USA > New Jersey > Middlesex County > Perth Amboy > Contributions to the early history of Perth Amboy and adjoining country : with sketches of men and events in New Jersey during the provincial era > Part 17
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GOVERNOR BURNET.
WILLIAM BURNET-deriving his Christian name from Wil- liam, Prince of Orange, who stood sponsor for him in baptism -was ready and sagacious, a man of good understanding and cultivated mind. An education secured under the supervision of his father-the celebrated Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salis- bury-and Sir Isaac Newton, had been improved by travelling; and advantages, resulting from a happy combination of studi- ousness and affability, had given him a knowledge of men and books which enabled him in a remarkable degree to assimilate himself to those among whom he was thrown. And yet from his own account, his talents seem to have remained undeveloped to so late a period, that he was nearly twenty years of age be- fore his father perceived any promise of his attaining to dis- tinction. Books were his delight-his most highly-prized companions-and their acquisition was ever with him a cher- ished purpose, leading to the reception of more than one rebuke from the relative charged with the purchase of new works, for his frequent and expensive orders: amounting in some years to one hundred pounds sterling-a sum that, as he
14 He left his daughter, Mrs. Sloper, 400l., anually ; his other two daugh- ters, 5,000l. sterling each, and the resi- due of his estate to his son " on condi-
that he should not marry Sarah Kolly, widow of Charles Kolly."
15 Smith's New Jersey, p. 431.
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had become greatly involved soon after he left England by the explosion of the South Sea scheme, 16 was greatly dispropor- tioned to his income, which, independent of his salary in the province, was only about £250 per annum. Drafts, in con- sequence, were at first freely made upon his brothers, rather to their annoyance.
His contemporaries all accord to the Governor the posses- sion, in a high degree, of those frank and open manners and pleasing qualities which seldom fail to secure the regard of associates. He was " the delight of men of sense and learn- ing," says the historian Hutchinson, and is represented as having nothing of the moroseness of a scholar, but gay and condescending, affecting no pomp, visiting every family of re- putation, and devoting himself with unrestrained converse with ladies, by whom he was much admired. Some of Hunter's "gravest correspondents " in the province wrote to him that they did not know how the fathers and husbands would like the new governor, but they were sure the wives and daughters did so sufficiently. And his brother Gilbert wrote :- "I know your temper to be so much inclined to familiarity, that I wish it may not be turned to your disadvantage." 17
16 His brother Gilbert, and brother- in-law Mitchell, suffered to a still greater extent.
17 I am greatly indebted to the Misses Rutherfurd for the use of the valuable and interesting correspond- ence from which the extracts in the text are taken. This correspondence gives some interesting information re- specting the publication of Bishop Bur- net's History of his Own Times, to which, although foreign to the scope of this volume, it may be well to refer in this place, as it has never before ap- peared in print.
In January, 1721-2, Gilbert wrote : "None of our friends think it is time yet to publish my father's history, un- less we would blow ourselves up. I don't think the gain worth that risk. Stay till we are all a little settled in the world and people gone off the stage." These objections seem to have been overcome, and Governor Burnet is informed, in September, 1723, that Ward, of the Inner Temple,
had undertaken the publication of the work, he to be at all the charges, and the sons to receive half the proceeds of sales. "He has printed," he writes, "6,000 copies, which brings us in clear, if all sold, about £3,000. * *
* He has to do only with this edition ; not so much as an engagement to be employed on a second edition, if there be one." By February, 1723-4, 4,500 copies of the history were sold, and the Governor's share of the receipts, which is stated to be one third, amount- ed to £697 9s. 6d. The remainder of the edition was expected to be soon disposed of, when a new one would be put to press. " The history takes pro- digiously," says Gilbert, "and though at first some people were out of hu- mor, they now hold their peace and acquiesce. The Jacobite party, who at first lay still, and did not know what to make of it, have now broke out with such fury against it as does us great service."
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Governor Burnet received his appointment April 19th, 1720, sailed from Portsmouth about 20th July, 1720, and assumed the government of New York on the 17th September. A few days after, he visited New Jersey, and went through the usual forms of proclamation at Perth Amboy and Bur- lington.
The acquaintance of Governor Hunter with the leading men of New Jersey, from his longer connection with the prov- ince, had been more intimate than that of previous governors ; and the intercourse between him and Burnet in England, prior to the latter's embarkation for his government, was decidedly advantageous, as it enabled him to enter society with some knowledge of the characters, as well as of the social and politi- cal relations of the individuals composing it ; and it would seem that the impressions thus derived were sufficiently favor- able to lead him to look forward to more frequent and longer visits to New Jersey than had been the custom of previous executives, and with that view he purchased the house which has been mentioned as Hunter's residence in Amboy. Burnet's tastes and sentiments, however, upon many subjects, differed widely from those of his predecessor, and it is not, therefore, surprising that some of Hunter's warmest friends were never taken particularly into favor. Hunter, although a church- man, was extremely liberal in his views, and not disposed to make religious sentiments in any measure the test of friend- ship ; but Burnet's "eccentrical genius" 18-although he was so moderate that he could find among some of Hunter's friends those whom he thought proper to designate as "Jacobites," 19 -disposed him to repose confidence more particularly in those who generally agreed with him in doctrine.20
18 His " eccentrical genius," says Dr. Chandler, " was not to be confined within the limits of orthodoxy."- Chandler's Life of Dr. Johnson, p. 41. 19 He applies the epithet particularly to George Willocks, of whom, as we have already seen, tradition has pre- served few traits that would charac- terize him as a religionist of any kind. 20 In 1725 the Board of Trade trans- mitted a series of inquiries, to which
answers were requested. One of them referred to " the number of planters," &c., to which Burnet replied that "the people of New Jersey (being generally of New England extraction, and there- fore enthusiasts), would consider the taking the number of Planters, &c., as a repetition of the same sin as David committed in numbering the people."
The census was, however, taken, and the result is made accessible to
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The course taken by the Governor with the Assembly which he found in existence, was rather calculated to impair the favorable impression which his character and good sense had made upon the people of New Jersey, for dissatisfied with the extent of the support accorded to the government, he dissolved the House : a measure which appears to have been contrary to the wishes of the Lords of Trade, and to have excited some apprehensions among his friends in England.21 Had the gov- ernor regarded policy more than intelligent, independent action, he would probably have reasoned as they did for him, and before venturing upon any decidedly hostile steps, have established himself more firmly in the affections of the repre- sentatives of the people. No bad result, however, seems to have flowed from the course pursued, and the tenor of his com- munication to the new Assembly on their convening in the spring of 1721, was calculated to remove any unpleasant feel- ings which may have been excited, directing attention, as it did, less to his own emoluments than to those holding subor- dinate stations. "I must recommend to you," was his lan- guage, " not to think of me so much as of the inferior officers of this government, who want your care more, and whose sala- ries have hitherto amounted to a very small share of the pub- lic expense." The session thus happily commenced, ended harmoniously, and the Governor seems thereafter to have secured a fair share of the confidence of the Assembly. Some
Jerseymen through the liberality of the Legislature of New York.
The number of Whites was - 29,861
. Negroes " - 2,581
Whole number of Inhabitants 32,442
Monmouth was the most populous County. Essex stood second, Burling- ton third, and Middlesex fourth .- (N. Y. Colonial Documents, V., 819.)
When will the Legislature of New Jersey be induced to attach sufficient importance to the archives of the State in the possession of Great Britain, to place them within reach of its citizens ? 21 " All your friends," wrote his bro- ther Gilbert, "think you should have given way to their humor, and taken what they would give you, and man-
aged matters so softly as to have got more next time. * *
* Regulate yourself in this matter prudently and cautiously, for God's sake, that you may not lose one way the honor you get another." This proceeding was likely to be more noticed from his allowing the Assembly of New York to continue in existence, and that for a much longer period than was desired by the people. His brother wrote to him: "Take care you don't find it (the new Assembly) harder to deal with than the former. The govern- ment of provinces goes on the same maxims with that of Kingdoms, and you know how Princes get little by dissolving a parliament and calling a new one. *
* If you can't do what you would, do what you can."
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of the members of his Council, however, were ranged in oppo- sition, and one of them, George Willocks of Amboy, was sus- pended by him in the spring of 1722 ; he being, as the Gover- nor informed the Board, at the head of a cabal of intriguers ! The Governor's addresses and communications to the Assembly were generally brief and explicit, evincing the disposition-for which his correspondents censure him-to be always "in a hurry," not giving them, in consequence, as they thought, sufficient information respecting his affairs.
It is evident that the Governor's friends were not over con- fident in his being able so to conduct himself as to insure stability to his government, antl confirm himself, by a wise administration, in the good opinion of the people. Consider- able advice was given from time to time about attention to business, the cultivation of business habits, of regularity and precision. Even his own confidence in the propriety of his measures was a source of uneasiness to them. "You seem never to think solidly and soberly," wrote his brother Gilbert, " and to lay every thing together, but to be guided by fancy and imagination, which you change every day, as appears by your letters; for you forget what you say, and so altering your way of thinking, often flatly contradict yourself." And yet we learn from another source that he frequently made use of the saying "let us mind small matters, for great matters will make us mind them," 22 which could scarcely have been popular with one so regardless of method and rule as his English friends would lead us to suppose him to have been. This is not the place for the narration of the public events transpiring during his administration, but neither in New York nor New Jersey was it characterized by any weakness on the one hand, or oppression on the other ; and although the influence of a powerful faction in New York, inimical to him for his strong opposition to certain commercial projects affecting their inter- ests, which he deemed injurious to the colony and particularly favorable to the French, did, eventually, secure his transfer to another government, on the , plea of thereby preserving the
22 Pocket Commentary of the First Settlers of New Jersey, in Philadelphia Library, p. 16.
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public tranquillity, yet in both provinces his administration commended itself to the approval of the people generally.23
The charge of an undue indulgence of his fancy and ima- gination, preferred by his brother, may have been prompted by a knowledge of the fact that the governor was engaged in doing what many wise men before and since have proved their weakness in attempting-namely, explaining and illustrating the Apocalypse of St. John.
It is said 24 that the Governor, early in life, was inclined to infidelity, but the character of subsequent associations, as well as the beneficial instructions of his father and Sir Isaac New- ton, had led him to exchange the erroneous opinions he may have entertained, and so far as can now be ascertained he was a consistent Christian before coming to America. The exami- nations which these youthful errors induced, may have laid the foundation of that fondness for the study of divinity which he manifested, and which rendered him, at least in his own esti- mation, a theologian of some distinction. This continued to be a favorite occupation after his arrival, although in some respects it was rightly characterized by one of his correspond- ents as "not the thing in the world most for his advantage," as it led him to adopt such a course towards the ministers of
23 The reason for his transfer given to his friends in England by the Lords of Trade, was the desire felt to have a man of ability in Massachusetts, and the belief that he would be particularly acceptable to the people.
As a specimen of some of the con- temporaries of Burnet, the following letter-never before in print-from Sir Richard Everard, Governor of Nortlı Carolina, is given from the Rutherfurd MS. verbatim et literatim :-
Edenton 19 br 2d 1726
Dear Bro
I'm most sincerely ashamed I hant paid you your thirty pounds you were so kind an oblidging to lend me at New York the true Reason is our Re- ceiver Genels running away wth all our monys that we have been Forced to live meanly on our Creditt Pitch and Tar are now such poor Comodities they are not worth Sending as For Whale bone or Oyl I shall have enough
this Spring and we have one Waldron an Amboy man a Whaler that will bring it to you Pray Favour me wth your Answer I thank God I have paci- fied and made easier our Sovereign Lords the Mobb Mr Burrington is gon to England or Ireland and if he re- turns he is an Outlaw and his Bully Porter is indicted For his Insolence to me and assaulting and stabbing my Secretary, these Prosecutions has so dispirited the Faction that wth my Lenity I shall bring this Province to be easie and Quiet and also a Florish- ing Province. If your Breed of Pea Fowl are in being I beg you'l oblidge me wth a Cock and Hen Pray make my Humble Service acceptable to Mrs Burnett and All Friends-
I'm Sr Your most oblidged Brother & Faithfull Humble Servt RICHd EVERARD. 24 Elliot's Biographical Dictionary.
11
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the Church of England as incurred the displeasure of the ecclesiastical authorities at home.
The Bishop of London complained that clergymen already provided with his license to preach in the colonies, were sub- jected by the Governor to a subsequent examination by him- self ; and the manner in which it was conducted was particu- larly objectionable :-
" Your method," wrote Richard West,25 in 1724, " is to prescribe him a text, to give him a bible for his companion, and then lock him into a room by himself, and if he does not in some stated time produce a sermon to your satisfaction, you peremptorily refuse to grant him your instru- ment (permission to preach): the consequence is that the man must starve. * * * * I have seen a great many complaints against Gov- ernors, but then, nobody was surprised, because I could always give some pecuniary reasons for what they had done. You surely are the first who ever brought himself into difficulties by an inordinate care of souls ; and I am sure that makes no part of your commission."
The Governor's work was a small quarto of 167 pages, en- titled, "An ESSAY on Scripture Prophecy, Wherein it is Endeavoured to Explain the Three Periods Contain'd in the XII Chapter of the Prophet DANIEL. With some Arguments to make it Probable that the First of the Periods did Expire in the year 1715.26
Jam non ad Culmina Rerum
Injustos crevisse queror, tolluntur en Altum Ut Lapsu graviore ruant
Claudian, in Rusinum Lib 1 Lin 21."
It did not bear the author's name, neither is the place of publication given, the imprint being simply "Printed in the year MDCCXXIV." The only copy I have seen, or that is known to exist, is in the Library of the Massachusetts Histo- rical Society.
The first allusion to the book met with is contained in a
25 The Governor's brother-in-law, Solicitor-General to the Board of Trade. He died in Ireland, Dec. 3d, 1726.
26 Having satisfactorily determined that the first period expired in 1715, the second was expected to expire in 1745, and the third in 1790. "And that this may not seem presumptuous," he concludes, "though in general it is not safe to guess at what is yet to
come, we may remember that our Sa- viour allows and commands us in St. Luke, when these things begin to come to pass then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. If, therefore, I have made it probable that the first period is come to pass, we may be justly entitled to hope that the rest, which end in the Kingdom of God, are nigh at hand, even at the doors."
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letter from his brother Gilbert, under date of 11th August, 1722.
"I wish," says he, " you would not write to any body about the Reve- lations. They only laugh at you, and I must tell you one in your station should not be laughed at." On the 28th of the same month he again refers to the subject, and adds, " I see people whom I told you of before, who endeavored to represent you here as going wrong in the head, and will take advantage of this, which, in every body's eyes, will be allowed to be madness, and perhaps knock you down by it. For God's sake be more reserved, therefore, on these points. * * * * This is the seri- ous thought of all your best friends here, who all join in urging you to keep your hopes to yourself, and not to be gazing up to heaven so as to fall into a ditch upon earth."
" I would much rather wish you," wrote another relative, "instead of publishing any thing upon the Revelations, as I am told you talk of, to keep a daily register of your own transactions, that you may be able to defend yourself if ever your management should be called in question."
Notwithstanding these earnest appeals, the work continued to grow. Its publication became more and more the fond dream of its author, and his letters conveyed to his brother. many of his peculiar views, and developed some projects which excited no little apprehension for his sanity. In September, 1723, Gilbert wrote to him : "What you drop of going to France to prevail with great men there to destroy the Pope -- dom, frightened me. I told it to nobody. For God's sake don't say things that, if your letters miscarry or are opened,. will make you pass for a man of a disturbed understanding .. I assure you I would not show your five sheets about it for a great deal." Some months after, the publication of the work is again warmly denounced, and Sir Isaac Newton's: opinion is introduced as being decidedly adverse to its publi- cation.
But, nevertheless, the book was completed-and the book was printed, where, as I have said, does not appear-and in October, 1724, sundry copies made their appearance in Eng- land. Gilbert acknowledges their receipt, and states that he had distributed them without making known the author's: name. West, who has been mentioned as commenting on the. Governor's treatment of the Missionaries, tells him very frankly that he had better have spent the time the work had: occupied over the chess board or backgammon, and adds, in
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connection with what has been already stated relative to his theological examinations :-
" I cannot but think that, if upon the prescription of some prophetical text (it is two to one it is so) any poor devil should be so unfortunate as to fix the expiration of your first period in the year 1640, in defiance of your Excellency's having so judiciously determined it to be in 1715, he would be in great danger of being looked upon as a most incorrigible un- qualified blockhead, and that, consequently, his instrument would be denied."
Surely the Governor's good nature can be vouched for, if unmoved by such epistles. But what says Gilbert now that the deed is done and the work given to the world, which was to condemn his brother to be classed among those " gone wrong in the head," or of " disturbed understanding." We can fancy the emotions of doubt and apprehension with which the Governor broke the seal of the letter which would make known to him the decision of one, of whose intelligence and judgment he seems to have entertained a high opinion, and scarcely need we the artist's pencil to depict the change which passed over his features as he read, "I like your Essay mightily, finding few mere imaginations in it, but a world of parallels that clear up passages. I own most of them were quite unknown to me before." A candid admission to be made to a layman by a regularly ordained clergyman. And then the zeal with which he enters upon a discussion in relation to some of the texts is quite remarkable, considering that only a few months before he had said of the Governor's theory, "I can't see that it even approaches to truth, or even probability." He subsequently awarded the Governor great credit for the interest with which he clothed the subject, and, as is frequently the case, from being a hearty disbeliever in the value of such researches, be- came an earnest inquirer ; pages of foolscap at each opportu- nity being filled with discussions, which, had they not been so much to the taste of his correspondent, would probably have prompted a warning to beware himself of " the ditch " in whose depths he had once feared his upward gazing would cause the Governor to be lost.
Both the Governor and his brother Gilbert 27 were members
27 Gilbert died of a fever, June 20th, 1726, leaving "an excellent set of ser-
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of the Astronomical Society, and the former made Astronomy one of his studies in America. In the transactions of the Society for 1724, is a paper communicated by him on the Eclipses of Jupiter's Satellites.
Governor Burnet was averse to leaving the middle colonies. His marriage with a daughter of Cornelius Van Horne, of New York, had greatly multiplied the social and friendly ties which united him to that province, but, as the time approached for his departure, these probably exercised a less binding influence in consequence of the death of Mrs. Burnet, which occurred towards the close of 1727, and the death of a son, which fol- lowed in the spring of 1728. But independent of all private considerations, the habits and customs, as well as the theolo- gical and political systems of the people of Massachusetts Bay, were not so consonant with his own as those with which he had been familiar for eight years ; but the mandate had gone forth ; interest or obligation required provision to be made for John Montgomerie,28 and Burnet gracefully retired.
The Governor reached Boston the 12th July, 1728. The reputation he had earned for popular manners, scholastic at- tainments and business qualifications, had prepared the way for an agreeable reception. Expectation was on tip-toe in Boston, and more than an ordinary parade marked his en- trance into town. A committee of citizens, besides a dele- gation from the General Court, waited upon him at the con- fines of Rhode Island, to escort him thither, additions were made to the cavalcade as it proceeded, and at a short distance from the city such a multitude of people on horses and in carriages was congregated, that the display was long remem- bered as one unprecedented in the history of the country, and for many years unequalled.
A change of government effected no change in the charac- ter or disposition of Governor Burnet. He was the same
mons, which we all think," writes his brother-in-law, " will well deserve to be printed."
Thomas, another brother, was Con- sul at Lisbon for some years, but in 1726 was recalled, in consequence of some difficulty with the Envoy, and in
1729 commenced the practice of the law.
28 Montgomerie had been Colonel of the Guards and Groom of the Bed- chamber to George II. while Prince of Wales.
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pleasant companion, the same lover of books, and the same frank and honest gentleman he had been elsewhere, but these characteristics do not always seem to have been well under- stood and appreciated, by the more staid portion of the New Englanders. It is chronicled, rather as a disparagement of the Governor, that, on one occasion, when dining with a sober member of the General Court, he was asked very deferentially by his host, how he would prefer having the divine blessing invoked, he replied : " Standing or sitting, any way, or no way, just as you please." An answer which cannot fairly be construed into disrespect for the custom, but rather as indicating an aversion to such an adherence to it as tended to render it irksome. For his abhorrence of ostentation and mere formality in religion was well understood, although, as Hutchinson re- marks, his avoidance of it led some of the grave people about him to think "he approached too near the other extreme."29 Such a construction, too, is warranted by the anecdote related by Belknap.30 On his way through the Province from Rhode Island, the Governor had been annoyed by the length of the graces said by the different clergymen who honored him with their presence at meal times, and asked Colonel Tyler, of Bos- ton, when they would shorten ? The Colonel humorously re- plied, "The graces will increase in length, your excellency, till you come to Boston, after that they will shorten till you . come to your government of New Hampshire, where you will find no grace at all." There is a pleasing intimation, however, that his finer points were duly appreciated by men of discern- ment, in the remark made by one of his biographers, that a coat he sometimes wore, made of cloth and lined with vel- vet, " was expressive of his character." It would be far better for the world were there were more people whose usefulness and worth, like the governor's coat, could bear an exploration below. the surface. His cotemporaries, however, coincide in ascribing to him the possession of a firm belief in the truth of revealed religion, and as has been already remarked, his life appears to have been consistent with that belief, however liberal may have been his views as regarded modes and forms.
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