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 2
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335
COCKED HAT OF THE COLONIAL PERIOD
336
FAC-SIMILE OF A LETTER BY GENERAL AMHERST
339
OLD BLUE BELL TAVERN
340
AUTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM BAYARD
343
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF REV. ARCHIBALD LAIDLIE .
347
DUTCH CHURCH INSCRIPTION, 1769
349
THE NORTH DUTCH CHURCH, 1769 350
FRANKLIN'S "UNITE OR DIE" .
353
ARMS AND AUTOGRAPH OF SIR HENRY MOORE . 354
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF JAMES ALEXANDER
356
THE MANUSCRIPT PLACARD .
359
PORTRAIT OF MRS. JAMES ALEXANDER
361
STAMP (FOR THE STAMPED PAPER)
363
LETTER OF GENERAL GAGE TO SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 365
BURNS'S COFFEE HOUSE (FRONT VIEW) 368
BURNS'S COFFEE HOUSE (FROM THE GARDEN) 370
THE KENNEDY AND WATTS HOUSES 373
STATUE OF GEORGE III. 374
PORTRAIT OF GENERAL THOMAS GAGE 377
FAC-SIMILE OF LETTER OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON TO HIS SON 380
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM SMITH, JR. 387
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD DUNMORE 391
THE DUNMORE SEAL
392
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF PRESIDENT SAMUEL JOHNSON 393
HOBOKEN AT THIS PERIOD 394
397
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF MAYOR WHITEHEAD HICKS
401
THE LUDLOW HOUSE .
403
THE LORD NORTH MEDAL 405
HELL GATE (FROM AN OLD DUTCH PRINT) 406
AUTOGRAPH OF GERRIT VAN WAGENER 407
THE RUTHERFORD AND AXTELL HOUSES . 409
THE SCEPTER AND SEAL OF GEORGE III.
411
GUINEA OF GEORGE III. PERIOD
412
GOVERNOR CLINTON'S RESIDENCE
413
FRAUNCES' TAVERN
PAGE.
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GOVERNOR MONCKTON 327
xviii
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
PAGE.
THE BOSTON MASSACRE 414
ST. PAUL'S CHURCH 417
ARMS AND AUTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM TRYON 418
GOVERNOR TRYON CERTIFICATE
419
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON 420
A COLONIAL WATCH AND CHAIN
423
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF THE REV. SAMUEL AUCHMUTY
425
THE MACOMB MANSION .
426
STOREHOUSE, TURTLE BAY
429
THE APTHORPE MANSION . 432
AUTOGRAPH OF NICHOLAS ROOSEVELT
434
MARINUS WILLETT'S RESIDENCE .
435
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF MAYOR JAMES DUANE
436
ST. MARK'S CHURCH IN THE BOWERY 438 THE PATRIOTIC BARBER OF NEW-YORK . 439
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GEORGE CLINTON 442
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF MRS. GEORGE CLINTON 443
PORTRAIT OF REV. JOHN OGILVIE . 445
PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE OF THE NORTH DUTCH CHURCH 447
WINDOW OF NORTH DUTCH CHURCH
449
COLUMBIA COLLEGE, FROM THE NORTH 450
THE RHINELANDER SUGAR-HOUSE 452
THE LIVINGSTON SUGAR-HOUSE 457
VIEW OF BROAD STREET AND THE CITY HALL 460
EXPLOIT OF MARINUS WILLETT 469
NEW-YORK IN 1776 471
PHILIP LIVINGSTON'S TOMB 472
"VIEW OF NEW-YORK" .
474
FAC-SIMILE OF RECEIPT OF SAMUEL FRAUNCES 475
ENGINE OF THE CITY WATER-WORKS, 1776 478
HANGING OF RIVINGTON IN EFFIGY
480
THE NEWS FROM LEXINGTON 481
FAC-SIMILE OF A COMMITTEE CALL
482
AUTOGRAPH OF MARINUS WILLETT
484
WASHINGTON MEDAL 485
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF ALEXANDER MCDOUGALL 487
AUTOGRAPHS OF ISAAC SEARS AND LORD BUTE 488
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD NORTH 490
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF ISRAEL PUTNAM 491
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF SIR HENRY CLINTON 493
FAC-SIMILE LETTER OF GENERAL MONTGOMERY TO COLONEL CLINTON 495
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER 497
"DESTRUCTION OF THE ROYAL STATUE IN NEW-YORK" 498
FAC-SIMILE OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ON BROADSIDE 499
THE FORT AND BOWLING GREEN 500
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL HENRY KNOX . 501
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL JAMES CLINTON . 502
NEW-YORK REGIMENTAL FLAG, 1778 503
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xix
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL WILLIAM HOWE
505
PORTRAIT OF COLONEL STEPHEN KEMBLE 507 OFFICER LIGHT DRAGOONS . 509
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD STIRLING
510
SULLIVAN'S POSITION NEAR FLATBUSH PASS, BROOKLYN 512
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD CORNWALLIS 513
A HESSIAN BOOT
514
THE KEMBLE ARMS 515
BRUNSWICK GRENADIER 517
VIEW OF HELL GATE, 1776 519
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL VARNUM 520
FORTY-SECOND HIGHLANDERS 521
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS, HARLEM . 522
FORT LEE, ON THE HUDSON 524
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF COUNT PULASKI 526
"TRIUMPHAL ENTRY OF THE ROYAL TROOPS INTO NEW-YORK" 527
"REPRESENTATION OF THE TERRIBLE FIRE IN NEW-YORK" 528
PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE . 529
FAC-SIMILE OF CAPTAIN HALE'S COMMISSION . 530
NEW-YORK, FROM REAR OF RUTGERS'S HOUSE, 1776
532
UNIFORMS BRITISH ARMY, 1776 TO 1799 533
RUINS OF TRINITY CHURCH AND THE PROVINCE ARMS
534
CLINTON'S BULLET DESPATCH . 535
FULL-LENGTH PORTRAIT OF MAJOR ANDRE 536
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF MAJOR ANDRE 539
"DEBARKATION OF THE ENGLISH TROOPS IN NEW-YORK" 541
PORTRAIT (MEDALLION) AND AUTOGRAPH OF COUNT D'ESTAING 542
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF MADAME DE RIEDESEL 544
THE BEEKMAN MANSION
545
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF BENEDICT ARNOLD 546
ESCAPE OF SERGEANT CHAMPE 547
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF KING WILLIAM IV . 548
"ARRIVAL OF PRINCE WILLIAM HENRY IN NEW-YORK" 549
PORTRAIT OF ADMIRAL NELSON .
550
FAC-SIMILE OF AUTOGRAPH LETTER OF LORD NELSON 551
FAC-SIMILE OF PORTION OF PAGE OF GAINE'S "GAZETTE" 552
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF DAVID HARTLEY 554
THE AMERICAN PEACE COMMISSIONERS, AND AUTOGRAPHS . 555
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF VERGENNES
556
SIGNATURES TO THE REFUGEES' PETITION 559
FAC-SIMILE OF RETURN OF REFUGEES EMBARKED FOR NOVA SCOTIA PORTRAIT OF SIR GUY CARLETON .
560
562
CIVIC RECEPTION OF WASHINGTON AND CLINTON AT NEW-YORK
565
DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH TROOPS 567
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LAFAYETTE 568
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF RICHARD VARICK 570
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF NICHOLAS FISH 571
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF ANDREW ELLIOT 572
PAGE.
XX
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
PAGE.
. WASHINGTON VIEWING NEW-YORK CITY IN 1783 573
RECEPTION OF NEW-YORK LOYALISTS IN ENGLAND 574
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD MACAULAY . 576
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF LORD STANHOPE 579
THE BILLOP RESIDENCE ON STATEN ISLAND 582
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM COSBY 585
FAC-SIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE OF THE AITKEN BIBLE
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF WILLIAM BRADFORD
591
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF CHANCELLOR KENT . 594
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF CHANCELLOR LIVINGSTON 597
THE FLY MARKET 599
WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURGH . 600
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF GENERAL JOSEPH REED
602
SEAL OF 1777 603
PITT STATUE (IN MUTILATED CONDITION) 604
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF COLONEL TALLMADGE . 606
CONTINENTAL CURRENCY 609
FAC-SIMILE OF REQUEST TO ILLUMINATE 610
PAULDING MONUMENT 612
613
HICKS ARMS .
614
AUTOGRAPH OF PAUL REVERE
615
CLINTON ARMS
616
WASHINGTON'S BOOK-PLATE
617
AUTOGRAPH OF BURGOMASTER VAN HATTEM
618
GENERAL MONTGOMERY'S MONUMENT
619
AUTOGRAPH OF JAMES RIVINGTON
620
POUGHKEEPSIE COURT-HOUSE
621
AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN LAMB
622
PORTRAIT OF JOHN WATTS, SR.
623
AUTOGRAPH OF BURGOMASTER CRIGIER
624
PORTRAIT OF MRS. JOHN WATTS, SR.
625
BULL'S HEAD TAVERN
626
AUTOGRAPH OF BURGOMASTER ANTHONY 627
AUTOGRAPH OF BURGOMASTER VANDIEGRIST 628
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF JOHN WATTS, JR. 629
AUTOGRAPH OF BURGOMASTER VAN BRUGH 629
LIST OF MAPS AND PLANS.
MAP OF THE SHOEMAKERS' LAND 19
MAP OF NEW-YORK, SHOWING ORIGINAL HIGH-WATER LINE 91
JAMES LYNE'S PLAN OF NEW-YORK (1728) 185
POPPLE'S PLAN OF NEW-YORK (1733)
250
588
PORTRAIT AND AUTOGRAPH OF SIR PETER WARREN
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
xxi
S. BELLIN'S RARE MAP OF NEW-YORK (1764) PAGE. 332 THE RATZER MAP OF NEW-YORK (1767) . 344 MAP OF THE EAST RIVER (FROM ORIGINAL OWNED BY THE EDITOR) 398 MAP OF NEW-YORK IN 1767 455
EARLY PLAN OF THE FORT IN NEW-YORK .
470
MILITARY MAP OF NEW-YORK AND VICINITY (1776)
488
HILL'S MAP OF NEW-YORK (1782)
494
MAP OF NEW-YORK ISLAND (KITCHIN'S)
523
PLAN OF THE VICINITY OF FORT KNYPHAUSEN (WASHINGTON) IN 1779 . 525 MAP OF OPERATIONS ON THE HUDSON RIVER 543
.
CHAPTER I
THE EARL OF BELLOMONT AND THE SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY 1698-1701
HE administration of Richard, Earl of Bellomont, was a brief one, extending only from the 2d of April, 1698, when he arrived, to the 5th of March, 1701, when he died. Nevertheless it was one of mark, owing to his personal character, to the circumstances in which he was placed, and to what he endeavored to do. From almost the beginning, or so soon as his purposes revealed themselves, with scarcely a week's interval after his arrival, it was one of bitter opposition, personal attack, and struggle with contending elements. Probably nothing but the king's contin- ued favor carried him through. But upon a man of sixty-two,-his age when he undertook the government,-a man afflicted with the gout, even yet that most defiant and painful disorder; one who some- times worked from nine in the morning till ten at night, with scarcely time for meals, and amid a sea of worries, the effect was sure to show itself. The gout in the end conquered a robust constitution and caused his death, before his undertakings were in any way complete. Im- mersed as he was, during his whole administration, in affairs of such a nature, he might be likened to a stormy petrel, whose only rest is upon heaving waves, whose life is passed in perpetual battle with winds and storms, or with the resisting, struggling fish it pulls from the ocean, where each seemed intrenched and safe. The motions of this bird over the uneasy waters suggested Peter walking upon the Sea of Gennesareth, and hence its name. And Bellomont, had he yielded to Peter's fears, must, like him, have sunk.
As a further introduction to the main narrative, allusion may here be made to the difficulty of getting correct impressions concerning men and events of party times, and the necessity of collating and sift- ing authorities. The writers of such a period are apt to be more or less prejudiced, and to follow them as authorities is to perpetuate their prejudices. Montesquieu lays it down as a fundamental law of histor- VOL. II .- 1.
2
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
ical probability, that the representations of a triumphant party shoul < always be distrusted. For the time being they usually furnish th € writers, and the temptation, we may even say the necessity, is great to mutilate or distort-to misrepresent motives, to color or mutilate facts. The lens must be clear and properly placed, or its negatives will be distorted likenesses. Besides, what is sometimes unintentional will sometimes be intentional. "O, tell me not of history," said Sir Robert Walpole, "for that I know to be false!" He had seen the inside of things, had been at the fountain-head of events, knew their "secret his- tory," and the tricks and false- hoods to which statesmen or the movers in politics betimes resort. Astute Queen Elizabeth first "tuned" the pulpits when she would tune the people to a Bellomout measure. It gave to the mea- sure an air of popular spon- taneity, of being something asked for, which she would then graciously grant, to her greater popu- larity. Even gold coins require to be minted with alloy for public use; and statecraft consists largely in shrewdly mixing the real and the os- tensible, the true and the false, for circulation. Amid these sources of error, how few historians have the discriminating skill with which Niebuhr picked his way through Roman history, or of a Neander in sacred history! How many are merely careless copyists of statements whose truth, and the motives for which, they have not thought of questioning. A few years before Bellomont's coming occurred the Leisler troubles; in fact, they are involved with his own history. Dur- ing their continuance there appeared and was circulated "A Modest and Impartial Narrative of the Great Oppressions &c. of Jacob Leisler and his Accomplices," in 1690. Its dissembling title commended it, seemed to disarm suspicion, and it has more than once since its date been accepted as contemporaneous truth. But Jared Sparks indorsed upon his own copy: "Written by a violent enemy of Leisler; neither just, candid nor impartial." The larger histories in their march through many periods and scenes cannot fail, at times, to do injus- tice and wrong to individuals and events. Indeed, it is to a great
3
EARL OF BELLOMONT AND SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY
extent the work of later historians, as of second editions, to correct the errors of previous ones. There is an advantage in monographs; and yet, with all care, inaccuracies will creep in. Concerning Lord Bellomont, there is a monograph by Mr. Jacob B. Moore and another by Mr. Frederic De Peyster. Gerrit 1 But in the historical omnibus there is always room for one more, whose standpoint and contribution may be different.
In a sketch of Lord Bellomont it is quite necessary, in the first place, to obtain a knowledge of the man himself, his history and per- sonal traits. A man's acts are judged as often by what we know or con- ceive him to be, as the man himself by his acts. George W. Schuyler, in his "Colonial History of New-York," describes him as proud and overbearing, haughty in his manners and unwilling to seek or take advice, except when it agreed with his own opinions. Hutchinson speaks of him as "a hypocrite in a pretended devotion to religion." On the other hand, Haliburton ("Rule and Misrule of the English in America") praises him as "a true specimen of a great liberal Gov- ernor." And Mrs. Lamb characterizes him as "a master of the art of politeness"; as having "a sound heart, honorable sympathies and an honest desire to do justice to the oppressed"; as having the most "conscientious motives"; but erring "chiefly in judgment," and in allowing "noble and praiseworthy impulses to carry him beyond the bounds of common prudence"-as a hasty man of "impulse rather than reason," one with whom "prejudice, not vanity, was his besetting sin." An opinion based in a measure, we may say, upon events in New-York, and to be tested by them. Palfrey, speaking of him principally as he appeared in New England, calls him "honorable, frank and sensitive," "genial and good-natured"; but "perhaps over-confident, perhaps not without arrogance"; "the sight of knavery enraged him"; a man, on the other hand, who could "not endure to be himself suspected of any indirection." Such are some of the opinions of writers as to Lord Bellomont-an executive, we may take it as conceded by the best, of high and honorable motives, whatever errors he may be supposed to have committed in judgment; one who certainly was no trimmer for popularity or favor, who shrank from nothing he considered his duty, too conscientious, honest, and frank to be a "hypocrite" in anything. He was neither a dissembler, concealing what he was; nor a hypocrite, feigning to be what he was not-too frank and high-toned to be a clever politician, if that were needed, among tricky men.
We should also take into the account, in interpreting the man, his personal appearance, his English breeding and tastes, and the position he occupied. He was in person almost an ideal nobleman, large of
1 The fac-similes of the autographs of Cornelius De Witt, Linschoten, Plancius, and Van Meteren, which are included in this chapter, were received
from Holland too late to accompany the portraits that appeared in the first volume. EDITOR.
4
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
frame, tall and dignified, with head well shaped and set, and hands small and white; with a usually thoughtful face, yet one capable of a sparkling vivacity; with eyes dark and kindly, and a voice low and musical. He could tell a story charmingly and enjoy a hearty laugh. In dress he was always elegant, and bore himself everywhere with ease and grace. In addition, he represented the king, and was himself a nobleman of rank; circumstances which, however liberal his tenden- cies, or however genial his ordinary demeanor, would be likely to flare out at times amid the difficult duties and collisions of his station, espe- perio Lancis. cially if he were suffering the irritating, pulsing pains of the gout. Lord Bellomont's grandfather, Sir Charles Coote, was a famous, and even merci- less, fighter against the Irish in the rebellion of 1641. The family, however, continued in Ireland; and upon the restoration of Charles II., in which they had taken an active part, the two sons of Sir Charles were created respectively, in 1660, Earl of Montrath and Baron Coote of Colooney. In due time the baron's title and estates fell to his son Richard, the future Earl of Bellomont. This latter title came to him only in 1689, after the accession of William. Being a stanch Protestant, at the accession of James he quitted England, or rather Ireland, and remained on the Continent till peremptorily sum- moned back by James. But he was a leader in the movement to bring William to the throne, as his father and uncle had been to bring Charles. It was the beginning of warm personal relations with William, who, speedily after his accession, made him treasurer and re- ceiver-general to the queen. For all this, James's transient Jacobite Parliament in Dublin attainted him and confiscated his Irish prop- erty. Nevertheless, it was a step upward for the baron, for, among other marks of royal favor, William created him Earl of Bellomont.
Such, and in such relations with the king, was the governor whose administration we are to trace. Nor, in this connection, would it be right to leave unnoticed his wife, the Countess of Bellomont. The earl had a house, entertained, and maintained a table; and a statesman's table may be made a very important annex to his administration. How much, in those days, depended upon the mistress of the house, her taste, her skill, her manners, her ability to preside and direct the whole! It is remarkable that, young as she was, only thirty-three, occupying such a position, and the first countess who had been seen therein, so little is anywhere said about Lady Bellomont. Yet the earl lived in great style, she was in no sense a recluse from society, and he (we are told) " was very fond as well as very proud of her." It is, at least, a tribute to her worth, her amiability and general manners, that nothing from those days has come down to us against her. She was Catherine, only child and heiress of Bridges Nanfan, Esq., of Birts-
5
EARL OF BELLOMONT AND SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY
Morton, Worcestershire, England, where the family occupied an an- cient and moated manor-house, remarkable for a very curious chim- ney-piece, described but not illustrated in Nash's history of the county, town, and family. It is said the earl married her in 1660, at twelve years of age, both statements being made dubious by the fact that she was not born till 1665. Or, if the latter doubtful one be true, it may be said that she married early and late, and continued to marry so long as she had that earthly privilege. For, after the earl's death in 1701, and her own return to England a year and a half later, this gra- cious lady, who evidently had attractions and retained them, married Admiral William Caldwell. After his death in 1718, to him succeeded Edmund Pitts, Esq., of Kyre; and to him in 1738, in her seventy- second year, William Bridgen, at the time a merchant, afterward an alderman, and in 1764 Lord Mayor of London. She survived this last marriage only two or three months; but if, in youth, her taste selected one who was thirty years her senior, at the riper age of seventy-two it veered to one who was perhaps as much her junior. Her two sons were successively Earls of Bellomont.
That so distinguished a man as Bellomont should now be selected as governor shows the growing importance of New-York in British estimation. Moreover, it was a personal tribute to his character. He was selected by the king himself upon his personal knowledge of him, and in view of duties which required as prime factors resolution and integrity. He was to be governor of New-York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, from the sea-board to Canada and Joannis. Hugonis. A. Linscharen 1895. the Indian country. His commission was dated November, 1697, but through various delays he did not arrive in New-York until April 2, 1698. It now becomes necessary to refer to clouds that were already upon the horizon and ominous before he ever set foot in the city, before he even left Eng- land. I allude in this place to his known views as to the execution of Lieutenant-Governor Leisler. The Leisler troubles, extending from 1689 to his execution under Governor Sloughter in 1691, have been carefully reviewed in the first volume of this work. That review also related the persistent efforts of young Leisler and others, in England, to have the attainder of high treason removed; and his entire suc- cess, through parliamentary action confirmed by the king's signature, in 1695. It was a revulsion of feeling in England, and in the high- est quarters, as to an act and the persons who suffered, which car- ried with it the rendering of justice so far as it could now be done. Little enough-the reversal of the attainder and the restoration of prop- erty! Of the parliamentary committee who examined the subject and reported upon it, Bellomont was a member. The bill they introduced
6
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
was a detailed one. This bill he defended, and denounced that execu- tion from his place upon the floor of Parliament. How thoroughly he was convinced may be judged from a remark of his to Rev. Increase Mather, which the latter repeated in a letter to Chief-Jus- tice Dudley, who had presided at the trial, that "those men [Leisler and Milborne] were not only murdered, but barbarously murdered." That was in 1695. But in New- York the party that did it, the aristocratic party, was and had continued to be, from the date of their triumph in 1691, the party in power, sustained by Governor Fletcher. The bill which required the restoration of estates had, so far, been ignored under the poor plea that they had been sold, and portions of them sold again. A poor plea, in view of the fact that the original sufferers had not been among the large estate-owners; and such, or others of that party, had no doubt bought what had been sold. With all this, how- ever, up to the time of his com- ing, Lord Bellomont had person- ally nothing to do. It was known that his selection and commission related principally to infractions of the revenue and piracy, the "two dangerous diseases" (as they were styled) with which New-York was "infected": "an unlawful trade and piracy." Fletcher had been re- moved, and he himself appointed, because of the unsatisfactory state of things and of the actual charges laid against Fletcher of complic- ity in these unlawful proceedings. These he might well be expected to attack vigorously. But it was a mere surmise how far, when upon the ground and in office, his sympathies or his convictions might carry him in the direction of the Leislerians as a party. Even a determination on his part to execute the law relating to the estates would touch but few.
And now a remarkable pamphlet appeared, another of the kind of the "modest and impartial narrative" to which we have already re- ferred. It was entitled "A letter from a gentleman of the city of New-
1 Gaspar Fagel, an acquaintance and corre- spondent of Lord Bellomont, and the friend of William and Mary, was an active party to.the peace of Nimeguen, 1678, and to the policy which placed
William III. on the throne of Great Britain. He was born in Holland in 1629, and lived to the ad- vanced age of four score and ten. EDITOR.
7
EARL OF BELLOMONT AND SUPPRESSION OF PIRACY
York to another concerning the troubles which happened in that prov- ince in the time of the late happy revolution." It went over the old story of Leisler and his terrible doings, and his righteous end in 1691. Had it been what it purported to be, a simple letter of one "gentleman" to another, it would have been of small consequence. It was speedily answered by another entitled "Loyalty Vindicated, an answer to a late false, seditious and scandalous pamphlet"; the inspirer, if not the actual writer, of which it assumes to be Bayard. And it is curious to notice how, in the history of these troubled years, if the lid of events happens to open, as the Jack-in-the-box out jumps Bayard, certainly a very able, if perhaps unscrupulous, man. The significance of the pamphlet, however, was not in who wrote it, but in the time and cir- cumstances of its publication. It was issued to the public from the press of William Bradford, in 1698, just previous to the expected arrival of Bellomont, and with the official sanction of Governor Fletcher and his council! It is certainly pertinent to ask, what was their object and design in thus reopening the old story, at just that time, and in the face of a parliamentary ver- dict three years before? What was Imamua viss Meteren its bearing upon the expected gov- ernor! Is there not to be seen in it a prejudice to be created or cultivated, already the marshaling among the aristocratic party of an opposition, the throwing out of outworks and rifle-pits, against his administration? Without and before an act of his own, it was a threat and portent of trouble from that side.
At this point of the history it is very desirable to know how and in what spirit the new governor entered upon his duties; to know, also, what were his instructions. According to his commission and subse- quent instructions, one thing is especially to be noted - how rigidly his powers were restricted. Everything had ultimately, or within three months, to be reported to the lords of trade, for the king's approval or disapproval. He had "full power and authority" to make laws and ordinances for "the public peace, welfare, and good government," but "by and with the consent of the Council and Assembly"- so well es- tablished had the " Assembly" already become under the government of William. That nothing might be done therein prejudicial to the crown, the governor had a "negative voice"; and he might, as he should judge necessary, "adjourn, prorogue, and dissolve" the assem- blies; but such was the position of the people -a very important posi- tion, since they voted the money. As to the council, after being sworn into office, to the number of at least seven, he might suspend any of them, if he should "find just cause for so doing"; but he must trans- mit his reasons, proofs and their answers; he might choose others in their places, to act till confirmed by the king, or till others were nom-
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