USA > New York > The history of the late province of New-York, from its discovery, to the appointment of Governor Colden, in 1762. Vol. II > Part 11
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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.
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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, a fter deliveringa long, heated vindicatory speech, he prorogued the assembly.
Mr. Clinton began to discern, that the heated councils of Mr. Colden 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 charging the proprietors with
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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
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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 house, 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 for 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
* Sce Note I.
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to prevent a popular triumph, but that the governor might not, by the arrival of any instructions, be ex- posed to retract with 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
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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 Delancey'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 commissioners appointed for ascertaining the line of partition, I am to acquaint you, that inasmuch as the crown is concerned as well as many hundreds of his majesty's subjects of this colony, we choose to
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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-
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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 appointed 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 of 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 1756; 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 house, to be illegal. 1
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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
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in force respecting the' 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, ab 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
F
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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 works in America, and felt all the distress which the 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.
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Mr. Clinton improved the interim before the next call of the assembly, in animating several other go- vernments to watch against the French artifices in corrupting the fidelity 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 for 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 upon this colony." But at their interview in October, there were early indications that the 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. Micheaux.
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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
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from misconduct or inattention, and that they made no provision for repairs at Oswego for want of estimates ; complaining of the council as the 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
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intimation, and to the astonishment of all present, dissolved the assembly, who, finding themselves laughed at without doors, repented their passing the support bill for the year so early in the session, which gratified the officers 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 the Cosbyan quarrels, in Mr. Clarke's time, Mr. Smith had totally resigned himself to that wide field of business which his eloquence had opened to him, wihout 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."
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" As sundry acts which 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 either 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. I shall, by the deputy secretary, lay before you the informa- tion I have had concerning them.
" Gentlemen of the Assembly,
"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. The advanced season of the year, the difficulties of attending the public service at this place, and the dangers which VOL. II .- 22.
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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 welfare of this colony."
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