History of the state of New York. Vol. II, Pt. 1, Part 17

Author: Brodhead, John Romeyn, 1814-1873. 4n
Publication date: 1871
Publisher: New York : Harper & Brothers
Number of Pages: 712


USA > New York > History of the state of New York. Vol. II, Pt. 1 > Part 17


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17 August. Nicolls Icaves New York. The authorities of the city of New York now signed a loyal address, which they asked Nicolls to deliver to the duke, near whose person he was to resume his service. All the freemen of the metropolis were divided into two com- panies, and ordered to appear in arms at the governor's de- parture. A few days afterward, Nicolls, having transferred OS August. his functions to Lovelace, embarked for England, with every demonstration of respect and regret from those who, receiv- ing him as a conqueror, bade him farewell as a friend. In- vested with extraordinary powers, he had used them with the moderation and integrity of a true gentleman ; and the people, whose prejudices he had avoided wounding, "loved the man whose orders they disliked." His former colleague, Maverick, thus wrote to Lord Arlington : " After his abode here four years (where he hath lived with great reputation and honour), he is now returning home. I must needs ac- company him with this character-that he hath done IIis Majesty and Ilis Royal Highness very considerable service in these parts, having, by his prudent management of affairs, kept persons of different judgments and of diverse nations in peace and quietness, during a time when a great part of the world was in warrs. And as to the several nations of the Indians, they were never brought into such a peaceable posture and faire correspondence as by his means they now are."+


25 Angust. Maverick's letterab Nicolls.


* Ord., Warr., etc., ii., 216, 217, 220 : Patente, iv., 54: Thompson, ii., 191 ; Bolton, il., 293, 25-2; Doc. Ilist., iv., So: ante, p. 91 ; vol. i., p. 2G8.


+ N. Y. City Ree., vi., 397, 45); Col. Doc., iii., 174, 175 : Chalmers, i., 578; Smith, i., 42; IIutch. Coll., 42S.


143


FRANCIS LOVELACE, GOVERNOR.


CHAPTER IV. 1 1668-1673.


ABOUT thirty miles west of London, on the Berkshire CHAr. IV. side of the Thames, in the parish of Hurley, there stood, until a few years ago, a large country house, built in the 1668. Elizabethan style, and called " Lady Place." Covering the Lady Place site of an ancient Benedictine monastery, from which it at Hurley. was named, it had been erected by Sir Richard Lovelace, a lucky comrade of Drake. With the rich Spanish spoil he bad won, the retired adventurer had laid out terraced gar- dens around his Tudor mansion, the wide hall of which opened on the placid river, and had adorned its stately gal- lery with beautiful Italian landscapes. The heir of the old knight greatly improved this place, and was created, by Charles the First, Baron Lovelace, of Hurley. His sons, John, the second Lord Lovelace, and Francis, a colonel in the army, adhered to the royal cause. Francis Lovelace Colonel appears to have visited "Long Island" in 1650, under a Lovelace Francis pass from Cromwell's Council of State, and to have gone thence to Virginia. At its surrender to the Common- wealth forces in 1632, he was chosen by Sir William Berke- ley to convey the tidings " to the late King of Scots." The real of Lovelace in the interest of Charles the Second led to his being committed a prisoner to the Tower by Richard Cromwell, on a charge of high treason. This only in- creased his favor with the king at the Restoration. Hle was enrolled as one of the knights of the " Royal Oak," an "Mler which Charles proposed to institute as a reward to !i faithful followers in adversity, but was more substan- Cally recompensed by being made "one of the gentlemen f His Majesty's Honorable Privy Chamber." In due Time, the king's favor induced his appointment by the Duke Aprite! ! York as the successor of Nicolls in his government."


" Lyst's Magna Brit., i., 299; Burke's Dormant Peerage, iii., 498, 490; Sainsbury'e Cal-


144


HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


CHAP. IV.


166S. Character of Love- lace.


Lovelace was in many respects unlike his predecessor. He was phlegmatic rather than enterprising, and lacked the energy and decision so necessary in a provincial gov- ernor far removed from the observation of his superiors. Yet he was of " a generous mind, and noble ;" upright and good-natured, and by the very moderation of his character unwilling to disturb the policy by which Nicolls had ad- ministered the government of New York with such suc- cess. For several months he had enjoyed the opportunity of studying his predecessor's conduct. With a commission similar to that of Nicolls, Lovelace also brought with him to New York a formal confirmation by the duke of the code of laws established at Hempstead. Lovelace's in- structions, among other things, required him "to make no alterations in the Laws of the government settled before his arrival."*


28 August Lovelace. installed.


Having received from Nicolls the cipher in which he was to correspond with the secretary of state in case of necessity, Lovelace announced to Lord Arlington his in- stallation in the government of New York, "being the middle position of the two distinct factions, the Papist and Puritan," and asked " some instructions" how he might steer his course, so as most to advance the interest of the king and the duke.t


2 Septem. Lovelace'a council. Lovelace's council, at various periods, consisted of Cor- nelis Steenwyck, the mayor of New York; Thomas Willett and Thomas Delavall, former mayors; Ralph Whitfield, Isaac Bedlow, Francis Boone, and Cornelis van Ruyven, aldermen ; Captain John Manning, the sheriff of the city ; Dudley and Thomas Lovelace, the governor's brothers; and Matthias Nicolls, the provincial secretary. Van Ruyven 24 Novem. was also appointed to succeed Delavall, who went on a


endar. 1., 500, 301, 376, 379; Chalmers, i., 124; Beverly (ed. 1955), 50, 51 ; Burk, il., S1-01 : Thurloe, vi., 151; vii., 558, 508, 622: Col. Doc., ii., DS0; Macaulay, il., 494; Knight's En- gland, iv., 430; Lond. Quart. Rev., July, 1859. The nephew of Governor Francis Lovelace was John, the third lord, who was prominent in the Revolution of 16SS. Upon his death without issue, the barony descended to his second cousin, John, the grandson of Francis. who became the fourth Lord Lovelace, and was appointed by Queen Anne governor of New York, where he died in May, 1700.


* Court of Assizes, li., :31; MSS., Secretary's Office, Albany ; Journals Leg. Council, i .. Int., v., vil. ; Col. Dec., fi., 104, 218, 226, 260; Mass. I. S. Coll., xxx., TS; Smith, i., 42, 46; S. Smith, 73; N. Y. H. S. Coll. (1969), 32: ante, 18, 73.


+ Col. Doc., ill., 174, 175. The erroneous statements of Smith, i., 42, and Chalmers, i ... 57S, which have been so generally copied, that Lovelace began his administration in 1607. have been already noticed, ante, p. 133, note.


145


FRANCIS LOVELACE, GOVERNOR.


visit to England, as collector of the duke's revenue at New CHAP. IV. York; and Bedlow was made comptroller or naval officer, 1668. and Nicholas Bayard surveyor. The customs' rates were 18 Novem. regulated by a new order from the governor .*


Affairs at Esopus required Lovelace's earliest attention. Conflicting claims were made for the lands in the " New 5 septers Dorp;" and the governor, finding it necessary to go thither fairs, Esophy I. - in person, left Captain Manning in charge of Fort James, 10 Septeu !. with full instructions. At Esopus, Sergeant Beresford was directed to disband the garrison, and cause their duty to be 25 Septem. performed by the burghers ; but, to induce the soldiers to remain, liberal grants of land were assured to them, and arrangements made to found two new villages farther in- land along the fertile borders of the Esopus Creek. Soon - afterward, Henry Pawling was appointed to lay out lots at 9 Novem. the new " furthest dorp."t


A severe epidemic-fever and ague, and fluxes-visited 21 Nover .. New York this autumn, which caused the governor to pro- in New


Epidemic claim a day of humiliation and prayer. In his proclama- York. tion, Lovelace reproved the swearing, intemperance, and impiety which he observed to prevail throughout the prov- ince .¿


The want of a printing-press in New York was now Aprindne. much felt, and, as the only one in the English colonies was el. at Cambridge, Lovelace sent to obtain a printer from there. But he did not succeed; and it was a quarter of a century before the "master art" began to be practiced in New York. This was not, however, owing to the duke, who never instructed any of his governors to restrain printing. The immediate cause of Lovelace's enlightened effort was his desire to have published a catechism which the Rever- end Thomas James, the first minister at Easthampton, en- couraged by the friendship of Nicolls, had prepared for the use of the Indians, and translated into their tongue, with: some chapters of the Bible. For this and other labors 19 Nonce. James was warmly thanked by the governor.§


* Conneil Min., iii., 1; Court of Assizes, ii., 200, 293, 619, 635; Ord., Warr., etc., il., 20;, ** 322; Col. MISS., xxif., 51-53, 108, 100 ; Val. Man., 1853, 328, 379-383 ; Munsell, iv., 22. * Ord., Warr., etc., il., 206, 241-258, 279; Fsopus Records; Ulster I. S. Coll., i., (), ;!. : Ord., Warr., etc., ii., 204, 205; Col. Doc., ill., 185; Val. Man., 1556, 514.


: \ r1., Warr., etc., ii., 290-203; Mass. II. S. Coll., xxxvii., 485; Wood, 41 ; Tlimps5. 1, 31; ; Dunlap. i., 126; Thomas's litet. Print., i., 215 ; ii., 90, 256. The Duke of York hay teen unjustly charged with discouraging printing in his province. The fact is that Beat of IL .-- K


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146


HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


CHAP. IV. The Jesuit " Mission of the Martyrs," now named Saint 1668. Jesuit mis- the Mo- hawks. 7 October. Mary of the Mohawks, had meanwhile prospered greatly. After visiting Quebec, Frémin's colleague, Pierron, return- sion among ed to Tionnontoguen, and resumed the care of the mission. He soon acquired the Mohawk language well enough to be understood, and, by means of little pictures which he paint- ed himself, explained more readily the Christian doctrines. Every week he visited seven Mohawk villages, which ex- tended over a distance of seven leagues and a half. But the war now raging between the Iroquois and "the nine nations of Mahicans who were scattered between Manhat- tan and the environs of Quebec," hindered the progress of religion. Hostilities were carried to the neighborhood of Albany, and prisoners taken on either side were burned or eaten. Being more numerous, the Mahicans had the ad- vantage. One of Pierron's chief encouragements was that the savages themselves observed that they had among them a " foreign Demon" who was more to be feared than those which they adored in their dreams. This demon was in- toxicating drink, which came to them from Albany,* hin- dered religion, and ruined their youth. At Pierron's sug- gestion, several sachems came to New York with a petition to the governor, accompanied by a letter from the father, asking him to arrest the evil. Lovelace at once directed 12 Novem. 18 Novem. the officers at Albany to execute the laws against selling liquors to the Indians. He also wrote to Pierron: "I have taken all the care possible, and will continue it under the most severe penalties, to restrain and hinder the fur- nishing of any excess to the Indians. And I am very glad to learn that such virtuous thoughts proceed from infidels, to the shame of many Christians. But this must be at- tributed to your pious instructions ; you who, being well versed in a strict discipline, have shown them the way of mortification, as well by your precepts as your practice."t


Andros nor Dongan, the successors of Lovelace, were at all restricted on this subject : see Col. Doc., ill., 216-219, 331-334. It was not until 1686 that James the Second restrained the liberty of printing in New York ; and the instruction then given to Dongan followed the precedents of the Plantation Committee respecting other royal governors : Col. Doc., ifi .. 375. The restrictive policy of Massachusetts has been adverted to, ante, p. 89, note.


. The French furnished the Indians with brandy distilled at Rochelle; the English and Dutch with rum Imported into New York from the West Indies, which the savages prefer- real, as "more wholecome :" Col. Dec., iii., 463, 797 ; ix., 26, 979, 1073 ; Doc. Ilist., i., 140.


t Ord., Warr., Lett., il., 201; Col. Doc., ix., 853; Relation, 1009, 1-6; Charlevoix, ii., Is". Shea, 263, 204.


147


FRANCIS LOVELACE, GOVERNOR.


At Saint Francis Xavier, among the Oneidas, Bruyas CHAP. IV. suffered many discouragements. He was obliged to live upon dried frogs and herbs, while few baptisms rewarded 1668. Bruyas. at his zeal: Of all the Iroquois, the Oneidas were the most the Onei- intractable. The hostile Mahicans, and the Andastes or da3. Conestogues, however, filled the canton with continual alarms .*


Early in the summer, Bruyas was joined by the youthful June. father Julian Garnier, the first Jesuit ordained at Quebec. After remaining a short time at Oneida, Garnier set out for Onondaga, a day's journey farther to the west, to the old mission of Saint Mary of Gennentaha, from which the French had been expelled ten years before. Received with every mark of good will, Garnier was constrained by " a Garnier gentle violence" to remain among the Onondagas. At his at Onond ... and Mitht request, Garakontić caused a chapel to be built, and with 53. four others then visited Quebec. His request for another 20 August. " black robe" to be sent as a companion to Garnier was granted by Courcelles, who did not fail to impress upon 27 August. the savages the power and glory of the "Great Onnontio Louis." Loaded with presents, Garakontie and his col- leagues returned to Onondaga, escorting the Fathers Eti- October. enne de Carheil and Pierre Millet, and the Mission of Saint John the Baptist was happily established.+


Carheil, however, did not remain long at Onondaga with Garnier and Millet. During the first mission of the French there, the Father Rene Menard had founded a church at Cayuga, about thirty leagues farther west, and delegates now came from there to ask a renewal of missionary sery- ice. Conducted by Garnier, Carheil accordingly visited & Norem. Cayuga. A chapel was soon completed and dedicated to 9 Novem. Saint Joseph. Besides the village of Guyoguen, or Cayuga, which was the seat of the mission, there were two others a few leagues apart, Kiohero or Tiohero, and Onnontare. These villages were near the Lake Tiohero-now known as Cayuga Lake-upon the banks of which David le Moyne had died in 1657. In this most beautiful region of West- er New York Carheil began a laborious service among cayt,


Carbela:


* 1: Wtl n. 1069, 7, S; Charlevoix, il., 195; Shea, 275.


+ L. Isti 3, 1658, 3, 4; 1662, 8-13; 1668, 6-19; 1669, 10; Charlevoix, ii., 176, 177; Col. Tex, Ix., 2:7, 695; Shea, 259, 260, ETT, 2ST, 289, 994; ante, vol. L., 643, 646, 704.


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148


HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


CHAT. IV. the docile but superstitious Cayugas, and Garnier returned to assist Millet at Onondaga .*


1668.


Twelve years before, Chaumonot had proclaimed the faith to the Senecas at their principal village of Gandagare. The most numerous of all the confederates, the Senecas, whom the French called " the Upper Iroquois," were the most gentle and tractable. They were rather laborers and traders than warriors, and many Christian Hurons had been adopted by them after 1649. Fremin, who was now the superior of all the Iroquois missions, thought that the time had come to "begin a new church" among the Senecas. 10 October. Leaving Pierron in charge of the Mohawks at Tionnonto- guen, the superior accordingly passed westward, visiting the other missionary stations. After twenty days' travel 1 Novem. Frimin Senecas. he reached the Senecas, who received him with the honors among the which the savages show to ambassadors. The chiefs quick- ly built him a chapel, and many converts, especially among the domiciled Hurons, rewarded his labors. The mission was named in honor of Saint Michael. Thus in 1668 the Jesuits had established five stations among the Iroquois. Fremin, the superior, however, found his labors among the Senecas hindered by a projected war against the Ottawas. But this he was able to prevent, aided by the opportune ar- rival, the next spring, of the Father Allouez from Canada, with some restored prisoners; and it was hoped that the Iroquois, who had now both "the Mahicans and the An- dastes on their hands, would fear more than ever the arms of France."t


Iroquois colony et Quinto Bay.


A colony of the Cayugas, which had been formed on the northern shore of Lake Ontario, at Kente or Quinte Bay, was placed in 1666, for a short time, under the care of Fre- min and some other fathers of his order; but, on the con- clusion of the peace with the Iroquois the next year, the Jesuits, who were to occupy the more important field south of the lake, resigned the Quinte mission to the Sulpitians of Montreal. Two young " Levites" of that order, Francis Salignac de Fenelon and Claude Trouve, had recently ar- rived in Canada, the latter of whom was ordained a priest


11 Jone.


· Relation, 1657, 19, 43 ; 1668, 20; 1660,12-16; 1670, 63, 69; 1872, 22; Map in Rel., 1665; Col. Doc., ill., 251 ; Charlevoix, il., 80, 81, 185; Shea, 292-234, 261, 2ST, 556; ante, vol. i .. €11 t Relation, 1010, 3-33: 1057, 42, 45 ; 1668, 22; 1069, 17: 1670, 69, 77; Charlevoix, ii., S , 183; Shea, 191, 192, 199, 226, 232, 234, 263, 200; ante, vol. i., 614.


149


FRANCIS LOVELACE, GOVERNOR.


by Bishop Laval; and in the autumn of this year they went CHAP. IV. to Quinte, where they began their missionary labors. In 1668.


this station they were succeeded by Francis Lascaris D'Urfe, 2s October. De Cice, and others ; who for several years struggled with many difficulties, until the Sulpitians at length resigned their enterprise to the Recollets."


New Jersey, under the government of Philip Carteret, New Jersey had now for three years been quietly growing. But it was affaire a constant eyesore to the authorities of New York ; and, al- though Nicolls had ceased to allude to its dismemberment, Maverick could not refrain from writing by him to Lord 25 Auguet. Arlington that the duke's grant to Berkeley and Carteret had " proved very prejudicial to this place and government. Their bounds reach from the east side of Delaware River to the west side of Hudson's River, including a vast tract of the most improveablest land within his Royal Highness his patent. It hath taken away some Dutch villages for- merly belonging to this place, and not above three or four miles from it. The Duke hath left of his patent nothing to the west of New York, and to the east upon the main about sixteen miles only from Hudson's River, whercon is but one poor village. Long Island is very poore and in- considerable ; and beside the city there are but two Dutch towns more, Sopus and Albany, which lie up north on Hud- son's River. I suppose when the Lord Berkeley had that grant, it was not thought he should come so neare this place, nor were the inconveniences of it known or considered."t


This letter of Maverick, in connection with Nicolls's per- sonal representations on reaching London, caused the duke to try to regain New Jersey. One point was promptly set- tled. As Nicolls had confiscated to his royal highness, in 1665, the estate of the West India Company in Staten Isl- Staten Iol. and, and as one of the outlets of the Hudson River ran jodatt Anda .!. around the island, it was " adjudged to belong to New York-" New York Philip Carteret, the Governor of New Jersey, had probably


' I:lation, 1668, 4, 90, 31: Col. Doc., ix., 91, 97, 101, 102, 112, 132 ; Faillon, ili., 171-173, 143.106; In Potherie, ilf., 216 : Doc. Hist , i., 283; Charlevoix, ii., 177, 250; Shea, 254, 2%3, $49: N. Y. IT. S. Proc., 1848, 199-209 ; 1849, 12; Sparks's Life of La Salle, 16, 17; shea's * ** in N. F. Ilist. and Gen. Reg,, xvii., 243, 247. Fenelon, of Quinte, has been confound. Af by linnepin and other later writers with his younger half-brother, the famous author rf Tik tuschne, the Archbishop of Cambray. Another blunder places the scene of the Quiate Je ton's labors among the parent tribe of the Cayugas, instead of among their coni-te ca the n .- hern shore of Lake Ontario.


: 141. Doc, Hi., 174; ante, p. 85.


150


HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.


Cuar. IV. anticipated this decision when he took title from Nicolls, 1668. in 1667, for land on that island. Lord Berkeley, one of the commissioners of the Duke of York's estate, having been detected in "the basest" corruption, was now " under a cloud, Berkeley and Carte- and out of all his offices." Berkeley therefore offered to ret agree to surrender to James his patent for New Jersey. Carteret, return New Jersey to the Duke of York. lately made Treasurer of Ireland, agreed to 'do the like; and it was arranged that the two proprietors should, in ex- change for New Jersey, "returned to his Royal Highness," receive the territory on the Delaware which Nicolls had so shrewdly and earnestly recommended. This determination was promptly notified by Carteret to his cousin at Eliza- bethtown. Had it been carried out it would have relieved the duke of much future anxiety .*


The pro- posed res- toration fails.


May.


But, owing probably to Lord Baltimore's claim to the west side of the Delaware, the proposed arrangement fell through, and New York was not " inlarged" by the restora- tion of her old territory. In the spring of this year Carteret called an assembly, in which each town in New Jersey was represented, while Staten Island, being conceded to New York, was not. But in the next autumn dissensions grew so strong that the governor was obliged to adjourn the As- sembly without day.t.


November.


The order of the king in council, which allowed three Dutch ships " freely to trade" with New York for seven years, had meanwhile caused jealous complaints; and the November. Council for Trade reported that English merchants were "altogether discouraged and withdrawing their respective estates" from New York, and that the sixth and seventh ar- ticles of the capitulation bound the king to grant freedom of trade no longer than for " the first six months after the rendition of the place." They therefore advised that, as there had been " a mistake in the drawing" of the order, it should be revoked, and that all persons trading to New * Mass. II. S. Coll., xxxvii., 315, 319 ; N. J. HI. S. Proc., i. (ii.), 32-36; Pepys, iii., 167, 172, 331; iv., 28; Col. Doc., iii., 105, 114; Yonkers Gazette, No. GS6, for 8 July, 18G5; Newark Town Records, 21, 22 ; ante, p. 59, 71, 85.


+ Col. Doc., ili., 113, 156, 340; Penn. Archives, i., 70; Leaming and Spicer, 77-92; Gor- don, 28; Whitehead, 42-48. 51-53, 188-190; Newark Town Rec., 21; Chalmerz, i., 526, 528, 634; Yonkers Gazette, S July, 1965. Lord Berkeley was made Lieutenant of Ireland in 1670, when, on the death of the Duke of Albemarle, he also became Palatine of Carolina ; and doubtless he and Carteret thought that their interests would be better served by retain- ing New Jersey than by taking the Delaware territory, and with it a controversy with so haportant an Irish per as Lord Baltimore, who could be casier dealt with by the king's brother.


001


151


FRANCIS LOVELACE, GOVERNOR.


York contrary to the navigation acts should be prosecuted. CHAr. IV. This was the more necessary because the trade of England was "now in great measure upheld" by the American plant- 1668. ations. The king in council therefore ordered that all 19 Novem. passes granted under the order of 23d October, 1667, be re- lish refusw The Eng. called and annulled ; yet, out of regard to those who had to New free trade relied on it, the Duke of York might license one of the York. ships now preparing in Holland to make one voyage to New York.


Sir William Temple was directed to notify this decision to the interested parties in Holland. Relying on the pre- vious order, Van Cortlandt, Cousseau, and several other " loy- al subjects now residing in New York," had dispatched one 24 October. ship from Amsterdam, with the duke's pass, and were pre- paring another, which was nearly ready to sail. Upon their representing this to the king, backed by the personal efforts of Nicolls, an order in council was obtained, "with much 11 Decem. A Dutch difficulty," allowing the second " permissionated ship" "to ship spe- make one voyage and no more;" and the Duke of York mittel. was at the same time directed not to grant "any other Passe or Passes to any Dutch shipp or shipps whatsoever to trade to New Yorke." Lovelace proclaimed the royal 1669. pleasure on the arrival of what was understood to be the 24 Feb. last Dutch ship that would " ever come on that account" to Manhattan .*


This ending of the old commercial intercourse between New York and Ilolland followed one of the best acts of Charles the Second. Soon after the peace of Breda, the ablest English statesmen saw that the only way to curb the arrogance of France was to form an alliance between Great Britain and the Dutch Republic. Sir William Temple- in many respects the opposite of Downing-was accord- ingly sent with special powers to the Hague. IIc had al- 1663. ready won the confidence of De Witt, and in a few days a 3; Jat'y treaty was made which bound Great Britain and the United ple At ... Provinces to act, if necessary, in concert against France. The accession of Sweden shortly afterward gave to this famous coalition the name of the " Triple Alliance."




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