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 19
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offices of friendship. Of what great consequence this may be to the British interest in general, as to trade, is apparent to any body. It is no less appa- rent likewise, that it is of the greatest consequence to the safety of all the British colonies in North America. We feel too sensibly the ill effects of the French interest in the present war betwixt New- England and only one nation of Indians supported by the French. Of what dismal consequences then might it be, if the French should be able to influence, in the same manner, so many and such numerous nations, as lie to the westward of this province, Pennsylvania, and Maryland ? On the other hand, if all these nations (who assert their own freedom, and declare themselves friends to those that supply them best with what they want) be brought to have a dependance upon the English
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(as we have good reason to hope in a short time they will) the French of Canada, in case of a war, must be at the mercy of the English.
" To these advantages must be added, that many of our young men having been induced by this act to travel among the Indians, they learn their man- ners, their languages, and the situation of all their countries, and become inured to all manner of fatigues and hardships ; and a great many more being resolved to follow their example, these young men, in case of war with the Indians, will be of ten times the service that the same number of the com- mon militia can be of. The effects of this act have likewise so much quieted the minds of the people, with respect to the security of the frontiers, that our settlements are now extended above thirty miles further west towards the Indian countries, than they were before it passed.
" The only thing that now remains to answer, is an objection which we suppose may be made : what can induce the merchants of London to petition against an act which will be really so much for their interest in the end ? The reason is in all probability, because they only consider their present gain ; and that they are not at all concerned for the safety of this country, in encouraging the most necessary undertaking, if they apprehend their profit for two or three years may be lessened by it. This inclina- tion of the merchants has been so notorious, that few nations at war with their neighbours have been able to restrain them from supplying their enemies with ammunition and arms. The count D'Estrade, in his letters in 1638, says, that when the Dutch were
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besieging Antwerp, one Beiland, who had loaded four fly-boats with arms and powder for Antwerp, being taken up by the prince of Orange's order, and examined at Amsterdam, said boldly that the burghers of Amsterdam had a right to trade every where : that he could name a hundred that were factors for the merchants at Antwerp, and that he was one. 'That trade cannot be interrupted, and that for his part he was very free to own, that if to get any thing by trade it were necessary to pass through hell, he would venture to burn his sails.' When this principle so common to merchants is considered, and that some in this place have got estates by trading many years to Canada, it is not to be wondered that they have acted as factors for Canada in this affair, and that they have transmitted such accounts to their correspondents in London as are consistent with the trust reposed in them by the merchants of Canada.
"In the last place, we are humbly of opinion that it may be proper to print the petition of the mer- chants of London, and their allegations before the lords of trade, together with the answers your com- mittee has made thereto in vindication of the legis- lature of this province, of which we have the honour to be a part, if your excellency shall approve of our answers, that what we have said may be exposed to the examination of every one in this place where the truth of the matters of fact is best known, and that the correspondents of these merchants may have the most public notice to reply, if they shall think it proper, or to disown in a public manner that they
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are the authors of such groundless informations. All which is unanimously and humbly submitted by " Your Excellency's
" Most obedient humble servants, " R. WALTER,
" RIP VAN DAM,
" JOHN BARBARIE,
" FR. HARRISON,
" CADWALLADER COLDEN,
" JAMES ALEXANDER,
" ABRAHAM VAN HORNE."
Governor Burnet transmitted this report to the board of trade, and it had the intended effect.
About the latter end of the year 1724, an unfortu- nate dispute commenced in the French church, of which, because it had no small influence on the public affairs of the government, I shall lay before the reader a short account.
The persecutions in France, which ensued upon the revocation of the edict of Nantz, drove the pro- testant subjects of Louis XIV. into the territories of other princes ; many of them fled even into this pro- vince; the most opulent settled in the city of New- York, others went into the country and planted New Rochelle, and a few seated themselves at the New Paltz in Ulster county. Those who resided in New- York soon erected a church upon the principles and model of that in Geneva ; and by their growth and foreign accessions, formed a congregation for num- bers and riches superior to all but the Dutch. They had two ministers : Rou, the first called, was a man
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of learning, but proud, pleasurable, and passionate : Moulinaars, his colleague, was most distinguished for his pacific spirit, dull parts, and unblameable life and conversation ; Rou despised his fellow labourer, and for a long time commanded the whole congregation by the superiority of his talents for the pulpit. The other, impatient of repeated affronts and open con- tempt, raised a party in his favour, and this year succeeded in the election of a set of elders disposed to humble the delinquent. Rou being suspicious of the design, refused to acknowledge them duly elected. Incensed at this conduct, they entered an act in their minutes, dismissing him from the pastoral charge of the church, and procured a ratification of the act under the hands of the ma- jority of the people. Governor Burnet had, long before this time, admitted Rou into his familiarity, on the score of his learning : and that consideration encouraged a petition to him, from Rou's adherents, complaining against the elders. The matter was then referred to a committee of the council, who advised that the congregation should be admonished to bring their differences to an amicable conclusion. Some overtures, to that end, were attempted ; and the elders offered to submit the controversy to the Dutch ministers. But Rou, who knew that the French church in this country, without a synod, was unorganized, and could not restrain him, chose rather to bring his bill in chancery before the governor.
Mr. Alexander was his council, and Mr. Smith,*
* These gentlemen came into the colony in the same ship in 1715. The latter was born at Newport Pagnel, in Buckinghamshire. They were among the
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a young lawyer, of the first reputation as a speaker, appeared for the elders. He pleaded to the juris- diction of the court, insisting that the matter was entirely ecclesiastical, and, in the prosecution of his argument, entered largely into an examination of the government of the protestant churches in France. According to which, he showed that the consistory were the proper judges of the point in dispute, in the first instance; and that from thence an appeal lay to a Collogue, next to a Provincial, and last of all to a national synod. Mr. Burnet nevertheless over- ruled the plea, and the defendants, being fearful of a decree, that might expose their own estates to the payment of Rou's salary, thought it advisable to drop their debates, reinstate the minister, and leave the church.
All those who opposed Rou were disobliged with the Governor ; among these Mr. De Lancey was the most considerable for his wealth and popular influ- ence. He was very rigid in his religious profession, one of the first builders, and by far the most generous benefactor of the French church, and therefore left it with the utmost reluctance. Mr. Burnet, before this time, had considered him as his enemy, because he had opposed the prohibition of the French trade; and this led him into a step, which, as it was a
principal agents in the political struggles during the administration of colonel Cosby. Mr. Smith was a nephew of that William Smith who was one of the grand jury committed by the assembly in 1717. He had suffered by the memorable earthquake of Port Royal, in Jamaica, at the close of the last century, but hav- ing repaired his losses by a successful commerce and marriage, removed to New-York, and at his instance several branches of his family were induced to leave Buckinghamshire and become inhabitants of this colony .- The uncle came here in queen Anne's reign.
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personal indignity, Mr. De Lancey could never recollect without resentment. This gentleman was returned for the city of New-York, in the room of a deceased member, at the meeting of the assembly in September 1725. When he offered himself for the oaths, Mr. Burnet asked him how he became a subject of the crown? He answered, that he was denized in England, and his excellency dismissed him, taking time to consider the matter. Mr. De Lancey then laid before the house an act of a notary public, certifying that he was named in a patent of denization, granted in the reign of James the second -a patent of the same kind, under the great seal of this province, in 1686-and two certificates, one of his having taken the oath of allegiance, according to an act passed here in 1683, and another of his serving in several former assemblies. The governor, in the mean time, consulted the chief justice, and transmitted his opinion* to the house, who resolved in favour of Mr. De Lancey. Several other new representatives came in, at this session, upon the decease of the old members ; and Adolphe Phillipse, who was some time before dismissed from the council board, was elected into the speaker's chair, in the absence of Mr. Livingston. The majority, however, continued in the interest of the governor, and consented to the revival of the several acts which had been passed for prohibiting the French trade, which, in spite of all the restraints laid upon it, was clandestinely carried on by the people of
* What colonel Morris's opinion was, I have not been able to discover. Governor Burnet's conduct was thought to be unconstitutional, and an invasion of the rights of the assembly, who claim the exclusive privilege of determining the qualifications of their own members.
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Albany. Oswego, nevertheless, grew considerable for its commerce ; fifty-seven canoes went there this summer, and returned with seven hundred and thirty-eight packs of beaver and deer skins.
Nothing could more naturally excite the jealousy of the French, than the erection of the new trading house at the mouth of the Onondaga river. Fearful of losing a profitable trade, which they had almost entirely engrossed, and the command of the lake Ontario, they launched two vessels in it in 1726, and transported materials for building a large store- house and repairing the fort at Niagara. The scheme was not only to secure to themselves the entrance into the west end of the lake, as they already had the east, by the fraudulent erection of fort Fronte- nac, many years before ; but also to carry their trade more westerly, and thus render Oswego useless, by shortening the travels of the western Indians, near two hundred miles. Baron de Longuiel, who had the chief command in Canada, on the death of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, in October 1725, was so intent - upon this project, that he went in person to the Onondaga canton, for leave to raise the store-house at Niagara : and as those Indians were most of all exposed to the intrigues of the Jesuits, who con- stantly resided amongst them ; he prevailed upon them by fraud and false representations to consent to it, for their protection against the English. But as soon as this matter was made known to the other nations, they declared the permission granted by the Onondagas to be absolutely void, and sent deputies to Niagara, with a message, signifying that the country in which they were at work belonged solely
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to the Senecas, and required them immediately to desist. The French, notwithstanding, were regard- less of the embassage, and pushed on their enterprise with all possible despatch, while Joncaire exerted all his address among the Indians to prevent the demolition of the works. Canada was very much indebted to the incessant intrigues of this man. He had been adopted by the Senecas, and was well esteemed by the Onondagas. He spoke the Indian language, as Charlevoix informs us, " avec la plus sublime eloquence Iroquois," and had lived among them, after their manner, from the beginning of queen Anne's reign. All these advantages he improved for the interest of his country ; he facili- tated the missionaries in their progress through the cantons, and more than any man, contributed to render their dependence upon the English weak and precarious. Convinced of this, colonel Schuyler urged the Indians, at his treaty with them in 1719, to drive Joncaire out of their country, but his endeavors were fruitless .*
The Jesuit Charlevoix does honour to Mr. Burnet in declaring that he left no stone unturned to defeat the French designs at Niagara; nor is it much to be wondered at, for besides supplanting his favourite trade at Oswego, it tended to the defection of the Five Nations ; and, in case of a rupture, exposed the frontiers of our southern colonies to the ravages of the French and their allies. Mr. Burnet, upon whom
* The same thing has since been frequently laboured, but to no purpose. His son continued the course of intrigues begun by the father, till general Shirley, while he was at Oswego, in 1755, prevailed upon the Senecas to order him to Canada.
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these considerations made the deepest impression laid the matter before the house, remonstrated against the proceedings to Longuiel in Canada, wrote to the ministry in England, who complained of them to the French court, and met the confede- rates at Albany, endeavouring to convince them of the danger they themselves would be in from an aspiring, ambitious neighbour ; he spoke first about the affair privately to the sachems, and afterwards in the public conference, informed them of all the encroachments which the French had made upon their fathers, and the ill usage they had met with, according to La Potherie's account, published with the privilege of the French king, at Paris, in 1722. He then reminded them of the kind treatment they had received from the English, who constantly fed and clothed them, and never attempted any act of hostilities to their prejudice. This speech was extremely well drawn, the thoughts being conceived in strong figures, particularly expressive and agree- able to the Indians. The governor required an explicit declaration of their sentiments, concerning the French transactions at Niagara, and their answer was truly categorical. “ We speak now in the name of all the Six Nations, and come to you howling. This is the reason why we howl, that the governor of Canada encroaches on our land and builds thereon." After which they entreated him to write to the king for succour. Mr. Burnet embraced this favorable opportunity to procure from them a deed, surrendering their country to his majesty, to be protected for their use, and confirming their grant in 1701, concerning which there was only an
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entry in the books of the secretary for Indian affairs .* It happened very unfortunately, that his excellency's hands were then more weakened than ever, by the growing disaffection in the house. The intrigues of his adversaries, and the frequent deaths of the members, had introduced such a change in the assembly, that it was with difficulty he procured a three years' support. The clamours of the people ran so high without doors for a new election, that he was obliged to dissolve the house, and soon after another dissolution ensued on the death of the king. The French, in the mean time, completed their works at Niagara, and Mr. Burnet, who was unable to do any thing else, erected a fort in 1727, for the protection of the post and trade at Oswego. This necessary undertaking was pregnant with the most important consequences, not only to this, but all our colonies ; and though the governor's seasonable activity deserved the highest testimonials of our gratitude, I am ashamed to confess, what I am bound to relate, that he built the fort at his private expense, and that a balance of £56 principal, though frequently demanded, remains due to his estate to this very day.
Beauharnois, the governor of Canada, who super- seded Longuiel, was so incensed at the building of
* Besides the territories at the west end of lake Erie, and on the north side of that, and the lake Ontario, which were ceded in 1701; the Indians now granted for the same purpose all their habitations from Oswego to Cayahoga river, which disembogues into lake Erie, and the country extending sixty miles from the southernmost banks of those lakes. Though the first surrender through negligence was not made by the execution of a formal deed under seal, yet, as it was trans- acted with all the solemnity of a treaty, and as the second surrender confirms the first, no intermediate possession by the French can prejudice the British title derived by the cession in 1701.
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the fort, that he sent a written summons, in July, to the officer posted there, to obandon it; and though his predecessor had done the same a little before, at Niagara, in the county of the Senecas, the acknowledged subjects of the British crown,* yet, with a singular effrontery, he despatched De la Chassaigne, a man of parts and governor of Trois Rivieres, to New-York, with the strongest complaints to Mr. Burnet upon that head. His excellency sent him a polite but resolute answer, on the 8th of August, in which he refuted the arguments urged by the French governor-general, and remonstrated against the proceedings of the last year at Niagara.
The new assembly met in September, 1727, and consisted of members all ill affected to the governor. The long continuance of the last, the clamours which were excited by several late important decrees in chancery, the affair of the French church, and especially the prohibiting the Canada trade, were the causes to which the loss of his interest is to be ascribed. Mr. Philipse, the speaker, was piqued at a decree in chancery against himself, which very much affected his estate ; no wonder then that the
* Though the sovereignty over the Five Nations was ceded to Great Britain, and Charlevoix himself had acknowledged that Niagara was part of their coun- try, yet the pious jesuit applauds the French settlement there, which was so manifest an infraction of the treaty of Utrecht. The marquis De Nonville, in his letter to the court of France , in 1686, proposed the erection of a fort there, to secure the communication with the lakes and deprive us of a trade which he computed to be worth 400,000 francs per annum. Charlevoix perhaps considered these advantages sufficient to justify the violation of public faith ; reasoning upon the principles of Le Chevalier de Callieres, who thought the legality of making a conquest of New-York during the strict peace in James the second's reign, might be inferred from the benefit that would thereby accrue to the French colony, "que il n'y avoit point d'autre voye pour conserver la colonie, que de nous rendre maitres de la Nouvelle York ; and que cette conquête etoit legitime par la necessité."
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members, who were very much influenced by him, came on the 25th of November, into the following resolutions. Colonel Hicks, from the committee of grievances, reported, " that as well by the com- plaints of several people, as by the general cry of his majesty's subjects inhabiting this colony, they find that the court of chancery, as lately assumed to be set up here, renders the liberties and properties of the said subjects extremely precarious ; and that by the violent measures taken in, and allowed by it, some have been ruined, others obliged to abandon the colony, and many restrained in it, either by imprisonment or by excessive bail exacted from them not to depart, even when no manner of suits are depending against them : and therefore are of opinion, that the extraordinary proceedings of that court, and the exorbitant fees and charges counte- nanced to be exacted by the officers and practitioners thereof, are the greatest grievance and oppression this colony hath ever felt; and that for removing the fatal consequences thereof, they had come to several resolutions, which being read, were approved by the house, and are as follow :
" Resolved, That the erecting or exercising in this colony, a court of equity or chancery (however it may be termed) without consent in general assembly, is unwarrantable and contrary to the laws of England, and a manifest oppression and griev- ance to the subjects, and of a pernicious consequence to their liberties and properties.
" Resolved, That this house will, at their next meeting, prepare and pass an act to declare and adjudge all orders, ordinances, devices and pro-
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ceedings of the court, so assumed to be erected and exercised as above-mentioned, to be illegal, null and void, as by law and right they ought to be.
"Resolved. That this house, at the same time, will take into consideration whether it be necessary to establish a court of equity or chancery in this colony, in whom the jurisdiction thereof ought to be vested, and how far the powers of it shall be prescribed and limited."
Mr. Burnet no sooner heard of these votes, than he called the members before him, and dissolved the assembly. They occasioned, however, an ordi- nance in the spring following, as well to remedy sundry abuses in the practice in chancery, as to reduce the fees of that court, which on account of the popular clamours, were so much diminished, that the wheels of the chancery have ever since rusted upon their axis, the practice being contemned by all gentlemen of eminence in the profession.
We are now come to the close of Mr. Burnet's administration, when he was appointed to the chief command of the Massachusetts Bay. Though we never had a governor to whom the colony is so much indebted as to him ; yet the influence of a faction, in the judgment of some, rendered his removal necessary for the public tranquillity Insensible of his merit, the undistinguishing multitude were taught to consider it as a most fortunate event; and till the ambitious designs of the French king, with respect to America, awakened our attention to the general welfare, Mr. Burnet's administration was as little esteemed as that of the meanest of his predecessors.
He was very fond of New-York, and left it with
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reluctance. His marriage here connected him with a numerous family, and besides an universal ac- quaintance, there were some gentlemen with whom he contracted a strict intimacy and friendship.
The excessive love of money, a disease common to all his predecessors, and to some who succeeded him, was a vice from which he was entirely free. He sold no offices, nor attempted to raise a fortune by indirect means; for he lived generously, and carried scarce any thing away with him but his books. These and the conversation of men of letters were to him inexhaustible sources of delight. His astronomical observations have been useful ; but by his comment on the apocalypse, he exposed himself, as other learned men have before him, to the criticisms of those who have not abilities to write half so well.
John Montgomerie, esq. received the great seal of this province from Mr. Burnet, on the 15th of April, 1728, having a commission to supersede him here and in New-Jersey. The council board con- sisted of
Mr. WALTERS, Mr. ALEXANDER,
Mr. VAN DAM,
Mr. MORRIS, JUN.
Mr. BARBARIE, Mr. VAN HORNE,
Mr. CLARKE, Mr. PROVOOST,
Mr. HARRISON,
Mr. LIVINGSTON,
Dr. COLDEN,
Mr. KENNEDY.
The governor was a Scotch gentleman, and bred a soldier, but in the latter part of his life he had little concern with arms, having served as groom of the bed-chamber to his present majesty, before his accession to the throne. This station, and a seat he VOL. I .- 36
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had in parliament, paved the way to his preferment in America. In his talents for government he was much inferior to his predecessor, for he had neither strength nor acuteness of parts, and was but little acquainted with any kind of literature.
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