USA > New York > The history of the late province of New-York, from its discovery, to the appointment of Governor Colden, in 1762. Vol. I > Part 15
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testants, and well affected to the government. The same must be said of those who have lately settled amongst us, and planted the lands westward of Albany. We have not the least ground for jealousy with respect to them. Amongst us they are few in number, compared to those in Pennsylvania : there they are too numerous to be soon assimilated to a new constitution. They retain all the manners and principles which prevail in their native country ; and as many of them are papists, some are not without their fears that sooner or later they will become dangerous to our colonies .*
The late attempt to attack Canada proving abor- tive, exposed us to consequences equally calamitous, dreaded, and foreseen. While the preparations were making to invade it, the French exerted them- selves in cajoling their Indian allies to assist in the repulse; and as soon as the scheme dropped, nu- merous parties were sent out to harass the English frontiers. These irruptions were principally made on the northern parts of New-England, where the most savage cruelties were daily committed. New- York had, indeed, hitherto escaped, being covered by the Indians of the Five Nations; but the danger we were in induced governor Hunter, soon after his arrival, to make a voyage to Albany, where he met the confederate chiefs and renewed the old covenant."
* The surprising importation of Germans into that colony, gave rise to the scheme of dispersing English clergymen and schoolmasters amongst them. The project is founded on principles of sound polity. If a political mission among the Indians had been seasonably encouraged, the province of Pennsylvania might have escaped all that shocking devastation, which followed the fatal defeat of general Braddock's army on the 9th of July, 1755; and would perhaps, have prevented even the erection of fort Quesne, which has already cost the nation so much blood and treasure.
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While there, he was strongly solicited by the New- England governments, to engage our Indians in a war with those who were daily ravaging their bor- ders, but he prudently declined a measure which might have exposed his own province to a general devastation. A treaty of neutrality subsisted at that time between the confederates and the Canada French and their Indians, which depending upon the faith of lawless savages, was at best but preca- rious, and yet the only security we had for the peace of our borders. A rupture between them would have involved us in a scene of misery at a time of all others most unseasonable. However the people of New- England might censure the governor, it was a proof of his wisdom to refuse their request; for besides a want of men and arms to defend us, our forts were fallen down and our treasury exhausted.
The new assembly met at New-York, on the 1st of September. Mr. Nicoll, the speaker, Mr. Living- ston, Mr. De Lancey, and colonel Morris, were the members most distinguished for their activity in the house. Mr. De Lancey was a protestant refugee, a native of Caen, in Normandy, and, by marrying a daughter of Mr. Courtlandt, connected with a family then perhaps the most opulent and extensive of any in the province. He was an eminent merchant, and by a successful trade had amassed a very considera- ble fortune. But of all these, colonel Morris had the greatest influence on our public affairs. He was a man of letters, and though a little whimsical in his temper, was grave in his manners and of penetrating parts. Being excessively fond of the society of men of sense and reading, he was never
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wearied at a sitting till the spirits of the whole com- pany were dissipated. From his infancy he had lived in a manner best adapted to teach him the nature of man, and to fortify his mind for the vicissi- tudes of life. He very early lost both his father and mother, and fell under the patronage of his uncle, formerly an officer of very considerable rank in Cromwell's army, who after the restoration dis- guised himself under the profession of quakerism, and settled on a fine farm within a few miles of the city, called, after his own name, Morrisania. Being a boy of strong passions, the general indications of a fruitful genius, he gave frequent offence to his uncle, and, on one of these occasions, through fear of his resentment, strolled away into Virginia, and thence to Jamaica in the West Indies,* where, to support himself, he set up for a scrivener. After several years spent in this vagabond life he returned again to his uncle, who received the young prodigal with joy; and, to reduce him to regularity, brought about his marriage with a daughter of Mr. Graham, a fine lady, with whom he lived above fifty years, in the possession of every enjoyment which good sense and polite manners in a woman could afford. The greatest part of his life, before the arrival of Mr. Hunter, was spent in New-Jersey,t where he
* He was one of the council in that province, and a judge of the supreme court there, in 1692. Upon the surrender of the government to queen Anne, in 1702, he was named to be governor of the colony ; but the appointment was changed in favour of lord Cornbury, the queen's cousin.
. t Hugh Coppathwait, a quaker zealot, was his preceptor : the pupil taking advantage of his enthusiasm, hid himself in a tree, and calling to him, ordered him to preach the gospel among the Mohawks. The credulous quaker took it for a miraculous call, and was upon the point of setting out when the cheat was discovered.
VOL. I .- 27.
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signalized himself in the service both of the pro- prietors and the assembly. The latter employed him to draw up their complaint against my lord Cornbury, and he was made the bearer of it to the queen. Though he was indolent in the management of his private affairs, yet through the love of power he was always busy in matters of a political nature, and no man in the colony equalled him in the knowledge of the law and the arts of intrigue. From this character, the reader will easily perceive that governor Hunter showed his prudence in taking Mr. Morris into his confidence, his talents and ad- vantages rendering him either a useful friend or formidable foe. Such were the acting members of this assembly. When brigadier Hunter spoke to them, he recommended the settling a revenue, the defence of the frontiers, and the restoration of the public credit, which Lord Cornbury had almost en- tirely destroyed. To stifle the remaining sparks of our ancient feuds, he concluded with these words: " If - any go about to disturb your peace by reviving buried parties or piques, or creating new ones, they shall meet with no countenance or encouragement from me ; and I am sure they deserve as little from you." The address of the house was perfectly agreeable to the governor. They promised to provide for the sup- port of government, and to restore the public credit, as well as to protect the frontiers. In answer to the close of his speech, they declare their hope, "That such as excited party contentions might meet with as little credit, and as much disgrace, as they deserve."
This unanimity, however, was soon interrupted : Colonel Morris, for some warm words dropped in a
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debate, was expelled the house; and soon after a dispute arose between the council and assembly, concerning some amendments made by the former to a bill " For the treasurer's paying sundry sums of money." The design of it in mentioning the par- ticular sums, and rendering them issuable by their own officer, was to restrain the governor from repeating the misapplications which had been so frequent in a late administration. The council for that reason opposed it, and adhered to their amend- ments ; which occasioned a prorogation, on the 25th of November, after the passing of several other necessary laws.
Mr. Hunter cautiously avoided entering publicly into the dispute between the two houses, till he knew the sentiments of the ministry, and then he opened the spring session with a speech too singular not to be inserted :
" Gentlemen : I hope you are now come with a disposition to answer the ends of your meeting, that is, to provide a suitable support for her majesty's government here, in the manner she has been pleased to direct ; to find out means to restore the public credit, and to provide better for your own security.
"They abuse you, who tell you that you are hardly dealt by in the augmentation of salaries. Her ma- jesty's instructions which I communicated to you at our last meeting, might have convinced you that it was her tenderness towards her subjects in the plan- tations, who suffered under an established custom of making considerable presents to their governors, by acts of assembly, that induced her to allot to each
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of them such a salary as she judged sufficient for their support in their respective stations, with a strict prohibition of all such presents for the future; which instruction has met with a cheerful and grate- ful compliance in all the other colonies.
"If you have been in any thing distinguished, it is by an extraordinary measure of her royal bounty and care. I hope you will make suitable returns, lest some insinuations much repeated of late years, should gain credit at last, that however your resent- ment has fallen upon the governor, it is the govern- ment you dislike.
"It is necessary at this time that you be told also, that giving money for the support of government, and disposing of it at your pleasure, is the same with giving none at all. Her majesty is the sole judge of the merits of her servants. This right has never yet been disputed at home, and should I con- sent to give it up abroad, I should render myself unworthy, not only of the trust reposed in me, but of the society of my fellow-subjects, by incurring her highest displeasure. If I have tired you by a long speech, I shall make amends by putting you to the trouble of a very short answer.
" Will you support her majesty's government in the manner she has been pleased to direct, or are you resolved that burden shall lie still upon the governor, who cannot accuse himself of any thing that may have deserved this treatment at your hands ?
" Will you take care of the debts of the govern- ment, or, to increase my sufferings, must I continue under the torture of the daily cries of such as have
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just demands upon you, and are in misery, without the power of giving them any hopes or relief?
" Will you take more effectual care of your own safety, in that of your frontiers, or are you resolved for the future to rely upon the security of an open winter, and the caprice of your savage neighbours ? I shall be very sorry if this plainness offends you. I judge it necessary towards the establishing and cul- tivating a good understanding betwixt us ; I hope it will be so construed, and wish heartily it may have that effect."
Perplexed with this remarkable speech, the assem- bly, after a few days, concluded, that as his excel- lency had prorogued them in February, while he was at Burlington, in the province of New-Jersey, they could not sit and act as a house ; upon which, they were the same day dissolved.
The five Indian kings, carried to England by colonel Schuyler, having seen all the curiosities in London, and been much entertained by many per- sons of distinction, returned to Boston with commo- dore Martin and colonel Nicholson ; the latter of whom commanded the forces designed against Port- Royal and the coast of Nova Scotia. In this enter- prise the New-England colonies, agreeable to their wonted courage and loyalty, lent their assistance ; and the reduction of the garrison, which was then called Annapolis-Royal, was happily completed on the 2d of October, 1710. Animated by this, and some other successes in Newfoundland, Nicholson again urged the prosecution of the scheme for the reduction of Canada; which having been strongly recommended by the Indian chiefs, as the only
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effectual means to secure the northern colonies, was now again resumed.
Towards the execution of this project, five thou- sand troops from England and Flanders were sent over, under the command of brigadier Hill, the brother of Mrs. Masham, the queen's new confidant on the disgrace of the dutchess of Marlborough.
The fleet of transports under the convoy of sir Hoveden Walker arrived, after a month's passage, at Boston, on the 4th of June, 1711. The provisions with which they expected to be supplied there being not collected, the troops landed. Nicholson, who was to command the land forces, came immediately to New-York, where Mr. Hunter convened the assembly on the 2d of July: The re-election of the same members who had served in the last, was a sufficient proof of the general aversion to the esta- blishment of a revenue. Robert Livingston, junior, who married the only daughter of colonel Schuyler, came in for Albany; and together with Mr. Morris, who was again chosen for the borough of West- Chester, joined the governor's interest. Brigadier Hunter informed the assembly of the intended ex- pedition, and the arrival of the fleet and forces; that the quota of this province settled by the council of war at New-London, was six hundred private sen- tinels and their officers; besides which he recom- mended their making provision for building batteaus, transporting the troops and provisions, subsisting the Indians, and for the contingent charges: nor did he forget to mention the support of government and the public debts.
The house was so well pleased with the design
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upon Canada, that they voted an address of thanks to the queen, and sent a committee to Nicholson, to congratulate his arrival, and to make honourable acknowledgment of his " sedulous application to her majesty for reducing Canada." In a few days time, an act was passed for raising forces ; and the assem- bly, by a resolution, according to the governor's advice, restricted the price of provisions to certain particular sums. Bills of credit for forwarding the expedition were now also struck, to the amount of £10,000, to be sunk in five years by a tax on estates, real and personal. After these supplies were grant- ed the governor prorogued the assembly ; though nothing was done relating to the ordinary support of government.
While these preparations were making at New- York, the fleet, consisting of twelve men of war, forty transports, and six store ships, with forty horses, a fine train of artillery and all manner of warlike stores, sailed for Canada from Boston, on the 30th of July; and about a month afterwards, Nicholson appeared at Albany, at the head of an army of four thousand men, raised in this and the colonies of New-Jersey and Connecticut: the several regiments being commanded by colonel Ingoldsby, colonel Whiting, and colonel Schuyler, the latter of whom procured six hundred of the Five Nations to join our army.
The French in Canada were not unapprised of these designs. Vaudreuil, the governor-general, sent his orders from Montreal to the sieur De Beaucourt, to hasten the works he was about at Quebec, and commanded that all the regulars and militia should
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be held in readiness to march on the first warning. Four or five hundred Indians, of the more distant nations, arrived at the same time at Montreal, with Messieurs St. Pierre and Tonti, who, together with the Caghnuaga proselytes, took up the hatchet in favour of the French. Vaudreuil, after despatching several Indians and two missionaries among the Five Nations, to detach them from our interest, went to Quebec, which Beaucourt the engineer had sufficiently fortified to sustain a long siege. All the principal posts below the city, on both sides of the river, were prepared to receive the British troops in case of their landing. On the 14th of August, Sir Hoveden Walker arrived with the fleet in the mouth of St. Lawrence river; and fearing to lose the company of the transports, the wind blowing fresh at north-west, he put into Gaspey Bay, and continued there till the 20th of the same month. Two days after he sailed from thence, the fleet was in the utmost danger, for they had no soundings, were without sight of land, the wind high at east south-east, and the sky darkened by a thick fog. In these circumstances, the fleet brought to by the advice of the pilots, who were of opinion that if the ships lay with their heads to the southward, they might be driven by the stream into the midst of the channel ; but instead of that, in two hours after, they found themselves on the north shore, among rocks and islands, and upon the point of being lost. The men of war escaped, but eight transports, contain- ing eight hundred souls, officers, soldiers, and sea- men, were cast away. Two or three days being spent in recovering what they could from the shore,
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it was determined at a consultation of sea officers, to return to some bay or harbour, till a further resolution could be taken. On the 14th of Sep- tember they arrived at Spanish-River bay, where a council of war, consisting of land and sea officers, considering that they had but ten weeks' provision, and judging that they could not depend upon a sup- ply from New England, unanimously concluded to return home, without making any further attempts; and they accordingly arrived at Portsmouth on the 9th of October, when, in addition to our misfortunes the Edgar, a 70 gun ship, was blown up, having on board above four hundred men, besides many per- sons who came to visit their friends.
As soon as the Marquis De Vaudreuil, by the accounts of the fishermen and two other ships, had reason to suspect that our fleet was returned, he went to Chambly, and formed a camp of 3000 men to oppose Nicholson's army, intended to penetrate Canada at that end. But he was soon informed that our troops were returned, upon the news of the disaster which had befallen the fleet, and that the people of Albany were in the utmost consternation.
The new ministry are generally censured for their conduct in this expedition by the whigs, who con- demn both the project and the measures taken towards its execution. The scheme was never laid before the parliament, though it was then sitting; but this, it is said, was for the greater secrecy ; and for the same reason, the fleet was not fully victualled at home. They relied upon New-England for sup- plies, and this destroyed the design; for the ships VOL. I .- 28
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tarried at Boston till the season for the attack was over.
According to lord Harley's account of this expe- dition, the whole was a contrivance of Bolingbroke, Moore, and the lord chancellor Harcourt, to cheat the public of twenty thousand pounds. The latter of these was pleased to say " No government was worth serving, that would not admit of such advan- tageous jobs."
Apprehensive that the enemy would fall upon our borders, as they afterwards really did, in small parties, upon the miscarriage of that enterprise, governor Hunter pressed the assembly in autumn to continue a number of men in pay the ensuing winter, and to repair the out forts. After the house had passed several votes to this purpose, his excellency, during the session, went up to Albany, to withdraw the forces of the colony, and give orders for the necessary repairs.
The public debts, by this unfortunate expedition, were become greatly enhanced, and the assembly at last entered upon measures for the support of the government, and sent up to the council several bills for that purpose. The latter attempted to make amendments which the other would not admit, and a warm controversy arose between those two branches of the legislature. The council assigned instances that amendments had formerly been allowed; and besides this argument, drawn from precedent, in- sisted that they were a part of the legislature, constituted as the assembly were "by the mere grace of the crown ;" adding that the lords of trade had determined the matter in their favour. The
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house nevertheless adhered to their resolutions, and answered in these words :
"'Tis true, the share the council have (if any) in the legislation, does not flow from any title they have from the nature of that board, which is only to advise ; or from their being another distinct state, or rank of people in the constitution, which they are not, being all commons ; but only from the mere pleasure of the prince signified in the com- mission. On the contrary, the inherent right the assembly have to dispose of the money of the freemen of this colony, does not proceed from any commission, letters patent, or other grant from the crown ; but from the free choice and election of the people, who ought not to be divested of their pro- perty (nor justly can) without their consent. Any former condescensions of other assemblies will not prescribe to the council a privilege to make any of those amendments ; and therefore they have it
not. If the lords commissioners for trade and plantations did conceive no reasons why the council should not have a right to amend money bills, this is far from concluding there are none. The assembly understand them very well, and are sufficiently con- vinced of the necessity they are in, not to admit of any encroachment so much to their prejudice."
Both houses adhered obstinately to their respec- tive opinions : in consequence of which, the public debts remained unpaid, though his excellency could not omit passing a bill for paying to himself 3750 ounces of plate.
Upon the return of the fleet, Dudley, Saltonstal, and Cranston, the governors of the eastern colonies
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formed a design of engaging the Five Nations in a rupture with the French, and wrote on that head to Mr. Hunter ; who, suspicious that his assembly would not approve of any project that might increase the public debts, laid their letter before the house, and, according to his expectations, they declared against the scheme.
About this time Mr. Hunter, by the advice of his council, began to exercise the office of chancellor, having, on the 4th of October, appointed Messrs. Van Dam and Philipse, masters ; Mr. Whileman, register ; Mr. Harrison, examiner; and Messrs. Sharpas and Broughton, clerks. A proclamation was then issued, to signify the sitting of the court on Thursday in every week. This gave rise to these two resolutions of the house.
"Resolved, That the erecting a court of chancery without consent in general assembly, is contrary to law, without precedent, and of dangerous con- sequence to the liberty and property of the subjects.
" That the establishing fees, without consent in general assembly, is contrary to law." The council made these votes the subject of part of a long repre- sentation, which they shortly after transmitted to the lords of trade, who, in a letter to the governor, in answer to it, approved of his erecting a court of equity, and blamed the assembly ; adding, " That her majesty has an undoubted right of appointing such, and so many courts of judicature, in the plantations, as she shall think necessary for the distribution of justice."
At the next meeting, in May, 1712, colonel Hun- ter strongly recommended the public debts to the
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consideration of the assembly, informing them, that the lords of trade had signified their opinion with respect to the amending money bills in favour of the council. The house neglected the matters laid before them, and the governor broke up the session by a short prorogation of three days. After which they soon passed an act for paying his excellency 8025 ounces of plate. Our public affairs never wore a more melancholy aspect than at this junc- ture.
Among the Five Nations many emissaries from the French were daily seducing them from the British interest, and our late ill success gave such a powerful influence to their solicitations, that the Indians even at Catskill sent a belt of wampum to those in Dutchess county, to prepare for a war. The Senecas and Shawanas were also greatly dis- affected, and it was generally apprehended that they would fall upon the inhabitants along Hudson's river. An invasion was strongly suspected by sea on the city of New-York, where they had been alarmed in April by an insurrection of the negroes, who, in execution of a plot to set fire to the town, had burnt down a house in the night, and killed several people who came to extinguish the fire; for which nineteen of them were afterwards executed. But distressed as the colony then was, the assembly were inflexibly averse to the establishment of a reve- nue, which had formerly been wickedly misapplied and exhausted. At the ensuing session, in the fall, colonel Hunter proposed a scheme to the assembly, which was, in substance, that the receiver-general should give security, residing in the colony, for
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