USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey, from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the federal Constitution > Part 6
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The governor and council were empowered-9. To see that all courts and officers performed their duties, and to punish infraction of the laws:
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to nominate and commission the judges and other officers, according to the constitution of the General Assembly, appointing none but freeholders, ex- cept by asseut of Assembly, and their commissions to revoke at pleasure : to have charge of all places of defence, and direction and officering of the military force, appointing none but frecholders without assent of the Assem- bly : to reprieve criminals until the pleasure of the Lords, who reserved the power to pardon, was known : to issue writs for supplying vacancies in the Assembly; and to grant warrants for land. They were required, not to im- pose, nor suffer to be imposed, any tax upon the province or inhabitants, other than that imposed by the General Assembly : to take care, that lands quietly held, seven years after survey by the surveyor-general, should not be subject to review by the proprietaries, or their agents.
And that the planting of the province might be the more speedily promoted, it was further provided-10. That, there should be granted to all persons who had already adventured, or should transport themselves or servants, before the 1st Jan. 1665, lands in the following proportions, viz. to every freeman, going with the first governor, armed with musket, ten pounds of powder and twenty pounds of bullets, with bandeliers and matches conve- nient, and with six months' provision, for his own person, arriving there, one hundred and fifty acres; and like quantity, for every able bodied ser- vant, so armed, whether taken by the master, or sent thither, by him; and for every weaker servant, or slare, male or female, exceeding fourteen years, which any one should send or carry, arriving there, seventy-five acres ; and to every Christian servant, exceeding such age, seventy-five acres, for his own use: to the master or mistress going before 1st January, 1665, one hundred and twenty acres, and like quantity for an able bodied male servant, taken with, or by, them; and for other servants or slaves, as above, sixty acres, with sixty acres for the servant's own use, when able, and forty-five acres when of the weaker class. Where the party emigrating arrived, from January 1666 to January 1667, armed and provided as afore- said, he became entitled, for self and able servant, to sixty acres of land for each, and such servant to like quantity, and weaker servants or slaves, thirty acres cach. All lands were to be taken up by warrant, from the governor, and confirmed, after survey, by the governor and council, under a seal to be provided for that purpose. All lands were to be divided by general lot, none less than two thousand one hundred, nor more than twenty-one thousand, acres, except cities, towns. &c., and the near lots of townships ; and of such lots, towns, &c., one seventh, was reserved, by lot, for the proprietaries. Convenient portions of land were to be given, for highways and streets, not exceeding one hundred feet in breadth, in cities, towns and villages; for churches, forts, wharves, keys and harbours, and for public houses; and to each parish for the use of their minister. two hundred acres, in such place as the General Assembly might appoint. A penny, or half penny, per acre, according to the quality of the land, was reserved to the proprietaries, an- nually, as quit rent.
V. Such was the first constitution of New Jersey, almost as democratic as the one she enjoys; and certainly a greater safeguard of her liberties, since this was, truly, a constitution, an unalterable paramount law, prescribing and regulating the duties and powers, of the agents of the government, whether legislative, executive, or judicial; whilst all the provisions of the instrument of 1776, save three, are placed at the will of the legislature. What more was necessary, save the perpetuity of the laws, to assure to the people, all the blessings of political union ! No laws were in force, save for one year, without the assent of the Lords Proprietors. But, laws which did not in- fringe their interests, would, commonly, receive their assent; and when it
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was refused, at the worst, the Assembly was compelled to re-enact such laws, annually. It was, indeed, a singular competition, which these pro- protary governments produced, in which despotic sovereigns, and specula- tive legislators, were compelled, by interest, to vie with each other, in the production of models of liberty, and in offering to their subjects, the most effectual securities against arbitrary government. The competition was, the noble, though compulsory sacrifice to the great and divine principle, that man, in the aggregate, is competent to promote his own happiness.
VI. Upon the conquest of New Netherlands, Col. Nicholls assumed the administration of the whole territory, as governor for the Duke of York. While yet unacquainted with the grant to Berkeley and Carteret, he forined the design of colonizing the district which they had acquired; and for this purpose, granted licenses to various persons, to make purchases of lands from the aboriginal inhabitants; a measure, however wise in its conception, fraught, ultimately, with perplexing consequences to the Duke's grantees, by the creation of a pretence for an adverse title. Three small townships were speedily formed, in the eastern part of the territory, by emigrants, chiefly, from Long Island, who laid the foundation of Elizabethtown, Wood- bridge, and Piscataway; and Nicholls, who entertained a very favourable opinion of this region, bestowed on it the name of Albania, in commemora- tion of one of the titles of his master .* It is uncertain, whether Middletown and Shrewsbury had not been previously settled by Dutch and English. About this time, however, many respectable farmers, comprising almost all the inhabitants from the west end of Long Island, removed to the neighbour- hood of Middletown; and to Shrewsbury, there came many families from New England.t
* Smith's N. J. Grahame's Col. Hist.
t The petitioners for the Elizabethtown tract, 26th Sept. 1664, were John Bailey, Daniel Denton, Thomas Benydick, Nathaniel Denton, John Foster, and Luke Watson. The parties to the deed, from the Indians, dated 28th Oct. 1664, are Mattano, Mana- warne, and Conascomon, of Staten Island, and John Bailey, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson :- the tract conveyed, is described, as " one parcel of land, bounded on the wonth, by a river, commonly called the Raritan, and on the east, by the river which parts Staten Island and the main, and to run northward up Arthur Cull Bay, till we come to the first river, which sets westward out of the river aforesaid; and to run westward, into the country, twice the length that it is broad, from the north to the south, of the aforementioned bounds." The consideration given for this broad tract, was twenty fathom of trading cloth, two made coats, two guns, two kettles, ten bars of lead, twenty handfuls of powder, and four hundred fathoms of white, or two hun- dred of black, wampum, payable in one year from the day of entry, by the grantees, upon the lands. The whole valued at thirty-six pounds and fourteen shillings sterling. One of the grantors attests the conveyance, perhaps the first Indian grant made with techmiral form. by a mark opposite to his name. This, subsequently, became the common mode of signature ; and the illiterate sons of the American forest, like the un! !! ored noble of the European fendal states, adopted as a sign manual, occasionally, the picture of a bird, or other object, that captivated his fancy. Mattano was the only grantor who signed, and his mark was www .~ or waved line; and. unfortu- nately for his business character, he had executed a deed, for the same lands, to Au- portas Herman, already mentioned. The grant, however, is duly confirmed, probably, in entire ignorance of preceding events, by governor Nicholls.# The wampum was the current money of the Indian tribes, the precious material of which their orna- menita were made, and the sacred sanction of their contracts, public and private. The name is derived from an Indian word, meaning muscle. It was called by the Dutch, avant. It was worked from shells into the form of beads, and perforated, to string on leather. Six beads were formerly valued at a stiver, twenty stivers made a guilder, Gd currency, or 4d. sterling. The white was fabricated from the inside of the great conchs, the black or purple, from the clam or muscle shell. Several strings, increased in number with the importance of the occasion, formed the belt of wampum. Before
# See Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery.
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But the hope, which Nicholls had conceived, of rendering the district a valuable appendage of the Duke's possessions, was destroyed by intelligence of the grant to its new proprietaries. He remonstrated, with his master, on the impolicy of thus multiplying statistical divisions, and disjointing, from his own province, a portion distinguished for the fertility of its soil, the com- modiousness of its rivers, and the richness of its minerals : and while he urged the Duke, to revoke a grant, so prejudicial to his interests, he pre- dicted, truly, that the attempt of his grantees, to colonize the vacant terri- tory, would disappoint their expectations of profit, and involve them in expenses, of which their remote posterity, only, could hope to gather the fruits .*
VII. Whatever effect this remonstrance may have had upon the Duke, it was too late to revoke the grant; and Nicholls was compelled to surrender the government of New Jersey, to Philip Carteret, who arrived with a com- pany of thirty settlers, from England, and established themselves at Eliza- bethtown,t regarded as the capital of the infant province. At this period, however, there were only four houses here, and the name was given by him in honour of Lady Elizabeth Carteret.# Soon after his arrival, he despatch- ed emissaries to New England, and other adjacent colonies, to make known the proprietaries' "concessions," and to invite settlers; whose efforts were attended with extraordinary success. Among those who came on this in- vitation, were the founders of Newark, who, in consequence of the inability of the governor, to pay the consideration required by the Indians, took, by his license, an Indian title, which was afterwards vexatiously set up against that of the proprietaries.
It was the happy peculiarity in the lot of these colonists, that establishing themselves in the vicinity of countries already cultivated, they escaped the disasters and privations which had afflicted so severely, the first inhabitants of most of the other provinces. Their neighbourhood to the commerce of New York was considered highly advantageous during the infancy of their settlement ; though, in process of time, it was less favourably regarded, as preventing the rise of a domestic mart, which might give more effectual encouragement to their trade. Like the other colonists of North America, they enjoyed the advantage of transporting the arts, and habits of industry, from an old country, where they had been carried to high perfection, into a new land, which afforded them more liberal encouragement, and more unre- stricted scope. Their exertions for raising cattle and grain were speedily and amply rewarded, by a grateful soil; and their friendly relations with the Indians enabled them to prosecute their labours, in undisturbed tranquil- " lity, and to add to them a beneficial traffic, in peltry, with the roving tribes, by which the adjacent forests were inhabited. Their connexion with New York, also, gave them the advantage of the alliance, which subsisted between that colony, and the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, whose influ- ence extending to all the tribes of the new settlement, procured its inhabi- tants entire exemption from Indian war. Recommended by the salubrity of the climate, as by its many other advantages, it is not surprising that New Jersey was soon celebrated by the carly writers, with higher commendations
the advent of the Europeans, the Indians made their strings and belts, of small pieces of wood, stained black or white. For want of proper tools, few were made of shells, though highly valued. But the Europeans soon manufactured them of the latter ma- terial, neatly and abundantly. The value of this Indian money, was raised by pro- clamation, in 1673, from the governor and council of New York, commanding that, "instead of eight white and four black, six white and three black, should pass for a stiver, and three times so much, the value in silver .- New York Records.
* Grahame's Col. Hist. t August, 1665. : Elizabethtown Bill.
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than any other of the colonies. The proprietaries, stimulated by the hope of a rich revenue, industriously proclaimed its advantages in Europe and Ame- rien, and, from time to time, despatched from England, vessels freighted with settlers, and stores, to reinforce the numbers, and supply the wants of their people.
VIil. But the period to which they had looked, for the fruition of their hopes, demonstrated their fallacy ; and the peace of the province was un- happily interrupted by the arrival of the day fixed for the payment of the proprietary quit rents. The first demand of this tribute excited universal disgust among the colonists, who expressed greater unwillingness, than in- ability, to comply with it. A party among them, including the few settlers who had seated themselves under the authority of Colonel Nicholls, refused to acknowledge the title of the proprietaries, and in opposition to it, set up the Indian title, which we have already noticed, and also, the right of government within the tract, thus conveyed to them. And the better to sup- port this pretence, they prevailed on James Carteret, a weak and dissolute natural son of Sir George, to assume the government, as by their election, and under an alleged proprietary title, which, he asserted, he was not obliged to show .* For two years, the governor, Philip Carteret, maintained an in- (Fctual struggle, to enforce the claims of his employers ; until, at length, the popular discontent broke forth into insurrection-his officers were im- prisoned, their estates confiscated-and he was compelled to fly from the province, and to seck redress in England, leaving John Berry, as deputy Governor, and James Bollen, Secretary of the Province.f His return, with strengthened authority, was retarded by the unexpected events of the follow- ing year, when New York, being reconquered by Holland, New Jersey was agnin united to the province of New Netherlands.
IX. The second war with Holland, most wantonly and unjustly provoked by the dissolute Charles, in subserviency to the ambition of Louis XIV., was declared, March 17th, 1672. A small squadron despatched from Holland, under the command of Binkes and Evertzen, to destroy the commerce of the English colonies, having performed that service, with great effect on the Virginia coast, was induced to attempt a more important enterprise, by in- telligence of the negligent security of the Governor of New York. The Dutch had the good fortune to arrive before this, their ancient seat, while Lovelace, the Governor, was absent, and the command was exercised by Captain Manning, who, by his own subsequent avowal, and the more credible testimony of his conduct, was a traitor and a coward. Now was reversed the scene, which had been presented on the invasion by Nicholls. The English inhabitants prepared to defend themselves, and offered their assist- sher to Manning; but he obstructed their preparations, rejected their aid, und on the first intelligence of the enemy's approach, struck his flag, even lefor their vessels were in sight. As the fleet advanced, the garrison de- mwstrated their readiness to fight, but in a transport of fear, he forbade a prin to be fired, under pain of death, and surrendered the place, uncondition- ully, to the invaders. After this extraordinary and unaccountable conduct, Manning had the impudence to repair to England, whence, he returned, in the following year, after the province had been given up, by the Dutch. He was tried, by a court martial, on a charge of treachery and cowardice, ex- pressed in the most revolting terms; which, confessing to be true, he re- ceived a sentence almost as extraordinary as his conduct ;- " that, though he deserved death, yet, because he had, since the surrender, been in England, and seen the King and the Duke, it was adjudged that his sword should be
1670. + 1672.
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broken over his head, in public, before the city hall; and himself rendered incapable of wearing a sword, and of serving his majesty for the future, in any public trust."* The old maxim, that, grace was dispensed by the mere look of' a king, was respected on this occasion. The Dutch commanders, in their triumph, imitated the moderation and prudence of Nicholls; and assur- ing the citizens of their rights and possessions, gratified the Dutch colonists, and left the English cause of complaint, only against their pusillanimous commander. Like moderation being tendered to the other districts of the province, on condition of sending deputies, to swear allegiance to the States-General, induced the whole to submit.t The Dutch dominion was restored more suddenly than it had been overthrown, and the name of New Netherlands was once more revived-but was not destined to long endurance.
. Great consternation prevailed in the adjoining English colonies. The government of Connecticut, with apparent simplicity, that ludicrously con- trasts with the ordinary astutia of her people, sent a deputation to the Dutch admirals, to remonstrate against their usurpation of dominion, over the terri- tory of England, and the property of her subjects; to desire them to explain the meaning of their conduct, and their further intentions, and to warn them, that the united colonies of New England, entrusted with the defence of their sovereign dominions, in America, would be faithful to their trust. The Dutch commanders, as they well might, expressed surprise at the terms of this message, but declared, that commissioned by their country, to assail her enemies, whilst they applauded the fidelity of the English, to their sovereign, they would imitate the good example, and endeavour to prove equally faith- ful to the States-General. Active preparations for war, were, forthwith, made by Connecticut, and the confederate colonies; but, as cach party stood on the defensive, only a few insignificant skirmishes took place, before winter suspended military operations. Early in the following spring, the controversy was terminated, without further bloodshed, by the treaty of peace, concluded at London, and the restoration of New York, to the English.#
X. Doubts had been raised, as to the validity of the Duke of York's titie, because granted whilst the Dutch were in full and peaceful possession of the country ; and which, though originally good, seemed to have been impaired by the subsequent conquest. The Duke deemed it prudent to remedy this defect, and to signalize the resumption of his proprietary functions, by a new patent. Another canse, however, may have contributed to this measure .- He probably, supposed, that it would afford him an opportunity of dispensing with his grant, to Berkeley and Carteret. It was pretended, that the Dutch conquest, had extinguished the proprietary rights, and that the country had been acquired, de noro, to the crown. A new charter recited the former grant, and confirmed to him the whole which that had covered. The mis- fortune, aud evident incapacity of Lovelace, precluded his re-appointment to the office of governor, which was conferred on Edmund Andross, who dis- graced his superior talents, by the unprincipled zeal and activity, with which he devoted them to the arbitrary designs of his master.
In him, and his council, were vested all. the functions of government, legislative and executive, and their power was extended over New Jersey. It seems, however, that the Duke wanted either resolution or authority, to effectuate his iniquitous intentions : for, on the application of Sir George Car- teret, he promised the renewal of his charter, which, after some delay and hesitation, he performed. Previous to this second grant, it would seem, that
* Smith's New York.
t July, 1673. # 28th February, 1674.
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Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, had agreed upon a partition of the province, since the country described therein, was bounded, on the south- west, by a line drawn from Barnagat Creek to the Rancocus. But, though he finally consented to restore New Jersey, he endeavoured to evade the full performance of his engagement, pretending to have reserved certain rights of sovereignty over it, which Andross seized every opportunity of asserting.
Xl. In the commencement of the year 1675, Philip Carteret returned to New Jersey, and resumed the government of the settlements, in the eastern part of the province. The inhabitants, who had experienced the rigours of conquest, and the arbitrary rule of Andross, readily received him; and as he postponed the payment of their quit rents, to a future day, and published a new set of " concessions," by Sir George Carteret, a peaceable subordina- tion was once more established in the colony. These new " concessions," however, restricted the broad grant of political freedom, originally framed, by giving to the governor and council, the power of naturalization, the right to approve such ministers as might be chosen by the several corporations, and to establish their maintenance; granting liberty, however, to all per- sons, to keep and maintain what preachers they pleased. They authorized the governor, also, to appoint the times and places of meeting of the General Assembly, and to adjourn them at pleasure, and to separate the counsellors and delegates into two chambers .*
XII. Yet, the only disquiet, during several years, arose from the efforts of Andross, from time to time, to enforce the unjust pretensions of the Duke. Governor Carteret, in hope of procuring to his people, a share of the advan- tages, which the neighbouring colony derived from her commerce, attempted to establish a direct trade between England and New Jersey. But Andross earnestly opposed this proper measure, as one injurious to New York; and by confiscating vessels engaged in such trade, extinguished the New Jersey commercial enterprise in its infancy. In addition to this outrage, he endea- voured, by various exactions, to render the colonists tributary to his govern- ment; and even had the insolence, by a force despatched to Elizabethtown, to arrest governor Carteret, and convey him prisoner to New York. When complaints of these proceedings were made to the Duke, he evinced the same indecision and duplicity, that had characterized all his recent conduct. He could not, he said, consent to depart from a prerogative which had always belonged to him; yet, he directed the relaxation of its exercise, as a matter of favour to his friend, Sir George Carteret .; But the province had now been divided into two proprietary jurisdictions; and it was in the western part, where Carteret had ceased to have an interest, that the Duke most exer- cised his prerogative. The circumstances which attended this partition, are not the least interesting of the provincial history of the state.
* Leaming and Spicer's Col.
f Douglas ii. 272. S. Smith 68, 77. Chalmers, 616, 618. Smith's N. Y. 45. Grahamne's Col. Ilist.
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CHAPTER III.
From the Division of the Province, into East and West Jersey, to the Purchase of East Jersey, by Quakers.
I. Motives of the Quakers for Emigration .- II. Sale of Lord Berkeley, to Byllinge and Fenwicke .- III. Assignment of West Jersey to William Penn, and others in Trust, for the Creditors of Byllinge .- IV. "Concessions," or Constitution of West Jersey .- V. Measures of the Proprietaries to promote Colonization .- VI. Commissioners appointed to Administer the Government of West Jersey-their Proceedings .- VII. Increase of Emigrants-Success of their Efforts .- VIII. Death of Sir George Carteret-Successful Efforts of the Colonists, to procure Relief, from the Jurisdiction of New York .- IX. Extraordinary Pretensions of Byllinge .- X. Resisted by the Proprietaries, in General Assembly-Samuel Jennings elected Governor-Proceeds to England, as Deputy of the Assem- bly-The Right of Government, purchased by Doctor Daniel Coxe, and subse- quently transferred to the West Jersey Society .- XII. Meeting of the First Assembly-Proceedings .- XIII. Modification of the Law, relating to Religious Faith .- XIV. Death of Carteret-his Disposition of East Jersey .- XV. Troubles at the Close of the Administration of Philip Carteret .- XVI. Review of the Policy of the Proprietary Governments .- XVII. Comparison between the Laws of East and West Jersey. ?
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