123 
 41 
 PV 1 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 Compliments of 
 
 0(N:iMAAx^y^JU;%ll^ 
 
 Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, 
 
 OKI.IVEUED AT 
 
 KINGSTON, JULY 30, 1 S 7 7, 
 
 Centennial Celebration 
 
 formation of tlic mate fouornment 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 ALBANY! 
 WEED, PARSONS AKl) COMPANY, PItlNTEUS. 
 
 1877. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 BY 
 
 Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, 
 
 DELIVERED AT 
 
 KINGSTON, JULY SO, 187 7, 
 
 Centennial Celebration 
 
 Jormation of tlic mRk |)oucrnment 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK 
 
 ALBANY: 
 WEED, PARSONS AND COMPANY, PRINTERS. 
 
 1877. 
 
JUN 3 '910 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Fellow Citizens : 
 
 Ceiiteiuiial celebrations crowd upon lis. Appropriate 
 commemorations of events of the revolutionary period are 
 the pleasure and duty of the year. Most of them are 
 upon historic battle fields, and I'ecall the feats of arms of 
 our victorious ancestors. 
 
 The occasion which calls us together has deeper signifi- 
 cance than any Ijattle. It is the anniversary of the declara- 
 tion and establishment of those principles of constitutional 
 liberty, without which the continental soldier had fought 
 and died in vain. The story of the formation and expres- 
 sion of i^opular opinion upon popular rights during the 
 colonial era, its development in the Constitution of 1777, 
 and its results for a century, can only be sketched in the 
 limits of an address. Unlike the other colonies. New York 
 had no chartei'ed rights ; there were no limitations on the 
 royal prerogative, and it was only by long and continued 
 struggles that any immunities or privileges were secured. 
 
 The Dutch had brought with them from Holland ideas 
 of toleration and liberty, of which that country was for a 
 time the only asylum in the world ; the English colonists 
 were firm in their devotion to representative government. 
 
 By every process short of revolution during the early 
 period of the English rule, the arl)itrary exactions of tlie 
 
Koyal Governors were resisted, and the demands for an as- 
 sembly of the people never ceased. 
 
 The claim was based upon the natural and inherent 
 rights of a free people. 
 
 Ijx 1683, the home government, unable longer to resist, 
 called together an assembly elected by the people. It was 
 the dawn of representative government in New York. 
 The first assembly of our ancestors immediately asserted 
 and enacted into laws the fundamental principles of civil 
 liberty. They passed laws for a triennial assembly ; they 
 declared all power to vest in the Governor, Council and 
 people met in general assembly. The privileges of mem- 
 bers of Parliament were conferred upon the assemldy and 
 its members ; their consent must be liad to the levy of any 
 tax, and all the guarantees contained in Magna Oharta, in 
 the bill of rights, in the habeas corpus act, together with 
 trial hj jury, and freedom of conscience in matters of re- 
 ligion, were declared to be the rights, liberties and piivi- 
 leges of the inhabitants of New York. They created the 
 township — that school of self-government — provided the 
 civil divisions upon the plan which has substantially pre- 
 vailed ever since, and organized superior and inferior 
 courts for the administration of Justice. The ri<dits and 
 liberties tluis established were often violated and arbi- 
 trai'ily suspended or (h^iied, ])ut every repetition of such 
 tyranny only served to inflame to passionate devotion the 
 people's love of lilx-rty, and to prepare the waA' for the 
 Declaration of Independence. Ninety-three years after this 
 memorable assertion of popular rights, petition and re- 
 monstrance having alike failed, the people determined to 
 peril life and fortune to maintain and enlarge them. In 
 1776, New York was without a regular government. The 
 
Council was dissolved ; the General Assembly prorogued, 
 and tlie Royal Governor a fugitive under tie protection of 
 the o:uns of the British fleet. 
 
 The Provincial Consrress sittino; in New York owed its 
 existence to the necessities of the times. It was a revolu- 
 tionary body, its only charter an election by the people. 
 On the 1 5th of May of that year the Continental Congress, 
 then sitting in Philadelphia, adopted a resolution requesting 
 the respective assemblies and conventions of the United 
 Colonies " where no government sufficient for the exigencies 
 of their affairs had been established, to adopt such gov- 
 ernment as should in the opinion of the representatives of 
 the people best conduce to the happiness and safety of their 
 constituents in particular and America in general." 
 
 They also recommended the suppression of all authority 
 derived from the crown of Great Britain, and the assump- 
 tion and exercise of o-overnment under authority from the 
 people of the colonies. Of the thirteen colonies, all, 
 except Rhode Island and Connecticut, adopted the recom- 
 mendation. Their charters did not reserve to the crown 
 the control over or veto upon their internal affairs, and 
 with them such action was unnecessary. Virginia's consti- 
 tution was first, and New York's fifth, in the order of 
 adoption. 
 
 A few days after the passage of this resolution the 
 Provincial Congress met in New York, Governeur Morris, 
 a delegate from the county of AVestchester, then but 
 twenty-four years of age, signalized his entrance into public 
 life, by urging immediate action, in a speech remarkable for 
 its courage and radicalism, and its strong presentation of the 
 thought of the time. Pie boldly declared that reconcilia- 
 tion with the mother country was a delusion, and that peace, 
 
liberty and security could only be Lad by independent 
 government, and moved that a committee be appointed to 
 draw up a plan for the frame of a government. 
 
 These men, acting upon well-understood principles, and 
 jealous of every assumption of power, thought that this 
 Congress was not elected for this purpose. 
 
 A committee was finally appointed, to whom the whole 
 subject was I'eferred, and on the 27tli of May they reported 
 "that the right of framing, creating or remodelling civil 
 governments, is and ought to Ije in tlie people," that tlie 
 old form of irovernment ^vas dissolved and a new form 
 was absolutely necessary, and that, as dou])ts existed 
 whether the Provincial Congress had po^ver to act, the 
 people of tlie Colony be called to elect a new Congress 
 specially instructed upon the question of a new govern- 
 ment. This report is remarkable as the earliest, clearest 
 and most emphatic declaration of the doctrine of popular 
 sovereignty. It was New York's contril)ution to Ameri- 
 can liberty, learned by more than half a century of 
 incessant struggle of the representatives elected l)y the 
 people with the repi'esentatives of the royal power. 
 
 Tlie re]^)ort of tlie committee Avas adopted, and on the 
 31st a series of resolutions, prepared by Mr. Jay, ^vere 
 passed, calling upon the several counties to elect a new 
 body, with power to form a new government, and 
 instructed also upon the question of united colonial 
 independence. In the meantime the seat of war ^\•as 
 transferred to New York. On Sunday afternoon of the 
 30tli of June, the l)ritish fleet and nniiy under Lord 
 Howe liaving entered the harbor, the Congress, appre- 
 hensive of an attack by the enemy, resohed that the next 
 Congress should meet at White Plains, in the county of 
 
Westchester, and adjourned. On the 9tli of July, 1776, 
 the newly-elected delegates met at the court-house in that 
 place and elected General Woodhull President, and John 
 McKesson and Robert Berrian Secretaries. During the 
 forenoon a letter was received from the delegates of New 
 York, in the Continental Congress, inclosing the Declaration 
 of American Independence, which had been adopted on 
 the 4th. 
 
 It was immediately read and referred to a committee, 
 consisting of Messrs. Jay, Yates, Hobart, Brashier and 
 Wm. Smith. It was a critical moment for these men. 
 They had been Just elected ; only a few hours had elapsed 
 since they had qualified and entered upon their duties, 
 and now their first legislative act Avas to make up their 
 record upon an issue which, if successful, made them 
 patriots ; if it failed, traitors and felons. How firm was 
 their resolve ; how clear their purpose; how serene their 
 minds, is evidenced by the fact that on the afternoon of 
 the same day the committee reported resolutions concurring 
 in the Declaration, fully adopting it, and instructing our 
 delegates in the General Congress to support the same, and 
 give their united aid to all measures necessary to obtain 
 its object. 
 
 The convention immediately adopted the report. On 
 the morning of the next day, the 10th of July, this body 
 "Resolved and ordered, that the style and title of this 
 House be changed from that of the ' Provincial Congress 
 of the Colony of New York," to that of ' The Convention 
 of the Representatives of the State of New York,' and 
 thus on the 10th day of July, 1776, the State of New 
 York was born. In the afternoon of the 10th, they 
 resolved to enter on the 16th upon the formation of a 
 
State government, but by tliat time the situation of affairs 
 liere became too alarming for deliberation. Wasliington 
 was contemplating tlie abandonment of New York. Brit- 
 isli ships of war were anchored off Tarrytown, within six 
 miles of where they were sitting. Their whole attention 
 was occupied in raising troops and supplies, and providing 
 for the public order. On the IGtli they postponed the 
 question till the 1st of August. In the meanwhile they 
 provisionally ordained that all magistrates and civil < )fficers, 
 well affected toward independence, continue the exercise 
 of their duties until further orders, except that all pro- 
 cesses thereafter must issue in the name of the State of 
 New York, and declared it to be treason and punishable 
 with death for any one living within the State and enjoy- 
 ing the protection of its laws to adhere to the cause of the 
 king of Great Britain or levy war against the State in his 
 behalf. 
 
 With dangers threatening on every hand, the British 
 fleet in possession of New Yt)rk bay, the Hudson river and 
 Long Island sound, a veteran army in overwhelming num- 
 bers but a few miles distant, thus boldly and fearlessly did 
 the Representatives of New York assert her sovereignty. 
 On the 27th of July the convention found it necessary to 
 remove to llai'lem, and there, on the 1st of August, on 
 motion of Governeur Morris, and seconded 1)y Mr. Duer, a 
 committee was appointed to prepare and re])<)rt a constitu- 
 tion or form of government. 
 
 This committee was composed of the most eminent men 
 in the convention and in the Conunonwealth. For a gen- 
 eration after independence was achieved a majorit}' of them 
 continued to receive, in positions of honor and trust, the 
 highest marks of the confidence and affection of their 
 
9 
 
 countrymen. Tlieir labors in the Cabinet and in Congress, 
 in tlie State Legislature and upon tlie bench, and in the 
 diplomatic service, form the briglitest pages in the history 
 of the nation and the State. 
 
 John Jay was Chairman, and his associates were Gov- 
 erneur Morris, Robei't R. Livingston, William Duer, Abra- 
 ham and Robert Yates, General Scott, Colonel Broome, 
 Mr. Hobart, Colonel De Witt, Samuel Townshend, William 
 Smith and Mr. Wisner. The committee were to report on 
 the 16th of August, 1770; but such was the perilous con- 
 dition of the State, and so manifold the duties of the 
 members of the convention, that no report was made till 
 March, 1777. The convention meanwhile, by the alarm- 
 ing situation of affairs, was migrating from place to place, 
 and performing every class of public duty. It was a com- 
 mittee of public safety; it was providing the ways and 
 means to continue the contest; its members were now 
 serving in the Continental Congress, and again with the 
 army ; they were acting as Judges and negotiators. To-day 
 they were flying befoi'e the enemy, to-morrow furnishing 
 protection for the sorely pressed Commonwealth. At one 
 time meeting at Kingsbridge, then at Odell's in Phillips' 
 Manor, then at Fishhill, Poughkeepsie, and finally at 
 Kingston. At Fishkill they supplied themselves with 
 arms and ammunition, and thereafter legislated with their 
 swords by their sides, literally building the peaceful fabric 
 of constitutional government, in the very presence of the 
 alarms, the perils and the carnage of war. On the 6th of 
 March, 1777, at Kingston, the committee appointed to pre- 
 pare a form of government were required to report on the 
 following Wednesday, and that day, the 12th, the commit- 
 tee made a report which was read by Mr. Duane. 
 
10 
 
 The draft was drawn by John Jay, and is in his hand- 
 writing. This draft was under discussion until the 20t]i 
 of April, and underwent some amendments and additions. 
 The leading minds in the debates, and in the introduction 
 of the amendments ado]^)ted were John Jay, Governeur 
 Morris, Robert R. Livingston and Mr. Duane. The con- 
 stitution, liowever, was finally passed almost as it came 
 from the hands of Mr. Ja} , and was adopted with one dis- 
 senting voice on the 20tli of April, 1777. It was the 
 evening of Sunday, the President, General Ten Broeck, 
 was absent, and also the Vice-President, General Pierre 
 Van Cortlandt, but revolutions know neither days nor indi- 
 viduals. General Leonard Gansevoort, actino; as President 
 pro tem., attested the document. 
 
 The same night Robert R. Li\'ingston, General Scott, 
 Governeur Morris, Aljraham Yates, John Jay and Mi', 
 Ilobart were appointed a committee to report a plan for 
 organizing and establishing the form of government. 
 They next directed one of the secretaries to proceed imme- 
 diately to Fishkill, an<l have five hundred copies of the 
 constitution, without the preaml)le, and twenty -five huu- 
 dred with the preandjle printed, and instructed him to 
 give gratuities to the workmen to ha\'e it executed with 
 dispatch, rhey then resolved that the constitution should 
 l>e published on the next Tuesday^ in front of the Court- 
 house, at Kingston; aud (he village committee were noti- 
 fied to pre[)ai'e for the event. This latter body seem 
 expeditiously and economically to have performed their 
 duty by erecting a platform upon the end of a hogshead, 
 and from this Vice-President Van Cortlandt presiding, 
 Robei't Herrian, one of tlu; secretaries, read this immortal 
 document to the assembled people. The convention hav- 
 
11 
 
 ing promulgated their ordinance for the formation of the 
 State government, and filled up, provisionally, the offices 
 necessary for carrying it on until an election could be had, 
 and appomted thirteen of their numl)er to act as a com- 
 mittee of safety until the Legislature should assemble, 
 adjourned sine die on the 18th of May, 1777. Thus jjassed 
 into history this remarkable convention. In lofty patriot- 
 ism, steadfastness of purpose, practical Avdsdom and liberal 
 statesmanship it had iew, if any, equals, even among 
 the legislative bodies of extraordinary merit which 
 marked the era. Its address to the people, drafted 
 by Jay, and declared by Jeiferson the al)lest docu- 
 ment of the period, is a most compact and eloquent 
 statement of the fundamental principles of free govern- 
 ment, and Avas republished by Congress for the whole 
 country, and translated into foreign tongues. Of the 
 many distinguished men who were its members, three 
 stand out conspicuously, and form an unequaled triumvir- 
 ate of social distinction, character, culture and intellect. 
 They were John Jay, Governeur Morris and Robert R. 
 Livingston. All young men, possessing the best educa- 
 tion of the time, belonging to the wealthiest families in 
 the State, Ijy Ijirth and (Opportunity certain of royal favor, 
 and having the largest stake in loyalty and stable govern- 
 ment. They yet risked all, and periled their lives, for 
 civil liberty and self-government. John Jay became 
 Governor and caljinet minister and foreign envoy, and the 
 first Chief Justice of the United States. Govei'neur 
 Morris distinguished himself in the councils of the nation 
 and the diplomatic service of the countiy. Robert R. 
 Livingston rendered the most eminent services, both to 
 this State and the United States, and in foreign courts. 
 
12 
 
 Their examples, efforts and contributions in educating and 
 nerving the colonies to the Declaration of Independence, 
 in the events which led to the recognition of the Republic, 
 and in mouldinor the internal reo;ulations and foreiirn 
 policy of the new government, are the special pride of 
 ~New York and the glory of the nation. No one can 
 to-day read the Constitution of 1777, without wondering 
 how little we have been al)le to improve upon it in one 
 hundred years. When we consider that purely represent- 
 ative government was then an almost untried experiment, 
 this instrument becomes more and more an enduring 
 monument to the wisdom and foresight of its framers. 
 It begins with a ])reandjle setting forth the causes which 
 led to the formation of a separate government, and the 
 authority conferred upon the convention by the pe<^ple to 
 do this w^ork. It recites at length the Declaration of 
 Independence, and the unanimous resolution of the con- 
 vention on the 9th of July, 1776, indorsing the declaration 
 and instructing the New York delegates in the Continental 
 Congress to give it their support. By virtue of which 
 several acts and recitals, says the preamble "All power 
 whatever in the State hath reverted to the people thereof, 
 and this Convention hath, by their suffrages and free 
 choice, been appointed and authorized to institute and 
 establish such a government as they shall deem best 
 calculated to secure the rii^hts and lil)erties of the o'ood 
 people of this State." 
 
 Its first section, which was unanimously agreed to, is the 
 key-note of its spirit. It ordained, determined and declared 
 that no authority, on any pretense ^vhatever, should be 
 exercised over the people or members of this State, but 
 such as should be derived from and granted l)y the i^eople. 
 
13 
 
 The declarations of 1683 were to secure for Britisli 
 colonists every liberty granted by tlie crown to the British 
 subject. The purpose of the men of 1777 was to substi- 
 tute tlie popular will for tlie royal prerogative, and natural 
 rights for charters ^vrung from the reluctant hands of 
 hereditary power. 
 
 Their experience with tlie colonial Governors had made 
 them Jealous and suspicious of individual authority, and so, 
 to prevent the passage of laws inconsistent with the spirit 
 of the Constitution, or the public; good, they placed the 
 veto power in the hands of a council of revision, consisting 
 of the Governor, the Chancellor, and the Judges of the 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 All bills passed l)y the Legislature were to be submitted 
 to them, and tlieir veto was absolute, unless the bill was 
 repassed by two-thirds of each House. 
 
 It followed the Eno-lish model in its Leo-islature, and 
 created two bodies. Senate and Assembly, and vested in 
 them all legislative power. The Senate, twenty-four in 
 nunil)er, was to l)e elected for four years l)y the freeholders 
 of their districts having freeholds of the value of over one 
 hundred pounds, and the Assembly of seventy members 
 for one year, by freeholders possessing freeholds of the 
 value of twenty pounds, or renting tenements of the yearly 
 value of twenty shillings and paying taxes. Provision 
 was made for increasing both Ijranches, but the Senate was 
 never to exceed one hundred or the Assembly three hun- 
 dred. It was the universal l)elief of the time that those 
 who paid the taxes and supported the government should 
 govern. Universal suffrage was not deemed an inherent 
 right, but a privilege to be hedged about wdth j'estrictions 
 and limitations, and while we have enlarged the limit, our 
 
14 
 
 legislation has always held to the theory, until recently, as 
 to jDeople of color, and still as to women, and minors, and 
 others. It was the change of sentiment on this great ques- 
 tion which led to the convention and new constitution of 
 1821. The executive power was vested in a Governor and 
 Lieutenant-Governor to be chosen for three years, and to 
 this term we have retuiiied by an amendment adopted in 
 1874. The judicial power was vested in a Chancellor, and 
 Judges of the Supreme Court ; and local county courts 
 and a probate Jndiciary were constitnted, and they respect- 
 ively- held during good behavior, and until sixty-five years 
 of age; while a final appellate court, both in law and 
 equity, was Jormed by the Senate, the Chancellor, and the 
 Judges of the Supreme Court. Says the most eminent au- 
 thority of our time: ''The first New York Judiciary ad- 
 ministered public justice and protected private lights dur- 
 ing the whole period of its existence, in a manner which 
 satisfied our people and won applause from all disinter- 
 ested observers." 
 
 The appointing power was vested in a council of ap- 
 pointment, consisting of four senators, selected annually 
 by the Assembly who, with the Governor, were to form 
 the council. To this body was given the appointment and 
 removal of all officers in the State, except the chancellor, 
 judges of the supreme court, and first judges of counties. 
 As tlie State increased in wealth and population, the power 
 and j)atronage of this council became enormous. It con- 
 trolled the ])olitics of the Commonwealth for forty years, 
 and, at the time of its abolishment, had within its o-ift 
 fifteen thousand ofiftces. Such parts of the common law of 
 England and the statute law of Great Britain and the 
 colony of New York, not inconsistent with the independ- 
 
15 
 
 ence of the State, as were in force on tlie 19tli day of 
 April, 1775, were declared to be tlie law of New York, 
 thus deliberately fixing in the fundamental la^v the day 
 when the British soldiers fired upon tlie patriots at Lex- 
 ington as the close forever of the supremacy of British 
 authority. 
 
 The manner of voting was the subject of much discus- 
 sion in the convention. The object was to get the freest 
 and most unbiased expression of the popular will. At 
 first the advocates of tlie viva voce vote seem to have had 
 the majority ; but tliis convention was wonderfully free 
 from prejudice, or pride of opinion, or slavery to precedent. 
 As stated in the constitution, their o1)ject was to do that 
 which best "would tend to preserve the liberty and equal 
 freedom of the people " They were willing to fairly try 
 any reasonable experiment. AVhile the vote by ballot was 
 negatived by two-thirds, a compromise was adopted by 
 thirty-three to three, ordaining that, after the termination 
 of the war, the Legislature should provide for all elections 
 by ballot, and if, after full and fair trial, it was found less 
 conducive to the safety and interest of the State, the viva 
 voce practice might be restored. In 1787, the requisite 
 law was enacted for voting by ballot, and that method has 
 continued ever since. 
 
 The question of religious tolerance excited great interest 
 and the longest debate. By personal ex})erience and family 
 tradition these men were very familiar with the results of 
 bigotry and intolerance. With the exception of Holland, 
 there was scarcely a place in the world where religious free- 
 dom was permitted. John Jay, true to his Huguenot recol- 
 lections and training, threw the weight of his great influ- 
 ence and ability ou the side of restriction. He moved to 
 
16 
 
 " except tlie professors of the religion of tlie clinreli of 
 Rome, until tliey sliould take oath that tliey verily believed 
 tliat no ]^ope, priest, or foreign authority hath po^ver to 
 absolve the subjects of the State from allegiance, and unless 
 they renounced the false, wicked and damnable doctrine 
 that the pope has power to absolve men from their sins," 
 this having been voted down by nineteen to ten, it was 
 then moved, " that this toleration shall not extend to justify 
 the professors of any religion in disturljing the peace or 
 violating the laws of this State," this too was rejected, and 
 the convention, to their immortal honor and glory, 
 established liberty of conscience in these memorable 
 words : '' This convention doth in the name and by the au- 
 thority of the good people of this State, ordain^ detennine 
 and declare, that the free exercise and enjoyment of relig- 
 ious profession and worship, without discrimination or pre- 
 ference, shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State 
 to all mankind." Thomas Jefferson forced a like expres- 
 sion from Virginia, l)ut with that exception : New York alone 
 amono; the tliirteen States l)eo:an its existence with absolute 
 and untrammeled religious liberty. 
 
 The C(jnstitution provided for the naturalization of 
 foreigners, for trial l^y jury, for a militia service with 
 recognition of the Quakers, and for the protection of 
 Indians within the State limits. Acts of attainder were 
 prohibited, no person was to l)e disfranchised, except by 
 law of the land or the judgment of liis peers; freedom of 
 debate in legislative bodies was secured; parties iinpeaclied 
 or indicted for crimes were to V)e allowed counsel as in 
 civil cases, and the Legislature were prohibited from insti- 
 tuting any court except such as sliould proceed according 
 to the course of the common law. Pause for a moment 
 
17 
 
 and reflect upon the conditions under wliicli this Constitii. 
 tion was pre^^ared and adopted. Its framers in perpetual 
 peril of their lives, at some period during their delibera- 
 tions, every county in the State invaded by the enemy, 
 devoting most of their time to the public defense and the 
 protection of their families, without precedent to guide 
 them, save the English model, their own experience, and 
 thoughtful study of the principles of liberty. " Our Con- 
 stitution," said Mr. Jay in his letter to the President of 
 the Convention, "is universally a})proved even in New Eng- 
 land, where few New York productions have credit." The 
 verdict of posterity is unanimous and emphatic, that it 
 deserves a high place among the few immortal documents 
 which attest and determine the progress of the people, 
 and the growth and defense of human liljerty. Its princi- 
 pal features were incorporated into the Constitution of the 
 United States, and followed by a majority of the new Com- 
 monwealths, which from time to time were admitted into 
 the Union. The men whose virtues we celebrate here to- 
 day, did not build better than they knew. It is the 
 crowning merit of their work that it fulfilled its purpose. 
 The peril of their position, the time, nearly the darkest 
 and most hopeless of the i-evolution, so purified their 
 actions and intensified their thoughts, that reason became 
 almost prophecy. The brilliance of the promise is 
 equaled by the splendor of the performance. The salient 
 principles of the old Constitution underlie the new, and 
 every present effort to abandon other experiments and 
 restore the ancient forms, is the best tribute posterity can 
 pay to the marvelous wisdom of the members of our first 
 State Convention. The Constitution of 1777 remained in 
 force for over forty years, and then with some minor modi- 
 
fications, the extension of suffrage, and the concentration 
 of more power in the Governor, it continued substantially 
 unchanged until 1846. The public improvements of the 
 State, its growth in population, and local necessities 
 demanded some amendments, and to provide for the public 
 debt, and limit the debt contracting power, and to enlarge 
 tbe Judiciary, the Convention of 1846 was called together. 
 While preserving many of the essential features of the 
 old Constitution, this Convention made changes which radi- 
 cally altered our scheme of State administration. The 
 Grovernor was stripped of nearly all j^owei', the author- 
 ity of the Legislature was restricted, and appointments 
 to office, and local administration given directly to the 
 people. The whole civil service, which for seventy years 
 had l)een appointed by the Council of Appointment and 
 the Governor and Senate, was reduced to elective offices. 
 The judiciary, which had l)een selected by the Executive, 
 and held its place during good beliavior, was submitted to 
 popular nomination and election, and very short terms of 
 service. Tlie whole instrument is a pi'otest against the 
 concentration of j)()\\er in any brancli of the govei'ument, 
 and a demand for its surrender at the shortest possible 
 intervals by the Executive, tlie legislative and the judicial 
 officers, back again to the people. It cut up and sul)- 
 divided, for the election of the Legislature, the large 
 districts, with their guarantee of larger men for repre- 
 sentatives, and made statesmanship difficult in proportion 
 as it nuiltiplied the op})ortunities and increased the 
 influence of the local politician. It so widely distributed 
 official authoi-ity and responsibility that each soldier of a 
 v^ast army of j^lacemen was accountable only to the haz- 
 ards of a re-election at the end of a brief term, and the 
 
19 
 
 Governor was the head of an administration beyond the 
 reach of apjwintment, removal or control by him. Tlie 
 wisdom of the revolution, especially in the judiciary, has 
 never ceased to be doubted, and within the past five years, 
 by duly adopted amendments, more permanency and 
 dignity have been given to our higher and appellate courts, 
 by reorganizing them upon a muj'e harmonious basis, with 
 more symmetry and concentration, and longer terms of 
 service. The tendency of recent Constitutional reform has 
 been to old methods in respect to the Executive, both in 
 regard to his length of service and general powers, and 
 happily to drive from the Legislature special legislation 
 for the benefit of individuals, corporations or localities, 
 and compel the enactment of such general laws as will 
 bear eijually in both grant and limitation upon all, giving 
 to none the exclusive Ijenefits and franchises of the State. 
 But tlie methods provided by the Constitution of 1846 to 
 preserve the credit of New York, to reform and simplify 
 the practice and codify the laws, are worthy of all praise, 
 and have been adopted by a large number of the other 
 States. Let us hope that very soon our fundamental law 
 may be still further amended to stop the increase of local 
 and municipal debt, the source and fountain of extrava- 
 gance, peculation and fraud, and the greatest curse of our 
 time. 
 
 This brief review of our constitutional history leads 
 naturallv to an inquiry as to what practical results have 
 been obtained by these princi2)les and plans of government. 
 The first election for State ofiicers and members of the 
 Legislature was held in June, 1777, in all the counties not 
 in possession of the enemy, by the ofiicers appointed by the 
 convention. A majority of the council of safety sought to 
 
20 
 
 control the matter by nominating Philip Schuyler for 
 Governor, and George Clinton for Lieutenant-Governor. 
 As Jay said, in proclaiming these nominations : " Our Con- 
 stitution is universally approved and does honor to our 
 State. Let us not lose our credit in committing the 
 government of it to men inadequate to the task. These 
 gentlemen are respectable abi'oad. Their attachment to 
 the cause is confessed and their abilities unquestionable. 
 Let us endeavor to be as unanimous as possible." 
 
 Notwithstanding this powerful nomination, forty-one 
 candidates ran, 13,179 votes were cast, and General George 
 Clinton was elected both Governor and Lieutenant- 
 Governor. He resigned the latter office, and General 
 Pierre Van Cortlandt, as President of the Senate, became 
 Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 The newly-elected Governor ^vas cast in the mould of 
 the sternest and most inilexil)le patriotism. The highest 
 office in the gift of the peo[)le had come to him unsolicited, 
 but he hesitated long Ijefore aceepting it. Regardless of 
 personal sacrifice or ambition, he wanted first clearly to see 
 whether his duty to the cause could l)e best performed in 
 the field or the executive chair. The council of safety, rest- 
 ive under their great responsibilities, demanded that he 
 immediately leave his command and assume the helm of 
 State. 
 
 Washington and Putnam ad\'ised his acceptance, and 
 among the expressions of opinion from all (piarters, the 
 Consistory of the Dutch Peformed Church, at Kingston, 
 addressed him a most earnest appeal and congratulation. 
 " From the beginning of the present war," they said, " the 
 Consistory and people of Kingston have uniformly been 
 attached to the cause of America, and justify, upon the 
 
21 
 
 soundest principles of religion and morality, tlie glorious 
 revolution of a free and oppressed country. Take tlien, 
 with the acclamation and fullest confidence of the public — 
 take, sir, the government into your hands, and let the 
 unsolicited voice of the Avhole State prevail upon you to 
 enter upon this arduous task. The Consistory esteem 
 themselves especially happy in having cause to believe 
 that religious liberty, ^vithout which all other privileges 
 are not worth enjoying, will be strenuously supported by 
 your Excellency." 
 
 He yielded his own judgment to the universal anxiety, 
 and the 30th of July, 1777, was hxed for the inauguration. 
 And so, one hundi'ed years ago to day, upon this spot, the 
 council of safety surrendered its powers. General George 
 Clinton was inaugurated Governor, and the State of New 
 York, under a constitution and duly organized government, 
 l)egan its history. He came from the very presence of the 
 enemy to assume the robes of office, to return to his post 
 when the ceremony was over, and the proclamation Avhich 
 made him Governor, General and Commander of the 
 Militia and Admiral of the Navy of the State, was the 
 first State paper bearing the startling attest " God save the 
 People." Forts Clinton and Montgomery were attacked 
 in the Hio-hlands, Herkimer was battling in the Valley of 
 the Mohawk, Biu'goyne was marching from the north, and 
 it was months before he could summon from the field and 
 gather in council the first Legislature. 
 
 New York had but two hundred thousand people ; was 
 without manufactories or internal improvements, and 
 hemmed in and invaded on every side by hostile fleets and 
 armies. One hundred years have passed, and to-day m 
 the sisterhood of States, she is the empire in all that con- 
 
22 
 
 stitiites a great Commonwealth. An industrious, intelligent 
 and prosperous population of five millions of people live 
 within her l^orders. In the value of her farms and farm 
 products, and in her manufacturing industries, she is the 
 first State in the Union. She sustains over one thousand 
 newspapers and periodicals, has eighty millions invested in 
 church property, and spends twelve millions of dollars a 
 year upon popular education, Up\vard of three hundred 
 academies and colleges ht her youtli for special professions 
 and furnish opportunities for liberal learning and the 
 highest culture, and stately edifices all (^ver the State, 
 dedicated to humane and benevolent objects, exhibit the 
 permanence and extent of her oi'ganized charities. 
 
 There are three hundi'ed millions of dollars in her 
 savings V)anks. Three hundred millions in her insurance 
 companies, and five hundred millions in the capital and 
 loans of her State and National Banks. Six thousand 
 miles of railroads, costing six hundred millions of dollars, 
 have penetrated and developed every accessible corner of 
 the State, and maintain against all rivalry and competition 
 her commercial prestige. 
 
 In 1825 a cannon was hred upon the Battery in New 
 York city, in response to the reverberations of the guns 
 from Sandy Hook, its echoes were caught and repeated by 
 another shot at the Palisades, and so from Tappan Zee to 
 the Highlands, and along the Catskills and the valley of 
 the Mohawk, and past the falls of the Genesee, till lost 
 over the lake at Buffalo, the thunders of artillery 
 announced, in one hour and twenty minutes, the whole 
 length of the State, that the waters of the lake had been 
 wedded to the ocean, and the Erie canal was completed. 
 It marked a new era in the prosperity of the State and the 
 
23 
 
 history of tlie nation. It sent the tide of emigration to 
 the northwest, developing there great agricultural States, 
 and added immensely to the wealth of New York. All 
 honor and gratitude to the men who at that early day had 
 the courage and foresight to plan and pursue these great 
 public improvements, and whose wisdom has been proven 
 by a repetition of the lessons of the ages, that along the 
 highways of commerce reside population, wealth, civili- 
 zation and power. The glory of each State is the common 
 property of the nation, and we make this day our centen- 
 nial exhibit. Our inquiry has shown that we need not 
 step beyond our own boundaries to iind illustrious annals 
 and noble examples. We are rich in battle-fields, decisive 
 in results upon the freedom of the nation. 
 
 Jay, Morris and Livingston, Schuyler and Montgomery, 
 Clinton and Herkimer, Hamilton and Kent, are names 
 which will live among the soldiers, patriots and sages of 
 all time. In every crisis of its history, the virtue, courage 
 and wisdom of the people have been equal to the needs of 
 the present and the wants of the future. 
 
 Let us welcome the second century and enter upon its 
 duties with the stern purpose and high resolve to maintain 
 the standard of our fathers in the public and private life 
 of the State and the honorable superiority of New York 
 in the Federal Union. 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 107 424 6 
 
LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 014 107 424 6