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 7
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land lost nothing by this injury, for it procured him the mayoralty of the metropolis, and a place in the council.
The bills providing salaries for the year, in which they continued the gift of twenty pounds made for several years past to Mr. Barclay, the missionary to the Mohawks, being passed with several other acts, the session terminated on the 29th of November.
Importuned by colonel Philip Schuyler of Albany, whose brother was massacred in the late descent upon Saratoga, for a detachment of three hundred of the militia of the lower counties, and the rebuilding of the fort there, and by the commissioners for Indian affairs on other proposals for the security of the frontiers, and stimulated by letters from Doctor Colden and others, who gave alarms of attacks intended on the western side of Ulster county, as well as by the people of Massachusetts, for a con- federacy with the eastern colonies in a plan of general defence; Mr. Clinton gave the assembly a recess only till the 20th of December, and then held up these objects to the attention of the house in a message, asking at the same time for some efficacious amendments to the militia act, and tartly taxing them with the neglect of the important particulars laid before them for the service and honour of the province.
They asked leave to adjourn to the 7th of January 1746, and before he consented, voted one hundred and fifty pounds for rebuilding Oswego. They concurred, at the next meeting, in amending the militia act; prepared to fulfil their late engage- ments; called for a conference with the council
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respecting the New England confederacy ; voted the erection of a line of block-houses on the frontier, and for rangers to defend the western quarter of Ulster and Orange; added to the fortifications in the capital ; resolved on a lottery, and a new emis- sion of ten thousand pounds in paper money, to be sunk by a tax .*
They nevertheless made their advancements with disgust, and fell into quarrels with each other, dividing often upon the partition of the general burthen among their counties, and at length for several days met only to adjourn. The governor passed the bills that were ready for him, and pro- rogued the house for a few days. On re-assembling, on the 4th of March, the small-pox prevailing at Greenwich, where they had lately sat, they requested an adjournment to the second Tuesday in April, at some other place. Nothing could be more reason- able than a change of the place, whatever the objections might be as to the time. The answer was this : "Gentlemen,-My present indisposition prevents me from speaking to you in public. I most earnestly recommend to you to make ample provision, and that with the utmost despatch, for all those services I recommended to you the last session, and hitherto remain unprovided for." Upon which they resolved, that their speaker and five members have power to adjourn from day to day, but that not less than a majority transact any other business, and upon all questions the names of the members
* They would not confer with the council upon the bill for this emission, considering it as a money bill .- Vide Journal, 25th February, 1746.
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be entered and published in the journals ; and then they adjourned to the evening of the next day.
Mr. Clinton called his council together in the interim, and sent a message consenting to their meeting on the 12th instant, at the borough of Westchester. They met there, and first voted a request to meet at Brooklyn on Long-Island, but rescinded it the same day, and desired to return to New-York ; and remaining inactive for several days, the governor, with the advice of the council, preferred Brooklyn to the capital, where the small- pox prevailed, and ordered them to adjourn thither accordingly.
Sixteen days had now elapsed to no other purpose than incurring the ridicule of the wits, and sharpen- i n spirits before sufficiently disquieted; and as soon as the house met at Brooklyn, on the 20th of March, they appointed a committee to answer a re- .presentation, which the council had presented to the governor, on the late refusal of the house to confer with them on the bill to emit ten thousand pounds of paper money.
The governor now opened their business by a message, demanding provision for constructing six new block-houses on the northern frontier; the punctual payment of their militia garrisons, and twenty-five men to be posted in two others at Sche- nectady ; notified them that the Six Nations had refused to act in the war ; urged an alliance with the New-England colonies, to lessen the expense of repurchasing the aid of the six cantons ; insisted upon more money to strengthen the hands of the commissioners, pro re nata ; demanded a further
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aid of provisions for the Oswego garrison ; a quota of men to garrison Louisburgh, till others arrived from England ; and to ingratiate himself with the · people without doors, concluded with declaring, that " the enemy cannot be more industrious for the ruin of the colony, than he could be careful to preserve it in the quiet possession of his majesty's subjects."
After this, they called a conference with the coun- cil for nominating commissioners to treat with the other colonies, and agreed to recommend to the governor, Messrs. Philip Livingston, Horsmanden, and Murray, of the upper house, and Mr. Verplanck and Mr. Nicoll, of the lower house. They desired the governor to inform them whether he had any objection to the emission of paper money ; but to this he gave the proper answer, that " when the bill came to him he would declare his opinion."
They proceeded then to votes for the services that were recommended, and increased the emission bill to thirteen thousand pounds, and projected a lottery.
To lessen the expense, they proposed to the coun- cil a joint address to the governor, for his posting at Schenectady sixty men of the independent compa- nies in the pay of the crown ; and about the same time, Mr. Clinton stimulated them again for their quota to maintain the garrison at Louisburgh, where an attack was expected ; and for an allowance to captain Armstrong, an engineer, sent over at his instance by the crown, to plan the intended fortifica- tions. The first of these they immediately refused, assigning for their excuse, the exposed and weak. state of the colony.
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On the 3d of May, he gave them a recess for a month; and then passing the lottery bill, to raise three thousand three hundred and seventy-five pounds for fortifying the city of New-York; another for the like purposes in other parts of the colony ; a third for a military watch in the county of Albany ; another authorizing commissioners to take affidavits in the country to be used in the supreme court ; and that for issuing thirteen thousand pounds in bills of credit to be sunk by a three years' tax ; the annual levies of which, here subjoined, show the compara- tive opulence of the counties at that time :---
New-York, ..
£ 1,444
8 11
Albany,
622
3 93
Kings,
254 18
Queens,
487 9 53
Suffolk,.
433
6
8
Richmond,.
131
6 33
Westchester, ..
240 14
8 ₺
Ulster, ..
393 18
93
Orange,.
144
8 103
Dutchess,
180 11
13
£ 4,331 10 8
To guard the reader, unacquainted with the petty cabals of a distant colony, and who may be deluded by the seeming precision of these quotas, it is proper to add, that the members for the metropolis always complain of the intrigues of the country gentlemen, in loading their city with a third part of the public burdens, for the ease of their own counties ; and that but for the fear of losing their bills in the council, VOL. II .- 13
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which is generally composed of citizens of influence, a still greater share would fall upon that small island forming the city and county of New-York.
In the recess, Mr. Clinton found it necessary to add three hundred of the militia to the one hundred and twenty in the block-houses, and those thirty posted at Saratoga : this occasioned fresh demands upon the assembly, to which they readily complied, with an augmentation of one hundred and fifty more, besides fifty Indians : and, three days after the first message, the governor informed them of the desig- nation of this aid, by another, brought to Brooklyn by Mr. Banyer, deputy clerk of the council; and the same day opened a new and extensive scene, in a speech, acquainting them that the duke of New- castle, in a letter of the 9th of April, had signified his majesty's pleasure to set forward an expedition against Canada, commanding levies in all the colo- nies for that purpose ; that every company should consist of one hundred men, to be raised from New- York to Virginia, inclusive, in one corps, under Mr. Gooch, the governor of Virginia, as brigadier-gene- ral, and the whole force to be as great as could be collected before the time of their march.
The project was Mr. Shirley's : it was commu- nicated in a letter of the 13th of January, and ap- proved by our assembly on the 25th of February. They were to be joined by regular troops from England.
This intelligence was received with the greatest exultation by the general mass of the people. The assembly therefore expressed themselves that very day with all the ardour of patriotic zeal :- " The
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1
moment we leave your excellency," said they, " we shall employ our hearts and our hands to the great work before us, and come to such resolutions as shall immediately forward the important design ; and the whole course of our proceedings shall be conducted with such unanimity and effectual des- patch, as may add to the pleasing hopes of a happy success, and prove us fully sensible of our duty, loyalty, and gratitude to his majesty, our regard to the ease, welfare, and security of those we represent, and of that just resentment that should animate us in opposing the perfidy and cruelty of the most dangerous enemy.
Bounties were raised for volunteers, and for the purchase of provisions and ammunition; exportations of provisions prevented ; the Indians called to a meeting; the other colonies excited to join in col- lecting presents to conciliate their aid ; artificers impressed for public works ; part of the militia de- tached; a forty thousand pound tax imposed, to sink that amount, now supplied by a new emission of paper money ; thanks given to the king for for- warding an enterprise so necessary to us, and for advancing the trade of the empire in general.
They hesitated about nothing necessary to give it success, except furnishing provisions for the In- dians, unless the neighboring colonies would bear a part of the expenses ; and any contribution for the transportation of stores, for which they refused to advance money to the crown, even upon loan, con- ceiving that it ought to be raised by bills of exchange, a hint which Mr. Clinton improved greatly to his own emolument. They separated on the 15th of
T
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July, and the governor, in a few days after, went to the Indian treaty at Albany.
He could prevail upon none of the council to attend him, except Doctor Colden, Mr. Livingston, and Mr. Rutherford. From Mr. Delancey, by whom his measures had formerly been directed, he was to expect no aid. They had quarrelled in their cups, and set each other at defiance. The governor then gave his confidence to Mr. Colden. The chief justice, inflated by his popular influence, the rise of Sir Peter Warren, his brother-in-law, and the patro- nage of Dr. Herring, formerly his tutor and now his correspondent, in the elevated station of archbishop of Canterbury, and, by Mr. Clinton's incaution, ren- dered independent by a renewal of his commission during good behaviour-in other words, for life-had begun in the course of last winter, to domineer over the governor, who, on a certain occasion, expressed, with some tartness, his resolution to maintain the dignity of his station. The altercations ran so high, that Mr. Delancey left the table with an oath of revenge, and they became thenceforth irrecon- cilable foes.
The governor left no stone unturned to procure a numerous assembly of the Indians. The interpre- ter had exerted himself for that purpose among the more distant tribes, while Mr. Johnson,* at his request, practised upon the Mohawks in his neigh-
* This gentleman owed his elevation from the obscurity of a solitary resi- dence in the wilderness to the incidents of this period. He was a nephew to Captain, afterwards Sir Peter Warren, and until his ambition was fanned by the party feuds between Clinton and Delancey, aspired no higher than to the life of a genteel farmer in the vicinity of fort Hunter, surrounded by the Mohawks. When colonel Philip Schuyler (who was the son of the celebrated Peter,) held the
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bourhood. The day the governor arrived, he was pre- sented with two French scalps, taken near Crown Point ; and the 8th of August, Mr. Johnson, to whom Mr. Clinton had given the rank of colonel, entered the town at the head of Mohawks, painted and dres- sed in their manner. The governor being indis- posed at the opening of the conference, it was left to Mr. Colden to deliver a speech of his own drafting; and in his excuse for the absence of Mr. Clinton, he describes himself to the Indians as the next person in the administration, for lieutenant-governor Clarke having gone to England, he was then the eldest member of the Council. He reminded them of the antiquity of the covenant chain, and that one intent of the present interview was to confirm it. He informed them of the French attack upon Annapolis Royal, of the reduction of Louisburg, in resentment for that injury, of the subsequent incursions of the enemy, and of their promises of assistance; rebuked their inactivity; revealed the design to attack Canada on this side, by troops from this and the western colonies, while those to the eastward, with the navy, ascended the St. Lawrence. For exciting the sava- ges to co-operate with us, and raise and spread their fame among all the Indian nations, he calls to their remembrance the ancient insults their fathers had received from the French at Onondaga, Cadaracqui,
affection of the Six Nations, he indiscreetly attached himself to Delancey. A door was then opened to Mr. Johnson, who became a favourite of Clinton's, and im- proved his advantages, as the sequel will show, to the acquisition of honor and power, and such a vast estate of the crown lands, as cannot fail to support the hereditary dignity of an English baronet, to which he arrived in the course of a few years, in consequence of his celebrated victory over baron Dieskau and the French troops at lake George, in 1755.
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and in the Seneca country, applauds the prowess of their ancestors in the invasion of Montreal, in- veighs against their listening to the seducing wiles of the French priests, and then requests their joining with us in the grand enterprise of driving all the French out of the country, as essential to their and our safety.
These addresses were, after the Indian manner, divided into short paragraphs, and belts of wampum given for memorials. A Sachem, on the delivery of every belt, turning to each tribe, uttered the word, "yo-hay," do you hear ? They answered, and when the war-belt was given, there was a general shout.
Mr. Clinton appeared the next day, and an Onon- daga orator replied for all the nations.
They promised to hold fast the ancient silver chain ; engaged, from the bottom of their hearts, to make use of the hatchet against the French and their children, (meaning their Indian allies) ; threw down a war-belt as a testimony of their union, and recommended unanimity among all the colonies. They denied that the French priests lulled them asleep, declared their abhorrence of them, and that the remembrance of the cruelties of the French made their blood boil. They gave assurance, that they would send in their warriors, with some from the Missisagacs, a nation of five castles and eight hundred men, between the lakes Erie and Huron, who were represented by their delegates then present.
The presents from the crown, Virginia, and Mas- sachusetts bay, were afterwards distributed. The governor left it to the Six Nations to give a share
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to the Missisagacs ; intimated his discovery, that certain of their warriors, being in Canada when the tidings of the reduction of Louisburg arrived, had joined the French for the defence of Quebec. He promised arms, clothing, and ammunition, to such as would now go out in the British service.
After they had delivered the presents, they hung on the war-kettle, painted themselves as in their wars, and danced till late at night. They performed this singly, in a low motion, to a plaintive tune.
One of the Missisagacs' deputies died at Albany of the small-pox ; and, towards the last stage of his disease, requested the governor, that the first French scalp taken in the war might be sent to his mother; and, this promised, he without reluctance resigned himself to death.
Mr. Clinton, about the same time, convened and spoke to the Mohendars, under which name are com- prehended all the other savages near this part of the sea coast, and on the banks of the rivers Hudson, Connecticut, Delaware, and the Susquehanna; to these also, a set of dastardly tribes, he gave presents for promises which they never meant to perform.
There were, soon after this congress, such insi- nuations of the scantiness of the governor's gifts, whether true or false cannot be determined, that he thought it requisite, in vindication of his character, to publish an account of the treaty and transactions: it was written by Mr. Colden ; but, though it evinces the propriety of the speeches to draw the Indians into the war, it contained no list of the articles actually distributed among the savages, and wanting
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HISTORY OF NEW YORK.
this proof, the scandal was rather confirmed than refuted by that incautious publication.
Meeting his assembly again in October, the go- vernor, now guided by Mr. Colden, set the public wheels in motion in an unusual manner: being indis- posed, he sent for the speaker, and, through him, laid a copy of his speech before the house. They pronounced this mode irregular and unprecedented; but, to prevent delay, went into the consideration of the business recommended.
The speech complains of the difficulty he had to engage the savages to go out into this war; ascribes the ill temper of the Indians to neglect or misconduct in the management of their affairs, and the inefficacy of the design, to Mr. Gooch's declining the service, the non-arrival of the fleet, and the news of the Brest squadron's hovering on the coast of Nova Scotia with many land forces. Having given orders for a winter camp in the north, and the erection of more small forts, the governor demanded further supplies for those purposes, as well as the management of Indian affairs. He reprobates all parsimony as real prodi- gality at this juncture. His persuasions to harmony excited to discord. He hinted that distrusts were often aggravated by artful designing men : and in- sisted that every branch of the legislature should act within its own limits, according to the model of the British constitution, adding, at the close, " that when unhappy differences have arisen in our mother country, from an imprudent or wanton stretch of power in any one of the parts of government, a cure has been attempted by throwing an over-measure of that power into some other part, by which the
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balance between the several parts of government has been destroyed. The cure became worse than the disease, whereby confusion and calamity always en- sued, till the balance was again restored. I am told that something of the like nature has more than once happened in this government. Let us, then, guard against such mischiefs, and let us resolve to show by our actions as well as by our words, that we under- stand and love the English constitution, and thereby convince each other of the sincerity of our intentions for the good of our country ; and then, I make no doubt, all of us shall enjoy the pleasures which necessarily arise from the good effects of such a resolution."
The assembly voted six thousand five hundred pounds for victualling the troops in their winter quarters, and two hundred more to transport the provisions to Albany ; but would not provide, in future, for the militia detachments of May and June. The governor, to whom the address was presented, took the hint, that they did not mean to pay for the land-carriage from Albany; and, therefore, insisted that this expense should be provided for. The volunteers amounted to thirteen hundred and eighty men. He said there were one hundred and eighty men without their bounty money, and requested blankets both for them and part of the king's inde- pendent companies, who were to join the little army on the northern frontier.
The flame soon broke out. The assembly turned their attention to the civil list; for the year voted only the deficient bounty money, and ordered a re- presentation to be drawn up in answer to the gover-
VOL. II .- 14
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nor's speech and message, and a bill to be brought in to raise two thousand two hundred and fifty pounds by lottery, towards erecting a college .*
On Wednesday, the 24th of October, they ad- journed, without leave, to Friday, then to Monday, and the day after received, approved, engrossed, and sent to the governor a representation reported by colonel Philipse, colonel Morris, colonel Schuyler, Mr. David Clarkson, and Mr. Henry Cruger.
It is to be observed, that while this instrument was preparing, advice arrived from Albany, that Henry Holland, the sheriff of that county, by order of colonel Roberts,* had broke into the commissioners' storehouses, and taken out the provisions entrusted to their care for the use of the army.
The representation of the assembly, after declar- ing their ignorance of the bad disposition of the Indians and the authors of it, sullenly observed, that they last year provided for his voyage to a treaty with them, and that he and those he employed can best tell what service it had answered.
They professed their willingness to inquire into the neglect or misconduct of the Indian affairs, and for that end, they asked for the correspondence. upon this subject between him and others since his: arrival.
They disapproved of his winter camp, intimating their apprehensions that deaths and desertions,
* 23d October 1746.
+ An officer of one of the independent companies, now raised by Mr. Clinton to the rank of colonel in the intended expedition. He had been a cornet of horse at the accession of George I. and was connected, by his first marriage, to the earl of Halifax. His second wife was a daughter of that Mr. Harrison who had so deep a share in the feuds of Cosby and Van Dam.
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through the severity of the weather, would frustrate the king's design of any expedition to Canada the next year.
They boasted of further contributions to it than the king expected, and then alleged that they are at a loss to discover the meaning of his dissuading from parsimony, a term not so much as once mentioned in their house.
They are surprised at his opinion, that the legis- lature are not in perfect harmony. They are apprised of the necessity of it; think themselves capable of guarding against the private views of artful and de- signing men, and would be sorry any such should prevail on him to disturb the harmony necessary to the general preservation ; that if any by persuasion excited his distrust of the legislature at this juncture, they affirm that they are not friends to the country, but men of sinister views.
They confessed that differences have formerly happened, but they were thought to arise rather from bad advice to governors, than wantonness in the people, and ought to serve as land-marks to avoid the like evils. They affirm, that upon the communication of the duke of Newcastle's letter, they provided for victualling the troops, and gave eight pounds bounty, with a blanket, to each vo- lunteer, and never intended their commissioners should deliver out the subsistence at Albany ; that the circumstances of the colony (of which they were the most competent judges) would not admit of any further step, and beyond this they meant not to go.
The governor who, when Mr. Gooch declined his appointment, acted in his stead in the direction
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of the troops intended for Canada, had, before he left Albany, ordered the commissioners to deliver out provisions to the four independent companies destined with others to the carrying place above Saratoga, on the route to the French fort at Crown Point. Colonel Roberts had the command to re- quire an unlimited quantity of provisions for the whole party, and to surmount the refusal of the commissioners, gave an order on Mr. Holland to impress provisions for fourteen hundred men for two months. It has been before observed, that a law was passed authorizing the impress of artificers ; it extended to horses, wagons, and other things necessary for the success of the expedition, and Mr. Clinton had left a warrant with Holland, the sheriff, for carrying it into execution. Provisions had been demanded for one hundred and thirty men more than were in service, and three companies had already drawn out their quota.
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