USA > New Jersey > Documents relating to the colonial history of the state of New Jersey, Volume VIII > Part 19
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We presume the Petitioners don't know the Differ- ence between Radius and Diameter, for many of them have seen it, and could never mistake so far as to call Twenty-two inches Radius as that Instrument is, but . Twenty-two Inches Diameter, if they did.
As to Arguments offered against the Act, we know not what they are, but if we may depend upon the In- formation of those who, we believe, knew much more of that Matter than any of the Petitioners, they are not esteemed of Weight sufficient to answer the End in- tended by them, and are in no likelihood of procuring the Repeal of it; and we are induced to believe our In-
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formation, not only from the Nature of the Act, but from the conduct of the Governor, who would not have recommended the passing an Act of the like Nature to the Assembly of this Province, had he been under the least Doubt of the Disapprobation of that at New-York; nor do we conceive the Consequence attending such Repeal, with Respect to this Affair, can be any other than refunding into the Treasury, the Money spent on this Occasion; for we presume the Lines and Bound- aries of this Government may be ascertained, without the Consent of that Assembly, if any Persons will be at the Charge of it; and that your Honour, or such Per- son as shall be instructed with the Government of this Province, will be both willing and able to protect us in the Enjoyment of our Civil Rights.
They say, that by running the Line, the Petitioners will be in Danger of being encroach'd upon: Being in Danger of being encroach'd upon, is a Reason they should have blushed at: If they could have made out they should be encroach'd on, it might have had some Weight; but surely they never could so far flatter them- selves, with the Hopes of putting a Stop to an Affair of this Consequence, by their being in Danger of being incroach'd upon, except they had good Assurances, that, say what they would, it should be effectual, as we are pretty well assured they had, and shall be rep- resented in its proper Time and Place: The Petitioners cannot say, they would be incroach'd upon if the Line was truly run, they making no Pretence to Land in Jersey; so that they durst not offer that; and if it was not truly run, Jersey might be in Danger of being in- croach'd upon, as well as the Petitioners; and the natural Petition on that Head should have been, that the utmost Care should be taken to run it truly, and not to put a Stop to it.
They make a Flourish of the Justice and Indulgence of the Crown; which, we make no Question, all his
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Majesty's good Subjects will, at all Times, feel the proper and good effects of, according to their Demean- our; but what they mean by Justice and Indulgence here, is the Conduct of the Person Governor of New- York at that Time, and is quite different from what they are pleased to call it; and we persuade ourselves, to just and impartial Men, will appear to be what it really is; to make which appear, we humbly pray, your Honour to receive the following Information; Some Dutch Farmers wanting Land, pitch'd upon a Place called Tapan, and applied to Col. Dungan; who being informed, the Land they had pitch'd upon, lay mostly in Jersey, used his Endeavour to alter the Station, by him so solemnly agreed on, and prevailed on the Sur- veyor of York and West-Jersey, to join in making the Report, in the Year 1686, mentioned before; to which they could never get the Surveyor of East-Jersey to join: After, or about the Time of that Report, he grants the Lands desired, to the People of Tapan, for the Con- sideration they made him; which Lands lay mostly in the Jersies; and they settled down by Virtue of those Grants, and by the Countenance of that Governor (who had the Vis major, ) held them, and do so to this Day. Some there were who held Lands by Jersey Rights within this Grant, and these were forc'd to comply, and take new Ones from that Government, which he gave for the full Quantity they held before; but to one of them, who held from Jersey a considerable Tract of Land, which would interfere with his Grant to Tapan, and who he was loth to dispossess altogether, lest it would shake his new Settlement, and bring the Vali- dity of his Titles in Question, and thereby lay him under the Necessity of refunding the Money he receiv'd, he made a Grant for the whole Land; and both the Patents of Tapan and Lockarts lying in the Office to- gether, he ordered a Day's prior Date to be put to the former, which was not discovered till long after; and so
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they hold the Land to this Day: And what Disputes that has occasioned between Corbet and Meritt, is no Secrett. This giving away of the Jersey Lands, con- trary to the most solemn Agreement made by himself, as before, and in this Manner, is the so much magni- fied Justice and Indulgence; and how far it deserves those Epithets, may one Day be determined.
They come at last to Proposals, and offer to be at half the Charge of an Instrument proper and large enough, to be approved and attested to be true and correct by able Artists, and the Obliquity settled, &c. As to the Obliquity, enough has been said already to shew the Weakness of that poor Pretence; and as to the Instrument, they neither tell what Instrument they mean by a proper Instrument, nor how large is large enough, nor who these Skilful Artists shall be that are to try and attest it; but having reserv'd to themselves a Power of adding, altering, or amending, we suppose, they'll think that Reservation gives them an Authority proper and large enough to make Use of when this (none-such) Instrument arrives, to render it as wholly ineffectual for the Purposes of ascertaining the Station, as they have endeavour'd to do this; for there will be a Necessity of certifying, that these are skilful artists; and those that certify them such, will need another Certificate, to certify their Judgments that so certify, and so on; and notwithstanding such Certificate of the Correctness of the Instrument, it wont be safe to proceed upon it till its tried here, and known to be so or how to correct the Errors of it in Case its not; and if so, such Certificate is needless; and with this good Instrument there may and will Differences happen in the Observations in different Parts of the Instrument; and all that can be said on it (though confess'd to be true) will not prove satisfac- tory to any person resolved not to proceed, and one Stroke of Cant, that he cannot in Conscience proceed
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to determine the Latitude by it, overthrows the whole Affair, and puts Things in the same condition they are at present; which is all that we expect from the Peti- tioners, or their proposals; though we shall be always ready to comply with sincere, just and practicable Proposals, whenever they appear from the Petitioners or any else, some of which we think to be, that the Commissioners and Surveyors proceed according to the Directions of the Legislature, their Oaths and Com- missions, till they finish the Work; and if any or all of these will not or cannot proceed, that some others, more willing, able, and knowing, be sought out, that both can and will; that the Commissioners and Sur- veyors of the Provinces concerned in the Station- Point on Delaware, meet, and try to find the Defects of the present Instrument (if any such there be) and if they can, amend them, and rectify any Error occa. sioned by them; that if they think it impracticable by that Instrument to determine the Latitude, that then they stop their Proceedings till they get one by which they can; but that it be not Stopt upon the bare Whim or Credit of any one Visionary among them: These Proposals are what we humbly conceive to be just and reasonable, and what we hope will be complied with; but if the Opposers of this good Work persist in their Endeavours to defeat and elude the good Intent of of those Laws made on that Behalf, and a Stop is put on the Side of New-York, without the Consent of the Rest concerned; we become humble Suppliants to your Honour, that it may be done on the Part of Jersey, for which we shall be ready and willing to defray the Expence.
As to Capt. Jarrat, his whole Conduct while con- cerned in that Affair, gave but too visible Indications of his Attachment to that Party, whose Endeavours have been to prevent the Running of those Lines; so that little less was expected from him than is come to pass;
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and we refer him to that Conscience he seems so ten- der of, which will not fail faithfully to lay before him the true Motives that prevailed upon him to make that Pretence; and with as great a Deference to him, as he has to that, take Leave to observe, that Tapan Creek does not lie two Minutes to the Northward of the place of Observation, we are informed, hardly one; and that Younkers Mill lies about six Miles to the Southward of it, as we are informed; and if so, even this Extream of between two or three Minutes to the Southward of the Place of Observation, cannot reach these Mills: This is a Matter he can easily determine, if his Con- science is not disposed to contradict his Eyes.
Notwithstanding that Capt. Jarrat says, there is a wide Variation in the Observations, to wit, of between 4 and 5 Minutes, yet he is careful to avoid saying, that the Instrument is erroneous; for he is sensible, that the best Instrument that ever was, may differ twice that Number of Minutes in the Observations, and at the same Time be perfectly good, (viz. as good as Man's Hands can make it,) for its ten Thousand to one, if the Glass-Grinder, do so grind the Object Glass and center it, and the Instrument-Maker so place it in the Instrument, as to make the Axis of the Glass per- fectly coincident with the Rays of the Sun; which if they do not exactly, (and to say its exactly, is beyond human Art) there must be a Refraction of the Rays; which made Astronomers, as particularly Bulialdus, upon the first Use of Telescopes, to such Instruments, say, that glasses were not at all fit for such Instru- ments, because we could never know, whether the Ray came directly or refractedly to our Eye; and, no Doubt, they would have soon been disused, if a method had not been found out to discover that; which since has been, and which perfectly shews, whether a Ray comes directly or not, and (if not) exactly, how much it is refracted; and that is, by
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having the Telescope moveable, so that if by looking thro' it, one Way you find your Object of one Height, so much as this is too high or too low, you can find out, by turning the opposite Side of your Telescope uppermost, and looking again to the Object; now so much as the Object appeared too low the first Way, so much must it appear too high this Way, et e contra; and of Consequence, the Difference between the two Altitudes is twice the Error, which halved, and added to the least, and subtracted from the greatest, will give the true Altitude, as well as if the Rays had come directly to the Eye.
Now Capt. Jarrat is sensible, that this is the Cause of the Variation of the Observations, and has owned, that that Method of correcting, which is so plain in it- self, and which every one that has any tolerable knowl- edge in Glass, knows to be perfectly true, is true in Theory, and to be used in Astronomy, for one's own private Satisfaction; but thinks its not to be put in Practice in this Case, not because it will not do, and discover as truly the Latitude sought, as if it was per- fectly correct, but because he is pleased to say, some Estates are at Stake, so that if he should determine with that Instrument, he might be liable to future Reproaches of being bribed or byass'd; and therefore desires a larger Instrument, not to determine the Mat- ter with more Truth, but to vindicate himself from the Aspersions of being bribed or byass'd; what sug- gested that Thought he best knows, and from this we may guess, how likely the Success is to answer the Expectation.
We are not surprised at this from him, but very much so at the Report of the Gentlemen of his Majes- ty's Council of New-York, who advise that Jarrat should be directed to certify, by some Instrument under his Hand and Seal, that the Station pretended to be fix'd at the Fishkill, is wrong and erroneous, to
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that End, that Province might not, at any Time, re- ceive any Prejudice by a tripartite Indenture, executed by the Surveyors and Commissioners, &c. before the Defects was discovered.
The Reasons which, upon the whole Matter, induced them to give this Advice, are as extraordinary; and with due Deference to the Characters of those Gentle- men, amounts to no more than an implicit Depend- ance on Jarrat's Word, without any Proof or Reason given for the Truth of what he says.
That is to say, Jarrat who was made Choice of, as the ablest Mathematician, has, by the Declarations in his Petition, and Assurances before them, Complained of the Defect of the Instrument.
And has also declared, that the Methods proposed by Mr. Alexander, are not satisfactory to him.
We humbly submit to your Honour's Judgment, whether this is any more, either in Words or Meaning than that Jarrat said so; Jarrat says the Instrument is defective, and that he is not satisfied with the methods proposed by Alexander; (and therefore) is this ground sufficient to set aside all that has been done, and elude the good Intentions of two Provinces, upon the Credit of a Man, which, for any Thing they know, may be in the Wrong, and in all Probability is so? They say, he declared so in his Petition, and assured them so; there is nothing like it in his Petition, and Alexander protests, he does not remember that ever he told them so; he, indeed, tells them of wide Differ- ences of Observations, but that does not prove a De- fect in the Instrument; that may happen many Ways, and the Instrument be good enough. Has Jarrat said, these Differences proceed from the Defects of the In- strument? or given them any Proof that it is so? Or will he presume to say so? If he does, we desire he may be ask'd upon his Oath, (for his Conscience may get the better of his Memory) whether he took any of
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these Observations himself at Corbet's, that made this Discovery, or saw them taken? or knows any Thing about them, but by Information from another? And we advise him in this Case, to have some Regard to his Memory; because there are Men alive, that knows in what Part of the Province he was at that Time; and we desire these Honourable Gentlemen, together with their Petitioners, and Mr. Jarrat, to give any Proof if they can, that this Difference of Observations, pro- ceeded from the Defect of the Instrument, and not the Mistake of the Observator; and such a Mistake that, for any Thing they do, or can know, might have been rectified by the Penetration and quick Sight of their able Mathematician Jarrat, had he been present: And we humbly submit it to the calmer Consideration of these Honourable Gentlemen. whether it had not been more prudent, as well as just, when that pretended Discovery was made, to have referred it to the Exam- ination and Report of the Commissioners and Survey- ors of all the Parties concerned, who were instructed with it, and whose proper Business it was, than to have made a Report themselves, with so much Pre- cipitation, in a Matter that not one Man of them are competent Judges of.
These Commissioners and Surveyors were upon Oath; and if upon Examination; they had found, that the Station had been wrong fix'd, would have rectified it; and in Case the Instrument had been so defective, that they could not with it, do what was intended; they would have said so; which would have been authoritative and conclusive: But further, Jarrat de- clared, what Alexander said was not satisfactory to him; it may be so, nor to the Gentlemen before whom he was; this is a very grave and short Way of answer- ing any Thing: But can these Gentlemen be assured, that Jarrat spoke Truth, or what that Dissatisfaction proceeded from, whether from Want of Argument on
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the Side of Alexander, or Capacity on the Part of Jarrat? If they say the first, then they needed not to have used the Authority of Jarrat's Declaration, but have determined upon their own Judgments; which we presume, would have been upon better Reasons than a Say so.
Such are the Reasons, and the Advice is correspon- dent; they advise, that Jarrat be directed under his Hand and Seal, to give the Lye to himself, and all the Parties to that Indenture; and upon his single Au- thority to certify, that the Station at the Fishkill (which they already call a pretended One) is wrong. Here are two Acts of Assembly that make the Deter- mination of the Parties to that Indenture, binding up- on both Provinces: Here is a Committee of the Council of one Province take upon themselves to overthrow this, by a Certificate of one Man, (without Proof or Colour of Reason but his say so; and that, as he must own, not from his own Knowledge, but from the In- formation of another) to make that Determination bind- ing upon neither; how far the Success will answer these Endeavours, Time will discover.
Mr. Alexander being present at the Committe, we have desired him to say what he thinks proper to these Matters, and is as follows:
'James Alexander declares, he does not remember 'that ever Capt. Jarrat said upon the Spot, that he 'could not rectify the wide Errors of the Instrument, 'nor take upon him to fix the Station by it, the same 'varying so much in it self: He remembers indeed, 'that he was very capricious in this Matter ever since 'he went to Mahackemack, and especially after the 'News of his Excellency's Departure, laying all the 'Blocks in the Way that ever he could invent, making 'Mountains of Mole-Hills, as in this Case: And what- 'ever Dissatisfaction he shewed with any of the Obser-
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'vations when he came down to York (after the last 'Observation he ever took with it) he declared himself 'to be perfectly satisfied with the Instrument, and per- 'fectly to understand how to reconcile the Observations 'which was upon Thursday the thirteenth Day of 'August; and we expecting the Commissioners up the 'next Day. I was very loath he should go down to 'York; but he said, he wanted no more Observations, 'and that the next Day he would come up with them, 'and settle the Station: But Capt. Walters being sick, 'the Commissioners thought fit to delay the Time of 'meeting for a Week; so upon the Monday he came up 'again, and paid me the Compliment of saying, he just 'came up to acquaint me of it, and to bring me down: 'Mr. Willocks being there, we three adjourned the 'Time of meeting till the Seventh of September; and I 'went down to York with Capt. Jarrat; and we carried 'the Instrument along with us, having no further to ' do with it there, he seeming still perfectly satisfied, as ' before; In the Beginning of September, I saw him sev- 'eral Times, and he having the Gravel, declared, as soon 'as he was able he would be ready to go up and finish 'the Work: And I never heard of any dissatisfaction ' he had, 'till Col. Hicks came to Town for to go up on ' the Line about the Seventh of September; and I then ' being sick, Col. Hicks and Capt. Walters came to see ' me, and told me, that Jarrat was in another of his mad 'Fits, and was saying to every Body the Instrument ' was erroneous, and that it differed four or five Minutes; ' I told them, that I knew, and he knew that long ago, 'and that the Instrument was not one Pin the worse of ' that; but I could scarcely think he was in earnest.
' And further, I being present at the Committee of ' the Honourable the Council of New-York, I don't re- 'member, that Capt. Jarrat said further to the Com- ' mittee concerning what he told me at Mrs. Corbet's,
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' than that he was dissatisfied with these Differences, 'and that he told me of it before several People; and I ' think it was upon Interrogatories afterward made by ' the Committee, that he declared, he could neither 'rectify the wide Errors of the Instrument nor take up- ' on him to fix the Station by it.'
Whenever another Instrument of five or six Foot Radius does come, tho' at the same Time it be a very good One, I could venture to lay the Price of that In- strument with Capt. Jarrat, there will be four or five Minutes Difference in the Observations that shall be taken by it; and for the same Reasons then he cannot adventure to settle the Latitude by it, and of Conse- quence never.
It is impossible for the Art of Man, to make an In- strument perfectly true and correct; and if the Line be stay'd till one be certified to be so, by able and skillful Mathematicians from Great Britain, it will be stay'd for ever; for the most that able and skilful Mathemati- cians can do, is to find out the Errors of it, and give a Table of Equations, how to correct it; which Capt Jar- rat, if he will but take a little Pains, may easily make himself, for this Instrument; and for the same Reason that Capt. Jarrat wants one now, of 5 or 6 Foot Radius; when such a one comes, he has as much Reason to say, the Work wants one of 11 or 12 Foot, and so on to 23 or 24 Foot"Radius.
Upon the whole, tho' it must be confess'd to be the Interest of both Provinces, that these Stations be fix'd, and the Lines ascertained; yet, we think, they ought to be done with Justice and Truth on both Sides; and it being possible there may be a Defect in the Instru- ment, tho' no Manner of Proof yet appears for it, we hope the Council, who have not yet approved of the Report of the Committee, will suspend any Approba- tion of it, till the Commissioners and Surveyors have examined into the Matter, and made their Report on
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it, and that they do it with all proper Expedition: This, we pray, your Honour will be pleased to signify to them.
By Order of the Council of Proprietors,
J. BARCLAY, Dep. Reg.
PERTH-AMBOY, October 12, 1719.
NUMB. 5. NEW-YORK, July 7, 1740.
Gentlemen,
Having been informed, that the Governer of the Jersies has lately erected a new County in his Province, called by the Name of Morris County, which extends its Bounds beyond what this Province esteems the Di- vision Line between the two Governments, so as to comprehend within it, great Part of the Lands called the Minisinks; and has accordingly commissioned Of- ficers, Civil and Military, within that Precinct, which has caused great Disturbance amongst the Inhabitants there; and that several Persons, who have long been settled there, under Grants from this Government, have been threatened to be turned out of their Possessions, under Colour of such new erected Jurisdiction.
And further, that it has been insinuated, by some ill- designing Persons, as if I had acknowledged, that the Minisink Lands, or great Part thereof, did belong to the Jersies; by Reason whereof, you have been intimi- dated from exercising your Authority there; I hereby acquaint you, that the said Report is false and ground- less.
And these are to signify to you, that I expect you will do your Duty strictly in the Preservation of the Peace, and Exercise of your Authority, in the same Man- ner as has been done for these Twenty Years past and upwards, till the Division Line between the two Col-
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onies may be finally fixed and determined: For the doing whereof, I shall use my utmost Endeavours, with all possible Expedition.
I desire you'll send your Receipt of this my Letter, by the first Opportunity, to,
You very Humble Servant, GEORGE CLARK.
To William Cool, William Cortragt, Peter Cickendall Esqrs; Justices of the Peace for the County of Orange, in New York.
NUMB. 6.
TRENTON, April 10, 1746.
Sir,
Inclosed you have a Memorandum of the Matters which a Committee of the Council of Proprietors con- ferred with you upon, with a Relation before it, of our Powers to answer, reply, &c. to the Claims of the New-York Gentlemen, concerning the Line between New-York and New-Jersey, of which you'll be pleased to impart a Copy of to them, and desire their speedy Answer, to be imparted to us for our Reply.
We beg also, that you would endeavour with then, to stop Proceedings at the Suit of Westbrook against Abraham Vanaken; for that Matter whereof the said Westbrook was indicted in New-Jersey, and there for some time committed, viz. distraining for Taxes to New-York, in a Place far within New-Jersey, and in which he was opposed; and for that Opposition he sued Vanaken in an Action of Trespass, Damages £19, in Orange County Court, and in which its said he got a Verdict at the last Court of that County ; and not satis- fied with that, he has employed John Crook, of Esopus, to commence another like Action against Vanaken and his Wife, for the Wife's Opposition on that Occasion; as by a Letter from Mr. Crook to Vanaken, now before
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