USA > New York > New York City > History of the New Netherlands, province of New York, and state of New York : to the adoption of the federal Constitution. Vol. I > Part 29
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On the 6th of March, Nicholl moved to postpone till the next morning. "No," said Atwood, "we shall not give Mr. Vesey an opportunity for another sermon against us." From this it appears, that the Minister of Trinity Church, was enlisted with the Bayard faction, or aristocracy : and we shall find that Cornbury was a per- secutor of presbyterianism.
On the 7th, upon the non-appearance of the attorney general, the chief justice, Atwood, ordered a minute to be made, that the
" As the names show the state of society at this time in New York, I preserve them. Johannes De Peyster, (foreman, ) David Provoost, Martin Clock, Leendert Huggin, Barent Reynders, Johannes Van der Speigell, Johannes Outman, Peter Van Telburgh, Johannes Van Geisen, Abraham Kettletas, Hendrick Gillisen, Aryen Hoogilant, William Jackson, John Corbett, Johannes Van Cortlandt, Caleb Cooper, John Van Hoorn, Burger Mynders, Gerrit Van Hoorn, Jacobus de Key, Abraham Kipp, and Johannes Van Zandt; (Jacob Balen and Johannes Harden- brook did not appear.)
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TRIAL OF BAYARD.
attorney general, hath neglected his majesty's service. He then proceeded thus : " it is no wonder, people here contemn his ma- jesty's authority, since the attorney general, though commanded to prosecute by the government, hath neglected to do the same, and given an opinion directly contrary to the lieutenant-governour and council."
A petition was delivered in by young Bayard, the prisoner's son, praying that the indictment might be set aside, as not found by any twelve jurors, " though the most part of them, as is evidently known, are your prisoner's mortal enemies," on account of the un- happy divisions in the province. But if the court persists, he then petitions, that he may be tried by Englishmen, or of English ex- traction, the jury selected being all Dutch, and several so igno- rant, " that they can neither read nor write, nor understand the English language." He further says, that the petit jury are most of them "handicraft and labouring men."
Atwood ordered a minute that the petition was read, and that the court found that the indictment was found by more than twelve . jurors. The trial proceeded before a jury, all Dutch. The soli- citor, Mr. Weaver, in a violent speech, accused the English inha- bitants of endeavouring to introduce popery and slavery, Bayard being the leader. He accused the enemies of Leisler, as opposers of a government that was now justified at home, as being legal. He accused the adherents of Bayard, as a nest of pirates, who had offered the late Lord Bellamont " a reward of £10,000, to connive at their piracies, and £100 to himself to solicit it."
The court was adjourned from day to day, Mr. Emot,* being the principal advocate on the part of Bayard, who was found guilty, and being asked if he had any thing to say why sentence should not be pronounced, answered, " nothing but what iny counsel have of- fered, and what is contained in my petitions." Atwood, then in the hardest and most unfeeling manner, pronounced the horrible sen- tence then customary upon traitors.
The prisoner then asked, whether he might have leave to answer his honour's speech, made before sentence : but was answered, "no." He replied, " then God's will be done." Hutchins was con- demned in like manner.
Bayard applied for a reprieve, until his majesty's pleasure might be known, which was granted. Hutchins was with more ease re- leased on bail. But Bayard was not released from confinement until after the arrival of Cornbury: all was then reversed: At-
* It is a curious circumstance, that Mr. Emot, one of the counsel for Bayard, advanced the doctrine, not admitted in England until long after, that " the jury aru judges both of law and fact," as Andrew Hamilton did, in 1735.
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252
LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR NANFAN.
wood and Weaver, fled to England, and subsequently Queen Anne's government, directed Lord Cornbury to reinstate Bayard and Hutchins in all honour, and estate, " as if no such trial had been."
The reader, upon retrospection, will see that Nicholas Bayard was a most active, persevering, and occasionally suffering, political leader, at least for thirteen years. He opposed the putting down the government of James II, by Leisler, and the inhabitants of New York ; he was obliged to fly to Albany, and there continue his op- position to Leisler, though avowedly advocating the revolution of 16S8; he ventured to New York, and suffered imprisonment as a traitor ; and to obtain release, made most humiliating confessions and concessions : no sooner released by Sloughter, than he re- sumed his former intrigues, to the death of Leisler and Milbourne; he attends Fletcher and aids him in the attempt to break the char- ter of Connecticut : he is always opposed to the people, and he appears an active member of the government, until removed and accused by Bellamont, on whose death he again raises the standard of (what he had himself made,) sedition and rebellion ; is tried, con- demned, and after much suffering, again released and relieved by the triumph of his party, on the accession of Cornbury.
Nanfan continued his opposition to the aristocratick party as long as possible. He erected a court of exchequer : convened the as- sembly who approved of his late measures, and passed an act de- . claring that the king could not erect a Court of Equity in the pro- vince, without the consent of the legislature : they likewise de- clared, that only the general assembly could impose taxes on the colony Nanfan outlawed French and Wenham, (who had fled,) and removed Robert Livingston from the council.' But the arri- val of Lord Cornbury, as governour, lifted the one party again, and depressed the other.
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253
COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.
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· CHAPTER XVI.
Colonial government-Cornbury relieves Bayard, and avows himself leader of the aristocracy-Yellow fever of 1702-Cornbury a zealous Episcopalian-Affairs of the Iroquois and Canada-Peter Schuyler's efforts- Queen Anne appoints Cornbury to the govern- ment of New Jersey, with New York-His instructions to pro- mote religion, and the increase of African slavery-English nari- gation act-Cornbury unites both parties in a detestation of himself -He is superceded, and thrown into jail by his creditors-Becomes Earl of Clarendon, and a Peer of Great Britain-Lovelace, governour-His death.
BEFORE entering upon the administration of Lord Cornbury, let us take a view of the colonial government of New York.
Though the people had a share in governing themselves, and the power, of granting or withholding money intended for the benefit of the province, the crown of England held and exercised the greater power, of appointing two-thirds of that legislature necessary to the formation of a law ; and a veto upon any such act, even when thus passed for the good of those subject to it.
The governour and lieutenant-governour were always appointed by the king, and the council either by the king or the governour. The council was both executive and legislative, and was limited to twelve, of whom three formed a quorum. The governour could convoke, dissolve, or prorogue the assembly, suspend from office the lieutenant-governour, or any of the council, and fill the vacancy. He could, if the council was reduced to less than seven, fill up to that number. He could, with his council, erect courts, appoint judges and justices of the peace, pardon offenders, treason and mur- der excepted. He could dispose, by warrant, with the consent of his council, of all public monies, grant crown lands, and appoint fairs and ports.
The salary of the governour was, at this time, fixed and paid by the assembly. James Grahame, Esq., a Scotch gentleman, who has published on our colonial history, and deserves our gratitude, says, the governour received about £1,500 from the assembly, and in perquisites, as much more. It has been remarked, that the go- vernours of New York were land jobbers, engrossing for themselves, or patenting for their favourites, or those they wished to bribe or buy, a great proportion of the province. The land was thus farmed
254
CORNBURY'S ADMINISTRATION.
out, or retained in a state of unproductiveness, which obstructed co- lonization by the free poor, and encouraged slave population. The reader has seen the efforts of Bellamont to remedy this evil .*
Beside the inferiour courts, the province had its Supreme Court, and the chief justice had £300 a year. In cases above £100, appeals might be made to the governour and council. In those of more than €300, to the king and privy council. .
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1702 Cornbury, on his arrival, not only relieved Bayard, but de- clared himself the head of the party : but he soon conducted himself, and the affairs of the province, so as to make those who most desired his presence and countenance, ashamed of him ; and by his violence, rapacity, and oppression, united both parties in oppo- sition to him, and, in some measure, by this common sentiment, the discordant elements of two factions, naturally irreconcilable.t
On the 3d of May, 1702, Lord Cornbury, a man hunted out of England by a host of hungry creditors, came to the government of New York, the office protecting him from those he had injured, . and affording him an opportunity of injuring others. The council, at this time, was composed of William Atwood, (who fled from Cornbury and the party, first to Virginia, and then to England,) Col. William Smith, Col. Peter Schuyler, Abraham De Peyster, (the friend of Bellamont,) Samuel Staats, Robert Walters, Thos. Wea- ver, (all Leislerians, and the latter immediately flying,) Sampson Shelton Broughton, Wolfgang William Romar, William Lawrence, Gerardus Beekman, and Rip Van Dam.
Col. Caleb Heathcote and Dr. Bridges were called to supply the places of Atwood and Weaver.
A short time after Cornbury's arrival, the yellow fever was brought from St. Thomas, and proving very fatal in New York, the governour removed to Jamaica, L. I., there held his courts, and displayed his character .¿ A new assembly met him, composed of the party he had espoused, having been elected after his arrival. War having been declared by England against France and Spain,
. The laws respecting slaves discouraged manumission by a heavy fine : and no Negro, Indian or Mulatto, though free, could acquire property in house or land. (See laws from 1691 to 1718.)
t See Appendix U.
# I call this the yellow fever, although it was not so called in 1702. I have seen somewhat of this disease, and was resident at Perth Amboy at the time mentioned by Dr. Hosach, in the following note. "During the year lell, the yellow fever was also introduced into the city of Amboy, New Jersey, from the Havana, but did not spread beyond those persons who were first attacked in consequence of their immediate exposure to the air of the infected vessel. The local circumstances of Amboy, its elevated situation, its dry and sandy soil, its wide streets and spacious houses, their distance from each other, and the remarkable cleanliness of the town, most satisfactorily account for the sudden extinction of the disease, while the evi- dence of its importation must be admitted to be conclusive."
955
ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH EPISCOPACY.
he obtained £1,800 for the defence of the frontiers ; and from the same partizans, £2,000 to pay the expense of his voyage .*
The first acts of Lord Cornbury, which struck at his popularity, proceeded from.what was called his zeal for the establishment of the Episcopacy, as practised by the Church of England, and fixing upon the people of the province a state religion. It seems unfortunate for the Church of England that its first advocates should be such despicable wretches as Sloughter, Ingoldsby, Fletcher, and Corn- bury, men whose acts declared them to be utterly void of Christian faith, the love of God, or their neighbour. The establishment of Episcopacy, and the ritual of the church as adopted in England, was a political measure ; and it is not strange that the government should endeavour to spread the same influence over the colonies, as it was a safeguard against popery and the means of increasing power ; but for this purpose the ministry were peculiarly unfortunate in employing such vile instruments.
When the gallant governour, Petrus Stuyvesant, was forced, by the will of the people, to surrender New Netherland to a superior force, he stipulated for liberty of conscience and church government then and forever. Nicolls granted it, and it was as fully secured to the colonists as their lands, houses, and personal property. The reli- gion of the province was Calvanistick. The reformed religion, in con- formity to the word and decrees of the Synod of Dordrecht, (or Dort) was professed by the Dutch : the English who had become inhabitants of the province were presbyterians from New England. In the articles of surrender, it might be said that Nicolls only granted liberty of conscience, " in divine worship and church government," to the Dutch : but he afterwards published an instrument to encourage settlers, in which he says, " in all territories of his royal highness," which included New Jersey, "liberty of conscience is allowed, pro- vided such liberty is not converted into licentiousness, or the distur- bance of others in the exercise of the protestant religion."
The Dutch of Long Island were of the professed religion of the Synod of Dort; their church government the classis of Amsterdam, until 1772, when the Dutch church of America established an inde-
* At a council held at Jamaica, Queens County, the 7th day of November, 1702, present his excellency, Edward Lord Corubury, and William Smith, S. Shelton Broughton, William Lawrence, Rip Van Dam, and Caleb Heathcote, Esqrs.
Ordered that the mayor and common council cause the act for levving and col- lecting £1,800 for the raising, paying and maintaining 150 fusileers, with their pro- per officers, for five months ; and thirty men with their proper officers to be em- ployed as scouts sixty-two days, for the defence of the frontiers. To be published at the City Hall with all possible expedition. By order of his Excellency, in coun. cil .- B. Cozens, County Clerk.
The reader will remember, that the New City Hall was finished during the ad- ministration of Bellamont, and that as soon as Cornbury avowed himself, the aring of Bellamont and Nanfan were destroyed by the aristocracy.
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ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH EPISCOPACY.
pendent classis and Synods like those of Holland. Hempstead had a minister from Stamford, a presbyterian. Jamaica, (originally Rust- dorp) settled a minister early. Episcopal churches were established in some towns, and Quakers formed societies in Oyster Bay and Flushing .*
Every where the people felt that they had the right secured to them of worshipping in their own way, listening to such ministry as suited them, and paying them (and only such) for their services. Fletcher, as we have seen, by means of the aristocratick party, procured an act of assembly to be passed for establishing certain ministers in some of the towns or counties, who were to be paid by a tax upon all the inhabitants generally. His intent was to make the people recognize the Church of England; and forced the dissenters to pay for ministers of that church, with liberty to maintain preachers of their own. Cornbury went further.
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When he was driven by the fever, which prevailed at New York, to seek refuge at Jamaica, the Rev. Mr. Hubbard, presbyterian minister, resided in the best house in the town, which was provided by the people who had built a church for him to preach in. The noble governour borrowed this house-who could refuse Lord Cornbury? The clergyman removed to inferiour quarters. But there were people in Jamaica who were episcopalians ; they had no church and no parsonage-house, or glebe; and the governour, in return for Mr. Hubbard's hospitality, seized the church, house and glebe for the members of the Episcopal Church ; for he had instruc- tions which required that the governours of the plantations should "give all countenance and encouragement to the exercise of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, as far as conve- niently might be."t
His Lordship thought this seizure " conveniently might be ;" Mr. Hubbard, and the majority, not only of the people of Jamaica, but mankind, thought otherwise ; and this infamous. transaction, was one ingredient in the chalice of which he was subsequently forced to drink, but not before he had played a number of mad or fantastick tricks only to be expected from a drunkard.
Another article in the instructions given to provincial governours must not be omitted, by which any schoolmaster was prohibited from teaching, unless licensed by the governour : ¿ and those coming for that purpose from England, must produce a license from the Bishop of London.
* Wood's History of Long Island.
t Smith says, in his History of New York, that the proprietors of the church resisted, "tore up the seats, got possession. for a time, of the house and key, which was again taken from them by violence : that Cornbury harrassed them by prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments."
# Weekly Mercury, New York, 1755.
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257
AFFAIRS OF THE IROQUOIS AND CANADA.
"The house of assembly, which met Lord Cornbury at Jamaica, · was generally composed of the party, at the head of which the go- vernour appeared. They declared in answer to his first address, that " they were not sufficiently able to express the satisfaction they had, both in their relief and their deliverer."
Lord Cornbury, though appointed by William III, did not ar- rive at New York, until after the death of that prince, which took place on the 8th of March, 1701, and the throne was occupied im- mediately by Anne ; under whom the war with France was conti- nued, and of course the hostilities of New France or Canada are ceaseless towards New England, and New York, as are the in- trigues with the Iroquois.
1703 M. de Callieres dying, the government of Canada devolved on M. Vaudreuil, the governour of Montreal. The Iroquois were averse to receiving French missionaries, but wished to hold out prospects of permanent alliance with Canada. The Indians and the French appeared to strive which should outdo the other in ar- tifice and flattery : though occasionally " Ononthio," threatened the Iroquois. A deputation of Senecas visited Montreal, and the gover- nour "caressed them greatly." The chief of the Senecas, is made by Charlevoix to say, that the belt he gives the governour, conveys to France, the soil, and absolute dominion of the lands of the Se- necas ; that they, as children, are to be protected by their father ; * and he, the speaker, will die before the missionaries shall be driven away. A French agent returned with this deputation, to remain among the Senecas. This state of neutrality between Canada and the Iroquois, protected the frontiers of New York, and enabled the borderers to carry on advantageous trade, of which New England complained. Cornbury was accused of withholding the aid of the Five Nations, from New England, for the advantage of New York. The French, and other Indians, burnt Deerfield ; deputa- tions were carried on upon New England settlements, and the in- habitants of Albany were charged with supplying the Indians, who ravaged New Hampshire, with arms, and with affording a market for the spoil. This is recorded by James Grahame, in his- history of the United States, who at the same time, adds, that Colonel Schuyler, and others, endeavoured to counteract this conduct, and that Schuyler exerted himself to discover the projected expe- ditions of the French and their allies, " and was able, on some oc- casions, to forewarn the people of Massachusetts of approaching danger."
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It is certain that the French of Canada abstained from sending. their savages upon the New York settlements, and turned them upon New England. The governour was evidently afraid that the Iroquois would be induced to commence hostilities again. " Te- gannessorens," says Charlevoix, when at Montreal, told the gover -. VOL. I. 33
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SCHUYLER'S EFFORTS.
pour, that the Europeans made peace, and then without, or when it suited them, " took up the hatchet again." Why then may not the Iroquois do the same ? A party of Iroquois, when hunting near Cadaraqui, (fort Frontignac,) had been attacked by the Ottawas and Miamies, and " Pitre Schueller, gouverneur d'Orange," that is, Peter Schuyler, Mayor of Albany, had called upon the Five Na- tions to revenge this injury, sustained near a French garrison, and on their own land. He persuaded them, the Jesuit says, to break with France.
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The French governour had two agents with the Senecas, who informed him that the governour of Orange, (that is Colonel Peter Schuyler, the Mayor of Albany,) had called a meeting of the Iro- quois at Onondaga, and intended to oblige them to drive off the missionaries ; that is, the priests and Jesuits who acted as spies. They likewise inform Vaudreuil, that Schuyler intended to excite the Iroquois to oppose the French Indians in their hostilities car- rying on against New England. That he likewise wished the Mo- hawks to send back the Mohicans dwelling among them, to their former dwellings near Albany ; and to gain permission for the Indians of the far west to pass through the country of the Iroquois for the purposes of trade with New York.
All this was probably the wish of Colonel Schuyler, and he had the authority of Cornbury for endeavouring to effect measures of which the governour knew not the advantage. In April of this year, he visited Albany, and had discretion enough to leave both plans and execution for the defence of the frontiers, and man- agement of the Indians, to Peter Schuyler. The governour re- turned to New York.
It appears from father Charlevoix, in his history, that the garri- son of the French at Detroit, had some misunderstanding with the neighbouring Indians, who attempted to burn their fort. The Se- necas likewise sent agents to Montreal to complain of hostilities committed by the Ottawas. M. Vaudreuil promised ample satis- faction, and required of them to be at the council called by the English at Onondaga ; and to prevent any measures that might be attempted against the French interest. He felt secure of the Onon- dagas, because of his agents who resided among that tribe.
1704 The Senecas departed with the instructions of the gover- nour of Canada, and met Colonel Schuyler at the council of the confederates, held in the great castle for deliberation, at Onondaga.
The three principal French agents were present, and the Jesuit historian says, they " manoeuvred so well, that the council separated without concluding any thing." Schuyler did not intermit his ef- forts, and meeting some of the French converts, or Caugnawahgas, at a Mohawk castle, he prevailed upon them, by means of presents,
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259
CORNBURY GOVERNOUR OF NEW JERSEY.
to follow him to Schenectady, where he exhorted them to remain neutral, and endeavoured to prevail upon them to remove to the province of New York, or to return home to the Mohawks. These Caugnawaghas, carried the colonel's belts of wampum and pro- position to their fellows, and they were accepted ; but the French interfered immediately, and the belts were sent back as rejected.
The reader cannot but remark in all this, the persevering efforts of Colonel Schuyler for the service of the English colonies ; and the deteriorated state of the Iroquois, since their intimate connec- tion with Europeans. The policy of the French was to keep the Iroquois quiet, while the allies of the Canadian government ravaged New England. On the other hand, Schuyler wished to aid the sister colonies, by instigating the Iroquois against Canada. " Pre- serve a neutrality with the Five Nations,"-such was the instruc- tions Vaudreuil received from home-" unless you find a good opportunity to strike them a blow that shall destroy or cripple them, without incurring expense to the king." .The Iroquois, when first seen by Europeans, had all the proud virtues of Spartans-a na- tion of conquerors, oppressors, and murderers. They were, and felt themselves superiour to all around them. They were more wise in council, and more bold, as well as expert in the arts of de- struction, than any people they knew. Every individual moved proudly as a freeman, knowing no superiour but the more wise and valiant of his nation, and preferring death to dishonour. But when they met Europeans, they were at first dazzled by the supe- riour knowledge and power, arts and. arms, of the strangers. They became lowered in their own estimation ; they submitted to be influenced by the intrigues, and debauched by the presents of the white men. They by degrees gave up independence for blan- kets, guns, powder, lead, and rum : such they appear in 1704, but they had not yet quite fallen.
In 1702, the proprietors of New Jersey not proving equal to self government, after many and repeated quarrels, made a formal surrender to Queen Anne of all their powers, " to govern and rule the provinces of East Jersey and West Jersey," and her " most gracious majesty," having on the 17th day of April, 1702, accept- ed the surrender, immediately appointed Edward,. Lord Vis- count Cornbury, governour of New Jersey.
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