New-York tribune., 1884-01-13

not needcd for his own use fixing inadequate pricos
therefor, payable in certificates There 700 was an
embargo act; partially successful attempt III TO
strictiOn of traffic with ouTnelghbOrS now can We
believe our people wise or IN love with liberty ie
We know the great emergency when IeciplC;lIIpu
them to such preposterous and oppressive ps'''"-
These laws were the inevitable fruits OF great
public necesSity-they were believed 10 oe neVJs tL
ssry to enable Congress to keep our armies IN tle
field and our people, in their suDhSsl1IF soifC "
laws exhibited an almost uneXampled F
ing wisdom. The embargo was recomnehotto tTI
adonton by Congress, andOur statesmen Tel
enacted it, They yielded only TO dlreiui necessa necfat
in recommending and passing laws so .Gnary
and contrary to policy and justice III al tn. the
times The statute books must be Ttsorteu to' eilo
journals of the Senate aud Assembly must oo In IN
suited, with the messages OF the OoNeIhoif T the
sometimes though rarely. the newsa1 new edrGe clinton
period to make clear portions OF the UeoTge Gr'H E
papers and TO enable the humble IndeG G-llaher ~ ~
brief notes TO make the index ust 10 tae 0f
our great Republic and an epItOme Oh onde~ca tne
its share in the yndlcatlOn o1 our lnuepon"0"0O'
INTEREST OF THE PAPERS.
These papers are indeed very varied In their ma
tpre They are rich in materials for personal his
tory. They contain much that seems valnaoie 10
the local historian and duly annotated seIectioh
from them would believe, present to the least I'M
aeinative reader a living picture OF the strne-
gle in New-York They outreach New-forK ana
show in the foundation of the Constr
tuition of the United States and the
that foundation firm. They make good her cla,n
to the first and most effecna section, if not TO he
orginatiOn OF The oesslon OF the fnrevey
the shadowy and cOnfc ing claims OF tne lhd'Iu-
ual States thereto. .. IL, -
They contain too. matters OF interest wmch are
NOT strictly of State concern. My work 80 far
am glad to state has yielded some irult, low
good citizens have been gfatlnee Mi.n WIN aTIe nDho
Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provlnciai
Convention, Committee Of Safety and Conncli %, OIL
Safety of the State of New-f0rk, pnDhsheu oS
order of the Legislature in 1912, is invaluable and
frequent references to it are had III the index.
MISSING JOURNALS or THE ASSEMBLY.
The proceedings of the Committee of Safety OF
the 18th of December, 1915 appear III the Journal
and then there is hiatus and the next appearance
of the Committee in session is on the
first day of January, 1777 The editor remarks
(vol l. p. 1872 that "a portion of the proceedings
seems missing" The George Clinton papers supply
| cannot say how thoroughly, those missing pro-
ceedings and the final report one of the bound
aries Of the State long sought for III valn mas Deen
found in then.
In fhc fourse of nv work have, of course, made
search for some missing material, ana mao some some
correspondence in the hope enrching the archives
of the State These archives ought to be complete
and perfect. am, perhaps going beyond my pro-
vince bat you will. trust excuse me f0r remind
ing YOU that the Assembly Journals from june, l7s4
and for the year 1888, missing and have never
been in print John McKess31n was Clerk rea OF the
of January TO July, 1881, was f0lnd among ms pa
| pers in 800. and then for the first time printed
He was an carl ly correspondent OF George ClnIon,
ana | have for that reason, begun an inquiry
for his papers 1t Is not probable that the misshg
journals are among Them but IT IS possible that me
newspapers of those times ana the rs ol tno
Senate may supply all substantial PORTIONS OF thcse
Orsamms H. Marshall of Buffalo, gentleman dis
tingushed for his historical researches and impor-
tanf contributions to the early history OF our eoun:
try, found in the British Museum IN the Library OF
George the Third, a number OF very early maps OF
the Province of New-lO and of the western p0r-
tion of the present State. One of them showed the
names of proprietOrs and the tracts owned by
them the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, ana De.
lieye has not been published. He made perfect
copy of it, and at my request has deposited IL WIN
us to copy if We please At the time of his visit the
Museum had not catalOgued the Library OF George
the Third and our State Library has not received
any such catalogue. l cannot find III. my search
for documents and paper illustrations OF our history
that that library has been examined
LETTER FROM JEFFERSON.
These p9pers contain mention of a letter from
Jefferson Secretary of State in 1898, to George
Clinton asking for copies of ali our Indian treaties,
and the answer of George Clinton and the papers
showing that Sir William Johnson had renewed
the Colonial treaties. have some reason to be-
eve that they arc still iu existence and may pos
sibly be recovered.
But forgetting the lack of completeness in these
papers in some mention of them they are. or
rather OF what they prove, and viii mention that
tbey show some decided changes in spelling.
Throughout them clothes and clothmg are
spet "cIoathes" aud " "cloathing", jail" OF gaoI"
is ways spct goal'; and John Ferris a justice
of the Peace, puts two small = rs III place or
capltal one in his surname-thc only case In winch
that aIistOcIatic mode of spelling family name Is
in these papers observed,
We have in these papers evidence enough OF the
inability of the wise men of the Revolution TO
Justly comprehend the energy that liberty and
nuion would mpaT to America and of its rapid rise
i'm the elements of greatness. George Clinton did not
ticiu afat la pXtr pttlpment
eTn NeW-lOr and the decadence of Indian power
and Importance. We find HMM l1S3 eXpectlngt0 t0rt
Stanwi to rise TO great Importance from me
opening of the Indian trade. In October lII0, John
jay expressed "a perfect and full conviction that
Schenectady was the only proper pace ior the sfaI
many Of our statesmen that a mountain ridge was
a more proper boundary Of state than IiveT, and,
of course that the ridge of the Green Mountains,
and not the Connecticut River, should be the
boundary between NewYork and New-Hampshre;
but he strangely adds: he less our people nave
to do with the Connecticut River the better;
would rather see the productions OF our country 60
to the by another route. Is possible that he
anticipated rivalry be Wcen the hudson and Coh-
necti lent and thought that New-York might he
egualed in commerce by some rival at the mouth OF
that grand uVerT
IMPORTANT HISTORICAL FACTS.
The Clinton papers furnish conclusive answers to
those who in a spirit of excessive charity would
place the Tories of New-York higher in point of
humanity and honor than the Wings. That here
and there perhaps in only one locality Wings should
have banded together and whipped and castigated
Tory neighbors who had taken protection from the
British and who open in their hostility 10 tho
Nation, was not unnatural; butwe condemn t,even
as il was condemned and put down by our ancestors.
There were undoubtedly in those troubled and icen-
tious times occasional reprehensbe excesses of re-
vengeful Wings; but their action was open and
ayowed, These papers present the mass OF the
Tories truthfully. They were the supporters of
Brant and Butler and were ready at their call 10
paint their faces and sneak alone with them to
They acted as spies harbOred the emissares Of tho
enemy, stole horses to supply their camp. There
was indeed 81 respectable, in some instances may
say noble grade of Tories who endangered all the
interests through mistaken loyalty. OF such were
Harrison Van Setback, smith, Golden, and it is very
gratifying to know that our fOrefathers gen.