his term of office, had received not less than four thousand pounds for his grants; and there is no doubt that Lord Cornbury received and squandered all he could possibly obtain.

Soon after Gov. Hunter's appointment in 1710, a bill of fees to be taken on the granting of lands, was under instructions from the crown adopted by ordinance of the governor and council, which is believed to have been the only authoritative regulation ever made on the subject in New York during the colonial period.

This regulation was, however, soon departed from, and the allowances specified were enormously increased. By the council minutes of Feb. 5, 1772, the following bill of fees is admitted to have been usually exacted on the issuing of a patent for 1,000 acres.

And the same amount was taken for any additional thousand acres included in the same patent. Thus, if the patent was for two thousand acres the fees would be twice that sum, and at that rate for any larger quantity. The fees were not, however, reduced in the like proportion for a smaller quantity of land, but they amounted to nearly the same, however small the grant, and they exceeded eighty dollars for a patent of one hundred acres. The progressive increase of fees for every thousand acres included in the same patent was defended by Colden on the ground that the fees were not intended merely as a compensation for actual services, but as perquisites of office.1

By the adroit exercise of this power of granting lands most of the governors previous to the time of Mr. Colden, had contrived to amass large fortunes. Mr. Smith in his history of New York (vol. 2, p. 82), says of Mr. Clarke who had held office many years, and was lieutenant governor from 1736 to 1743, that "by his offices of secretary, clerk of the council, councilor and lieutenant governor, he had every advantage of inserting his own name, or the name of some other person in trust

1 Council Minutes, vol. 26, p. 275-7. Col. Hist., vol. 7, p. 921-7. 2 Smith's N. Y., 366. Colden's Letter to the Lords of Trade, Oct. 13, 1764.

for him in the numerous grants, which he was in a condition for near half a century to quicken or retard; and his estate, when he left us, by the rise of his lands and the population of the colony, was estimated at one hundred thousand pounds." Of Gov. Clinton, whose term extended for ten years from 1743, the assembly, in an address to the crown, offered to prove " that he granted extravagant tracts of land, and exacted twelve pounds and ten shillings, for every thousand acres, in the remote parts of the colony, besides reserving considerable shares in the grants to himself, by inserting fictitious names." And Mr. Smith (vol. 2, p. 191–2, and 202) says of him that "he set the precedent for the high fees since demanded for land patents, and boldly relied upon the interests of his patrons to screen him from reprehension," and that "it was supposed he returned to England with a fortune very little less than eighty-four thousand pounds sterling."

The policy of treating the charters issued by the governor of New Hampshire as nullities began under the administration of Cadwalader Colden, then holding the office of lieutenant governor. He was of Scotch birth, and by profession a physician, had emigrated to Philadelphia, and afterwards removed to New York, where, in 1720, he was appointed surveyor general of the province, and two years later a member of the executive council, both of which offices he held for over forty years. On the death of Lieut. Gov. De Lancey in August, 1761, he was called to administer the government, by virtue of being the senior member of the council, and was soon afterwards appointed lieutenant governor, and as such continued at the head of the affairs of the province, with the exception of about a year, while Gen. Monckton was governor, until November, 1765, when he was superseded by the arrival of Sir Henry Moore from England. On the death of Gov. Moore in Sept. 1769, he again came into power, and exercised the office of chief magistrate for over a year until he was succeeded by Lord Dunmore in October, 1770. He held his commission as lieutenant governor until his decease in 1776, and once more occupied the position of chief magistrate during the absence of Gov. Tryon in England, from April, 1774 to July, 1775. Mr. Colden was possessed of considerable talent, learning and industry, and for a large portion of his time had much influence in the colony, which was often exercised for beneficial purposes. He was, as has been before stated, of high tory principles, sustaining with all his might the most odious measures of the British ministry for establishing an unlimited power of the crown and parliament over the colonies. Nor could he be said to

have been destitute of that keen love of money and office, which Junius declared to be peculiarly characteristic of his countrymen. He was always, indeed, quite willing to enrich himself and his numerous family at the expense of the public, and not a little ingenious in devising ways to accomplish it. From the zeal with which, while urging the establishment of Connecticut river as the boundary of his province, he had declaimed against the selfishness and favoritism of Gov. Wentworth, in making his land grants, it might perhaps have been inferred that he himself was wholly above being influenced by such paltry personal considerations. Such an inference would, however, have been quite erroneous. It will, indeed, be found that he was no less greedy of the gains to be derived from the granting of lands, than was his New Hampshire rival, and that in fact, his avaricious cupidity, coupled with his desire of power and patronage, laid the foundation for the long and bitter controversy which followed, and for the consequent independence of the territory of Vermont, which might otherwise have formed a part of New York.

At the time Mr. Colden came to the head of affairs, the official income from the granting of lands had much decreased. Nearly all of the desirable lands in the colony which were not subject to the Indian title, had been covered by patents of former governors, and even the territory of the natives had been largely encroached upon. Taking advantage of their ignorance and credulity, the land speculators had often induced them to execute what were dignified with the name of "Indian deeds," which, under the interpretation of the grantees, sanctioned by the ruling authorities of the province, who were the recipients of the patent fees, and often of a considerable portion of the lands, were found to embrace territory of immense extent, and frequently to include Indian plantations and cherished hunting grounds ― lands with which the Indians never had a thought of parting. These fraudulent encroachments had been so numerous as to create extensive dissatisfaction among the Mohawks and other tribes of the six nations, and greatly to weaken the hold of the English upon their friendship. In fact many of the Indians, influenced mainly by these intrusions, had emigrated to Canada and put themselves under the protection of the French, while those who remained were in a state of uneasiness and irritation. The disaffection occasioned by these oppressive practices was viewed with appre

1It would appear from representations made to Lieut. Gov. DeLancey in 1753, that it was customary for the governors to have as their share, onethird of the lands purchased of the Indians. Col. Hist., vol. 6, p. 818.

hension and alarm in England as well as in New York. The conduct of the rulers of the province in allowing them was not only severely censured by the board of trade, but they had made it one of the standing instructions to the governors to put in requisition every means in their power to break and annul several of the most obnoxious of them, either by acts of the assembly or by judicial proceedings. But as governors, legislators, and judges were all either directly or indirectly interested, to maintain the sanctity of the grants, the instructions were of course inoperative.1

Such being the character and position of Lieut. Gov. Colden, it is not perhaps matter of great wonder that he should, on coming into power, have abandoned his former views of the limited extent of the province of New York to the eastward, and under the influence of anticipated patent fees, and power to be derived from the annexation to New York of the territory, now Vermont, should have obtained new light on the subject, and to use his own language, should have become " clearly convinced that the province of New York extends eastward as far as Connecticut river;" nor that when he had obtained a decision of the crown making that river the boundary, he should have been willing to construe it as annulling all previous grants made in the territory by New Hampshire."

1 Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. 2, 1821. Col. Hist. N. Y., vol. 4, p. 720, 345; vol. 5, p. 569, 650, 549, 472; vol. 6, p. 851, 962; vol. 7, p. 77, 87, 117, 130, 169, 260, 301, 677, 701, 576.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE SETTLERS AND CLAIMANTS UNDER NEW HAMPSHIRE.

1763-1766.

Colden's proclamation against the settlers of December, 1763 - Counter proclamation of Wentworth -Notice to the settlers of the annexation of the territory to New York in April, 1765- Colden issues patents of lands which had been previously granted by New Hampshire-Nearly all of them on the west side of the Green mountains, and why - His further issue of patents suspended by the stamp act, Nov. 1, 1765 - Also suspended by Sir Henry Moore - His character and measures in regard to the New Hampshire grantees.

W

HILE Lieut. Gov. Colden was urging the British ministry to make Connecticut river the eastern boundary of his province, the territory of which he desired to obtain jurisdiction was being rapidly occupied by New England men, who were fast transforming the wilderness into cultivated fields, and making it their permanent habitation. This excited his alarm for the success of the measure he had so ardently at heart, and he determined to do all in his power to prevent the further settlement of the country. For this purpose he issued a proclamation, bearing date December 28, 1763, setting forth in strong and positive language the claim of New York to extend eastward to Connecticut river by virtue of the charter of king Charles the second to the Duke of York, declaring that the government of New Hampshire without having any jurisdiction whatever to the westward of that river, had granted lands beyond it and within the jurisdiction of the government of New York, and that "sundry persons, ignorant that they could not derive a legal title under such grants had attempted a settlement of lands included therein;" warning all persons against purchasing titles or making settlements under the charters of that province; commanding "all judges, justices and other civil officers within the same to continue to exercise jurisdiction in their respective functions as far as to the bank of Connecticut river;" and enjoining the high sheriff of the county of Albany to return to him the names of all persons who under the grants of New Hampshire, did or should hold the possession of any lands westward of Connecticut river, "that they might be proceeded with according to law."1

1 For a copy of this proclamation see Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. 4, p. 558. See also Slade's Vt. State Papers, p. 16.