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 15
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in readiness." He wrote a confidential letter of the same date, the contents of which can only be 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, you 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 declining a vindication of his conduct, 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. I hope the next governor that comes (in case no VOL. II .- 28
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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 16th 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 that the speaker laid several letters before the house without mentioning their dates.
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the Jersey affair of the line, and also from the commissioners appointed for that purpose, touching Massachusetts bay, &c. I have nothing 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 Rhode- 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 Penn, 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
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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 3
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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, manendo, et 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 affecting the general interest, and make peace or war with the Indians, laws regulating the Indian trade, all purchases from them for the crown, of lands not now within any colony,
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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, officiate in his stead, until the king's pleasure be known : that all military commission officers for the land or sea service, under
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this general constitution, be nominated by the 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, who 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 a
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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
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republican principles ; another sort increasing the discord, by their scoffs 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 conference was held 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 handle for fresh encroachments from Massachusetts bay,
* The plan was drafted in a committee consisting of one commissioner from each colony. Mr. Smith represented New-York. The main object was to reduce the colonies to one head and one pulse. The eastern colonies were most ardent for the union, except Connecticut, who was too jealous of the power of the president. Each colony took a copy, under a promise to exert their influence upon their constituents, for its establishment by an act of parliament. The report gave rise to many debates, and especially respecting the funds for supporting this new government. A duty on spirits, and a general stamp 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 of fortune might aspire to that station. To repress Mr. Smith's earnestness for the scheme, the lieutenant-governor hinted to him, that Massachusetts acted with an aim to procure the president's chair for their governor, and predicted, as he well might, that it would not be much encouraged by New-York.
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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
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predominant party. The 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 any 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 afford 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 adding 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
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that very morning, voted a gift of five thousand 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 office ; 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 diffusion 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 with 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 public 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. Kennedy, 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.
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bay and New-Hampshire; and another respecting their quarrel with Mr. Kennedy, the collector, con- cerning the seizure of the 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 vote 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 + 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 the quit-rents, and had given some offence by the importunity of his memorial to the lieutenant-governor for his recommending a law to enforce the payment of the quit-rents.
t He arrived in the Mermaid frigate, at New-York, September 12th, 1754.
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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
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only for the continuance, but the 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. I 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. I 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 affairs determines the ministry to let the assembly proceed to provide as usual for the support of the colony."*
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