USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 25
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Innocent New York, the cause of all these disturbances, was becoming more interesting abroad than within her own borders. Improvements were at a dead stand. Her merchants were hampered in all their business oper- ations by sea and by land. Her ships were seized by Dutch and French privateers almost within sight of her harbor. Her trade was suspended. Nicolls was compelled to use his own private means for the public good. There was little direct intercourse with England. Necessaries of all kinds grew very scarce. When, after a long captivity, Cartwright reached Lon- don, and explained the condition of affairs in the colonies, the Duke sent to New York two ships, laden with supplies. He wrote to Nicolls a letter full of commendation. The king did the same, inclosing a present of two hundred pounds. At the same time, he ordered a strict guard kept against the French in Canada.
This caution had been anticipated. And the meager help came at a moment when Nicolls was well-nigh disheartened in his herculean efforts to harmonize the various elements of discord. In the summer of 1665, a terrible war had broken out between two tribes of Indians at the North.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Two Dutch farmers who lived out in the clearings were killed. Mayor Willett, of New York, went to confer with the Albany magistrates on the subject. Two Indians were arrested for the murder, and, by order of the governor, one of them was hanged and the other sent in chains to Fort James. A great effort was then made to secure peace between the two contending tribes. Nicolls went to Albany, where he was met by Gov- ernor Winthrop, of Connecticut, and the arduous work was accomplished. Captain John Baker was left in command of Fort Albany, with nine cannon, and a garrison of sixty men.
On his return, Nicolls visited Esopus, where the towns-people and the soldiers were in a quarrel. His presence, and his discreet counsels, al- layed the feverish temper of all parties. Brodhead, as the chief officer of militia, was instructed " to keep constant guard, cause the village author- ities to be respected, prevent his soldiers from abusing the Indians, avoid harshness of words on all occasions, seek rather to reconcile differences than to be the head of a party, and abstain from prejudice against the Dutch, who," continued Nicolls, " if well treated, are not as malicious as some will seek to persuade you that they are." He also executed an important treaty with the Esopus Indians, by which he secured for the Duke a large tract of land to the West, to offer as an inducement to planters who might wish to settle in the province.
At the Court of Assizes, held in New York in September of the same year, the sachems of the Long Island Indians appeared, and agreed to submit to the government. Shortly after, David Gardiner, in com- Oct. 5. pliance with the requirement of the code, brought to Nicolls his grant of the Isle of Wight, or Gardiner's Island (which had been originally made to his father, in 1640, by the agent of the Earl of Stirling), and received a new patent of confirmation. An interesting criminal case was also decided at this first Court of Assizes. Ralph Hall and his wife Mary were arraigned by the magistrates of Brookhaven for murder by means of witchcraft. It was claimed that two deaths had been caused by their " detestable and wicked arts." Twelve jurymen, one of whom was the afterwards conspicuous Jacob Leisler, rendered a verdict to the effect that there were suspicious circumstances in regard to the woman, but not of sufficient importance to warrant the forfeit of her life ; the man was acquitted. The court sentenced Hall to give a recognizance for his wife's appearance from sessions to sessions, and guarantee the good behavior of both while they remained under the government.1
The owners of Shelter Island, Thomas Middleton, and Constant and 1 One of the last acts of Nicolls, just before he left New York, was to release Hall and his wife from their bonds.
THE MANORS OF GARDINER AND SHELTER ISLANDS. 239
Nathaniel Sylvester, soon followed the example of Gardiner, and obtained confirmation of their title. In consideration of seventy-five pounds of beef and seventy-five pounds of pork towards the support of the New York government, they were released forever from taxes and military duty. A patent was issued to the Sylvesters, erecting the island into a manor with all the privileges belonging.1
The Long Island inhabitants chafed under what they styled " arbitrary power." They were outspoken and aggressive, and gave Nicolls more trouble than all the Dutch population together. They clamored for a General Court, after the manner of New England. In many instances, they openly defied the Code of Laws. The danger of rebellion was immi- nent. The governor went among them, but with less success than he had reason to anticipate. Finally, adopting a vigorous course, he made it an indictable offense to reproach or defame any one acting for the govern- ment, and arrested, tried, and severely punished several persons.2 He then declared that every land patent in the province which was not im- mediately renewed should be regarded as invalid; the quitrents and fees being actually necessary for the support of the government. In New York, and in the Dutch towns, the payments for new patents were made easy. Van Rensselaer created quite an excitement by claiming Albany as a part of Rensselaerswick. Nicolls wrote to him that the question must be settled by the Duke of York, but added, " Do not grasp at too much authority ; if you imagine there is pleasure in titles of government, I wish that I could serve your appetite, for I have found only trouble."
The natural consequences of the war were apparent on every hand. There were altercations between English and Dutch laborers ; the officers of the garrisons were not always prudent; and the common soldiers were given to roguery. On one occasion, three of the New York garrison were convicted of having stolen goods from a gentleman's cellar, and it was determined that one of them must die. The fatal lot fell to Thomas
1 The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were included by name in the Duke's patent. An independent government had been exercised over them by Thomas Mayhew and his son, who purchased them of Lord Stirling ; but, in January, 1668, Nicolls issued a special commission to Mayhew, thus settling the point of jurisdiction beyond question. Fisher's Island, one of the gems of the Sound, a few miles from Stonington - an island nine miles long and one mile broad - had been granted, in 1640, by Massachusetts to John Winthrop, but as it was included in the Duke's patent, Winthrop was obliged to apply to Nicolls for a confirmation of his title, and it was erected into a manor, and made independent of any jurisdiction whatever. It now forms a part of Suffolk County.
2 Arthur Smith, of Brookhaven, was convicted of saying " the king was none of his king, and the governor none of his governor," and sentenced to the stocks. William Lawrence, of Flushing, was fined and compelled to make public acknowledgment for a similar remark. Court of Assizes, II. 82 - 94.
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Weall. On the evening before the day fixed for the execution, some of the women of the city besought the governor to spare the culprit's life. All the privates in the garrison joined in a petition to the same effect ; and, yielding to the influence, Nicolls drew up the soldiers on parade and in a characteristic speech pronounced pardon.
A complication of difficulties between the French and the Indians, between the different tribes of Indians, and between the Jesuits, the Indians, and the New York colonists, to the north, kept Nicolls in continual anxiety. He had reason to apprehend mischief from the French; the Mohawks, with all their pledges, were very uncertain; the New England colonies were not in a condition to render efficient aid in an emergency; and the prospect was as dismal as could well be imagined.
Nicolls was so oppressed with financial embarrassments that he wrote to both the Duke and the king, begging to be relieved from " a govern- ment which kept him more busy than any of his former positions, and had drawn from his purse every dollar he possessed." His detailed account of the condition of New York affairs was most pitiful. "Such is our strait," he said, " that not one soldier to this day since I brought them out of England has been in a pair of sheets, or upon any sort of bed but canvas and straw."
A response came tardily. The Duke consented to the return of Nicolls ; but it was not until after the Peace of Breda had set his mind 1668. at rest concerning the immediate possibility of losing his prov- Jan. 1. ince. The news of the treaty came with the same ship which brought the recall of the weary governor. Peace was a charmed word in Dutch as well as English ears; politics, feuds, and bickerings were forgotten, in the universal gladness ; vague, wearing, corroding apprehen- sion was succeeded by intense relief; business might again be resumed.
Presently came the official announcement of Nicolls's intended depart- ure, and there was universal sorrow. He had made himself exceedingly popular. The leading Dutch residents were, if possible, more attached to him than his English colleagues ; but all were united in one deep feeling of regret that he must leave the country.
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COLONEL FRANCIS LOVELACE.
CHAPTER XIV.
1668 - 1673.
COLONEL FRANCIS LOVELACE.
COLONEL FRANCIS LOVELACE. - NICOLLS AND LOVELACE. - CORNELIS STEENWYCK'S HOUSE. - THE CITY LIVERY. - NICHOLAS BAYARD. - FEVER AND AGUE IN NEW YORK. - THE END OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH HOLLAND. - LOUIS XIV. FRANCE. - THE TRIPLE ALLIANCE. - SOCIAL VISITING IN NEW YORK IN 1669. - A PROSPEROUS ERA. - THE DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH. - THE SABBATH IN NEW YORK TWO HUN- DRED YEARS AGO. - DRESS OF THE PERIOD. - THE LUTHERAN MINISTER. - WITCH- CRAFT. - THE FIRST EXCHANGE. - REBELLION ON LONG ISLAND. - THE PURCHASE OF STATEN ISLAND. - CHARLES II. AND LOUIS XIV. - THE PRINCE OF ORANGE. - ASSASSINATION OF THE DE WITTS. - WAR BETWEEN ENGLAND AND HOLLAND. - FIERCE BATTLES IN EUROPE. - THE DEATH OF COLONEL NICOLLS. - THE FIRST POST BETWEEN NEW YORK AND BOSTON. - LOVELACE IN HARTFORD. - THE DUTCH SQUADRON IN NEW YORK BAY. - CAPTURE OF NEW YORK BY THE DUTCH. - NEW ORANGE.
C OLONEL FRANCIS LOVELACE was appointed to succeed Nicolls.
He was the son of Baron Richard Lovelace of Hurley. The ances- tral home of the family was some thirty miles from London, on the Berkshire side of the Thames ; a great imposing country mansion, which was standing until recently, with spacious grounds and terraced gardens, covering the site of the ancient Benedictine monastery, 1668. from which it was named "Lady Place."
Colonel Lovelace was one of the gentlemen of that focus of politi- cal intrigue and fashionable gayety the Court of Charles II. He had been one of the supporters of the royal cause, - zealous, even to the point of incurring imprisonment in the tower by Cromwell, on a charge of high treason. This only increased his favor with the king at the Restoration, and he was made one of the knights of the " Royal Oak," an order instituted as a reward for the faithful. He was a handsome, agreeable, polished man of the world, - upright, generous, and amiable. But he lacked energy, and that discrimination which the successful con- duct of government requires at every step. He had a fine perception
16
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
of probabilities, and a profound conviction of the future destiny of New York. At the same time, he was of the narrow type of mind, inclined to move along a single line of thought, like a railway in its grooves, and he possessed very little of that subtle sagacity which brings conflict- ing elements into one harmonious whole.
He had visited Long Island in 1650, under a pass from Cromwell's Council of State, and had gone thence to Virginia. But his knowledge of America was limited, and when he reached New York, in the spring of 1668, he was without any valuable preparation for the work before him. The Duke wrote, requesting Nicolls to remain a few months longer, that Lovelace might have an opportunity to study affairs. The first time the latter presided in the Admiralty Court, Nicolls sat by his side. The two governors journeyed together to various parts of the province. They spent one week in Albany, were feted by Van Rensselaer at his manor-house, and smoked the pipe of peace with the Mohawk sachems. On their return, they stopped two days in Esopus, and were the guests of William Beekman. They looked into military and other matters, and visiting Thomas Chambers at his manor, "passed an evening there of great hilarity." They traveled over Long Island on horseback, stopping at all the principal towns. They went to Hartford, and were entertained by Governor Winthrop in his most hospitable and courtly style ; and they spent one day with the dignitaries of New Haven.
As the time drew near for Nicolls's departure, the most sincere sorrow was manifested on all sides. He who had come among the people as a conqueror was regarded as a loyal and trustworthy friend. He had ruled with such discretion and moderation, that even they who had disliked his orders had come to love the man that had taken so much pains to avoid the unnecessary wounding of their prejudices. Maverick wrote to Lord Arlington, " he has kept persons of different judgements and of diverse nations in peace and quietness during a time when a great part of the world was in wars; and as to the Indians, they were never brought into such peacable posture and faire correspondence as they now are." Every one delighted in doing him honor. The city corpora- tion gave him a notable dinner, the scene of which was the great square stone house of Cornelis Steenwyck, the mayor, on the corner of White- hall and Bridge Streets. A slight glimpse of the inside of this antique dwelling may be obtained from the inventory of its furniture, found among the old records, one fragment of which is as follows : " Handsome carpets, marble tables, velvet chairs with fine silver lace, Russia leather chairs, French nutwood book-case, Alabaster images, tall clock, flowered tabby chimney-cloth, tapestry work for cushions, muslin curtains in front
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THE CITY LIVERY.
parlor and flowered tabby curtains in drawing-room, eleven paintings by old Antwerp masters, etc."
The leading families in the province were represented among the guests on this memorable occasion. Lovelace wrote in a private letter to the king, "I find some of these people have the breeding of courts, and I cannot conceive how such is ac- quired." On the 28th of August, Nicolls took his final farewell, escorted to the vessel in which he was to embark for Europe by the largest procession of Steenwyck's House. the military and citizens which had as yet been seen on Manhattan Island.
Cornelis Steenwyck occupied the mayor's chair three years. It was during this period that Thomas Delavall was sent to England by Love- lace on matters of business, and, upon his return, brought from the Duke of York a present of seven gowns for the aldermen, to be worn upon state occasions, and a silver mace to be carried by a mace-bearer, at the head of the procession of city magistrates ; also, an English seal for the province of New York. A city livery was from that time worn by beadles and other subordinate officers, the colors being blue tipped with orange. Steenwyck was one of the governor's counselors, and at one time was appointed governor pro tem., during the temporary absence of Lovelace. He was a man of sterling character, and filled his various public positions with dignity and honor.
Lovelace made no attempt to disturb the policy by which Nicolls had administered the government to such general satisfaction. Among his counselors at various dates were, besides Steenwyck, Thomas Willett and Thomas Delavall, former mayors of the city; Ralph Whitfield, Isaac Bedlow, Francis Boone, and Cornelis Van Ruyven, aldermen; Captain John Manning, the city sheriff; Matthias Nicolls, the provincial secre- tary ; and Dudley Lovelace and Thomas Lovelace, the governor's younger brothers. But he found his field of labor hedged in by many thorns. Conflicting claims about lands stirred up quarrels in every part of the province: He had no sooner quelled one than another broke out. The difficulties of the situation were greatly aggravated by the absence of any uniform nationality. Some of the habits and customs were Dutch,
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some French, some English, some Christian, and some heathen. The lower classes were intemperate, unruly, and sometimes shockingly profane; and the more respectable and religious inhabitants were con- stantly entering complaints against them. Extremes of evil and good were singularly linked together, and the barbarous punishments which English usage warranted seemed the only safeguard against anarchy.
Nicholas Bayard, who had developed a remarkable talent for mathe- matics, was appointed surveyor of the province. He was noted, besides, for his varied attainments and for a ready wit, which enabled him to ren- der important service to Lovelace, whom he usually accompanied when the governor was compelled to make personal investigations into the boundaries of farms and manors.
One of the great wants which sorely oppressed Lovelace was that of a printing-press. He sent to Cambridge for a printer, but could not obtain one. There was no restriction in this respect on the part of the Duke of York, as has generally been supposed. It was not until 1686 that James, as king of England, restrained. the liberty of printing in New York. The immediate cause of Lovelace's enlightened effort was the desire to publish a catechism, which, together with a few chapters of the Bible, the Rev. Thomas James, the first minister of Easthampton, had trans- lated, under the auspices of Nicolls, for the use of the Indians.1
Fever and ague prevailed in the city to such an extent during the Nov. 21. autumn of this year, that it was regarded as a serious epidemic, and the governor proclaimed the 21st of November as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer on this account.
New Jersey, which under the rule of Philip Carteret had now attained the age of three years, was a constant source of annoyance to New York. Nicolls, when he reached London, explained to the Duke that his grant to Berkeley and Carteret had not only deprived him of a vast tract of his very best land, but ceded away some promising Dutch villages within three or four miles of the metropolis. About the same time, Maverick wrote to the Duke in a mournful strain, deprecating the worthlessness of the greater portion of that part of the patent which he still retained. He said, "Long Island is very poor and inconsiderable, and, besides the city of New York, there are but two Dutch towns of any importance, Esopus and Albany. I suppose it was not thought that Lord Berkeley would come so near, nor the inconvenience of his doing so considered." The Duke grew uneasy, and attempted to negotiate an exchange with
1 Brodhead, II. 145. Mass. Hist. Coll., XXXVII. 485. Thomas's History of Printing, I. 275; II. 90, 286. Dunlap, I. 126. Thompson, I. 317. Wood, 41. Col. Doc., III. 216- 219, 331- 334, 375.
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END OF COMMERCIAL INTERCOURSE WITH HOLLAND.
Berkeley and Carteret for some lands on the Delaware ; but the arrange- ment fell through, owing undoubtedly to Lord Baltimore's claim to the west side of the Delaware. Staten Island, however, was " adjudged to belong to New York."
Meanwhile the Lords of Trade complained that the English merchants were jealous concerning the business that was lost to them by the continu- ance of the old commercial intercourse between New York and Holland. They claimed that it was contrary to the spirit of the Navigation Act, and that the sixth and seventh articles of the capitulation had reference only to the first six months after the surrender. The king's promise to Stuyvesant had induced Van Cortlandt, Cousseau, and some others to unite in ordering one large ship from Holland to New York. Another was upon the eve of sailing, when Sir William Temple, who had suc- ceeded Downing as minister to the Hague, was directed to notify inter- ested parties that all passes granted under the order of 23d October, 1667, viz. that "three Dutch ships " might " freely trade with New York for the space of seven years," were henceforth recalled and annulled. When Nicolls heard of this order, he hastened to Whitehall and, in a personal interview with the king, obtained permission for the
vessel just prepared to make one voyage. Shortly after, private
Dec. 11.
letters from New York so plainly revealed the grievous disappointment of some of the merchants, who, relying upon the pledge of Charles, had invested heavily, that this able and justice-loving ex-governor set himself energetically at work and with much difficulty obtained 1669. an order in council for the sailing of one more merchant vessel Feb. 24. from Holland to New York. This was announced as positively the last Dutch ship which should ever " come on that account " to Manhattan.
The English statesmen had long been watching with dismay the steady growth of France. The personal qualities of the French king added greatly to the power and importance of that realm. No sovereign ever sat upon a throne with more dignity and grace. He was his own prime minister, and performed the duties of that office with wisdom and firm- ness the more remarkable from the fact that from his cradle he had been surrounded with fawning flatterers. He was as unprincipled as Charles II., but by no means as indolent. He was a Roman Catholic, but it was not until a later date that, through austere devotion, he gave his court the aspect of a monastery. His transactions with foreign powers were characterized by some generosity, but no justice. His territory was large, compact; fertile, well placed both for attack and defense, situated in a good climate, and inhabited by a brave, active, and ingenious people, who were implicitly subservient to the control of a single mind. His revenues
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far exceeded those of any other potentate. His army was excellently disciplined, and commanded by the most noted of living generals. France was, just then, beyond all doubt, the greatest power in Europe and stood like a perpetual menace to the rest of the world. It must be remembered that the Empire of Russia, now so powerful, was then as entirely out of the system of European politics as Abyssinia or Siam ; that the house.of Brandenburg was then hardly more important than the house of Saxony ; and that the Republic of the United States had not even begun to exist.
Spain had been, for many years, on the decline ; and France, pressing upon her, was in the full career of conquest. The United Provinces, prosperous and rich as they then were, saw with anxiety that they were no match for the power of so great, ambitious, and unscrupulous a monarch as Louis XIV., should he choose to extend his frontiers. Little help could be expected from England in such an emergency, since her policy had been devoid of wisdom and spirit from the time of the Resto- ration. It was not easy to devise an expedient to avert the danger.
Two nations were suddenly amazed and delighted. Sir William Tem- ple, one of the most expert diplomatists, as well as one of the most pleas- ing writers, of the age, had been, for some time, representing to Charles, that it was both advisable and practicable to enter into engagements with the States-General, for the purpose of checking the progress of France. For a time his suggestions had been slighted ; but the increasing ill-humor of Parliament induced the king to try a temporary expedient for quieting discontent which might become serious. Hence Sir William was com- missioned to negotiate an alliance with the Dutch Republic. He soon came to an understanding with John De Witt. Sweden, which, small as were her resources, had been raised by the genius of Gustavus Adolphus to a high rank among European powers, was induced to join with Eng- land and the States ; and thus was formed the famous coalition known as the "Triple Alliance." Louis was angry; but he did not think it politic to draw upon himself the hostility of such a confederacy, in addition to that of Spain. He consented, therefore, to relinquish a large portion of the territory which his armies had occupied, and to treat with Spain on reasonable terms. Peace was restored to Europe, and the Eng- lish government, lately an object of general contempt, was restored to the respect of its neighbors. The English people were specially gratified at this, for the nation was now leagued with a republican government that was Presbyterian in religion, against an arbitrary prince of the Roman Catholic Church. " It was the masterpiece of King Charles's life," said Burnet, " and, if he had stuck to it, it would have been both the strength and glory of his reign."
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