THE TRAGIC DEATH of SIR DANVERS OSBORNE
In this year, 1743, Admiral George Clinton was sent by King George II.
of England to take the place of George Clarke as Governor. Then Clarke
packed up his riches and went to England and enjoyed the rest of his
life far from the little colony that he had governed so much to his own
profit.
Admiral Clinton was the son of an English earl.
When he had been Governor not yet a year, there came a man whose
influence was soon felt. He was Commodore Peter Warren, of the British
Navy, who in later years became an admiral. Before he had been in New
York long, he married Susannah De Lancey, a sister of the Chief-Justice.
They went to live in a new house in the country, in the district which
was then and is now known as Greenwich.
England was again at war with France at this time. There were tribes of
Indians who sided with the French, and there were other tribes who sided
with the English, and the result was a series of bloody border wars. Two
years after the coming of Governor Clinton, New York, with the other
English colonies, gathered troops to attack the French, and a great
force was sent against a city called Louisburg. This city was on Cape
Breton Island, which is close by the coast of Nova Scotia and was a
fortress of such great strength, that it was called the Gibraltar of
America. Commodore Warren led the English fleet, and the combined forces
by sea and land captured the fortress.
You will remember James De Lancey, who was still Chief-Justice.
He was very rich, and as he showed at all times that he considered the
interests of the citizens above all things, they naturally thought a
great deal of him. For a time he acted as adviser to Governor Clinton,
but the two had a falling out.
For the ten years that Clinton remained Governor he had great trouble
with the people, who sided with De Lancey. At the end of that time
Governor Clinton, finding that his power grew less and less, and that De
Lancey became more and more popular, resigned his office. A few months
went by, and then came Sir Danvers Osborne to be Governor. On the third
day after reaching the city he walked out of the fort at the head of the
other officials, with Clinton by his side, to go to the City Hall, where
he was to take the oath of office. The people, all gathered in the
streets, shouted when they saw the new Governor. But at the sight of
Clinton, whom they hated, they hissed and shook their fists and yelled,
until Clinton became alarmed and hurried back to the fort, leaving the
new Governor to go on without him. And Sir Danvers Osborne was much
surprised and a little frightened.
"I expect," said he to Clinton that same day, "I expect the same
treatment before I leave the province,"
For all the shaking fists and for all the angry shouts, the new Governor
was well entertained that day. The church-bells rang, cannon boomed, and
at night the town was illuminated. But the citizens did not do this so
much for the new Governor as they did for De Lancey, who had now been
made Lieutenant-Governor.
Two days after Sir Danvers took the oath of office he called his council
before him and told them that the King had said he was to have the
permanent revenue about which there had been so much trouble with the
other governors. And the council members told him, as they had told
others, that this command would never be obeyed. On hearing this Sir
Danvers became sad and gloomy. He covered his face with his hands.
"Then what am I come here for?" he cried.
The very next morning there was an uproar in the city. The Governor
had been found dead, hanging from the garden-wall of his house. Then
the people learned that his mind had been unsettled for a long time,
and that he had accepted the governorship hoping to be cured by a change
of scene. But the knowledge that his rule would be one of constant
struggling to gain his ends had doubtless proven too much for his
wrecked brain. So he killed himself, and the government of New York was
left in the hands of James De Lancey, and you will see how he still
further won the hearts of those around him.