USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 24
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Among the provisions of this code were trials by jurymen ; arbitration in small matters; a local court in each town, from which there was an appeal to the Court of Sessions ; overseers, and constables, and justices of the peace; assessments, and enforcements of rates imposed. The tenure of real estate was to be from the Duke of York, involving new patents and a harvest of fees ; all conveyances were to be recorded in the Secretary's office, in New York ; no purchase of the Indians was to be valid unless the original owner acknowledged the same before the governor; no trad- ing with the Indians was to be allowed without a license; no Indian might pow-wow, or perform outward worship to the Devil, in any town in the province ; negro slavery was recognized, but no Christians were to be enslaved except those sentenced thereto by authority; death was the punishment for denying the true God, for murder, for treason, for kidnap- ping, for the striking of parents, and for some other offenses, - but witch- craft was not included in the list; churches were to be built in every parish and supported, but no one particular Protestant denomination was to be favored above another; no minister was to officiate but such as had been regularly ordained; each minister was to preach every Sunday, on the 5th of November (the anniversary of the gunpowder treason), on the 30th of January (the anniversary of the violent death of Charles I.), on the 29th of May (the anniversary of the birth of Charles II. and of the Restoration), to pray for the king, queen, Duke of York, and the royal family, to baptize children, and to marry persons after legal publication ; no person who professed Christianity was to be molested, fined, or imprisoned for differing in opinion on matters of religion. There were numerous regulations respecting the administration of estates,
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"As an immediate result of Nicolls' attendance upon the Convention, a race-course was established at Hempstead. The ground selected was sixteen miles long and four wide. It was covered with fine grass, unmarred by stick or stone Nicolls directed that a plate should be run for, every year, to improve the provincial Dutch, or Flemish, breed of horses. Page 229.
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THE FIRST RACE-COURSE ON LONG ISLAND.
boundaries of towns, births and burials, surgeons and midwives, children and servants, weights and measures, and wrecks, and whales, and sailors, and orphans, and laborers, and brewers, and pipe-staves, and casks, and wolves ; and every town was to provide a pillory, a pair of stocks, and a pound.
Nicolls, with great caution, delayed the enforcement of those laws in New York, Esopus, Albany, and the valley of the Hudson. And, in order to mollify the resentment of some of the Long Island delegates, he made several civil appointments upon the adjournment of the conven- tion. Counselor William Wells was commissioned the first high-sheriff of Long Island. John Underhill, of Oyster Bay, who had been so promi- nent hitherto in New Netherland affairs, was made high-constable and under-sheriff of the North district, or riding, and surveyor-general of the island. Daniel Denton, John Hicks, Jonas Wood, and James Hubbard were appointed justices.
As an immediate result of Nicolls's attendance upon the convention, a race-course was established at Hempstead. The ground selected May 1.
was sixteen miles long and four wide. It was covered with fine grass, unmarred by stick or stone, and was for many years called "Salisbury Plains." Nicolls directed that a plate should be run for, every year, in order to improve the provincial Dutch, or Flemish, breed of horses, which was better adapted to slow labor than to fleetness or display. The race- course itself was named " Newmarket," after the famous English sporting- ground, and was subsequently a favorite annual resort for the governors of New York and the farmers of Long Island.
Nicolls was ready to favor every important colonial enterprise. There had been much talk about the culture of grapes. Paulus Richards established a vineyard on Long Island for the manufacture of wine. As he was the first planter of vines, it was cordially agreed by the adminis- tration that whoever during thirty years should plant vines in any part of the province should pay five shillings for each acre so planted to Richards, in acknowledgment of his pioneer operations. The produce of his vines, if sold at retail by any one house in the city, was to be free from impost for the above period of thirty years, and, if sold in gross, to be free forever.
While Nicolls was busily at work, attending to his own government, his colleagues, Cartwright, Maverick, and Carr, were laboring with "refrac- tory " Massachusetts. It had been the object of the king to work such alteration in the Puritan charters as would give him the appointment of their governors, and of the commanders of their militia. Nothing, how- ever, could be accomplished without the presence of Nicolls. He accord-
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
ingly made the journey to Boston. It was of no use : Massachusetts was on her dignity. Boston treated the overtures of the royal commissioners with scorn. "Our time and labor is all lost upon men misled May 26. by the spirit of independency," said Nicolls. He hurried back to New York; and Cartwright, Maverick, and Carr went eastward to Maine.
The first care of Nicolls, after his return, was to alter the city govern- ment, so as to make it conform to the customs of England. Wishing to do this in the most conciliatory manner, he selected Thomas Willett for the first mayor of New York. This gentleman had distinguished himself on the Albany expedition, and had so impressed Cartwright that the latter wrote to Nicolls from Boston, " I believe him a very honest and able gentleman, and that he will serve you both for a mayor and coun- selor." Willett was a Plymouth settler, but had been much in New Neth- erland, had property interests there, and for a series of years had had constant business relations with the Dutch merchants. He was better acquainted with the country, and with the language, manners, and cus- toms of the Dutch, than any other Englishman, and was popular among all classes.
On the 12th of June appeared the governor's proclamation, which declared that the future government of the city should be admin- June 12. istered by persons to be known by the name and style of Mayor, Aldermen, and Sheriff. A separate instrument, under the same date, or- dained that all the inhabitants of Manhattan Island "are and shall be forever accounted, nominated, and established as one body politic and corporate." The appointments were as follows : Thomas Willett, mayor ; Thomas Delavall, Oloff S. Van Cortlandt, Johannes Van Brugh, Cornelis Van Ruyven, and John Lawrence, aldermen; and Allard Anthony, sheriff, - three Englishmen and four Hollanders.
They were to be duly installed in office on the 14th of June. When Nicolls entered the Council Chamber, he instantly perceived that June 14. there was much dissatisfaction. As soon as the meeting was called to order, Van Cortlandt rose, and, with his silvery locks thrown back and his eyes flashing fire, stated distinctly his objections to the new regulation, which violated the sixteenth article of the capitulation. Nicolls replied elaborately, showing how the old officers had been con- tinued, and, in February, new ones elected who had been retained until now. Van Brugh sprang to his feet and argued at length the superior wisdom of the old Dutch system. Van Ruyven followed him, and, in great heat, opposed the principle of appointments by the governor. Nicolls was bland and deferential, but said he was under orders from the
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JOHN LAWRENCE.
Duke of York to model the government of New York according to that of the cities of England. At the same time, he paid the gentlemen some happy compliments in respect to their recent administration of affairs. The ceremony of swearing in the new magistrates proceeded without interruption ; they were duly proclaimed, and shook hands with the polite governor before separating.
John Lawrence was one of three brothers who settled on Long Island in the time of. Charles I. He was a lineal descendant of Sir Robert Lawrence (anciently spelled Laurens), who owned in England, during the reign of Henry VII., thirty-four manors, the revenue of which amounted to six thousand pounds sterling per annum. These brothers, John, Wil- liam, and Thomas, brought considerable property into the province, and all became extensive landholders. John accumulated a fortune in mer- cantile pursuits. When he was first made an alderman, he had a city as well as a country residence, and owned more slaves than any one on Man- hattan Island.
The democratic theory which has since been thoroughly instilled into the American mind, that all men (and perhaps women) are born free and equal, was then among the marvels of the future. An aristocratic senti- ment pervaded the little community, and was predominant for more than a century after, which was much the same as in the contemporaneous cities of Europe. The line between master and servant was rigidly drawn. There was no transition state, through which the latter might aspire, by the favor of fortune, to rise to the condition of the former. And the Dutch, with their great republican notions but half developed, were, if possible, more tenacious in the matter of social classification than the English.
Nicholas Bayard, Stuyvesant's nephew, was appointed secretary of the common council, and was required to keep the records both in Dutch and English. He was a mere boy in years and personal appearance ; but, thanks to his accomplished mother, he had all the flexibility and self-pos- session of a veteran. He was industrious, and intelligent in the details of finance and city government. He wrote rapidly, and his penmanship was the pride of the board. He had none of the forwardness common to youth, was courteously deferent to his elders, and remarkably grave and reticent. " He is never in the way, nor ever out of the way," said Willett, - a trait of character which may possibly account for his ex- traordinary career in after life. He was, however, excessively frivolous in some of his personal tastes, and, when off duty, devoted himself to dancing, horse-racing, and other diversions which greatly distressed his worthy friends.
The schools, so far as they were established, were allowed to continue ;
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
but Nicolls took no steps to increase their number, or, indeed, to promote education in any form. It was sufficient for him, he argued, to see that the Christian ministers were supported. The Lutherans he permitted to build a church of their own and to send to Europe for a clergyman.
But a storm was gathering across the water, which was to involve New York in fresh difficulties. When Charles II. and his ministers settled with convenient logic the question of seizing and appropriating a Dutch province, it was at the risk of war. The States-General had no suspicion of the treachery in progress until the whole facts were revealed. De Witt sought an explanation from Downing, who replied, with stinging sarcasm, that he knew of no such country as New Netherland except in the maps ; the territory had always belonged to the English ! Charles himself laughed heartily when the news reached him of the complete success of Nicolls, and remarked to Sir George Carteret, " I shall have a pleasant time with the Dutch ambassador, when he comes."
The West India Company raved. They applied to the city of Am- sterdam and also to the States-General for ships of war and soldiers, to send at once for the reconquest of the province whose concerns they had so fatally neglected. But the commercial monopoly had lost caste, and the popular cry was against lending it any assistance.
A considerable time elapsed before Van Gogh succeeded in obtaining au- dience of the king. Charles put him off with one excuse after another, but finally admitted him into his presence. Van Gogh denounced the whole proceeding as a vile deception, equally opposed to honor and to justice, and as a palpable infraction of the treaty between the English and Dutch nations. Charles haughtily replied that New Netherland belonged to the English, who had merely allowed the Dutch to settle there, without con- ferring any authority upon the West India Company. The next day, Clarendon wrote to Downing to tell De Witt that "the king was no more accountable to the Dutch government for what he had done in America than he would be in case he should think fit to proceed against the Dutch who live in the fens of England or in any other part of his dominions."
De Witt did not pause to demonstrate the transparent absurdity of the comparison, but peremptorily replied, " New Netherland must be restored." It was soon apparent to the Dutch statesmen, through the insolent man- ner of Downing, as well as the tone of Clarendon's correspondence, that no redress from England need be anticipated. Secret orders were there- fore given to De Ruyter, who was with a squadron on the coast of Africa, " to reduce the English possessions in that region, and inflict by way of reprisal as much damage and injury as possible, either at Barbadoes,
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SECRET ORDERS.
New Netherland, Newfoundland, or other islands or places under English obedience." Downing secured information in regard to these secret orders, through the aid of skillful spies, who took keys from De Witt's pocket while he was asleep in bed, and extracted papers from his desk which were returned within an hour.1 He immediately communicated the fact to his own government. Letters of reprisal were at once issued against the " ships, goods, and servants " of the United Provinces, and, without any previous notice, one hundred and thirty Dutch merchant vessels were seized in the English ports.
The Dutch, who lived by commerce, were no longer backward about fighting. Every city offered men and money to the government. The East India Company suspended their herring and whale fisheries, and equipped twenty war-vessels. The West India Company were authorized to attack, conquer, and destroy the English everywhere, both in and out of Europe, on land and on water. Fourteen millions of guilders were voted for the expenses of the war. As De Ruyter was yet in the West Indies, Was- senaar of Opdam was made admiral of the fleet, with the younger Tromp, and other renowned commanders, under him.
On the 4th of March, Charles issued a formal declaration of war against the United Provinces. The House of Commons at once voted two and one half millions of pounds sterling; "a sum," says Macaulay, "exceeding that which had supported the fleets and March 4. armies of Cromwell, at the time when his power was the terror of all the world." The public mind of England had been for some time grow- ing discontented with the maladministration of affairs, and the immo- rality and extravagance of the court ; but all prior murmurs were mild compared with the cry of indignation which now burst forth.
The Duke of York took command of the English fleet, and sent orders to Nicolls to put his province of New York in a posture of defense against the Dutch. Charles wrote to Nicolls himself, telling him of De Ruyter's expedition, and admonishing him to take all possible care to avoid a surprise. Clarendon added his word of warning, telling Nicolls that he must expect the Dutch to do him every possible mischief. Nicolls and Philip Carteret were appointed commissioners in Admiralty, to dispose of all Dutch prizes in the American harbors.
In May, De Ruyter was actually on his way from the West Indies to Newfoundland. He intended to visit New York, and, had he done so, its conquest would have been easy. But, being short of provis- ions, he was obliged to turn homeward. May.
1 Pepys, II. 186, 192. Davies, III. 27, 28. Barnage, I 714. De Witt, IV. 413. Aitzema, V. 93, 94. Col. Doc., II. 285-288. III. 85. Parl. Hist., IV. 296- 303. Clarke's James II.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
As for the inhabitants of New York, they feared De Ruyter much less than they did the privateers who were prowling about in pursuit of plunder. Nicolls was painfully embarrassed. He had received no sup- plies whatever from England since the surrender. The fort was weak; he had no war-vessels ; and the soldiers were in want of the commonest necessaries. But he was as loyal as he was brave. He at once issued a proclamation for the confiscation of the West India Company's estate, which had already been attached, and sent orders to New England in relation to Dutch prizes in their ports. He then called a meeting June 28. of the citizens, to consult about fortifying the city on the river side. As on many other important occasions, he presided in person. His opening address was a marvel of oratory. He assured the people that he should constrain no one to fight against his own nation. In asking aid in the matter of defense, he agreed to furnish palisades and wampum. Cornelis Steenwyck responded. He was a stanch republican, of the old Belgian stock, intelligent and lib- eral-minded ; and he probably exercised a more healthful influ- ence over the public mind than any other man of his time. He said that he should always be a faithful subject, and would con- tribute according to his means. But he did not see how the Dutch residents could enlist on Portrait of Steenwyck. the public works until their arms were restored to them. One and another arose with the same objection. Some said the town was strong enough as it was. There were many
otherexcuses. No direct re- sult was ob- tained. It was evident to Nicolls Autograph of Steenwyck. that he should be able to command very little assistance from a community which would welcome the restoration of Dutch authority.
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THE PLAGUE IN LONDON.
He sent an elaborate statement of New York affairs to the king by Cartwright, who, quite discouraged with his unprofitable labors in Bos- ton, and in great physical torture with the gout, sailed in June for Lon- don. He was captured at sea by a Dutch privateer, who, having taken away all his papers, landed him in Spain. "It is for your health, sir," said the humorous sea-captain, as they parted company ; "the mild southern climate always cures the gout."
Before the breaking out of hostilities, France had endeavored to recon- cile the differences between England and the United Provinces. As the war progressed, Louis secretly sympathized with Charles, while at the same time he wrote to his minister at the Hague, that, from all he could learn, the rights of the Dutch were the best founded. "It is a species of mockery," he went on to say, "to make believe that those who have built and peopled a city, without any one saying a word to hinder them, would have been tolerated as strangers in France or in England ; and habitation, joined to long possession, are, in my judgment, two suffi- ciently good titles." At the same time he advised that, since New Neth- erland was already lost to the Dutch, it be abandoned, for the sake of peace. De Witt declining any further overtures in that direction, Louis made propositions once more to Charles without avail, and then reluc- tantly fulfilled a promise of long standing to assist Holland. He came to this decision on the 20th of January, 1666. The next month, England declared war against France.
In the mean time, a fierce conflict had raged. On the 13th of June, 1665, a battle was fought off the coast of Suffolk, in which the ship of Admiral Opdam was blown up, and the Duke of York returned in triumph to London. An English medal was struck, bearing June 13. the words " QUATUOR MARIA VINDICO " - I claim four seas. When the news reached New York, the English residents held a grand jubilee over the personal safety of the Duke. But the bonfire which celebrated the victory in London glared over a doomed city. A pestilence broke out, surpassing in horror any that had visited the British Isles for three cen- turies. The appalled court fled from Whitehall. The great city was desolated. Within five months, more than one hundred thousand lives were suddenly ended. The awful silence of the streets was only broken by the nightly round of the dead-cart.
Naval defeat almost produced a revolution in Holland. The return of De Ruyter, however, again inspired confidence. Other expeditions were fitted out. De Witt himself went with the troops, and soon came to a perfect understanding of sea affairs. In the effort to get the great clumsy vessels of the Dutch through the Zuyder Zee, he went out in a boat 15
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
himself, sounding carefully, and by degrees so mastering the elements, that he may be said to have avenged in some sense his former indigni- ties by keeping his ships at sea long after the English fleet was obliged to put in. Several naval engagements occurred, and some frigates were disabled on both sides ; the English were sullen and disappointed, and the Dutch encouraged and hopeful.
Thus departed the year 1665. Parliament still voted supplies ; but the English nation was but a step removed from anarchy. Rents had
fallen until the income of every landed proprietor was so
1666. diminished that a wail of agricultural distress arose from all the shires in the kingdom. The gentry paid their accumulated taxes, breathing curses upon the king's favorites and upon the ignominious war. Algernon Sidney went to the Hague and urged De Witt to invade England, promising him aid ; a strong party in that country having con- ceived the idea of re-establishing the Commonwealth. This proposition was declined by the great statesman. But, as the spring advanced, another June 11. naval contest, occupying four days, took place at the mouth of the
Thames. Instead of the Duke of York, Prince Rupert and the Duke of Albermarle commanded the English fleet. De Witt went with his generals, and the chain shot which he is said to have invented was at this time first introduced, and so cut to pieces the rigging of the English that the Dutch came off victorious. Before the end of the sum- Aug. 4. mer, the fleets engaged again to the advantage of the English,
and De Witt swore that he would never sheathe his sword until he had had his revenge.
A terrible conflagration completed England's miseries for 1666. Five sixths of the proud city of London were laid in ashes. The summer had been the driest known for years. The citizens who had been driven away by the plague were returning ; the merchants counted upon peace before winter, and were preparing to go to the Continental markets. On
Sept. 2. the 2d of September, a fire broke out which lasted four days and nights, and consumed every house, church, and hall in ninety parishes between the Tower and Temple Bar.
The year 1667 opened gloomily. Calamity followed calamity. The incapacity of the English statesmen who were in favor with the 1667. king became more and more apparent. All schemes of an offen- sive war were abandoned. Presently it appeared that even a defensive war was too much for the administration. The ships became leaky and the dock-yards were unguarded. De Witt was promptly informed, and sent De Ruyter up the Thames to Chatham, where he burned all the finest vessels in the English navy, sending terror into every heart in the realm.
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ENGLAND'S DISGRACE.
Charles was compared to Nero, who sang while Rome was burning. At that very moment, he was surrounded by the ladies of his court, and amused himself by hunting a moth about the supper-room.
The English regarded De Witt's success in the light of a national dis- grace. The States-General haughtily dictated the terms of a treaty which was soon after signed at Breda. Singularly enough, they surren- dered New Netherland, the very occasion and prize of this long July 31. contention, for Poleron, Surinam, and Nova Scotia. The West India Company shareholders and the regents of Amsterdam took exceptions ; but otherwise there was general satisfaction in the United Provinces. The same day another treaty was signed between France and England, by which Acadia was restored to Louis. Bells rang in London, but there was little music in them. No bonfires expressed the national joy, since bonfires were costly, and there was no joy to express. Public sentiment both in and out of Parliament set stronger than ever against the king. What was New York, that it should have been accepted in exchange for such profitable places as Poleron, Surinam, and Nova Scotia ? Massa- chusetts shared largely in the same bitter feeling. Popular indignation was aimed chiefly at Clarendon, and Charles adroitly shielded himself behind his austere and faithful minister. England must have a victim ; and Charles, who had really grown weary of Clarendon's imposing ways, deprived him of the Great Seal at the very moment when he was affixing it to the proclamation of the Peace of Breda. "I must assuage the anger of Parliament," was his kingly excuse.
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