USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 50
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The result was an order transmitted to the New York governor "to permit the General Assembly of the province to name their own treasurer when they raised extraordinary supplies for particular uses." It was a strong point gained, for even the title "General Assembly " was conceded, about which there had been no small amount of undignified jangling. £3,000 was at once raised for the city fortifications, and Hon. Abraham De Peyster was appointed treasurer of New York.
The citizens had all this while been vigorously at work, - some four hundred men were employed daily on the defenses. The militia had been drilled and volunteers enlisted. It was estimated that between four and five thousand men could be mustered to arms within twenty-four hours notice. It was a season of alarms. At one time a French fleet was reported off the coast. But the city escaped her threatened danger.
Lady Cornbury was at this time wasting slowly away with a 1706. disease of many years' standing, and her husband, roused to devo- tion by the near prospect of losing her, bent his energies to the perform- ance of loving attentions. He watched by her bedside night and day, and reprimanded nurses and servants for the most trifling negligence. She died at half past eleven o'clock on the night of Sunday, Aug. 11. August 11, aged thirty-four years, and was buried in Trinity
Church. She had given birth to seven children, but only three, one son and two daughters, survived her. For a time Cornbury was apparently overwhelmed with grief, but it soon lifted, and he returned to his former life and practices. He cared very little what people said or thought about his private character, for was he not of royal blood, and did not kings suit themselves ? His conduct told greatly to his disadvantage, nevertheless, and he lost favor with all classes. He performed religious duties with severe ostentation, but even Episcopalians had very little faith in his Christian zeal.
As for the Presbyterians, Cornbury had been simply odious to them ever since the church quarrel at Jamaica. There were few as yet in New York, and they had no church edifice. Their custom was to assem- ble in private houses on the Sabbath, and conduct worship among them- selves. It happened that two Presbyterian ministers came to the city, Rev. Francis McKemie from Virginia and Rev. John Hampton from 30
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Maryland, and sent a message to Cornbury asking for an interview. The reply was a courteous invitation to the two divines to dine with the governor that same afternoon. They proceeded to Cornbury's mansion, and were well received and hospitably entertained. They conversed upon general topics, but made no mention of any intention to preach in the city. The next day they visited some of the city clergymen, and were offered both the French and Dutch pulpits for the ensuing Sabbath, provided the governor would give his consent. The clerical strangers said it was not worth while to trouble the governor, since they had the queen's authority to preach anywhere in her dominions. They declined the tender of the churches, and made other arrangements. McKemie preached at a private house, and Hampton occupied the sacred desk of the little church in Newtown, Long Island.
Cornbury was no sooner informed of these events than he sent an order to the sheriff of Queen's County, to arrest the two ministers, who were staying in Newtown, and bring them into his presence. The order was executed in a coarse, rough, and exceedingly offensive manner. Attorney-General Bickly (the successor of Broughton) was with Corn- bury when the gentlemen appeared. The governor proceeded to ques- tion them, and they to justify their course. The governor said the law would not permit him to countenance strolling preachers, for they might be papists for aught he knew. They must qualify themselves by satisfying the government that they were fit persons to occupy the pulpit before they could be permitted to preach. McKemie said he had qualified him- self in Virginia, which was sufficient. The ministers were as ignorant of law as children, and Cornbury construed their seeming contumacy into intentional fraud. If the attorney-general had possessed tact and discre- tion, he might have guided both clergymen and governor out of the diffi- culty ; but he was a voluble talker rather than a valuable counselor, and the interview resulted in the imprisonment of the innocent but opinion- ated men. Chief Justice Mompesson was absent, hence it was six weeks and four days before the prisoners were brought to trial. Meanwhile a deep sense of the injustice of the whole proceeding impressed itself upon the community, and Cornbury was stigmatized as a narrow-minded per- secutor of Presbyterianism. The trial was attended with considerable excitement, but the jury acquitted the ministers ; they were obliged, how- ever, to pay all the expenses of the prosecution.
In April a new Assembly met in New Jersey, Cornbury having ordered an election with the specific purpose of having his salary renewed. What was his chagrin to find the majority of the members, with Lewis Morris at their head, opposed to all his measures. The fearless Quaker,
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CORNBURY AND SPEAKER JENNINGS.
Samuel Jennings, was chosen speaker. The first business before the House was the disposal of a chapter of grievances. A petition was pre- pared to forward to the queen ; and a remonstrance, drafted by Morris, was read to the governor. It was a bitter morsel, and it lost none of its force in the clear, distinct rendering of it by Speaker Jennings. Cornbury was charged with accepting bribes; he was accused of en- croaching upon popular liberty by denying the freeholders' election of their representative ; and his new method of government was criticised in a cutting manner. At the more pointed passages Cornbury, assuming a stern air of authority, would cry out, "Stop! What's that ?" When thus interrupted, Jennings would look steadily into the governor's eyes for an instant, and then meekly, but emphatically, reread the offensive paragraph, bringing out every shade of meaning with stinging fullness of articulation.
Cornbury's reply was distinguished for its length and its weakness. He left no part of the remonstrance unanswered. He denied some of the charges and attempted to justify others; he charged the Quakers with disloyalty and with having tried to promote faction; and he abused Jennings and Morris to the extent of his ability, pronouncing them " men generally known to have neither good principles nor morals."
This elicited a second paper from the House, in which all former griev- ances were amplified. The Quakers responded to Cornbury's charge against them in the words of Nehemiah to Sanballat: "There is no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart."
Cornbury was greatly discomfited. He could positively obtain no money from New Jersey without disagreeable concessions. He 1708. returned to New York, and met an equally stubborn Assembly.
There was much business, and the session was a long and important one. But the revenue, which by a previous Act was about to expire, was not continued. The House passed a bill to discharge Cornbury from a con- tract of £ 250 with Mr. Hansen, and consented to an appropriation for Indian presents, claiming, however, an exact list of all that was needed in advance.1 A difficulty with Thomas Byerly, the collector and re- ceiver-general, occupied much valuable time at this session. He had announced that the treasury was exhausted. As the debts of the gov- ernment were unpaid, the House was petitioned to provide means for their discharge. Peter Schuyler was one of the chief creditors, having loaned large sums of money, and he instituted an investigation by which Byerly would be compelled to account. Byerly could not comply be-
1 Journals of the Legislative Council of New York, Vol. I. p. 248.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
cause his predecessor in office, Mr. Fauconnier, withheld accounts as secu- rities for back pay. The case provoked sharp arguments. It was the occasion of the appointment of a committee on grievances, of which William Nicolls, the speaker of the House, was chairman. This com- mittee drafted a list of resolutions and sent them to the queen. They illustrate the temper and intelligence of the Assembly of 1708, and are as follows : -
" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the appointing coro- ners in this colony, without their being chosen by the people, is a grievance, and contrary to law.
" Resolved, That it is, and always has been, the unquestionable right of every free man in this colony, that he hath a perfect and entire property in his goods and estate.
" Resolved, That the imposing and levying of any moneys upon her Majes- ty's subjects of this colony, under any pretense or color whatsoever, without consent in General Assembly, is a grievance, and a violation of the people's property.
" Resolved, That for any officer whatsoever to extort from the people extrava- gant and unlimited fees, or any money whatsoever, not positively established and regulated by consent in General Assembly, is unreasonable and unlawful, a great grievance, and tending to the utter destruction of all property in this plantation.
" Resolved, That the erecting a court of equity without consent in General As- sembly is contrary to law, without precedent, and of dangerous consequence to the liberty and property of the subjects.
" Resolved, That the raising of money for the government, or other necessary charge, by any tax, impost, or burden on goods imported or exported, or any clog or hindrance on traffic or commerce, is found by experience to be the expul- sion of many, and the impoverishing of the rest of the planters, freeholders, and inhabitants of this colony ; of most pernicious consequence, which, if con- tinued, will unavoidably prove the ruin of the colony.
" Resolved, That the excessive sums of money screwed from masters of vessels trading here, under the notion of Port-charges, visiting the said vessels by super- numerary officers, and taking extraordinary fees, is the great discouragement of trade, and strangers coming among us, and is beyond the precedent of any other port, and without color of law.
" Resolved, That the compelling any man upon trial by a jury, or otherwise, to pay fees for his prosecution, or anything whatsoever, unless the fees of the offi- cers whom he employs for his necessary defense, is a great grievance, and con- trary to justice."1
1 Journals of the legislative council of New York.
477
LORD LOVELACE.
The last resolution had direct reference to the case of Rev. Francis McKemie, in which William Nicolls was one of the lawyers for the de- fense.
The unfitness of Cornbury for his position had long been the subject of anxious discussion at Whitehall. When petitions for his removal multi- plied, and were in every instance signed by men of character and influence in both New York and New Jersey, the warning was not allowed to pass by unheeded. A new governor was appointed in his stead. It was John, Lord Lovelace, Baron of Hurley, a nephew of the former New York gov- ernor of that name. He arrived in the city on the 18th of December, and was greeted with a noisy reception. In the midst of the sensation created by the event, the hungry creditors of Lord Cornbury hovered about his residence, and, finding he had no money with which to pay for his last joint of meat, they began to clamor and threaten. All manner of trades- men's bills were presented for payment, and it was found that he had private debts of every sort and description. The unhappy ex-governor was arrested and lodged in the debtor's prison, where he was confined until he succeeded to the Earldom of Clarendon, made vacant by his fa- ther's death, and to the privilege of peerage. A sum of money forwarded at last from his father's estate set him at liberty. He left New York with few friends, if any, to mourn his departure. And yet he had been of ser- vice to the province, which is none the less worthy of notice because it was without design. He had toned and mellowed political animosity by uniting the two parties in one bond of opposition against himself. And he had taught men to be watchful, to withdraw confidence from foreign rulers, to canvass the rights of British subjects, and to study the necessi- ties as well as the methods of resistance. He carried with him to Eng- land the unenviable distinction of having been one of the most disreputa- ble of all the New York governors.
Lord Lovelace was ill all winter. He had taken a violent cold on the vessel while it lay off the coast near Sandy Hook in December, and a settled cough was the result. He was not confined to his room 1709. at all times, and attended to such business as he was able. He dissolved the Assembly and ordered a new election. When the House met, and had again chosen William Nicolls speaker, he appeared, and, in a short speech, asked for a careful examination of public accounts, that it might be apparent to the world that the public debt was not incurred in his time; and he also recommended the raising of the revenue for seven years, as formerly. The House responded cheerfully, saying that the be- ginning of the new administration promised peace and tranquillity, and that suitable measures would be taken for the good of the country, and
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
the new governor's satisfaction. In the matter of the revenue, however, it was decided to raise it annually and appropriate it specifically.
The illness of Lord Lovelace assumed a more alarming character May 6. as the spring opened. His family suffered as well as himself, and one child died in April. His own death occurred very suddenly on the 6th of May. A little later, his only surviving son, the young Lord, was consigned to the tomb. Lady Lovelace excited universal sympathy in her afflictions ; a widow and childless, she returned to England in July.
Ingoldsby, as lieutenant-governor of the province, assumed the govern- ment. All his actions were closely scrutinized, for he was not considered a man worthy of such a trust. Indeed, it was through a blunder that he retained the office, the Lords of Trade having never forwarded the order of 1704, revoking his appointment. As soon as the news of Lovelace's death reached Whitehall, Ingoldsby's commission was revoked the second time, and he was ordered to take no part in public affairs whatever, except in a military capacity.1 After Ingoldsby's removal, Dr. Gerardus Beekman, as president of the Council, filled the executive chair until the arrival of a new governor.2
Ingoldsby's short administration was distinguished by an attempt to drive the French out of Canada. Such an enterprise had been long and earnestly desired by New York, but the want of harmony among the colonies and the backwardness of England had thus far stood effectually in the way. Colonel Vetch, the son-in-law of Robert Livingston, finally brought the project to a crisis. He had some years before visited Quebec, and he had sounded the St. Lawrence River, so that now he was prepared to lay intelligent plans. The English Ministry consented, and promised to send a large fleet to the assistance of the colonists. Colonel Vetch returned from England to Boston, and soon prevailed upon the New England colonies to join in the scheme. He then visited New York and
perfected arrangements. Francis Nicholson, the former lieutenant-gov- ernor, was elected commander-in-chief. Peter Schuyler went among the Iroquois, and persuaded them to take up the hatchet once more against the French. These savages had been for some time maintaining a neutral ground between the two fighting nations, England and France, having entered into a treaty with the latter. The other colonies agreed to assist, and the bright, near prospect of getting rid of a troublesome and merci- less foe to the north filled every heart with joy. The Assembly issued bills of credit, since the treasury was empty and it was the only expe- dient by which New York could contribute to the expense. Twenty
1 Sunderland's order was signed on the 17th of April, 1710, but it did not reach New York until the next spring.
2 See portrait, page 360.
"But the great event of the pilgrimage was their reception by Queen Anne." Page 479.
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SCHUYLER AT QUEEN ANNE'S COURT.
ship and house carpenters were impressed into the service ; commissaries were appointed and empowered to break open houses and take provisions by force, if needful; and men, vessels, horses, and wagons, for transport- ing the stores, were to be forcibly employed whenever the exigency of the case required. The greatest activity prevailed. Presently all things were in readiness. New York had spent £ 20,000. The army set out in fine spirits, and marched through the wilderness to Lake Champlain. The Indians were under the command of Colonel Peter Schuyler. They halted for news of the British fleet which was to come to their assistance. They waited for weeks. The fleet never came. The disappointment was overwhelming. It seems that there had been a great defeat of the Por- tuguese, and the troops destined for Canada had been sent to their relief. But the news did not reach Nicholson, Schuyler, and Vetch, where they were camping in the woods and swamps, until September, and then the disgusted soldiers were conducted home.
Schuyler deplored the failure of the expedition more than any other man. He had a comprehensive appreciation of the ultimate results of this border warfare, and wished to see it brought to an end. He was thoroughly acquainted with the Indian character. He had in the early part of his life insinuated himself into the good graces of the savages by the performance of pleasant acts. From then until now the men of the forest had never been in Albany without coming to his house and eating at his table. He was continually making them presents, and by his liberality in that direction greatly impaired his own fortune. But it enabled him to maintain an ascendency over them, and obviate the jealousies arising through the efforts of the French Jesuits. His inter- ventions and stratagems saved New York rivers of blood. He believed in the necessity for vigorous measures against the French. He said not only the safety, but the very existence, of the colonies was at stake. He finally resolved to go to England and lay the subject personally before the Lords of Trade. To make his mission more effective he took with him five Indian chiefs at his own private expense. As he predicted, the whole kingdom was stirred into curiosity and enthusiasm. Crowds fol- lowed them wherever they went. Their pictures were taken and offered for sale at every corner. The theaters were put in requisition to enter- tain them, and the Guards were reviewed in Hyde Park for their special benefit.
But the great event of the pilgrimage was their reception by Queen Anne. The court was in mourning at the time for the Prince of Den- mark; and by way of courtesy the Indians were dressed in black vests and breeches, and instead of their own royal blankets, wore about their
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
shoulders scarlet cloth mantles edged with gold. Sir Charles Cotterel conducted them in two coaches to St. James's, and the Lord Chamberlain introduced them with the usual ceremonies of state to the queen. The chief orator among them made a speech, to the effect that the reduction of Canada was absolutely necessary for their free hunting, and that if the great queen was not mindful of her children of the forest they would be obliged to forsake her country for other habitations, " or stand neuter," each of which was very much against their inclinations. At the close of the interview they presented her with a belt of wampum.
Schuyler was the bearer of an appeal from the New York Assembly to the Lords of Trade, which, together with the presence of the Indians, moved the nation to promise to send an expedition against Canada. Schuyler was personally the recipient of all manner of distinguished attentions during his brief visit. Queen Anne presented him with an ele- gant silver vase as a token of respect. It has been handed along from one generation of the Schuyler family to another, in the direct descent, and is now in the possession of Mr. George L. Schuyler of New York, to whose generous courtesy we are indebted for the sketch.
PRESENTED BU
Anne Ouren of Finland
Co PETER SCHUYLER of ALBAN
IN THE PROVINCE OF NEWYORK
April19.1710-1
MOHAWKS !!
Schuyler Vase. (For inscription, see Appendix A.)
481
HUNTER'S LIFE AND CHARACTER.
CHAPTER XXIII.
1710-1720.
GOVERNOR ROBERT HUNTER.
GOVERNOR ROBERT HUNTER. - HUNTER'S LIFE AND CHARACTER. - HUNTER'S CORRE- SPONDENCE WITH SWIFT. - HUNTER'S COUNSELORS. - JOHN BARBARIE. - RIP VAN DAM. - THE GERMANS. - LIVINGSTON MANOR. - HUNTER'S COUNTRY-SEAT "ANDRO- BORUS." - THE CITY FINANCES. - NEGRO SLAVES. - LOBSTERS. - ORIGIN OF THE DEBT OF ENGLAND. - PROPHECIES. - THE CANADIAN CAMPAIGN. - THE DISAPPOINT- MENT. - THE NEGRO INSURRECTION. - CITY IMPROVEMENTS. - THE ASSEMBLY. - DEATH OF QUEEN ANNE. - GEORGE I. - CHIEF JUSTICE LEWIS MORRIS. - ROBERT WATTS. - THE NEW YORK FAMILIES. - JAMES ALEXANDER. - FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WALL STREET. - POTATOES. - HUNTER'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. - PETER SCHUYLER IN COMMAND OF NEW YORK.
TN June, 1710, New York once more rejoiced in a governor. Robert Hunter was unlike any of his predecessors. He was a strong, active, cultivated man of middle age, with refined tastes and feelings, combined with genial and persuasive manners; and he was a model of morality. His attainments were such that he had for many years enjoyed the warm personal friendship of Swift, Addison, Steele, and other distinguished lit- erary men in England. He was something of a poet himself, although he had always written under a nom de plume. He was fond of men of learning, and encouraged the arts and sciences wherever and whenever he had an opportunity. He was also a most agreeable and entertaining social companion.
His early life was full of incident. He was one of the gentlemen who served as guard under the Bishop of London to the Princess Anne when she retired from her father's court. He soon after received a commission in William's army; and he had in all the wars since that time given proof of great courage and rare ability. One winter he was in command of a regiment of troops who were quartered in a Holland town. The following is one of many similar anecdotes related of him : --
The magistrates of the place had incurred the displeasure of the people, and a move was made for a new election. The magistrates in great heat
31
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
appealed to Hunter to hinder the assembling of the people. He was too intelligent an officer not to know that it was dangerous for the soldiery to interfere in the civil government, while it was really best for all parties that the election should be prevented. The day came, and crowds gath- ered in the great church and were about to displace the old magistrates. Hunter, who had called his regiments together privately, without beat of drum, marched his whole force towards the church, and when quite near it ordered the drums to beat the Grenadier's March. The people were so startled and terrified that they rushed out through the doors, and jumped from the windows of the building, in the greatest dismay and confusion. Quite a number were seriously hurt and one or two killed. Of course all further business for the time was suspended. Mean- while Hunter marched his soldiers directly past the church to the parade- ground, without apparently taking the least notice of the panic and its consequences, and when they had gone through with their usual drill, he dismissed them.
In 1707, while Addison was Under-Secretary of State, Hunter received the appointment of governor of Virginia.1 He was captured by the French while on his voyage to that colony, and detained a long time as a prisoner in Paris. He corresponded with Swift while there, and from his letters we learn that the witty Dean had been expecting Hunter to use his influence to obtain for him a bishopric in Virginia. Under date of January 12, 1708, Swift says :-
" I am considering whether there be no way of disturbing your quiet by writ- ing some dark matter that may give the French court a jealousy of you. I sup- pose Monsieur Chamillard or some of his commissaries must have this letter interpreted to them before it comes to your hands ; and therefore I think good to warn them, that if they exchange you under six of their lieutenant-generals they will be losers by the bargain. But that they may not mistake me, I do not mean as Viceroy de Virginie, mais comme le Colonel Hunter. . .. Have you yet met any French colonel whom you remember to have formerly knocked from his horse, or shivered, at least, a lance from his breastplate ? Do you know the wounds you have given when you see the scars ? Do you salute your old enemies with
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