The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II, Part 11

Author: Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: [New York] New York History Co.
Number of Pages: 705

USA > New York > New York City > The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II > Part 11

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" This staurant is founded on numerous let- this and documents. written by parties in a post- tim in know, and which are scattered through Tỉnh. IT and V of the Due. Tel Col Hist. N. Y.

.. .

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY

removing the Presbyterian clergyman in Jamaica from his church and parsonage, some years previous, had, it would seem, only whetted his appetite for similar prey. "He [Cornbury] detested," says the histo- rian Smith, "all who were not of the same denomination as his own, and being averse SERMON Preached at to every sect except his own, he insisted that neither the ministers nor the schoolmasters Trinity-Church in New-York, IN of the Dutch, the most numerous persuasion in the province, had a AMERICA Auguft 13. 1706. AT THE right to preach or in- struct, without the gu- bernatorial license, and some of them tamely FUNERAL Of the Right Honourable Katherine Lady Cornbury, submitted to his un- authoritative rule." 1 But not all. At this time the Presbyterians Baronefs Clifton of Leighton Brow/wald, Sc. Heirefs to The molt Noble Charles Duke of Richmond and Lenox, Wife to his Excellency Edward Lord Vifcount Corabury, Her Majely's Captain General, and Governor in Chief of the Provinces of New-York, New-Ferfey, and Terri- tories depending thereon in America, &c. in New-York city were few in number, and possessed of no build- ing in which to wor- ship. For these rea- JOB XIV. Ver. 14. AB the days of my appointed Time will I wait, till my Change come. sons they were accus- tomed to meet on the Sabbath at the pri- vate houses of different By Jobs Sharp, A. M. Chaplain to the Queen's Forces in the Province of New-York. members of that de- nomination and have religious services. This Londen : Printed and Sold by F Hills, in Black-fypars, near the Water-fide. For the Benefit of the Poor. was the state of things when two Presbyte- rian divines, Rev. John FAC-SIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE. Hampton of Maryland, and Rev. Francis Makemie of Virginia, the latter a clergyman conceded by all his contemporaries to have been

1 Smith's "History of New-York " (1st edition), pp. 104-106. Also, in the edition of 1830 in two volumes (2 : 186) Smith speaks as follows of the various denominations in the city at this date: "The inhabitants of the city of New-York con- sisted at this time of Dutch Calvinists, upon the plan of the church of Holland; French refugees,

on the Geneva model; a few English Episcopa- lians; and a still smaller number of English and Irish Presbyterians, who having neither a minis- ter nor a church, used to assemble themselves every Sunday at a private house, for the worship of God." Smith was himself a Presbyterian. EDITOR.

HISTORY OF NEW-YORK

of eminent piety as well as of strong intellectual power, visited New- York on their way to Boston. Upon their calling on the governor, they were invited to remain to dinner. They accepted the invita- tion, but during their visit made no mention-and in this they were undoubtedly in fault -of their intention to preach in the city the following day. Upon learning of their wishes in this respect, the pastor of the Dutch church and the elders of the French church offered them their pulpits, with the proviso, however, that the gov- ernor's consent should first be obtained.1 This kind invitation was declined on the ground that they "had the Queen's authority to preach anywhere in her dominions"; and while on Sunday Makemie addressed the Presbyterians of the city at the house of a Mr. Jack- son, a shoemaker, Hampton preached in the Presbyterian Church at Newtown, Long Island. As soon as the governor heard of these pro- ceedings, he ordered the sheriff of Queens County to arrest the two clergymen, who chanced to be stopping at Newtown, and conduct them into his presence. This order was executed in such a coarse and brutal manner that when the two offenders were brought before the governor, they were neither of them in a conciliatory temper. On the contrary, smarting under the rough treatment to which they had just been subjected, they (and especially the Rev. Mr. Makemie), in answer to Cornbury's questions, justified their conduct in no measured language. "The law," the governor said, "would not permit him to countenance strolling preachers, who, for aught he knew to the con- trary, might be Papists in disguise." "You must," he continued, " first qualify yourselves by satisfying the Government you are fit persons to occupy a pulpit before you can be permitted to preach." To this Makemie defiantly replied that he had qualified himself according to law in Virginia, and that, having done so, he "would preach in any part of the Queen's dominions, where he pleased; that this part of the Province is part of the Queen's dominions as well as Virginia, and that the license he had obtained there was as good as any he could obtain here." Finally the controversy, which had become exceedingly acri- monious, was summarily brought to a close by Cornbury committing the clergymen to prison. Chief Justice Mompesson,? to whom an ap-

1 Perhaps no better idea of the difference be- tween the state of things existing at that time and the present can be arrived at than by the reader imagining a Presbyterian minister who should visit New-York city at the present time from Massachusetts, for instance, asking first the per- mission of the governor of New-York to occupy the pulpit of some eminent Baptist divine. To show, moreover, the way in which dissenters were regarded at this period by the ruling powers, it may be mentioned that the formal permission to each dissenting clergyman to preach opened in these words, " You are hereby licensed, tolerated

and allowed to be Minister of the Dutch [or Pres- byterian, as the case might be] congregation, &c." 2 "Roger Mompesson, who, in private life, bore the character of an ingenuous, honest man, suc- ceeded, in July, 1704, Mr. Bridges, as the seventh chief justice of New-York ; and in February, 1705, was appointed a member of the council for that province. He was an able lawyer, and by his ex- perience probably did more than any other man to mold the judicial system both of New-York and New Jersey." (Field's " Provincial Courts in New Jersey.")

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY

peal might have been taken, being out of the city, it was nearly seven weeks before the prisoners were brought to trial, during all of which time they languished in the city jail. While in prison Rev. Mr. Makemie, like Bunyan, found means to communicate with his sympa- thizers in the outside world, not, indeed, by an immortal allegory, but by the publication, in pamphlet form, in Boston of the sermon which had brought him into this strait.' The sermon was "dedicated to the small congregation who heard the following sermon"; and the preface to the printed discourse was as follows: "My Brethren: I appeal to you as witnesses that this is the sermon for which I am now a Pris- oner. As I first delivered this practical and plain sermon to few, so I am now committing it to pub- lick view of all; that both you and they may try it at the bar of Scripture, law and reason, and im- partially determine whether it contains anything savoring of Pernicious Doctrine and Principles ; anything to the disturbance of the Church of England or of the Government. If I had been thoroughly acquainted with New-York, and the irregularities thereof, which afterwards I was an eye and ear witness of, I could not have fixed on a more suitable doctrine."

Meanwhile, the publication of this sermon, which, as the preface stated, showed plainly that it had contained nothing reflecting on the Church of Eng- land or the government, but, on the contrary, was only an able and thoroughly evangelical discourse, caused the entire community, irrespective of sect, to feel that the clergymen had been the victims of gross injustice and tyranny; and the least un- DE PEYSTER CHATE- LAINE. pleasant epithet applied to the governor was that of "a narrow-minded persecutor of Presbyterians." The trial, which at length came on, resulted, amid great excitement and great cheer- ing, in a complete acquittal of the prisoners; yet, with singular in- consistency, the clergymen were condemned to pay all the expenses of the prosecution. The force of public opinion, however, was too much even for Cornbury, who, now thoroughly frightened at the possible results of his arbitrary conduct, thought it advisable to write a long letter to the lords of trade extenuating his action in

HISTORY OF NEW-YORK

the matter and concluding as follows: "I entreat your Lordships' protection against this malicious man [Rev. Francis Makemie], who is well known in Virginia and Maryland to be a disturber of the peace of all the places he comes into. He is a Jack of all Trades; he is a Preacher, a Doctor of Physick, a Merchant, an attorney or Counselor at law, and, which is worse of all, a Disturber of Governments."1

A sketch of the administration of Governor Cornbury would be incomplete were not a reference made to the bestowal upon the Cor- poration of Trinity Church of the "King's Farm and Garden." The use of this farm had been granted by a lease, dated August 19, 1697, to that corporation by Governor Fletcher, though he evidently had no idea of anything beyond its temporary occupancy .? Even at that time, Governor Fletcher's action in the matter had given rise to much comment, amounting indeed at the time to very severe and caustic criticism. This criticism had its effect upon the legislature, which body, even at this early day being jealous of the growing power and wealth of the corporation of Trinity Church, and not being will- ing, moreover, to intrust it with the possession of the "King's Farm and Garden," vacated the lease of Governor Fletcher by an act of the assembly in 1699. To make this loan a permanent gift, however, had been one of the pet projects of the Rev. William Vesey; and now that Cornbury strove to make up for his laxity of personal morality by an ostentatious display of religious zeal, the former thought this a good opportunity, notwithstanding the vacation of the lease, to obtain permanent possession of the land. Accordingly, Cornbury, influenced by Vesey, exerted all his power with the assembly to have an act passed which should pave the way for a permanent grant to Trinity Church of the King's Farm;3 and Queen Anne, who was intentionally flattered by the idea of being considered the "Lady Patroness" of

1 Rev. Francis Makemie, the first regularly set- tled Presbyterian clergyman in New-York, was a native of Ireland. After his difficulty in New- York, he narrowly escaped a second prosecution for preaching another sermon, with a new charge of being the author of a paper called " Forget and Forgive." He was a man of talent and influence, and the above remarks of Cornbury are entirely destitute of foundation. (Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 4: 1187: "Collections of the New-York Historical Society for 1870." p. 413. Also, Mrs. Lamb's " His- tory of New-York City, " 1: 474.)

"The rental was merely nominal. being only sixty bushels of winter wheat yearly. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. for 1870. p. 343.) In this connection, it may be of interest to our readers to give a single instance showing the value of real estate two hundred and thirty years ago. "I have before me." says Dr. O'Callaghan. in a letter to the " Historical Maga- sine " for June, 1860. " a deed of a piece of land de- scribed as follows: . It stood on the west side, by the Broad highway [Broadway], bounded on the

east and north sides by the same highway and the city wall [the line of Wall Street]; and on the west by Domine Drisius and southerly by Jacob Vis, and the garden of the West India Company.' The lot was eight rods (or 128 feet) front by about the same in depth. The price paid for it in 1657 was 1850 guilders, or $750. The property was immedi- ately south of Trinity Church."

3 This farm. first called " the Duke's, " then " the King's, " and finally "the Queen's Farm," included all the land " lying and being on the Island Man- hattan, in the city of New-York, and bounded on the east partly by the Broadway, partly by the Common, and partly by the Swamp, and on the west by Hudson's River. And also, all that one piece or parcel of land, situate and being on the south side of the Church-yard of Trinity Church aforesaid, commonly called or known by the name of the Queen's garden, fronting to the Broadway, on the east. extending to low water mark upon Hudson's River on the west." See map of Anneke Jans's Farm, Vol. I .. p. 234.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY

Trinity Church, gave her consent to the gift, and granted this entire property, by letters patent, under the great seal of the colony of New- York, "to the Rector and inhabitants of the City of New-York in com- munion with the Church of England." This action on the part of the queen and Lord Cornbury was met by strenuous opposition on the side of those not directly interested in the transaction. Not only was the executive severely criticized in the assembly, but many did not hesitate to say openly that the governor's intention "was not only to

THE PALACE OF BLENHEIM.1

rob the queen, but to give an opportunity to the corporation to steal from individuals their estates, if it ever could be possible to get into that respectable body members possessed of meanness enough and actuated with the same zeal and bigotry that his lordship (Cornbury) was, in perfidiously pilfering from the Minister of Jamaica, on Long Island, the Parsonage House and Glebe." Finally, public sentiment against the grant became so strong as to make itself felt at Whitehall, and to induce the queen in 1708 to repeal the act of 1702. Conse- quently, the grant in that year (1708) fell of its own weight, "as did also," remarks the historian William Smith, with subtle irony, "the steeple of Trinity Church."

Governor Cornbury, however, to use a homely but strong expres- sion, was fast coming " to the end of his tether." Indeed, it is highly probable that he would long before have been recalled, if not dis- missed in disgrace, had it not been for his relationship to Queen Anne. No other governor of New-York had received more frequent

1 When Marlborough died his remains were de- posited with imposing solemnity in Westminster Abbey, but they were soon after removed to Blen- heim, where they were placed in a magnificent mausoleum, and where they still remain, sur-

mounted by the noble pile which the genius of a Vanbrugh had conceived to express a nation's gratitude to her great military hero. The present duchess is a native of New-York, and was for many years a resident of this city. EDITOR.

HISTORY OF NEW-YORK

or severer reprimands from the lords of trade than himself; but even their patience was at last exhausted. Cornbury's downfall, however, was hastened by the following circumstance. Upon his returning to New-York from New Jersey, utterly discomfited by his defeat in his controversy with the assembly of that province, he had applied to the New-York legislature for a continuation of his yearly salary, which, by a previous act, was on the eve of expiring. This the assembly, becoming restive under the governor's repeated acts of injustice, flatly refused to do. On the contrary, they appointed a "Committee on Grievances," the chairman of which was William Nicolls, then speaker of the house. This committee reported a series of resolutions, the last of which was evidently directly aimed at the case of Rev. Francis Makemie, in whose trial the speaker had been one of the counsel for the defense. These resolutions, both as showing the temper of the assembly at this time (1708) and as illus- trating the arbitrary acts of Cornbury's administration, are here given in full :

Resolved : That it is the opinion of this Committee that the appointing Coroners 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 right in his property and estate.

Resolved : That the imposing and levying of any moneys upon her Majesty's sub- jects of this Colony, under any pretense or color whatsoever, without consent in Gen- eral Assembly, is a grievance and a violation of the people's property.

Readend: That for any officer whatsoever to extort from the people extravagant and unlimited fees, or any money whatsoever. not positively established or 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 Assembly is contrary to law, without precedent, and of dangerous consequence to the liberty and property of the subjects.

Reanimed: That the raising of money for the Government, or other necessary charge, hy 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 expulsion of many, and the impoveriching of the rest of the planters freeholders and inhabitants of this Colony; of most pernicious consequence, which, if continued. will unavoidably prove the ruin of the Colony.

Readied: That the excessive sums of money screwed from Masters of vessels trad- ing hem, under the notion of Port-charges visiting the said vessels by supernumerary other and taking extraordinary fees is the great discouragement of trade, and strangein coming among us and is beyond the precedent of any other port. and with- ont rating of law.'

: To wewill wait the particular grievances

not come away with since hath American and Pampa captain of santa still historii complain of theone who's competitions Indand it was mainly

lately that a captain of a merchantman told the writer thai in Do cther part save in that of the Port of New-York were magasins obliged to pay many FarRah fees mm varicos preterts in entering and clearing their versek.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY

Resolred : 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 officers whom he employs for his necessary defense, is a great grievance, and contrary to justice.1

These resolutions, which were at once forwarded to the home gov- ernment, were supplemented by a number of petitions, signed by influential citizens of New-York and New Jersey and sent in the same mail, asking for the removal of a governor who had disgraced his office, not only by peculations and misappropriations of the public moneys, but by immoral private practices.

Cornbury was now thoroughly alarmed; but, retaining the semblance of authority, he made great efforts to neutralize the effect of these petitions. The members of his council were still his creatures; and he hoped, by obtaining from them a resolution exonerating him from the charges of corruption, to prevent, or at least postpone, his recall. In order, moreover, to make his appeal to his council the more effec- tive, he assumed, on his appearing before that body, the air of an extremely injured man. "I understand," he said, "that some com- plaints have been made at home against me, one whereof is that I have browbeaten the gentlemen of the council and would not allow them freedom of debate. As the truth or falsehood thereof is known to the members of this Board, I am desirous of communicating this matter to them, and I will now leave them alone to consider thereof with all freedom and liberty of debate thereon, and the result of your deliber- ations to be entered in the minutes of ye Council." As a result of this appeal, the council, still his willing tools, reported, on October 27, 1708, that "having fully debated the aforesaid matter, do unanimously declare that directly nor indirectly they do not know that ever his said Excellency has browbeaten them or either of them or any other members of the Board, but that freedom and Liberty of Debate has been always allowed upon every instance and occasion to every member thereof. His Excellency likewise informed this Board that another complaint has been made also against him at home of a higher nature, if possible, and that is, that his Excellency has converted very great parts of the revenue to his own use, to clear which his Excellency will order the Accounts of the Revenue to be laid before this Board to-mor- row morning, whereon they may be better enabled to make a true judgment of the said complaint. The gentlemen of this Board, having considered what his Excellency told them yesterday concerning a complaint made against him at home of his converting the Revenue to his own use, do unanimously declare (his Excellency having left them alone) that since they have respectively sat at this Board they do not know that his Excellency has received any money out of the

1 "Journal of the Legislative Council of New-York."

HISTORY OF NEW-YORK

Public Revenue other than by warrants passed in Council in the usual manner, which warrants have been either for his salary or towards defraying the expense of his Excellency's expedition to Albany from time to time."' This coat of official "whitewash," however, proved of no avail; for the lords of trade, upon receiving the resolutions of the New-York assembly, lost no time in recommending to the queen his immediate recall. The latter, already mortified at the manner in which she had been cajoled into signing the grant of the King's

Farm to Trinity Church, unhesi- tatingly acquiesced in this sugges- tion of her advisers, with the result that Cornbury was summarily and with scant courtesy deposed from the governorship of the province of New-York, John, Lord Lovelace, Baron of Hurley, being appointed in his place.

The old phrase "the King is dead, long live the King " was never more strikingly illustrated than in the effects of this action of the crown. Immediately, all the credi- tors of the disgraced governor, who had long hovered around their quarry, and had been restrained CORNBURY IN FEMALE ATTIRE. 2 from taking summary measures only on account of its soaring height, swooped down upon the unfortunate man. Now there were "none so poor to do him reverence." The magic panoply of official po- sition having been rudely stripped from him, he was at once arrested and thrown into the debtors' prison. Indeed, to such a fever-heat had public opinion risen against him that the sheriff, who, influenced per-

1 MS. Council Minutes in the Secretary of State's Office in Albany, N. Y., pp. 249-252

? Lord Stanhope says, in his " History of Eng- land " (Vol. I., p. 79), that when Lord Cornbury was appointed governor of New-York, and told he should represent her Majesty. he fancied that it was necessary to dress himself as a woman, and actually did so. Other authorities ascribe his silly masquerading in female attire to his belief that in that garh be resembled his cousin. the queen! Still another mason is assigned in Mra Montgom- ery's " Healletions" She says: " He [Lord Corn- bury ]. in consequence of a row. obliged himself for a month in every year to wear every day wo- netia ciembre He was a large man. wore a hoop and head dress, and with a fan in his hand was www frequently at night on the ramparts " Lewis NuTria. writdzie to the Secretary of State recom-

mending a certain person for governor, remarks: " He is an honest man. and the reverse of my Lord Cornbury. of whom I must say something which perhaps nobody will think worth their while to tell. and that is his dressing publicly in woman's clothes, every day, and putting a stop to all public business while he is pleasing himself with that peculiar but detestable magot." There are but two portraits of Lord Cornbury. The most important, in the possession of Lord Hampton. represents him in female attire as seen in the above vignette ; the other is a small carving in ivory in the Bodleian Library. Oxford, that has never been engraved ; but drawings have been made from it by Harding and other artists. The portrait at the beginning of the chapter is the Hampton picture put in the military garb of the period by our artist Reich. EDITOR

THE ADMINISTRATION OF LORD CORNBURY

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892, Volume II, Part 11

Author: Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914 Publication date: 1892 Publisher: [New York] New York History Co. Number of Pages: 705

Author: Wilson, James Grant, 1832-1914
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: [New York] New York History Co.
Number of Pages: 705