USA > New York > A history of New York, for schools. Vol. I > Part 7
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Un. Yes. The Indians wore, when they went to war, one lock of hair only, the rest being cut off; that one was left, as if in defiance of their enemies : as much as to say, "scalp me if you can." If an Indian scalped an Indian, he lifted up the skin and flesh on the top of the head, by this defiance-lock, and with his knife made an incision quite round the scull ; this being done, he tore off all within the circle. If he scalped a white person, he took hold of the hair, gathered up in his hand, and proceeded in the same way, to perform the operation.
Mary. Oh, horrible! I am glad white folks never did so. .
Un. I wish I could say that they never encour- aged the barbarous practice, or even that they did not in some instances practise it themselves; but I would have you know the truth, children.
John. The French used to join with the Indians, dress like them, imitate them in their mode of war. fare, and even in this savage way of carrying off trophies of their success.
Un. My children, Englishmen have done the same, and Americans are not free from the charge.
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War is only justifiable in defence of life and liberty ; but even then, its consequences on those who are engaged in it, unless of very superiour moral worth, are evil : hardening the heart, and leading to licen- tiousness. Even great commanders, governors, and statesmen, have encouraged this barbarous mode of warfare by giving rewards for scalps, as evidences of death inflicted on the enemy. It was customary with the French rulers of Canada to do so; and I have now in my pocketbook a memorandum which brings the charge nearer home; here it is: I will read it to you-" July 7th, 1764. The Governor of Penn- sylvania offers for the scalp of every male Indian enemy above the age of ten years, one hundred and thirty-four dollars; and for the scalp of every FEMALE Indian enemy, above the age of ten years. produced as an evidence of their being killed, the sum of fifty pieces of eight."
John. Surely, sir, we should not do so now.
Un. I hope not; those good old times, as some people call them, are past. Here is a memorandum which may serve to change the subject : " May 16th, 1763. King's College received a donation of twelve hundred volumes, from Doctor Bristow of England."
Wm. Some good things did come from England.
Un. Many ! many ! my boy. Those notions of government, law, liberty, and right, which bless us, were brought hither by the republicans of England, who could not fully enjoy them at home. Litera- ture, arts, science, philosophy, and religion, came hither from England. The poets, philosophers, and divines of England, were the countrymen and bro- thers of our English parents. And though, as it should seem, the rulers of England for a time for- got this -- we never forgot it; and the blessings our fathers brought with them, they were determined to preserve for us. Here is another memorandum-
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" At the commencement of King's College, May 23d, 1763, Messrs. Depeyster, Cuyler, Verplanck, Livingston, Watts, Bayard, Wilkins, Hoffman, and Marston, took degrees. These are names which education has preserved among the honoured to this day." I will show you one more advertisement from among the many that I have copied, before we go to the consideration of the causes, and of the commencement, of that war which severed us from Great Britain. You may read my memorandum.
John. " To be let, the play-house, at the upper end of Beekman street, very convenient for a store, being upwards of ninety feet in length, nigh forty feet wide. Inquire of William Beekman. April 16th, ' 1764. The next year, during the excitement created by the stamp act, a mob tore this building down. Its situation was a little below the junction of Nassau and Beekman streets, on the south or southwest side of the latter. Its demolition was principally accom- plished by boys, set on by men; one of these boys is now living, (1836.) and he was the only person injured on the occasion."
Un. He had his scull fractured, which, for any thing I know to the contrary, improved his intellect and prolonged his life. When we meet again I will endeavour to make plain to you, the cause of the war between America and Great Britain, to which we are now fast approaching.
John. What, the stamp act ?
Un. We must talk of some things before the stamp act.
Wm. And before Captain Sear's time ?
Un. No. For to give you a just notion of Cap- tain Isaac Sears, I must tell you who he was, and what he did before the time of the stamp act .. So to-morrow I will begin with King Sears.
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CHAPTER IX.
Un. In our last walk to the Battery, I promised, in passing through Broad street, to give you an idea of the appearance of that place in former times; here is a picture of some of the houses near Flat- tenbarick hill.
Mary. I should not think of Broad street when looking at this picture.
John. Thank you, sir.
Wm. You promised to tell us about Captain Sears, Uncle.
Un. Mr. Sears is first mentioned as a captain of a trading-vessel; but appears to have commanded a privateer, sailing out of the port of New York, in 1759. I would here remark that at one period twen- ty such armed vessels belonged to that port, when Philadelphia and Boston, each fitted out but one. 9
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This may prove the greater commerce of New York at the period ; whether it is a proof of the greater morality of the place may at least be doubted.
John. I should like to know your opinion, sir, of privateering.
Un. Theoretically I condemn it, and place a pri- vateersman very little higher in a moral scale than a pirate. But practically he may be a gallant pa- triot, or a detestable sea-robber, according to cir- cumstances. I will endeavour to convey my mean- ing by stating cases. When the American colo- nies entered into warfare with a powerful nation, capable, as Lord Chatham said, "to crush them to atoms ;" and that nation had a great navy and Amer- ica had none ;- when that nation by means of ships of war, and innumerable transports and store-ships, poured her armies on the country and supplied them by sca with reinforcements, and provisions; then to fit out a privateer, and to command or sail in one. might well be deemed the act of a patriot. But when two nations, each having navies, carry on war upon the ocean, a private armed ship fitted out by a citizen of either, to prey upon unarmed vessels, or traders who merely arm in self-defence, appears to me little better than a pirate. In the greater number of instances privateering is practised with a view alone to plunder. Yet, as it is sanctioned by the custom of nations, we must not judge too harshly of those who have practised this mode of obtaining wealth by seizing it forcibly from the de- fenceless.
John. I see, sir, you have not an exalted opinion of privateersmen.
Un. Not very, I must confess. I detest all war except for defence, and the privateersman's is gene- rally an offensive one, and for gain alone. To re- turn to Captain Isaac Sears: he had been a sea-
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commander and a trader; when war occurred be- tween England and France, his business as a peace- able sailor was interrupted : the war against the colonies was aggressive. He might think that to in- flict injury on Frenchmen was meritorious; and certainly when in presence of a French ship of su- periour force to his own sloop, the Belle Isle, he act- ed like a brave captain and gallant seaman.
Wm. O, tell us of the battle, Uncle.
· Un. In September, 1750, as he was cruising with his sloop the Belle Isle, of ten guns, well manned, he fell in with a large French ship of twenty-four guns, and eighty men, and attacked her without hesitation. They cannonaded each other for two hours, when the Belle Isle was obliged to withdraw to refit, having had three men wounded, and several shots between wind and water; that is, when the cannon balls make holes in the vessel which let the sea pour in, and in this case the American sloop had already three feet water in the hold.
John. It was time to withdraw.
Un. But Captain Sears did not give up. While he repaired his vessel by stopping the leaks and mending his rigging, the French ship made off; at six in the evening the Belle Isle was in state to give chase, and he pursued the ship all night. In the morning the privateer came up with her intend- ed prize, and Sears prepared his men to lay her alongside and board; but the Frenchman by a lucky shot carried away the wheel, by which, you know, the helmsman manages the rudder ; of course the Belle Isle was again disabled. Sears, however, soon got a tiller-you know what a tiller is, boys ? Wm. What they move the rudder with.
Un. He got a tiller rigged in the cabin, so that he commanded his sloop again, and then, in spite of her heavy cannonade, he clapped the French ship
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aboard, and grappled her by the main shrouds. Thus they lay side by side-the privateer's men trying to gain the ship's deck, and her crew, more numerous, driving them back. Several times the Americans were upon the Frenchman's gunnel, but were beat back by bayonets and lances. At · length the grappling being cut, or giving way, the little sloop sheered off, having nine men killed and twenty-two wounded, of whom, two died of their wounds. The shrouds of the Belle Isle had been cut away, and the boltsprit disabled, so that she was unmanageable until again repaired. Her antagonist, though crippled, made off, and before Sears was in condition to renew the fight, a gale sprung up which effectually separated the vessels ; and the privateer with difficulty got into New- foundland, where she refitted for another cruise.
Wm. Well done, brave Captain Sears!
John. And no doubt many men killed and crip- pled on board the French ship, who only fought in her own defence. And what a scene of blood on board the sloop ! nine men dead; twenty-two groan- ing in agony-two dying !
Mary. O terrible! I don't want to hear such stories.
Un. Alas, my little girl, then you must not hear of war.
Wm. Brave Captain Sears! I hope he had bet- ter luck with other ships.
Un. I presume he had, yet I know he had some hardships and losses subsequent to this sea-fight ; for on the 22d of September, 1761, he returned home from a voyage after having been shipwrecked on the Isle of Sables, and losing all except his life and the lives of his crew; but in a few years after I find him as a merchant in New York, and with the office of inspector of potash. But now, as we
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have had fighting enough for the present, I will endeavour to give you a clear view of the causes of the war of 1776.
John. If you please, sir.
Un. The first Englishmen who came to live in this country, left their native homes that they might enjoy the liberty of worshipping according to the dictates of their consciences, and making laws for their own government; or for bettering their condition by trade or otherwise. You all un- derstand that the continent was in possession of those savage or wild people we call Indians when first visited by Europeans. The navigators of dif- ferent nations discovered different parts of the coast, and claimed each for his own country the right to trade on that part; and the right to purchase the land from the natives. Thus the French claimed the right to buy or conquer Canada on the north and Louisiana on the south; while the English claimed the same privilege for New England on the east and Virginia on the south; and the Dutch for Nieuw Nederlandt, extending from Delaware bay to Connecticut river. They did not pretend that this land was their property, but that they had the only right to buy it of the original owners.
John. I think I understand this better than I did before.
Un. The sovereigns of the European nations made gifts, or grants, or sales, to individuals; di- viding the land so claimed by the nation ; and these indivi luals then claimed the right to trade and buy land of the natives. Thus, for example, Lord Balti- more became proprietor of Maryland ; William Penn owned Pennsylvania; the Duke of York (after conquest by the English) claimed Nieuw Nederlandt; and the Carterets, by grant from the Duke, were the proprietors of East Jersey. The
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English colonists who settled in this wild country underwent wonderful hardships, and had to defend themselves against the natives when quarrels hap- pened; and while they were poor and struggling for existence the government of England let them alone-" they grew by her neglect." When they became rich enough to exchange their commodi- ties for goods manufactured in England, she was not satisfied with the benefit of the commerce, but having by degrees established governors and other officers over the colonies, she sent out collectors of revenue, opened custom-houses, and laid duties on the goods she sold, and if she permitted the colo- nists to buy of other nations, taxed such goods still higher.
Wm. What right had England to do this? I would not have allowed it.
Un. The colonies thought proper to submit, be- cause they were weak-the weak, in old times, sub- mitted to the strong, as well as in modern days.
John. I understand, sir, that the colonies were governed in various ways; some governors appoint- ed by the proprietors, and some by the king.
Un. New York, under the Dutch, was govern- ed by directors-general, who were little more at first than agents for traders, and afterward for the Dutch West India Company. When the English conquered it, the king, as you remember, gave it to his brother James, Duke of York, who appointed governors; one governor serving for New York and New Jersey, after the division took place. When James succeeded his brother on the throne, New York became a king's government, and in 1688, went with the kingdom of England to William of Nassau and his successors.
John. William the Third, sir.
Un. Yes. As I have said, by degrees, England
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imposed duties on articles imported into the colo- nies, and they submitted. But the impositions grew; and as the colonies grew they became discontented. Individuals practised smuggling-that is, they con- trived ways to land goods without the knowledge of the English collectors, and by avoiding to pay the du- ties which were to go to the government of a distant country, they increased their profits, and some made great fortunes. Smuggling was not considered infa- mous, as it is now, and must be always when duties are laid on importations by the people themselves, for their own purposes. It was thought of only as an evasion of a burden imposed by a foreign government; submitted to by a kind of compromise from neces- sity. This practice of smuggling was of course complained of by the English collectors, and the king's ministry ordered their armed vessels in great- er numbers to cruise upon our coast, and commis- sioned their commanders as custom-house officers. These men were rapacious, and under colour of zeal for his majesty's service, they vexed the commerce of the country by seizures that were illegal, and for which no redress could be obtained but by applica- tion to a distant country, more injurious to the suf- ferer than the original wrong.
John. This must have irritated the people, sir.
Un. It did. And it caused the serious and cool to think of remedies for the future. In addition to the vexation from illegal seizures, was the insolence of English navy-officers, and the encouragement given to informers.
John. What is your opinion of informers, sir ?
Un. Whenpas in the United States, the laws are made by the people, and for their own good, to in- form against any breach of them, is meritorious. But at the time we are speaking of, it was felt that the revenue laws were made for the benefit of others,
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and that an informer could only be actuated by the hope of reward, for an injury inflicted on an Ameri. can, and a benefit bestowed on a foreigner. The consequence was the introduction of the vile prac. tice of tarring and feathering, by mobs impelled to revenge injuries for which there was no legal rem- edy. Where is little Mary ?
Mary. I am feeding the canary bird.
Un. Come here, I am going to tell a story.
John. But, sir, the revenue officers appointed by England for the colonies were not all bad men.
Un. Far from it, my son. They acted probably in most cases conscientiously ; that is, according to their judgment. Some of them we know were good men. I find the names of Lambert Moore of New York, and John Barberie of Perth Amboy, annexed to advertisements threatening smugglers; and Mr. John Temple, and the amiable Andrew Elliot, were receivers of his majesty's customs. But these gen- tlemen felt as Englishinen, not as Americans.
Phil. Uncle, what story are you going to tell ?
Un. I will refer to my memoranda for a tale of the consequences of these restrictions upon Ameri- can commerce for the benefit of England. Read it.
John. "Kelly, an oysterman, and Kitchener, a tavern keeper, having informed against the mate of a vessel who had invested the savings of his wages in a few casks of wine, and had secretly landed them, the populace of New York, after a long search, (for the informers secreted themselves,) seized both the poor wretches, bound them with cords, placed thein in carts, and paraded them through a great part of the city ; 'many thousands attending them with in- sults, huzzas, and sprinkling of tar and feathers.' ' They besmeared their faces and clothes with tar, and showered feathers on them,' says another writer. The magistrates in vain interposed; these wretched
-j-
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men were not released ' until the populace had in some measure satiated their resentment.' "
Un. This, as you see, happened in New York ; and about the same time, in Newport, Rhode Island, the people seized a man for a similar offence, and after ducking him, they set him in the pillory, be- smeared him with tar and poured feathers over him. The writer says, that the inhabitants "expressed their satisfaction at seeing a people so justly sensi- ble of the injury that such a detestable wretch must be to the traders of this place." And here is a memorandum of what happened at Boston about the same time. Read it, John.
John. I thought the Boston folks would not be behindhand in showing their uneasiness under im- positions, restraints, and injuries inflicted by the country that drove their fathers from home, to seek a dwelling on the rocks of Plymouth. " A person who arrived at Boston from Rhode Island, having informed the custom-house officers, that the sloop in which he came, had a cask or two of wine in her, and caused her seizure, was himself seized by the populace, placed in a cart, stript, 'and his naked skin well tarred and feathered.' 'He was carried from the town hall to the liberty tree, bearing in his hand a large lanthorn, that people might see the doleful condition he was in.' "
Wm. Had they liberty poles then ?
Un. I should have informed you that this was after the repeal of the stamp act, but I have men- tioned these tarrings and featherings all together as proceeding from another cause.
John. Prav, sir, was this strange mode of punish- ing invented in America ?
Un. No. The first instance that I have met with, was inflicted by order of Richard Cœur de Lion, upon a crusader, convicted of theft. You will find
L
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it in Michaud's History of the Crusades, in French; if I recollect aright, it took place on ship-board. and the head of the man was shaved, the tar poure? on it, and then feathers strewed over the tar.
Wm. So, what was invented by a king was pras. tised by a mob.
Un. Another source of irritation was the conduc: of English men-of-war when in our harbours ; they required of all the sloops and boats that passed themn to strike their colours, as if in token of servitude; and an instance is on record of a ship of war, an- chored in this harbour, firing a cannon ball into the pleasure-boat of a gentleman going from Whitehall to Elizabethtown with his friends, his wife, and his children, because this ceremony happened to be ne- glected. The ball struck the nurse, who had an in- fant in her arms, and instantly killed her. The gentleman, Mr. Ricketts, immediately returned to New York and complained ; the coroner pronouncei it a case of murder : but no redress could be obtain- ed short of an application to Great Britain; for the governor of the province by his commission was prohibited from all jurisdiction in any of the har- bours, bays, &c. Thus an insolent officer on ship- board, or a drunken sailor, might sink a boat tra- versing our harbour for business or pleasure, sacri- fice the lives of men or women, and the murderer could only be punished or called to an account three thousand miles off.
WVm. And did Americans bear all this ?
Un. No, my boy, we shall see that they did not ; but the time had not yet arrived. At the period of which we speak other grievances were goading the people to madness; and the rulers in Great Britain at the same time accused America of ingratitude, and talked of favours bestowed upon her. In addi- tion to the insolence of the officers and soldiers
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spread through the country, (governors and revenue officers in our seaports, custom-house officers on shore and on ship-board,) we had to suffer the out- rage of impressment, or resist at the peril of life. It is true that an act of parliament had been passed in the sixth year of the reign of Queen Anne, (1707,) by which, for the encouragement of trade in Amer- ica, it was enacted that "no person serving as a mar- iner on board any privateer or trading vessel should be impressed, unless such person shall have desert- ed from a ship of war." I find this act of parliament quoted by the inhabitants of Boston, in town-meet- ing, June, 1768, in consequence of an attempt to press men for an English ship of war. The in- habitants looked to the English governor, Bernard, for redress ; and he answered, as if ignorant of the statute, that it was the custom at home, and he could not interfere.
Wm. A pretty fellow for a governor, if he did not know of the existence of laws made on purpose for the place he was sent to govern!
Un. Always let us remember, my good boy, that the great Mr. Pitt, Lord Chatham, as I said before, and may repeat again, gave as his opinion that " no company of foot-soldiers sent by his majesty to Ameri- ca, but could furnish a man fit for the governor of a colony." But before this affair at Boston, which was in 1768, and even before the stamp act, I find it re- corded that " four fishermen, who supplied the New York market, in the month of June, 1764, were seized by a press-gang in the harbour and carried on board a tender, to be taken to Halifax for his majesty's service." But the captain of the tender, as ignorant as Governor Bernard or any other colo- ny governor, thinking that he had done his duty, (and either not knowing that the people of the town bad heard the fate of their fishermen, or, perhaps,
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little dreaming that they would dare oppose his ma- jesty's officer,) went on shore in his barge with the usual man-of-war imposing appearance. But no sooner had he landed, than the populace (I will not call them mob) seized the boat, without offering any injury to the captain or crew. The gallant officer found that he was off (if not out of) his element, and offered to restore the fishermen. But the people were now up, and away they went with the barge. 'The officer, probably by the advice of some gentle- men of the town, repaired to the coffee-house and wrote an order for the release of the impressed men, which was delivered to some one present, and a party went from the coffee-house, took a boat, board- ed the tender with the captain's order, and returned in triumph with the four prisoners.
Wm. I dare say Captain Isaac Sears was of that party.
Un. It may be; or Alexander McDougal, or some other spirited patriot.
Phil. What became of the barge, Uncle ?
Un. While this peaceable transaction was going on at the coffee-house, which was near the bottom of Wall street, the people had dragged the boat to the green in the fields, where the park is now, and there they kindled a fire and burnt her. The ma- gistrates met, but before they could interfere the poor barge was sacrificed to liberty. In the after- noon the court assembled to take cognizance of the affair; "but," says the record, "they were not able to discover any of the persons concerned in the mischief."
Phil. I guess the English men-of-war did not think of pressing men in our harbour after that.
Un. But they did though. However, they kept clear of the shore. On the 24th of April, 1764, the ship Prince George arrived from Bristol, and find- ing that there was a man-of-war in the harbour,
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