USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 14
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The re-interment of the remains of the martyrs was marked by imposing ceremonies. It was late in September, and the autumnal " equinoctial storm" was raging. Fearing a riot, the governor fur- nished a military guard to the procession of men, women, and children, who were preceded by trumpeters and drummers beating a funeral march. From the City Hall they moved with solemn tread, unmind- ful of the wind and rain, and deposited the precious burdens in one grave in the burial-ground of the little Dutch Reformed Church, in
* On every occasion the French did all in their power to win the alliance and the allegiance of the Iroquois by flattery, by displays of power, and especially by the spectac- ular ministrations of the Roman Catholic Church, which captivated the barbaric imag- ination. As an illustration, Dr. Cadwallader Colden mentions the parade made by the French at Montreal on the occasion of the funeral of one of their Indians. "The priest that attended him at his death," says Colden, " declared that he died a true Christian, and as a proof he gave his exclamation on hearing of the crucifixion : 'Oh, had I been there I would have revenged his death and brought away their scalps !'"
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LEISLERIANS OR DEMOCRATS IN POWER.
Garden Street, near Wall Street .* "There was a great concourse of people [twelve hundred 'tis said] at the funeral," wrote Bellomont to the Lords of Trade, "and would, 'tis thought, have been as many more, but that it blew a rank storm for two or three days together, that hindered people from coming down or crossing the rivers."
A new Assembly convened in March, 1699. It was almost entirely Leislerian or democratic in character. The governor, lieutenant-gov- ernor, and the council were the same. A great change in public affairs soon appeared. Among the most radical and influential members of the Assembly was Abraham Gouverneur, who had been Leisler's secretary, had been condemned to death but pardoned, and had married the widow of Milborne. He represented Orange County.
Wrongs were righted and wrongs were committed by this reacting Assembly. Righteous indem- nifications were granted, and liberal allowances were voted for the governor and lieuten- ant-governor. Such was the confidence reposed in the in- tegrity and judgment of Bel- lomont, that a revenue for six years was voted and placed at his absolute disposal.
The most important busi- ness of the Assembly was the revocation of most extrava- gant and fraudulent grants of lands by Governor Fletcher for money considerations DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH IN GARDEN STREET, which swelled his purse. These grants were made to favorites. Among others, and the most con- spicuous of the receivers of these grants, was Nicholas Bayard, Fletcher's right-hand man, whose acres thus bestowed exceeded in number those of any patroon. He and others attempted to monopolize all the lands on the
* This little structure was built of wood, octagonal in form, with a very high, steep roof, and a cupola in the centre of it surmounted by a " weather-cock." It was enlarged and repaired in 1776, and was rebuilt of stone in 1807. It stood upon a lane extending eastward from Broad Street parallel with Wall Street. The grounds on the lane were neatly laid out and well cultivated, and it received the name of " Garden Lane," and finally Garden Street, now Exchange Place. When it was built, in 1693, it was considered rather too far out of town.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
upper Hudson and the Mohawk River. Dominie Dellius, of the Dutch Reformed Church, was convicted of obtaining, by fraud, an enormous tract of land from the Indians, while holding an official position among them, which Fletcher had confirmed on receiving a portion of the plunder as a bribe. The timely demolition by the Assembly and the governor of these huge schemes of land monopoly removed a great bar to emigration to the interior of the province of New York. It also
NEW CITY HALL, NEW YORK, 1700.
served to maintain the good-will of the Five Nations, who had been disturbed by the operation of these land robbers under Fletcher.
Earl Bellomont went to Boston in June, 1699, leaving the province of New York in the care of Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan. Little of public importance occurred during his absence, excepting further mis- chievous meddling with the Iroquois by the French in Canada and the Jesuit missionaries. The earl returned in the summer of 1700, and met the Assembly. Irritated by the conduct of the French, and especially by that of the missionaries, that body, at the earl's suggestion, passed a law for hanging every Roman Catholic priest who should come volun- tarily into the province-a law which Chief-Justice Smith, the his- torian, writing fifty or sixty years afterward, said " ought to be in full force to this day."
Governor Bellomont died in the city of New York on the 5th of
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BELLOMONT AND HIS ENEMIES.
March, 1701. His remains lay in state a day or two, when they were buried with public honors under the chapel of the fort. A few days afterward his arms were carried in state and placed on the front of the new City Hall, then just completed, in Wall Street, at the head of Broad Street. His remains, enclosed in a leaden coffin, were transferred to St. Paul's churchyard nearly a hundred years afterward, where they still lie.
Lord Bellomont had many and bitter enemies and also warm friends. The late Frederick de Peyster, LL.D., wrote on this subject :
"I am convinced that he was persistently maligned and abused solely because he had an eye to the public service and not to individual ad- vancement. Strange to say, his enemies were to be found among all classes-a fact which, to my mind, however, determines his great honesty and independence of character. Those engaged in illegal trade hated him, because he was not to be bribed or cajoled into tolerating the least infraction of laws. The merchants were also his enemies, because he would not violate his obligation of office and wink at their evasions of the Acts of Trade. All opposed to Leisler and Milborne were against him, because he carried out the Acts of Parliament ordering that justice be done their memory. Even a greater part of the clergy were arrayed against him : those of the Dutch Church because he would not tolerate the iniquitous conduct of Dellius [see page 126] ; and those of the English Church because he would not alienate a portion of the estate attached to the governor's residence. Thus it will be seen the private interests of a large class were opposed to law ; and Bellomont, as the representative of the law and its faithful administrator, was reprobated and vilified by that class."
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER X.
NEW political troubles in the province appeared on the death of Governor Bellomont (March, 1701). LieutenantGovernor Nanfan was then in Barbadoes, and the question arose, Who shall rightfully exercise the powers of government ? The Leislerians declared that the power devolved on the Council collectively ; the president of the Council, Colonel William Smith, contended that he alone had a right to exercise the supreme provincial pow- W 1 er. In this view he was joined by Peter Schmyler and Robert Livingston. The Assembly was perplexed by 200110 000 1 these opinions, and adjourn- .10 10 ed in April ; and disputes continued with much asper- ity until the middle of May, 7 10 when Nanfan returned and lawfully assumed supreme 10 authority. Ile dissolved the Assembly in June. A new Assembly was chosen, and 7 7 convened on August 19th.
Haridlet's Street
10
Meanwhile a grant of an OC immense tract of land had been made (July 19th) by 11 10 the Five Nations to the British crown to insure pro- E tection against the French, and the king had given out PLAN OF ALBANY IN 1695. of the exchequer $12,500 for strengthening the de- fenees at Albany and Seheneetady and to build a fort in the Onondaga country ; also $4000 for presents to the Indians. These were wise measures, and strengthened the bond of friendship between the English and the Iroquois.
The government of the province was now under the full control of the
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LEISLERIANS IN POLITICAL CONTROL.
Leislerians or Democrats. A new Court of Chancery was organized, the power of chancellor, as before, being vested in the governor and Council. William Atwood, a zealous Leislerian, was chief-justice of the Supreme Court, with Abraham de Peyster # and Robert Walters as liis associates on the bench. In the Assembly the fires of contention blazed fiercely, and Livingston, who had taken sides with Smith in the controversy about the lawful depository of executive power, became the object of bitter persecution by the more radical Leislerians. Indeed, the foundations of most of the public quarrels of the 1, day were laid in personal animosities. Such was largely the case during the twenty years of warfare between the political factions in the province of New York from the death of Leisler. At the same time the seminal idea of republicanism was working pow- ABRAHAM DE PEYSTER. erfully in the public mind, and there was a steady and permanent advance in the direction of popular liberty.
Governor Nanfan's administration was brief. King William died in the spring of 1702 without legitimate issue. His queen, Mary, had died several years before, and her sister Anne now became the sovereign of Great Britain. Anne appointed her uncle, Sir Edward Hyde (a son of Lord Clarendon, and called Lord Cornbury by courtesy), Governor of New York. He was a libertine and a knave, and cursed the province with his presence and misrule about seven years. He was a bigot, and
* Abraham de Peyster was a distinguished citizen of New York, and an eminent merchant. He was the eldest son of Johannes de Peyster, born in New York City in 1658, and died there in 1728. He was Mayor of New York between 1691 and 1695 ; was afterward chief-justice of the province and president of the King's Council, in which capacity he performed the duties of governor in 1701, on the death of Lord Bellomont. He was colonel of the military forces of New York, and treasurer of that province and of New Jersey. He and William Penn were intimate friends. His spacious mansion on Pearl Street was the headquarters of Washington in 1776. It existed until 1856, when it was demolished. Colonel de Peyster was considered the most popular man in the city of New York in his day. He married his beautiful cousin, Katharine de Peyster, while on a visit to Holland. His sister Maria married David Provost. After his death she married James Alexander, secretary of the province, and by him became the mother of William Alexander, Lord Sterling.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
persecuted all denominations of Christians ontside of the Church of England. He embezzled the public money, and on all occasions was the persistent enemy of popular freedom and common justice.
"I know no right which you have as an Assembly," he said to the representatives of the people, " but such as the queen is pleased to allow yon."
This was said in 1705, the year when that Assembly won the first substantial victory over absolutism or despotie rule. They obtained from the queen permission to make specifie appropriations of incidental grants of money, and to appoint their own treasurer to take charge of extraordinary supplies. This was a bold and important step in the direc- tion of popular independence and sovereignty.
When the news of the appointment of Cornbury reached New York the aristocracy took heart, and their leaders became insolent and defiant ; for they felt sure of the friendship of the new governor. Nor were they disappointed. Nicholas Bayard was still the most conspicuous of their leaders for zeal and activity. He promulgated addresses to the king, the Parliament, and to Governor Cornbury, libelling the Leislerians and the administrations of Bellomont and Nanfan in the most scandalous manner. One of these addresses contained thirty-two " Icads of Accu- sation of the Earl of Bellomont." It was specially THE DE PEYSTER ARMS. untruthful, and was calculated to stir up revolt in the colony. This seditious and dangerous paper Bayard dared not issue over his own signature, but signed it with the fictitious name of " John Key."
Nanfan was aroused to immediate and energetic action. In the spring of 1691 Bayard had procured the enactment of a law intended for the special punishment of Leisler. That law declared that whoever should attempt to " disturb the peace, good, and quiet of the government should be deemed a rebel and a traitor, and punished accordingly." Into this trap set for Leisler Bayard now fell. Putting this unrepealed law in force, 'Nanfan caused the arrest of Bayard on a charge of treason. Ile was tried before Justiec Atwood and his associate justices in Feb- ruary (1702), found guilty, and sentenced to be "hanged, drawn, and quartered," in accordance with British law. After a virtual confession of guilt he was reprieved by Nanfan "until His Majesty's pleasure should be known." On the arrival of Cornbury (who had been " hunted out of England by a host of hungry creditors") these proceedings were all reversed, and Bayard was set at liberty. Governor Cornbury
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GOVERNOR CORNBURY'S ADMINISTRATION.
espoused the anti-Leislerian party, which immediately arose into power, and then began the flight of some of the Leislerian leaders. This change was of short duration.
New York City was sorely smit- ten by yellow fever in the summer of 1703. The governor transferred his court to Jamaica, Long Island, where he exercised his bigotry and petty tyranny in the most scandalous manner. One illustra- tive example will suffice. The best house in the village was the dwelling of the Presbyterian min- ister, built by his congregation. Cornbury begged the minister to allow his lordship to occupy the parsonage for a while. It was cheerfully done. This hospital- ity was requited by the seizure of the parsonage, the meeting- GOVERNOR CORNBURY. house, and the glebe for the use of the members of the Church of England residing there .* When resistance to this act of robbery was made, the victims were subjected to fines and im- prisonments !
Combur
And yet this governor, weak-minded, . mean-spirited, and vacillating, was so over- powered by the indomitable will of the people-a hardy, mixed race-that he often submitted to reproof, and in the poverty of his soul and purse he humbly thanked SIGNATURE OF GOVERNOR CORNBURY. the Assembly for simple justice. For three years (1705-08) there was no meeting of that body. Intolerance, licentiousness, and dishonesty were conspicuous traits in this governor's character. +
* Lord Cornbury sent an order over his own signature for the minister (Rev. Mr. Hubbard), on July 4th, 1704, to deliver his house and lands to the sheriff, and not to fail at ·his "perill." On the same day he signed an order for the sheriff to eject the minister from the premises, claiming that the property belonged to the Anglican Church at Jamaica.
+ " We never had a governor so universally detested," says Smith, the historian, " nor
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
He contracted debts everywhere, and refused to pay ; and when, in 1708, the queen, yielding to the desires of the people, recalled him, and he left the chair of State, his ereditors cast him into prison, and kept him there until the death of his father the next year made him a peer of the realm and a member of the House of Lords. Then the unrighteons law of the kingdom which exempts a member of that body from arrest and imprisonment for debt set him free, and he returned to England.
One of the most distinguished and useful men in the province at this time was Caleb Heathcote, proprietor of the manor of Scars- CALEB HEATHCOTE. dale, in Westchester County, a representative of the ancient fan- ily of Heathcote of Searsdale, Derbyshire, England, who came to Am- erica in 1692, and became a member of Governor Fletcher's council the next year. He was an earnest ad- herent of the Church of England, and exercised his authority judicionsly as colonel of militia in the maintenance of morality and religion .*
Call Meutheste
SIGNATURE OF CALEB HEATHCOTE.
At abont the beginning of Cornbury's administration war between France and England was kindled. It extended to their American colonies. This contest, known as " Queen Anne's War," lasted about eleven years, and
any who so richly deserves the public abhorrence. In spite of his noble descent, his behavior was trifling, mean, and extravagant. It was not uncommon for him to dress in a woman's habit, and then to patrol the fort in which he lived. Such freaks of low humor exposed him to the universal contempt of the whole people. Their indignation was kindled by his despotie rule, savage bigotry, insatiable avarice and injustice, not only to the public, but even his private creditors."
* Caleb Heathcote was a son of the wealthy Mayor of Chester, England. His oldest brother, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, was the first President of the Bank of England and Lord Mayor of London. Caleb was affianced to a beautiful maiden, and took his bachelor brother Gilbert to see her. Smitten by her charms, Gilbert supplanted his brother, when Caleb sought relief from the pangs of disappointment, took refuge with his uncle in New York, and afterward married a daughter of William (" Tangier") Smith, of Long Island. He found Westchester County, he wrote in 1704, " the most heathenish country I ever
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THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATIC.
was ended by the treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Its ravages in the colonies were chiefly felt by the English in New England and farther east. The Five Nations had made a treaty of neutrality with the French in Canada, and they stood as a barrier against incursions of the French and Indians into New York. That province enjoyed peace during the long war.
John, Lord Lovelace, succeeded Corn- bury as Governor of New York. He did not reach the province until near the close of 1708, when he found the Lovilars Assembly and the people strongly demo- cratic in their political views. The very vices of the late governor had disciplined SIGNATURE OF LORD LOVELACE. them to the exercise of resistance to op- pression and to aspire to self-government, and secured to them the exer- cise of rights which might have been postponed for many years.
The new governor was cordially received by the people, and his course was judicious. He called a new Assembly in April, 1709, who, taught
Puh Ingotsby
SIGNATURE OF CAPTAIN INGOLDSBY.
by experience, refused to vote a permanent revenue without appropria- tion, but resolved to raise an annual revenue and appropriate it specifi- cally. This would make the servants of the crown dependent upon the
saw which called themselves Christians," there being not the "least footsteps of religion." Sabbaths were spent in " vain sports and lewd derision." As colonel of militia he ordered his captains to require the men in every town to appoint readers of the Scrip- tures on Sundays, and if they refused, to call their men under arms on Sundays and spend the day in military exercises. They chose "readers." Heathcote was Mayor of the city of New York from 1711 to 1714; judge of Westchester County ; made com- mander-in-chief of the forces of the colony ; surveyor-general of the province for some time, and from 1715 till 1721 was receiver-general of the customs for all North America. Colonel Heathcote's last will was dated February 29th, 1719. He left his large estate to two daughters, one of whom married James de Lancey.
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people for their salaries. The Assembly showed a firm disposition to assert and maintain all the popular rights which they had acquired, and now fairly began the contest in the province of New York between democracy and absolutism, which ended in permanent victory for the former at the close of the old war for independence three fourths of a cen- tury afterward.
Before the issue concerning the revenne had fairly assumed positive form Lord Lovelace died. Ilis lieutenant, Richard Ingoldsby# (the contestant with Leisler for power in 1691), succeeded him. During Ingoldsby's administration of eleven months another feeble attempt was made to conquer Canada.
In this enterprise the province of New York engaged with great zeal. The Assembly appointed commissioners to procure the mate- rials for war and transportation ; issued bills of credit (New York's first paper money), and through the powerful influence of Colonel Peter Schuyler secured the neu- trality and warm friendship of the Five Nations.
New York and New Jersey raised an army of about two thousand men, and Francis Nichol- son, Andros's lieutenant-governor, was made the chief commander of these forces. The little army moved from Albany for Montreal before the close of June, and early PETER SCHUYLER. in August they had halted at the southern end of Lake Champlain. There they waited long for tidings of the departure from Boston of a prom- ised English fleet destined to attack Quebec. No such tidings came, and the sadly disappointed soldiers, as in 1691, were compelled to return to their homes, their ranks thinned by sickness and death. This event
* Richard Ingoldsby, who came to New York in 1691 in command of forces sent with Governor Sloughter, had served as a field officer in Holland. We have observed his conduct at New York in preceding pages. He returned to England on furlough in 1696, and was absent several years, leaving his wife and children in New York with scanty means of support. He was commissioned Lieutenant-Governor of New York and New Jersey in 1702, but did not return until 1706. On the death of Governor Lovelace he administered the government until the arrival of Governor Hunter.
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IROQUOIS SACHEMS IN ENGLAND.
caused much irritation in the public mind, and weakened the confidence of the Five Nations in the puissance of Great Britain.
Colonel Schuyler,* mortified and alarmed by the apathy and neglect of the home government, which seemed unconscious of the importance to British interests in America of effecting the conquest of Canada, went to England the next year, at his own expense, to arouse the court and people to vigorous action in support of the momentous cause he had espoused. He persuaded a sachem from each Iroquois nation to accompany him, that the Con- federacy might be certified of the immense strength of Great Britain. The presence of these barbarian kings produced a great sensation throughout the realm, especially in London. Multitudes followed the dusky monarchs wherever they went. Their por- FİLYP PIETERSEN SCHUYLER COMMISSARIS 16 56. traits soon appeared in the print-shops. The queen caused them to be covered with scarlet mantles edged with gold. They were feasted at banquets ; witnessed military THE SCHUYLER ARMS. reviews ; saw a part of the mighty British navy ; in a word, they were shown the glories of the kingdom, and were deeply impressed by the evidences of British power. They were con- veyed to the palace of St. James to stand before the queen ; and they gave belts of wampum and signed their totems to documents as pledges of their friendship and fidelity.
The grand objects of Schuyler's mission were accomplished. The friendship and loyalty of the Five Nations were secured for the English forever, and the Iroquois were made willing to join the latter in an attempt to conquer Canada. The new British ministry authorized a campaign for the purpose. Henry St. John (Lord Boling-
* Peter Schuyler was one of the most useful men in the province for a period of almost forty years. He was the first Mayor of Albany, and there led the movement against Leisler. In Governor Fletcher's Council he performed most important public service. He was not only a statesman, but the foremost military leader in the province, as his operations against the French in Canada show. As Commissioner of Indian Affairs, he wielded potential influence over the Iroquois Confederacy, and by his courage, skill, and goodness won the affections of the white people and the Indians. The latter called him " Brother Quedor." When Governor Hunter retired, Schuyler, as President of the Council, became acting governor of the province. As such he displayed great wisdom and energy at a trying period
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
broke)," the Secretary of State, planned a naval expedition against Quebec to co-operate with a land force of provincials to proceed from the Hudson River and attack Montreal.
A fleet of war-ships-transports and store-ships-bearing marines and regular troops was sent to Boston early in the summer Rolinghoke of 1711 under the command of Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker. He sailed from that port with about seven thousand regulars and pro- vincial troops on the 10th SIGNATURE OF LORD BOLINGBROKE. of August. Like Braddock, the hanghty commander dis- dained the opinions and advice of experienced subordinates, and lost eight of his transports and nearly one thousand men among the rocks at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. The expedition was abandoned. + Meanwhile New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut had formed a provincial army for the capture of Montreal and the holding of the upper waters of the St. Lawrence. These were under the command of Nicholson, who held a general's commission. They marched from Albany, four thousand strong, toward Lake Champlain. Among them were six hundred Iroquois warriors. Hearing of Walker's disaster, these troops also abandoned the expedition and returned home. So ended in failure the third attempt of the English to conquer Canada.
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