e was one of the most active and useful members of the
Provincial Congress and the Committee of Safety. "Nothing from the
other side of the water," he wrote to a friend in November, 1775, "but
a fearful looking for of wrath. But let us be prepared for the worst.
Who can prize life without liberty? It is a bauble only fit to be
thrown away." He served through the present campaign, and then
continued in the public service as Secretary of the State of New York
and afterwards member of the Continental Congress.

[Footnote 79: In a letter to Peter Van Schaack, dated New York,
February 23d, 1776, Fred. Rhinelander says: "We are going to raise a
new battalion; Colonel Lasher and Gouverneur Morris are candidates for
the command. As both the gentlemen have great merit, it is hard to
tell which will succeed." The reference here is probably to a plan
formed by private citizens in New York to raise a battalion of fifteen
hundred men for nine months, on condition that the projectors could
appoint the officers. This being refused by the Provincial Congress
the plan was abandoned.--_Life of G. Morris_, vol. i. p. 89, n.]

[Footnote 80: See Biographical Sketches, Part II.]

[Footnote 81: The New York Congress voted that the City and County of
New York should furnish twelve hundred men as their quota of the three
thousand recently called for, and these were to consist of "the two
independent battalions." They were composed of ten companies each,
which, however, never reached their maximum strength. In September
Lasher's total was 510; Malcom's, 297.]

Two other acquisitions to the army in this campaign were the brothers
James and George Clinton, of Ulster County, N.Y., both destined to be
prominent characters in the Revolution. James Clinton, as colonel of
one of the Continental regiments, superintended the construction of
fortifications in the Highlands, and in August was promoted to the
rank of brigadier-general in the Continental service. George was
member of Congress, and after voting for the Declaration of
Independence returned to command a militia brigade which the State
called out during the summer, and which joined Washington's army just
before the battle of Long Island. These troops were commanded by
Colonel Levi Paulding, of Ulster County; Colonels Morris Graham and
James Swartwout, of Dutchess; Colonel Isaac Nichol, of Orange; and
Colonel Thomas Thomas, of Westchester. Before this, in November, 1775,
an attempt was made t