USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 41
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The trial began March 30. The indictment found by the March 30. grand jury charged the prisoners with treason and murder, “ for holding by force the king's fort against the king's governor after the pub- lication of his commission, and after demand had been made in the king's name, and in the reducing of which lives had been lost." Eight of the prisoners pleaded "Not Guilty." Leisler and Milborne refused to plead until the court should decide whether the king's letter to Nicholson had or had not given Leisler authority to take upon himself the government. The court referred the question to Sloughter and his council, who declared
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THE TRIAL OF LEISLER AND HIS COUNCIL.
that nothing whatever in the king's letter, or in any of the papers of the Privy Council which Sloughter had seen, could be understood or inter- preted to contain any power and direction for Captain Jacob Leisler to assume control of the government of the province, and that such control could not be holden good in law.
The court announced this decision, but Leisler and Milborne still re- fused to plead, and appealed to the king. They were accordingly tried as mutes. After eight days the jury pronounced them guilty, together with Abraham Gouverneur, Dr. Gerardus Beekman, Johannes Vermilye, Thomas Williams, Myndert Coerten, and Abraham Brasher. De Lanoy and Edsall were acquitted. Chief Justice Dudley then proceeded to pro- nounce the sentence of death upon the eight condemned criminals, accord- ing to the barbarous English law then in full force.
The prisoners at once petitioned the governor for a reprieve until the king's pleasure should be known ; and their petition was granted.
Sloughter wrote to William : " Never greater villains lived, but I April 20. am resolved to wait your pleasure if by any other means than hanging I can keep the country quiet." He also wrote : "I find these men against whom the depositions were sent, to be the principal and most loyal men of this place, whom Leisler and Milborne did fear and therefore grievously oppress. Many that followed Leisler were through ignorance put up to do what they did, and I believe if the chief ringleaders are made an example the whole country will be quieted, which otherwise will be hard to do." In a letter to the Plantation Committee, Sloughter wrote: "The loyal and best part of the country is very earnest for the execution of the prisoners. But if his Majesty will please grant his pardon for all except Jacob Leisler and Jacob Milborne, it will be a favor.'
Sloughter investigated the various accusations as he was directed by the king. Those against Leisler, contained in the address of the people, he found " severally true." Those against Bayard and Nicolls, forwarded by Leisler, he pronounced of small consequence. Those gentlemen could prove that they had always been good Protestants, and only desired to con- tinue the government in peace until orders should arrive from England.
The Assembly convened on the day appointed in a small coffee-house on Pearl Street. It was a proud era for New York, for it was the first popular representation under the direct authority of the April 9. crown. James Graham was appointed speaker. He was a lawyer who had already attained distinction at the bar, and a man of great dignity, of fine presence, and a master of rhetoric. He was the second son of the Earl of Montrose, of Scotch notoriety, and in all his tastes and habits and methods of thought was a fair type of the ancient nobility of Great
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Britain. The governor and Chief Justice Dudley each appeared, and made a speech. The latter was noted for legal acumen and sound prin- ciples. He had the appearance of a man whose body was at the mercy of a restless mind ; he was tall, thin, pale, and wore the worn look which comes with constant study. He was afterwards a member of the British Parliament, lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Wight, and governor of Massachusetts (from 1702 to 1720). The members of the Assembly were not experts in legislation, but with Newton and Graham to draft their bills they accomplished no little business. They passed fourteen laws; one of the first was for settling the late disorders, and to provide against similar disturbances in the future. The old Court of Assizes was abol- ished, and a new Supreme Court, consisting of five judges, instituted in its stead. Dudley was to be chief justice, and Johnson, Smith, Van Cortlandt, and Pinhorne associate judges. A revenue for defraying the public ex- penses of the province was granted. But the law was limited to two years, which annoyed the succeeding governors, who wished revenue to be granted for longer periods. The Assembly was a thoroughly royalist body, and yet in language clear and forcible they asserted the right to a representative government, not as a consequence of royal favor, but as an English liberty inherent in the people.
A resolution was passed, unanimously, by the House, condemning Leisler's acts as illegal, arbitrary, mischievous, destructive, and rebellious, and charging the tragedy at Schenectady entirely to his account. This resolution was copied in full, signed by James Graham, Speaker, and sent to the governor, " that his Excellency might know that his acts had been approved."
Meanwhile petitions were coming in upon Sloughter and his council from every quarter. Dr. Gerardus Beekman prayed for pardon on the ground that he was only at the fort to persuade Leisler against inhu- manly firing on the king's soldiers, and that he had very sick patients who needed his immediate attention. His wife, Magdalena Beekman, entreated in a most touching strain that better accommodations be given him in the prison until the king's pleasure should be known. She said that her husband had acted on the Committee of Safety only at the ur- gent request of the people of Long Island, and that he had had "true meaning and good intent"; but that he now "saw plainly that he had been misled for the want of a right understanding." William Beekman interceded for his son; and issued a government bond of £ 100 to Sloughter, as security for the use of certain property belonging to Dr. Gerardus before he was convicted of treason, and which in case of his non-pardon was forfeited to the crown.
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SIGNING OF THE DEATH WARRANT.
Petitions from the families and friends of the other condemned pris- oners were received in great numbers. One for the pardon of Leisler was largely signed in Westchester and on Staten Island. But counter- petitions were equally numerous, from those who had been wronged and distressed, all praying that the ringleaders in the late administration should be immediately executed. Many of the prominent and loyal men declared that there was no security for life or fortune while such " tyrants " were allowed to exist, for they might head an ignorant mob on any occasion; they announced their intention of removing from the province unless Leisler and Milborne, at least, were made to suffer the extreme penalty of the law. Word came from Albany about the same time that the Mohawks, disgusted with Leisler's mismanagement, were in actual treaty with the French. It was imperative that the new governor should quickly conciliate the savages, else the province would be lost.
Any estimate which can now be framed of the extent of the pressure which was brought to bear upon Sloughter must necessarily be very in- exact. He was a weak, avaricious, immoral man at the best; he was also notoriously intemperate. But whether drunk or sober the facts of the case remain the same. He was under the direct influence of men who had suffered until human hate had well nigh exhausted every other fountain of feeling. He was a guest in the house of Colonel Bayard. Smith says, that "Sloughter was invited to a wedding-feast and when overcome with wine was prevailed upon to sign the death-warrant, and before he recovered his senses the prisoners were executed." This statement, even if true in part, cannot be true as a whole, for the death - warrant was signed on Thursday and the execution took place on Satur- day.1 It has been said that the three Dutch ministers constantly argued for the administration of justice in the pulpit. It has been said that ladies who had tears for highwaymen and housebreakers breathed noth- ing but vengeance, and earnestly pleaded with Sloughter to have com- passion upon them, and upon the country, by removing forever the guilty creatures. It has been said that large sums of money were offered the needy governor to induce him to put his name to the fatal paper; and that his own wife, from sheer covetousness, added her voice of entreaty to the same effect.
Caution must be exercised in accepting such accounts as history, penned as they were by violent partisans, and tinctured with the narrow-
1 Letter from Members of the Dutch Church in New York to the Classis of Amsterdam, October 21, 1698. N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1868), pp. 398 - 412. Address of the New York Legislative Assembly to Lord Bellamont, May 15, 1699. Governor Sloughter to Colonel Cod- rington. Governor Sloughter to Mr. Blathwayt. Governor Sloughter to Lord Inchiquin.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
minded prejudice of that peculiar age. It appears that Sloughter hesi- tated through an imperfect apprehension that he should exceed his legal power by pronouncing death upon prisoners who had appealed to the king. He was finally led into the belief that this act would enable him to manage the Indians, for he had decided to go to Albany and meet the Mohawk sachems. At the meeting with his council May 14, the follow- ing was entered upon their records : --
" Present, His Excellency the Governor, Frederick Philipse, Nicholas Bayard, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, William Nicolls, and Gabriel Minvielle.
" Upon the clamor of the people daily coming to his Excellency relating to the execution of the prisoners condemned of treason, and having received the opinion of the greater part of the Representatives of the Assembly now convened, he was pleased to offer to the council his willingness to do what might be most proper for the quiet and peace of the country before he should go to Albany. And he demanded of the council their opinion whether the delay of the execu- tion of justice might not prove dangerous at this conjuncture. Whereupon it was unanimously resolved, that for the satisfaction of the Indians, and the asser- tion of the government and authority, and the prevention of insurrections and disorders for the future, it is absolutely necessary that the sentence pronounced against the principal offenders be forthwith put in execution."
The next paragraph explains itself : -
COUNCIL-ROOM, May 16, 1691.
His Excellency having sent the minute of council of the 14th of May, re- ferring to the execution of the principal criminals condemned of treason, to the House of Representatives to acquaint them of the resolve of this board, the same was returned underwritten in manner following :-
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR THE PROVINCE OF NEW YORK, Die Veneris, May 15, P. M., 1691.
This House, according to their opinion given, do approve of what his. Ex- cellency and council have done.
By order of the House of Representatives, JAMES GRAHAM, Speaker.
Thus the death-warrant was signed. Dominie Selyns was the messen- ger who was sent to break the terrible intelligence to the unhappy men. They petitioned Sloughter for a reprieve, but it was not granted. He re- spited all the sentence, however, save the hanging and the separation of the heads from the bodies.
The scenes within the cells were for the next few hours heart-rending. For all they had done, for all they had attempted to do, for their loyalty to the king, for their Christian zeal, only an ignominious death. Self- opinionated no longer, broken in spirit, overcome by the grief of his fam-
393
EXECUTION OF LEISLER AND MILBORNE.
ily and by unavailing regrets, Leisler humbled himself before his God and prepared for the end. As for Milborne, he never ceased his efforts to excite pity and clemency. Despair preyed upon his mind until he was almost a maniac.
Saturday dawned with a dark, northeast, melancholy rain-storm brood- ing over the city. The gallows was erected near the site of the old Tam- many Hall. A ferocious rabble assembled to witness the execution; they said a grave under the gallows was too respectable a resting-place for the " black dogs"; they said they should have been tortured like Indians; and they hoped they might go to the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth. A strong guard of soldiers was esteemed necessary to prevent the prisoners from being torn in pieces when they should be led forth.
Dominie Selyns walked beside the doomed men and offered the last consolations of religion. Leisler made a short speech upon the scaffold. He said he knew that he had grievously erred in many ways, and asked pardon of God and of all those whom he had offended. He declared his loyalty to the king and queen, and prayed that all malice might be buried in his grave. He said he forgave the most implacable of his enemies, and begged his friends and relations to forget and forgive any injury done to him. He prayed for all in authority, and for his distressed and afflicted family, and requested charity and prayers for himself. Milborne spoke for a few moments in a pathetic strain, but, seeing Livingston in the crowd, he exclaimed, " You have caused my death. Before God's tribunal I will impeach you for the same." The sheriff asked Leisler if he was ready to die. He replied that he was, and that he did not fear death, for what he had done had been for the king and queen, the Protestant religion, and the good of the country. He then exclaimed, "I am ready !"
The drop fell. A wail of anguish rent the air, which for the moment drowned the gross ribaldry of those who regarded the scene with bar- barous exultation. Women fainted, and sorrow-stricken mourners min- gled their tears with the falling rain. It was a solemn and an ominous occasion, and it left its abiding mark upon New York history. Its effects are still with us. Better men have paid as dearly for their mistakes in all ages of the world, but Jacob Leisler and Jacob Milborne were the only two who were ever executed in New York for a political crime.
The event was variously judged. Candid jurists pronounced the whole proceeding perfectly lawful. "But," said others, " there were extenuating circumstances which were not allowed to appear at the trial." Concern- ing no public actor in colonial history has opinion more widely differed than in regard to Jacob Leisler. He has been held up as a champion of
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Dutch democracy against English aristocracy, of Protestantism against Romanism, of republicanism against monarchism. It is evident, how- ever, from a careful analysis of his official career, that there was no struggle in New York to call for championship in any of these direc- tions. And his acts clearly negative all claim to democratic theories. He seized authority with honest intentions and with unquestionable be- lief in the plots his fancy created. He afterwards became infatuated with the novelty of the position, and his strong passions and feeble judgment led him into more unpardonable excesses than were ever committed by any of the governors placed over the colony by the Crown of England. And yet he was not a bad man, and his execution was a shocking blunder. He became a martyr in memory, not a convict, and his death was the stock of a party which for years, by its triumphs and its defeats, retarded seriously the prosperity of New York.
The outcry was at once raised that he had been murdered. " Barbar- ously murdered," wrote Dr. Mather to Chief Justice Dudley. "Revenge- fully sacrificed," wrote Jeremias Van Rensselaer to the Lords of Trade. The various accounts of the transaction produced a profound sensation in England. The touching appeals to the king from Mrs. Leisler and her children, and from the young widow of Milborne, that the estates of the deceased might be restored to their families, were carefully weighed. William declared in favor of the fairness of the trial, and the justness of the sentence, since they were not indicted for the part they had taken in the revolution, or in the subsequent violences, but simply for holding a fortress by arms against the legal governor, which in the judgment of law was levying war against the king. But he ordered their estates to be re- turned to their heirs, because the services of the fathers required some compensation.
This imperfect redress did not satisfy. The children and friends of Leisler persisted year after year until an act of Parliament reversed the attainder, which occurred in 1695.1 It was almost entirely accomplished through the able Massachusetts agents; but it is said when the hand- some, energetic young Jacob Leisler, Jr., appeared in England, and was favored in his suit by Lord Bellomont, that Robert Livingston, who was there at the time, and who was an intimate personal friend of the Earl, had several interviews with him and interested himself in recommending the subject, as well as young Leisler himself, to the notice of the Lords.
1 Jacob Milborne, a son of the deceased by his first wife, was one of the petitioners named. It is recorded that Joanna Edsall, wife of Jacob Milborne, joined the Garden Street Dutch Church, November 29, 1688. She was the daughter of Samuel Edsall, and died, as is be- lieved, during her husband's absence in Europe.
395
ROBERT LIVINGSTON.
New York was now in a most critical condition, not only from internal faction but from foreign warfare. The French king was fully bent upon the conquest of a province which through the Five Nations had caused so
DAVIS
Portrait of Robert Livingston. (From copy (of Gen. J. Watts de Peyster) of original painting in possession of Clermont Livingston.)
much bloodshed and desolation among his Canadian subjects. All the art of the French character was brought into requisition to win the sav- ages to their standard. Sloughter arrived in Albany May 26. The Mohawks were there before him, and the meeting took place May 26. the next day. The negotiations were managed by Mayor Schuyler and Robert Livingston, and were exceedingly interesting. Sloughter had brought presents from England, which were given to the Indians with much ceremony.1 One of the Mohawk chiefs said that the late
1 These presents were 1 doz. stockings, 6 shirts, 3 bags powder, 16 bars of lead, 30 gul strung wampum, 3 runlets rum, 3 rolls tobacco, and privately to the chiefs some coats of duffels. Governor Sloughter's Answer to the Proposition of the Mohawk Sachems, Albany, May 26, 1691. New York Col. Doc., Vol. III. 771 - 781. Chalmers's Political Annals. 25
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
disorders in the province had wellnigh confounded all their affairs, and that several of their white brethren had deserted Albany in the hour of danger, which must not happen again. Finally, in order to re- establish the confidence of the savages on a firm basis, it was decided that Mayor Schuyler should lead them on an aggressive campaign into Canada, and preparations were immediately made. Schuyler left Albany on the
21st of June with four hundred men, five sixths of whom were
June 21.
Indians, and plunged into the dense forests to the north. He crossed Lake Champlain, and pushed directly into the enemy's country. With rapid strides he soon reached La Prairie, and surprised the governor of Montreal, who was encamped with a large force. Owing to the prowess of the Mohawks, Schuyler obliged his gallant opponents to retire into their fort, which he assaulted, though with a success hardly equal to his vigorous efforts. Apprehending danger of being cut off in his retreat, he prudently retired and conducted his warriors in triumph to Albany. His exploit stimulated the Iroquois, who continued their attacks upon the French unaided, and nobly protected New York while her exhausted re- sources enabled her to maintain only feeble frontier garrisons.
Sloughter remained in Albany until Schuyler's departure and June 27. then returned to New York. He found a multitude of duties awaiting him, and entered upon their performance at once. But his July 21. career was soon checked. He was taken suddenly ill on the 21st of July, and died on the morning of the 23d. His symptoms were July 21. of such a nature that the physician suspected he had been poi- soned. A negro servant who had been seen to put something in his coffee at the table just before his attack was accused and examined, and in great terror called upon Heaven to witness that it was only sugar. A post- mortem investigation resulted in the opinion that he had died from natural causes, and the grateful negro was exonerated from suspicion. His body was placed in the Stuyvesant vault by permission of the family, next to that of the honored Dutch governor.
Chief Justice Dudley, to whom as president of the council the gov- ernment would have fallen in this emergency, was in Curaçoa. In consequence, the council met two days after the governor's death, and unanimously declared Ingoldsby commander-in-chief, until the king's pleasure should be known.
It was not long before information reached New York that the French had been reinforced and were planning to attack Albany. Schuyler had not returned. It was next to impossible to raise more men and money. Therefore Ingoldsby and the council applied to New England for aid, which was " flatly denied." In this extremity they wrote to the Lords
397
ETIENNE DE LANCEY.
of Trade, begging earnestly for warlike stores. In explaining the condi- tion of New York, they said "it had never ceased to groan under its in- supportable pressures since its miserable union with Boston." They even charged all the recent calamities upon Boston. "New York had always been signal for her good affection to monarchy until poisoned with the seditions and anti-monarchial principles of Boston."
Ingoldsby hurried to Albany and conferred with some of the Mohawk sachems. He gave them presents, and they, more friendly than the New England people, continued their defensive warfare.
The Assembly met in September and made what appropriations seemed practicable. Schuyler had by that time returned, and the prospect was brighter. The city elections were comparatively quiet. The aldermen chosen were, William Beekman and Alexander Wilson for the East Ward, William Merritt and Thomas Clarke for the Dock Ward, John Merritt and Garret Dow for the Out Ward, Johannes Kip and Teunis De Kay for the North Ward, Robert Darkins and Peter King for the West Ward, and Brandt Schuyler and Stephen De Lancey for the South Ward.
Brandt Schuyler, although he took a less active part in public life than his brother Peter, was universally respected. In personal appearance he bore a striking resemblance to his sister Gertrude, Mrs. Van Cortlandt. His wife was Cornelia, the sister of Stephanus Van Cortlandt, hence the two families were doubly related, and lived on terms of great social intimacy.
Stephen, or, as he was more commonly known, Etienne De Lancey, was the son of a French nobleman of Caen in Normandy. He was the ances- tor of all of that honorable name in this country. He brought with him many evidences of wealth and culture. He prosecuted a foreign trade, chiefly to Africa, and acquired a large fortune. His place of business was on Pearl Street ; nine years later he married Ann, the daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER XXI.
1691 -1701.
ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER.
ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER. - EFFECTS OF THE REVOLUTION. - THE TWO HOSTILE FACTIONS. - THE GARDEN STREET CHURCH. - ORIGIN OF WATER STREET. - PUBLIC PAUPERS. - CITY LEGISLATION. - CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. - THE CORPORATION DINNER. - GOVERNOR FLETCHER. - FLETCHER STUDYING THE INDIANS. - THE GIFT OF A GOLD CUP. - FLETCHER'S DIFFICULTIES. - BOSTON MEDDLING. - CALEB HEATHCOTE. - A CURIOUS ROMANCE. - THE ASSEMBLY STIFF-NECKED. - FLETCHER IN TEMPER. - THE FIRST PRINTING IN NEW YORK. - SIR WILLIAM PHIPPS. - OFFICIAL STEALING. - LIVINGSTON IN ENGLAND. - YOUNG LEISLER AT WILLIAM'S COURT. - WRANGLING IN THE ASSEMBLY. - ACCUSATIONS AND COUNTER-ACCUSATIONS. - FLETCHER'S SPEECH. - SHOCKING BRUTALITIES. - FLETCHER'S CHARACTER ON TRIAL. - LIVINGSTON CRITICISED BY FLETCHER. - DE PEYSTER'S NEW HOUSE. - DE PEYSTER'S DESCENDANTS. - MIL- LER'S DESCRIPTION OF NEW YORK. - DOMINIE SELYNS'S PIRACY. - MRS. FLETCHER. AND HER DAUGHTERS. - CAPTAIN KIDD. - THE EXPEDITION AGAINST PIRACY. - KIDD. THE PRINCE OF PIRATES. - THE REPEAL OF BOLTING AND BAKING ACTS. - FIRST OPENING OF NASSAU STEEET. - THE FIRST LIGHTING OF THE CITY. - THE FIRST NIGHT- WATCH. - THE EARL OF BELLOMONT. - BELLOMONT'S REFORMS. - BELLOMONT'S COL- LISION WITH THE MERCHANTS. - THE ACTS OF TRADE. - THE PEACE OF RYSWICK. - THE LANDED ESTATES ATTACKED. - JAMES GRAHAM. - DOMINIE DELLIUS. - BELLO- MONT'S MORTIFICATIONS. - THE DUTCH CHURCH. - BELLOMONT IN BOSTON. - THE. BOARD OF TRADE. - DEATHS OF GRAHAM, VAN CORTLANDT, AND BELLOMONT.
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