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 32
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1712 New York was sunk in proportion to her former exulta- tion and anticipation of success. The assembly were pre- vailed upon by their fears and the governour, to keep up their for- ces during the winter, and repair the fortifications. They saw that the Iroquois were wavering in their attachment, and more boldly declared their independence. An attack, by sea, upon New York, was feared, and a panic seized them when they contemplated the number of negroes held in slavery among them. A " negro plot" was discovered, or imagined, and 19 of these degraded 1713 wretches were executed. The treaty of Utrecht relieved the colony from many of her fears ; but the exhaustion and debt consequent upon the last Canada expedition, weighed heavy upon her for years to come.
The treaty of Utrecht, concluded on the 31st of March, 1713, not only relieved New York from fears of European enemies, but was of advantage to the province in recognizing the Five Nations and their country as subject to Great Britain : for, although the Iroquois considered themselves free, and their country belonging to themselves alone, it was considered that something was gained, to have the acknowledgment of France that these independent peo- ple were subjects to the King of England : and it appears to follow that all nations conquered by them likewise became British sub- jects.
By the same treaty, the assiento contract, by which the most ca-
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tholic King of Spain had granted to the most christian King of France, the exclusive privilege of supplying his colonies with negro slaves, was transferred, by the desire of the defender of the faith, the Queen of Great Britain, to her reformed and protestant subjects. The queen engaged that her subjects should, during the above mentioned period, transport to the Spanish colonies 144,000 negro slaves, at the rate of 4,800 per year. I have already noticed the royal instructions to Lord Cornbury, on his being sent to govern New Jersey and New York. The title of the treaty between France and Spain, the benefits of which were thus transferred to Great Britain, was thus : " Traite fait entre les deux rois tres christiens et catholiques, avec la compagnie royale de Guinee etab- lie en France, concernant l'introduction des negres dans l'Ame- rique."
As early as 1716, Lieutenant-governour Spotteswode, (or Spot- wood,) of Virginia, proposed the purchasing of lands on the Ohio, and establishing trading-houses and forts to trade with the Indians, and counteract the designs of the French, which, he saw, were to enclose the colonies by a chain of forts from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. The ministers of George I, opposed this wise plan of Spotteswode's, they having secret reasons for keeping well with the Court of France, and this necessary project for protecting the colonies was not only defeated, but the French were encou- raged to build the fort of Crown Point upon the territory of New York.
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Piracy, which was repressed by the punishment of Kidd and the exposure of Fletcher, was again encouraged by Charles Eden, the Governour of North Carolina, and his secretary, Tobias Knight. To the commercial restrictions imposed by Great Britain upon the colonies, and the frequent wars between France and England, the evil of piracy at this time, may in part be ascribed, as it existed on the coasts of America. The colonists were induced to become smugglers, because the laws which imposed a tax upon their indus- try and enterprize were imposed by a foreign legislature for foreign benefit ; and from smuggling and privateering it was but a step down to piracy, and this step was made more easy by the encouragement or protection of governours and their minions who had expatriated themselves for the purpose of making money. The gangs of sea- robbers were likewise recruited by English and other sailors, trained to ferocious injustice, and hardened to utter disregard for suffering humanity, by the legalized piracy of the slave trade, encouraged by christian monarchs, nobles, governours, planters, traders, and men of all classes and denominations. After Kidd's arrest and execu- tion, Quelch was the hero of piracy; but after committing depreda- tions and atrocities on the American seas, he ventured to go on shore in Massachusetts, was arrested, tried, and perished on the
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PIRATES.
gallows with six of his companions. Soon after, Captain Bellamy, with a ship of 23 guns and 130 men, infested the American coast, but was wrecked on Cape Cod, and drowned with his crew, except six, who were hanged at Boston. But it was at Providence, in the Bahamas, that these freebooters found a place of refuge and formed a regular settlement. The interruption to commerce, caused the ministry of George I to send some ships of war against this indus- trious West India community, and they broke up the establishment before it had become a duly recognized state among civilized na- tions, but was denominated a den of robbers.
But in North Carolina appeared the celebrated Blackbeard, the terror of all peaceable traders, and as much the delight of the wonder-loving as the Bluebeard of another hemisphere. This wretch was one Theach, who acquired the title or nickname for which he is admired, as other titled personages still are, by encour- aging the growth of a very black beard, which attained very un- common length, and was so disposed of by the wearer as to increase the ferocity of his appearance. He had once been the chief of the pirates of New Providence, but found Pamlico river, in North Carolina a more secure place of resort. Armed with three pair of pistols, and other equipments for destruction, he is described as having in battle the appearance and demeanour of a demon ; among his fellows at other times his conduct was little less than demoniacal. He was dreaded and admired in proportion to the extravagance of his drunken inhumanity. In riot, ebriety, and debauchery, the spoils acquired by robbery and murder were spent by all the de- praved community : and Blackbeard, it is said, would, at table with his comrades, amuse himself by blowing out the candles and discharging his pistols at random among his guests. Another of his freaks was to represent hell, himself the reigning devil, sur- rounded by flames and sulphur, while he was amused by the suf- focation from which his companions with difficulty escaped.
At one time Theach took advantage of the king's proclamation, offering pardon to pirates who submitted to the law, and surren- dered himself and twenty of his men to his friend Governour Eden : but his treasure being exhausted by the usual excesses, he again embarked in open robbery and human butchery.
Governour Spotteswode of Virginia, a rare instance of sagacity and virtue in a colonial governour, appointed by England, offered a reward for the apprehension of the piratical monster, and one Masnard an officer belonging to an English man of war stationed in the Chesapeake, collected a crew of picked men, and manning two small vessels sought Blackbeard, with determination to take him. He found Theach in Pamlico sound, safe, as he thought, in the protection of Governour Eden. "The pirate was surprised to see two vessels bearing down upon him with evidently hostile in-
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PIRATES.
tention ; nothing daunted, he manoeuvred and fought his vessel with skill and desperation, but Masnard closed in and boarded. Then the cool determination of the avengers of insulted justice and hu- manity soon overcame the fury of brutal courage. Theach sunk after having received many wounds among the dead and dying combatants. Those who asked for quarter were spared to under- go the sentence of the law.
With Blackbeard expired the open system of piracy which had been encouraged by those on shore, who neither shared the dan- gers nor incurred the punishment. Piracy continued, but was not protected by the colonial government.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Court of Chancery-By the treaty of Utrecht, the Iroquois con- sidered subjects of England-Peter Schuyler-Governour Burnet -Doctor C. Colden-Oswego-Congress at Albany-Spottes- wode-French plan of extending forts from St. Lawrence to Mississippi-Chevalier de Joncaire-Burnet's plan, in opposition to France-French at Niagara-Governour Burnet's difficulties and final removal to Massachusetts-Character.
1712 At a council held at Fort Anne, in the city of New York,
the 29th of September, 1712, present, his Excellency Robert Hunter, Colonel De Peyster, Mr. Van Dam, Mr. Bar- barie, and Mr. Byerly, Caleb Heathcote,* mayor, and Francis Harrison, sheriff. Likewise Robert Livingston, mayor of Albany, and Thomas Williams, sheriff.
In this year the Tuscaroras and other Indians, endeavoured to put an end to white encroachments, by an attack with intention to
· Sir Gilbert Heathcote, the father of Caleb, was a very rich merchant of London, one of the principal founders of the Bank of England, and once lord mayor. The knowledge I have of this gentleman, is from a newspaper : his son John succeeded to his title of Baronet, and by marrying the betrothed of Caleb, drove him to Ame- rica with his riches. He married the daughter of Tangeir Smith, of Long Island. I have seen a copy of the will of the said Colonel Caleb Heathcote, through the favour of William Whitehead Esquire, by which he devised to his son, the estate mentioned by Madam Knight, Marmaroneck, one of his daughters married Doctor Lewis Johnson, of Perth Amboy, and another Lieutenant Governour James De lancey, of New York.
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destroy the colonists of North Carolina, many of whom they mur- dered : but being defcated, the Tuscaroras fled, and were received as a sixth nation in their confederation by the Iroquois, to whom they appear to have belonged originally.
When Hunter, to counteract the intrigues of the French Jesuits among the Iroquois, proposed to the sachems in council to send them protestant missionaries, and told them the queen wished to clothe their souls, as well as bodies, they resolutely declined the favour, adding, that it would be a greater kindness to send some blacksmiths to reside among them. They, accused the ministers from New York, who came among them, of encour- aging the practice of drinking brandy. They were struck forcibly with the difference between the missionaries who came among them impelled by zeal, and those who were paid for the service. "I love to feel where words come from," was the re- mark of an Indian, to a quaker.
Governour Hunter had not only been faithful to the queen and to himself, in studiously endeavouring to prevail on the house of assembly (by their fixing the salaries of the officers,) to make office-holders independent of the people, but he, without con- sulting the assembly, erected a court of chancery, exercised the office of chancellor himself, and appointed Messrs. Van Dam and Phillipse, masters, with an examiner, register, and clerks.
The assembly saw, that by this, the power of the governour and council was increased, and the house of assembly propor- tionably diminished in weight. They protested : the affair was referred to the lords of trade, (ever ready to support the pretensions of the governour and council,) and they let the people know that her majesty had an undoubted right to appoint as many courts as she thought proper.
The reader will see hereafter, that William Smith, the father of the historian, contended that the king could not erect a court of chancery, without consent of parliament ; so, no such court could be erected in New York, without consent of the assembly - the people not being represented in parliament. This was in 1734, and was the point mooted in 1775.
Lord Bellamont had strenuously contended that the Iroquois were subjects of England, and by the treaty of Utrecht, as already observed, the Five Nations were declared to be " subject to the dominion of Great Britain." They were permitted to be free to trade with either English or French; but the boundaries were left hereafter to be determined.
We must consider the country of the Iroquois such as is deline- ated in the map, copied from Mr. Gallatin, and inserted in this work.
The French, at the conclusion of the treaty of Utrecht, held Fort VOL. I. 36
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BURNET GOVERNOUR.
1716 Frontignac. In 1716,* James Alexander and William Smith arrived, in the same ship, from England : the first, from Scotland, and father of the Lord Sterling, of our revolution : the second, an Englishman, and father of the historian of New York: both distinguished as lawyers in the province, and soon engaged in publick business.
From the year 1717, Hunter, by the aid of Lewis Morris 1717 to 1719 and Robert Livingston, junior, contrived to have the house of assembly with him; and he informed the repre- sentatives, on the 21st of June, 1719, that for the be- nefit of his health and his private affairs, he was about, by permission of the king, (George I,) to return home, to reassume his American governments as might be hereafter determined. Mor- ris and Livingston drew up the address of the assembly, and covered the departing governour with every honour which might or might not become him.t
On his departure, the 31st of July, 1719, the rule of the pro- vince devolved on Peter Schuyler, as the elder member of the council, for so it will be remembered, the last vacation of the gu- bernatorial chair had been determined to be filled, if no lieutenant- governour was at hand. During he time which intervened between Hunter's departure, and the arrival of William Burnet, the worthy Peter Schuyler confirmed the ancient league between the province and the Iroquois, whose friendship had been grievously weakened by the feeble and disastrous attempts, which had been made against Canada. In this, and in every measure he could devise for the good of New York, the short period of Peter Schuyler's administration was employed.
1720 The son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet, William, hav- ing exchanged his office of comptroller of the customs, with Hunter, for the government of New Jersey, and New York, took upon him the affairs of the latter province, on the 17th of Sep- tember, 1720. A long train of governours appointed by England, had been military men; they had previously attained some rank as such, though it appeared to have been in conformity to Lord Chatham's subsequent opinion, that a man in his majesty's march- ing regiment could always be found, who was fitted for govern- ing an American colony. Sloughter, Ingoldsby, Fletcher, Corn- bury, and even Hunter, had proved themselves fitted to govern
· About this time, it is said that Irish emigrants, settling Londonderry, in Maine, introduced the cultivation of potatoes in America. The culture must have spread rapidly, for the potatoe was familiar in New York and New Jersey beyond the me- mory of man of the present time, or even of 70 years ago.
t Burling, a quaker, of Long Island, published in 1718, a tract against slavery.
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as directed, for their own interests, and that of England; but to govern as men seeking. the good of the people for whom they were to enact and administer laws, they were contrasts in all things, to the rulers then and subsequently elected by the peo- ple. They were in most respects, contrasts to William Burnet. He is described by history and tradition, (for the latter source of information, begins now to dawn upon us,) as polite, sociable, well read, quick, intelligent, and well disposed : but most extraordinary, he had not the usual desire to accumulate money.
Burnet had received a knowledge of the state of the province, and of the leading men, while negociating his exchange of offices; and the council named in his instructions, were, Colonel Peter Schuyler, Colonel Abraham de Peyster, Captain Robert Walters, Colonel Beekman, Mr. Rip Van Dam, Colonel Caleb Heathcote, Mr. John Barbarie, Mr. Phillipse, Mr. Byerly, Mr. Clarke, Mr. John Johnston, the ex-mayor, and Mr. Harrison.
Governour Burnet was intimate, in a short time after his arrival, with Lewis Morris, who was of eminent service to him, both in New Jersey and New York. He soon understood the value of Cadwal- lader Colden, and advanced him to offices of profit and trust. To use the words of Gulian C. Verplanck, Esq., "among those to whom this country is most deeply indebted for much of its science, and for very many of its most important institutions, Cadwallader Colden is very conspicuous." This gentleman was born in Scot- land, February 17th, 16SS. He was, of course, at the beginning of Governour Burnet's administration, 32 years of age. Educated at the University of Edinburgh, he had devoted himself to the study of medicine, and the cultivation of mathematical science. His first place of residence in America, was Philadelphia, where he prac- tised physick, with success. He returned to Europe, and after some residence in London, visited Scotland, and there married a lady of the name of Christie, with whom, in 1716, he again came to Pennsylvania.
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Two years before Governour Burnet's arrival, Colden settled in the city of New York, where his mathematical knowledge procured him the appointment of surveyor-general, from his countryman, Governour Hunter ; from whom, soon after, he received the addi- tional appointment of master in chancery. "The state of society in this country," Mr. Verplanck remarks, "which did not yet allow of the regular division either of labour or of professional study, rendered this last appointment less remarkable than it might other- wise appear to a reader of the present day. Doctor Colden's gene- ral knowledge and habits of business soon qualified him for the able discharge of this office."
With Morris, Colden, Alexander, Schuyler, Smith, and a younger
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ESTABLISHMENT AT OSWEGO.
Livingston, (the former, so conspicuous in our history, having re- tired to his manor, and died in 1711,) Governour Burnet's supe- riour talents led him to see the true interests of the province, and empowered him to act in conformity. His unclouded mind soon comprehended the extensive designs of the French, and the advan- tages they derived from a trade not only with the Five Nations, but with Indians of what was then the far west, carried on by means of their post at the entrance of Lake Ontario, established by Count Frontignac, and called by his name. This trade was carried on by the French, with English articles, furnished by merchants in Great Britain to certain traders in Albany. Burnet saw, that sup- plying the Indians directly with the articles they preferred, the influ- ence of the Canadians would be annihilated; and to do this, a fort and trading place must be established higher up the lake, more in , . the country of the Iroquois, and easily accessible to the western Indians. His maps and his counsellors told him that Oswego was the spot.
Before Governour Burnet's time, the chiefs of the Iroquois had seen the disadvantages of receiving English goods through the French traders, and complained of it to the commissioners of Indian affairs,* who wrote to Governour Hunter on the subject. That governour laid the letter before the assembly ; but the evil remained until Burnet, on the first session of the house after his arrival, car- ried through an act, prohibiting this circuitous trade, under penalty of a forfeiture of the goods and an additional fine of £100. Mr. Burnet had in view not only to secure the trade and favour of the Indians, by an establishment at Oswego, (on the banks of Lake Ontario and of the river communicating directly with the Oneida Lake, the Onondaga and the Wood Creek, of that region,) but to thwart the views of France, which claimed from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, and, as Governour Spotteswode had foreseen, in- tended, by a chain of forts, to confine, if not subdue the English colonies on the Atlantick coast.
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. The commissioners of Indian affairs, resided at Albany, and were the channel of communication between the Iroquois and the governour of New York, repre- senting him in Indian transactions. They had no salaries, but received the monies intended to keep the Five Nations attached to the English, and they distributed the presents. In time they thrived by means known to office holders. without salaries, even at this day. At the time Chief Justice Smith wrote, Sir William Johnson, was, and had long been the sole commissioner, and we shall see, as we progress, that he had grown rich on the unsalaried office. A secretary was paid for keeping mi- nutes, which subsequently fell into the hands of Sir John Johnson, the son of Wil- liam, and were lost to Americans. Smith says, the commissioners were generally traders, and therefore despised by the Indians. Sir William Johnson, within nine months after the arrival of' Braddock, received £10,000 sterling, to secure the In- dian interest. Johnson kept up his credit with the Iroquois by exhibiting inferiour agente in the light of traders.
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CONGRESS AT ALBANY.' 265
The leaders in the assembly being Morris and Living- ston, the governour carried all his measures .*
1721 - 1722 It was not until the year 1722, that Governour Burnet could begin the establishment at Oswego. There was fierce opposi- tion to his prohibition of the circuitous trade from England to Albany and thence to Montreal, by means of the Caugnawahgas, who acted as carriers. The English merchants who furnished the goods, and those Albany traders who sold to the French, carried their com- plaints, founded on misrepresentations, to the English lords of trade; and it was only by the plain statement of the truth, vigour- ously set forth by Doctor Colden, that the arts of those who only consulted their own selfish views, were defeated.
The governour's trading house, at Oswego, was established, and trusty persons appointed to reside there, and in the country of the Onondagas. He likewise visited Albany, where a congress of go- vernours met to confirm treaties, and transact other business with the Iroquois, who had been augmented by a portion of Nicaraugas, who were adopted, as the Tuscaroras had formerly been.
This congress was composed of commissioners, and governours of provinces. It was the second American congress; and had its effect in leading to those provincial, and general congresses, by which our independence was achieved. At this time, 1722, Go- vernours Spotteswode of Virginia, Burnet of New York, and Keith of Pennsylvania, were deputies from other colonies. Sir William Keith seems to have been complimented with the presidency, though representing the youngest province, and possessing the meanest abilities, merely because he was distinguished by a title ; a circum- stance of great weight then (perhaps now) in America.
He was a man, as described by James Grahame, "of insinua- ting address ; a shrewd, plausible, supple, and unprincipled adven- turer ; devoid of honour and benevolence ; governed entirely by mean vanity, and selfish interest."t Surely, such a man, although placed in the president's chair, could have little influence, where the representatives of New England were present, and a constella- tion of intellect in Burnet, Spotteswode, Alexander, and Colden.
Colonel Alexander Spotteswode, was a Scotch gentleman of the most upright and honourable character, distinguished for military skill and valour, as well as for scientifick attain- ments. He had penetrated the designs of the French, in estab- lishing posts in such situations as would give them possession of
* Horatio Walpole sent out Mr. Clarke, to gain a hold upon the provincial trea- sury, but failed in his scheme : and Abrahamn De Peyster, junior, the son of the men- ber of the council, was appointed treasurer, under certain restraints.
t See Franklin's memoirs.
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the great interiour of America, and thus confine the English here- ticks, to the shores of the Atlantick, and perhaps it was to him that Burnet and Colden, owed a clear view of this important subject.
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Governour Spotteswode had already extended the frontiers of Virginia, by leading an exploring party over the Apalachian ridge, and showing to the colonists, the glorious country beyond, now so highly appreciated. He pointed out the advantages to be reaped, from extending their settlements, not only by enriching themselves, but by frustrating the intentions of their enemies. He transmitted a memorial to the English government, in which he predicted the operations of the French, and suggested a line of forts, marked out with the skill of an engineer, by which to anticipate the hostile in- tentions of the enemy. His plans, then easily executed, would have spared millions of expense in treasure, and the blood of the brave, the feeble, and the innocent. But the government of Great Bri- tain was occupied, if she thought of America, in schemes for ex- tracting money from the colonists, rather than plans for their pro- tection, and Spotteswode's memorial obtained no consideration, but was perhaps called to mind when fire, the tomahawk, and the scalping knife, desolated the frontiers, and a gallant army, led by Braddock, sunk under a foe that had been invited by neglect and supineness.
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