says he) of the dilatory proceedings of the courts of law, and of the heavy expense in HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. ;36j obtaining justice, arc so general and frequent that they well deserve your attention. Therefore I re- commend to you to inquire into the grounds of these complaints, and if found just, to apply a remedy adequate to so great an evil Without doubt it is the duty and in the power of the Icgishiiure to give relief in every public grievance. The delay of jus- tice is a denial of it for a time, and is often, when attended with great expense, of more consequence to individuals than the obstinate refusal of it. The security of government and the well-being of society are founded on the equal distribution of justice, which cannot prevail in its proper extent, while the expense of obtaining it is insupportable to many." The address demonstrated that the house was neither disposed to be very obsequious to his hu- mour, nor ignorant of the true motives of his speech. They intended to have puzzled him by a call for the proofs ; but this he obviated in his answer to the address of the council, by quoting the 32d instruction to sir Charles Hardy, recommending speed in the administration of justice, which being as old as the revolution, and known to be common to all the provinces under the immediate govern- ment of the crown, gave rise to some ridicule. The assembly therefore resolved not to teazc him at the expense of their own dignity, and contented them- selves with observing that they would not permit the colony to suffer by Mr. Monckton's absence, but that its interests would be advanced by his concurrence in several bills preparing for tlic de- fence and security of the liberties and j)ropcrties of the subject. They agree in the expediency of 366 HISTORY OF NEW- YORK. dispensing justice with despatch ; but that he might feel the sting of the common censure upon the high fees taken for patents, in which he was doubly interested as governor and joint surveyor-general with his son, they add :* "As the complaints your honour mentions proba- bly arise from the want of a legalf establishment of fees, we cannot help thinking a general establish- ment of the fees of all the officers of the government will put a stop to these, as well as to several other complaints of the like nature." At the close, they promise "all attention to the internal welfare of the colony, with confidence that nothing tending to that end, can be thought by any who have the honour of serving his majesty, inconsistent with their duty." The answer shows a spirit ready for battle, and was supposed to have been penned by Mr. Pratt : " You may assure yourselves of my concurrence in every thing for the benefit of the country, of which each of the branches of the legislature have an equal right to judge. Methods may be proposed, however, for obtaining a real benefit, inconsistent with the English constitution ; or, under the pre- tence of a benefit, a small dependent state may attempt to set bounds to, and restrain the rights and prerogatives of the king of Great Britain. In these cases, though the benefit be real, the method pro- posed for procuring it may be inconsistent with the * The governor took £12 10s. for every thousand acres, and the surveyor- general £5 more per thousand. t All fees had for a long time been regulated by ordinances of the governor and council, every one of which had expired. Many attempts had been made to establish fees by a law, but lost by the parsimony of the assembly. The act, in Mr. Van Dam's time, was repealed by the kinrr. HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 367 duty of every oiliccr wlio lias tlie honour to serve the crown, especially if the same benefit may be more effectually obtained by the methods to which no exceptions lie." It was easy to discover that the lioutcnant-jrovcr- nor fofesawthe renewal oftiie old bill for conlirining the acts and judicial proceedings of the last fall, and that which was still more obnoxious to him respecting the tenure of the judges' commissions. While these were on the anvil, he sent a message, insisting on an allowance to Mr. Pratt, beyond what had been usual ever since the establishment of the salary of a chief-justice, in 1715. The assembly, nevertheless, resolved, " As the salaries usually allowed for the judges had been, and still appear to be sufficient to engage gentlemen of the first figure, both as to capacity and fortune in the colony, to accept of these ollices, it would be highly impro- per to augment the salary of the cliief-justice on this occasion." While tlie bill respecting the tenure of these commissions lay with the council, the lower house withheld that for the support. ]5oth branches had the same object in view; but the upper house were apprehensive that if they passed the former. Golden would make it a pretext for justifying his appoint- ment of iMr. Pratt upon the new temirc, and leave the other judges in iheir present condition. The next device therefore was to tack a condition to the salaries, as the support bill, rendering them payable' only on their holding by the safe tenure above men- tioned. They proceeded upon a presumption that he would on that account reject the bill, thouuh it 368 HISTORY OP NEW-YORK. gave £2,200 to himself; but were most egregiously mistaken ; for on waiting only for the receipt of a joint address to the king on his nuptials, he visited the council, and meanly implored their assent to that bill, and to screen them from blame, consented to an entry, that they concurred at his instance. The assembly now in their turn became humble supplicants to the council, that the other bill might not pass that house, lest the lieutenant-governor should gain a complete victory ; and from the com- mon antipathy to Mr. Pratt, they obtained this boon, and thus all parties were disgusted. The bill to settle scruples occasioned by the demise of the crown, sunk also, us connected with that respecting the commissions, and after this third defeat, they were heard of no more. At the passing of the acts on the 31st December, the session would have ended, and the partition bill would have been lost, if it had not been suggested to the lieutenant-governor the propriety of some apology for not assenting to that necessary law. It was a fortunate thought, for he hastily declared that if the house would adjourn for four days, and free that bill from some objections, it should have his consent. The author's father, who knew its impor- tance, procured a note of the articles excepted to, and endeavoured to obviate his objections by such alterations, though not injurious to the main scope of the bill. These were produced to the council at a meeting on the 3d January, the day before that to which the house was adjourned, and sent to the lieu- tenant-governor for his perusal^: to some he yielded, in others they made concessions to please him. HiSTOUy OF NEW-YOKK. 3G0 Both houses came togclluT wlion the altercations with the governor were carried on lor four days, and with reluctance at last he consented to a new engrossment, and having passed the act, he pro- rogued the assembly. The projector of that part of this law respecting the partition of lands, being called to watch the lieutenant-governor's various exceptions to it, was a witness to the singular irregularities above related, though no notice is taken ol' them in the journals of the house ; for, according to their form, there should have been a prorogation, and a new bill with three readings in each house. If the lieutenant-governor had been gratified, there would have been no balloting for the lots till all objections to the proceedings had been heard and determined by the supreme court, nor any out- lines run to ascertain the tract without the surveyor- creneral's approbation. Tiic council and assembly would agree to neither of these alterations. The first exposed to tedious delay and enormous expense, and the last subjected the proprietors of undivided lands to the arbitrary caprice of an ofticer, and opened a door to corruption. The contrariety of sentiments upon this point gave rise to the double lines for the contents of the tract, and the distinction between the parts disputed and indisputcd, more particularly mentioned in that useful act, which has areatly contributed to the cultivation and sclthMncnt of the colony, and enhances the estates of thousands who before estimated them as of little or no value. It has been already observed, that the lieutenant- governor assented to it unwillinirly. If i« upon tlio VOT,. IT. — M 370 HlSrOKY OF JNEVV-YORK. information of a member who having, after much conversation on that subject with but httle hope of success, dropped these words at parting : " And is there then nothing, sir, which you are willing to do for the country ?" Struck with this spirited reproof, he replied, "Well, copy your bill as it is altered, and I'll come up and pass it."* The judges being all unprovided for, Mr. Pratt, whose narrow circumstances made immediate sup- plies necessary, despaired of all relief, unless his patron could procure it by dint of interest at home out of the quit-rent fund, and waited only the mend- ing of the roads to return to his native country. He suffered from Mr. Colden's patronage, and nothing so much contributed to the general odium against the chief-justice and his patron, as Mr. Hardy's adventurous generosity in Jersey, who by his renewing the judges' commissions during good behaviour, taught this colony to believe that it was choice and some sinister motive, and not a dread of administration, that prompted Mr. Golden to stickle for a dispensation of justice under the control of the crown. It was therefore with a malignant pleasure that the public soon after the session discovered Mr. Colden's late promotion to the rank of lieutenant- governor was not the reward of merit, but the effort of low craft and condescension. To gain an interest with Mr. John Pownal, a clerk to the board of trade, who had the ear of the * Robert R. Livingston was the chief manager in the irregular messages relating to these amendrnpntf?. HISTORV OF NEW-YORK. ^71 earl of Halifax, and to raise the idea of his being able to influence tlie assembly, h(; ollored him the agency of the colony — a bait to which the minister could not be indiflferent. Pownal's good sense and experience taught him to believe that a donation so imprudently liberal would soon be recalled, and sagaciously declining it, proposed that the representation of the assembly should rather be trusted to his friend Mr. Burke. He requested this of Mr. Golden, who soon after received the reward of his art in the commission tc^ be lieutenant-governor. It now recjuired some ad- dress to conceal from Pownal that want of influence without which his friend could not succeed. Having attained his own end, he intimated that there would be difticulties to bring in a person so little known to the prejudice of Mr. Charles, on whose account some were moved with compassion. Pownal saw himself entrapped, and that he had not only missed his aim, but was exposed to th.' resentment of the old agent. With professions that he meant not to interfere to his prejudice, he revealed to Mr Charles all that had passed, and gave him copies of the letters which were now transmitted to the committee of assembly, who had for some time managed the cor- respondence with the agent on so serious a subject. The reader ought to sec the proofs, which I insert with tlic answer from the committee. Tiie royal requisitions for th«; operations in tiir West Indies, brew-V()i:k. 375 read by Mr. Pianyer at llic door, and IbUovvcd by three cheers. The grenadiers, led by lord Sterling, then advanced to the town-hall. The constables followed after them; the under sherifls, high sheriff, and town clerk, the common council, aldermen, recorder and mayor, then the council, the lieu- tenant-governor, and last of all the gentlemen of the town. When the proclamation had been again read at the hall, they returned to the fort, and after some time the company retired. It should not be omitted that a short convention of the assembly took place in May, and that they passed a bill which originated in the lower house, and sent it up to the council on the 5th — was passed by the governor the next day: and that another bill, which the council received on the 20th, had the governor's assent on the 22d; the former being an act for raising money by a lottery, to build a new jail in the metropolis, and the other to punish tres- passes injurious to the light-house of Sandy Hook, which, to the shame of the colony, was now first erected. Mr. Colden's second administration was then drawing to a close; for general Monckton having succeeded in the conquest of Martiniijue, returned to his government on the 12th day of June, and began with a splendour and magnificence tMjual to his birth, and expected from that liberality and generosity for which he has ever been so highly distinffuished. NOTES VOL. If. — 48 INOTES. Note A. — Pu^e oi). What a contrast in every tliingr rcspectuig the cultivation of scicnte between tlijs and the colonies first settled by the English. Near one hundred and thirty years had now elapsed since tlio discovery of New- York, and iwvpnly-llireo from its subjection to the crowu of Enijland. When the lotrislaluro liorrowcd acts of parhamcnt from private libraries, tlicy were seldom mf|H>ctpd, nor per- haps much admired. South Carohna had altcnipted, by an act of assembly «f the last century, to extend a variety of the old statutes, and n-ncwed it again in 1712. It is entitled, "An act to put in force in tiii.i province the Mveral Hla- tutee of tho kingdom of England, or South Britain, therciji particularly men- tioned." The preamble is in these words; — " Whereas m.my <>f the Ktatuto laws of the kiiii|;dom of Enirland, or South Britain, by reason of Ihn different way of agriculture, and tho different productions of tho earth of this provmcc from that of England, are altogellier, and many others, which otherwise are very apt and good, either by reason of their limitation to particular places, or l)ccaUBi) in themselves they arc only executive by such nominal olFicors as are not in nor suitable to the constitution of this government, are hereby become impraclicablo here.'' The 1st section enumerates and extends the general and |)rmcipal acts of the statute book to the 'Ith and 5Ui of queen Aimo. Tho 2d oxtenda such as they refer to. The 3d, all such as relate to the allegiance, and tho righUi and liberties of tljc subject. The -Ith, that the autliority thiy give to parhamcnt shall, in Carolina, be construed to bo in the assembly ; that to the lord chancel- lor to the o-ovcrnor and council ; tliat their chief justice shall cxcrcLtn tlic pow- ers of Uie judges of the Common Pleas, King's Bench, Exchequer, Juices of tho Sessions, Commissioners of Oyer and Terminer ; and otiior officers, thono of similar officers in England. The 5th, that so much of the common law a< la not altered by the statutes, so enumerated by tho act taking ward* and livcrio, the old tenures in capilo and knighta' service, purveyance, or that part of Ihu common law relating to matters ecclesia.''lical, not repugnant to tho ncttlrmcnt of the church of England in Carolina, bo declared to be in a.i full force as in England Tho 6th subjecLi thuir oiricem to the like |M>naltic«. Tho 7th respects their fees. Tho 8th, courts and prisons. The '.Ith confiiins tho mode of conveyancing, by lease and relca«o, prior to Uic cxU-nding of tiin statute of uses. The 10th extends all the English htalutes con.^eminj ciwtoni.» trade, and navigation. Tho llUi declares all other statulcm not trai»«n.lte.| since 8th of Anne, to be unaffected by this act The 1 2th, that ih.i act .liall not affect the statute of 13Ui of Charles II. cap. G, declaring the mIc right of tho mihlia to be in the king. The 13tli. nothing in any of the above Matulr*, abrid^lnj; the 380 IS0TE6. liberty of conscience or any ecclesiastical liberty, were considered as extended by that act, nor to alter their course of proceeding and balloting jurors under a for- mer act of assembly of 7th January, 1694-5, or any other act of the province. It is not improbable tiiat the British legislature (3d George II.) took the hint of bal- loting jurors from that Carolina act, as they had for pleading a discount from one enacted here several years before the statute of 2d George II. cap. 22. Note B.—Page 63. Mr, Colden, lo vindicate Mr. Clarke and to exculpate himself, though no< named in the former representation of Campbell's disappointment, gave himself the trouble of two letters to the author, of the 15th January and 17th February, 1759. He alleges, liiat the project failed tlirough the poverty and discord of the Scotch emigrants ; that Campbell's followers refused lo settle under him ; that himself alone was unable to improve the quantity he asked for ; and that the assembly even disinclined to contribute to their relief; and that,- from the inca- pacity of the company to comply with the conditions of the king's instructions, he thinks the executive without blame. The author's object being general, he declined entering into any partial controversy respecting the criminalty of individuals. Let it suffice, that the account given was consistent with inforiaa- lion procured from Mr. Alexander, whose intimacy with Mr Colden gives it force ; and tliat colonel Livingston, whose compassion excited him to make the motion, told the author, on the IGth December, 1777, that it was with design to raise the patent fees, the want of which obstructed the grant, and that he omit- ted to express it in his motion, as the disinclination of the house to gratify their avarice would have most certainly defeated his design, and that he lost it by a suspicion that the contribution was to be so applied, though asked as under the cover of enabling them to settle the lands at Wood Creek. The lieutenant- governor's speech had confirmed their jealousy ; there was this clause in it : — " The peopling of that part of the country to the northward of Saratoga will be of great advantage to the province, as well in strengthening the frontier as enlarging your trade. Several families arrived here last fall from North Britain, who are wilUng to settle there, and more expected from thence this year ; but as they are poor, they will want some help to enable them to subsist their families until, by their labour, they can raise provisions to subsist themselves, and I am persuaded that you will give them some needful subsistence." Captain Campbell himself also presented a petition to excite the charity of the assembly. Do these proofs accord with Mr. Colden's suggestion, that Campbell and liis colonists were so far at variance as to refuse to settle under him. Note C. — Page 68. There is a clause in the correspondence with the agent, which may give some information to the reader. The letter from the speaker, of the 11th November, 1751, was in these words: "I have examined into the affair of our treasurer's appointment, and find it to be thus : — Li the infancy of this colony, all public moneys were made payable to his majesty's receiver-general, but were so greatly mismanaged and misapplied in the years 1702 and 1705, during the government of lord Cornbury, afterwards earl of Clarendon, that the assembly attempted to put the money raised by them- into the hands of a person named by them in the :m act by which Uic moucy woji raised. Tho then goveroor woulii not taont tu that bill, until he liad acquainted her majenty, tJio lato quern Anne, with tlic matter. Her majesty was thereupon graciously pleaw-d to tlirtot tJic s&id go- vernor (as he himself acquainted the assembly, in bis speech of tlie 27tJi Scp- fcmbor, 1706,") to permit the general assembly to appoint tlielr own treajurcr, for extraordinary uses, and trhirh were no part of her majestii't Handing rnmut. And by her majesty's standmtj revenue, it scorns was then understood iJic quit- rents reserved on lands granted by the crown, forfeitures, seizures, &c., which Were then all apphod towards supporting the government in this colony ; for ever since tliat time, all moneys raised by tho assembly have been put into tho hands of tlieir own treasurer, and the quit-rents, S:c. been paid to his majetty'i receiver-general, and have since been taken from tlicir former application, and appropriated by tho crown to other uses. The first treasurer I find was appoint- ed by act in the year 1706: the second, who is now treasurer, waa appointed only by a vote of the house, and approved ot by Mr. Bumct, then governor of tliis colony ; and I do not find that the assembly's right to appoint auch an offi- cer, has been disputed by any governor of tliis colony, since the first allowance thereof by the late queen Anne.*' Note D.-^Page 78. The honour of penning this useful law, which in the main is a compound «t' two modern statutes, was claimed both by Mr. Uelancey and Mr. Horsmanden ; and as the text, by an incautious composition, gave ground for tlie iinovation of balloting jurors in criminal causis not capital, I have msi.sttd upon tJiat con- struction, and discovered all that anxiety in the former for resisting an«l refuting a doctrine not so favorable as the old law to the prerogative, as m my opinion would add credit to his pretensions. Hut Mr. Horsmanden's claims never ex- tended higher than to a copartnership in tho work. This nolo would be of no consequence, if trivial actions were not sometimes as characteristic as the greatest exploits. Subjoined is the report of tho case. Octobi-r t«rm, 175C. Samuel Stilwell ads. Dom. On information upon an act of assembly to pro- hibit the exportation of provisions to the French. A common venire had wwiod, and a panncl with forty- eight names waa returned. Insisted by Nicol and tfmith for the defendants, tbit the jury ought to be balloted by tho act of awcmbly, •ho first clause by implication binding the crown, and tho 8th having an imme- diate reference to Uie first. Kempc, attorney- general, contra, Uiat U.o practico has been otherwise. Cuna. The statute 4 and 5 WiUiam and Mary, of which the first section of our jury act is a copy, binds the king; (Halo's H. P. C. 'Jd vol. 273, note :) but tho 8tli section from George H, relates to miita hot ween par- tics m civil causes. Defendant-' council then object, that tho panncl ought Dicn to contain but twenty-four names. Curia. It is bad ; but one juror Ixiing fwor.i the objection ia too late. The cause was tried, and Uie verdict pro rcgr. Note E. — Page 88. The instructions referred to, show the eariy attenUon of llio crown to lhi« great object. Tho following are copied from tho book given to Mr. Mont- tromery : — . - » 83 Whereas it has been thought requisite that the general security of our plantations upon the continent of America be provided for, by a contnbn..or ,„ oSi NOTES. proportion to the respective abilities of each plantation ; and whereas tlie nor- thern frontiers of the province of New-York, being most exposed to an enemy, do require an extraordinary charjrc, for the erectinff and maintaining of forts I.-, JO' a s^ ^ necessary for the defence thereof; and whereas orders were given by king Wil- liam the tJiird, for the advancing of five hundred pounds sterling towards a fort in theOnondago country, and of two thousand pounds sterling towards there- building of the Ibrts at Albany and Schenectady; and likewise by letters, under his royal sign manual, directed to the governors of divers of the plantations, to recommend to the councils and general assemblies of the said plantations, that they respectively furnish a proportionable sum towards the fortifications on the northern frontiers of our said province of New-York, viz. : Rhode-Island and Providence Plantation, iilSO Connecticut, 450 Pennsylvania 350 Maryland, 650 Virginia, 900 Making together, £2,500 And whereas we have thought fit to direct, that you also signify to our province of Nova Cffisarea, or New- Jersey, that the sums which we have at present thought fit to be contributed by them, il not already done, in proportion to what has been directed to be supplied by our other plantations as aforesaid, are two Imndred and fifty pounds sterling for the division of East New-Jersey, and two hundred and fifty pounds sterling for the division of West New- Jersey; you are therefore to inform yourself what has been done therein, and what remains further to be done, and to send an account tliereof to us, and to our commis- sioners for trade and plantations, as aforesaid. " 84. And you are also, in our name, instantly to recommend to our council and the general assembly of our said province of New-York, that they exert the utmost of their power in providing, without delay, what further shall be requisite for repairing, erecting, and maintaining of such forts in all parts of the province, as you and they shall agree upon. " 85. And you are likewise to signify to our said council and the said general assembly, for their furtlier encouragement, that besides the contributions to be made towards the raising and maintainmg of forts and fortifications on that frontier, as above mentioned, it is our will and pleasure, that in case the said frontier be at any time invaded by an enemy, the neighbouring colonies and plantations upon that continent shall make good in men, or money in lieu thereof, their quota of assistance, according to the following repartitions, viz : Massachusetts bay, 350 men. New-Hampshire, 40 Rhode- island 48 Connecticut, 120 New-York, 200 East New- Jersey, 60 West Npw Jersey, 60 Pennsylvunia, 80 Maryland, 160 Virginia, 240 Making together, .1,358 NOTES. MiH Pursuant wLcreto, you arc, as occamon requires, to call for the name ; and m case of any invasion upon the noiglibouring plantations, you are, upon applica- tion of the respective governors thereof, to be aidii^ and aKsiiiting to tlicni in the best inannor you can, and as tlie condition and safety of your gOTcmnicnl will permit.' Note F.—Page 112. A note ought not to be suppressed respecting these records, to correct a voice of misplaced ridicule. Few there are whoHj-.eak of the blue-law." (.i title of the origin of which the author was ignorant) who do not imagine they fonn a code of rules for future conduct, drawn up by an enthusiastic, pn>cise eet of religion- ists ; and if the inventions of wits, humorists, anil butVooiis were to bo credited, they must consist of many large volumes. The author had the curiosity to resort to them, when the commissaries met at New-Haven for adjusting a par- tition line between New-York and Massachusetts, in 1767, and a parchment- covered book of dcra}' royal paper was handed him for the laws asked for, as the only volume in the office passing under this odd title. It contains tlio memo- rials of the first cstabh.shment of the colony, which consisted of persons who had wandered beyond iho hniits of the old chartir of the Mnssachusctls bay, and who, as yet unauthorized by the crown to set up any civil government in duo form of law, resolved to conduct themselves by tlie bible. As a necessary con- sequence, the judges they chose took up an authority similar to (hat wliirh every religious man exercises over his own childn-n and domestics. Hence their atten- tion to the morals of the people, in instances with which tlip civil niagwtrato can never intorraeddlc, under a regular well-policicd constitution— because, to preserve hberfy, they arc cognizable only by parental authority. The select man,under the blue-laws, found it his duty to punish every contravention to the decorum enjoined by the broad commandments of heaven. The good men and good wives of the new society were admonished and fined for lilwrtips daily corrected but never made crimmal by the laws of large and wdl-poiwd commu- nities ; and so far is the common idea of the blue-laws being a collection of rule* from being true, that they are only records of convictions, comionntit, in tli« iudgmcnt^of the majristrates, to the word of God and dictates of reason. The prophet, prie.4, and king of this infant colony, was that Davenport wlio was in such consideration as to bo sent for to the assembly of divines at Wertmmrtrr. in settling the religion of the English and Scotch nations. These remarks were, bv the author, communicated to Mr. Hutrhinson of Boston, then ono of Uie commissaries, and to other gentlemen of eminence in the colony and of ihcvery town of Ncw-Havrn, who heard Diem as novelties, nor would tlie fonner adopt Ihom till he had recourse, the next day, to the records Uiemselvcs. The author speaks only of those at New-Haven. Note G.— Page MS. The persons alluded to, were : Messrs. Peter Van Brugh Livingston, John Livingston, Philip L.Ti..«..on. William Livingston, William Nicoll. a«njanun N.coll, Hendri. k Hai- n, \%i!- ILam PeartreeS.n.lh, Caleb .Smith. Benjamin Wool-v. W,l.,v,. S h. ,un .lohn McEvers, John Van Home. 384 ?JOTES. These being then in the morning of hfe, there was no academic but Mr. De- lancey on the bench, or in either of the tiiree branches of the legislature ; and Mr. Smith was the only one at the bar. Commerce engrossed tlie attention of the principal famihes, and their sons were usually sent from the writing school to the counting-house, and thence to the West India islands — a practice intro- duced by the persecuted refugees from France, who brought money, arts, and maimers, and figured as the chief men in it — almost the only merchants in it from the commencement of this century, until the distinction between them and others was lost by death and the inter*comm union of their posterity, by mar- riage, with the children of the first Dutch stock and the new emigrants from Great Britain and Ireland- The French churcli of New -York contained, before tlieir divisions in 1724, nearly all the French merchants of the capital. Note U.—Page 143. TJie vote was this : — 9lk ApriU n-lei. •' Ordered, — That tlie speaker of this house for the time being, do hold and correspond with Robert Charles, esquire, agent for this colony in Great Britain, and that he do from time to time sign and transmit to the said agent, such instructions, directions, and representations, as shall be judged proper to be sent to him for his conduct." Mr. Jones's letter is in these words : — J^ew-York, 9ih April, 1748. " Sir, — In consequence of a recommendation of sir Peter Warren, you are appointed agent for this colony, witli a salary of two hundred pounds per annum, New-York currency, for transacting the pubUc affairs thereof in Great Britain. You are to pursue all such instructions as shall from time to time be sent you, signed by me as speaker of the general assembly ; in the execution of which uistructions, you are always to take the advice of sir Peter Warren, if in England. You are to take all opportunities of advising me, or the speaker or the general assembly of this colony for the time being, of all your proceedings on the several matters as shall from time to time be given you in charge, and ot all other matters which may occasionally happen, whereby this colony may be any ways affected. You are not only to take such opportunities as offer directly for New-York ; but to transmit accounts both by way of Boston and Philadel- phia, as occasion may require. You are to keep an account of the expense you may be necessarily put to, in your applications for the service of this colony, and transmit them to me, or the speaker of the general assembly for the time being, in order for payment. I send you the act wherein you are appointed for this colony, passed but this day, so that I cannot yet write to you so fully as I expect shortly to do. In the mean time, you are to observe the preceding directions, and those that follow, to wit : You are to endeavour to obtain the royal assent to the three following acts, to wit : "An act for limiting tlie continuance of ge- neral assemblies, passed in the seventeentli year of his majesty's reign," not yet approved of by his majesty ; "An act for appointing commissioners to take, examine, and _state the public accounts of the colony of New- York, from the year 1713 ; and "An act for the more effectual cancelling the bills of credit of this colony," the last two passed this day. If the reasons on which the said acts were severally founded, contained in their respective preambles, are not judged sulhuieiit to induce jui u{>probatioii,you urolo endeavour to pievenl Uicu beiug rcjccUd uiilil you can advise llii< general assembly of il, and liavo their iurtJxer directions. An act having lately, as wo arc inrornied, been paued in the neighbouring colony of New-Jersey, for Bottling tlio boundariea between that province and this, which we apprehend may, in its consequences, groatly affect the property of many of the inhabitants of tJiis colony, and very conside- rably diminish his majesty's revenue arising by quit-rcnLs, you are to endeavour to prevent its receiving tlie royal assent, until this colony can have an opportu- nity of making their objections, and of being heard against the said act." It is worth a romark, that Mr. Charles artcrwards informed the upeakf r, tiiat tiie septemiial act liad not been transmitted to the board of trade ; and that Mr. .lones, in his answer by his letter of the 2d of June, 1749, writes tluis : — " Since you cannot find that tJje act of tiiis colony, for limiting tJio continuance of Uie general assembly, has ever been transmitted, you need give yourself no furtJior concern about it, until you find it received at the ollice of trade and plantations." There wanted no motive at tliis time to censure thoconcealnieut of that popular law from the eye of tlie administration, if it could only be charged upon llio governor : but the boldness of the measure is equal to the art of the loaders oi the day when it passed. It remains a secret who advised to it, and perhapt; because both parties shared in the guilt. Note I. — Page lol. Governor Clinton's letter of October 7th, 1748, was made use of before the commissioners for plantation affairs, at the hearing on the opposition to tJie confirmation of the Jersey act. Mr. Charles procured a copy of it, and trans- mitted it to Mr. Jones in his letter of the 12tli June, 1753, and it gave such umbrage to the popular party of that day that it deserves a [.lace in these notes " My Lords, " I some time since received a ropy of an art, pa.ssed by tiio loginlature of New-Jersey, for rumiing the line of partition and division between that province and this, and was at the same time informed that the Jersey proprietors intended to apply for his majesty's royal approbation of the same. There have been many disorders committed on the borders of these provinces, orcamoned by the lines remaining unsettled. Of some of these disorders 1 had information given me by the late" governor of New- Jersey, by whom I was required to jom in the settlement of the line, pursuant to acts then and kUII in force in both provinces for that purpose ; which I should have readily done, but, upon iiuiniring into the matter, I found that tho sum of j:300, formerly raised in ihis province by an act of the 4th of George I. had been long ago drawn out of ihe Ueasury and paid to commissioners and surveyors employed in U.at rervire. and are since dead and no other money was ever appropriated in tl.u. provmrr, for that ser- vice 'that I ran learn. I also found, that all U.o lands along the lino, for many miles withmthis province, were granted away to private persons, upon inllm,' nuit-rents to the ownen, ..f the lands. I referred the matter, and recom.n.nded an amicable agreement between them and the Jersey propneton.. «ho had s meeting for that purpose, but nothing was agreed upon. A. .t do<^ not appear to me that the interest of the crown or of this province m grnoraJ. sre m any ways concerned m the matter, but onlv the Patentee, of .he land, .long 'h.. VOL, !T. 49 ;]86 NOTES. line, I sliaii decline giving your lordships any trouble ni the aiVair, leaving it to the particular persons concerned to take such steps as they shall think proper. Thus much I thought it necessary to say, in order to explain the reasons oi" my conduct in this affair, and am with great esteem, &c. "■Fort George, in the city of New-York, 1th Oct. 1748." Note K. — Page 237. In noticing the ill success of the address of the house against Mr. Clinton, Mr. Charles' account of it (November 15, 1754) is this: — " Observing that your honourable house have not received any notification in form of their address to the king in December last, transmitted by the lieutenant-governor, I think it consistent with my duty, and the attention I owe to whatever proceeds from the general assembly, to inform you that his majesty has been pleased, by his order in council of the 6th of August, to reject the said address, upon a repre- sentation of the lords commissioners for trade and plantations, who have undertaken to verify the charge against the colony, contained in the 39th article of instructions to the late sir Danvers Osborn, baronet. I am sorry to find that their lordships have been pleased to apply the words fabehj and maliciously, made use of in your said address, to their representation of the state and condi- tion of the colony, instead of applying them to the suggested matter and supposed facts upon which that representation is thought to be founded, and against which you have desired to be heard — for this I take to be the obvious meaning and intention of your house in the use of those words." It was about this time that Mr. Charles framed a case for doctor Hay's opinion respecting the instruction, preparatory to his designof complaining of the offensive instruction in a petition to the king ; but it cannot be ascertained that it was ever carried into execution. It is, however, here transcribed, to gratify the curiosity of the reader. " Case of jS'eic-York. — Be pleased to peruse the speech, instructions, and address, contained in the printed votes of the assembly of his majesty's colony of New- York, in America, the representation of the said assemblj', and the address to the king. " New- York is one of the most considerable of the British colonies on the continent of North America, under the immediate government of the crown. This colony belonged formerly to the Dutch, and, with a large tract of land, was called New-Netherland, which, in exchange for Surinam, was, by the treaty of Bredu, in 1667, surrendered by the Dutch to the English. "All the British colonies, or most of them, have in them thi"ee distinct estates, in humble imitation of the excellent constitution of their mother country, viz. a governor, the representative of the king ; a council, which is legislative ; and likewise a court of judicature, resembling imperfectly the house of lords, and a general assembl}-, or house of representatives, resembhng imperfectly the house of commons. The govenror is appointed by the king; has a power of calling, proroguing, or dissolving the general assemblj', and has a negative in all laws which, having passed the council and assembly, are presented to him. The council are appointed by the king, and, with the governor, form a council of state, are assistant judges to him, as chancellor, and in the court of appeal. As a legislative body, they sit distinctly, and without the governor, on all bills that either originate with themselves, or are sent up to them from the assembly. The general assembly, the free election of the peonle. choose their own speaker and oHicers ; arc judges oi' their own elections ; prcparo aiid pa:u biils m utdur to bo sent up to tlio council ; and cluim a riglit that all money biliii aliould originato with tliumselves. " The manner of providing for tiie support of government m iJiis colony, which has obtained for sixteen years past, ha:* been tlms : In September, yearly , (il the liouso is permitted to sit,) tlio assembly ]>rcparo and pass a bill, wliorcby ))rovision is made for the usual yearly salaries to tJio governor, to the judgea, and otlicr ofTiccrs and n:inist';rs of the government, for the cnsuinir year. A' this season also, all claims and demands upon the colony bcin;^ received, are ex- amined, and reported upon by the committee, who prepare their bill, rrovimon i* likewise made for the discharge of those demands; these luiuidatcd and settled; and the treasurer of the colony is by the said bill directed and empowered to pay the said salaries and debts to the respective persons named in the said bill, wliich having passed the assembly, is sent up to tlic council, and il" jiasscd by tlieni, is pent up to tlie governor, and if passed by him, becomes a law of the colony, iub- ject only to the disallowance or repeal of the king. " The credit of the colony stands unimpeached, and, in point of merit with the mother country, comes short of none of her colonies, particularly in Uio late war; and for seconding the views of th.e crown in the reduction of Capo Breton and Canada, they raised about fifty thousand pounds sterling, witlioul desiruig, as other colonics have done, any rcinibiirsenicnt from the parhamcnt of Great Britain. " Governor Clinton, tlic immediate predecessor of sir Danvers Oabom, took )i';s salary annually, during the whole course of his administration, in the method before mentioned. It is true, that aOfT having thus accepted of it about lour years, he endeavoured to have it settled upon him for a tcnn of yearn, as had actually been done upon several of his predecessors,; but tlie assembly persisted in the refusal of it; whereupon, and upon sundry other disputes which have arisen between Mr. Clinton and several uwtcmblie.s of the colony, a rcpn'scnU- tionto his majesty in coimcil was drawn up by tlie lords commiwioncm of lrad<' and plantations, ' whereof the agent of the colony could never obtain a copy. having received for answer to his application, that it was a matter of sUto ;' •<» that the colony has nciilier been made aciiuaintcd witli the jMiriicular fact* alleged against their general asscmbhes, nor have they been heard m thwrown defence. ) " Sir Danvers Osborn succeeding to governor Clinton, carried out with l»m ' Ihe said 31)tli article of instruction, but dying soon after his arrival in the colony. ' that administration devolved upon JamcM Uclancoy, e»iOTES. instructions to a governor, which, though a rule to him for his conduct, is not understood to be to the people the measure of their obedience ? "3d. Whether positive law only, be not to the people the only rule of that obedience ? "4th. Whether a command to grant money, and that too in the particular manner prescribed by this instruction, and not otherwise, is constitutional and legal on the principles of British liberty and government ? '*5th. Whether this instruction doth not destroy the freedom of debate essen- tial to the constitution of an assembly, in whom the crown admitted the power of preparing and passing bills for granting money? "6th. Whether the said instruction doth not destroy the like freedom of debate in the legislative council of the colony, subjecting them likewise, for the exertion of that freedom, to punishment by dismission ? " 7th. Whether the power given to the governor over the counsellors by this instruction, doth not destroy a balance in the state necessary to be maintained between the governor and the people ? "8th. Whether the order to remove or suspend any counsellor, or any mem- ber of assembly, holding a place of trust and profit, or any officer of the government, because of voting contrary to the direction of this instruction, is compatible with British liberty and a British constitution? " 9tli. W^hether the power of punishing for lessening or impairing the pre- rogative, is not a very unlimited power and may be subject to very great abuse? " And, in general, what are your sentiments touching the legality of this instniction?" The answer was : " In general, I am of opinion that the address of the agent, intended to be presented to his majesty, is legal, and highly expedient ; and that the 39th instruction is a most ill-advised and intemperate measure, and subject to the several objections mentioned in the queries. (Signed) " GEORGE HAY, " Doctors' Cammons." Mr. Charles, on the 19th December, appeared before the lords of trade, at their call upon the agents to show their authority, and he in particular was asked, whether he considered himself as obliged to correspond with the gover- nor of the colony, or to receive directions from him? His answer was, that " he had, in matters of pubUc moment, several times addressed himself to the wovemor, and was always ready to receive and consider his commands." He then moved to know what was done on the assembly's representation of the last year. Was answered, " that it lay before them, and would be considered upon the appointment of a governor: that the aim of their board was to bring the province back to its ancient method of raising and issuing money ; and they had lately explained themselves fully in their letters to the lieutenant-governor, and that it remained with the assembly to do their part." " I then (continues Mr. Charles) took my leave of their lordships, after saying, that it could not but very sensibly affect New-York to find a measure of this nature confined to them singly, while all the king's governments on the same continent were permitted to provide for themselves by annual support." — Letln lo (he speal-n. December 20th, 1754. ^oTE \..—Va»c 371. The documents and proors respecting Mr. Coldon's offer of ihc agency to Mr Pownal, referred to in page 371, are the following : CHARLES TO THE COMMITTEK. Oolden Sqiuirr, London, \9th AotmiAfr, 1761. It may not be improper in me to acquaint the ffcneral awcinbly tliat Mr. Pownal having desired an interview witli me to cornmunirato «orac Icttem that had passed betvveen him and Mr. Coldon, did inform me on the I2th instant, that the lieutenant-governor had some time before signified to him, that the agency of the colony would become vacant, and had made an offer of it to him, which he said ho had refused as incompatible with his present Klation,but that he had thereupon recommended a Mr. Rurko for the employment. He then went on to tell me how much he was surprised to find by a late letter from Mr. Colden, that this was to be effected to my prejudice, which he said he never meant, and was far from wishing ; for that he had no otlierwise recommended Mr. Burke than upon the suggestions of Mr. Colden, that there would b«' a vacancy, and then read to me the lieutenant-governor's letter under diffirullie* if Uir agency be taken from him. On the 17th July I received the honour of his majesty's cominiimion, appoint ing mc lieutenant-governor. I Uiink myself extremely obliged to your broUicr and to you on this occasion, as I make no doubt but his and your good olTicc with my lord Halifax have contributed much to it. General Monckton's commission lo be govcrnor-in-chicf of this province i« expected with governor Hardy, who I am told was lo set out m the beginning of July last. It 18 probable, therefore, that the duration of my adminutraUon wUl be very short. This, however, does not le«.i.-n the obligalion I am under I'. my friends. My appointment docs me great honour as a msrk at lc«-» of hi. maiestv's at.mol.nt.on. snd of mv lord H:.lifai'.« favour In whatever s.lu. 39U iVOTES. tion I may be, it will give me the highest pleasure to serve you iii any shape, and I beg of you to lay your commands upon me, which I shall esteem as an honour to your most obedient servant, CADWALLADER COLDEN. POWNAL TO COLDEN. London, February 9lh, 1761. yir, When I took the liberty to request your interest in favour of Mr. Burke to be agent for New- York, I asked it only in case of a vacancy, which you in your letter to me supposed would liappen ; but it was very far from my intention to request any favour for him to the prejudice of Mr. Charles, the present agent, whom I really believe to be much belter qualified to serve the province in that character than any other man, and therefore for his sake as well as for the pubhc, I shall be extremely sorry if any misapprehension of my request to you should be of disservice to him. I am sir, &c. JOHN POWNAL. THE COMMITTEE TO CHARLES— Extract. Mr. Colden has never recommended to the house or to any of its members that we know of, either Mr. Pownal or Mr. Burke. He has indeed proposed to a few members the appointment of another agent, and desired that the house would join him in appointing a new one. This when mentioned, was laughed at, and treated with th^ contempt it merited. The general assembly will not suffer any governor to nominate or recommend an agent for them, and it was great presumption in Mr. Colden to mention any thing on that head. We are very certain that Mr. Colden, when he offered the agency to Mr. Pownal, must have known that it was not in his power to get any person appointed by his influence or recommendation. The motives that moved him, therefore, to make that offer, could only be to get Mr. Pownal's interest with lord Hahfax to pro- cure a lieutenant-governor's commission. This is evident from his letter of the 12th of August, of v/hich you sent us a copy. It thereby appears that he had received the commission, and that he was contriving excuses immediately to get quit of his promise. Mr. Colden has probably taken great merit to himself with his majesty's ministers in regard to the forwardness and zeal shown by the general assembly for his majesty's service in raising forces, &c. If he has, it is unjust ; for v/e can with truth affirm, that it was not on account of any interest or influence he had with the assembly, or the people of this colony, that they have come into the measures proposed by his majesty's ministers, but their zeal for the public service only. END OF VOL. II- LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 014 114 064 4 %