USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 52
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
advantage to the proprietor, to the tax-payer, and to the whole British Empire, be attracted into the treasury. Italy, France, and Holland had set the example of incurring a national debt. Sir William Temple told his countrymen, how, when he was ambassador at the Hague, the single province of Holland, then ruled by the frugal and prudent De Witt, owed about five million pounds sterling, for which interest at four per cent was always ready at the day specified for its payment ; and when any part of the principal was paid off the public creditor received his money with tears, well knowing that he could find no other investment equally secure. Montague, one of the most inventive and daring of financiers, was among those who discussed this question. When England finally resorted to the expedient, it was popular ; the moneyed men were delighted with the opportunity of lending, and the land-owners, hard pressed by the load of taxation, rejoiced at the prospect of present ease. It was the Tories who at a later period assailed the national debt with rancorous criticism. The rate of interest as first established was ten per cent. After the year 1700 it was only seven per cent.
Such was the origin of the famous debt which has since perplexed the brains and confounded the pride of statesmen and philosophers. At every stage of its increase a cry of anguish arose, and wise men prophesied bankruptcy and ruin. When the great contest with Louis XIV. was ter- minated by the peace of Utrecht, the nation owed about fifty millions. Acute thinkers declared that it would permanently cripple the body politic. But the nation grew richer and richer. After the war of the Austrian succession the debt had increased to eighty millions. Another war, and, under the energetic and prodigal administration of the first William Pitt, the debt rapidly swelled to one hundred and forty millions. Writers of every grade were in despair. They said it would have been better to have: been conquered than oppressed with such a burden. David Hume, one of the most profound political economists of his time, declared that such madness exceeded the madness of the Crusaders. He gloomily predicted that the fatal day for the country had arrived. He could not see the. prosperity around him, the growing cities, the marts too small for the crowd of buyers and sellers, the increase of commerce, and the general spread of culture. Adam Smith's vision was but a trifle clearer. He ad- mitted that the nation had actually sustained the vast load, and thrived under it in a way which could not have been foreseen. But the limit. had been reached. Even a small increase might be fatal. And he issued a solemn warning against the repetition of such a hazardous experiment. George Grenville, who was eminently practical, declared that the nation must eventually sink under the debt unless a portion of the burden was
493
GRAVE DISAPPOINTMENT.
borne by the American colonies. We shall erelong see how the attempt to lay a portion of the burden upon the American colonies produced an- other war. And after that war England's debt had increased to two hun- dred and forty millions, and the colonies were gone, whose aid had been regarded as indispensable. Again the case was pronounced hopeless. England was given over by her state physicians, while, at the same time, the strange patient persisted in living, and was visibly more prosperous than ever before. Soon followed the wars which sprang from the French Revolution, and which exceeded in cost any that the world had ever seen. When they were ended, the debt of England was eight hundred millions. And it was as easy to pay the interest on that gigantic amount as on the original debt of fifty millions. For while the debt had grown all other things had grown as well. There was incessant progress of every experi- mental science, and there was the persistent effort of every man to get on in life. The resources of the country had been very much enlarged, and business had been doubling and redoubling itself.
There was no little incapacity and corruption prevalent in the State Department of England during Hunter's administration. The plowshare had not yet been put through old systems and fossilized methods of action; and the benefits arising from later experiences were entirely wanting. All rising power in the colonies was esteemed demoralizing. Those de- pendencies must be compelled to contribute to the defense of the fron- tiers. Parliamentary interference was suggested by the annoyed and perplexed Ministry. But when the New York Assembly found that the queen and her Lords were really about to fulfill the promise made to Schuyler, by an invasion of Canada, it was warmed into a generous outlay. £ 10,000 were issued in treasury bills, to be redeemed by taxa- tion in five years, and six hundred troops were furnished, in addition to six hundred Iroquois warriors enlisted by Colonel Schuyler. An impor- tant Congress of colonial governors met at New London on the 1711. 21st of June, to decide upon the men and means to be contributed June 21. by the other colonies. There were present Governor Hunter, Governor Dudley, Governor Saltonstall, Governor Cranston, Colonel Schuyler, Liv- ingston, Colonel Vetch, and other gentlemen of note. Every one was will- ing to assist, and the army, when organized, assembled in Albany, and was placed under the command of Colonel Francis Nicholson, who was to march by land and attack Montreal, while an immense fleet from England should at the same time appear and destroy Quebec. General Hill, a relative of Mrs. Masham, who had superseded the Duchess of Marlbor- ough as the queen's favorite, commanded the fleet. When it arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River a dense fog prevailed, and eight
494
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
vessels, containing eight hundred and eighty-four men, were wrecked and lost on the rocky coasts. This calamity so disheartened the officers that they held a council of war, and finally determined that it was im- Sept. 14. practicable to proceed farther. They anchored in Spanish River Bay ; but, as they were provisioned for only ten weeks, they in a few days sailed for home, arriving in Portsmouth on the 9th of October,
Oct. 9. where, in addition to all their previous misfortunes, the Edgar, a seventy-gun ship, was blown up, and four hundred troops, besides many friends who had come on board to visit them, were instantly destroyed.
The disappointment fell heavily upon the colonies. The new Ministry was blamed, and with just and sufficient reason, for the mismanagement of the whole matter. Why was not the fleet more fully victualed ? Where was there any valid excuse for having tarried in Boston until the season for attack was over? It was supposed that the Ministry intended to save £ 20,000 to the government by obtaining supplies for the fleet from New England. This was denied by some, and affirmed by others ; but whether true or false, it rankled all the same.
New York was in a much worse condition than before the attempted raid, for the enemy were apprised of all that had occurred, and were not only bolder, but threatened general destruction. Many inoffensive fami- lies who were comfortably settled on farms above Albany were murdered without the slightest provocation. The cruelties of the French and their allied Indians were without parallel in history. The people of Albany were in constant alarm, and it was not long ere the city of New York was thrown into great consternation by a rumor that the French con- templated an attack by sea.
Nicholson and his troops were recalled as soon as the news of the failure of the fleet reached the governor. But they were not disbanded until spring. Their support, together with the repairs on the fortifica- tions, greatly increased the public debt. The council and the Assembly joined in an urgent appeal to the English government to renew the effort to drive the French out of Canada. Hunter went personally among the Indians, and made every effort in his power to pacify them, and keep them true to the colonies. The operations of England hence-
1712. forward, in regard to the French, grew less and less momentous, notwithstanding New York's despairing cry, and the war was finally terminated by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713.
Meanwhile the city was disturbed by an alarming and mysteri-
April 6. ous movement on the part of the negroes. Ever since the West India Company introduced slavery into New York, the traffic in human flesh had been continued, and of late it had very greatly increased.
495
THE NEGRO INSURRECTION.
England was in favor of the system. She imported over three hundred thousand negroes from Africa between the years 1680 and 1700. Nearly half of the population of New York City in 1712 (then about six thousand) was colored. All the wealthy families owned slaves, some as many as fifty. People of moderate means were content with from three to half a dozen in their households, but those were esteemed as necessary as chairs or tables. There was no unity among the slaves, and it was not supposed that there could be any possible political danger from their joint action. They were as rude and ignorant as any other barbarians, and excessively stupid. In anger, however, it was found that they could prove themselves positively fiendish. A few who had received some hard usage from their masters planned a scheme of revenge, which was to kill as many of the citizens as possible without regard to whether they were the persons who had injured them or not. They met at midnight in the orchard of Mr. Crooke, which was not far from the present Maiden Lane, armed with guns, swords, hatchets, and butchers' knives. They set fire to an outhouse, and when the flames brought persons running to the spot, they fell upon and murdered them in the most shocking and brutal manner. Nine men were thus massacred, and six severely wounded. One or two narrowly escaped from the inhuman assassins, and quickly notified the authorities of what was taking place. The governor sent a detachment of soldiers from the fort on a brisk run to the scene of horror, which so frightened the cowardly fellows that they retreated into the woods. Sentinels were stationed at the ferries to prevent their leaving the island, and the next day, with the help of the militia, they were all captured and brought to trial, except six, who in terror and desperation committed suicide. Twenty-one were condemned and executed : several of these were burned at the stake ; some were hanged, one was broken on wheels, and one hung in chains to die of starvation. Many who were not directly implicated were arrested for supposed complicity in the plot, but were afterwards released for want of sufficient evidence or pardoned by the governor.
Shortly after the excitements consequent upon the negro insurrection had subsided, a duel was fought by Dr. John Livingston and Thomas 1713. Dongan, which resulted in the death of the former. Dongan was tried for murder and found guilty of manslaughter. The mayor (from 1711 to 1714) was Colonel Caleb Heathcote, and chiefly through his instru- mentality, Broadway was graded this spring from Maiden Lane to the Commons. Shade-trees, similar to those which graced the southern por- tion of the street, were planted on either side to the terminus of the improvements. The family homestead of the Beekmans stood on a bluff
496
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
overlooking the East River, near the present corner of Pearl and Beekman Streets. It was built by Hon. William Beekman in 1670. An orchard of fine old apple-trees stretched over several ASE1 acres to the right, and pears and peaches were cultivated in large quan- tities on the rolling land in the vicinity. The gar- den hugged the mansion on two sides, and was one of the finest on Man- hattan Island. The fam- ily coach, of which the The Beekman Coach. sketch is an authentic representation, is preserved, and in the possession of Hon. James W. Beekman, Vice-President of the New York Historical Society.
Although Hunter was in harmony with his council in almost all mat- ters of public interest, he was in constant collision with the Assembly, which was opposed to the granting of a permanent revenue for the sup- port of the government. The House took the subject finally into grave consideration, and sent to the council several bills which the latter at- tempted to amend; this provoked a warm controversy between the two branches of the legislature. The council argued from precedent, and its relative position as Upper House, or House of Lords. The Assembly res- olutely maintained that both Houses were alike Commons, and that the council was only an advisory board, in other words, a cipher in the gov- ernment. They claimed, by virtue of having been the free choice of the people, an inherent right to dispose of the money of the freemen of the colony, and declined to be influenced by the action of any former Assem- blies, or by the opinions of the Lords of Trade.
Both Houses adhered so obstinately to their respective positions that the public debts remained unpaid. Meanwhile Hunter, by the advice of his council, established a Court of Chancery and exercised the office of chancellor himself. Rip Van Dam and Adolphe Philipse were appointed masters in chancery, Mr. Whileman, register, Mr. Harrison, examiner, and Mr. Sharpas and Mr. Broughton, clerks. A proclamation was issued to signify the sitting of the court on Thursday in every week. The As- sembly immediately passed the two following resolutions : -
" Resolved, That the erecting of a Court of Chancery without consent in Gen- eral Assembly is contrary to law, without precedent, and of dangerous conse- quences to the liberty and property of the subjects.
497
THE ASSEMBLY.
" Resolved, That the establishing fees without consent in General Assembly is contrary to law."
The council denounced the action of the Assembly in strong and bitter language. Hunter tried to modify the resentment of both Houses. The council wrote an account of the matter to the Lords of Trade, who re- plied, by unqualified approval of the court which Hunter had established, and dropped a few severe censures upon the course pursued by the As- sembly. They said " her Majesty had an undoubted right to erect as many courts in her plantations as she might think necessary for the ends of justice." They also expressed themselves in favor of the right of the council to amend money bills.
There were a few astute lawyers in the Assembly who were skilled in the interpretation of the English law. William Nicolls predicted that the time was not far distant when the logic of the House would be hon- ored by the ablest and best minds in England. And it is an interesting fact that the right of the King to erect a Court of Chancery without con- sent of Parliament, was warmly contested in England in 1734, and in 1775. Hunter and his council were in the wrong. No such court could legally have been instituted without consent of the Assembly.
The House immediately voted an address to the queen, declaring their willingness to support her government, but complaining of misapplica- tions in the treasury ; and intimating suspicions that it had been mis- represented. It prayed that Hunter might be ordered to consent to a law for supporting an agent to represent the House at the Court of Eng- land. Provoked beyond endurance at such proceedings, and to put an end to the unprofitable disputes between the Houses, Hunter, whose hon- esty of purpose was as clear as the sunlight, dissolved the Assembly.
Of course an election followed, and the politicians who had long been accustomed to the tactics of faction entered into the 1714. contest, which was spirited and exciting. Several new members were returned, but the majority were of the same mind as those who had preceded them. The invincible William Nicolls was again elected speaker. Hunter met the new House with the announcement that he should pass no law whatever until it had made provision for the govern- ment. He said he had begged his bread for several years and should now take another course. Having no alternative but to comply or break up immediately, the House cautiously provided for a revenue for one year, and then proceeded to other business. The debts of the govern- ment remained unnoticed until the autumn session. When the claims were called in, the amount was prodigious. It exceeded £ 48,000. The members were overwhelmed with consternation. Weeks were spent in discussing methods for its liquidation.
498
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
An Act was finally passed for the issue of bills of credit to the full amount, to be lodged in the hands of the treasurer, Colonel Abraham De Peyster, and circulated by him according to the directions of the Act. There was no such thing then as a science of finance, and but little to be learned from the financial experience of the civilized world. Neither was it a fixed fact that a government could make a currency to suit its own fancy, and carry on trade independent of the rest of mankind. It is not strange that our early legislators fell into blunders and were sometimes panic- stricken. It is more a matter of surprise that they did not make irretriev- able mistakes, since they were obliged to act from the dictates of common- sense rather than precedent. And legislation was then, as well as at the present moment, a cheap prescription, purchased by a little public clamor. Scarcely had this knotty question been settled, ere the news of Queen
Oct. 6. Anne's death, and of the accession of George I. to the throne of England, reached New York. In honor of the new sovereign there was a general illumination of the city, and bonfires and torchlight pro- cessions added brilliancy to the display.
The Assembly was dissolved by the death of the queen, and when the Assemblymen received their pay, Stephen De Lancey immediately do- nated his fee, £ 50, to the corporation, to be expended in a city clock, which with four dials soon graced the very respectable and substantial City Hall, and was found to be a great convenience to the citizens.
1715.
The spring election of 1715 was more satisfactory to Hunter than any which had preceded it. The House came together in
May. May, and the first subject discussed was naturally that of the revenue. Lewis Morris, the member from the borough of Westchester, put all the vigor of his intellect into a plan for the governor's relief. He said that narrow-mindedness and penury were sure to defeat their own ends. He painted in glowing colors Hunter's four years of patient and uncomplaining service, his struggle to live, his hardships and priva- tions cheerfully borne, and his undeniable right to a liberal support. In spite of his unattractive temper and many glaring faults, Morris wielded a strong influence. A few conservative members resisted his logic to the last. Arguments were used which were concise, clear, convincing, and sometimes delivered with grave irony. Mr. Mulford from Suffolk County was the only one who descended to personal abuse. He denounced the whole question of the revenue as a "put-up job" of the government. He was a man of opinions, but of feeble judgment, and, his remarks be- coming offensive, he was expelled from the House. The next day it was found that the revenue party were in the majority, and to facilitate mat- ters Hunter consented to the Naturalization Bill, which resulted in the immediate settlement of a revenue for five years.
499
CHIEF JUSTICE LEWIS MORRIS.
Mompesson died in June of this year, and Hunter immediately ap- pointed Lewis Morris chief justice of the province in his stead. In asking the Lords of Trade for their confirmation of his choice, Hunter said that Morris was the fittest man in New York for the trust, for besides being honest he was able to live without a salary. The strongest argument in his favor, however, was his recent valuable services in the Assembly, "for the good of the government." He had many enemies, and it was whispered that he had paid Hunter a large sum of money, and that he had bribed some of the prominent counselors of the gov- ernor in order to prevent their interference and thus enable him to se-
Portrait of Chief Justice Lewis Morris. (Copied through courtesy of Hon. William A. Whithead, from original pen miniature by Watson.)
cure his promotion. When that accusation was effectually contradicted he was sneeringly called the governor's favorite. "Very well," said Hun- ter, " no truer word was ever spoken. He is my favorite, and why should he not be when he is so well worthy ?" Then it was argued that he was constantly liable to indiscretion, and that his knowledge of law had been gathered by experience and observation, rather than by profound study. His subsequent career showed him to have been one of the most search- ing and sagacious of judges, and even those who were the bitterest in their opposition at first, were constrained finally to admit that he was austerely just in his decisions.
500
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
George Clarke, the secretary of the province, was appointed to fill Mompesson's place in the council at New York, and David Jamison, the chief justice of New Jersey, was assigned to the vacancy in the council of that province. Clarke was descended from the Clarkes of Somerset- shire, whose residence was at Swainswick, near Bath. His wife was of royal blood. She was Ann Hyde, a cousin of Queen Anne. Clarke had filled the office of secretary since 1703, and his abilities had won him deserved prominence in the colony. Twenty years later we shall find him lieutenant-governor of New York.
Dr. Samuel Staats died shortly afterward, and Chief Justice Jamison was appointed in his stead in the New York council. The Lords of Trade remembered Jamison as one not well spoken of by Lord Bellomont, and wrote to Hunter to inquire what manner of life he had led since that period. Hunter replied that he had constantly held important official positions, had acquired a large estate, had been noted for his art and management in legal processes, had been of unblemished life and con- versation, and had enjoyed a large measure of distinction because of his exemplary piety and religious zeal. As for what had been formerly reported, Hunter said, " Lord Bellomont must have been grossly imposed upon, for although Jamison had been a little wild in his young days, he had never been sentenced to be hung for burning the Bible in Scotland, and the story of his having had two wives was notoriously false."
The residence of many of the counselors was some distance from the city, hence Hunter recommended five more names to the Lords of Trade. They were, Augustine Graham, who had ripened into a politician quite as polished and scarcely less subtile than his honored sire; Dr. John Johnson, the recently elected mayor of the city; Stephen De Lancey ; Robert Lurting ; and Robert Watts. Hunter said they were all men of large wealth, which was an answer to the leading question invariably asked by the English statesmen when a candidate was proposed. Their first confidence was in real sterling business talent, and although the idea was then scarcely understood, and has since been mercilessly mis- construed, the root of the whole matter was in the fact that men are developed and made better by taking their lots and places in the tasks, enterprises, temptations, and vicissitudes of life, working their way, not only that civilization may be extended and Christianity strengthened, but that they themselves may represent a more perfect type of manhood. Inherited wealth has not unfrequently proven a bane to its possessor, and clogged instead of accelerated the wheels of progress; but the crea- tion of property is, and always has been, one of the best schools for bringing into full play the varied powers of which men's natures are
501
ROBERT WATTS.
compounded. The history of New York illustrates the assertion. It is said, and sometimes with a sneer, that the metropolis was founded by traders (that every man kept a store), and that in its present proportions it is only an outgrowth of commerce. We stand perpetually accused of being a money-making and a dollar-loving people. But we do not feel reproached. We have learned that whatever is strong, noble, just, and possible, whether it is the pursuit of wealth, art, or fame, is good for the world through the unfolding of individual character and the consequent uplifting of society. We have the satisfaction of knowing that our money- making citizens, through every decade since we were a little fur-station, have been second to none in generous impulse, in Catholic charity, in Christian progress, and in public spirit. We have seen money flow from their coffers like water from Croton Lake. We have seen churches built, we have seen schools and colleges established, we have seen asylums endowed, we have seen hospitals and homes provided, and we have seen the current of liberal giving making its way beyond our own limits, until, like Holland's canals, it extends through every habitable portion of our vast country. What it has done towards supplying human wants, encouraging thrift, and diffusing virtue and intelligence and education, we can only comprehend by a careful investigation of how American society has been built up from the foundation. Let us cease to under- value the one talent without which we should have been narrow-minded indeed. Let us bear in remembrance, also, that riches honestly acquired are entirely consistent with the spirit of Christianity, and without which Church and State would alike languish.
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