302 
 
Book ^2 
 
 CuHn 
 
, n^ii.'//' 
 
 AN 
 
 ORATIOIN, ii5 
 
 IN HONOR OF THE MEMORT OF 
 
 C-EORG-E CLIHTON5 
 
 Late fice-President of the United States. 
 
 BELIVERED MAY 19, 1812, 
 BY THE HON. GOVERNIEUR MORRIS. 
 
 '7' ■7'BE HE.OUEST OP T'HE COMMON COUNCIL OF O'fiE CITi' OF 
 KEfr'TOSK. 
 
 NEW- YORK : 
 
 PBINTED BY HARDCASTT.E ^' VAX PE i, t 
 
 A''o. 86, A''assau-Stree:. 
 
 1812, 
 
AN OKATION: 
 
 Fellow Citizens, 
 
 ANOTHER soldier of tlie revolution is 
 gone. The few that now remain will soon have 
 been ; and even while they linger may envy, 
 perhaps, his earlier exit. For surely the view 
 of public affairs may well inspire a doubt, 
 whether those who loved the late Yice Presi- 
 dent, should consider his death as a source of 
 sorrow, or a subject of congratulation. He 
 loved his country, he had contributed to her 
 triumph and enjoyed her glory in the prime 
 of youth and strength of manhood ; but, al- 
 though, bending beneath the weight of age, 
 he was doomed to behold her in a wretched 
 condition which he could not amend, which 
 he could not but deplore. 
 
 Pardon a sentiment thus torn from my bo- 
 som. We are not met to sacrifice on the al- 
 tar of party spirit, but rather to sacrifice tliat 
 spirit on a patriot's tomb. In his long and active 
 life, having conciliated many friends, he must 
 (for such is our lot) have had some enemieR, 
 
Those of honorable temper will bury their 
 resentment in his grave, and listen without 
 partiality to the naiTative of his life. It shall 
 be simple and plain : for a Patriot's History 
 must be his best panegyric. 
 
 GEORGE CLIJS'TOJ^, was born of a re- 
 spectable family, in Orange, then Ulster 
 County, the 26th of July, 1739. His father 
 at the head of a provincial regiment, under 
 the orders of General Bradstreet, assisted in 
 taking Fort Frontinac, at the mouth of Lake 
 Ontario, in the year '58. His son George, 
 then a lieutenant in the same service, de- 
 scended the St. Laurence, in the year '60, 
 under the orders of General Amherst. Thus 
 his early education to arms prepared him, 
 like the great Yirginian, for the scenes in 
 ^iliich they were destined to act. 
 
 The war in America terminated that year 
 by the conquest of Canada ; and young 
 Clinton laying by his sword, applied to the 
 study of law, under the direction of William 
 Smith, one of the ablest advocates that ever 
 yet adorned the Ear of New-York. He then 
 settled in his native county, where the Royal 
 Governor, George Clinton, acknowledging a 
 remote consanguinity, liad given him a life es- 
 tate in the Clerkship. He practised with repu- 
 tation, and was cliosen a representative to the 
 
Colonial Assembly, of which he continued to 
 be an active and able member, steadily oppo- 
 sing every attempt to seduce or overawe tliat 
 body into a compliance with the views of the 
 British Government hostile to the liberty of 
 America. 
 
 Thus, before the controversy gi'ew up into 
 a war, he had studied mankind, not in books, 
 but in the world ; not in the closet, but in the 
 camp ; and practically knew what reliance 
 is to be placed on reason, what resource can 
 be derived from hope and fear. But in read- 
 ing the sacred volumes of our law, he had 
 nourished his soul with the principles of lib- 
 erty; and learnt to estimate, at their just va- 
 lue, those rights, on the defence of which we 
 staked our all. For it must be remembered 
 that the war (on our part) was wholly defen- 
 sive. It was not undertaken to acquire any 
 new or splendid priviledge, founded on spe- 
 cious metaphysical disquisition. No, we took 
 up arms to defend the plain practical rights 
 of our forefatliers. Tlie rights of English- 
 men. The spontaneous disposal of our prop- 
 erty, the security of our persons, the trial by 
 our peers. We reasoned on principles of 
 common sense. We fought for the benefits 
 of common law. Neither did we (until com- 
 pelled to it) cast off allegiance to the king- 
 
We merely refused submission to his sub* 
 jects. 
 
 In the beginning, opposition to their claims 
 was general. But when it appeared that Bri- 
 tish tyranny would be enforced by British 
 power, the patriot ranks were thinned ; fair 
 weather friends wavered. The zeal which 
 depends on profit and loss grew cold. Minds 
 enfeebled by the lore of ease, and hearts 
 wliich shrink from approaching peril, aban- 
 doned the cause, or confined their exertions 
 to the circle of an empty wish. Let them not 
 be condemned. There was matter to appal 
 the braye. Britain was then in the zenith of 
 glory. Her youthful king had closed a war 
 of conquest, and dictated the conditions of 
 peace. The wealth of India heaped up 
 during ages of accumulation, was laid open 
 to his subjects, and througli every channel of 
 mercantile speculation, of military plunder 
 was poured round liis throne. An army in- 
 ured to war, and, from habits of danger, in- 
 sensible to fear ; a fleet, beneath whose thun- 
 der the deep caves of ocean shook ; these 
 were the ready instruments of his will. And 
 what could we oppose to such vast wealth 
 and power ? We, feeble colonies, thinly scat- 
 tered over a wide expanse, without revenue, 
 without arms, almost without the common 
 
mechanic arts ; no union, no general govern- 
 ment, no common sentiment, except, indeed, 
 the sense of that injustice which had marked 
 us victims to satiate and glut an avaricious 
 prodigality ? 
 
 In circumstances of this sort, cunning cal- 
 culating politicians, might well believe what 
 they did believe, and say what they did say ; 
 that resistance was impossible, and therefore 
 absurd. That the claim of the British Com- 
 mons to give and grant the money of Ameri- 
 can colonists, to accumulate our burdens in 
 like grade and measure, as they diminished 
 their own, and to feed their waste from our 
 wretchedness, however unjust, would never- 
 theless bear down, when aided by the ener- 
 gies of royal authority, our feeble opposition. 
 That we should be crushed like Avorms beneath 
 the wheels of his triumphal car. But we 
 knew that over this king, sat higli enthroned 
 above all heights, the King of kings. We felt 
 our cause to be just, and we placed it in the 
 hands of Omnipotence. Such was the firm 
 resolve of that first Congress, whose memory 
 w ill be sacred and immortal. Such too the per- 
 severing determination of their successors, 
 among whom, on the 15th day of May, '75, 
 George CJinton took his seat. On the eighth 
 
10 
 
 of July the members then present signed their 
 last petition to liis Britannic Majesty. Gov- 
 ernor Penn, who delivered it, on the first of 
 September, to a secretary of state, was told 
 that no answer would be given. Such haugh- 
 ty silence would not surprise those whose 
 hamble petition to his majesty of the preced- 
 ing year, had been answered at Lexington, 
 from the mouths of his soldiers muskets. But 
 it was a silence more expressive than the 
 voice of thunder. It cried out havock, hope 
 farewell, farewell union, liarmony and love. 
 It was the creative voice that bade this wes~ 
 tern empu^e into being. 
 
 CHnton attended but little in Congress. 
 He had an aversion to councils, because (to 
 use his own words) tbe duty of looking out for 
 danger makes m^n cowards. His temper 
 and earliest iiabits trained him to the field. 
 He was appointed a brigadier of militia, and 
 served in that rank until the 25th of March 
 '77, wlien the state having recommended to 
 Congress, that a commandant should be na- 
 med to the forts in the Highlands, that post 
 of high trust and confidence was given to 
 liim, Avith the rank of brigadier in tlie 
 Continental army. How well he deserved it 
 w as evinced by his gallant defence, when in 
 the beginning of the next October, those 
 
II 
 
 unfinished fortresses were stormed by the 
 Bi^tish general, Sir Henry Clinton. Had 
 the works been complete, or the garrison suf- 
 ficient to occupy commanding positions in 
 the rear, the assailants must have failed. Aa 
 it was, the defence was such as to raise the 
 apprehension of having theii' retreat cut off, 
 should they remain in the upper Hudson 
 long enough to make an useful diversion in 
 favor of Burgoyne. That vaunting chief was 
 therefore left to his fate. And thus the ob- 
 stacles opposed in the Highlands, shed a pro- 
 pitious influence on that northern campaign, 
 whose brilliant issue at Sarratoga, arrayed in 
 our defence the heads and armies of France 
 and Spain. 
 
 The situation of this state during the war, 
 required every power of the mind, every en- 
 ergy of the heart. The ravages and miseries 
 wliich occasionally visited other parts of the 
 Union, had here their permanent abode. — 
 More than one half of our territory was in 
 possession of, or laid open to the enemy, whose 
 immediate policy it was to acquire the remain- 
 der, and a large proportion of tliose who dwelt 
 in it was favorable to his views. The few 
 therefore who continued faitliful were culled 
 out at every moment, in every direction, to 
 resist invasion, repel incursion, er quell in- 
 
12 
 
 siirrectioii. The cannon's r6nv {intl the sav- 
 age yell were home on every hreeze. Uncul- 
 tivated fields, ahandoned shops, the ruin of 
 conflagrated dwellings wounded the eye of 
 pity, and filled the sympathetic bosom with 
 anguish, horror, and indignation. The patri- 
 otic few, assailed by danger and pinched by 
 want, were hourly tempted by the enemy with 
 insiduous oifers of protection and abundance. 
 These were the circumstances under which 
 the convention closed its labors, by publish- 
 ing the constitution in April, seventy-seven; 
 and under these cu'cuni stances was Chnton 
 chosen, in the succeeding month of June, to 
 be both Governor and Lieut. Governor : for 
 such was the confidence reposed in him, a 
 confidence unshaken during eighteen years, 
 and attested by six general elections. 
 
 Between the second and the third, Indepen- 
 dence was acknowledged, and the weary sol- 
 diers were permitted to repose in the arms of 
 peace. But who shall tell, what, during the 
 interim, were his exertions to quench the 
 sparks of conspiracy, to control the struggles 
 of faction, to resist the iiu'oads of invasion,^ 
 to repel tlie ravages of plundering foes, to 
 squeeze, from the indigence of an exhausted 
 people, supplies for that starving continental 
 vjrmy, whose paper resources were but as 
 
13 
 
 cliaif ; matter for tlie sport of winds, not for 
 the support of war. This cannot be done in 
 the compass of a discourse, nor in the page 
 of history. A diary would be required and al- 
 most the hourly note of events. Speak then, 
 ye, who were the companions of liis labor, 
 the witnesses of his zeal, the participators of 
 liis care : speak ye, who yet remain of that 
 generous legislature whose eye, fixed on free- 
 dom, followed him firmly through the rugged 
 road of virtue with gallant emulation, and the 
 proud disdain of danger. 
 
 At the close of November, '82, provisional 
 articles of peace were signed at Paris, and in 
 the autumn of the succeeding year, this city 
 was evacuated by the British troops. Amid 
 the general joy of those who returned from 
 exile, the remembrance of privation, loss, in- 
 jury and insult, was not wholly extinguished ; 
 some who adhered to the enemy threw them- 
 selves at his departure on the mercy of their 
 fellow citizens. Those, therefore, who had 
 abandoned their property, had quitted their 
 abode, and for seven long years had fought 
 and suftered in the cause of tlieir country, re- 
 turning now cloathed in honorable rags, and 
 scarred with honorable w ounds, met witli men 
 who in '75 were bawling patriots, but now 
 (after picking up the crums from lordly table?«- 
 
14 
 
 of commissaries, quarter masters and con- 
 tractors) were trickt out in the gorgeous livery 
 of British opulence : such objects could not 
 fail to excite sentiments of indignation. — 
 These were infectious. They caught, from 
 breast to breast, and endangered the public 
 tranquility. Had the wrathful fire burst forth 
 into outrage, it would have scorched the fiir- 
 est plume of our fame. And yet how could 
 such feelings be wholly represt ? 1 hat to con- 
 trol them was a duty wliich every citizen owed 
 both to liimself and to Ms country, and that 
 public faith pledged, should be honorably re- 
 deemed, are truths wliich we need not be told. 
 These are truths wliich will be readily admit- 
 ted by all in the cool moments of contempla- 
 tion. But let that self sufficiency, wliich in 
 such moments proudly condemns a sentiment 
 inseparable from our nature, let it step from 
 its soUtary chair into the crouded street ; let 
 it be one of the throng, and it shall feel (from 
 its impotence of self restraint) the necessity 
 of legal conti'ol ; it shall reluctantly acknow- 
 lege the magistrates authority to be indispen- 
 sible. But the magistrate himself is subject 
 to like feelings with his fellow-men ; Ms taste 
 of passion is as theirs, but far greater his 
 task ; he must not merely repress his own 
 emotions, he must restrain theii's. This duty 
 
15 
 
 the virtuous magistrate will perform. Cloatli- 
 ed in the majesty of the laws he will treat 
 tlieir enemy as liis own : but if in the croud 
 he perceives a friend, then comes the trial; 
 then throbs the heart; it is then tliat stem 
 and awful justice must ner>e his soul; his 
 eye must be turned away from his friend.— 
 But how if it discovers none but friends, dear 
 friends, about to avenge their common inju- 
 ry on the common foe ? Now speak, ye who 
 boast importm^able calmness of the mmd, 
 when yet no ruffling tempest of passion, nor 
 even a breeze of desu-e blows ; say, if (under 
 such circumstances) pity should melt down 
 the magistrate into a man ; will you yet con- 
 demn ? It was in tliis condition— it was under 
 these circumstances, that Gov. Clinton had to 
 perform the severe duty of his office ; nor 
 was it only for a moment nor a single occa- 
 sion. Constant watchfulness, steady control, 
 unbending determination marked his conduct, 
 and justified, and renewed, and corroborated 
 the confidence of his country. 
 
 Then, too, began a contest of another sort. 
 In the moment of danger office becomes an 
 object of desire to men of honorable mind. 
 In the sunshine of tranquillity it is sought af- 
 ter for the sake of emolument, or to procure 
 that consideration which incapacity cannot 
 
16 
 
 otherwise acquire. Office hunting, therefore, 
 of which (during the war) few or no symptoms 
 had hecn perceived, hecame (at the peace) an 
 cndemial disease. The constitution had pro- 
 vided a check on appointments. So long as 
 the governor hecame, hy his nomination, res- 
 ponsible for the character he should select, 
 and the council was confined to approve or 
 disapprove ; so long the people had, in them, 
 a security against the effects of misinforma- 
 tion, the partialities of aff*ection, and the abu- 
 ses of intrigue. But soon after the peace an 
 attempt at nomination was made by members 
 of the council : to this the opposition of Clin- 
 ton was characteristically firm 5 he had the 
 honorable pride to defend the rights of his 
 office, and hold his shai'e of constitutional 
 responsibilit3^ 
 
 As to the general course of his administra- 
 tion, it appears to have been directed by a 
 conviction that the foundations of society re- 
 pose onthe rights of property : a sacred regard 
 to wbich can alone secure all others. His 
 sound understanding, mellowed by reflection 
 and experience, knew that, from tbe moment 
 property becomes insecure, the incentives to 
 industry are removed, and the principles of 
 temperance and frugality destroyed : then ra- 
 pine supplies the waste of prodigality : then 
 
the simple charms of virtue no longer res» 
 pected : vanity (to supply the cravings of pro- 
 fusion) throws itself into the arms of vice : 
 all then is venal ; and if, in the general auc- 
 tion, liberty be not set up to sale, it is because 
 bidders would be wanting : for how, in the 
 riot of licentiousness, can that be worth the 
 purchase, which may be violated with impu- 
 nity, but wliicli can no longer exist than while 
 secure from violation ? 
 
 In the year 1804, George Clinton took his 
 seat, as Vice-President, in the Senate of the 
 United States. From that period, until con- 
 fined to the bed of death, he performed faith- 
 fully the duties of his high station. To share 
 in the measures of administration was not his 
 part. To influence them was not in liis power. 
 His sense of duty and his self command, in= 
 duced him to be silent, or else to speak of 
 them without censure, as without applause. 
 Sometimes, however, for who can be always 
 wise, his disapprobation broke forth. If he was 
 wrong not cordially to approve our councils, 
 charity will excuse something to the bias of 
 early education, something to the habit of mi- 
 litary life. Is it not pardonable in a soldier 
 to believe the sword more powerful than the 
 pen ? May it not be permitted, that a brave 
 3 
 
18 
 
 man should dislike threats ; that a man ac- 
 customed to command, should be too proud 
 to complain ? Must it be imputed as a crime, 
 that he, who during eighteen years governed 
 a commercial country, who saw (during one 
 third of that period) the people suffer severe- 
 ly, from the w ant of trade, and (during the 
 other two thirds) a full tide of wealtli pour in 
 through the wide deep channels of commerce, 
 that he should question the policy of shutting 
 those channels up, or diverting them to ano- 
 ther shore ? In a w ord, will you blame (fel- 
 low citizens) an old man, for preferring mea- 
 sures, sanctioned by experience, to projects, 
 however wise, which have seldom been tried, 
 and, when tried, have failed of then* proposed 
 object ? If so, accompany me to the tomb 
 where his head is laid low: look on those 
 hau's, grown grey in your service. Pardon, 
 oh, pardon the w eakness of age, and shed one 
 grateful tear on the ashes of a friend, whom 
 you shall see no mor^. 
 
 riNis. 
 
 I.RBApVb 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 011 769 089 1