William Smith, a leading loyalist, was a jurist and a historian. In 1777, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to New York State and withdrew to New York City. After the war he went to England and then to Canada, where he became a chief justice. This portrait is from a miniature by Henry Stubble, ca. 178$. THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY times of "extraordinary Emergency" however, any three members would constitute a quorum "when more Members cannot be collected in Time. Soon after they completed their alterations, Smith and Elliot met with Clinton to explain their views. The commander-in-chief approved the document, stating that the ideas contained therein concurred with his own. The two loyalists charged Clinton and even his secretary (who took notes on the meeting) with secrecy, stating that "the restraints upon the Board" would disgust the militants and make them