It is to be hoped, that it will not be long before those Colonies, whose security depends upon the good will and affection of the Savages, will see the necessity of such regulations, as will be effectual to prevent those abuses, which at present give so much discontent to them. In the mean time you will not fail to exert every influence in your power to prevent these abuses from having such an operation upon the minds of the Indians, as to disturb that tranquility which is so essential to their true interest. I am &ca HILLSBOROUGH. Lieutenant-Governor Colden to the Earl of Hillsborough. [New-York Papers (S. P. O.) CLXII. ] N° 10. My Lord. To have fallen under His Majty's displeasure, as I find I have by your Lord's letter of the 17th of Febry No 37., gives me the deepest concern. I have had the honor to serve the Crown in this Province near 50 years, and have heretofore been happy in His Majty's approbation of my conduct. It adds greatly to my affliction that I should have forfeited it when I am so near the close of Life; but I have this comfort, that however I may have erred, it was not from any want or neglect of duty, but from an error in judgement, thinking that giving my assent to the Bill for emitting Bills of Credit, at the time I did, was greatly for His Majty's service, in preventing the Tumults and disorders with which the province was at that time threatned. The Chief Justice, and another Gentleman, eminent in the profession of the Law, were present, when the Council unanimously advised me to give my. assent to that Bill, and were of opinion that, it contained nothing in it contrary to the Act of Parliament; and that the time allowed by the Act, before it was to take place, was equivalent to a suspending clause. Your Lord blames me, for giving my assent, when I knew that a similar Bill, transmitted by Sir Henry Moore, was under consideration, and before I knew the result; but My Lord, the circumstances of the Province at that time, would not, permit delay, and I must own, it was some inducement to me to give my assent, knowing that a similar Bill was then under consideration, and consequently that His Majesty's pleasure must be known before any part of the Act could take effect-and so it has happened -And in pursuance of your Lord's commands, I immediately published His Majty's disallowance of the Act, that all persons may govern themselves accordingly. My Lord, I flatter myself, you will indulge me in giving the State of the Province at that time. A violent faction prevailed in opposition to Government, and the authority of the Parliament of Great Brittain, which from many circumstances appeared to be acting in concert. with a similar Faction at Boston. Numerous papers were dispersed about the Town, exciting the people to sedition, and exasperating them against the Soldiers then quartered in this Place. The Soldiers walking peaceably in the Street, were several times attacked, beat and abusedthis of consequence drew on their Resentment, and we should have had the same mischievous effects produced here, which have since happened at Boston, had not a body of the principal Inhabitants assured the Magistrates of their assistance in preserving the peace of the City, which, with the prudent conduct of the Magistrates and Officers of the Army, prevented this wicked design—Of this I informed Your Lord in my letter N° 9.— The similarity of the proceedings of the Factions in this place and in Boston, will induce a belief that they acted in concert. But besides this, one of the Judges who is known to have connections with those. who are thought to be the leaders of the Faction, advised the withdrawing of the Troops from this place, as the only method to allay the disturbances; and one of the Council who is known to have the same connections with the Judge, strenuously insisted that the withdrawing the Troops was the only method to restore peace to the Place. These 1 think strong proofs, that the views of the Factions in this Place and in Boston were the same- -That they did not succeed here was owing to the principal Inhabitants being entirely pleased with the conduct of the Administration, and were resolved to support it, of which I have since that time received several public acknowledgements. The giving my Assent to the Bill for emitting bills of Credit, served much to reconcile the minds of the people and to put them in good humour. Had I refused my assent to this Bill, and had the Assembly granted no money for the Troops, as in that case they would not, the Faction would have succeeded in their design to disturb the Governm', and it is not easy to say what might have been the consequences—Upon a Review of my conduct under these circumstances, I hope My Lord, His Maj' may be graciously pleased to think more favourably of it. The good effects of the harmony which prevailed between the several branches of the Legislature in the last Sessions, is very evident in the good order and submission to the Authority of Govern' which has ever since subsisted in this place — Govern' has renewed its strength, which the events of some past years had greatly weakened. A disappointed Faction by publishing the most gross calumnies & impudent lies, in order to asperse my character, and the characters of the Gentlemen joined with me in the Administration, have drawn upon themselves a general detestation; and so far sunk their own characters in the estimation of every Man of reputation that for the future they can have no general influence—and I hope from all these circumstances the Administration will be made much more easy to my successor, and that I shall have the pleasure to deliver the Govern' to His Lordp in good order and Tranquility — The Grand Jury of this Citty, now sitting, have found an Indictment against Alexander McDougall1 for publishing a Libell against the Govern' which I mentioned to your Lord in my 'Major-General Alexander Modouqall, afterwards of the Revolutionary army, was, some say, a native of Scotland; Allen says he was the son of a Scotchman who sold milk in the city of New-York, and that he was not ashamed to acknowledge that, when a boy, he assisted his father. He became early an active member of the body known as "Sons of Liberty," and was arrested in February, 1770, on a charge of being the author of the "Address to the Betrayed Inhabitants of New-York," and refusing to give bail was committed to prison by order of Chief Justice Horsmanden. His friends represented his case as similar to that of Wilkes. The latter had brought down the vengeance of government by the publication of the North Briton, No. 45. This number became the watchword of McDougall's fellow patriots, and when asked their names, on seeking admission to their friend, their answer was— -"We are forty-five;" and saluted their champion with "forty-five" cheers. In the two months of his confinement, he was overrun with visitors. On the 20th of December following he was arraigned at the bar of the Assembly on the same charge, on whieh occasion he was defended by George Clinton, afterwards the first Governor of the State of New-York. A writ of habeas corpus was sued out in the course of the following month, but without any result, and Mr. McDougall was not liberated from his confinement until the 4th of March, 1771, when the Assembly was prorogued. In March, 1775, he was a member of the Provincial Convention, and was nominated as one of the candidates for the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, but was not elected; in the same year he received a commission as Colonel of the 1st New-York regiment. He rose in 1776 to the rank of Brigadier-General, and in the following year was present at the battle of Germantown. In 1777 he was appointed Major-General, and in 1778, superseded Putnam in the command of the Highlands. After the flight of Arnold, he was put in charge of West Point on the 5th October, 1780. In the year 1783, he was elected to represent the Southern District in the Senate of this State and continued a member of that body until his death, which occurred in June, 1786. At the time of his decease, General McDougall was president of the Bank of New-York, and in politics adhered to the Hamilton party. Leake's Life of John Lamb. -ED, letters N° 8 and 9. It is thought he cannot have his Tryal this Term, as the Court will be fully employed the few days they have to sit, in the Trial of capital criminals. The Govern's of Quebec and Pennsylvania have agreed to send Commissioners to meet the Commisss of this Provce, in order to form some plan for regulating the Indian Trade; and I expect they will meet at this Place the 10th of July next. As I have had my duty constantly before my Eyes, and have pursued it sincerely to the best of my ability, the thoughts of closing my life under His Majw' displeasure, give me great pain, and that by any error, I may have forfeited Your Lord's regard, for with the greatest truth I am 25 April 1770. My Lord Your most obedient & faithful CADWALLADER COLDEN. Lieutenant-Governor Colden to the Earl of Hillsborough. N° 11. My Lord, [New-York Papers (8. P. 0.) CLXII. ] New York. 16 May 1770. By the repeal of the Act for emitting £120000 in Bills of Credit, one thousand pounds granted out of that fund, by the Assembly in their last Session, for supplying his Maju'* Troops quartered in this Place with necessaries, it become deficient. I have no hope given me that the Assembly will at this time supply that deficiency; and therefore I think it is prudent to delay calling the Assembly till after the arrival of Lord Dunmore, who must certainly have more influence, than, in my present situation I can have. The grant of money for the Troops is unpopular we have two parties in violent opposition to each other—one is careful to preserve their popularity in order to secure their seats in the Assembly, and the other takes every method to gain popularity in hopes of a Dissolution of the Assembly on the arrival of a new Govr. The Merchants in this Place and in Philadelphia have under consideration, whether to import goods from Great Brittain or not. I am told, the majority, both in this place and Philadelphia are for importing, and that they will come to a determination in a few days.— The party in opposition to the present administration join with the people of Boston in measures to prevent importation, and for that purpose stole late in the night last week a procession of the Mob to expose a Boston Importer,1 who happened to come to this place. The Magistrates knew nothing of the design till it was too late, otherwise I believe it would have "A certain Nathan Rogers of the town of Boston, merchant." His effigy was suspended from a gallows and burnt on the night of the 10th of May, 1770, in the Common, now the Park, New-York. He ordered his carriage and secretly left town at 2 o'clock next morning. He is described as a man about 5 feet 8 inches high, pretty corpulent, round shouldered, stoops a great deal, and generally appears in green and gold, or purple and gold. Leake's Life of Lamb, 63, 64. He lived at the lower end of King (now State) street, Boston, and had already been denounced at a meeting of the merchants of Boston, on 11th August, 1769, as one "of those who audaciously continue to counteract the united sentiments of the body of merchants throughout North America by importing British goods contrary to the agreement." Brake's History of Boston, 767.—ED. been prevented Tho' the parties are much exasperated against each other, I hope the public peace will be preserved, and the issue will be favourable to the Govern' I have received and laid before the King your letter N° 10. in which you endeavour to justify your conduct in having given your assent to the Paper currency Bill by arguments drawn from the then State of the Colony, and as I have reason to believe from what you alledge that you erred from real good intention, I have not failed to represent your conduct in that light to His Majesty. There certainly may be circumstances and situations in which a Gov' will find it necessary sometimes to depart from the strict letter of his Instructions, but then the motives for such deviations ought to be stated in the fullest manner, and no circumstance omitted that can either tend to his own justification or give information to Govern of the true state of the Colony; I mention this in order to introduce the remark, that there are some Facts and observations relative to the State of New York in the letter to which this is an answer that were not stated in your former correspondence, but more particularly that of one of the Judges, and a Member of the Council, advising & strenuously insisting that the King's Troops should be withdrawn. from the Colony, a Fact which, whether it respects the measure itself, or the persons who advised and supported it, is of great importance to His Maju service, and ought to have been stated in the fullest and most explicit manner, and names not concealed, for as all public measures depend in a great degree, as to their effect, upon a knowledge of the true characters of Men in public situations, it will be very difficult to judge of the propriety of those measures without some knowledge of the principles by which the conduct of such Men is influenced, and the degree of Trust & confidence each Man is entitled to. Inclosed I send you an order of His Majesty in Council containing a disallowance of the Act passed at New York in January last, declaring certain persons therein mentioned incapable of being Members of the General Assembly of that Colony, upon which order you will not fail to take such steps as have been usual and are necessary for carrying His Maju's commands into execution. I likewise inclose to you an Act passed in the last session of Parliament entitled: "An Act to enable the Govr Council and Assembly of His Maj'*'* Colony of New York, to "pass an Act of Assembly for creating and issuing upon loan, paper Bills of Credit to a certain "amount, and to make the same a legal tender in payments into the loan Offices and Treasury "of the said Colony"—and I make no doubt, that if the Legislature of New York shall think fit to pass such a Law as the Parliament has authorized it will be approved by His Maj"— I am ettc. HILLSBOROUGH. N° 12. My Lord, Lieutenant-Governor Golden to the Marl of Hillsborough. [New York Paperi (S. P. 0.) OLXII.] New York. 7. July 1770. It gives me the greatest concern to learn from your Lord's letter of the 4th of April N° 38. that I had incurred His Majesty's displeasure, by giving my assent to a Bill for disqualifying the Judges from sitting in Assembly. However necessary it appeared to me, for preserving a good agreem' between the branches of the Legislature, at a time, when assiduous endeavours were making to produce discord, I should not have done it, without a suspending clause, till His Majesty's pleasure be known, had I not been confident, that there would be no session of Assembly, before there had been sufficient time, to have His Maj'" pleasure known in this place, and that in the mean time it could produce no effect. For this purpose I transmitted an attested copy of the Bill, by the first opportunity, before it could be engrossed as usual and the seal affixed. Had your Lord known in what manner some of the Judges, at several times, have made use of their influence in Elections, not for His Maj'*'* service, but with interested views, and afterwards in supporting a party in the house, you would not wonder that the Assembly, have it so much at heart to exclude them. I apprehend, that unless the Assembly be gratified in this point, it will remain a perpetual bone of contention, between them and the Gov'.- In my humble opinion, the Judges can be of more real use to the Crown, by being disinterested in all party disputes, without which, they cannot gain or preserve the general esteem of the people, or their sentiments have that weight on the minds of the people, which otherwise a Judge of sufficient ability & known integrity must always have. I had not the least suspicion of any prejudice to His Maj'*'' service from the meeting of the Commiss" of the neighbouring Colonies, for regulating the commerce with the Indians. The Trade with the Indians from this Province, Pennsylvania and Quebec, is so much intermixed, that no plan can be effectual without their mutual consent: Coll: Carleton embraced the proposal heartily & desired the meeting to be at New York. Pennsylvania seems more cool. I have since that time received a letter from Coll: Carleton signifying that the Commissioners from Quebec cannot attend in the summer months, tho' we chose that time from an opinion that it would be most convenient for them, as traveling in the winter from Quebec is very difficult and often dangerous. I now suspect, that the Commiss's will not meet, or if they do, they will not agree on any plan, by reason of the different interests of the several Colonies. Sir William Johnson is likewise of this opinion. My Lord, I flatter myself that from the good effects of the measures, which the administration of Govern' in this Province has adopted, that they will receive His Maj's approbation, and |