To the address presented by the committee, the following reply was made by Governor Clinton: –

To the committee of a meeting of the citizens of Albany, of which John Tayler, Esq. was chairman, and John H. Wendell, Esq. Secretary.

GENTLEMEN – As the good opinion of virtuous and enlightened men has always been an object of peculiar solicitude to me, I cannot sufficiently express the gratification which I derive from your communication. From the inhabitants of this city I have ever experienced the most friendly treatment, and in the course of my residence among them, they have seen me in public and private life, and have witnessed my efforts in favour of the navigable communications between our inland seas and the Atlantic Ocean. At a meeting unprecedented for its number and respectability, they have unanimously honoured me with an expression of their approbation; and what has greatly increased my satisfaction on this occasion, is, the leading participation of two of the surviving patriots of the revolution – of that illustrious band of statesmen and soldiers which conducted our country to glory, to liberty and to independence. The eyes of these worthy and honourable men are now emphatically fixed on eternity, and their opinions on the concerns of this world must be as impressive as they are disinterested.

With respect to the character of the transaction of which you speak, I shall be silent. I shall willingly leave it to the decision of our country, and to the judgment of posterity. I can certainly entertain no resentments against the agents. If this event shall transmit their names to future times, they must pass the ordeal of the same high and impartial tribunals, and their conduct must receive its proper estimation. But I owe it to myself and to you, to my family, to my friends, and to my country, to declare that I invite the most rigid scrutiny into my official conduct. The same legislature will again assemble, and I shall then be as willing to encounter the full exercise of their inquisitorial authority, as I now am to sustain the whole weight of their implacable hostility.

I tender to you, gentlemen, and to my fellow-citizens whom you represent, my sincere thanks. The most powerful incentive to good actions, is the favourable notice of those who perform them. And I shall spare no exertions to merit the continuance of that good will and good opinion which you have this day manifested, and which I rank among the most felicitous events of my life.

Albany, April 17^th, 1824.

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Transcribed from the original text and html prepared by Bill Carr, last updated 5/29/99.