USA > New York > New York City > History of New York city from the discovery to the present day, V.1 > Part 14
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* This building is also known to historians as the " Kennedy House."
CHAPTER IV.
THE administration of Lieutenant-Governor Clarke was ended in the autumn of 1743, by the arrival of Admiral George Clinton, uncle of the Earl of Lincoln, and a younger son of the late Earl, who had been 1743. appointed to the government of New York through the interest of his friends, to afford him an opportunity of mending his fortunes. Mr. Clarke, who, in the commence- ment of his administration, had succeeded in conciliating the leaders of both political parties, had contrived before the close of his career to lose the confidence of both, so that his retirement from the Government was regarded with universal satisfaction .* Especially had he incurred
* George ('larke, Esq., who, in various official stations, was for almost half a century connected with the colonial government of New York, was an Eng- lisliman by birth " His unele, Mr. Blaithwait, procured the secretaryship of the colony for him early in the reign of Queen Anne. He had genius, but no other than a common, writing-school education ; nor did he add to his stock by reading, for he was more intent upon improving his fortune than his mind. He was sensible, artful, active, cautious ; had a perfect command of his temper, and was in his address specious and civil. Nor was any man better acquainted with the colony and its affairs." He successively held the offices of Secretary. Clerk of the Council, Councilor, and Lieutenant-Governor ; and from his official position he had every opportunity of enriching himself by obtaining grants and patents of land, which, from his knowledge of the colony, he was enabled to choose in the most advantageous locations. He was a courtier, and was careful never to differ with the governors of the colony; although during Cosby's stormy career he usually kept himself quiet at his country villa upon the edge of Hempstead plains. " I'is lady was a Hyde, a woman of fine accomplishments,
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the resentment of the Chief-Justice, De Lancey; who, strangely enough, though usually a stanch supporter of the prerogatives of the Crown, had now become, to some extent, a favorite of the General Assembly. The new Governor had spent most of his life in the navy; and, according to the earliest English historian of New York, " preferring ease and good cheer to the restless activity of ambition, there wanted nothing to engage the interest of his powerful patrons in his favor more than to humor a simple-hearted man, who had no ill-nature, nor sought anything more than a genteel frugality and common civil- 'ity while he was mending those fortunes, until his friends at court could recall him to some indolent and more lucrative station."
Mr. Clinton arrived in New York on the 22d of Sep- tember, and was received with demonstrations of univer- sal satisfaction by the people Finding that the General Assembly stood adjourned to meet in a few days, and ascertaining that the people would be pleased with an opportunity of holding a new election, the Assembly was dissolved on the 27th, and writs for the return of another Assembly issued the same day. The elections were conducted without political acrimony, and all the old members, with but seven exceptions, were returned.
and a distant relation of that branch of the Clarendon family. She died in New York. Mr. Clarke returned to England in 1745, with acquisitions esti- mated at one hundred thousand pounds. He purchased an estate in Cheshire, where he died about the year 1761. George Clarke, his grandson and the heir to his estates, after a residence in America of about thirty-five years, died at Otsego about the year 1835. His eldest son, George Hyde Clarke, with his young wife, was lost in the ship Albion, wrecked on the coast of Ireland in the summer of 1820, on his passage from New York to England. His second son . then returned to England and entered into possession of the fortune of Lis father's estates situated in that country. By the vast increase in price of his American lands, Mr. Clarke's estates in this country became of princely valle before his death. They are inherited by his youngest son, George Clarke, Esq .. who at present resides in the noble mansion erected by his father a few years before his decease, upon the margin of Otsego Lake."
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The session opened on the 8th of November. Meantime, the Governor had fallen into the hands of De Lancey, who doubtless had the molding of his excellency's speech. Its tone was conciliatory, although the sore subject of a permanent revenue was opened afresh. But this was done in gentle terms, the Governor asking for a grant " in as ample a manner, and for a time as long, as had been given under any of his predecessors." The Assem- bly was informed that, owing to the critical state of affairs in Europe, and the doubtful attitude in which Great Brit- ain and France stood toward each other, a large supply of military stores for the defense of the colony had been received from the parent government; and the Governor hoped the Assembly would show their thankfulness by making an adequate provision for the purchase of others. The usual recommendations in regard to the Indian inter- course of the colony were renewed, and an appropriation was asked for rebuilding the barracks and public offices, together with the house of the Governor, which had been destroyed by fire. The latter recommendation was in- sisted on as being necessary for the comfort of the Governor's family.
" An humble address" was voted by the council in reply, drawn up by De Lancey. The appointment of the new Governor was received "as an additional evidence of his majesty's affection for his people, and his zeal for the liberty of mankind, lately most evidently demonstrated in his exposing his sacred person to the greatest dangers in defense of the liberty of Europe." In all other respects the answer was an echo of the speech. The address of the House was more than an echo; it was couched in language of excessive flattery to the new Governor, and of fawning adulation toward the sovereign, who was desig- nated " the darling of his own people, and the glorious preserver of the liberties of Europe." There was, how-
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ever, a disposition on all sides to be pleased. The Assem- bły responded to the demanded appropriations, voting the Governor fifteen hundred pounds for his salary, one hun- dred pounds for house-rent, four hundred pounds for fuel and candles, one hundred and fifty pounds to enable him to visit the Indians, and eight hundred pounds for the pur- chase of presents to be distributed amongst them. Other appropriations were made upon a scale of corresponding liberality; and the Governor was so well pleased with the good temper of the Assembly, that he signed every bill , presented for his approbation without a murmur of disap- probation, not even excepting the supply-bill, which, not- withstanding his demand to the contrary, in the opening a speech, was limited to the year.
But, notwithstanding these reciprocal manifestations of good feeling, and notwithstanding, also, the amiable traits of the Governor's natural disposition, it will be seen, in the progress of events, that the bluff characteristics of the sailor were not always to be concealed; and his administration, in process of time, became as tempestuous as the element upon which he was certainly more at home than upon the land.
Advices of the intended invasion of his majesty's dominions, in behalf of a "Popish Pretender," were com- municated to the General Assembly of New York 1744. by Governor Clinton, in April, 1744. In connec- tion with this anticipated act of hostility, which would of course extend to the contiguous colonies of the two coun- tries, efficient measures were urged for placing the country in a posture of defense. The temper of the colony, in regard to this movement of France, may be inferred from the immediate action of the Assembly. In the council, Chief-Justice De Lancey, in moving an address of thanks for the speech, offered also a resolution expressive of the abhorrence of that body of the designs of France in favor
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of the Pretender, and declaring that the civil and religious rights of his majesty's subjects depended on the Protest- ant succession. The House was invited to join in the address, which request, though a very unusual procedure, was readily acquiesced in, and the address was prepared by a joint committee of the two houses. From all this it was evident that a war was very near at hand, and that the frontiers of the colony might again, very soon, be sub- jected to the ravages of a foe than whose tender mercies nothing could be more cruel.
In 1746, the small-pox drove the Assembly from the city to Greenwich; but soon appearing there also, pro- duced a panic that for several days entirely arrested the course of 'business. The Assembly - 1746. prayed for a recess from the 9th of March to the 12th of April, and also for leave to adjourn their sittings to some other place. Jamaica and Brooklyn were suggested; but in the opinion of the Governor the demands of the public service forbade so long an interregnum, and he therefore directed their adjournment for a week, to meet in the borough of Westchester. They convened there accord- ingly ; but the inconvenience of the locality was such that the members begged permission to adjourn even back to the infected city again, rather than remain where they were. In the end the Governor directed them to trans- fer their sittings to Brooklyn, at which place the transac- tion of business was resumed on the 20th of March, when an address to the Governor was ordered to be prepared in answer to that of the council, respecting the rejection of the before-mentioned revenue bill.
Before the introduction of the bill, the Assembly had inquired of the Governor whether he had any objection to an emission of paper money to meet the exigencies of the country ; to which question the proper answer was given by Mr. Clinton, that " when the bill came to him
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he would declare his opinion." The bill was therefore introduced and passed by the Assembly ; but the coun- cil, disapproving of certain of its provisions, requested a conference. The Assembly, however, declared that, inas- much as it was a money bill, they would consent to no such course upon the subject. The council thereupon summarily rejected the bill, and sent up an address to the Governor, written by the Chief-Justice, De Lancey, set- ting forth the reasons by which its course had been governed. One of the objections to the bill, according to . this representation, was found in the fact, "that the money proposed to be raised by the bill was not granted to his majesty, or to be issued by warrants in council, as it ought to have been, and as has usually been done." This objection involved the whole question of the royal prerogative-nothing more. On the subject of the right claimed by the Assembly of exclusive power over the details of money bills, the address asserted "the equal rights of the council to exercise their judgments upon these bills." Various other objections of detail were sug- gested ; but the two points specified above were the only grounds of principle upon which the council relied in justification of its course. Yet the unreasonableness of the assumption of the House, that the council should not be allowed even to point out and rectify the defects of any thing which they chose to call a money bill, was argued at considerable length.
There was yet another cause of irritation on the part of the House. So early as the year 1709, the General Assembly had found it necessary, in providing ways and means for the public service -- especially in the prosecu- tion of the several wars in which the colony had been involved by the Parent Government-to issue a paper currency, called bills of credit. The operation had been repeated, from time to time, in emergent cases -- some-
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times with the approbation of the Crown, and sometimes not -- until these paper issues had become a part of the policy of the colony. Others of the colonies, laboring under the same necessities, had resorted to the same measures of finance; but to which the Crown, jealous of its prerogative in all matters of currency, had uniformly been opposed. For many years, therefore, antecedent to this period, the royal governors had arrived in the colony clothed with instructions against allowing further emis- sions of bills of credit-instructions, however, which the stern law of necessity had seldom allowed them to enforce. Still, the Crown, keenly alive to every step of inde- pendent action on the part of the colonies, was persisting in its war against a colonial currency even of paper ; and a bill was now before Parliament, upon the subject, which gave great alarm to the people. Professedly, its design was merely for preventing these bills of credit from being made a legal tender; but it was discovered that the bill was to have a far more extensive operation-" obliging and enjoining the legislatures of every colony to pay strict obedience to all such orders and instructions as might from time to time be transmitted to them, or any of them, by his majesty or his successors, or by or under his or their authority." Such an act, it was justly held, " would establish an absolute power in the Crown, in all the British plantations, that would be inconsistent with the liberties and privileges inherent in an English man, while he is in a British dominion.
Incensed at this stubbornness on the part of his little Parliament, the sailor-Governor determined, in the Assem- bly, which met on the 12th of October, 1748, to re-assert the prerogative in the strongest terms by 1748. bringing the subject of a permanent supply to a direct issue ; choosing, as Mr. Bancroft has remarked, NEW YORK " as the opening scene in the final contest that led
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to independence." Accordingly, on the 14th he sent down his message to the House, in which he demanded a per- inanent support for five years. The message stated that on coming to the administration of the Government, he had been disposed to do all he could, consistently with his duty to the king, for the care and satisfaction of the people. Hence, reposing confidence in the advice then given him, he had given his assent to various acts of the Assembly, the tendency of which, as experience had taught him, was to weaken the authority of his majesty's Government. Still, as the country was very soon after-
· ward involved in war, he had forborne to take that atti- tude in the premises which duty to his. sovereign seemed to require But with the return of peace, he deemed it to be his indispensable duty to put a stop to such innova- tions. Prominent among these was the practice which had been growing up of making only an annual provision for the payment of the officers of the Government. He also alluded to the modern practice of naming the officers for whose benefit the appropriations were made in the act, thus interfering with the prerogative in the appoint- ing honor. He admonished the Assembly that he should give his assent to no acts of that character for the future ; and demanded an appropriation for the payment of the Governor's secretaries, judges, and other salaried officers, for the term of five years, according to the practice that had prevailed during the administration of his four imme- diate predecessors-namely, Governors Hunter, Burnet, Montgomery, and Cosby. The inconvenience of these annual grants of salaries and allowances was adverted to, and objections further urged against the recent method of intermixing matters of an entirely different nature with the provisions of the salary-bills, and tacking new grants for other purposes to the Governor's own support.
The Assembly, in its reply, justly regarding the re-
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quest for a permanent supply as a direct attempt to render the Crown independent of the people, with great indignation refused to grant it. As to the more recent practice of naming the officers provided for in the salary- bills, it not only justified it, but intimated that if this course had been adopted at an earlier day, his excellency would not have been able to remove the third Justice of the Supreme Court "without any color of misconduct" on his part-who was "a gentleman of learning and experience in the law."* The result can readily be seen. After, continual bickerings for several weeks, Mr. Clinton, in great wrath, prorogued the Assembly.
Thus the parties separated, and thus again commenced that great struggle between the Republican and the Mon- archical principle which, in the onward progress of the former, was destined at a day not even then far distant to work such mighty results in the Western Hemisphere.
Although, from a very early date in the history of this protracted controversy, it became inexcusably per- sonal, yet it is not difficult to perceive that it was in reality one of principle. On the one hand, the infant Hercules, though still in his cradle, was becoming impa- tient of restraint. The yoke of colonial servitude chafed the necks, if not of the people, at least of their representa- tives. The royal Governor was not slow to perceive what kind of leaven was fermenting the body politic; and hence he became perhaps overjealous in asserting and defending the prerogatives of his master. Doubtless, in the progress of the quarrel, there were faults on both sides. Of an irascible and overbearing temperament, and accustomed in his profession to command rather than to persuade, he was ill-qualified to exercise a limited or
* Alluding to the removal, the year before, of Justice Horsmanden. This act was again imputed to the influence of " a person of a mean and despicable character "-meaning, as it was well understood, Dr. Colden.
51
£
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concurrent power with a popular Assembly equally jealous of its own privileges and of the liberties of the people- watching with sleepless vigilance for every opportunity to circumscribe the influence of the Crown, and ready at every moment to resist the encroachments of arbitrary : power. Still, however patriotic the motives, under the promptings of De Lancey, their opposition to Mr. Clinton became factious; and it is not difficult even for a republican to believe that he was treated, not only with harshness, but with great injustice, especially in regard to his measures, and his personal exertions for the public defense 'and the prosecution of the Indian war.
At length, worn out in health and spirits by his struggle against a powerful opposition, Clinton, in 1753, 1753. sent in his resignation to the Home Government, and Sir Danvers Osborne was appointed in his stead.
The character of Mr. Clinton has not, I think, been fairly drawn. Those upon whose opinions his character rests were persons living at the same day, and who, influ- enced by party strife, were not in a position to judge impartially. He was an uncouth and unlettered admiral, who had been, through the Newcastle interest, appointed to the chair of Governor. He was evidently unsuited to his position; and his former profession, in which he had always been accustomed to command, ill fitted him to brave the rebuff's and the opposition of party faction. His manner, too, was not such as to win friends. Having to depend entirely upon the advice of those around him, he was often the dupe of those better versed in the arts of diplo- macy than himself. But I look in vain for that love of ease, to the neglect of his official duties, of which he is accused by his enemies. On the contrary, although he relied too much on the advice of others for his own good, yet it was caused more by a consciousness of a lack of education than by a desire to shirk action. In the care
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of the Indians he was indefatigable, as appears by his large correspondence with Colonel (afterward Sir William) Johnson and the officers of the different frontier posts. He labored incessantly with his Assembly to make them realize the condition of the colony; and had they met his views half-way, or even manifested a tithe of his energy, the Province of New York would not have presented such an inviting field for the encroachments of the French. He is accused of amassing by unfair means a large fortune while Governor, yet he freely advanced out of his private purse large sums for the exigencies of the Indian affairs, and many times saved the Six Nations from defection, and the province from the horrors of a predatory warfare, when it was impossible to rouse the Assembly to a sense of danger. Indeed, I think it may safely be said that, had it not been for the untiring efforts of Mr. Clinton and Colonel Johnson, the Six Nations would have been com- pletely won over by the French, and the fire-brand and tomahawk carried down to the very gates of New York.
Meanwhile, several public edifices had been erected, and various improvements had taken place in the city. In 1747, the Presbyterian church in Wall Street, which had been erected by Hunter, was rebuilt. "In the course of the next two years, Beekman and the contiguous streets were regulated. Ferry Street was ceded to the city; Beek- man, Dey, and Thames Streets were paved; Pearl Street was dug down near Peck Slip, and graded from Franklin Square to Chatham Street; and John Street was paved and regulated .* In 1751, a Moravian Chapel was built
* Another important event occurred about this time, which should not be omitted by one who attempts to give a history of the city-inasmuch as it gives us the origin of the yearly appropriation made by the Common Council for the City Manual-viz., that in 1747 the Common Council appropriated four pounds for the publication of fifty copies of An Essay on the Duties of Vestrymen !
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in Fulton Street ; the following year, the first Merchant Exchange was erected at the foot of Broad Street; and St. George's Chapel was built by Trinity Church on the corner of Cliff and Beekman, and was consecrated on the Ist of July by the Rev. Mr. Barclay, a former missionary among the Mohawks, but now the rector of Trinity Church." This building remained in good preservation, well known as one of the few original landmarks, until 1868, when it shared the fate of other structures of a similar character. and was torn down to make room for another altar to the god Mammon ! This was, next to the Post-office, the · oldest church-edifice in the city, and its quaint old chan- deliers, and aisles flagged with gray stone, continued for many years relics of the days of yore. Washington, it is said, was a frequent attendant of this church during his residence in this city in the early part of the Revolution- ary War. In speaking of the history of this edifice, a writer in the New York World, of March 17th, 1868, recalls the following interesting facts :
"One hundred and twenty years ago, New York city had not attained its majority, and Broadway was but a cow-path above Canal Street. The Righ: Honorable George Clinton, ' Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief in and over the Province of New York and the Territories thereon, Depending in America. Vice-Admiral of the Same, and Vice-Admiral of the Red Squadron of His Mai- esty's Fleet,' as that most doughty and right honorable personage was wont : sign himself in proclamations to the fat burghers of New York, sat in the chai: now filled by Reuben E. Fenton. In that day, New York city was a nest for privateers, which sailed hence to destroy French and Spanish commerce. According as their destination might be, these vessels, with a fair quantity of rum, molasses, and sea-provisions, would be piloted to the Hook, and there take on board an India, Mediterranean, or other pilot, to carry them to thei: destination. Small negro boys and Jamaica men in parcels were sold at ane- tion where now the Custom-house rears its lofty pillars. Maria Theresa, Empress of Austria and Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, wielded the scepter of the Cæsars; George the Second, Fidei Defensor, twiddled his thumbs in Windsor Park and played bowls with his Hanoverian mistresses; and wheat was six shillings a bushel ; flour, eighteen shillings a hundred ; beef, forty shil lings a barrel ; West-India rum, three and eight pence a gallon ; salt, three shillings a bushel ; and single-refined sugar, one and 'tuppence' a pound in New York city. Manus Carroll had been hung at the old powder-house, which: still stands on an eminence at the upper end of the Central Park, for a crue.
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and most ' un-Christian'-like murder which he had committed two years before in Albany, then a thriving town. Counterfeiters were at that time amenable to the death-penalty ; and the Barnum of that day exhibited wax-figures in Dock Street, and the editor of the New York Weekly Post Boy was in the habit of receiving presents of baskets of Bermuda potatoes from the masters of vessels bound into the goodly port of New York. One day the editor received a potato weighing seven pounds from the master of the Good Delight, from Plumb Island, in the far-off . Bermoothes,' and, out of sheer joy at the prodigy, he went and made himself drunk on 'arrack-punch,' the most aristocratic tipple of our forefathers' days. The city and county of New York had at that early day a population of twelve thousand, two thousand of which number were negroes.
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