the suffrages of the people, manifested in some sufficiently authentic shape in the several counties. Among these delegates, and indeed among the whole list of persons in this first memorable convention, which assembled at Philadelphia with more than Amphictyonic dignity, there is but the name of a single survivor. He now lives in an adjoining county, in tranquil retirement, with his faculties sound, his health comfortable, cherished by his children, cheered by his friends, and displaying in his conversation and manners the wisdom of a sage, and the faith and resignation of a Christian. John Jay was one of the committee in that earliest congress, who drew and reported the address to the people of Great Britain. I was assured, in very early life, that he had a special share in its composition. At any rate, it bears the impression of his genius, and it is a production that stands without a rival. The public papers of that congress were, all of them, in every point of view, of a masterly character. Lord Chatham declared in his place, in the House of Lords, that those productions had never been surpassed in any age or nation, for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion.

The delegates to the second continental congress, which met in May, 1775, were chosen by a provincial congress, which the people of the colony had already created, and which was held in this city, in April of that year, and had virtually assumed the powers of government. The names of the delegates from this colony, to this second congress, were, John Jay, John Alsop, James Duane, Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, Lewis Morris, and Robert R. Livingston; and the weight of their talents and character may be inferred from the fact, that Mr. Jay, Mr. Livingston, Mr. Duane, and Mr. Schuyler, were early placed upon committees, charged with the most arduous and responsible du

We find Washington and Schuyler associated together in the committee, appointed on the 14th of June, 1775, to prepare rules and regulations for the government of the army. This association of those great men, commenced at such a critical moment, was the beginning of a mutual confidence, respect, and admiration, which continued, with uninterrupted and unabated vividness, during the remainder of their lives. An allusion is made to this friendship in the memoir of a former president of this society, and the allusion is remarkable for its strength and pathos. After mentioning General Schuyler, he adds, "I have placed thee, my friend, by the side of him who knew thee; thy intelligence to discern, thy zeal to promote thy country's good, and knowing thee, prized thee. Let this be thy eulogy. I add,

* Journals of Congress, vol i. 99. 106.

and with truth, peculiarly thine-content it should be mine to have expressed it."*

The congress of this colony, during the years 1775 and 1776, had to meet difficulties and dangers almost sufficient to subdue the firmest resolution. The population of the colony was short of 200,000 souls. It had a vast body of disaffected inhabitants within its own bosom. It had numerous tribes of hostile savages on its extended frontier. The bonds of society seemed to have been broken up, and society itself resolved into its primitive elements. There was no civil government but such as had been introduced by the provincial congress, and county committees, as temporary expedients. It had an enemy's province in the rear, strengthened by large and well-appointed forces. It had an open and exposed sea-port, without any adequate means to defend it. In the summer of 1776, the state was actually invaded, not only upon our Canadian, but upon our Atlantic frontier, by a formidable fleet and army, calculated by the power that sent them, to be sufficient to annihilate at once all our infant republics.

In the midst of this appalling storm, the virtue of our people, animated by a host of intrepid patriots, the mention of whose names is enough to kindle enthusiasm in the breasts of the present generation, remained glowing, unmoved, and invincible. It would be difficult to find any other people who have been put to a severer test, or on trial gave higher proofs of courage and capacity,

On the 19th of June, 1775, Philip Schuyler was appointed by Congress the third Major General in the armies of the United Colonies; and such was his singular promptitude, that in eleven days from his appointment, we find him in actual service, corresponding with congress from a distance, on business that required and received immediate attention. In July, 1775, he was placed at the head of a Board of Commissioners for the northern department, and empowered to employ all the troops. in that department at his discretion, subject to the future orders. of the commander-in-chief. He was authorized, if he should find it practicable and expedient, to take possession of St. Johns and Montreal, and pursue any other measures in Canada having a tendency, in his judgment, to promote the peace and security of the United Colonies.

The Memoir of Judge Benson, from which this is extracted, has never met with the reception due to its intrinsic merits. This has probably arisen from the style and manner peculiar to that venerable man, whose habit has been to treat matters of fact with the dryness, precision, and severity of a special pleader. But the Memoir is nevertheless replete with shrewd remarks, sound principles, just criticism, keen satire, and ardent patriotism.

In September, 1775, General Schuyler was acting under positive instructions to enter Canada, and he proceeded, with Generals Montgomery and Wooster under his command, to the Isle au Noix. He had at that time become extremely ill, and he was obliged to leave the command of the expedition to devolve upon General Montgomery. The latter, under his orders, captured the garrisons of Chambly and St. Johns, and pressed forward to Montreal and Quebec. Montreal was entered on the 12th of November, 1775, by the troops under the immediate orders of Montgomery, and in the same month a committee from congress was appointed to confer with General Schuyler, relative to raising troops in Canada for the possession and security of that province. His activity, skill, and zeal shone conspicuously throughout that arduous northern campaign; and his unremitting correspondence with congress received the most prompt and marked consideration.

While the expedition under Montgomery was employed in Canada, General Schuyler was called to exercise his influence and power in another quarter of his military district. On the 30th December, 1775, he was ordered to disarm the disaffected inhabitants of Tryon County, then under the influence of Sir John Johnson; and on the 18th of January following, he made a treaty with the disaffected portion of the people in that western part of the state. The continental congress were so highly satisfied with his conduct in that delicate and meritorious service, as to declare, by a special resolution, that he had executed his trust with fidelity, prudence, and despatch; and they ordered a publication of the narrative of his march in the depth of winter, into the regions bordering on the middle and upper Mohawk. The duties imposed upon that officer were so various, multiplied, and incessant, as to require rapid movements sufficient to distract and confound an ordinary mind. Thus, on the 30th of December, 1775, he was ordered to disarm the tories in Tryon county. On the 8th of January, 1776, he was ordered to have the river St. Lawrence, above and below Quebec, well explored. On the 25th of January, he was ordered to have the fortress of Ticonderoga repaired and made defensible; and on the 17th of February, he was directed to take the command of the forces, and conduct the military operations at the city of New-York. All these cumulative and conflicting orders from congress were made upon him in the course of six weeks, and they were occasioned by the embarrassments and distress of the times."

In March, 1776, congress changed their plan of operations, and directed General Schuyler to establish his head quarters at

* Journals of Congress, vols. i. and ii.

Albany, and superintend the army destined for Canada. He was instructed to take such orders as he should deem expedient, respecting the very perplexing and all-important subject of the supplies for the troops in Canada; and those orders as to the supplies were repeated in April, and again in May, 1776. The duty of procuring supplies, though less splendid in its effects, is often more effectual to the safety and success of an army than prowess in the field. General Schuyler, by his thorough business habits, his precise attention to details, and by his skill and science in every duty connected with the equipment of an army, was admirably fitted to be at the head of the commissariate; and he gave life and vigour to every branch of the service. His versatile talents, equally adapted to investigation and action, rendered his merits as an officer of transcendent value.

On the 14th of June, 1776, he was ordered by congress to hold a treaty with the six nations, and engage them in the interest of the colonies, and to treat with them on the principles, and in the decisive manner, which he had suggested. His preparations for taking immediate possession of Fort Stanwix, and erecting a fortification there, received the approbation of congress, and their records afford the most satisfactory evidence that his comprehensive and accurate mind had anticipated and suggested the most essential measures, which he afterwards diligently executed throughout the whole northern department. But within three days after the order for the treaty, congress directed his operations to a different quarter of his command. He was ordered, on the 17th of June, to clear Wood Creek, and construct a lock upon the creek at Skeensborough, now Whitehall,) and to take the level of the waters falling into the Hudson at Fort Edward, and into Wood Creek. There can be no doubt that those orders were all founded upon his previous suggestions, and they afford demonstrative proof of the views entertained by him, at that early day, of the practicability and importance of canal navigation. He was likewise directed to cause armed vessels to be built, so as to secure the mastery of the waters of the northern lakes. He was to judge of the expediency of a temporary fortification or intrenched camp on the heights opposite Ticonderoga. Captain Graydon visited General Schuyler early in the summer of 1776, at his head quarters on Lake George; and he speaks of him, in the very interesting Memoirs of his own Life, as an officer thoroughly devoted to business, and being, at the same time, a gentleman of polished and courteous manners. On the 1st of August following, he was on the Upper Mohawk, providing for its defence and security, and again in October we find him

on the upper Hudson, and calling upon the Eastern States for their militia.

There can be no doubt that the northern frontier, in the campaign of 1776, was indebted for its extraordinary quiet and security, to the ceaseless activity of General Schuyler. At the close of that year he was further instructed to build a floating battery on the lake, and a fort on Mount Independence, and and also to strengthen the works at Fort Stanwix.

In the midst of such conflicting and harassing services, he had excited much popular jealousy and ill will, arising from the energy of his character, and the dignity of his deportment. He was likewise disgusted at what he deemed injustice, in the irregularity of appointing other and junior officers in separate and independent commands within what was considered to be his military district. He accordingly, in October, 1776, tendered to congress the resignation of his commission. But when congress came to investigate his services, they found them, says the historian of Washington,* far to exceed in value any estimate which had been made of them. They declared that they could not dispense with his services during the then situation of affairs; and they directed the president of congress to request him to continue in his command, and they declared their high sense of his services, and their unabated confidence in his attachment to the cause of freedom.

On the 9th of July, 1776, the provincial congress of the colony ratified the Declaration of Independence, and they immediately assumed the title of the Convention of this state. On motion of Gouverneur Morris, seconded by William Duer, a committee was appointed, on the 1st of August, to prepare and report the form of a constitution; but it was not reported and finally adopted until the 20th of April, 1777. The deliberations of the convention were conducted under the excitement of great public anxiety and constant alarm; and that venerable instrument, which was destined to be our guardian and pride, and to command the confidence and attachment of the people for upwards of forty years, was produced amidst the hurry and tumult of arms. The convention was constantly changing its place of residence to meet the exigencies of the day. From this city it removed successively to Harlem, to the White Plains, to Fishkill, to Poughkeepsie, and to Kingston. The members were harassed by variety of avocation and duty. Some were with the troops in the field; others were members of the continental congress; others were absorbed in attention to local concerns, and the wants of their exiled families. General Woodhull, who acted a noble part in the colonial assembly,

Marshall's Life of Washington, vol. iii. 231.