before, that he read it before the Royal society.
Golden also became acquainted at this time with
other noted literary and scientific men. He re-
turned to Philadelphia in 1716, but, at the re-
quest of his friend. Gov. Hunter, settled in New
York in 1718, and in 1719 became the first survey-
or-general of the colony, and master in chancery.
Gov. Burnet gave him a seat in the provincial
council in 1720. About 1755 he retired with his
family to a tract of land, for which he had received
a patent, about nine miles from Newburg, on the
Hudson. Here, in the midst of a wilderness, ex-
posed to attacks from hostile Indians, he gave his
attention to farming and to scientific pursuits,
without neglecting the duties of the surveyor-
general's office. Golden was an earnest royalist and
advocate of the taxation of the colonies by the home
government. He administered the affairs of the
province as president of the council in 1760, and
in 1761 Lord Halifax, in return for his " zeal for
the rights of the crown," appointed liim lieutenant-
governor. He held this office till his death, and
was repeatedly placed at the head of affairs by the
absence or death of the various governors. He
was acting governor when the paper intended for
distribution under the stamp-act arrived in New
York, and it was put under his care in Fort
George, which stood on Battery point. On the
evening of 1 Nov., 1765, "a torch-light proces-
sion," says Bancroft, " carrying a scaffold and two
images, one of the governor, the other of the
devil, came from the Fields, now the Park, down
Broadway, to within eight or ten feet of the fort,
knocked at its gate, broke open the governor's
coach-house, took
out his chariot,
carried the images
upon it through
the town, and re-
turned to burn
them, with his
own cari-iages and
sleighs, before his
eyes on the Bowl-
ing Green." He
would have fired
on the people, but
was menaced with
being hanged on
a sign-post if he
did so. The next
day he yielded,
and consented to
give the stamps
into the custody
of the New York
common council.
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They were taken to the city-hall, and the mu- nicipal government then restored order. Golden's claim for indemnification was rejected by the assembly in 1766. He continued to be a firm friend of the crown, and in 1775 advised the as- sembly to " supplicate the throne, and our most gracious sovereign will hear and relieve you with paternal tenderness." Golden's administration was marked by the incorporation of several be- nevolent societies. On the return of Gov. Tryon in 1775, he retired to his house on Long Island. Dr. Golden corresponded from 1710 till his death with the most prominent scientific men of his time. He took special interest in botany, and was the first to inti'oduce the Linna?an system into America. He furnished to Linnaeus an accoimt of between 300 and 400 American plants, about 200 of which were described in the "Acta Upsaliensia." The celebrated Swedish botanist afterward gave the name Goldenia to a plant of the tetandrous class, in honor of his correspondent. One of Gol- den's most constant correspondents was Benjamin Franklin. The two philosophers regularly com- municated their discoveries to each other, and in a letter to Franklin, dated October, 1743, Golden first mentions his invention of the art of stereo- typing, afterward practically carried out by Her- ban in Paris in the beginning of this century. Though he early gave up the practice of medicine, he was always interested in it. He was one of the first to recommend the cooling regimen in fevers, and in 1743 showed, in a tract, how an e|)ideniic that had visited New York was aggravated by the filth and foul air in portions of the city. For this he was thanked by the corporation, who adopted many of his suggestions. Dr. Golden took an ac- tive part in founding the American philosophical society. Pie published a " History of the Five Indian Nations depending upon New York," call- ing attention to the relation of Indian affairs to commerce (New York, 1727; reprinted, with in- troduction and notes by John G. Shea, 1866 ; enlarged ed., London, 1747), and " Gause of Gravi- tation " (New York, 1745 ; enlarged ed., entitled " Principles of Action in Matter," with a treatise on Fluxions, London, 1752). He prepared, just before his death, a new edition of the last-named work, with copious additions, and placed the manuscript in the hands of Prof. Whittle, of Edinburgh, but it never appeared, and its fate is unknown. Among Dr. Golden's medical papers are an " Essay on the Virtues of the Bortanice or Great Water-Dock," which led to his acquaintance with Linnaeus, and " Observations on Exidemical Sore Throat " (1753). Among his manuscripts are an inquiry into the operation of intellect in ani- mals, an essay on vital motion, and " Observations on Smith's History of New York," complaining of the author's partiality and incorrectness. These and other papers are in the possession of the New York historical society, and the historian Bancroft derived from them valuable data for his History of the United States. — His grandson, Cadwallader David, lawyer, b. in Springhill, near Flushing. L. I., 4 April, 1769; d. in Jersey Gity, N. J., 7 Feb., 1834, began his studies in Ja- maica, L. I., and continued them in London, Eng- land. He returned to the United States in 1785, studied law, and began practice in New York in 1791. He removed to Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1793, but returned in 1796 to New York city, where he became district attorney in 1810, and stood at the head of his profession as a commercial lawyer. He was colonel of a volunteer regiment in 1812, a member of the legislature in 1818, and in the same year succeeded De Witt Glinton as mayor of New York. In 1821 he successfully con- tested the election of Peter Sharpe to congress, and served one term, and from 1824 till 1827 was a member of the state senate. With De Witt Glinton he was among the earliest promoters of the system of internal improvements, and also gave much attention to public education and the refor- mation of juvenile criminals. He was for many years one of the governors of the New York hos- pital. Mr. Golden married a daughter of Samuel Provoost, first Episcopal bishop of the diocese of New York. He published a " Life of Robert Ful- ton," whose intimate friend he was (New York, 1817) ; " Memoir of the Gelebration of the Gom- pletion of the New York Ganals" (1825); and " V^indication of the Steamboat Right granted by the State of New York " (1819).
