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 13
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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 1756, 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
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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 his 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, 10th 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, 11th October-Sir Danvers appeared very uneasy in council.
" Friday, 12th 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 himself.' Went, and found it awfully
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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 III. He appeared a very conscientious man to all the council in that particular. A point of honour and duty, in a foreseen difficulty to reconcile his conduct with his majesty's instructions, very probably gave his heart a fatal stab, and produced
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that terrible disorder in his mind which occasioned his laying violent hands on himself.
" He 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 that 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 Danvers, that he would have an opportunity here, by going to church, to act according to his own mind, and that he (the secretary) with the gentleman should wait on him. To which (says Mr. Pownal) he gave me this shocking answer, 'you may, but I shall go to my grave.'
"A committee of Mr. Alexander, Mr. Chambers, and the mayor, are appointed to take depositions concerning the facts and circumstances attending his death. The jury have found sir Danvers (as is said) non 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 the death of Mr. Vesey, in 1746, called to be rector of Trinity church in the metro polis. His arrears of twenty pounds were provided for in the support bill of that year, and there has been no provincial allowance since that time towards the propagation of christianity among the Indians.
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on themselves. Agreed in council, that the meaning ought to be regarded more than the words. I said, qui hæret in litere, hæret 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, 14th 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 works.' "
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 congregation in communion with the church of Scotland.
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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 Colden, 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-
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wards governor of Greenwich hospital. It was a shrewd observation made by colonel Choat 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 officers,
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and the direction of the militia and other troops ; that some of the 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 a proper law for a permanent revenue, solid, indefinite, 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 .- 25
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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. Colden, 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
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legislature could only have extended to Mr. Colden, 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 the ministry.
THE
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 Danvers Osborn dispelled the impending storm ; and doctor Colden, 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-
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rate with them, not only to remonstrate against them, but to impeach Mr. Clinton, and blunt the edge of his 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. Colden 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, as it serves the latter in elections, and the former by gratifying the members at whose instance the militia officers are ordinarily appointed.
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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
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the crown; that the present mode of raising and issuing public money had been practised for sixteen years, and they hoped for his 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 before the council's negative, Mr. Jones writes to the agent; " You will doubtless, before this reaches you, hear of the sudden and surprising death of sir Danvers Osborn, and of the government's being thereby devolved on Mr. Delancey, 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 Danvers 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 them; and, there- fore, I apprehend that no law will be passed for the application of public money this session, nor governor or council recede without permission."
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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 their next meeting bring with them such dispositions as would effectu- 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
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their abhorrence of those groundless imputations of disloyalty, most falsely and maliciously "reported to him." " Surely 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 cen- 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- VOL. II .- 26
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