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 64
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In Pennsylvania, among the principal Loyalists you will find Joseph Galloway Esq. author of the "Calm Address." He is a man of Integrity, much esteemed by the People, & possessed of an improved Understanding ; but he is too fond of System & his natural warm Temper, inflamed by the oppressions and indignities he has suffered,
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will render you cautious of trusting to his Representations. You will, however, find him too valuable to be neglected.
Among others who will endeavour to obtain access to you, will be Dr. William Smith & Judge Allen, who were warm abettors and champions for the Rebellion, until they thought the cause dangerous, from the success of Genl. Howe on Long Island & in New Jersey when they apostatised & became Loyalists. They are cool unprincipled men; but as they are thoroughly acquainted with the views and characters of the Rebel Leaders you cannot consult persons who will be more able to give you information on these subjects. They must however be noticed with infinite circumspection, as they are detested by the People of America in General. William Livingston Gov' of New Jersey is a man of genius & Learning, an Elegant Writer, in principle a Republican, and a violent advocate for Independency, which has ever been his favorite Object. He is a man of Integrity, tho warm in his Resentments & stern in the exer- cise of his Authority. He is the Author of the American Whig & Independent Reflector, is ambi- tious of the Character of a Free thinker, idolizes Sydney, Hampden, & Gordon, and will be found the most inflexible enemy to Reconciliation. He is much however under the influence of his Son-in- Law M: Taylor for whose talents he has the fondest partiality.
These Sketches, S' are drawn from my own - Knowledge of the Persons described. The subject is delicate, but where the public good is concerned tho I spoke of my friends, as many of the Gent" are, it would be highly criminal to conceal the Truth.
With respect S' to the Great End of your Commission I shall have little hope of its success, unless Dr. Franklin has privately approved of the plan, & will forward it with his influence.
For, some of the Congress are friends to Independency from principle, & others will not readily agree to measures which will sink them to their primitive obscurity. The Body of the People are, I believe, for Peace; but they be awed into silence & acquiesence by the Army & Committees who are of the same spirit and character as the Congress.
You will pardon me for submitting, with all Humility & Diffidence, my sentiments on this important subject, which tho they may be rediculous, can do no hurt.
To make it the Interest of the Congress & Army to close with you will be of the first consequence.
From the many conversations which I have held with the Ambitious in America, and from the nature of the thing itself, it appears to me, that to propose a Scheme of Government by a Parliament in the Colonies, composed of an order of Nobles or Patriciuns, & a Lower House of Delegates from the different assemblies (the re- spective Provinces being left as to merely local affairs to the jurisdiction of their several accustomed Legislatures) to take place on their return to their allegiance - would have a great influence on the minds of those who now possess the supreme authority as their present precarious power would be by this means secured to them- selves & handed down to their Posterity.
The Army might be also perhaps secured by an agreement that the officers & soldiers should be continued in their rank & pay and employed in the Service of the
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Empire against our common enemies until it should be thought convenient by the American Legislature, or the King as first Executive Magistrate to disband them.
Should these loose hints prove of any service the Author will be happy as the highest wish of his heart is the Public Good. Or if they even only amuse you for a moment of your voyage it will be a sufficient reward to him, as he is most gratefully & Sincerely yours,
April 11 1778.
COLONEL VARICK'S LETTER.
Pending the evacuation of the city, several interesting meetings of the British and Ameri- can military authorities took place. In a letter of Colonel Richard Varick, dated May 18, 1783, that officer gives a graphic description of these events. He says :
"On Saturday the 3ª inst His Excellency the Commander in chief & the Gor- ernor attended by John Morin Scott Esquire, Lt Col" Trumbull, Cobb, Humphreys & Varick went down in a barge from Head Quarters dined with M. Gent Knox, com- mand' of West Point, lodged at Peekskill & arrived at Tappan Sloat on Sunday abt 10 o'clock, where Major Fish had arrived with a command of four Companies of Light Infantry of the Line of the Army the night preceding; the Company after taking a small repast at the Sloat, which was there prepared by M' Sam' Francis (commonly called Black Sam) who came up from N. Y. to superintend the Entertainment on the part of the American Commander in Chief, the Gen' Gov' & Co pro- ceeded to Orange Town where a Dinner was prepared. Sir Guy embarked on Board of the Perseverance Frigate a 36 Gun Ship one of the new construction & best in the B. Navy on Sunday the 11", at 12 o'clock, but did not arrive till Monday evening, he having previously dis- patched Major Beckwith his Aid de Camp to announce his approach who came in at Orange town ab" 5 o'clock, from whence L' Coll. Humphrys attended him on Board the Perse- verence to be informed by Sir Guy when he would wish to land. Sir Guy having stipulated
Andrew Elliot 1 the Time of Landing ; His Excellency the Commander in chief attended by two aides de Camp only (Humphrys & Cobb) went down to Onderdonck's in Tappan Bay & rec. Sir Guy at landing & after the Ceremonies of Landing & shaking Hands were
1 Andrew Elliot was born in Scotland, in 1728, and though of a noble family, but the third son, he found it expedient to enter upon a mercantile career. At the age of eighteen he left home for America, formed a partnership with another young Scotchman, and set up a store in Philadel- phia. He prospered greatly in his business and accumulated a fortune. On a visit to Scotland with his family in 1763, he was appointed collector of the port of New-York, and he therefore trans- ferred his residence to this city. During the Brit- ish occupation he was made lieutenant-governor under the royal military governor James Robert- son. He resided at a country-seat called "Minto"
(as he was a connection of the Earl of Minto), on the Bowery Road, about two miles from the city, near where the Stewart Building now stands, on Fourth Avenue. He signalized himself particu- larly by his kindness and services to American prisoners of war. At the evacuation in 1783 he sailed for England, but, as an evidence of the esteem in which he was held, his property was not confiscated, although his wife's, in Philadel- phia, was. In 1790 he was urged to accept the position of British minister to the United States, but declined. He died in May, 1797, at Mount Teviot, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
EDITOR
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NEW-YORK DURING THE REVOLUTION
over received Sir Guy in his four Horse Carriage & came up to Orange Town attended by L' Gov' And: Elliot & Ch. Justice W. Smith (who chose to walk it up ab: 3 miles) & M. Secretary Morgan, Majors Beckwith & Upham, aide de Camp, Capt" Lutwyche of the Perseverance & young M. John White a midshipman of the Quebec Frigate, son of Henry White, Esquire of New-York. They were re- ceived and saluted at Tap- pan by Major Fish's Detach- ment with drums beating and Colours flying & afterwards in the same manner by Capt" Hamtrancks' Company of the 2ª N. York Light Infantry which was on duty at the Commander and Chief's Quarters. They were intro- duced by Gen' Washington to Go" Gen' Scott and the other gentlemen & soon af- ter they retired to a Room to open the Business of the Interview which was opened by the Commander in Chief in a masterly Manner & then replied to by Sir Guy after which much General Con- versation took place on the Subject of the Treaty and the Transactions incident thereto and already executed & yet to take place a short detail of which as far as re- spects the Gov' (whom I at- WASHINGTON VIEWING THE CITY, 1783. tended, not conceiving my- self at liberty from my relation in public Duty with the Comm' in chief to go further) I will subjoin. About three hours after (ab' 4 o'clock) a most Sumptuous Dinner was prepared by M: Francis & ab: 30 of us (being then joined by Mess" Duer Parker, Lt Col' W: S Smith Comm' of Pres' Major Fish and some of his officers and some others) sat down & eat and drank in Peace and good fellowship, without drinking any Toasts, and ab: 6. Sir Guy and his associates retired. In the Evening, letters were written by the Gen' & Gov' on the subject of the days Interview, to Sir Guy which were dispatched the next morning on Board the Perseverance & Answers expected in the next day. But Sir Guy's Illness of an Ague which he caught before he embarked or on Board Ship, prevented answers till lately. On Wednesday the Commander in chief, the Gov', Gen! Scott Lt Col' Humphrys, Cobb, Trumbull, Smith & Varick & Major Fish & Mess" Duer & Parker went to dine on Board Ship, then lying off our post at Dobb's ferry, on our coming on Board, the Marines were paraded & saluted & soon after 17, 24 pound- ers fired and then detached conferences took place. Sir Guy was confined to his Bed till after Dinner. An Elegant Dinner (tho' not equal to the American) was prepared & we sat down in perfect Harmony & conviviality. When Sir Guy's fit went off, he came up & returned to his Cabin attended by our Comm' in Chief & after a Confer- ence of a short Duration between the two Gen" we prepared for our return & were saluted in the same Manner & with 17 pieces. Thus ended that great formal Business
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& the next morning (the 8") Sir Guy went to Town and we up the Hudson .- Sir Guy proposed giving up Westchester County to the State which took place by with- drawing his Troops from Morrisania on the 14". All the rest of the posts will be given up early as possibly they can. The first division of Cornwallis' Army have already arrived in New York last week & the others are coming in rapidly to comply with our part of the provisional Treaty -I hope to see you soon in our Capital." -
Jery Hest
RECEPTION OF NEW-YORK LOYALISTS IN ENGLAND.1
1 This is from an allegorical picture by Benja- min West. Following the key, we learn that Re- ligion and Justice are the figures seen extending the mantle of Britannia, while she herself is hold- ing out her arm and shield to receive the loyal- ists. Under the shield is the crown of Great Brit- ain, surrounded by loyalists. The group has representatives of the Law, the Church, and Gov- ernment, with other people. An Indian chief extends one hand toward Britannia, and with the other points to widows and orphans, rendered so by the war. In a cloud near Religion and Jus-
tice are seen the Genii of Great Britain and Amer- ica, in an opening glory, binding up the broken fasces of the two countries, as emblematic of the treaty of peace. At the head of the loyalists, with a large wig, is seen Sir William Pepperell one of their most efficient friends in England, and immediately behind him, with a scroll in his hand, is Governor William Franklin, of New Jer- sey, son of Dr. Franklin, who remained loyal un- til the last. The two figures on the right are Mr. West and his wife, both natives of Pennsylvania. EDITOR
.
Rufus King -
1
CHAPTER XIV
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
S the art of printing may be said to mark a division sepa- rating the older civilization of the world from the new, so the foundation of Bradford's rough printing-press in New- York, about 1694, may be said to serve as the demarca- tion of authentic history in the province of New-York. From this time on we are permitted to follow with greater precision the action of the New-York legislative assembly, where centered the political life and energy of the entire province. Prior to the American Revolu- tion, the assembly met altogether in the city of New-York, which was the little capital of the province and the seat of the executive resi- dence. Already the great gate of the New World, the city of New- York early in the eighteenth century began to assume the air of a provincial capital. Its British garrison and naval contingent, its waterways in all directions, and its evident destiny enhanced the im- portance of the city; yet life in North America could not then have been otherwise than earnest and unadorned. The lapse of time has frequently glossed the epoch with tales of brilliant living very far removed from the fact.
The real importance of the New-York of that time is to be found in the seeds, then freshly sown, of a higher and more emancipated polit- ical freedom than the world had yet known. To follow their growth to the present time is the best privilege of any history. In the year 1700 the province of New-York, though sparsely settled, was not de- void of the elements of civilization, and even then it compared favor- ably with the conditions of many parts of the Old World.1
Although the population of the city of New-York is estimated to have been only about six thousand in 1710, and not to have doubled that figure until the year 1750, it was from the first the seat of an ex- tensive territorial empire, and its inhabitants were already inspired
1 Compare the condition of New-York in 1700
Macaulay's "History of England," I., Chapter (Smith's "History of the Province of New York," III. and that of the remoter countries of Europe. London, 1757) with the state of England in 1685
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
by the contemplation of the boundless possibilities of the future.' In the year 1756 there were two thousand five hundred buildings in the city of New-York, which was a mile in length. The militia of the city then numbered two thousand three hundred, with a considerable reserve. The place was already important.
In the preceding volume we attempted to trace the foundations of civil government in New-York, and their superstructure, to the year 1700. Lord Bellomont, the last governor in the seventeenth century, and also the first in the eighteenth, animated partly by a conviction that the people were more loyal to William and Mary, and dis- trusting the Jacobite tendencies of those more educated, favored the adherents of Leisler, who embraced most of the Dutch in the province. The administra- tion of Lord Bellomont, an un- affected and somewhat plain nobleman, was more agreeable to the Dutch than to the Eng- lish.2 Bellomont himself was evidently not impressed with the civilization of the province, for in a letter to the lords of trade, in 1699,' he remarked "how unruly and lawless people are in this province, and what necessity there is that the pub- lic justice be settled on a foot." He said that piracy "does and will prevail" in New-York until good law officers of the crown be sent out from England. He was opposed to the extravagant land grants of his predecessor, who had given three quarters of the lands then in the actual jurisdiction of the prov- ince to eleven individuals, for little or no consideration to the crown. He took steps to break these grants, and thus incurred the hostility of the "land-speculators " of that time. Lord Bellomont's opponents, and the Leislerians, his adherents, formed the opposing political
Macaulay
1 In 1775 the population of the city of New-York was upward of twenty thousand; St. John de Crève Coeur says twenty-eight thousand in 1772 ("Magazine of American History," 2: 749). In 1723 the province contained 40,564 people, whites and blacks; in 1731, 50,289; in 1737, 60,437; in 1746, 61,589 ; in 1749, 73,448; in 1756, 96,765; in 1774, 182,247. These figures exclude the Indians. ("Documentary History of New York," 1:689- 697.) In 1769 there seem to have been thirty-nine
thousand freeholders, or persons with landed in- terest, in the province, thus showing the general distribution of property. In 1786 the population of the city of New-York was 23,614 (Thomas E. V. Smith's "New York in 1789"). In 1790 it was 33,131.
2 De Peyster's "Life of Bellomont," pp. 1-32. 3 " Documents relating to Colonial History of New-York," 4 : 550.
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK 577
parties of the day. The Leislerians, or the popular party, then con- stituted the democracy or liberals, and their opponents, by repulsion, were driven to uphold things more conservative, and ultimately clus- tered around the English bureaucracy; but oftentimes the party issues were purely personal and intensely local. Under Lord Bello- mont's government the legislature passed acts indemnifying the ad- herents of Leisler who had been excepted from the general pardon of 1691, and they settled a permanent revenue on the government for six years. Elections in New-York were then first regulated by law, in conformity to the English statutes.'
The dawn of the eighteenth century saw Queen Anne on the throne of England and her dissolute cousin, Lord Cornbury, the eldest son of the Earl of Clarendon, the governor of New-York. The instruc- tions and commission to the latter do not seem to have altered the previous constitution. In this regnal period, the germs of self-gov- ernment, and the genius of the New World began to assert themselves in favor of independence. As early as 1704 Chief Justice Mompesson of New-York wrote to Lord Nottingham "that some of the leading men already begin to talk of shaking off their subjection to the crown of England."" There were many causes which made a tendency to in- dependence inevitable, but the chief was the democratic condition of the new and distant country. Prior to the year 1700 efforts had been made by the English colonial authorities to establish the state church of England in New-York. At first the adherents of this communion were so few and the other reformers so many that the movement gained little impetus. But in the year 1704, when the Dutch had already acquired a secure status for their church, a final act was passed by the legislature giving effect and sanction to the act in- corporating Trinity Church, which then stood for the Church of Eng- land in New-York. Thereafter, an act of 1693, entitled " An act for settling a Ministry and Raising a Maintenance for them, in the City of New York, County of Richmond, West Chester and Queens County," which had been passed by an assembly composed mainly of dissent- ers from the Church of England, and, as it has been said, with the sole view of maintaining a settled clergy, was skilfully wrested from its purpose and made the means of maintaining to some extent the Church of England only. Under this act the governors of the prov- ince exercised the power of inducting ministers into most of the par- ishes,3 and the inhabitants of the city of New-York, without regard to denomination, were taxed for the support and maintenance of the rector of Trinity Church.
1 8 Hen. VI .. c. 7, and 7 & 8 Wm. III.
2 Chalmers's "Revolt of the Colonies," 1: 316.
3 See a set of induction papers, Edward F. De Lancey's "Origin and History of Manors in New York," pp. 94, 95.
VOL. II .- 37.
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
The acts of 1693 and 1704, together with the clauses of the gover- nors' instructions which permitted them to collate to all benefices within the government, gave the English authorities an opportunity to foster the Church of England at the expense of the province-an opportunity which met with determined opposition from the serta- ries. The act of 1693 for settling a ministry, as amended by subse- quent laws, remained in force until the Revolution. Yet if the English authorities were unmindful of the truer principles of religious liberty, the people at large were not less so, and the assembly, in 1700,1 passed an act declaring that every Jesuit and Popish priest who should con- tinue in the colony after November 1, 1700, should be condemned to perpetual imprisonment, and if he broke jail, he was to be put to death. Such intolerance serves to show the earlier government by the Dutch in pleasing contrast. Under the Duke of York's govern- ment, great religious toleration had been practised, and the "Charter of Libertys of 1683"2 made ample provision for liberty of conscience to all persons "professing faith in God." But the act of 1700 was re- trogressive and calculated to distress a powerful body of religionists to an extent inconsistent with the highest conception of government. The effect of the legislation in New-York on the Church of England has met with the most diverse conclusions, some persons contending that it established the English Church in the province and others of equal authority that it did not.' It is probable that the advocates of both opinions are in part right, and that the Church of England was established here, but in a manner differing from the English establish- ment and far less destructive of the rights and privileges of other Protestant denominations.
The judicial establishment of New-York furnished the theater for nearly all the ultimate contentions of the political parties of the prov- ince down to the time of the Revolution. In this we see the evidences of a law-abiding people, destined to maintain a sure government on strong foundations. After the year 1700 some notable judicial trials took place, which did much to put the constitution of the province on a higher plane. Even prior to 1700 the courts had accomplished something in this direction, in a very rough fashion, indeed, but not altogether inadequately. In the year 1665 Ralph Hall and wife had been tried in the court of assizes for witchcraft, under an English statute of James I. which was presumed to extend here. The trial re- sulted in an acquittal.' In 1680 Governor Carteret, of New Jersey, was brought to trial at the New-York assizes for riotously presuming
1 Smith and Livingston's "Laws of N.Y.," 1: 38. 2 See Vol. I, Chapter XIV, p. 547, of this work; also p. 406.
3 For a general conspectus of these opinions, see George H. Moore, in Dawson's " Historical Maga- zine," second series, 1 : 321 ; 2: 9; Baird's "Civil
Status of the Presbyterians in the Province of New York" ("Magazine of American History." 3: 593) ; E. F. De Lancey's "Origin and History of Manors in New York," p. 100 et seq .: Smith's "History of New York," 1 : 284.
" Doc. Hist. of N. Y., 4 : 133.
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK 579
to govern his Majesty's subjects within the boundaries of the Duke of York's patent. Notwithstanding Governor Andros, who presided, greatly desired a conviction, the jury preserved the integrity of trial by jury and were firm for acquittal. In 1681 occurred the cause célèbre in which William Dyre, the collector of the port, was indicted for traitorously exercising regal authority over the king's subjects,1 in levying duties under authority of the Duke of York. When Dyre ob- jected to the court's jurisdiction, he was shipped to England, a spirited proceeding which is believed by our annalists to have contributed to the establishment of the permanent legislative assembly in New-York.
Although the administration of justice, prior to 1700, was some- what rough, according to present conceptions, yet it was quite ade- quate. Civil institutions are rarely better than the average of the civil- ization in which they exist. It is most important to a new common- wealth that justice should be effec- Stanhope. tual, just as at a subsequent stage of its development that it should be refined as well as effectual. Though Lord Bellomont criticized the law-abiding character of the people of New-York in his day, he himself violated a plain principle of justice in the case of Alsop vs. Wandell, when he and the council, constituting the Court of Appeal of the province, reversed a judgment of the same court rendered by his predecessors and council. Concern- ing this conduct the lords of trade in 1700 expressed their disappro- bation, and reminded Lord Bellomont that judgments of the highest court of a province were estoppels of record, and could be reversed only by the king in council.3 Thus, step by step, government was assuming a regular form and molding institutions of a more liberal and advanced character. The eighteenth century was destined to in- troduce a more orderly and scientific procedure in the New-York judicatories. The augmenting wealth now made it worth while for educated persons to practise at the bar of the province to the exclu- sion of other pursuits. The bench began to be occupied by trained
1 Doc. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., 3 : 289.
2 The portraits of the English historians Lords Macaulay and Stanhope and that of Mrs. Grant of Laggan, are introduced in this volume by reason of the many quotations from their writings, as
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