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 15
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tions does think fitt to order by the advice of this Board that y' s' Letter be Immediately Published att the Citty Hall in the usual manner."
1 Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5: 89, 90. The let- ter is dated September 3, 1709. By the same ship came Ingoldesby's letters announcing the death of Lord Lovelace and his own assumption of the government. On September 5, the order revok- ing his commission as lieutenant-governor was passed by the royal council, the queen being present.
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nately the rule of this man was brief, but it was not brief enough to prevent his disgracing himself by conduct such as this, as well as by that reckless granting of valuable lands to himself and friends which had been the bane of former administrations. But one enterprise, the first of its kind in the eighteenth century, which had been set on foot before his incumbency, ripened into action just as he entered upon his functions, and lends some luster to his otherwise undignified rule.
A few months before the death of Lord Lovelace, on March 1, 1709, the queen addressed to him a letter, officially informing him that "at great expense" the authorities in England were fitting out an expedi- tion to Canada, to be placed under the direction of Colonel Samuel Vetch. In this paper the governor was directed to allow himself to be guided in all matters pertaining to this enterprise according to the in- structions and plans of which the colonel was the bearer. For fear that the latter might not reach New-York in safety, or might not reach it soon enough, a letter reiterating these instructions substantially was sent by post on another vessel. In this document, bearing date April 28, Lord Sunderland carefully detailed the plan of campaign which had been decided on by the ministry in England; and also the mode of preparing for it in America is indicated. Lord Lovelace died before either Colonel Vetch or the secretary's letter reached him, but the expedition had been so thoroughly determined on, and such ear- nost provision was made for it, that this important business was not in the least interrupted by that sad circumstance.
It may readily be appreciated that the people of the colonies must have been ripe for such an enterprise, and would heartily join in the efforts of the home government. "Queen Anne's War," corresponding with that of the Spanish Succession in Europe, had precipitated hos- tilities on the southern borders in its very beginning, in 1702. The English there had taken the initiative against the Spanish settlements. Governor Moore of South Carolina attacked the Spanish town of St. Augustine in Florida. The town itself was easily taken, but the castle hold out until reinforcements compelled Moore to raise the siege and even to abandon his stores in the retreat. A second expedition was organized, and assailed the Indian allies of the French and Spaniards dwelling about Appalaches Bay. As a result of this exploit, several tribes submitted to the jurisdiction of Carolina. In the year 1706 a Bruch test sailed from Havana, intending to reduce Charleston; but the people last of the enemy, who had effected a landing, with a loss of three hundred men, killed or prisoners At the north there hung the Hvor threatening cloud of French and Indian invasion, with its accom- pouring annuities The Porfeld massacre bad thrilled New England with horner in link to was sovended by the assault upon Haverhill, on the Merriman on August 2 15 and fresh horrors might be ex-
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LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 117
pected at any moment. It is to be regretted that so gallant and noble a people as the French must ever stand charged at the bar of history with having deliberately incited, or encouraged, or at least counte- nanced such barbarities. In a burst of righteous anger Colonel Peter Schuyler-Quider, the friend of the Indians-sent a message of re- buke and remonstrance to Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor of Canada: "My heart swells with indignation when I think that a war between Christian princes, bound to the exactest laws of honor and generosity, is degenerating into a savage and boundless butchery."1 What wonder that the people rose almost en masse to resist this unnatural and wicked combination of civilization and savagery, and to uproot the power of the French in Canada. Bancroft tells us that during one year in the course of the war actually one fifth of the entire population able to carry arms were enlisted as soldiers, and that there was universally "fostered a willingness to exterminate the na- tives."
Colonel Vetch came over with in- structions, similar to those which have been noticed as addressed to Lord Lovelace, for the governors of Penn- ยท MCHAWKE sylvania, Connecticut, and Rhode Is- land. While large supplies were cordially voted and the requisite number of levies made in the more northern colonies, considerable oppo- sition was encountered in the Penn- sylvania and New Jersey legislatures, THE SCHUYLER VASE.2 by reason of the prevalence of the Quaker element there. The New-York assembly pledged itself to raise the sum of ten thousand pounds,3 and early in the summer of 1709 its quota of soldiers was already on the way. The plan of campaign as laid before Lord Lovelace was to be as follows: "It is resolved to attack at the same time both Quebeck and Montreal, the first by sea and the second over the lake from Albany, with a body of 1500 men who are to be raised and armed, as you will see in the en- closed instructions. Her Majesty is now fitting out her Commander- in-Chief of the said expedition with a squadron of ships and five Regiments of the regular troops, who are to be at Boston by the mid-
1 Bancroft, "United States" (ed. 1883), 2 : 198. : The following is the inscription on the vase : "Presented by Anne Queen of England to Col. Peter Schuyler, of Albany, in the Province of New-York, April 19, 1710. To commemorate his
visit to England by request of the Provincial Gov- ernment, accompanied by five sachems of the Mohawks."
$ Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 5: 81.
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dle of May, and there to be joined with 1200 of the best men of New England and Road Island. They are then to sail with all expedition to attack Quebeck, being provided with Engineers, bomb vessells, and all sorts of artillery for such an enterprise. At the same time the 1500 men from Albany, under the command of one whom you shall appoint, are to make the best of their way to Montreal, which place they are to attack, and if possible to reduce to Her Majtys obedience."' The chief command over the land forces of the united colonies was in- trusted to Colonel Francis Nicholson, who was lieutenant-governor of New-York under Sir Edmund Andros, and had since been governor of Virginia. Colonel Vetch, to whose experience and zeal the expedi- tion owed its inception and most of its present active preparation, was placed next to him in authority. He was of Scotch birth, and had first come to America in connection with that strange scheme of colonization of the Isthmus of Darien projected by William Paterson, the founder of the Bank of England. When the Darien bubble burst, Vetch, a young man of not quite thirty years, settled at Albany, at- taining success as a trader, and married the daughter of Robert Liv- ingston in 1700. In 1705 Colonel (then Captain) Vetch was appointed by the governor of Massachusetts a commissioner to Quebec, to nego- tiate an exchange of prisoners, and also, if possible, a treaty of peace or truce. Vetch remained in Canada several months, and he kept his eyes wide open as to the chances of a capture of its chief cities. He "devoted himself to the study of the topography and resources of the country. There were even those who said that, by intelligent and none too open observation, he learned more of Canadian weakness than was right for an Englishman in time of war to know."? He was thus well fitted to recommend the Canadian expedition to Queen Anne and her ministry, and to suggest besides the details of the campaign. Having promoted the enterprise also on this side of the Atlantic as vigorously as he had done, he was certainly entitled to be the second in command. It was well understood that in case of a successful issue, he was to receive the appointment of governor of Canada.
The rendezvous for the land forces, as directed by the instructions, was Albany. Here the men from the different provinces collected during the month of June, and meanwhile the commander and his staff were utilizing the time by gathering all available information from Indians Indian scouts had previously been sent far into the enemy's country, some even reaching the villages of the natives along the St. Lawrence. These now began to come in, and much valuable intelligence was gained from them.' On June 28 all was ready for the march upon Montreal. Colonel Nicholson, accompanied by the
: Due. rvt t'il Hise N. Y. 3: 73 : Article in " International Review." November, 1881, on 3 Doe. rel Col Hist. N. Y .. 3: 85.
LORD LOVELACE AND THE SECOND CANADIAN CAMPAIGN 119
Indian contingent from the ever-loyal Five Nations, under their trusted friend Colonel Schuyler, led his little army as far as Stillwater, destined to be a field of glory in a cause more important than even the present. Here was hastily constructed a redoubt, which, in honor of the lieutenant-governor of the province, Nicholson named Fort Ingoldesby.1 Then crossing the Hudson at a favorable point, many of which the quiet flow of its shallow waters here afforded, the colonial forces traversed the tangled wilderness and primeval forest, and halted and encamped on Wood Creek, at the southern extremity of Lake Champlain. Here news was awaited in regard to the movements of the cooperating fleet. Colonel Vetch had gone to Boston at the same time that Nicholson led forth his forces from Albany upon the north- ern march. The fleet from England, as promised in the instructions, was to have arrived the middle of May. It was essential that the two attacking forces should have a knowledge of each other's situation and progress, and Vetch went to arrange some means of communication between them. But when he reached Boston, early in July, the fleet had not yet arrived. After many weary weeks of waiting, instead of a fleet, a solitary vessel entered the harbor-a despatch-boat bringing the disheartening news that no English fleet was coming at all. The conduct of the war on the Spanish peninsula having gone against the Portuguese, the allies of England, the destination of the promised squadron with its five regiments of regulars had been changed from Boston to Lisbon.2 In September, 1709, this news reached the colonial camp on Wood Creek, in the wilderness of northern New-York. Of necessity the expedition against Canada was at an end. The aimless waiting had already depleted the ranks of the little army, and some intentional or unintentional defilement of the waters of the creek near its source had caused a frightful rate of mortality. By October 5 the forces had dwindled down to a mere handful, and these now abandoned the camp and returned to their homes.
With nothing accomplished, and after expenses incurred that far exceeded their means, the people of the northern colonies were con- fronted with the burden of an oppressive debt, in addition to the still threatening perils of French and Indian atrocities. In spite of this almost ridiculous failure, however, Colonel Schuyler was determined to force the Canadian, or the French and Indian, question upon the attention of the English court. "I hold it my duty toward God and my neighbor," he had said, "to prevent, if possible, these barbarous and heathen cruelties." At the end of this same year (1709) he took with him to England, at his own expense, five chiefs of the Five Nations. "In London, amid the gaze of crowds, dressed in English
1 "Letters of Hessian Officers during the Revolution," translated by William L. Stone, p. 134, note. 2 " An Acadian Governor," as cited, p. 495, note.
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small-clothes of black, with scarlet ingrain cloth mantles edged with gold for their blankets, they were conducted in coaches to an audience with Queen Anne, to whom they gave belts of wampum, and avowed their readiness to take up the hatchet for the reduction of Canada."1 To this effective expedient on the part of the indefatigable Schuyler we may doubtless trace the better-sustained attempts against Canada of subsequent years, finally resulting in its complete reduction under the empire of Great Britain.2
1 Bancroft, "History United States" (ed. 1883), 1:199.
2 In recognition of his noble services in this connection, and to commemorate this remarka- ble visit, Queen Anne presented Colonel Schuyler with a handsome vase, which is still a cherished heirloom in the family, and of which an illustra- tion is to be found on page 117. Since Colonel
Nicholson went over in the same ship with Schuy- ler and his Indians, and also naturally had much to do with presenting them to the queen. some English historians of that date, with characteristic carelessness in such matters, suppress all mention of the Dutch-American and colonial officer, as- cribing the merit of the undertaking to Francis Nicholson alone.
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CHAPTER IV
ROBERT HUNTER AND THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PALATINES 1710- 1719
N the 14th of June, 1710, attended by a fleet and army, General Robert Hunter arrived at New-York, and was inaugurated with the usual ceremonies. He was among the most able, and certainly the most scholarly, of all the colonial governors of New-York, and of ancient and honorable ancestry, being a descendant of the Hunters of Hunterston, Ayrshire, Scotland. The families of that name in Scotland are of Norman ex- traction. The office held by the original bearers of it is supposed to have been of the nature of "forester." One Aylmer de la Hunter is said to have been the progenitor " of the Hunters of Arneil, designed of Hunterston and of that ilk." An authority on Scottish heraldry remarks, in regard to the antiquity of the name, that "Gulielmus Venator (which I take for Hunter) is a witness in the charter of erection of the bishopric of Glasgow by David I. when he was prince of ARTE Cumberland. In a charter of King Alexander PETV II., of the lands of Manners to William Badde- O IM ley, . .. the lands of Norman Hunter are ex- .0 empted."1 There soon begin to appear two distinct branches, the Hunters of Polmood in NON Peeblesshire, and the Hunters of Hunterston To Hunter in Ayrshire. The former line is now extinct. Of the Hunterston line it is asserted that "they appear to have had at least a part of the estate they possess in Cun- ningham while the Morvilles were lords of that country, as far back as the reign of Alexander II."- that is, between the years 1214 and 1249. The tenth in succession in the ownership of Hunterston was Mungo or Quintegern Hunter, who was the ninth in direct descent from Norman le Hunter. His grandson, Patrick Hunter, was a mem- ber of the committee of war for Ayrshire, in the troublous times un- der Charles I. in 1647. His eldest son, Robert Hunter, had four sons, the youngest of whom became the father of Robert Hunter, the gover-
1 Nisbet's "System of Heraldry," 1: 332.
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nor of New-York. The Orby-Hunters, of Croyland Abbey, Lincoln- shire, England, are the descendants of the governor through his wife.1
Robert Hunter, being a son of a fourth son of the head of the family, was not likely to derive much benefit from the estates of Hunterston. He began life, therefore, in a humble way, being apprenticed to an apothecary. Tiring of trade, however, he entered the army, where he served under William III. and the Duke of Marlborough in Belgium, and rose to be major-general. He married the accomplished Lady Elizabeth Hay, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Orby, Bart., of Burton, Pedwardine, Lincolnshire, and widow of Lord John Hay, second son of the Marquis of Tweedale.
Hunter was not only a soldier and a courtier, but a scholar and wit as well. His literary attain- ments had won him the friend- ship of Addison, Steele, Swift, and other wits and litterateurs of his day .? He was a good Latin and French scholar, and wrote Jonath : Swift both languages fluently; most of his letters while in New-York, and some of his drafts of council minutes, now among the State papers at Albany, having been written in French. In 1707, his friend Addison being under secretary of state, Hunter was appointed governor of Virginia, but on the voyage thither was captured by a French privateer and carried into France, where he remained a captive until 1709, when he was exchanged for the Bishop of Quebec. While in prison he corresponded with Dean Swift, and from passages in the latter's letters it appears that he had asked Hunter's influence in securing him a bishopric in Virginia. On his reaching England, Queen Anne offered Hunter the governorship of Jamaica, but Lord Lovelace of New-York dying at this juncture, that government became vacant, and he chose it instead.
Governor Hunter soon found that his post was no sinecure. In his second letter to the lords of trade (July 24, 1710) he wrote that he had a difficult task in those parts, that of reconciling men to one another
1 "The Scottish Nation," by William Anderson (Edinburgh, 1870), 2 : 510, 511.
2 He was the author of the famous letter on "Enthusiasm," which was attributed by many to Swift, and by others to Shaftesbury, and was also
the reputed author of a farce called " Androboros." Hunter was one of the ablest of the series of royal governors of New-York. "Cyclopedia of Ameri- can Biography," vol. 3, New-York, 1892.
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ROBERT HUNTER AND SETTLEMENT OF THE PALATINES 123
and to their true interests. " All that I can say as yet," he added, "is that they are in no worse disposition than that I found them in." Churchmen and dissenters at odds gave him no end of trouble during the early period of his rule; he also found his general assemblies refractory, jealous of the authority of the mother-country, and indis- posed to vote the revenues required for paying the governor's salary and meeting the ordinary expenses of government. "I thought, in coming to this country," he wrote Dean Swift,1 March 11, 1713, and quoting Sancho Panza, "'I should have hot meals, and cool drinks, and recreate my body in Holland sheets upon beds of down; whereas I am doing penance as if I was a hermit, and as I cannot do that with a will, believe in the long run the devil will fly away with me.' This worthy was indeed but a type of me, of which I could fully convince you by an exact parallel between our administrations and circum- stances which I shall reserve to another opportunity. The truth of the matter is, I am used like a dog, after having done all that is in the power of man to deserve better treatment, so that I am now quite jaded." And March 14 following, he writes: "Here is the finest air to live upon in the universe; and if our trees and birds could speak, and our Assemblymen be silent, the finest conversation too. Fert omnia tellas, but not for me. According to the custom of our country the Sachems are of the poorest of the people. In a word, and to be serious at last, I have spent three years of life in such torment and vexation that nothing in life can ever make amends for it."
This was strong language, but the reader who will follow the story of the governor's administration must admit that it was no stronger than the vexations and difficulties of his position justified. One of his first acts was to communicate his instructions to his council and have his commission read to the people. It was the period of the "War of the Spanish Succession" in Europe, and both papers assumed a warlike tone. His commission conferred some extraordinary powers. He could levy the militia of his territories (New-York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) and march them from one place to another, or embark them by sea, "for the resisting and withstanding of all enemies, Pirates and rebels both by sea and land, and transport such forces to any of our Plantations in America if necessity shall require for the defense of the same." On the capture of such enemies he could put to death or preserve alive at his discretion. He had also power to build as many "Forts and Platforms, Castles, Cities, Burroughs, Towns and Fortifications as he and his Council should judge necessary." He could also commission captains and officers of ships, and empower them to execute the "law martial" on the high seas in time of war. He could grant the public land (with the consent of his council), and appoint
1 " Works of Jonathan Swift," 16 : 47.
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fairs, marts, and markets. The concluding clauses constituted him commander-in-chief of the militia and other forces of Connecticut. In his "instructions" were named the members of his council, as fol- lows : "Peter Schuyler, Dr. Samuel Staats, Robert Walters, Dr. Gerardus Beekman, Rip Van Dam, Caleb Heathcote, Killian Van Rensselaer, Roger Momperson, John Barbarie, Adolphus Philipse, Abraham de Peyster and David Provost." These instructions were in general of the usual tenor, but comprised some of novel and curious interest. For instance, all "merchants, planters and others " were to be very cautious, in their letters to foreign correspondents, not to give any information of the public condition of the province; he was also to instruct all masters of ships to put such letters " in a bagg with a sufficient weight to sink the same immediately in case of imminent danger from the enemy." Another order bringing vividly to mind these warlike times was one forbidding mer- chant ships and privateers to fly the colors of men-of-war. Colonial vessels, it seems, trading to the various plantations, and com- mitting "divers irregularities" there, while flying the Union Jack, had very much dis- honored the flag, " for the prevention where- of " he was to oblige all commanders to whom he granted commissions "to wear no other Jack than according to the Sample here de- THE COLONIAL JACK. scribed-that is to say, such as is worn by our ships of war with the distinction of a White Escutcheon in the middle thereof, and that the said mark of distinction may extend itself one-half of the depth of the Jack, and one-third of the fly thereof."
In King William's reign a levy had been made on the various pro- vinces for means to erect fortifications on New - York's exposed north- ern frontier. The apportionment is interesting as showing the relative wealth of the colonies at that time. Virginia stood first, her assessment being nine hundred pounds; Maryland was next, being rated at six hundred and fifty pounds ; Connecticut was third in rank, her assess- ment being four hundred and fifty pounds; Pennsylvania fourth, with a war tax of three hundred and fifty pounds; and Rhode Island and Providence plantations last, with a tax of one hundred and fifty pounds. Massachusetts was not taxed. Hunter was further authorized, in case of an invasion of his frontiers, to call out the militia of the various colonies, the several quotas being : Massachusetts, three hundred and fifty men ; New Hampshire, forty ; Rhode Island, forty-eight; Connec- ticut, one hundred and twenty; East and West New Jersey, each sixty; Pennsylvania, eighty; Maryland, one hundred and sixty; Virginia,
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ROBERT HUNTER AND SETTLEMENT OF THE PALATINES 125
two hundred and forty. Another clause instructed him to inquire as to the feasibility of making pitch and tar from the vast number of pine-trees said to abound in his province, and to procure from the forests masts, beams, pines, plank, etc., "for our Navy Royal." The instrument also referred to the divided and contentious state of the colony, and advised him to espouse the cause of no faction, but rather to introduce peace and harmony. His salary was raised from six hundred pounds, the former stipend, to twelve hundred, which, as it was to be met from colonial revenues, may have created a prejudice against him. The popular assembly soon met, and in his opening speech the governor admonished the members "to do away with unchris- tian division. Let every man begin at home," he continued, "and weed the ran- cor out of his own mind: leave disputes of property to the laws, and injuries to the Avenger of them, and like good sub- Rup van dam jects and good Christians join hearts and hands for the common good." Two or three assemblies met and were prorogued, however, before this good advice could be said to have been heeded.
Governor Hunter had brought with him three thousand Palatines, fugitives from religious persecution, and the poor people demanded his earliest as well as his latest care. Their immigration forms one of the most striking and romantic episodes in New-York's colonial history. It occupies more space in the documentary history of the colony than any other subject, and gave two royal governors more anxiety and embarrassment than any other element in their government. As their story has never heretofore been fully told, we may be permitted to de- vote some space to it. Their original home was in what is known in history as the Lower Palatinate of the Rhine, composed of two small states which had been united previous to 1620 under the rule of an hereditary prince styled the Count Palatine of the Rhine, one of the seven electors of the empire. Before the Reformation the people, occupied with their gardens, vineyards, and flocks, had been happy and contented; but the Palatine espoused the cause of Luther, and in the fierce religious wars that followed his little strip of land was often the battle-ground of armies. Yet, though ravaged many times, the people quickly recovered, and still clung to their land and faith. At length Louis XIV. of France, in his blind rage against his Huguenot
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