COLLECTIONS NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. VOLUME I. PRINTED FOR THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY - 18 4 6. OFFICERS OF THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. ELECTED 1846. Hon. JOSEPH C. HORNBLOWER, LL. D., President, Newark. ROBERT G. JOHNSON, Esq., ]st Vice President, Salem. Hon. peter D. VROOM, 2d " Trenton. Hon. JAMES PARKER, 3d " Perth Amboy. WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD, Corresponding Secretary, Newark. JOSEPH P. BRADLEY, Recording Secretary, Newark. THOMAS J. STRYKER, Treasurer, Trenton. THOMAS GORDON, Librarian, Trenton. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. Rev. DANIEL V. McLEAN, Freehold. Rev. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D., Elizabethtown. WILLIAM B. KINNEY, Newark. ARCHER GIFFORD, Newark. Rev. ELI F. COOLEY, Trenton. RICHARD S. FIELD, Princeton. A. BRUYN HASBROUCK, LL. D., New Brunswick. Rt. Rev. GEO. W. DOANE, D.D., LL. D., Burlington. ELIAS B. D. OGDEN, Paterson. COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS. Hon. WILLIAM A. DUER, LL. D. Rev. NICHOLAS MURRAY, D. D. CHARLES KING, Rev. ELI F. COOLEY, JOHN S. CONDIT, M. D. WILLIAM B. KINNEY, WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD. • J^W% NEW JERSEY, from llic\fap of A.VanJcrilonck, 1656, EAST JEESEY THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENTS NARRATIVE OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE SETTLEMENT AND PROGRESS OF THE PROVINCE, UNTIL THE SURRENDER OF THE GOVERNMENT TO THE CROWN IN 1702. DRAWN PRINCIPALLY FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES. By WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD. WITH AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF EAST NEW-JERSEY, IN AMERICA, BY GEORGE SCOT, OF PITLOCHIE. NOW FIRST REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION OF 1685. PUBLISHED BY THE NEW-JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 1846. Ektesed, according to Act of Congicss, in the year 1846, by WILLIAM A. WHITEHEAD, In the Clerk's Office of the U. S. District Court for the District of New-Jersey J. F. Trow & Co., Printers, 33 Ann-stTeet. New-York. P U E F A C E. The following work was undertaken by the Author solely for his own use while prosecuting inquiries re- lating to a portion of East Jersey ; the fact becoming soon apparent that the general histories of Smith and Gordon, and other works referring to New Jersey, did not contain that minute information which seemed ne- cessary for the proper elucidation of many important periods in our early history. As its title indicates, it is a simple narration of events, bearing upon the settle- ment and growth of the province of East Jersey, which for the most of the time previous to 1702, not only had a different government, but in almost every other respect was separate and distinct from West Jersey. It is submitted to the public, at the request of the New Jersey Historical Society, rather as furnishing materials for history, than as being in itself complete. " The popular historian" — remarks a modern writer* * J. D' Israeli. ^- PREFACE. a composes a plausible rather than an accurate tale ; researches too fully detailed would injure the just pro- portions, or crowd the bold design of the elegant narra- tive ; and facts, presented as they occurred, would not adapt themselves to those theoretical writers of history who arrange events not in a natural but systematic or- der." And he truly adds, that " he who 07}ly views thino-s in masses will have no distinct notion of any one particular." The general historian must gather his facts from the details of local annals, and in proportion as they are wanting must his labors be imperfect. In New Jersey researches of that kind have been few, and the Author, in consequence, has retained many dates and minor circumstances connected with the settlement of the several towns which would otherwise have been ex- cluded ; thereby, probably, marring the interest of his book to the general reader by giving it too precise a character, but contributing he trusts to its value in the estimation of the student of our history. The dates are generally given in accordance with the present mode of commencing the year with the first of January, — any deviation from the rule being noticed. The Author has endeavored to give his authority for every assertion of importance, and no known work con- nected with the subject of his researches has been left unexamined. The Proprietary Records of the Eastern Division, in the Register's Office at Perth Amboy, have been critically gone through, and all the valuable information they contain has been secured. The PREFACE. y|j Colonial Records of New York have also been in- spected, and many papers of importance obtained which were never before used in the illustration of our history ; the thorough examination of foreign archives, and the judicious selection of documents by her historical agent,* having recently placed that State in possession of an almost uninterrupted series, from the settlement of the New Netherlands to the War of Independence. The Author is not aware of any source whence additional light can be thrown upon the events to which his narrative refers, unless the archives of England should contain other information respecting the proprietary governments than has yet been procured ; which may be the case, although it will not probably be found voluminous. He is apprehensive that the histori- cal treasures referring to New Jersey, there deposited, are principally of dates subsequent to the period he has had under review. The republication of the " Model of the Government of East New Jersey" was deemed advisable from its great rarity ; it never having been reprinted. The efficient aid it rendered in inducing emigration to the province, and its making known the actual condition of many of the early settlers in their own language, give to it especial interest. To avoid misconceptions, it is proper to state, that extracts from the manuscript of this work appeared * John Romeyn Brodhead. viii PREFACE. some years since in a series of articles prepared for the Newark Daily Advertiser, and became in that way, al though in an imperfect form, available to others. Newark, New Jersey. January, 1846. CONTENTS PAGE PERIOD I. 1609-1664. — From the Discovery of the Country, until its Surrender to the English, ...... 1 PERIOD II. 1664-1682. — From the Surrender of the Country to the English, until the Sale to the Twenty-four Proprietaries, . 30 PERIOD III. 1682-1689. — From the Transfer of East Jersey to the Twenty-four Proprietaries, to the Subversion of the Authority of Andros, ........ 88 PERIOD IV. 1689-1702. — From the Subversion of the Authority of Andros, to the Surrender of the Government to the Crown, 129 NOTES, 175 APPENDIX, ........ 228 ILLUSTRATIOx^S. Map of New Jersey, 1656, ..... Facing title-page. Official Seal of Berkeley and Carteret, 1665, . . . Page 88 MapofEast Jersey, 1682, ..... Facing page 88 OfficialSealof the Twenty-four Proprietaries, 1682, . . Page 128 Autographs, ....... Facing page 129 Official Seal of Governor Philip Carteret, 1676, . . . Page 189 ERRATA. Page 11, line 2, for " renewing" read receiving. Page 24, line 24, for " Reymont," read Roymcnt, Page 38, line 8, for " grantees," read grantors. Page 46, line 15, for "Peirson," read Pierson. Page 59, line 11, for " 1G72," read 1672-3. Page (', Note, for " Kieth," read Keith. Page 88, line 8, for " Broome," read Oroome Page 93, line 14, for " 1664," read 1665. Page 187, line 33, before " honored," insert " Page 211, line 22, for " in," read on. Page 251, line 28, for " cos," road eos. Page 251, line 29, for " palane," read pa/am. On the Map of New Jersey Pavonia is improperly given as " Parooia," and its location should have been that covered by " Niew Amsterdam." At the top of the Map of East Jersey, for " Orcant Fall," read Great FalU. EAST JERSEY THE PROPRIETARY GOVERNMENTS PERIOD I. FROM THE DISCOVERY OP THE COUNTRY, UNTIL ITS SURRENDER TO THE ENGLISH. 1609—1664. Sebastian Cabot in 1498, sailing under the flag of England; John Verrazzano in 1523, under the flag of France; and Stephen Gomez in 1524-5, under that of Spain ; each coasted the American Continent in those degrees of latitude which include, what are now, the shores of New Jersey, and probably Verrazzano held some intercourse with the natives ;^ but nothing resulted ' It is presumed the following portion at anchor in a good berth, we would not of Verrazzano's letter to Francis I. refers venture up in our vessel without a know- to his visit to our waters. " We found ledge of the mouth ; therefore we took a very pleasant situation among some the boat, and entering the river we found steep hills, through which a very large the country on its banks well peopled, river, deep at its mouth, forced its way the inhabitants not differing much from to the sea : from the sea to the estuary the others, being dressed out with the of the river any ship heavily laden might feathers of birds of various colors, pass without the help of the tide, which They came towards us with evident de- rises eight feet. But as we were riding light, raising loud shouts of admiration , 1 2 DISCOVERY OF THE COUNTRY. [1609. from these voyages towards either the settlement of the country, or the investigation of its resources. Notwith- standing, therefore, the visits of these navigators, to Henry Hudson may properly be ascribed the honor of first discovering this section of the continent, although nearly a century later in his explorations ; as through him a comparatively perfect knowledge of it was first conveyed to the inhabitants of Europe. It was on the afternoon of Thursday, September 3d, 1609, that the eyes of the natives, then inhabiting the shores of Sandy Hook, were directed in wonder and admiration towards an European vessel entering the bay from the broad expanse of ocean which constituted the eastern boundary of their world. Uncertain were they at first whether what they beheld was a monster of the deep, or an apparition from the world of spirits, but as the mysterious object drew nearer, they were led finally to regard it as a mighty canoe under the guidance of the Great Spirit, and navigated by inferior divinities.^ We are told of the despatch of runners, a convention of sa- chems, and the reception of their presumed celestial visit- and showing us where we could most se- Cogswell's Translation, N. Y. Hist. Coll_ curely land with our boat. We passed 2d Series, Vol. I. p. 45. There is an older up this river about half a league, when translation from Hackluyt, somewhat we found it formed a most beautiful lake, different, in the Society's first vol. p. 52. three leagues in circuit, upon which they * Vanderdonk, who wrote in 1650, and were rowing thirty or more of their small had seen and conversed with Indians liv- boats from one shore to the other, filled ingat the time of Hudson's arrival, states with multitudes who came to see us. All that they had no knowledge of any pro- of a sudden, as is wont to happen to navi- vious visit of the white men. As 85 or gators, a violent contrary wind blew in 86 years had elapsed since Verrazzano's from the sea, and forced us to return to voyage, it is possible that in the wander- our ship, greatly regretting to leave this ings of different tribes, all knowledge of region, which seemed so commodious and the intercourse had with him may have delightful, and which we supposed must been lost. — N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Series, also contain great riches, as the hills Vol. I. showed many indications of minerals." ( 1609.1 DISCOVERY OF THE COUNTRY. 3 ant with propitiatory offerings, which, though the au- thority for them be tradition, wear sufficiently the sem- blance of truth to be adopted by the historian as pro- bable occurrences.^ The vessel, whose arrival thus marked the day as one to be remembered, was the "Half Moon."'* Her enterprising commander, — an Englishman by birth, but then in the service of the Dutch East India Company — had, in two previous voyages of discovery, added con- siderably to the geographical knowledge of the northern regions of the continent ; and in the voyage which we are now considering, had coasted our shores from the 44th degree north to Chesapeake bay : anchoring in our waters on his return northward. The journal of the voyage^ gives a detailed account of the discoveries made, the intercourse had with the natives, and the other circumstances attending the ex- ploration of the bay and harbor of New York, and of that " great river," as it was called by Hudson, which now bears his name. A boat despatched up the bay, for the purpose of ' See a tradition of the Delawares, in " a sheer inference unsupported by phi- the N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Series, Vol. I. lology," and gives as the correct name of page 71, communicated by Rev. John the island, il/ow-a-ionoril/on-aA-iaR-uA:, Heckewelder, of Pennsylvania, and be- descriptive of the whirlpool of Hellgate. lieved by him to be as authentic as any The council referred to was held on the of the Indian traditions. He had it di- southern termination of the island, rectly from them. It is added, that in •* So called by every writer but Ban- return for their civilities the natives were croft, who dignifies her by styling her the made to taste of intoxicating liquors, and " Crescent." She is called in one of the that to commemorate the event, they call- books of the Company seen by Mr. ed the island thereafter " Mannahatta- Brodhead, the " Halve-Maan ;" she was nink," the place of drunkenness or mad- of 80 tons burthen, ness from drinking. Mr. Schoolcraft, ^ The journal is by Hudson's mate, however, in a report on aboriginal names Juet, and is reprinted from Hackluyt in to the New YorL- Histor. Society, (see N. Y. Hist. Coll. Vol. I. 1st Series, and Transactions of 1844,) asserts this to be Vol. I. 2d Series. 4 NATIVES OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. [1609. sounding the channel and examining the country,'^ hav- ing returned with intelHgence that there was abundance of water, that the lands were " pleasant with grass and flowers and goodly trees as ever they had seen," and that " very sw^eet smells came from them," prepara- tions were made, and on the 10th of September, Hud- son weighed his anchor with the intention of ascending what we now know as ' The Narrows ;' but, impeded, as his progress necessarily was, by the measures of pre- caution required in the navigation of strange w^aters, he did not enter the river until the 12th, and not before the 20th did he attain a point somewhat above the present location of the city bearing his name, whence a boat was sent, that, it is supposed, ascended the river as high as the present site of Albany.'^ On the 23d of the month, the descent of the river was commenced ; its mouth was reached on the 4th of October, and Hudson proceeded directly to sea.^ The natives of w hat is now Monmouth county, New Jersey, went on board of Hudson's vessel without hesi- tation, soon after his arrival, and seem to have been * It is probable this sounding party ating Staten Island from New Jersey ; penetrated as far as Newark bay. The but it is evident he went out the way he Journal states, that they arrived at " a came in. The mate says, " Within a narrow river to the westward, between while after [coming out of the river], we two islands," understood to be the Kills ; came out also of the great month of the and then it is added, " so they went in great river that runneth up to the two leagues, and saw an open sea, and northwest, burrowing upon the more returned." northern side of the same," &c. Now '' Dr. Miller's Address, N. Y. Hist, the Kills had already been designated as Coll. Vol. I. J. R..Brodhead's Address "a narrow river to the westward," and. before Hist. See. Nov. 20, 1844. moreover, on the same day before twelve 8 Mr. Folsom, in a note to the Journal o'clock they were outside of Sandy Hook, (N.Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Series, Vol. I. p. which they certainly could not have been, 331), expresses an opinion that Hudson had they sailed around Staten Island, as returned to sea through the sound separ- Mr. Folsom suggests. 1C09.] NATIVES OF MONMOUTH COUNTY. 5 pleased with what they beheld. They were civil in their deportment, and disposed to exchange such products of the country as they had for knives, beads, and articles of clothing. They were 'well dressed in deer skinnes,' some in ' mandes of feathers,' and others in 'skinnes of divers sorts of good furres ;' 'they had red copper to- bacco pipes,' and wore other ornaments of copper around their necks. The journal states that a party from the ship on landing, "saw great store of men, women and children, who gave them tobacco at their coming on land. So they went up into the woods, and saw great store of very goodly oakes, and some currants,^ for one of them came aboard and brought some dried, which were sweet and good. Some women also came with hemp." Grapes, pumpkins, beaver and otter skins, oysters, Indian-wheat and beans, are also mentioned in the course of the jour- nal as being in abundance, and affording the means for a profitable traffic ; the smallest trifles being received by the natives in exchange. On Hudson's homeward voyage, some mutinous Eng- lishmen among his crew obliged him to put into Dart- mouth, whence intelligence of his discoveries was con- veyed to the king. James, opposed to every thing that could advance the commercial prosperity of Holland, caused Hudson to be detained under some pretence ; but his vessel was subsequently released, and continued on her voyage to Amsterdam ;^° and in 1610, some merchants 3 Probably whortleberries ; as they are Brodhead's Address, pp. 14, 15. There in other early accounts described as a can be no doubt that this detention of fruit resembling currants. Hudson was the true cause of his leav- '° Lambrechtsen's New Netherlands, ing the employment of the Dutch, al- N. Y. Histor. Collect. 2d Series, Vol. I. though there are several other reasons Q ESTABLISHMENT OF THE DUTCH. [1613. of tfnat city sent out a ship to profit by Hudson's dis- coveries, by engaging in the fur trade with the natives, which led to the erection of trading-houses at Manhat- tan Island, and at the present site of Albany. ^^ These establishments of the Dutch, although probably not made at first with any permanent designs, conflict- ing as they did with the sovereignty claimed by England by virtue of Sebastian Cabot's discoveries in 1498, were not unheeded by the representatives of that power in America. Captain Samuel Argall, of Virginia, returning from an expedition against Acadia, undertaken for the purpose of dispossessing the French, visited the settle- ment at the mouth of the Hudson in November or De- cember, 1613, and obhged the inhabitants to recognize the authority of his sovereign, contribute towards the pay- ment of his expenses, and also to agree to pay a stipu- lated sum regularly to the governor of Virginia, under whom he was acting.^- But this submission seems to have been thrown off the following year, and further con- tributions to the coJfFers of the Virginia colony refused, on the arrival of Hendrick Christianse,'^ under a charter assigned. Hudson sailed from England '' Plantagenet's New Albion, 1648. in 1610, on a voyage to the northern Moulton'sN.Y., I.,Part 2, pp. 348, 349, seas, and met a horrible fate; being note. A difference of opinion has exist- abandoned in that inhospitable region by ed as to the time of this expedition ; but his mutinous crew. the date above given is without doubt '* De Laet. Lambrechtsen in N. Y. correct. See a paper by Mr. Folsom in Hist. Coll. 2d Series, Vol. I. Various N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Series, Vol. I. authors, as if the love of gain were not a '^ Heylin's Cosmography, Part 2, p. 3. sufTicient inducement for this and subse- Stith's Virginia, p. 133, quoted by Mr- quent voyages, have attributed this ex- Folsom ; and see Moulton, who discusses pedition to a purchase made of Hudson the events of this early period in a very of his right as discoverer. ( Vide Dr. Mil- critical manner. The arguments for a ler's Address. Harris's Coll. II. p. 280, longer continued submission to the Eng- &c.) It is generally conceded now, how- lish appear to be drawn from insufficient ever, that there is no foundation for the data. It is true that Oldmixon, Ogilby, story. Moulton's N. Y. Part 2, p. 336. and others, mention that permission was 16M. ESTABLISHMEJVT OF THE DUTCH. obtained from the States-General, April 17, 1614, grant- ing to a company of merchants the exclusive right to make four voyages to the newly-discovered lands. '^ Christianse more perfectly explored Long Island Sound, with the shores of Rhode Island and Connecticut ; and by the erection of forts at Manhattan Island and Al- bany, the settlers considered themselves secure and con- firmed in their possessions ; and although complaints were subsequently made, through the minister of Charles I. at the Hague, of the disregard thus shown of the rights and authority of the king, yet no satisfaction was ob- tained, other than a disavowal on the part of the States- General of any participation in the proceedings of the merchants' company.^^ obtained from King James (as late as 1620) by the Dutch Company, to erect some cottages here, for the convenience of their ships touching for water and pro- visions on their way to Brazil ; and Smith, in his Hist, of New York, goes so far as to locate them on Staten Island ; but Lambrechtsen, Moulton, and others, prove that there is no truth in these statements. The author conceived the greatest difficulty to be the fact (as stated by Plantagenet) that Virginia complain- ed not of the re-assumption of their in- dependence of her before 1G25, after the accession of Charles I., until an inspec- tion of the New York papers, recently placed within reach of the historian by the researches of Mr. Brodhead in the English archives, was afforded him. From them it appears that a complaint was made by the Priv7 Council, through Sir Dudley Carleton, ambassador at the Hague, under date of Dec. 15, 1621, of the settlement of the Dutch at New York the year previous ; and his an- swer, dated the following February 5th, conveys the information, that, although vessels had visited the country, he could not ascertain that any settlement had been effected. So little were the mother countries acquainted with the true po- sition of their American colonies ; and hence the apathy of the English govern- ment, which previously seemed unac- countable. Under date April 2, 1632, Capt. John Mason informs Mr. Secre- tary Coke, that the Dutch Minister, in answer apparently to a subsequent com- plaint, had disclaimed any participation by the United Provinces in the proceed- ings of the merchants. As late as 20th March, 1634-5, on the appearance of a Dutch vessel at Cowes, bound to Hud- son river, an order was issued not to stop the vessel, but to prevent the em- barkation of any Englishmen on board of her. >* Brodhead's Address, p. 16. ^" Plantagenet's description of New Albion. N. Y. Colcni?l Records. Brod- head's Address, pp. 24, 25. g GRAIS'T OF NEW ALBION. [1634. The wars and internal commotions of England, or the apparently trivial import of the transaction as then considered, may have caused the indifference which seems to have been manifested at the continued occupation of the Dutch. The only measure adopted to effect their removal, was the issuing of a grant to Sir Edmund Ploy- den for the lands they occupied. This grant was dated June 21st, 1634, and conferred upon Sir Edmund and his associates the country between Cape May and Long Island Sound, extending forty leairues inland. This tract was erected into a free coun- ty palatine by the name of New Albion, and over it, with the title of "Earl Palatine," was Sir Edmund made governor ; he having, as it is stated, — although the fact may well be doubted, — " amply and copiously peopled the same with five hundred persons." '^ He, however, visited '* See the grant at length, in Hazard's Collection of State Papers, Vol. I. p. IfiO. The bounds were as follows : " All that entire island, near the Continent or Terra Firma of North Virginia, called the Isle of Ploicden, or Long Island, and lying near or between the thirty-ninth and fortieth degrees of north latitude, to- gether with part of the Continent, or Terra Firma aforesaid, near adjoining ; described to begin from the point of an angle of a certain promontory called Cape May, and from thence to the west- ward for the space oi forty leagues, run- ning by the river Delaware, and closely following its course by the north latitude unto a certain rivulet there, arising from a spring of the Lord Baltimore's in the lands of Maryland, and the summit aforesaid to the south, where it touches, joins, and determines in all its breadth ; from thence takes its course into a square leading to the north by a right line for the space of forty leagues, and from thence, likewise by a square, inclining towards the east in a right line, for the space of forty leagues, to the river and part of Readier Cod, and descends to a savannah, touching and including the top of Sandheey, where it determines ; and from thence towards the south by a square, stretching to a savannah, which passes by and washes the shores of the island of Ploivden aforesaid to the point of the promontory of Cape May, above mentioned, and terminates where it be- gan." Hazard was indebted to a pam- phlet mentioned in a following note for this grant. As governor, Sir Edmund was invested with powers and privileges similar to those employed by other pala- tines in England or America ; which were certainly sufficiently ample to satis- fy the most ambitious potentate. 1634.1 GRANT OF NEW ALBION. 9 his province, and resided therein seven years, exercising, it is said, his office as governor ; but, although he may have assumed, on paper, his rights as lord of the soil, by granting to various individuals large tracts of land,^^ it is doubted that his authority was ever established over the few inhabitants that then dwelt within the limits of his domain, excepting those who may have come over with him.'^ The only result of his presence and schemes, so far as the Dutch were affected, was an offer to dispose of their claim and improvements for £2,500 ; which not being accepted, they raised their demand to £7,000, and finally, became indifferent to any compromise, their esta- blishment in the country having become too permanently fixed to be easily broken up ;^^ for the States-General *^ Plantagenet's New Albion, p. 24. he adds, "He was never able to dispossess Hazard's State Papers, pp.169, 170. the Swedes." Were there any Swedes in Hazard gives one of these grants at Virginia? To answer some end of his length, and states that many other deeds own, Ployden may have reported himself concerning Albion are registered in St. from Virginia; but there seems to be little Mary's, Maryland. ground for doubt of his having been at *^ We find Plantagenet, in 1648, com- one period in the Delaware, and there is plaining of the settlements of the Swedes certainly no proof of more than one and Dutch within New Albion, and the voyage to America by him. adherence of the English settlers to '" All that can now be gathered of the them rather than to the authority of projects of Sir Edmund Ployden is con- the Earl Palatine. It is presumed that tained in the pamphlet, which has been the small settlement of English near quoted, entitled "A Description of the Salem, broken up by the Swedes and Province of New Albion, and a Direction Dutch in 1G41, comprised all the "sub- for Adventurers with small stock to "-et jects" the earl had in the province, two for one, and good land freely : And Winthrop, in his Journal [II. 325], men- for Gentlemen, and all Servants, Labour- lions the arrival at Boston in 1648 of Sir ers and Artificers, to live plentifully, &c. Edmund Ployden from Firginja, having, &c. Printed in the year 1648." This through the want of a pilot, entered the pamphlet purports to be the production Chesapeake instead of the Delaware; of "Beauchamp Plantagenet of Belvil, in and Mr. Bancroft (II. 296, 10th edit.). New Albion, Esquire, one of the Com- upon this passage of Winthrop's, asserts pany," whose manor of Belvil — "con- that Ployden's people " were absorbed in taining 10,000 acres, on a navigable river, the happy province of Virginia;" and yet having in it and near. Alabaster, Terras. 10 WEST INDIA COMPANY CHARTERED. [1621 having in 1621 granted a charter to those engaged in traffic with the New World, under the name of the "West India Company," the condition of the settlements on the Hudson was thereby materially improved ; the result, previously, having fallen far short of the anticipa- tions excited by the discovery of the country .^° for plaister of Paris, Pudding and Slat- stone, store of Timber, clear Fields, Meads and Woods, and no Indians neer, and Vines" — he had obtained under the province seal. It is dedicated " To the right honourable and mighty Lord Ed- mund, by Divine Providence Lord Pro- prietor, Earl Palatine, Governour and Captain-Generall of the Province of New Albion; and to the Right Honourable the Lord Vicount 31onson of Castlemain, the Lord Sherard Baron of Letrim : and to all others the Vicounts, Barons, Bar- onets, Knights, Gentlemen, Merchants, Adventurers and Planters, of the hopeful Company of New Albion ; in all, 44 un- dertakers and subscribers, bound by In- denture to bring and settle 3000 able trained men in our said severall Planta- tions in the said Province." The object of the publication (which embodies two previously made in 1G37 and 1G42,) was to induce emigration ; and it is evident from its pages that al- though the charter had been obtained fourteen years before, very little progress had been made in adding to the popula- tion of New Albion. It is written in such a bombastic style, and for the most part, with such an entire freedom from intelligibility, that it is a difilcult matter to draw the line between truth and fic- tion in its contents. As late as 1784- 85, one Charles Vallo came to America as agent for the then Earl of Ployden, and put forth a pamphlet of thirty pages* containing the grant from Charles I., and two other documents, which Hazard deemed sufficiently authentic to be intro- duced into his Collection. Mr. John Pennington, of Philadelphia, however, in an ingeniously constructed article, con- tained in the memoirs of the Pennsyl- vania Hist. .Soc. [Vol. IV. Part I.], en- deavors to cast discredit if^on all the statements cf Plantagenet and the docu- ments of Vallo ; advancing enough of argument to render the question debate- able, without satisfactorily determining the facts of the case. Only two copies of Vallo's pamphlet are known to exist ; one, consulted by Mr. Pennington, which was in the possession of Vallo's legal ad- viser, the late Wm. Rawde, Esq., and the other, to which the author has had ac- cess, in the library of the Misses Ruther- furd, near Newark. The only copy of Plantagenet's pamphlet in America is in the Philadel- phia Library. It was reprinted in 1837 by Peter Force of Washington, to whom American History is under many obliga- tions. For the htsi narrative of Ploy, den's attempt at settlement which the author has seen, the reader is referred to Mickle's " Reminiscences of Old Glou- cester." More or less of conjecture must be exercised, however, in all en- deavors to clothe his project with the garb of history. The author has given in the text only such particulars as he considered well established. ^^ Lambrechtsen, De Laet. Brod- head's Address. 1638 J SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE. j[ j But the newly chartered company did not confine its settlements to the Hudson. Immediately after renewing the charter, a number of settlers were sent out under Cornelius Jacobus Mey, to establish themselves on Dela- ware river. Mey coasted the continent as far north as Cape Cod; gave the name of "Port Mey" to New York bay f^ to Delaware bay, that of " New Port Mey," to its northern cape also the name of " Mey ;" and his christian name, " Cornelius," to its southern cape.^^ He built a fort for the protection of the colonists a few miles below the present city of Camden, and during some years, additions were made to their number, and the set- tlement prospered ; but in the latter part of 1632, the hostility of the natives led to the death of so many per- sons, that the survivors were discouraged, and returned to Holland, leaving the Delaware once more in the un- disturbed possession of the original inhabitants.-^ At what period the Swedes first arrived at the Dela- ware, is somewhat uncertain. It is probable, however, that it was not until 1638, although the project had been broached, and considerable attention bestowed upon it, prior to the death of Gustavus Adolphus, in 1632.^^ Notwithstanding a remonstrance from the Dutch Go- vernor at New Amsterdam, forts and settlements were *' This was called, at one time, " Go- the materials then known would allow ; dyn's Port," after another Dutch naviga- but the New York Colonial Documents, tor and landholder. obtained from Holland, have placed new ** Watson's Philadelphia Annals, materials at the disposal of the historian. Gordon's N. J. Gape Henlopen, farther Plantagenet (reprint, p. 19), writing in south, was named after a navigator called 1648, accuses the Dutch of having, eight Jelmer Hinlopen. years before, introduced the Swedes " Gordon's New Jersey, p. 9. themselves, by landing forty Swedish sol- ** Gordon'sNew Jersey, 10, 11. This diers in Delaware bay, brought from the work contains a full, yet succinct ac- West Indies ; and, see Mickle'sRemin- count of the history of this period, com- iscences, p. 6. piled with care and accuracy, so far as 12 GOVERNMENT OF NEW NETHERLANDS. [1655. established at different points ; but the scope of our pre- sent inquiries renders unnecessary any particular exami- nation of the history of the colony. Although them- selves at variance, the Dutch and Swedes, about 1641, united to break up a small settlement of English, located near the present site of Salem, which, with one or two other companies, subsequently dispossessed, it is pre- sumed, constituted the whole of Sir Edmund Ployden's colony ; and the removal of iheir common enemy thus effected, they were left at full liberty to cultivate their mutual ill will. Encroachments by both parties led, finally, to an expedition from New York, in September, 1655, under Governor Stuyvesant, which resulted in the complete overthrow of the Swedish power, without the shedding of blood. The authority of the Dutch was thus established over the entire country, between Delaware bay and New England, which had previously received from them the title of Nova Belgia or New Netherlands. The Gover- nors, ruling in the name of " Their High Mightinesses the States-General and the privileged West India Com- pany," resided at New Amsterdam, and Lieutenant- Governors administered the affairs of the settlements on Delaware river, which were for a long time known as the " three lower counties." The description given of the New Netherlands, (or New Albion, as it was called by the English,) emanat- ing, as they did, from those who were interested in the soil, have to be received with some caution. It was to be presumed, that many of the inhabitants of the old world, although they might be suffering oppres- sion, persecution, and poverty, required some assur- ances and inducements to bring them to the wilds of 1655.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. I3 America other than the mere escape from the evils under which they labored. Writers were, consequently, well disposed to adopt exaggerated statements, or draw upon their imaginations for facts, that might people the coun- try with those who looked for an increase of prosperity and happiness. Every thing was made to wear the brightest aspect ; advantages were magnified, and evils slightly touched upon, or placed entirely out of view ; the sober truths of reality affording frequently but a slight foundation for the massive superstructures built upon them. " If there be any terrestrial happiness," says one, " to be had by any people, especially of an inferior rank, it must certainly be here." And he expatiates upon the abundance of land, and the ease with which it can be obtained.^^ Another describes the country as " full of stately oaks, whose broad-branched tops serve for no other use but to keep off the sun's heat from the wild beasts of the wilderness: where is grass as high as a man's middle, which serves for no other end except to maintain the elks and deer, who never devour a hun- dredth part of it, then to be burnt every spring to make way for more. How many poor people in the world would think themselves happy had they an acre or two of land, whilst here is hundreds, nay, thousands of acres that would invite inhabitants." The woods are repre- sented as " furnished with fresh ponds, brooks, or rivers, where all sorts of cattle, during the heat of the day, do quench their thirst and cool themselves ;" their surface being overshadowed by intermingling boughs and ten- drils of trees and vines that ornamented their banks. '^ Quoted in Ogilby's America, p. illustrates the character of these de- 182, without credit, from Denton's New scriptions, it is given entire in Note A, York, 1670. As the extract very well appended to this volume. 14 DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. [1668. All kinds of wild beasts and fowl abounded, and ac- counts are given of some of them, rivalling the fabulous tales of antiquity. Man had an interest in them all, for he could hunt them at pleasure, and furnish his house with " excellent fat venison, turkies, geese, heath-hens, cranes, swans, ducks, pigeons, and the like;" and when wearied with hunting, he might supply himself with an equal abundance of fish. Want and sickness were un- known. Several kinds of fruits introduced from Europe are said to thrive better than in their native soil ; and the wild fruits of the country were in great profusion.-'' New Albion is said to be " scituate in the best and same temper, and as Italy, between too cold Germany and too hot Barbary : so, this lying just midw ay between New England, 200 miles North, and Virginia, 150 miles South, is freed from the extreme cold and barrennesse of the one, and heat and aguish Marshes of the other, and is like Lombardy, and a rich, fat soil, plain, and having 34 rivers on the main land, 17 great Isles, and partaketh of the healthiest aire and most excellent commodities of Europe." Some of these are specified, such as ship timber of different kinds, mulberries, sweet cypress, and other woods, four sorts of grapes, and "the greatest va- riety of choice fruits;" among those enumerated being "wild cherries, pine apples (or some fruit which they chose thus to designate), and "the dainty parsimenas" [persimmon]. The country is said to be stored with all kinds of corn, silk-grass, salt, good wines, and dyers' ware ; the uplands being covered many months with berries, roots, chcsnuts and walnuts ; and the " many '" Ogilby, 180-182. Part of the language, however, is that of Denton's, who was evidently Ogilby 's authority. 1670.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY. 15 fair risiii2;s and prospects all green and verdant," arc dwelt upon in the true spirit of a lover of nature."' Staten Island is said to " contain tin, and store of iron ore, and the calamine stone." " On the north side of this island," says Ogilby, ^^ after Skull River-^ puts into the main land, on the west side w4iereof there are two or three towns, but on the east side but one.^^ There are very great marshes or meadows on both sides of it, excellent good land, and good convenience for the settling of several towns. There grows black walnut and locust as there doth in Virginia, with mighty tall straight timber, as good as in the north of America." " Both sides of the Raritan," it is said, " are adorned with spacious meadows, enough to feed thousands of cattle. The woodland is very good for corn, and stored with wild beasts, as deer, elks, and an innumerable mul- titude of fowl, as in other parts of the country. This river is thought very capable for the erecting of several towns and villages on each side of it ; no place in the north of America having better convenience for the main- taining of all sorts of cattle for winter and summer food. Upon this river is no town settled, only one at the mouth of it; but next to it westward [eastw^ard .'^], is a place ^^Descriptionof New Albion (reprint), for the same reason, probably, that the p. 20. towns were so called, and not as a dis- ^^ The towns in New Jersey, when tinctive appellation. The name, cor- referred to in the Dutch Records, are rupted to " Arthur KuU," is now borne designated as " Achter Kol," translated by the sound between New Jersey and by Vandcrkemp, " Behind Kol" or back Staten Island. of the kill separating Staten Island from ^^ Ogilby's book was printed in 1671 ; the main land. The river referred to by these towns may have been Netcark and Ogilby is presumed to be the brook divid- Elizabetfitown, on the west, and .Ber- ing the townships of Newark and Eliza- gen, on the east. The one afterwards bethtown, or the Passaic ; for on refer- mentioned, as at the mouth of the Rari- ence to the early maps of the country, a tan river, was probably Woodhridgp. stream so situated is called "Achter Kol," 16 SETTLEMENT OF BERGEN. [1618. called Newasons,^° where are two or three towns and vil- lages settled upon the sea-side, but none betwixt that and Delaware bay, which is about sixty miles ; all which is a rich champagne country, free from stones and indifferent level, having store of excellent good timber, and very well watered, having brooks or rivers, ordinarily one or more, in every mile's travel. This country is peopled only with wild beasts, as deer, elks, bears, and other creatures, so that in a whole day's journey, you shall meet with no inhabitants except a few Indians." These are represented as exceedingly hospitable ; affording the traveller the best entertainment in their power.^^ Plantations on the western side of the bay were soon established, after the settlement of the Dutch at New Amsterdam. The first village was Bergen, commenced about the year 1618 ; but for some time thereafter pro- bably a mere trading-place for the Indians The village was formed of the houses of the surrounding planters, placed near each other for mutual protection, while their farms were scattered through the adjoining country.^- Still, in that section of the state are numerous descend- ants of the race that thus first entered upon the culti- vation of the wilderness, occupying the same grounds, ^^ Newasons, intended, probably, for jecture, as asserted by Bancroft. The Navesink : and the settlements, the em- village received its first sheriff in 1661 ; bryo towns of Shrewsbury, Middletown, and a " Subaltern Bench of Justice" was &,c. then established, composed of that office ^' Denton's Description of New York, and two schepins. Steps were taken 1670. that year also for the erection of a saw 3' Moulton's N. Y., Part l,p.347, and Jtiill ; and in 1662, a well was ordered note. Smith's N. J. p. 61 ; a few Nor- to be dug, and 417 guilders subscribed to wegians or Danes are thought by Smith wards the erection of a church. In 166 to have been concerned with the Dutch a blockhouse was ordered to be built in the original settlement : the name of Albany Records, Vol. XIX, 273,275, to Bergen being derived from the capital of 282, 370. Vol. XX. pp. 50, 280. Vol Norway; but this may have been con- XXII. 1630.] PAVONIA. 17 and possessing many of the peculiarities of habits and character which marked their ancestors. To excite individual enterprise and induce emigration to the New Netherlands, the West India Company made grants of large tracts of land to such persons as would stipulate to establish colonies upon them within a certain time. Among these " Patroons," as they were styled, was Michael Pauw,^^ who purchased Matanucke, now Staten Island, from the Indians, by deed, dated August 10th, 1630,^^ and also secured an interest, subse- quently, in the lands along the western shore of the bay ; a tract, which from him took the name of Pavonia at an early period, but by which it has long ceased to be dis- tinguished.^^ From the position assigned to it in the '^ Dunlap.in hisHist. of N. York, sug- gests that the little village " Communi- paw," on New York bay, which retains many of the primitive characteristics of the Dutch, may have owed its name to the junction of the words Commune and PauiD — indicating the commune or com- munity established by the patroon ; but the word is more probably an Indian one, for in the East Jersey Records, when first noticed, the place is called " Gamoune- pan," and " Comounepan." The ter- mination pau is probably of modern origin. '* Elizabelhtown Bill in Chancery, 5. Moulton, [Vol. I. p. 402,] quoting " Dutch Records, Book G. G.," says this deed was dated July 15th, 1631. The Bill in Chancery quotes " Dutch Re- cords, A, p. 6." Probably the date given by Moulton is that. of the confirmation of the purchase by the Director-General and Council. The island, however, must aeon have reverted to the Company, or the purchase have been made for them ; for De Vries, in his Journal, under date of Aug. 13th, 1636, says, " I requested Wouter Van Twiller to put down Stafen Island to my name, intending to found a colony there, which was granted." He founded the colony in January, 1639 ; but in September, 1641, his people were kill- ed by the Indians, and the settlement broken up. Schoolcraft gives Manock- nong as the true Indian name of Staten Island. *5 Moulton [p. 402, Vol. T.] quoting the same authority as above, gives as the limits of this grant, " Ahasimus, and the island Hoeren Hoeck, stretching along the river Mauritius and island Manhatas on the east side, and the island Hohoken Hackingh on the north side, surrounded by marshes, serving sufficiently for dis- tinct boundaries." This was in 1640. De Vries asserts [N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Ser. Vol. I.] that the reason for Pauw's selection of this tract, was the like ap- propriation by other patroons of the lands around Fort Orange. It is doubtful, how- IQ PAULUS HOOK. [1650. oldest maps, it was probably the appellation of a large district, including the settlement at Bergen. Although thus early selected for plantations, there does not appear to have been any extensive cultivation of the soil or ma- terial addition to the number of the colonists immediately consequent thereupon. On the contrary, when William Kieft arrived in 1638, as Director-General of the Com- pany's interests, he found many of the farms and settle- ments far from being in a flourishing condition f^ and such is presumed to have been peculiarly the case with those west of the bay, although afterward they seem to have attracted more attention and secured a greater amount of the colonists' care. Soon after Kieft's arrival we find him in possession of a farm described as " a lot of land called Paulus Hoeck, situated to the west of the island of Manhattan, east from Ahaslmus on the North river, to the valley which borders on it" — which he subsequently sells to Abraham Isaacsen Plank for a sum equal to seventy-five pounds sterling.^^ This is the first application of the name Paulus Hoeck to the peninsula which is so desig- nated at the present day, with a slight alteration in the orthography. The Indian name was Arissheck. On ever, if his title to this tract was ever derives Pavonia from " Pavo," the La- fully established : he does not appear to tin for Panw ; meaning peacock, have improved it ; and in 1638 we find "^New York Hist. Coll., 2d Ser. Vol. a portion of it in possession of Gov. Van I. 279. Twiller, and in 1659 the whole country, ^7 fj^jg g^jg y,^^ confirmed by Gov. through to the Hackinsack. Moulton Carteret in a grant to Plank, May 20, says [Vol. I. p. 420] it reverted to the 1668, E. J. Records, B. 36. Dunlap'sN. Company either by concession or com- Y., I. 59. It was in Plank's possession pulsion. In 1633, De Vries mentions his in 1643, as in that year he transferred it going to Pavonia, and being well received to two individuals as security for bail by an officer of the Company ; showing entered for him. Albany Records, Vol. the existence of some kind of a settle. HI. ment there at that time. Mr. Folsom 1651.] HERMAN'S PURCHASE. I9 the 11th May, 1647, Marjn Adrianse received a grant for a tract of land called Weehawken.^^ On the 5th of August, 1650, the lands " at the south side in the bay of the North river" were purchased of the Indians in behalf of Heer Lubertus Vandinclage, Deputy Director of the New Netherlands, by the deliv- ery of sundry goods valued at 193 guilders ;^^ and the following year (December 6, 1651), Augustine Herman purchased a vast tract, which included all the land from " the mouth of the Raritan Creek westerly up unto a creek, Mankackkewachky,'^^ which runs Northwest up into the country, and then from the Raritan Creek aforesaid northerly up along the River behind States Isle, unto the Creek, namely, from the Raritan Point, called Ompoge,'^^ unto Pechciesse,'^^ the aforesaid creek, and so the said creek Pechciesse up to the very head of it, and from thence direct westerly thorowe the Land untill it meets with the aforesaid Creek and Meadow Ground called Mankackkewachky aforesaid." Subsequently Herman '" This was confirmed by Carteret, ^"^ The creek Pechciesse was thought April 18, 1670. to have been the Passaic river, but fol- ^ E. J. Records, B. 7. The articles lowing that river would include a much were as follows : — greater quantity of land than the In- " First of good Stringed Warn- dians intended to grant. It was one of pen, - - . gl. 98.15 the points of controversy in the Eliza- Eleven Ells of Duffield, at 4 gl. 44 bethtown suit in chancery. It was ac- 5 hatchets at 2 g. 10 st. a ps. 12.10 knowledged that the natives did not 21 1 lbs. of kettles, at 30 stiv. 52.05 intend to sell beyond the " Minisink 4 skifs, at 10 sts., - - 2.00 Path," which crossed the Raritan three For bread, Indian Corn, and or four miles above Amboy, pursuing a other small matters, 4.00 northwesterly course towards Minisink island, in the Delaware river, near the A c iccn,. ' northwestterminationof the State. See Aug. 5, 1650." .a iiri. » , J ,, r. ■ Stair's Bill. Letter from a Gentleman *" What are now termed " Rantan _ n . -MI 1 „ in New Brunswick to his Friend in Eli- Great Meadows. « t^ t ti -, rri, ■ ■ c .^ /I 7 zabethtown, folio, 1752. E. J. Re- *' 1 he ongm oi the name Jimho, whence the modern Amboy is derived. ' v- 20 SETTLEMENTS WEST OF NEW YORK BAY. [1659. also purchased a tract of land called " Kehackanick wa- konaback," on the south side of the Raritan, " opposite to Staten Island ;"^^ but there is no evidence of any set- tlement by him of either of these tracts. Herman re- moved from New York to some place on the Delaware, where he died."** The several plantations that had been located on the western side of the bay, at " Gemeenepan " were aban- doned about the close of 1651, and not until 1661 were they re-peopled. Lots of ground were then ordered to be laid out, and a ferry to New Amsterdam was established.*^ In the mean time (January 30th, 1658-9), the Indians had sold to " the noble Lord Director General, Pieter Stuyvesant, and Council of New Netherlandt," a tract lying on the west side of the North river, " beginning from the great Clip above Wiehachan and from there right thorough the land until above the Island Sikakes,"*^ and therefrom thence to the Kill Van Coll, and so alongdt to the Constable's hoeck,*^ and from the Constable's hoeck again to the aforesaid Clip above Wiehachan."*^ *' E. J. Records, B. 6. On 16lh Nov. which grew well, and yielded much." 1666, Governor Carteret gave him per- Casparus Herman was member of the mission to manure and possess this tract, Pennsylvania Assembly, from New Cas- " provided he makes good his purchase tie, in 1683 and 1684. from the Indians." *' Albany Records, XIV. 27 ; XIX. ** Answer to Stair's Bill, 8. The 35, 36, 437 ; XXIV, 398. In 1662 the same authority states that Herman had ferryman complained that the authorities several sons, and one of them, Ephraim, of Bergen had authorized the inhabitants held several offices in Delaware under to " ferry themselves over whenever they the English government. He was " a pleased," to the great detriment of his man of note," as well as his brother monopoly. Casparus, and they " had divers tracts *^ Now Secaucus, a ridge of upland of land granted to them." Vanderdonck having Snake hill at its southern termi- says, "Augustine Heerman, who is a cu- nation; called an island still, from its rious man, and i lover of the country, being surrounded by salt meadows, made an experiment near New Amster- '*^ Now Bergen Point, dam, where he planted Indigo seed, *^ These are the bounds as given in 1663.] SETTLEMENTS WEST OF NEW YORK BAY. oi These bounds, it will be observed, include all the lands sold to Michael Pauw in 1630 : from which it is ars^ued, that before this, his title had reverted to the West India Company ; which, by this deed, increased its interest by the addition of new lands to those already held. In consideration for this tract, which extended from the Hackensack to the North river, the Indians received from their white neighbours, 80 fathoms of wampum, 20 fathoms of cloth, 12 brass kettles, 6 guns, 2 blankets, 1 double brass kettle, and 1 half-barrel of strong beer ; and they agreed to remove the first opportunity. A com- pensation sufficiently trifling under any circumstances ; but considering that Bergen had been settled more than twenty years, it is remarkable that intercourse with the traders had not rendered the natives less liable to be captivated by the articles used in traffic with them, and more observant of the value set upon them by the whites in comparison with the lands they coveted. On 5th February, 1663, Nicholas Verlett received a grant from Gov. Stuyvesant for a tract called Hobuk. The grants and j^urchases which have been here enumerated, appear to be all that were included within the present limits of East Jersey, made prior to the sur- render of the New Netherlands to the English."*^ These, it will be observed, were confined exclusively to the Dutch ; for so long as the country remained under their E. J. Records, Lib. L p. 3. In Van- tinued to be occupied notwithstanding derkemp's translation in the Albany the difficulties with the Indians, and Records, XIV. p. 82, we have " Kill 0/ other impediments. Persons are men- the Col," "Con Staples' Corner" (probably tioiied as of " Aquackenack," in 1 640. the name of some individual there set- *^ The Albany Records (Vol. VIII. tied), and the word " Rock" instead of p. 27) contain a letter from the Heer Clip. There had been sites selected for Werkhoven to Baron Vander Capellen, plantations in various quarters of this stating that the lands about Neversink tract, and some of them may have con- and Raritan's Kill had been purchased 22 DISSENSIONS WITH CONNECTICUT. [1663. domination, obstacles were thrown in the way of settle- ment by others ; applications for land from residents in New England not being granted upon the desired terms,^" and even an inspection of the soil and intercourse with the natives objected to.^^ The claim of England to nearly the whole continent of America, by virtue of Cabot's discoveries, although preferred on grounds which, according to the theories then prevailing, gave her a sufficient title, had long remained dormant ; so that the occupancy of the Dutch had be- come firmly established. The settlers of New England, however, commenced at an early period to make en- croachments upon lands conceived to be within the limits of New Netherlands, and to assert their right to the soil, leading to various disputes and negotiations. The cool- ness and pertinacity of their neighbours of New Amster- dam added to their animosity, and they finally applied to the Government at home for its interference and as- sistance. No efficient results were produced by applica- tions to the Protector Cromwell or his brother Richard ; but Charles II., entertaining a strong dislike to the Dutch, was easily induced to countenance the complaints of his North American subjects, and although at peace with the States-General, to enforce his right to the pro- vince of New Netherlands.^^ To carry out this purpose, on the 12th of March, 1663-4,^ a charter was granted to His Royal Highness, for him in 1649, and complaining that a party of English exploring the Rari- theyhadnot been allotted to him. There tan; which, having never been printed, is no proof that it was ever done. is given at length in Note B. «> See Note D. ^^ Gordon's New Jersey, 20. Dun- *' The Albany Records [Vol. XXI. lap's New York, I. chap. 6. p. 431] contain an account of a " voy- ^' N. Jersey Grants and Concessions, age to Navesink" in 16G3, to look after Smith's New York. Douglas' Summary, 1664.1 GRANT TO THE DUKE OF YORK. 23 James, Duke of York and Albany, Charles' brother, for all the lands lying between the western side of Con- necticut river, and the east side of Delaware bay, inclu- ding Long Island, Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and the islands in their vicinity : — and in April, a fleet was de- spatched, consisting of two vessels of fifty guns each, and one of forty guns, having on board 600 soldiers, besides a full complement of sailors, to put the duke in posses- sion by ejecting the Dutch. This was done without difficulty, for they w ere little prepared in a time of peace to resist such a hostile force. The expedition was commanded by Colonel Richard Nicholls, upon whom the government of the province had been conferred by the Duke of York, and he ar- rived at New Amsterdam on the 28th of August. The surrender took place on September 3d, — the fort became Fort James, and the province, New York, On the 24th, Fort Orange surrendered; the name of Albany, the duke's Scottish title, was conferred upon it; and early in October, the settlements on the Delaware capitulated to Sir Robert Carr, who, with two vessels, had proceeded thither from New York.^^ The terms granted the Dutch were so favourable that they generally remained and be- came subjects of Great Britain ; a circumstance to which may be attributed the existence in New York and New- Jersey at the present day, of a large number of families tracing their descent from a Dutch ancestry. &c. Smith's New Jersey, followed by planters, so that the small garrison in Gordon's New Jersey, gives the 20th as the fort was left without external aid., the date ; but that is an error. Some resistance was made, nevertheless, ** Smith's New York. Smith's New and thirteen of their number wounded > Jersey, 35. Dunlap's New York, I. before they capitulated. See Carr's let- 115. Carr, very wisely, first treated ter in New York Colonial Records, un- with the Swedes, and then with the Dutch der date of 13th October, 1664. 24 INDIANS. [1667. This violent seizure of the New Netherlands, as might have been expected, and probably hoped for by Charles, brought on a war with Holland ; but by the treaty of Breda, in 1667, peace was restored, and the possession of New York confirmed to the English. Although the Hollanders had, as the pioneers of civilization, done much to develope the resources and advantages of East Jersey, yet their occupation of the country during the long period of fifty years does not appear to have resulted in any thing like a proportion- ate cultivation of the soil or increase of population. This was owing, probably, in the main to a want of systematic energy, perseverance, and unity of action in the chief men of the province ; but another reason may be found in the collisions with the Indians, which have been incidentally mentioned. It is stated in a publication bearing date 1648, that the natives in this section of the continent were under the dominion of about twenty kings ; that there were ' twelve hundred under the two Raritan kings on the north side next to Hudson's river, and those came down to the ocean about little Egg-bay and Sandy Barnegate ; and about the South Cape two small kings, of forty men apiece, and a third reduced to fourteen men at Rey- mont.'^^ So that there were probably not more than two ** Description of New Albion, orig. entrance, easily made invincible, where edit., p. 22. The seat of the Raritan he keeps two hundred for his guards, king is said to have been called by the and under is a flat valley, all plain to English Mount Ployden, "twenty miles plant and sow." The writer is at a loss from Sandhay Sea, and ninety from to locate this " mount" and " retired the ocean, next to Amara hill, the re- paradise," if such actually existed, save tired paradise of the children of the in the imagination of "Beauchamp Pian- Ethiopean emperor ; a wonder, for it is tagenet, Esq.," as he knows of no place a square rock two miles compass, 150 answering the description, feet high, a wall-like precipice, a strait 1640.] INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 05 thousand within the province while it was under the domination of the Dutch. On early maps of New Jer- sey, an Indian path is designated running from the mouth of Shrewsbury river in a northwesterly direction, crossing the Raritan a little to the westward of Amboy, and thence in a northerly direction to Minisink island in the Delaware river, near the northern boundary of the State : this was probably their great thoroughfare. The Sanhi- cans, the deadly enemies of the Manhatae, but whom De Laet characterizes as a better and more decent peo- ple, inhabited that part of the province lying west of Staten Island, and farther south were the Naraticongs, Maravancons, and other branches of the great Delaware tribe. Of a peaceable disposition, excepting when exaspe- rated by the exactions or oppression of their white neighbours, the dangers and outrages which attended the colonization of some parts of the country, were here experienced in a much less degree. The first attack upon the Hollanders appears to have occurred on the Delaware in 1630, and was as unexpected as it was disastrous ; thirty-two of the settlers being murdered in revenge for the death of a chief, who fell a victim to the desire of some of his own race to propitiate the v^^hites for a trifling offence he had committed. ^^ In East Jersey the greatest harmony seems to have picvailed until, by the misconduct of the colonists, the anger of the natives was aroused. In 1640 an expedi- tion fitted out against those on the Raritan, — accused, though wrongfully, of having committed thefts and other trespasses — caused the maltreatment of some of the lead- *8 De Vries, N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Ser. Vol. I. pp. 251, 266. Gordon's N. J. p. 9- 26 INDIAN HOSTILITIES. [1643. ing chiefs, and led the following year to retaliatory mea- sures upon the settlers of Staten Island, who were killed, and their plantations broken up.^"^ This matter, in conjunction with other murders committed by indi viduals, and the refusal or inability on the part of the Indians to secure the offenders, brought on general hostilities. The authorities of New Amsterdam, emulating the craft of their opponents, or fearful of creating too power- ful a combination among the natives, assiduously kept from them every intimation of the evil that was brewing ; and directed that the " kind intercourse and the trade in corn should be continued with them as before, till God's will and proper opportunity is offered. "^^ This opportu- nity came early in 1643. The Indians in the vicinity of Fort Orange (Albany), having commenced a war with their more southern brethren, Governor Kieft joined them ; and on the night of the 25th of February, a detach- ment of troops was sent over to Pavonia, and eighty In- dians were murdered in their sleep or in attempting to escape. " This was the feat," says De Vries, alluding to a remark which had been previously made by the go- vernor in relation to it, " worthy of the heroes of old Rome — to massacre a parcel of Indians in their sleep, to take the children from the breasts of their mothers, and to butcher them in the presence of their parents, and throw their mangled limbs into the fire or water ! Other sucklings had been fastened to little boards, and in this position they were cut in pieces ! Some were thrown into the river, and when the parents rushed in to save them, the soldiers prevented their landing, and let pa- " N. Y. Hist. Coll. Vol. I. pp. 263- ^^ N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Ser. Vol. I. 264. p. 277. 1643.1 INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 27 rents and children drown." As the orders given to the officer commanding the expedition, as they appear on record, were " to spare as much as it is possible their wives and children, and to take the savages prisoners, "^^ we might attribute this cruelty entirely to the excited passions of the men, were we not told that for these ser- vices they were rewarded ; and that " the same night forty Indians were attacked in their sleep and murdered at Corlaer's Hook and at Corlaer's plantation."*'" Such a warfare could not fail to exasperate the natives, and so soon as they became aware that these massacres were by the whites, (for, from the secrecy observed, and the darkness of the night, they thought they had been at- tacked by their enemies, the Maquas,) they murdered in the country all the men they could find ; but, more hu- mane than their civilized opponents, spared the women and children. Houses and barns, grain and hay, were destroyed, and war waged for some days. In March, a a peace was concluded ; but the terms of the pacification were inadequate to remove from the minds of the In- dians the recollection of the grievous injuries sustained in the loss of fathers, mothers, children, relatives and friends, and consequently an opportunity was taken to renew the war by the capture of a guard of soldiers, and the destruction of the houses at Pavonia in October following.^^ The conflicts were of a more serious char- acter thereafter, and hostilities continued for some months. In March, the authorities of New Amsterdam proclaimed a solemn fast, to deprecate the anger of Je- °' N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2J Ser. Vol. I. p. only member of the council opposed to 278. this warfare against the Indians. «» De Vries in N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d " N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2d Ser. Vol. I. Ser. Vol. I. p. 269. De Vries was the p. 272. 28 VANDERDONCKS MAP. [1656. liovah, and in the course of the following year, peace was permanently restored ; giving the good burghers, who had fasted, an occasion also to rejoice on a day of public thanksgiving and praise, which was set apart for the purpose.*'- The collisions which subsequently en- sued, between this and the subjugation of the province by the English, were of less consequence, although they interfered materially with the comfort of the out-settlers.^^ As long as such was the case, we may not wonder at the slow progress made by the settlements in East Jersey. The Map facing the title, is from Vanderdonck's Map of the Ncav Netherlands (1656), which was the foundation of Ogilby's map (1671), and others published subsequently. Moulton, quoting Du Sumitiere in the Philadelphia Library, states that the first improved map of the New Netherlands was by Nicholas J. Vischer, published in Amsterdam an- terior to the appearance of Vanderdonck's. The State of New York, through her historical agent, has recently secured fac-similes of two very early maps ; one, giving a representation of the country bordering upon Hudson's river as known only a few years after the visit of its discov- erer, is represented ro be remarkably accurate ; the other is descriptive of the coast from Nova Scotia to the Capes of Virginia.^^ Trusting to these early delineations as giving the true courses of riv- ers, positions of settlements, and other localities, the old writers upon America formed their opinions, and gave their descriptions accordingly ; not having always the advantage of personal examination to test their ^' N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2J Ser. Vol. I. p. had twenty children in their possession, 278. for the recovery of whom, negotiations " The abandonment of the planta- were then pending. Albany Records, tions at Communipau in 1651, has been Vol. XL p. 325. Verlett at this time noticed ; and in 1656, Nicholas Verlett, also asks permission to transport to New of Hoboken, asks permission for si. x or Amsterdam from Hoboken a frame house eight soldiers for his defence ; but his re- which he had sold Michael Jansen for quest was denied for fear of a collision 230 guilders. with the Indians, who already, it is said' *■* Brodhead's Address, 16-18. I 1656.] VANDERDONCK'S MAP. 29 accuracy. Consequently topographical errors of great magnitude exist in some works, casting a shade of doubt over other portions which are deserving of credit. For example, Oldmixon says : " The river Esopus, between this province [New Jersey] and New York, flows into Hudson's river near Kingston ;" and Wynne, in his History, says : " West Jersey has an easy communication by the river Esopus with New York.''^ In- comprehensible statements, until we examine these early maps, on which we find that the Esopus river is represented as connecting the Delaware with the Hudson, affording an uninterrupted water communication. These instances exemplify sufficiently the service such maps are calcu- lated to render to those engaged in historical researches. PERIOD II. PROM THE SURRENDER OF THE COUNTRY TO THE ENGLISH, UNTIL THE SALE TO THE TWENTY-FOUR PROPRIETARIES. 1664—1682. Before the Duke of York was actually in possession of his easily acquired territory, on the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of June, 1664, he executed deeds of lease and release to Lord John Berkeley, Baron of Stratton, and Sir George Carteret, of Saltrum in Devon,^ granting to ' Sir John Berkeley commanded the army against the Scots in 1638, and was knighted at Berwick in that year. He bore a conspicuous part in the civil wars that followed, supporting the royal cause. He remained in exile with the royal family, in 1652 was placed at the head of the Duke of York's establish- ment, and in 1658 was raised to the peerage by the exiled monarch, as Baron Berkeley of Stratton, in the county of Somerset — the scene of one of his military triumphs. On the restoration, he be- came one of the privy council, and to- wards the close of 1669, lord lieutenant of Ireland. In 1675, he was appointed ambassador-extraordinary to Versailles, and died August twenty-eighth, 1678. Sir George Carteret had been a naval officer of high reputation, and, through the influence of the Duke of Bucking- ham, was appointed by Charles I. joint- governor of the Island of Jersey, and on the breaking out of the civil war, held the office of comptroller of the navy. He was much esteemed by all parties, and might have been a vice admiral un- der the parliament, had he not declined the appointment by the express com- mand of the king Having retired from the navy, he withdrew, with his family, to Jersey, but, subsequently, returned to aid the prospects of the royalists. He was created a baronet, May 9th, 1645. He again went back to his government in Jersey, and there, on the ruin of the royal cause, afforded an asylum to the Prince of Wales, and other refugees of distinction. After this, he defended the island in the most gallant manner against 1664.1 GRANT TO LORD BERKELEY AND CARTERET. 31 tliein, their heirs and assigns, all that portion of his tract " lying and being to the westward of Long Island and Manhitas Island, and bounded on the east part by the main sea, and part by Hudson's river, and hath upon the west, Delaware bay or river, and extending southward to the main ocean as far as Cape May, at the mouth of Delaware bay; and to the northward, as far as the northernmost branch of the said bay or river of Dela- ware, which is forty-one degrees and forty minutes of latitude, and crosseth over thence in a strait line to Hudson's river, in forty-one degrees of latitude ; which said tract of land is hereafter to be called by the name or names of New CcBsarea^ or New Jersey. '^''^ The name of " Caesarea" was conferred upon the tract in the Parliamentarians, as an ancestor had done before him against the French in 1374, and ultimately surrendered at the command of Charles IL Elizabeth cas- tle, on the Island of Jersey, under Sir George, being the last fortress that low- ered the royal banner. At the restora- lion, Sir George formed one of the im- mediate train of the restored monarch on his triumphant entry into London ; and the next day he was sworn of the privy council. He was also declared vice chamber- lain, and in 1669, was expelled the House of Commons for misconduct in that capacity. He was also, at one time, treasurer of the navy. The following singular circumstance, connected with his trial, is given in Andrew Marvell's Letters, pp. 125, 126, London, 1832. On the question of Sir George's embezzle- ment of the public money, the house dividing, " the ayes went out, and won- dered why they were kept out so extra- ordinary a time ; the ayes proved 138, and the noes 129 ; and the reason of the long stay then appeared ! The tellers for the ayes chanced to be very ill reck- oners, so that they were forced to tell several times over in the house ; and, when, at last, the tellers for the ayes would have agreed the noes to be 142, the noes would needs say they were 143 5 whereupon those for the ayes would tell once more, and then found the noes to be indeed but 129, and the ayes, then coming in, proved to be 138 ; whereas, if the noes had been content with the first error of the tellers, Sir George had been quit." He was afterwards returned to parliament by the corporation of Ports- mouth. He married Elizabeth, daughter of SirPhilip Carteret, of St. Oven. Both Carteret and Berkeley were already pro- prietors of Carolina. * New Jersey Grants and Concessions, p. 10. The original lease and release, are in the Rutherfurd collection of ori- ginal papers. 32 GRANT TO LORD BERKELEY AND CARTERET. [1664. commemoration of the gallant defence of the Island of Jersey, in 1649, by Sir George Carteret, then its gover- nor, against the Parliamentarians ; but the people pre- ferred the English name of Neio Jersey, and the other was consequently soon lost. The grant of the Duke of York from the crown,^ conferred upon him, his heirs and assigns, among other rights appertaining thereto, that most important one of government ; the power of hearing and determining ap- peals being reserved to the king ; but, " relying," says Chalmers, " on the greatness of his connection, he seems to have been little solicitous to procure the royal privi- leges conferred on the proprietors of Maryland and Ca- rolina," whose charters conferred almost unlimited au- thority. " And while as counts-palatine they exercised every act of government in their own names, because they were invested with the ample powers possessed by the praetors of the Roman provinces, he ruled his terri- tory in the name of the king."^ In the transfer to Berkeley and Carteret, they, their heirs and assigns, were invested with all the powers conferred upon the duke, " in as full and ample manner" as he himself possessed them ; including, as was conceived, the right of govern- ment, although not expressly designated : thus transfer- ring, with the land, the allegiance and obedience of the inhabitants, in a way little in accordance with modern ideas of what constitute the just rights of mankind ; par- ticularly so, as the proprietaries seem to have regarded this assignment of government more as an absolute grant, uncontrollable by superior authority, rather than an in- vestiture of power, for the exercise of which they were to be held responsible. ^ N. J. Grants and Concessions, p. 3. ■* Chalmers' Annals, 613. 1565.1 '^^^ CONCESSIONS. 33 Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, now sole proprietors of New Jersey, on the 10th February 1664,^ signed a constitution, which they made public under the title of " The Concessions and agreement of the Lords Proprietors of New Jersey, to and with all and every of the adventurers, and all such as shall settle and plant there." This document must ever possess great interest in the estimation of the citizens of New Jersey, contain- ing, as it does, the germ of those republican principles for which the state has ever been distinguished, and of many of the institutions which exist to the present time. " The Concessions," as this paper was generally called, were always looked to with respect by the peo- ple, being regarded as the great charter of their liberties, sacred and irrevocable, and therefore, of higher authority than the acts of their assembly, which were subject to repeal and alteration.® The government of the province was confided to a governor, and a council of advice and consent, of not less than six, nor more than twelve, to be chosen by the governor ; and an assembly of twelve representatives, to be chosen annually by the freemen of the province. The governor and council were invested with power to nomi- nate, commission, and remove all officers, — freeholders alone to be appointed to office, unless by consent of the assembly, — and to exercise a general supervision over all courts and the executors of the laws. They were to direct the manner of laying out the lands, and ^ Gordon, copying Grahame's first menced with March, and that, conse- edition, pronounces this date " erro- quently, Pe6n/ary, 1664, instead of ^re- neous, unless we suppose the instrument ceding, was eleven inonths subsequent was prepared before the charter from the to the date of the duke's grant. King," forgetting that the year then com- * Chalmers' Annals, p. C15. 34 THE CONCESSIONS. [1665 were not to impose, nor suffer to be imposed, any tax upon the people not authorized by the general assembly. The assembly were authorized to pass laws for the good government of the province, which, with the appro- bation of the governor, were to remain in force for one year,'' within which time, they were to be submitted for the approval of the lords-proprietors ; to levy taxes, to create ports, to build forts, to raise militia, suppress rebellion, and make war, to naturalize strangers, and to apportion lands to settlers. Should occasion require, communications could be made by the representatives, touching the conduct of the governor and council or any other grievance, directly to the lords-proprietors. To encourage planters, every freeman who should embark with the first governor, or meet him on his arrival, pro- vided with a " good musket, bore twelve bullets to the pound, with bandeliers and match convenient, and with six months' provisions for himself," was promised one hundred and fifty acres of land, and the like number for every man-servant or slave, brought with hiin, provided with the same necessaries. To females over the age of fourteen, seventy-five acres were promised, and a similar number to every Christian servant, at the expiration of his or her term of service. Those going before the first of January, 1665-6, were to receive one hundred and twenty acres, if master, mistress, or able man-servant or slave ; and weaker servants, male or female, sixty acres. Those going during the third year, three-fourths, and during the Iburth year, one-half of these quantities.^ ^ In the governor's instructions, this After approval, their duration was un- time was extended to one year and a limited, except by their own provisions, half. But the laws were required to be ** When we consider what public sen- transmitted within the year for approval, timent was, at the time, in relation to 1665.1 THE CONCESSIONS. 35 111 the laying out of towns and boroughs, the lands were to be divided into seven parts, one of which the pro[)rietaries reserved for themselves, the remainder was to be divided among the settlers thereon. For the lands thus granted, a yearly quit rent was to be paid, of not less than one half penny per acre ; the payment of which, however, was not to commence before the year 1670. Each parish was to receive two hundred acres for the use of its ministers. Liberty of conscience was guarantied to all becoming subjects of England, swearing allegiance to the king and faithfulness to the lords-proprietors, provided that liberty was not used " to licentiousness, to the civil injury, or outward disturbance of others ;" and the assembly of the province was authorized to ap- point as many ministers as they should think fit, and provide for their maintenance : — permission being given, at the same time, to any person or persons, to keep and maintain such ministers as they might prefer. Such slavery, there seems lo be unauthorized serviency to the duke's interest in the harshness in the rebuke of Lords Berke- African Company, was less their object ley and Carteret, in Bancroft's Hist. U. than the rapid translation of settlers and S., Vol. II. p. 316, ninth edit., where he laborers to their province. The grants says they, " more true to the prince" of land promised to such servants or [the Duke of York, President of the slaves as should embark with the gover- Royal African Co.] " than to humanity, nor, certainly could not have applied to offered a bounty of seventy-five acres such of the latter as were not then ac- for the importation of each able slave ;" tually held to service in England or particularly so, as by separating this Scotland ; and there is nothing to prove bounty from the others in the conces- that the grants for subsequent years had sions, an erroneous impression is con- reference to any other, but rather the re- veyed ; the proprietors being impliedly verse. Whether any slaves were ac- charged with encouraging a direct traffic tually brought to New Jersey under the in slaves. But that such was their inten- concessions is uncertain, but if so, they tion is very doubtful. The decrease in must have been few in number, and pro- the quantity of land, to those going after bably.none were directly imported from the first year, is an indication that sub- Africa for some years thereafter. 36 PHILIP CARTERET APPOINTED GOVERNOR. [16G5. were the principal provisions of the fundamental consti- tution of the province.^ On the same day that this instrument was signed, Philip Carteret, a brother to Sir George, received a commission as governor of New Jersey, and instructions relative to the administration of the office. ^° Prepara- tions were immediately made for his departure with all such as were willing to accompany him to the western world. The ship Philip, having on board about thirty people, some of them servants, and laden with suitable commodities, sailed from England in the summer, and arrived in safety at the place now known as Elizabeth- town Point, or Elizabeth Port, in August of the same year. What circumstance led to the governor's selec- tion of this spot for his first settlement, is not now known, but it was, probably, the fact of its having been recently examined and approved of by others. He landed, and gave to his embryo town the name of Eli- zabeth^ after the lady of Sir George. ^^ The governor found at this place a settlement of four families already established, for the existence of which, it is necessary to account. The transfer of New Jersey to Berkeley and Carteret, was made subsequent to the departure of Colonel Ni- cholls from England, and no notification of it having ^ For the document at length, see E. answer to the bill in chancery, p. 20, J. Records. Smith's N. J. p. 512. Grants deny that the place was named by and Concessions, p. 12. The original, a Carteret ; giving to the first settlers the parchment roll nearly nine feet in length, credit of naming it after " the renowned is in the possession of the New Jersey Queen Elizabeth." This was probably. Historical Society. however, an after thought, when the '"Grants and Concessions, pp. 26-31. proprietors and all to them belonging " Bill in Chancery, 28. Smith's were little regarded. N. J., 67. The defendants, in their 1665.1 GRANT FROM GOV. NICHOLLS. 37 been sent to him, lie believed the whole territory which had borne the name of New Netherlands, to be included within the limits of his government, for such were the provisions of his commission ;^^ and, having published " Conditions for new plantations," they were considered applicable as well to the portion composing New Jersey, as to the rest of the country granted to the duke. These conditions were of a liberal character,'^ and individuals from Long Island and New England, began to turn their attention towards the rich lands of East Jersey, so advantageously situated and susceptible of improvement at comparatively little cost. Governor Nicholls, himself, held them in high estimation, and conferred upon the territory the name of " Albania, "^^ after one of his master's titles. He regarded it as including " all the im- provable part" of the duke's grant, " preferable to all the remaining tracts" in many respects ; and on learning that it had been transferred to others, remonstrated strongly against the measure. ^^ On the twenty-eighth of October, 1664, John Bailey, Daniel Denton, and Luke Watson, under permission from Governor Nicholls, obtained from the Lidians, a deed for all the land " bounded on the South by a River commonly called the Raritan River, and on the East, by the River which parts Staten Island and the Maine, and to Run Northward up After Cull Baye, till we come to the first River, which setts Westward out of the Bay aforesaid, and to runn, Westward into the Country, twice " Grants and Concessions, 665. '^ Nicholls' Letter in New York Re- '* Smith's N. Y., I. p. 35. Answerto cords. Smith states that for some time, Bill in Chancery, p. 6. Grants and Con- " at first," it was called New Canary. cessions, 667. ** Chalmers' Annals, 624. See note C. 38 ELIZABETHTOWN PURCHASE. [1665. the Length as it is Broad from the North to the South of the aforementioned bounds." ^^ The consideration receiv^ed by the Indians for this tract was "Twenty fathom of trayden Cloth, two made Cotes, two gunnes, two kettles, ten barres of Lead, twen- ty handfulls of Powder, foure hundred fathom of white wampom, or two hundred fathom of black wampom ;" the whole valued at £36 14fS" The grantees were Mattano, Manamowaone, and Cowescomen, of Staten Island, but the deed was only signed by Mattano. Governor Nicholls confirmed the grant on the second of December.'^ It will be observed, that the bounds of this purchase are similar to those of Augustine Herman's in 1651, and " unfortunately for his business character," as Gordon remarks, Mattano, in the conveyance to Herman, had '^ E. J. Records, B. 181. lished, in his own name, " A Brief De- " Bill in Chancery, p. 30. scription of New York, formerly called ^'^ Bill in Chancery, pp. 25,26. Grants New Netherlands, with the places there- and Concessions, 669,673. The signers unto adjoining," &c., which has been to the application to Gov. Nicholls for quoted from in the foregoing pages. permission to purchase were John Bailey, Ogilby availed himself largely of Den- Daniel Denton, Thomafs Bemjdick, Na- ton's book, in the composition of his thaniel Denton, John Foster, and Luke large work on America, when treating Watson. The grant was confirmed to of this portion of the continent ; and Bailey and Watson, of Jamaica ; Capt. without acknowledgment. The work John Baker, of N. Y. ; John Ogden, of in the original editions is very rare, but Northampton, " and their associates." it has recently [1845] been reprinted in They say in their application, that they a pamphlet form, by the Historical Socie- had made some arrangements forplanting ty of Pennsylvania, and also, with notes, on Arthur CuU bay, in the time of the in New York. Denton was the oldest Dutch, but obstacles had been thrown in son of the Rev. Richard Denton, the their way. The Answer to the Bill, p. first minister at Hempstead, and came 7, states that Baker and Ogden had with his father from Stamford, in 1644 ; bought Denton's interest. Denton him- he afterwards assisted in the settlement self, it is thought, returned to England, of Jamaica, and was a magistrate there, and remained there. In 1670, he pub- Thompson's Long Island, I. p. 80. 1665.1 GRANT FOR MONMOUTH COUNTY. 39 already parted with his right to the lands in question. ^^ But, as Bailey and his associates-" had acted with good faith in making the purchase, and had received the confirmation of Governor Nicholls, while yet unac- quainted with the fact that the country was no longer part of his government, or subject to his control ; they were not disposed to waive what rights they had thus acquired : and, for many years, the peace of the province was destroyed by the contention which ensued between them and their descendants, and those claiming under Berkeley and Carteret. The four families, found at Elizabethtown, by Carteret, were the pioneers of the Jamaica colony ; and, their claim to the soil does not seem to have prevented a harmonious co-operation with the governor in forwarding the prosperity of the new settlement. It is probable, that neither party anticipated the litigation that would ensue, or that, where vacant land was so plentiful and easy to be obtained, serious dissensions would arise respecting the occupancy of an inconsiderable portion, like the tract upon which they had entered.^' On 8th April, 1665, Governor Nicholls confirmed '^ His associate in the first deed was ernor from the first, and many of those Appiimanskoch, and they signed for who afterward became parties to the themselves, and in behalf of Memewun, suit in chancery, complied with the re- (the same, probably, as one of the gran- gulations of the proprietors for laying tors to the second deed) Warritschen, out their lands. In their answer to the Encklien, and Mechaoch. bill, p. 20, the defendants say — account- *" They claimed to be eighty in all ; ing for the unanimity which prevailed, but the proprietors assert, positively, in as noticed in the text — that, on the arrival all their publications, that there were not of Governor Carteret, he was informed more than the four families on the ground by the people he found at Elizabethtown when Carteret arrived : those that came of their right to the lands ; that he ap- subsequently, locating under the conces- proved of the same, and " went up from sions. the place of his landing to the town,car- " The Long Islanders appear to have rying a hoe on his shoulder, thereby in- acknowledged the authority of the gov- timating his intention of becoming a 40 GRANT FOR MONMOUTH COUNTY. [1665. another purchase of lands lying near " Sandy Point" [Sandy Hook], to William Goulding (or Goulder), Samuel Spier (or Spicer), Richard Gibbons, Richard Stout,^^ James Grover, John Bound (or Bowne), John Tilton, Nathaniel Sylvester, William Reape, Walter Clark, Nicholas Davis, and Obadiah Holmes ; " be- ginning at Sandy Point aforesaid, and running along the bay, westward to the mouth of the Raritan river, thence along the said river to a point of the marsh land which divides the river into two parts, and from that point to run in a direct southwest line into the woods, twelve miles, and thence to turn away southeast and by south, till it falls into the southwest [southeast?] sea."^^ This grant led to the settlement of Middletown and Shrews- bury. It was disallowed by the Duke of York, as well as that of Elizabethtown -.^^ but on the 28th May, 1672, Governor Carteret and council, " upon the address of James Grover, John Bowne, Jonathan Holmes, Richard Hartshorne, John Hume, and James Ashton," confirmed the privileges which they and their associates had re- ceived from Governor Nicholls.^^ planter with them." A much more Hartshorne, in Smith's N. J., p. 63, likely cause for the unanimity that pre- note, that although these lands were vailed, is the probability mentioned in confirmed by Nicholls as having been the text. The magnitude of the inte- purchased of the Indians, such was rests at stake were not at first so well not the fact at the time. Harts- discerned, as they were subsequently, home, to prevent the destruction of his by either the governor or the first set- property, had to purchase his ground of tiers. See note D. the Indians after he became a settler. '^ From Smith's New Jersey, p. G5 ; The grantees were, principally, from the it is probable this was the progenitor west end of Long Island, and to Shrews- of most of the Stouts in New Jersey^ bury went, subsequently, several families and, see Trenton State Gazette, Dec. from New England. Smith's N. J., 13, 1842. p. 62. ^' Answer to Bill, p. 14. Grants and ^* Bill in Chancery, 35. Concessions, 661, &c. It would seem, ^^ These were — 1. To dispose of their from a letter or affidavit of Richard lands as they chose. 2. No one to be 1666.1 GRANTS FOR WOODBRIDGE AND PISCATAWAY. 41 Governor Carteret, so soon as he became establislicd at Elizabcthtown, sent messengers to New England and elsewhere, to publish the concessions of the proprietors and to invite settlers. In consequence of this invita- tion and the favorable terms offered, the province soon received large additions to its population ; Elizabethtown and the surrounding country receiving, probably, the greater portion, until other locations could be selected. The ship Philip, in which the governor had come from England, returned thither in about six months, and the next year brought out " more peojile and goods," on ac- count of the proprietaries ; and other vessels similarly laden, followed from time to time.^*" Governor Carteret and John Ogden, having pur- chased the individual claims of Denton and Bailey ,^^ they, in conjunction with Luke Watson, on the 21st May, 1666, entered into an agreement with Daniel Pierce and his associates, for settling two townships ; and on the 11th December, 1666, in consideration of the sum of £80 sterling, they transferred to Pierce for that pur- obliged to support a clergyman. 3. All 663. Albany Records, XXII. 433,435, causes, not criminal in their nature, to 436. be heard within their cognizance, and ^^ Bill in chancery, p. 28. Douglas' no appeal to a higher court allowed Summary, 2, 268. Douglas says that where the sum at issue did not exceed Carteret made a visit to England six ten pounds. 4. Criminal cases and mat- months after his arrival. He gives no ters above ten pounds, to be determined in authority, and there seems to be no highercourts, and appeals to his majesty grounds for the assertion, not to be hindered. 5. The proprietors *'' Bill in Chancery, p. 29 ; E. J. Re- to have the right of nominating two per- cords, B. 182. This proceeding of Car- sons, one of whom, to be selected by the teret — purchasing an interest in the governor, to fill each commissioned of- Nicholls grant, probably with the expec- fice whether civil or military. 6. They tation, that at any time his purchase were authorized, together with the major might be confirmed by the proprietors — part of the settlers, to make such afforded a strong point in the defence of "prudential laws" among themselves the first settlers, inasmuch as they argued as they might deem necessary. Answer therefrom his acknowledgment of the to Bill, 14, 15. Grants and Concessions, justness of their claim. 42 NEWARK PURCHASE. [1666. pose, one half of the tract " known as Arthur Cull or Amboyle," as originally granted by Governor Nicholls ; extending from the Raritan to Rahawack river, and run- ning back into the country according to the Indian deed.^^ This deed was confirmed by another of similar tenor, dated 3d December, 1667 ; on the back of which, Pierce endorsed the names of those interested with him in the grant " that is for the accommodating of the Towne now called Woodbridge ;" he to have the first choice. His associates were Joshua Pierce, John Pike, John Bishop, Henry Jaques, and Hugh March (or Marsh), of Newbury ; Stephen Kent, of Havahill ; Robert Den- nis, of Yarmouth, and John Smith, of Barnstable, in New England.^^ On the same day. Pierce was commissioned as depu- ty-surveyor, to lay out the bounds of Woodbridge, and the proportion of land belonging to each individual ; and on 1st June, 1669, he and his associates received a char- ter, which erected the tract of land therein described (said to contain six miles square) into a township, to consist of not less than sixty families.^" On the 18th December, 1666, a week after he had obtained his first conveyance. Pierce transferred to John Martin, Charles Oilman, Hugh Dunn, and Hopewell Hull, one-third part of the land he had thus acquired ; and they and their associates founded the town of Piscataway.^^ Newark was first settled in 1666, and on the 11th July, 1667, Obadiah Bruen, Michael Tompkins, Samuel Ketchcll, John Browne, and Robert Denison, purchased '* See Note E. February 19th, 1665-6, was to con- *^ E. J. Records, B. 182; and see sist of eighty families, jvy/c Bill in Ch. p. Note E. 32, and Answer to Bill, pp. 23, 24, for ^° E. J. Records. Bill in Chancery, p. manner of apportioning lands there. 31. See Note F. Elizabethtown, by a ^i jjjn j^ ci^ancery, p. 30. resolution, passed " at a meeting court," 1667.] NEWARK PURCHASE. 43 from the Indians^^ a tract of land "bounded and limited with the bay eastward, and the great river Pesayak northward ; the great creek, or river in the meadow, running to the head of the cove and from thence bear- ing a west line for the south bounds, which said great creek is commonly called and known by the name of Weequahick ; on the west line, backwards in the country to the foot of the great mountain," [by a sub- sequent deed, dated 13th March, 1677-8, the limits WT-re extended to the top of the mountain for two guns, three coats and thirteen cans of rum,] " called Watchung, being, as is judged, about seven or eight miles from Pe- sayak Towne. The said mountain, as we are informed, hath one branch of Elizabethtown river running near the above said foot of the mountain. The bounds northerly up Pesayak river, reach to the third river above the town. The river is called Yauntakah, and from thence, upon a northwest line to the aforesaid moun- tain." ^^ The consideration for which this tract, now so highly cultivated, and adorned with the snug cottage of the farmer, the splendid villa, the thriving village, and the increasing city, was relinquished by the Indians, consisted of fifty double-hands of powder, one hundred bars of lead, twenty axes, twenty coats, ten guns, twenty pistols, ten kettles, ten swords, four blankets, four barrels of beer, ten pair of breeches, fifty knives, twenty hoes, eight hundred and fifty fathom of wam- pum, twenty ankers of liquors, or something equivalent, and three troopers' coats.^* ^' The grantors were WapamuJc, ^^ E. .T. Records, B. 68. Harish, Captamin, Sessom, Matnus- '^* The above is extracted from the tome, Peter, 1Vamesane,Wecaprokikan, deed as it appears on record ; but Gor- Cacnackque, Perawae. don, in his Gazetteer of the State, says 44 TERMS OF SETTLEMENT AT NEWARK. [1666. The settlers of Newark were from the towns of Guil- ford, Brandford, Milford, and New Haven, in Connecti- cut. The visit of Governor Carteret's agents, and the proclamation of the " Concessions " of the lords-pro- prietors, had drawn the attention of the inhabitants of those towns to New Jersey, and persons were sent soon after to explore the country. Their report was of such a favorable character, particularly as related to the dis- trict " beyond the marshes lying to the north of Eliza- bethtown," that arrangements were immediately made for the foundation of a settlement, by authorizing the selection and purchase of a suitable site.^^ Previous to their embarkation for their new homes, the emigrants from Brandford held a public meeting, (October 30th, 1666,) at which they adopted " two fun- damental agreements, touching their intended design ;" in accordance with the spirit of sectarianism and intole- rance which then so generally prevailed among the Pu- ritans of New England. They were as follows : — " 1st. That none shall be admitted freemen or free Burgesses within our Town, upon Passaick River, in the province of New Jersey, but such planters as are mem- bers of some or other of the Congregational Churches ; nor shall any but such be chosen to Magistracy, or to carry on any part of Civil Judicature, or as deputies or assistants to have power to Vote in establishing Laws, and making or Repealing them, or to any Chief Military Trust or office. Nor shall any But such church mem- bers have any Vote in any such elections ; Tho' all the consideration was iJlSO New En- ^* Gordon's Gazetteer of New Jersey, gland currency, twelve Indian blankets, Art. Newark. and twelve Indian guns. The goods may have been valued at £130. 1666.1 TERMS OP SETTLEMENT AT NEWARK. 45 Others admitted to Be planters have Right to their proper Inheritances, and do and shall enjoy all other Civil Liber- ties and Privileges, According to Laws, Orders, Grants, which are or hereafter shall Be Made for this Town. " 2d. We shall with Care and Diligence provide for the maintenance of the purity of Religion professed in the Congregational Chm'ches." These articles, which throw no small light upon the characters of the founders of the leading city in New Jersey, were subscribed by twenty-three heads of fami- lies, and subsequently, by other settlers.^^ The tract for the settlement was selected under some expectation that Governor Carteret would have cleared it from all claims of the Indians ; but this he was not authorized to do; and on the arrival of the first party of thirty families early in 1666, they were warned off the ground by the Hackinsack Indians, and obliged to relade their goods on board their vessels until an un- derstanding with the claimants could be had. Some disposition was evinced to abandon the enterprise alto- gether, but at the solicitation of the governor and others, a council was held with the natives, and an arrangement 3^ See Town Records, p. 2. The in any wise set him king over thee whom document is headed with references to the Lord thy God shall choose : one from Deut. /. 13. Exodus, xviii. ^L Deut, among thy brethren shalt thou set king xvii. 15. Jeremiah, xxx. 21 ; texts which over thee : thou mayest not set a stran- read as follows : " Take you wise men ger over thee, which is not thy brother." and understanding, and known among « * * " And their nobles shall be of your tribes, and I will make them rulers themselves, and their governor shall pro- over you." * « * " Moreover, thou ceed from the midst of them." They shalt provide out of all the people, able may have secured very excellent rulers, men, such as fear God, men of truth, but the whole document presents a hating covetousness, and place such marked contrast to the liberty of con- over them to be rulers of thousands and science guarantied to them by the pro- rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and prietaries. rulers of tens." * * « ' Chalmers, p. 618. In April, 1679, an act was passed i"* Andros, who went to England in authorizing the appropriation of 150 November, 1677, brought out these in- pounds " for the security and encourage- structions himself. Grahame's U. S. II. ment" of any vessel that should arrive p. 240. "November 16th. The gov- in the province for the purpose of traffic, ernor parted from New York and went and go through the formalities of enter- to take his leave of Governor Carteret ing and clearing at the Elizabethtown in the Jerseys, and lay there all night ; Custom House ; in case she should, " by the 17th, went aboard neare Staten Is- any of the government of New York, land, weyed and went down ye Bay neare be arrested, detained, and condemned for Sandy Point, where he sayled." N. Y, the only cause of trading in this pro- Col. Papers. Less ofcourtesy in this visit, vince, and not entering and clearing at probably, than pohcy. It was desirable New York," the amount to be paid to that he should carry with him all the in- the owner. Grants and Concessions, p. formation respecting the coveted pro- 131. It is probable this action succeed- vince that he possibly could obtain. ed the seizure above mentioned. The 1680.1 PROCEEDINGS OF ANDROS. -Jl vince was within the limits of his jurisdiction according to his commission, — which had been allowed to remain unacted on through a conviction, it may well be pre- sumed, that he had no rightful authority thereto, — was suddenly recalled to mind, and on the 8th March, 1679- 80, he addressed a letter to Caiteret, in which he informs him that, being advised of his actions without any legal authority, to the great disturbance of his majesty's sub- jects, he requires him to cease exercising any authority whatever within the limits of the Duke of York's pa- tent, unless his lawful power so to do were first recorded at New York.'**^ To this strange and unlooked-for epistle Governor Carteret replied on the 20th, after consultation with his council, boldly asserting his authority over the province, and expressing his determination, and that of the coun- cil, should force be used, to defend their families and themselves to the best of their ability ; and if blood were shed it would be required at the hands of the ag- gressor ; and this they would do until the king had heard and decided the matter.'^*^ On the 13th March, before this letter was received, ^"' Grants and Concessions, p. 673. erection of any fort at the point desig- He also stated that " it being necessary nated until he could communicate with for the king''s service, &c., that beacons the proprietors. The light house wag or sea marks for shipping sailing in and not built until many years after, out, and a fortification be erected at '"^ Grants and Concessions, p. 674. Sandy Hook," he had resolved it accord- In the simple manner of the times Car- ingly, but " having a due regard to all teret writes: " The occasion that hinders rights or proprieties of land or soil," this from being sent to you sooner is the he would make just remuueralion to the foulness of the weather, hiiidering the owner. To this Carteret replies, that council's meeting, as also an alarm wt whatever may be requisite for his ma- had yesterday of your being come with jesty's service within the jurisdiction of your sloop and a considerable number o f New Jersey they would themselves con- soldiers, which constrained us to put sjder, and that he should oppose the ourselves in a posture of defence." 72 ANDROS VISITS ELIZABETHTOWN. [1680. or even written, Andros issued a proclamation, abrogat- ing the government of Carteret, and requiring all persons to submit Ibrtlnvith to the king's authority, as embodied in himself. His emissaries were sent into the province, and every covert and sinister means adopted to es- trange the people from their allegiance to the proprie- tary government. Against all this the governor pre- sented a bold and determined front. " It was by his majesty's commands," wrote he to Andros, " that this government was established, and without the same com- mand, shall never be resigned but with our lives and for- tunes, the people resolving to live and die with the name of true subjects, and not traitors." ^°^ A crisis in the affairs of the province was certainly approaching. On the 7th April, Carteret was informed that Andros was about to present himself at Elizabeth- town for the purpose of demanding the government, and presuming that he would be accompanied by an armed force, a body of one hundred and fifty men was collected and armed to resist any violence that might be at- tempted. On the arrival of the vessel, however, it was ascertained that the retinue of the New York Governor consisted only of his councillors, with some of his offi- cers and principal merchants ; they were, consequently, received with civility, and conducted to the house of Governor Carteret, where a mutual exposition was made of their respective claims to the government of East Jersey. Andros read the king's letters-patent directing him to receive the whole country from the Dutch, the grant to the Duke of York, and his commission from the lat- '"^ Grants and Conce.ssions, pp. 675, 676. 1580.1 CARTERET SEIZED. 73 ter, as governor; basing his rights upon these alone. Car- teret then presented for inspection the several documents received from the king and the duke, making it manifest that Sir George held the province under a title equally as strong and similar in character to that by which An- dros claimed it. With these that functionary was already acquainted, and their production anew, as might have been anticipated, was of no avail in convincing him that his pretensions were unfounded. The conference ended as it had begun ; Andros closed the consultation by stat- ing that he had now performed his duty by showing his authority and demanding the government in behalf of his master, and by warning the Jerseymen that, if they would not comply with his behest, the peril would rest upon them alone. " Then we went to dinner," says Carteret, in his account of the interview, " and that done, we accompanied him to his sloop, and so parted.""^ This hospitality of the governor was thrown away upon one possessing no responsive feelings of justice or clemency. On the night of 30th April, a party of sol- diers, sent by Andros, violently dragged him from his bed, carried him to New York bruised and maltreated, and he was there kept, their close prisoner, until the 27th May, when a special court was convened for his trial, on the accusation of having " persisted and riot- ously and routously endeavored to maintain the exercise of jurisdiction and government over his majesty's sub- jects, within the bounds of his majesty's letters-patent to his royal highness." Under these trying circumstances, the spirit and firmness of Carteret quailed not. When brought before ^'"' Grants and Concessions, p. 678. 74 CARTERET'S TRIAL. [1680. the court, over which Andros himself presided, he boldly ackno^^'lcdged the refusal on his part to resign the gov- ernment without the special command of the king, de- manded his release from confinement on parole, to appear when his sovereign might require it, and protested against the Jurisdiction of the court, where his accuser and im- prisoner was also to be judge. He subsequently with- drew his protest, and submitted the documentary evi- dence substantiating his authority. The jury brought in a verdict of " not guilty," which Andros would not receive. Twice or thrice did he charge them anew, and oblige them to retire for farther consideration ; but, to their honor be it recorded, notwithstanding the presence of the despot, and the apprehensions they might reasori- bly have entertained of experiencing his vengeance, they were firm in abiding by their first decision. They re- quired the governor, however, to give security not to assume any authority on his return to East Jersey, in order that the matter might be referred to the authorities in En gland. ^°° Andros lost no time in availing himself of this virtual deposition of Carteret. On the 2d June he met the Assembly of New Jersey at Elizabethtown, presented again his credentials, and recommended such an enact- ment as might confirm all past judicial proceedings, and the adoption of the laws then in force in New York, which had emanated from a convention at Hempstead, Long Island. The representatives of the people of East Jer- sey, while they appear to have been sufficiently impressed with the power and authority of Andros to treat him with respect, were not unmindful of what was due to '"8 Grants and Concessions, pp. 678 to 681, 683. 1681.] AUTHORITY OF CARTERET CONFIRMED. 75 themselves ; they exhibited towards him the bearing of freemen who were not tamely to assume any yoke he might presume to place upon their necks, and expressed their opijiions plainly and decidedly on the matters sub- mitted for their consideration. Andros, in his speech, had alluded to the protection secured to them by the " King's letters-patent under the great seal of England," and in their reply they said, " As we are the representa- tives of the freeholders of this province, we dare not grant his majesty's letters-patent, though under the great seal of England, to be our rule or joint safety ; for the great charier of England, alias Magna C/iarta, is the only rule, privilege and joint safety of every free-born Englishman. What we have formerly done, we did in obe- dience to the authority that was then established in this province. These things which have been done accord- ing to law require no confirmation." They presented for his approval the laws already in force and adapted to their circumstances, and expressed also their expectation that the privileges conferred by the "Concessions" would be confirmed. ^^° It does not appear that these views of the assembly were dissented from by the governor, or that his visit to the province was productive of either good or ill. Through the tardiness of those interested in Eng- land, Governor Carteret was kept in suspense for several months as to the decision of his superiors upon the mat- ters referred to them ; but on the 2d March, 1681, he issued a proclamation, announcing the receipt of, to him, most gratifying intelligence from Lady Elizabeth, exe- cutrix of Sir George Carteret's estate, dated the Sep- ''" Grants and Concessions, pp. 681 to 683. 76 ANDROS GOES TO ENGLAND. [1681. teml)er previous, to the effect that the Duke of York wholly disowned the acts of Governor Andros, and denied having given any order or authority which could, in the least, have derogated from that vested in the pro- prietary."' Carteret, therefore, resumed the govern- ment, and subsequently a letter was received by Andros, bearing date the 6th November, 1680, from the Duke's secretary, notifying him that his royal highness had re linquislicd all right or claim to the province, save the reserved rcnt.^'^ On the receipt of this information, or about this time, Andros went to England, leaving as his representative Anthony Brockholst, president of the council. Some authors assert that he had incurred the displeasure of the duke by his conduct towards the governor of East Jersey, and that he was recalled in consequence thereof."^ That his visit to England was in obedience to a com- mand from the duke, there can be no doubt, but it was to answer charges preferred against him by the people of New York of such a nature as to lead the duke to think an investigation necessary for his own interest. Andros submitted to the inquiry, and having satisfacto- rily shown that his conduct in office had been such only as the character of his master's measures required, he was acquitted.'^'' He did not return to the province, but the fact of his being appointed in 1686 governor of New England, by the duke, then on the throne as "• Grants and Concessions, p. 685. the duke ; but it is apparent, from tlie "* Grants and Concessions, p. 686, Records, that the duke was not entirely and see Note M. assured of the fidelity of his governor. '" Smith'sN.Y.,p.46. Douglas,II. John Lewen was sent out in 1680, as P- 269. commissioner to examine into the state "* Dunlap (N. Y.,I. 133) says Andros of the province, the amount of revenue, returned to England in full favor with &c. 1681.] CONDUCT OF ANDROS. ^-y successor to his brother Charles, does not indicate any decrease of confidence ; indeed James possessed in An- dres a desirable instrument to carry out any system of tyranny or aggrandizement he might frame. There is assuredly considerable mystery about the conduct of Andros towards New Jersey, while adminis- tering the government of New York, which every known document or authority fails satisfactorily to explain. The existence of the party in East Jersey inimical to the pro- prietary government may have led him to cherish the idea of regaining it for the Duke of York, and, in con- nection with the probability of his having received secret instructions, can alone account for his pertinacity in ex- ercising authority in the province, in direct opposition to the expressed will of the duke, as contained in the grants to Sir George Carteret, and other documents. Even after the departure of Andros for England, and the re- ceipt of the notification from the Duke's secretary, which has been mentioned, Brockholst still refused to recognize the authority of Carteret. '^^ After the return of Governor Carteret in 1674, the assemblies met with considerable regularity each year ; the first, at Elizabethtown, November 5th, 1675,"*^ and the subsequent meetings either there or at Woodbridge, "•' Grants and Concessions, p. G87. dletown. Captain John Bound, John The New York Papers contain no war- Throgmorton ; for Shrewsbury, John rant for the course of either Andros or his Slocum. William Shatluck, the other deputy. member for Shrewsbury, refusing to "^ The members of this assembly swear or subscribe ilie oaths, was dis- were, for Elizabethtown, Henry Lyon, missed. Benjamin Price ; for Bergen, Hans Ded- The council at this time consisted of rick, Elias Michelson ; for Newark, Captains John Berry, William Sand- Thomas Johnston, Lieut. John Ward ; ford and John Pike ; and 3Iessrs. Law- for Woodhridge, Samuel Davis, Thomas rence Anderson, John Bishop, Sen'r., Bloomfield, Jr. ; for " iVe)« P/scoia^ita," James BoUen, Secretary, and Robert John Gillman J Hopewell Hull ; iox Mid- Vanquellin. ■yg EARLY LAWS. [1681. save one at Middletown, in 1679. Unanimity seems to have prevailed sufficiently for some years among the different branches of the government/'^ for legis- lation to be had upon all subjects w^hich the advance- ment of the province in population rendered requisite. Among other legal provisions of this period, exclusive of enactments respecting the punishment of crimes, the establishment of courts, and the preservation of the peace, were the following : All males from sixteen to sixty were required to furnish themselves with arms and ammunition, w4iich, with plough irons or chains, and horses and cattle necessary for their livelihood, were de- clared free from distraint ; each town was to have a fortified place of safety for securing the women, chil- dren, provisions, and ammunition, in case of imminent danger from Indian assaults ; ^'^ freeholders were not to be arrested for debt unless it was made to appear that their creditors were likely to suffer from fraudulent mea- sures ; and the county rates were to be levied according to the quantity of land held by the individuals subject to them : — Labor, unlaw ful recreations, unnecessary travel- ling, and improper conduct of any kind, w^ere prohibited on the Lord's day, and ministers were to be protected in the performance of public worship from all disturb- '" The town of Shrewsbury seems to sence. It is probable the difficulties of have given some trouble to the assembly travelling may have caused some irre- in sending deputies who refused on their gularity. A law was passed in 1676, arrival to take the necessary oaths ; this authorizing the deputies to impress ves- was provided for in 1676 by an act mak- sels, horses or men, to facilitate their ing any town liable to a fine of ten passage to and from the meetings of the pounds which should send such deputies, assembly. The consequence of this was, that the "** It is doubtful if these were gene- next year the member elected did not rally (if at all) provided. We have no attend, when an act was passed fining evidence that they were ever used or him ten shilUngs for every day's ab- needed. 1(381.1 DISTURBANCES RENEWED. 79 ances : — Births, deaths and marriages were to be re- corded : — Where no court existed, the people of the town were aiitliorized to choose persons to Ibrm a grand jury, who should be required under oath to take notice of all transgressions of the laws, and report them to the next court in the county ; a bounty of fifteen shillings was to be paid for wolves ; ammunition, arms and liquor were not to be sold to the Indians, nor their guns repaired ; the retailing of liquors in less quantity than a gallon was prohibited, except by the regularly licensed keepers of ordinaries in the different towns ; no hides were to be taken out of the province for sale ; leather, beef and pork were to be inspected and sealed ; and from time to time the value of country produce was rated, to facilitate ex- changes and the operations of barter : — The public charges were, at first, fifty pounds per an7ium, but subsequently they were doubled, and in 1680 they amounted to one hundred and ninety-six pounds ten shillings ; the pay of councillors and assembly men was three shillings per day, and the governor received four shillings per day extra during the sittings of the assembly : — Propagators of false news were to be fined ten shillings, which was also the punishment for the first offence of slander, the second offence being twenty shillings. ^^^ The unanimity which has been referred to as prevail- ing in the councils of the province, may have been partly owing to the existence of a common danger ; the gov- ernment of Andros not being desirable even by those unfavorably disposed towards Carteret, and leading them to co-operate with the friends of the proprietaries to a greater extent than would otherwise have been the case. "' Grants and Concessions. gQ ALTERCATION WITH THE ASSEMBLY. [16S1. So soon, however, as Carteret's authority was firmly estabhshed, mutual bickerings commenced. In October, 1681, on the Assembly's convening at Elizabethtown, a violent discussion arose between the governor and his council, on one side, and the assembly on the other, as to the right of the proprietary to make alterations in the "Concessions" promulgated in 1665; the latter body being disposed to set aside those subsequent provisions which militated against the powers conferred upon them at first. Both parties were equally pertinacious, and to put an end to the fruitless altercation, the governor, for the first time in the history of New Jersey, dissolved the Assembly ; a measure against which the deputies pro- tested as one fatal to their rights and privileges, and which they pronounced inconsistent with the governor's commission and instructions.^'^" This was the last assembly during Governor Carteret's administration, for the ensuing year he resigned the government into other hands. It is necessary now to recur to the course of events in England. The exertions of the friends of the West Jersey set- tlers to obtain release from the imposition of duties on their imports were so well directed, and the illegality of the proceeding exhibited in such a spirited and able manner before the commissioners (to whom the Duke of "" Chalmers, p. 620. Captain Henry commission from the late governor." Greenland (of Piscataway) and Cap- The proceedings of these courts were tain Robert Vicars appear to have been also annulled. The act, however, so far instrumental in bringing about the disso- as it related to the disfranchisement of lution of the Assembly. In 1G83 an act Greenland was not confirmed by the was passed declaring them incapable of proprietaries. The exact nature of the holding ofllce in the province in conse- offence committed is not known. See quence of their conduct in 1681, and Note N. "siace, by keeping courts by special 1680.1 OPINION RESPECTING CUSTOMS. 81 York, wrought upon by their importunities, at last con- sented to refer the matter,) that Sir William Jones, whose opinion was solicited bj the commissioners with an understanding that they would abide by it, decided explicitly in favor of the complainants. " I am not satis- fied," said he, " that the duke can demand that or any other duty from the inhabitants of those lands," there being "no reservation of any profit, or so much as juris- diction" in the grants to Berkeley and Carteret. ^^'No farther plea for delay could be advanced by the duke, and he, therefore, in August 1680, confirmed West Jer- sey to the proprietors thereof, free and untrammelled ; and on the 10th October following, relinquished all his pretensions to East Jersey in favor of the grandson and heir of Sir George Carteret,'^- the result of which, was the notification to Andros, already mentioned. Grahame, in his History of the North American Colonies, — alluding to a document prepared and submitted to the commis- sioners by George Hutchison and other Quakers, under the supervision of William Penn, containing their argu- ments in opposition to the duke's claims, — observes : " I question if it be possible to point out in any of the writ- ings or harangues of which that period was so abun- dantly prolific, a more impressive or magnanimous effort for the preservation of liberty, than is evinced in this first successful vindication of the rights of New Jersey. One of the most remarkable features of the plea which the provincials had maintained, was the strong and delibe- rate assertion that no tax could be justly imposed on them, without their own consent and the authority of their own general assembly. The report of the com- 1" Chalmers, p. 626. Grahame II., '« Bill in Chancery, p. 8. pp. 284, 285. See Note M. 6 32 DEATH OF SIR GEORGE CARTERET. [1681. missioners in their favor, and the relief that followed, were virtual concessions in favor of this principle, which in after ages was destined to obtain a more signal triumph in the independence of North America." ^^ Sir George Carteret died, as has been stated, in 1679, and by his will, dated December 5th, 1678, left his widow Lady Elizabeth, executrix of his estate and guardian of his grandson and heir ; ^^^ and devised to Ed- ward, Earl of Sandwich ; John, Earl of Bath ; Hon. Ber- nard Granville, brother to the Earl of Bath ; Sir Thomas Crew, Kn't. ; Sir Robert Atkins, Knight of the Bath ; and Edward Atkins, Esq., one of the Barons of the Exchequer ; and their heirs, among other lands, all his property in East Jersey, in trust for the benefit of his creditors.'-^ These trustees, with the exception of the Earl of Sandwich, whose signature was not affixed to the documents, on 5th and 6th March, 1679-80, by lease and release conveyed the province with other property to Thomas Cremer and Thomas Pocock ; but, as no copies of these documents are known to exist, whether this transfer was for a special purpose, or failed of entire exe- cution for the want of the signature of the Earl of Sand- wich, has not been ascertained. It is certain, however, that on the 20th February following (1680-1,) the Earl of Sandwich released all his interest in the trust to his associates, and they again commenced negotiations for the sale of the province in accordance with the will of '«GrahameII.p.287. Edit.1837. For daughter of the Earl of Bath; a match the document see Smith's N. J., p. 117. agreed upon between the Earl and Sir '** Sir George's heir was son of Sir George, more effectually to connect the Philip, a deceased son, and was also friendship existing between the families. named George. He was married when »«* Bill in Chancery, p. 8. Grants and only eight years of age, to the youngest Concessions, p. 73. I 1(582.] SALE OF THE PROVINCE. 83 Sir George ; but failing to find a purchaser by private application/-'^ it was offered at public sale to the highest bidder : William Penn, with eleven associates of the Quaker persuasion, some of them already interested in West Jersey, becoming the purchasers for £3400.^^^ Their deeds of lease and release were dated 1st and 2d February 1681-2, and subsequently each of them sold one half of his respective right to a new associate, mak- ing in all twenty-four proprietaries/^® THE SEAL OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW JERSEY. The representation of this seal, given on the following page, is from an original impression in wax, in an imperfect state, attached to a com- mission bearing the joint names of Berkeley and Carteret, preserved in the Rutherfurd Collection of original papers. It is believed to be the only impression in existence. From the imperfect condition of the seal, a portion of the inscription '^ In a list of ancient MSS. adver- Secretary of State's Office at Trenton, tised for sale in London in 1835, was presented in 1834 by descendants of Cle- one with the following title. " A letter ment Plumstead, one of the grantees, from the Earl of Bath to Lord Norreys, Other originals are in the Rutherfurd dated April 16, 1681, being a proposal Collection, making it probable that each for the sale of the Province of New Jer- grantee received a set. Cremer and eey (it should have been East Jersey), a Pocock joined with the trustees in the country ahnost as large as England, be- execution of the papers, longing to the late George Carteret, for ^^ E. J. Records. Grants and Con- the small sum of between five and six cessions, p. 73. Bill in Chancery, p. 8. thousand pounds." Some of the original deeds from the first '*^ Grahame II., p. 289. N. J. Laws, to the second twelve are in the Ru- 1834-5, p. 175. Originals of the Lease therfurd Collection, and Release to the twelve are in the 84 GOVERNOR CARTERET. [1682. was not visible ; but what was wanting has been supplied, and the whole is as perfect a representation as could be made. The centre contains the arms, in duplicate, of Sir George Carteret and Baron Berkeley, with their respective initials. GOVERNOR CARTERET. Of Philip Carteret's early life history is silent. He is introduced first to our notice on receiving the appointment of Governor of New Jersey from his brother ; but we are not permitted to know how much he had previously shared in the events, public and private, of that gay courtier's career. The peculiarities of character and disposition deducible from his ollicial acts are few, but generally they seem to have well fitted him for the situation to which he was appointed, and to have enabled him to meet, with credit to himself, the various trials of his adminis- tration. Equanimity of temper and firmness of purpose were assuredly his, for he never appears to have been led, amid all the factious broils which prevailed in his government, to the adoption of any measures marked by violence or injustice ; while at the same time he unwaveringly pursued that course which his judgment assured him was best calculated to ad- vance the prosperity of the province, and the interest of the proprieta- ries. His simplicity of manners was shown in the unostentatious way in which he entered upon the theatre of his official authority, going up from his vessel to the settlement with a hoe on his shoulder, " ihereby 1682.] GOVERNOR CARTERET. 85 intimating his intention," said his opponents subsequently, "of becoming a planter with them;" and his intercourse with the natives appears ever to have exhibited strict truth and equity. The Governor's permanent residence was at Elizabethtown, where the proprietaries had a house erected for him (afterward described as having " orchards and grounds" attached) but he does not appear to have had any family, other than a wife, who was living at the time of his death and inherited all his property, real and personal, within the prov- ince. She was the daughter of Richard Smith, of Smithtown, Long Island, and had previously been married to William Lawrence, of Tew's Neck, by whom she had children whom she brought with her to New Jersey. She became the wife of Governor Carteret, in April, 16S1, and on his death returned to Long Island. She was a woman of more than ordinary endowments and strength of intellect."^' The Governor received from his brother a grant of two thousand acres of land, and made several purchases of other tracts; but he did not live to realize any anticipations of profit he may have formed from the growth of East Jersey, for he died in December, 1682, less than two months after resigning his authority into the hands of his successor. In his will he directed his body to be deposited, if permission could be ob- tained, in the " Vault of Governor Stephenson's (Stuyvesant's) Dowry, otherways Liberty to be purchased in the Church at New York." In which of these places the remains of the first Governor of New Jersey were deposited cannot now be determined.'^" From the light thrown upon it by the brief records of the past, the administration of Philip Carteret merits the favorable consideration of the historian, although in some of its features not to be deemed faultless. A representation of his official seal will be found appended to Note I. Among the other authorities quoted in the course of the foregoing portion of the narrative, frequent reference has been made to the Eliza- ^'■'^ Thompson's Long Island, II., pp. burial, upon the authority of tradition. 364-5. Mr. Thompson is wrong in his His will was dated December 10th, assertion that she was left in charge of 1682. His property in the island of the province when the governor went to Jersey he left to his mother, Rachel Europe, for they were not then married, Carteret, during her life, and at its close and the Lady Elizabeth Carteret, whose it was to descend equally to the children name he finds in some of the Documents of his brothers and sisters ; and he di- of the time was the widow and executrix rected that "two quarters of wheat" of Sir George. should yearly, for ever, be distributed to '^ Murray's Historical Notes on Eli- the poor in the parish of St. Peters in zabethtown, recently published, gives that island, to be paid for out of his es- that town as the place of the governor's tate. E. J. Records, Liber A. pp. 17-18. Qg ELIZABETHTOWN BILL IN CHANCERY. [1682. bethtown Bill in Chancery, and the answer thereto ; growing out of the litigation which ensued from the conflicting grants of Nicholls and Car- eret. The first was printed by James Parker, in 1747, and has the fol- lowing title : " A Bill in the Chancery of New Jersey, at the suit of John, Earl of 5fair, and others, Proprietors of the Eastern Division of iVew Jersey; against Benjamin Bond and some other Persons of Elizabelhtown, dis- tinguished by the JName of the Clinker Lot Right Men. With Three large Maps done from Copper Plates.— To which is added; The Publi- cations of The Council of Proprietors of East New Jersey, and Mr. Ne- vilfs speeches to the General Assembly, Concerning The Riots commit- ted in New Jersey, and The pretences of the Rioters, and their Seducers. These papers will give a better Light into the History and Constitu- tion of New Jersey, Ihan any Thing hitherto published, the Matters whereof have been chiefly collected from Records." "Published by Subscription." The Bill is signed by James Alexander and Joseph Murray, of Coun- cil for the Complainants ; and, as printed, makes, with the accompanying documents, a folio volume of more than one hundred and sixty pages. The answer was printed also by James Parker, but five years later, (1752,) and is entitled — "An answer to a Bill in the Chancery of New Jersey, at the suit of John Earl of Stair, and others, commonly called Proprietors of the Eastern Division of New Jersey, against Benjamin Bond,, and others claiming under the original Proprietors and Associates of Elizabeth-town. To ivhich is added ; Nothing either of The Publica- tions of The Council of Proprietors of East New Jersey, or of The Pre- tences of the Rioters, and their Seducers ; except so far as the Persons meant by Rioters, Pretend Title against The Parties to the above answer ; but a great Deal of the Controversy, Though Much Less of the History and Constitution of New Jersey, than the said Bill. — Audi Alteram Par- tem. Published by Subscription." This answer is signed by William Livingston, and William Smith, Junr., of Counsel for the Defendants, and makes a printed folio of forty- eight pages. There are very few copies in existence ; the writer has never seen but one, which is in his own possession. The Controversy to which these publications refer was never legally concluded. Before a decision could be obtained, the exciting events of the revolution commenced to agitate the country; the entire cessation of legal business, which ensued, put a stop to the progress of the suit, and it has never been renewed. It would exceed the scope of this work, and occupy much space, very little to the satisfaction of the reader, to enter here upon an examination of the merits of this case. The bill of the 1682.1 NEW JERSEY GRANTS AND CONCESSIONS. QT Complainants is certainly drawn up with great ability, and presents their claims in a light which cannot fail to afford entire satisfaction of their justness and propriety. The volume of " Grants and Concessions," which is also frequently quoted, was compiled by Aaron Learning and Jacob Spicer, under an Act of the Provincial Assembly, and published in 1758. It contains all the principal documents referring to the settlement and transfers of both East and West Jersey, with the acts of their respective Assemblies prior to the surrender of the government to Q,ueen Anne. The volume is quoted mainly for the convenience of the reader, for so far as the purposes of the author required a reference to the documents it contains, the Records of the Eastern Proprietary office might with propriety have been substituted as his authority, — most of the matter in the volume referring to East Jersey, having been there consulted and examined. PERIOD III. FROM THE TRANSFER OF EAST JERSEY TO THE TWENTY- FOUR PROPRIETARIES TO THE SUBVERSION OF THE AU- THORITY OF ANDROS. 1682—1689. On the 14th March, 1682-3, the Duke of York confirmed the sale of the province to the twenty-four proprietaries, by giving a new grant more full and explicit than any previous one in which their names are inserted in the followine: order : James Earl of Perth, John Drum- mond, Robert Barclay, David Barclay, Robert Gordon, Arent Sonmans, William Penn, Robert West, Thomas Rudyard, Sanmel Broome, Thomas Hart, Richard Mew, Ambrose Riggs, John Haywood, Hugh Hartshorne, Cle- ment Plumstead, Thomas Cooper, Gawen Lawrie, Ed- ward Byllinge, James Braine, William Gibson, Thomas Barker, Robert Turner and Thomas Warne ;^ those in italics being the names of eleven of the first twelve, ' E. J. Records, A. p. 53. Grants and Concessions, p. 141. Bill in Chan- cery, p. 9. Gordon gives as " the addi- tional twelve," the names of thirteen, among them Sir George Mackenzie, (not the " bloody Mackenzie" of Scot- tish history, as stated by Grahame,) Robert Burnet, Peter Sonmans, Thomas Cox and William Dockwra, who were all subsequent purchasers. Robert Turner, he calls Gawen Turner, and Thomas Warne.Thomas Nairne, possibly clerical or typographical errors. See Notes 0. and P. 1682.1 ROBERT BARCLAY GOVERNOR. 89 Thomas Wilcox, the twelfth, having parted with his entire interest. There was a strange minghng of pro- fessions, reHgions, and characters in these proprietaries, among them being, as an EngUsh writer observes, "high prerogative men, (especially those from Scotland,) dis- senters, papists and Quakers."^ The first twelve proprietaries were most of them, if not all, Quakers, and the majority of the settlers being of other religious sects, the connection with the other twelve, drawn as they were principally from Scotland, and many of them so uncongenial in character and poh- tical principles to Penn and his associates, may have been with a view either to allay the jealousy with which a government entirely composed of Quakers might have been regarded by the inhabitants, or to fortify their in- terest at court by engaging in the undertaking persons of influence.^ Whether this last was an object with them or not, they were enabled to obtain a letter from the king, addressed to the governor, council and inhabitants of the province, commanding obedience to their laws and government as absolute proprietors thereof.^ Among the names of the twenty-four proprietaries will be found that of Robert Barclay of Urie, a Scottish gentleman, a Quaker by profession, and a personal friend of William Penn. Him they selected to be governor of the province, being "admired," says Grahame, "by scho- lars and philosophers for the stretch of his learning and the strength^ and subtilty of his understanding, and en- ^ V/ynne's British Empire, I. p. 206. been a man of strong mind, but there ^ Grahame's U. S., and see Scot's was some degree of weakness exhibited Model, pp. 217,218. by him in connection with his rehgious * Grants and Concessions, p. 151. belief For example, in 1672 he walked ' He is generally considered to have the streets of Aberdeen in sackcloth 90 ROBERT BARCLAY GOVERNOR. [1682. deared to the members of his religious fraternity by the liveliness of his zeal, the excellence of his character, and the services which his pen had rendered to their cause." Barclay's education had been received at Paris, under the superintendence of an uncle, — the principal of the Scot's College in that city, — through whose influence he was induced to become a Roman Catholic. In con- sequence of this he was recalled by his father, and both of them soon after became Quakers. The son gave to the world several works in defence of the prin- ciples they had espoused, but that for which he became most celebrated was one, written in the Latin language, entitled " An apology for the true Christian divinity, as the same is preached and held forth by the people, in scorn, called Quakers." This procured him the appel- lation of ' the apologist.' His writings, in general, are said to have been more calculated to dazzle and con- found the understanding, than to produce conviction or sink into the heart. Barclay was selected, from the belief that he united every desirable qualification for the office conferred, being equally capable of excelling in worldly matters as in those of a spiritual nature, and possessing great influ- ence, not only among the Quakers, but also with the king and the Duke of York, to both of whom he seems so to have recommended himself by his genius and ad- dress as to have maintained with them, and with several of their most distinguished adherents, a friendly and con- fidential intercourse.^ The confidence placed in him by his fellow proprietaries, and the high anticipations formed and ashes, in accortiance with a pre- « Grahame II., pp. 291,292, (Edit, sumed divine command. See Spencer's 1837,) EncyclopEedia Americana, and English Traveller, p. 651. see Note Q. 1682.1 CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. 9I of the effects of his government on the interests of their province, were such as to lead them to commission him subsequently as governor for life ;'' and, as if his name alone were " a tower of strength," he was not required to visit East Jersey in person, being permitted to exer- cise his authority by deputy. The gentleman he selected for that office was Thomas Rudyard, an eminent lawyer of London and one of the proprietaries. At the time of the transfer of East Jersey to the twenty-four, the population of the different towns is es- timated to have been three thousand five hundred, and the families scattered on plantations throughout the pro- vince to have numbered half as many more, making the entire population over five thousand souls. ^ Previous to the establishment of an Assembly in New York, which was not until the arrival of Governor Dongan in 1683, the political institutions of East Jersey were so much more liberal in their character, that emigration from the former province became desirable to all appreciating the blessings of civil and religious liberty ; and had it not been for the unfortunate dissensions respecting the right of soil, the inhabitants of the province would have been far more numerous. What population there was, how- ever, was unceremoniously transferred with the soil, and placed under the government of rulers with whose ele- vation to power the people had had nothing to do. There were eight or ten towns or villages existing which were then situated as follows : Shrewsbury, had a population of about four hun- ^ Grants and Concessions, p. 168. viously, for on September 16th, 1682, This was dated July 17th, 1683, but he he commissioned Rudyard as his deputy. had been commissioned, or at least E. J. Records, C. p. 2. acted as governor some months pre- ^ Smith's N. J., p. 161. 92 CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. [1682. dred. Ten thousand acres are said to have been taken up hy the town, with plantations contiguous that com- prised twenty thousand more. Within the limits of this township, Colonel Lewis Morris of Barbadoes, an ances- tor of the family of that name subsequently of note in both New Jersey and New York, had extensive iron works, em})loying sixty or seventy negroes in addition to white servants and dependents.^ This was the most southern settlement in the province. MiDDLETOWN was about equal in extent to Shrews- bury, and contained about five hundred inhabitants. The plantations in the vicinity of this town were considerably improved. PiscATAWAY had about four hundred inhabitants, and forty thousand acres, or thereabout, were taken up for the town and out plantations. There were planta- tions both above and below the town on the Raritan, and some land on Millstone river was also located. ^° WooDBRiDGE had its ten thousand acres for the town, and twenty thousand for the adjoining plantations, seve- ' The land (3540 acres,) was granted by the carting and carrying of llie said to him, October 25, 1676. Full liberty mine to the work." E. J. Records, B., was given to him and his associates " to p. 155. dig, delve, and carry away all such '" Governor Carteret, John Palmer of mines for Iron as they shall find or see Staten Island, Gabriel Mienville,Thomas fit to dig and carry away to the iron Codrington, John White, John Deia- work, or that shall be found in that valle, Richard Hall, John Royse of New tract of land that lies inclosed between York, James Graham, Cornelius Corsen, the southeast branch of the Raritan Samuel Winder, Robert Vanquellin, river and the Whale pond on the sea John Robinson, William Pinhorne, side, and is bounded from thence by the Richard Jones and Matthew Taylor, had sea and branch of the sea to the east- plantations, or were interested in the ward to the Raritan river, he or they lands on the river Raritan. Their deeds paying all such just damages to the were obtained in 1681. See Bill in owners of the land where they shall dig Chancery, p. 53, for the bounds of their mine, as shall be judged is done by respective grants, trespass of cattle or otherwise sustained 1682.] CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. 93 ral of these being improved ; and that section of the province appears to have been highly estimated by set- tlers. A court house and prison were there, although we may presume them to have been of humble charac- ter, and the possession of a charter gave to the town a peculiar consideration in the province. Its population was about six hundred. Elizabethtown was a place of considerable impor- tance, comprising within its limits about seven hundred inhabitants, the home lots and out plantations containing forty thousand acres ; it was the seat of government and the place where the principal officers resided, " a house, orchards and farm within the town" having been since 1664 occupied by Governor Carteret. Newark was the most compact town in the pro- vince ; about ten thousand acres were taken up for its accommodation, and its out plantations covered forty thousand more ; in addition to these, the plantations of Sandford, Kingsland, Berry, Pinhorne, and others upon the Passaic and Hackinsack rivers, were also included within its jurisdiction. The plantation of Pinhorne and Eickbe near " Snake Hill," (so called as early as 1664,) is particularly noticed as being valued at one thousand pounds ; and Berry and his neighbors are represented as ' having forty or more negroes engaged in clearing and improving their plantations. The town of Newark con- tained about five hundred people. Bergen contained about three hundred and fifty inhabitants, and included with its adjoining plantations sixty thousand acres of land ; it took within its jurisdic- tion several improved plantations on the Hackinsack river. New York bay, and the Kill Van Kull, one in par- ticular on Bergen Point of twelve or fifteen hundred 94 CONDITION OF THE PROVINCE. [1682. acres, first settled by Samuel Edsall during the adminis- tration of Colonel Nicholls, was worth six or seven hundred pounds. Bergen also included several growing villages on the site of the present Pembrepock, Commu- nipau and Paulus Hook, comprising in all three hundred and fifty or four hundred inhabitants. There was a set- dement also at Hoboken, then called Hobuck, and a mill was erected there belonging to a resident of New York. There were other plantations located farther up on Hud- son river.^^ The inhabitants of Bergen, Middletown, Shrews- bury, Woodbridge and Piscataway, as has been already stated, enjoyed the advantages of charters, which ena- bled them more directly to regulate their local affairs, and Newark was under the government of its select men, chosen after the manner of New England towns ; but in 1675 the whole province was placed under the juris- diction of county courts. Bergen and the adjacent plantations received one, Elizabethtown and Newark another, Woodbridge and Piscataway the third, Middle- town and Shrewsbury the fourth. These courts held two sessions yearly, and a court of assize was established holding only one. Subsequently, during the same year, monthly courts for the trial of small causes were created in all the towns, composed of three judges chosen an- nually for the purpose. Much of the province was yet an unexplored wilder- ness, or one which had been traversed only by the hunter of the wild game that abounded, or the no less hardy " This account of the province is Scot's Model, (appended to this volume,) principally from a report by " Captain pp. 128 to 144. Smith extracts from it Nicholls, secretary of the Duke of York in his History, but does not say where for the province of New York," in he obtained it. 1682.] ARRIVAL OF DEPUTY-GOVERNOR. 95 seeker after desirable tracts of land. A single road, or more probably a bridle path, afforded the only means of communication with West Jersey, crossing the Raritan at Inian's Ferry, now New Brunswick, and the different rivers and streams were the principal avenues whereby intercourse was kept up in other directions. In 1677 William Edmundson, travelling southward from New York, says that, — in going from Middletown to the Del- aware river, although with an Indian guide, — he was unable for a whole day to discover the proper course, and he was obliged to go back until his guide could strike the Raritan. They then followed its margin until they came to a " small landing from New York" — probably the ferry above mentioned — and thence wended their way along a small path to Delaware falls. He says, " we saw no tame animals in all the way.'"^ What an agreeable contrast to this picture does the interior of the state now present ! The mind can scarcely seize the fact that, one hundred and seventy years ago, where now are beheld cultivated fields and the comfortable abodes of man, every thing should have worn so wild an aspect. Such was the condition of East Jersey on the arrival of Deputy Governor Rudyard, accompanied by Samuel Groome, as Receiver and Surveyor General, in 1682.^^ The impression made upon both by the condition and advantages of the country was highly favorable. Rud- yard, in a letter to his associates in London, dated the 30th May following, states at length his own views res- '* Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, day, September 16, 1682, and arrived p, 91, note. in the province November I3th, 1682. '■' Groome was also a proprietor. E. J. Records, C, pp. 2-5. Stirling's They were both appointed the same Billin Chancery ns. John Hunt, p. 9. 96 RUD YARD'S OPINIOX OF EAST JERSEY. [1682. pecting the province, giving it the preference on some accounts over West Jersey and Pennsylvania, both of which provinces he had visited, and informs them that WilUam Penn, who had arrived at Pennsylvania in Oc- tober previous, on taking a survey of the land, " said he had never seen such before in his life." "The people," says Rudyard, " are generally a sober professing people, wise in their generation, courteous in their behavior and respectful to us in office among them ;" * * " there is not an industrious man, but by God's blessing, may not only have a comfortable but plentiful supply of all things necessary for this life." And he portrays the delights of the climate, and the goodness of the soil, evinced by its manifold and bountiful productions, in a manner that shows his satisfaction with his adopted coun- try. Groome, also, wrote in exalted terms of the " bra- veries of the land," and of the readiness exhibited by the inhabitants of other provinces to remove to East Jer- sey so soon as lands could be allotted them.^^ On the 13th December following his arrival, Rud- yard appointed as his councillors, Colonel Lewis Morris, Colonel John Berry, Captain John Palmer, Captain Wil- liam Sandford, Lawrence Andros or Anderson, and Ben- jamin Price, before whom, on the 20th December, he was sworn into office as deputy governor. He had pre- viously (on the 1st) taken the oaths as chief register of the proprietors, to which office he had also been ap- pointed.^^ " See their Letters in Scot's Model, gration, was brought back to the pro\ - pp. 146-160. Groome's letter, after per- ince, and is now in the Rutherfurd Col- forming its journey to Scotland, and lection of Original Papers, in a good being there widely circulated, exerting state of preservation, considerable influer.ce in inducing ami- '* E. J. Records, C. p. 5. 168-2.] PROPRIETARIES' LETTER TO THE PLANTERS. 97 ^ He was furnished with a letter to the planters and inhabitants, expressing the hope of the proprietaries that harmony and friendly feelings would prevail between the governors and the governed, and stating the obligations which they conceived were imposed on them to use all law- ful and just means to make the province prosperous ; in which event they were all alike interested ; for, as they expressed themselves, " the satisfaction and benefit we propose to ourselves, is by the good success of your af- fairs, which we are resolved to advance, knowing that your interest is now so bound up with ours, that we cannot suffer if you prosper, nor prosper where you are injured." ^'^ The nature of their instructions to the de- puty governor does not appear from the records, but we may safely presume them to have accorded with the mild, sincere, and reasonable language of their letter, and to have conduced therewith to the establishment of the peace and order that followed.^' The previous " concessions" were confirmed, and an Assembly called by Rudyard, which convened at Eliza- bethtown, in March 1682-3, and held two subsequent sessions during the year, passed several acts of import- ance tending to the well being of the province. Among others, were the following :— An act dividing the province into four counties and appointing a high sheriff for each ; ' Bergen' included all the settlements between the Hud- son and Hackinsack rivers, and extended to the northern bounds of the province ; ' Essex' included all the country north of the dividing line between Woodbridge and Eliz- >«Gmnts and Concessions, p. 167. have little effect, Rudyard received These instructions, although not a proclamation from Charles, dated No- on record, are referred to in subsequent vember 3, 1683, commandivg obedience directions to Lawrie. For those on to the proprietaries. E. J. Records, A. whom the language of persuasion might p. 1. 98 NEW LAWS. [1683. abethtovvn, and west of the Hackinsack ; 'Middlesex,' all from the Woodbridge line on the north to Cheese- quake harbor on the southeast, and back southw est and northwest to the province bounds ; and ' Monmouth' com- prised the residue : — Acts, modifying to some extent the character, jurisdiction and proceedings of the county and other courts, and remodelling the criminal and penal (.Q(jes ; — Fugitive servants, and those who might abduct them, were made liable to penalties and punishment : — No freeman was to be imprisoned save by the judgment of his peers : — Resisters of authority, profane swearers, drunkards, incestuous and lewd persons, and Sabbath breakers, were made subjects of special acts : — Trading with negro slaves was forbidden, and intercourse with the Indians regulated ; the formation of treaties with them being prohibited save by the authority of the gov- ernor : — Commissioners were appointed in the different counties to lay out roads and settle landings, bridges and ferries : — Different acts regulated the recovery of debts from non-residents, and required strangers to give bonds to prosecute before they could procure the arrest of any individual : — Jails and pounds were to be erected in the several counties and towns : — Vexatious delays in pro- ceedings at law were guarded against ; the militia laws remodelled ; and such was still the danger from wolves, that the bounty upon their heads was continued : — Each town was required to pay its own deputies, at the rate of four shillings per day, and absent representatives were fined five shillings per day : — Fifty pounds were levied on the different counties to defray the public charges. ^^ The administration of Rudyard appears to have been "* Grants and Concessions. Bergen was assessed iJll, Essex ;ei4, Middlesex £10, Monmouth £15. 1683. J RUDYARD SUPERSEDED. qq productive of beneficial results. By his judicious pro- ceedings he seems to have overcome effectually anj op- position entertained by the people to the authority established over them so unceremoniously, and to have secured a good degree of harmony among the varied interests and discordant principles prevailing in the province. In the laying out and allotting lands, the deputy governor adopted a course which, as it was at variance with the views of Groome, the surveyor general, led to the suspension of that functionary from office. The proprietaries in England, however, although they ac- knowledged the great services he had rendered them in curbing the tumultuous spirits in the province,^^ did not approve of Rudyard's conduct in this matter; they, therefore, re-instated their surveyor-general, annulled all grants that had not been regularly surveyed by him, and deemed it advisable to appoint another deputy-governor, permitting Rudyard to retain the office of secretary and register, the duties of which he performed until the close of 1685, when he left the province for Jamaica.-'' The person now selected to represent the virtuous Robert Barclay, was one of his own profession, Gawen Lawrie, a merchant of London and a proprietary, who, as one of the Byllinge's trustees, was already deeply interested in West Jersey. Although he may not have occupied as elevated a position in society as the eminent lawyer whom he superseded, yet Lawrie possessed qual- '» Rudyard says, in a letter to the that " the tumultuous spirits" permit proprietaries, preserved in Scot's Mo- ted. del, "I believe it [the province,] hath «' In August, 1684, he was allowed been very unhappy heretofore under an two hundred pounds for his services as ill managed government," but Carteret's governor. Grants and Concessions, p. administration had certainly been all 197. 100 GAWEN LAWRIE DEPUTY GOVERNOR. [1684. ifications which were well calculated to fit him for the situation to which he was appointed ; intelligence, acti- vity, energy and business habits being made conspicuous in his management of affairs. His commission was dated at London in July, 1683,^' but he did not arrive in the province until the beginning of the following year, his commission being read in council, and the oath of office administered to him on 28th February.^ The new deputy-governor brought out with him a code of general laws, or " Fundamental Constitutions" as they were called, consisting of twenty-four chapters, or arti- *' Grants and Concessions, p. 168. ** He says in his letter to the proprie- tors in England, preserved in " Scot's Model," that his commission was pub- lished before his council on that day, March 2d, but the records show that it was done on the 28th February. It is probable his letter was dated after it was written, to correspond with the time of its departure. The council of his pre- decessor received him courteously, and he appears to have continued the mem- bers in office, or, at least, made no new appointments, until November 26, 1684, when Colonel Lewis Morris and Richard Hartshorne, of Monmouth ; Major Ber- ry, of Bergen ; Major Sandford and Isaac Kingsland, of Neio Barhadoes ; Captain Thomas Codringrton, of Raca- wackhana, Middlesex ; Benj. Price and Henry Lyons, of Elizahnthtoicn ; and Samuel Dennis, of Woodbridge, were selected. Smith (p. 175,) gives to these gentlemen the credit of quieting, by their prudent conduct, considerable disturb- ance in the province, particularly about Middletown and Woodbridge, " relating to town affairs." Colonel Morris was himself imprisoned in a log house on one occasion, but his partisans raised the logs sufficiently for him to escape. Although this circumstance is introduced by Smith as occurring about this time, the author is disposed to place it later. Among the MSS. of the New Jersey Historical Society is the following docu- ment : " Att the Court of Comon Right held at Perth Amboy ye 11th day of May, 1698, The Court orders That Lewis Morriss Esqr. for denying ye Authoritie of this Court, And other his contempts, shall be fined fifty pounds, and be committed to prison till paid. By order of ye court Edward Slater Gierke. To ye Sheriff of ye County of Middx: A True Coppy Joseph Rolph Shr'f." The reader will find that in 1698 se- rious difficulties existed in the province, but they did not refer particularly to " town affairs," so that there may have been two imprisonments. Mr. Morris was certainly not ashamed of the trans- action, for the document was carefully preserved among his papers, endorsed " Minute of ye Ct. of common Right, fining and Committing L. M." [1684. FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONS. jqj cles, adopted by the proprietaries in England for the government of the province, which differed in some par- ticulars from the ' Concessions' of Berkeley and Car- teret, and was deemed by its framers so superior to them that its privileges and benefits were to be extended only to those who would submit to a re-survey and approval of their several grants, arrange for the payment of all arrearages of quit rents, and agree to pass an act for the permanent support of government ; all others were to be ruled in accordance with the Concessions.^^ A comparison of the two codes, presents no features in that now offered for the approbation of the inhabit- ants, warranting the high estimation of the proprieta- ries ; on the contrary, there were many points upon which the people might naturally be expected to object to its introduction, Lawrie, himself, appears to have been convinced of the impropriety of putting it in operation, by taking no steps to effect it. That this was acting wisely there can be no doubt. The adoption of the new code would necessarily have brought the greatest confusion into the administration of the government, for as an uni- form compliance with the terms proposed could not have been expected, the tendency of the proprietary instruc- tions was actually to establish two distinct classes, subject to different laws, bound to the performance of different duties, and enjoying different privileges. This was a ^ Grants and Concessions, pp. 153- great means to satisfy them : and also we 181 : and see Note R. "We recommend desire that he may as soon as possible he him to take care to let the people rightly can, order it to be passed in an Assem- understand the advantages yielded to bly, and settle the country accordingly them by this scheme of government now thereto." Proprietaries' 13th Instruction sent over, and how much it exceeds their to Lawrie. They little understood the former concessions, which, if rightly un- temper of their subjects. derstood by them, we hope will be a 102 LAWRIE'S OPINIONS OF THE PROVINCE. [1684. sufficient reason for the non-adoption of the " funda- mental constitutions," but it is probable, likewise, that the terms were thought too harsh, their acceptance by the people involving the destruction of a system of gov- ernment already established and tried, and which, in all its general characteristics, was in accordance with their views. Through the discretion of Lawrie, therefore, the civil polity of the province remained unchanged.^'' The province made as favorable an impression upon Lawrie, as it had upon his predecessor, and he is warm in his expressions of satisfaction, not only with the aspect of the country, but also in regard to the condition of the people he was sent to govern. " There is not a poor body in all the province, nor that wants," wrote he to the proprietaries in England ; and he urged them to hasten emigration as rapidly as possible, with the annunciation " here wants nothing but people ;" his discerning mind at once discovering in the sparseness of the population, and especially of the class favorable to the proprietary interest, one great cause of the difficulties his prede- cessors had encountered. Emigration, he thought, would " bring all the division that hath been here to an end, for these men seeing that they shall be balanced, are already more compliant than they were." ^* Gordon says " the new proprieta- possible for you to understand what is ries do not appear to have deemed any for the good of the province as I do that modification of the civil polity of the am here." Instructions were subse- country necessary." Why then propose quently given, (August, 1684,) providing the new code 1 It is probable that for the adoption of the " Fundamental Lawrie had reference to the adoption of Constitutions" by the Assembly before this new system, when, shortly after his putting them in force, and authorizing arrival he wrote to the proprietaries, " I the confirmation of the acts of that cannot at present mention all particu- body as constituted under the Conces- lars, which you must supply by some sions. Grants and Concessions, p. 196. general clauses or words, for it is not 1684.] BRIEF ACCOUNT OF EAST JERSEY. jqo The proprietaries had not been so unmindful of their interests as not to make strenuous exertions to induce the removal of planters and others to their newly acquired territory. The first twelve associates, directly after re- ceiving their deed from the trustees of Carteret, pub- lished a " Brief Account of East Jersey," in which they presented in the most favorable light its advantages of situation, climate and fertility, and set forth the comforts, conveniences and productions which the cultivator of the soil, the tradesman, or the mechanic could so readily ren- der available for his ease and profit within its limits.^^ This publication, aided by the personal influence of Governor Barclay and the other Scotch proprietaries, created considerable interest for the province in the minds of many of their countrymen, at that time dis- satisfied with their political condition and suffering under religious persecution.^'' A number of emigrants were consequently soon in motion, and Lawrie, writing in March 1684, says those who w^ere then arriving would have a tendency to advance the country beyond all its improvement during several preceding years. Many of these early settlers were sent out in the employ of the different proprietaries and most prominent landholders, or under such agreements as would afford to them the benefits of the " head-land" grants for each individual brought into the province ; fifty acres being allowed to each master of a family, and twenty-five acres for each person composing it, whether wife, child or servant, each ^ See Note S. for this puhlication at &c., London, 16S7, by Rich'd Blome." length. It is the basis of all the informa- Frequently quoted, though abounding in tion upon East .Jersey in Blome's Book, errors. entitled " The Present State of His Ma- ^^ Grahame IL, p. 293. [Edit, 1837.] jesty's Isles and Territories in America, 104 SCOT'S MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT. [1685. servant to be bound three }ears, at the expiration of which time he or she was to be allowed to take up thirty acres on separate account.^^ Although partial success thus attended the exertions of the proprietaries to people their province, they found too many prejudices and objections prevailing among the Scots for the current of emigration to continue. Not- withstanding the disadvantages and sufferings under which their countrymen labored, and from which they could be saved by a transfer of themselves, their families and substance to this new land, a voluntary and perpe- tual exile, in connection with national and religious ob- jections, seemed to enshroud that proposed refuge in clouds of doubt and uncertainty, too dark for the eyes of many to penetrate sufficiently to behold the bright prospects which the sacrifice required of them would purchase. The proprietaries, therefore, determined to enlighten the public more fully in relation to East Jersey by publishing a historical and statistical account, more particular in its details than their first publication ; and in 1685, George Scot of Pitlochie, at their instance, wrote a work entitled " The Model of the Government of the Province of East Jersey in America, '' in which the objections to emigration were refuted, and the con- dition of the province stated at length. Its effect was " Brief account of East Jersey. 1G83,) 6 ; Stephen and Thomas Warne, Among those availing themselves of this 11; Robert Fullerton, 9 ; Jc4ia Camp- privilege, the following persons are bell, 8 ; Captain Andrew Hamilton, 10 ; named in the Records: December 16, David Mudie, 17; Lord Neil Camp- 1684, Ga wen La wrie, 8 persons: Wm. bell, (December, 1685,) 56; James Haige, 8 ; the Scotch Proprietaries 22 Johnston, 9 ; John Forbes, 4 ; George and 2 overseers; Capt. Thomas Pear- Keith, 6; Charles Gordon, 5. Many son, (November 1684,) 14 ; Wm. Dock- of these became prominent and influcif- wra, (December 1684,) 24, and subse- cntial individuals in the province, quently 10 more ; John Barclay, (March 1685.] INSTRUCTIONS OF THE PROPRIETARIES. 105 highlj beneficial, particularly as the author added exam- pie to precept hy embarking himself and family for East Jersey. He was accompanied by nearly two hundred persons, and sailed from Scotland about August 1st, 1685, but both himself and wife died on the passage.^" Other companies followed, and, to use the words of Graliame, "American society was enriched with a valua- ble accession of virtue that had been refined by adver- sity, and piety that was invigorated by persecution." The instructions of the proprietaries to the deputy- governor, so far as they refer to the dissensions in the province, were of a nature to sooth the irritated feelings of tiie colonists, and restore tranquillity. Mild in their language, they were yet firm in requiring the execution of engagements which they considered justice to them- selves and other settlers called upon them to enforce, but they rendered their performance comparatively easy, by investing Lawrie with all authority necessary to make such arrangements with the delinquents as in his discretion he might see meet, " not standing much with them upon small matters." The opposition to the title of the proprietaries, although quieted by these means, was not by any means destroyed. Addresses were pre- sented to the first of the body that came to the province, setting forth the claims under the Indian purchasers, and the alleged evils to which the claimants had been sub- jected. These were answered in a dignified letter,^^ in which it was justly remarked that those who, under any pretence, would endeavor to subvert or weaken the pro- prietary authority could neither be their friends nor the '* See the work at length in the Appendix, and the introductory remarks thereto, for some account of the author. ^ Grams and Concessions, p. 188. 106 LETTER TO THE DISAFFECTED. [1684. friends of the province; for such a course would inevita- bly expose both themselves and others to become the prey of designing men, as had already been experienced. An assurance was added that the just rights and privi- leges of all concerned in the province would be protected and due encouragement afforded ; and the reasonable expectation was expressed, that the care and interest taken by the proprietaries, would be met by due submis- sion on the part of the inhabitants. In order to prevent any additional difficulty from the acquisition of Indian titles by individuals, the regulation respecting their pur- chase solely under the authority of the deputy-governor was continued in force, and that officer was directed to make a requisition upon the proprietaries for the neces- sary funds ; a cargo of goods, valued at seven hundred and fifty pounds, had been sent out for the purpose as early as 1682, with Rudyard and Groome, under the charge of the latter, and by him expended for the pur- pose.^° It was well foreseen by the proprietaries that, if aught could obstruct the welfare of their territory, it would be collision with the province of New York, having for its head the heir apparent to the throne of England, one, whose arbitrary temper and disregard of solemn engage- ments had already, more than once, been exhibited in connection with East Jersey ; conciliation, therefore, was not only in accordance with the principles of Qua- kerism, but also with the promptings of sound judgment and discretion, as the power to enforce would undoubt- edly be an attendant upon the will that might project any hostile measure. They, therefore, required that a ^^ Grants and Concessions, p. 17G. 1681.1 INTERCOURSE WITH NEW YORK. 107 friendly correspondence should be kept up with the governor and colony of New York ; carefulness was en- joined in avoiding any cause for complaint of interference with their interests, and as they disowned all idea of benefiting themselves by any measures that might be injurious to that province, Lawrie was cautioned against giving encouragement to emigration thence into East Jersey /^^ Tlieir instructions referring to the intercourse with other provinces were of a different character, the deputy-governor being required to see that " his just and honest interest" should be maintained, and nothing pre- judicial to the proprietaries allowed. The wishes of the proprietaries respecting New York were complied with by Lawrie, for before entering upon the duties of his office he visited the governor of that province, and remained with him two or three days, re- ceiving evidences of kindness and respect.^^ Governor Dongan, however, was as desirous as his predecessor had been to re-annex New Jersey to New York, but, being of a less grasping temperament, his wishes led not to the adoption of any open acts of hostility to the exist- ing government.^^ The greater number of the proprietaries being in England and Scotland, all orders and instructions, how- ever minute, emanated at first from their councils there ; but emigration, and a transfer of proprietary rights soon brought to the province such a number of those directly interested in the soil, that on the 1st August, 1684, a board of commissioners was established, comprising all the proprietaries that might be from time to time in the province, to act with the deputy-governor in the tempo- " Grants and Concessions, p. 171. ^^ Chalmer's Annals, pp. 621, 627, " Scot's Model, p. 163. and see Note T. 108 NEW TOWN OF PERTH. ri68'1. rarj approval of laws passed by the Assembly — the settle- ment of all disputes with the planters — the purchase and laying out of lands and other matters.^^ This soon after became known as the " Board of Proprietors," and contiimed to have the chief management within the province of those concerns which were connected with the proprietary titles to the government and soil. To this Board was also intrusted the adoption of such measures as might best conduce to the advancement and improvement of a new town to be called " Perth," in honor of the Earl of Perth, one of the proprietaries, standing on w hat was then known as Amho Point ; for the settling of which proposals had been issued in 1682, immediately on their obtaining a title to the province.^ This town was a favorite project of the proprietaries, and they prefigured for the object of their solicitude a destiny which has never been realized.^*^ At the time of Lawrie's arrival there were several houses already erected and others preparing for erection, (the site having been surveyed and the town laid out by Samuel Groome,) and his attention was immediately given to the execu- tion of the plans based upon the expectation that it should become the chief town and seat of government, as w'ell as the principal seaport of the province.^^ '■» Grants and Concessions, p. 195. the history would render the addition ^' Brief account of East Jersey, see less interesting to the general reader. Note S. 27 In directions emanating from the *• From the importance of this place proprietaries in England in November, as the capital of the province, the influ- 1684, the Courts and Assembly are di- ence many of its citizens had upon its rected to sit, and the deputy-governor affairs, and other considerations, the au- required to reside and convene hiscoun- thor would have introduced an extended cil at Amboy, but Lawrie appears to notice of its settlement and progress had have disregarded the order, continuing to he not been deterred by the fear of add- reside at Elizabethtown. This disobe- ing to the bulk of his volume, and the dience Oklmixon and Wynne mention apprehension that the local character of as the cause of discontent with Lawrie's 1685.] COMMERCIAL RESTRICTIONS. |q9 In prosecuting their intentions in this last respect the proprietaries were particularly cautious ; directing Lawrie to take every precaution to prevent infringements of the navigation laws in relation to the payment of duties, or otherwise, in order that no complaint against them on that account might be made f^ and Lawrie seems to have complied with their behest, in part, by admitting William Dyre, in April 1685, to the discharge of his duties as collector of the customs in New Jersey.^^ The acknowledgment of this officer led to diffi- culty. Governor Dongan, when exculpating himself from the charge of endeavoring to subvert the rights of the proprietaries, claimed credit for permitting vessels to proceed directly to and from the province, which his pre- decessors had not allowed ; but so soon as the authority of Dyre was established over East Jersey, the inhabit- ants found they were debarred this privilege; their ves- sels were to be entered, and the duties on their cargoes paid at the office of the collector in New York ; regula- tions to which they were little disposed to conform. In June, 1685, when Dyre had exercised his office about two months, he complained to the commissioners of the customs of the opposition he experienced, and stated that when he prosecuted vessels, the juries found their verdicts against him contrary to the most undoubted facts, so that all legal redress was denied him."*" This complaint was referred to the ministers, and acted upon by them with a promptitude which evinced administration. It may have tended to April 1st. He had been appointed bj increase their disapprobation, but there the commissioners of the customs, col- were other causes operating. lector for both Pennsylvania and New ^^ Grants and Concessions, p. 171. Jersey, on 4th Jinuary, 1682. " E. J. Records, C. Laws, p. 96. *» Chalmers' Annals, p. 621. The oath of office was administered 110 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CROWN. [1686. their willingness to avail themselves of any pretext to forward the schemes then under consideration, based upon the representations of the New York governors, for the re-annexation of New Jersey to the territory of James. The Attorney-General was ordered in April, 1686, to issue a writ of quo warranto against the pro- prietaries, the reason assigned being the "great preju- dice in the plantations and to the customs here, if such abuses should be any longer suffered in a country which ought to be more dependent on his majesty." ^^ The death of Charles II., in February 1685, had raised the Duke of York to the throne as James II., and his investiture with the robes of royalty was the prelude to his putting aside all obligations and agreements which conflicted with his views of interest, or interfered with the full exercise of his arbitrary power.^- For this very august personage had thrice as Duke of York and Alba- ny, by diiferent patents, and by numerous other docu- ments, conveyed and confirmed to others all the rights, powers and privileges which he had himself obtained in this identical territory, which was now to be made " more dependent" on his sovereign will and pleasure. But he was told his revenues would be increased by an extension of his royal mantle over New Jersey, and hesi- tate he could not in adopting measures to effect it. The proprietaries in England were not silent under these proceedings of the crown. In a remonstrance which they presented to the king they reminded him that they had not received the province as a benevolence, *' Chalmers, p. 622. could scarcely comprehend." If this is ** Bancroft says, (p. 405, 10th Edit.) true New Jersey must have confused " He kept his word sacredly, unless it him greatly. involved complicated relations, which he 1687.] PROPOSITIONS OF THE PROPRIETARIES. m but had expended for it twelve thousand pounds ; that under his own confirmation of their title and his assur- ances of protection, thej had sent ihither several hun- dreds of people from Scotland ; and they stated their willingness, should he desire it, to propose to the Assem- bly of East Jersey the imposition of the same taxes that were levied in New York. They even went farther, and prayed that the king, if he deemed a change in the administration of the province necessary, would himself select a governor from the body of the proprietaries to rule over both East and West Jersey as one jurisdiction ; that an appeal from the courts of the province should be had to England only ; and to avoid all future difficulty in relation to the navigation acts, they requested that an officer might be appointed to collect the customs at Perth Amboy.^^ This last was the only request granted, as it was the only one that promised any additional revenue, and did not conflict with the designs then under consideration.*'* In all other respects James was inexorable ; his friend- ship for Barclay, and all the influence of the Earl of *' Chalmers, p. 622, quoting N. J. possibly with a hope that it might facili- Papers, pp. 73-83. tate the negotiations with the king, — then ** An order was transmitted to the presumed to be in progress, but which governor of New York, in August 1687, were in fact consummated, — the Assem- (Chaimers says May, but the copy sent bly of East Jersey, in May, 1688, passed to East Jersey is in the author's posses- an act levying a tax of a penny a pound sion, dated August 14,) directing him to on estates, and tenpence per head on permit vessels to pass to Amboy without males over sixteen, for the service of his interruption ; provided the authorities majesty against the French, and under would allow such person as the gover- the command of the governor of New nor of New York or the receiver gene- York ;" who had been directed by a let- ral of that province should appoint, ter from the king, dated November lOth, peaceably to perform the duties of collec- 1687, to call upon other provinces for tor, &c., and one was appointed accord- aid. Grants and Concessions, p. 306. jngly. As a return for this favorj or 112 SIR EDMUND ANDROS RETURNS. [1687. Perth and other courtier proprietaries being of no avail in deterring him from involving New Jersey with the other colonies whose charters and constitutions he had resolved to annul. ^^ Complaints having been made to Charles II. against the colony of Massachusetts Bay, he had called for a surrender of its charter, and on receiving a refusal from the general assembly, a writ of quo warranto was issued in 1684 ; but the death of Charles had left the proceed- ings under it to be consummated by his successor, whose rapacity for power and arbitrary nature, prompted him to make the subversion of the liberties of one colony the precedent for similar injustice to all, as if its general application would legalize the principle or render it less obnoxious. In furtherance of this scheme, James, to- wards the close of 1686, sent over his former pliant ser- vant Andros, whom he had knighted, with a commission as Governor over all New England. Taking up his residence at Boston, that functionary assumed the chief authority in Massachusetts, and proceeded the following year to visit, in succession, Rhode Island and Connecti- cut, whose respective governments he dissolved, vesting in himself all power and dominion, even beyond the limits granted by his royal master. Finding the king immovable in his determination to extend the sway of Andros over their province as well as over New England, the proprietaries of East Jersey considered it advisable to abandon the hopeless contest for their previously conceded privileges, and by facilitat- ing the king's design obtain his guaranty to respect their right to the soil. They, consequently, made a « Grahame, II., p. 296, [Edit. 1837.] 1638.] NEW-JERSEY PLACED UNDER ANDROS. j 13 formal surrender of their patent on this condition in April, 1688,^^ and as James agreed to accept it, the pro- ceedings under the quo warranto process were no longer needed for East Jersey, and, as the proprietaries of West Jersey had entered also into the arrangement,''^ a new commission was directed to Andros, annexing both pro- vinces, together with New York, (the commission of Governor Dongan having been superseded,) to his gov- ernment, and Francis Nicholson was appointed his lieu- tenant.^^ On the receipt of this commission Andros once more presented himself in New York, received the govern- ment from the hands of Governor Dongan on the 11th August, and a few days thereafter visited both East and West Jersey ; creating less confusion and causing less anxiety in the minds of the inhabitants than there was every reason to anticipate, and exhibiting greater wis- dom than he generally manifested, by continuing all the existing officers in their places ; so that the change in the government was in a measure nominal.^^ After the due regulation of aifairs in New York to suit his pleasure, he confided the administration of the government there to his lieutenant, and continued his own permanent resi- dence at Boston. In order to present a connected view of the measures *^ Smith's New Jersey, pp. 211, 568. also East New Jersey the 15th, and GrahameII.p.296,Edit. 1837. Grants West New Jersey the 18th following, and Concessions, pp. 604-5. where by proclamation continue the *^ It does not appear, however, that revenue, and all officers in place, till far- they were involved in the quo warranto ther order." Andros's Despatch, dated case. New York, October 4, 1688. New York ** Grahame, II., p. 218. Colonial Papers. Nicholson, under date *^ " I arrived here the 11th August of 31st August, says the two Jerseys past, when His Majesties Letters Patents were "settled to their great satisfac- being pubUshed, received this place, as tion." 114 DEFICIENCY OF INFORMATION. [168(3. concerted in England, the events transpiring in the province have been left unnoticed, but their considera- tion will now be resumed. Little information can be obtained respecting the political condition of East Jersey, or the advancement of the people in the comforts, enjoyments, and advan- tages of increasing civilization during the period under review. The records are confined almost exclusively to the preservation of documents emanating from the pro- prietaries abroad, and in all probability the communica- tions of the deputy-governor to them, and other impor- tant sources of information which they must have had in possession, have long since disappeared, leaving unex- plained much that is calculated to excite curiosity and interest."'^ Enough can be gathered, however, on which to base a conviction that, although the increase of popu- lation was considerable, and the reward of industry abun- dant, yet the improvement of the province was not com- mensurate either with the expectations or exertions of the proprietaries. This may be attributed, mainly, to the unfortunate dissensions respecting titles to the soil, which are so frequently presented as the prolific source of difficulty ; the various claims under patents from different governors, purchases from the Indians and individual grants, afford- ing a most extensive field for litigation and excitement, to the cultivation of which the lapse of time presented no obstruction. It is also suggested by some writers,^^ that the interest taken by Lawrie in West Jersey, ren- *" The letters of Lawrie and others, dence tliat the value of the lost docu- written just after their arrival, and for- ments is not overrated, tunately incorporated into Scot's Model, *' Oldmixon. Wynne. (being thereby preserved,) are someevi- 1686.] ASSEMBLY MEETS AT PERTH AMBOV 115 dered him less attentive to devising measures, or carrying out the views of the proprietaries, for the welfare of the territory confided to his charge. Speculators in the Board of Proprietors may also have tended to the disadvanta-^e of the provmce by forestalling the most desirable traces or locations, more with the view of realizing lar-e pro fits from subsequent sales, than from the actual iinprove- nient of the lands while in their possession.'' The proprietaries having declared themselves averse to the multiplication of transient laws, it bein<. " both proper and safe that the common law of England should serve" wherever applicable,^ the deputy-governor seems have considered it unnecessary to call a meetin.. of the Assembly before April, 1686, in which month a ses sion was held, for the first time, at Perth Ambov the new seat of government. The subjects of legislation were few. The prin c.pal acts were, one for the regulating the value of .ilver com, and another against wearing sHords, pistols and other weapons, and giving or receiving challenges • the preamble to the latter stating that many of the inha- bitants of the province received great abuses, were out in great fear, and involved in quarrels and challen<,es bv reason of many persons carrying unusual and uidawful weapons ;« a state of society resulting naturally from the strife and excitement which have been referred to The first named act is worthy of notice from its bein., the SeTZ 7, " ^^^^•'--^«'' 'egislate oS th ubjec . Its ob,ect was to prevent the transportation ot lv.r from the province by raising it above its true valu m all business transactions ; and so little were the mys- " Wynne, I., p. 209. an. " Oranf= or>j r ■ urants antJ Concessions nn 2R'i '-rants and Concessions, p. 177. 289 116 DEPUTY GOVERNOR LAWRIE SUPERSEDED. [1686. teries of finance and the circulation of the precious me- tals understood by its framers, that the law does not seem to have been considered at all objectionable, or its effect doubted, until its evil tendencies were elicited in practice. Before the end of the year, however, at a subsequent session of the same Assembly, it was re- pealed, " it being found by experience that many incon- veniences may attend the same."^^ The other acts were slight alterations or amendments of existing laws, save two which were intended to carry out the wishes of the proprietaries by establishing markets, fairs and 'courts of common right' at Perth Amboy. Although the alleged want of interest in the pros- perity of East Jersey on the part of the deputy-governor may be doubted, — ior the references which have been made to the events of his administration have plainly manifested his capability, prudence and integrity, — yet the proprietaries in England had reaped but few of the advantages they had anticipated from the settlement and improvement of their province ; the future gave very little promise of better things, and these results they appear to have regarded as more the fruit of mistaken action on tne part ot the executive authority in the province than of unavoidable circumstances, and the remedy being in their power, was applied : — Lawrie was superseded.^^ In the choice of a successor they were prompted by the great influx of population from Scotland, to *» Grants and Concessions, p. 295. any of the rules and regulations of the s^ The only direct intimation of their proprietaries. It was without doubt, displeasure is found in Grants and Con- however, the main cause of his removal, cessions, pp. 211, 212, having reference as it had been that of Rudyard's, both to his locating a desirable tract of land having selected lands on the Raritan for in his own name, instead of allowing all themselves, which were thought by the the proprietaries to partake of it, but it proprietaries in England superior to any is not known that this was contrary to other tracts in the province. 1686.] LORD NEILL CAMPBELL DEPUTY GOVERNOR. J 17 Strengthen their influence in that quarter, and probably occasion increased emigration, by selecting one from the proprietaries residing there. Lord Neill Campbell, a brother of the Earl of Argyle,^^ whose invasion of Scot- land, in 1685, for the purpose of revenging the wrongs of his countrymen had terminated so unfortunately for himself and his adherents — being obliged to flee from Scotland, in consequence of his connection with that nobleman ; the proprietaries availed themselves of the circumstance to secure a new deputy-governor for East Jersey : Campbell, foreseeing probably that he would be obliged to leave his country, having secured a refuge in the province by purchasing, in August 1685, the right held by Viscount Tarbet,^^ and sent over a large number of settlers, — persons, probably, whose relations to the government were similar to his own — who arrived in the province in December of the same year. Lord Neill was appointed by the proprietaries in England their deputy-governor for two years on the 4th June, 1686,^^ and he reached the province the ensuing October ; his commission being published on the 5th and his council appointed on the 18th of that month.^** The diversity of character, religion, pursuits, and political relations prevailing among the proprietaries of East Jersey at the period under review is remarkable ; and the attention of the student of our history is neces- "' Grahame calls him the uncle of Lawrie, Major John Berry, of Bergen ; the Earl; he was so of a subsequent Isaac Kingsland, of New Barhadoes ; Earl. Captain Andrew Hamilton, of Amboy ; '** One-fourth of one twenty-fourth. Richard Townley, of Elizabethtown ; Bill in Chancery, p. 84. The original Samuel Winder, of Cheesequakes ; deed is in the Rutherfurd Collection. David Mudie and John Johnstone, of Argyle was beheaded June 30th, 1685. Amboy; and Thomas Codrington, of '* E. J. Records. Raritan. ** His council consisted of Gawen 118 Campbell RETURNS TO SCOTLAND. [1686. sarilv drawn to the consideration of the fact, in reference to the appointment of Lord Neill Campbell to be deputy- governor of the province. For Robert Barclay, — the pro- minent Quaker, with all the peculiarities of his quiet, peaceful sect, the advocate of gentleness and non-resist- ance, — to be associated in any enterprise with a stanch Scotch Presbyterian of 1685, one who could appeal to the sword as the avenger of his wrongs or the asserter of his rights, and connect himself with those who, in battle array, could seek to subvert the government esta- blished over them, is in itself calculated to excite sur- prise ; but to have that association strengthened into official relationship, however slight, and have him join in commissioning, as his subordinate, one whose views in every respect we should think so entirely dissimilar to his own, is still more wonderful. We must presume that private prejudices and feelings were allowed to be over- come, where the interests of East Jersey seemed to re- quire the sacrifice.*^^ Lord Neill 's stay in the province was of short dura- tion. On the 10th December, he appointed Andrew Hamilton his substitute, " by the urgent necessity of some weighty affairs being about to take a voyage to Britain," and he probably sailed in March following, (1687,) Hamilton's commission being published on the 12th of that month. "^^ Campbell's appointment probably *' It is uncertain that the Ear] of Perth terests looked after by that Earl's joined in commissioning Lord Neill, brother! but it is an illustration of the strange ^^ Hamilton's authority was con- commingling of men in the East Jersey firmed by a commission from Governor enterprise, that he, a stanch adherent Barclay, August 18th, 1687, which was of James, and one of the jury who published June 19lh, 1688. He received in 1681 had found the Earl of Argyle 100 pounds sterling for his services. — E. guilty of treason, should have his in- J. Records. [1687. ANDREW HAMILTON DEPUTY GOVERNOR. ng induced some emigration to the province from Scotland, but in other respects seems to have had no effect upon the condition of affairs for good or ill. The only act of his of which any knowledge is had, exclusive of granting patents for land and appointing officers, is the approval of five acts of minor import passed by an Assembly that convened in November. One of these regulated the fees of the several officers of the province " in consequence of the great burthen the inhabitants had sustained and complained under by reason of extraordinary fees ;" and another related to the office of sheriff, obliging any per- son elected to that office to serve under a penalty of fif- teen pounds for refusing.*^^ It is from such glimpses alone, as these acts afford us, that any insight can now be obtained into the true position of the government with reference to the respect and confidence evinced towards it by the people ; and these do not present it in a light to render it probable any great cordiality existed between the. governors and the governed. The speedy return of Lord Neill to Scotland was probably owing to the favorable change which had taken place in the measures of James ; whose desire to relieve the Roman Catholics from the penal laws and the various liabilities to which they were subjected, had led to a great melioration of the restrictions placed upon the Presby- terians — intended to render the project more popu- lar. Campbell may have found it unnecessary to expa- triate himself longer under these circumstances, and consequently resigned the honors which had been con- ferred upon him in East Jersey. Andrew Hamilton, left by Lord Neill as his substi- tute, had been a merchant in Edinburgh. He had come ^' Grants and Concessions, p. 226. 120 TAX FOR THE USE OF NEW- YORK. [1688. to the province with his family about the time of Camp- bell's arrival, to whom he was recommended by the pro- prietaries as a friend to their interests, and one of whose fidelity and ability for business they were well assured ; he having visited the province previously as a special agent, and given them in that capacity every satisfac- tion.^ He appears to have been a man of intelligence, and to have acted in a manner to advance, in as great a degree as circumstances would permit, the interests of the proprietaries without increasing their unpopularity or embroiling them with the people. The deputy-governor met an Assembly at Perth Amboy on 14th May, 1688, but the session resulted in no legislation of importance excepting the passage of an act levying a tax of a penny in the pound on all estates, and tenpenco per head on all males over sixteen years of age, for the service of the crown against the French ; subject to the orders of the Governor of New York, who had been authorized in the November previous to call upon the other provinces for assistance.*^ It is pro- bable, however, this was complying more with the letter than with the spirit of the requisition, with the view of favorably affecting by their generosity the measures that were thought to be under consideration in England. The enforcement of the tax is doubtful, and, accustomed as the inhabitants were to almost entire exemption from *■• E. J. Records B, p. 25. manuring their land, forced upon quite ** Grants and Concessions. Chalmers, different ways and methods from the followed by Grahame, [Edit. 1837,] other farmers and inhabitants of the states erroneously that this act was county of Middlesex, because of the fre- pass d the year before. At this session quent floods that carry away their fences Somerset County was set off from Mid- on their meadows, the only arable land dlesex. " Forasmuch as the uppermost they have, and so by consequence their part of Raritan river is settled by per- interest is divided from the other inhab- sons whom, in their husbandry and itant« of the said county." 1688.] JURISDICTION OP ANDROS. 121 taxation for the support of their own government, it is not probable that they would readily contribute to the relief of New York, a province which had so materially and repeatedly interfered with their just rights. In August 1688, as has been already stated,^^ the pro- vince was resigned to the jurisdiction of Governor Sir Edmund Andros. The deputy-governor and all his subordinates were continued in office, but respecting the retention of their original powers, or the extent of action allowed them independent of the royal representative under whom they had been placed, little definite infor- mation can be obtained. The course of Andros in accepting the mere acknowledgment of his authority as sufficient without revolutionizing the government, was probably, in part, owing to the fact that the surrender of their rights by the proprietaries, involved the issuing of a confirmatory grant to them from the crown of all the immunities of the soil ; and until that arrangement was fully consummated, the continuance of their officers in power might have been considered expedient.^^ The forbearance of Andros, however, under any circum- stances, is remarkable, and the wisdom of his course un- usual ; arrogance, disregard of rights, and impetuosity in his decisions, having been so strikingly manifested by him in all his previous transactions with the authorities of East Jersey. The revolution in England in favor of William and Mary, having led to the seizure of Andros by the peo- ple of New England in April 1689, and the subversion of his government, his authority in the several colonies *• Seepage 113. governor, entered into an arrangement " Grahame, II. p. 297, [Edit. 1837.] with the governor of West Jersey rela- This grant was never made by James, tive to their common boundary line. As late as September, 1688, Barclay, as Smith's N. J., p. 196. 122 GOVERNMENT OF ANDROS SUBVERTED. [1689. that had been placed under his jurisdiction was at once destroyed : and had the proprietaries felt themselves strong in the affections of the people, and able to sustain themselves amid the conflicts of parties, no time could have been more propitious for the resumption of all the rights and privileges they had been obliged to relinquish. But they were in many respects peculiarly embarrassed. Unanimity of action could not be obtained, from the fact that the counsels of the Board in the province were render- ed necessarily inefficient through a want of the requisite information as to the sentiments of their associates in Great [Britain. Many had been, or were, closely con- nected with the King, or were friendly to his cause, and all were probably disposed to reverence more highly than they should have done, one, who as Duke of York, had been the grantor of their possessions. Hamilton, by throwing off the responsibilities he had so recently as- sumed as the representative of the royal government, would have virtually declared for William, and added to the obstacles already in the way of a full enjoyment of the rights of the proprietaries, without in the least strengthening his position with the people ; whose pre- dilections, it may be safely inferred, were in favor of a dependence upon the crown rather than upon the gov- ernment of a numerous body of proprietaries. In May, the deputy-governor, obeying a summons from Andros's lieutenant in New York,^^ repaired thither to consult with the authorities of that province upon the course proper to be pursued in the peculiar sit- uation of the government, but thereafter does not seem *' New York Colonial Papers. Mr. the Bergen justices attended with the Van Cortland to SirE. Andros, July 9th, deputy-governor 1689 The summons was general, and 1689.1 HAMILTON SAILS FOR ENGLAND. 123 to have taken any part that would have identified him with either of the great factions that were disturbing the mother country. There was no outbreak among the people of East Jersey as in the other colonies subject to the authority of Andros, from the peculiar circumstances which have been mentioned ; but there was so much room for doubt as to what should be the policy and measures of the government, that Hamilton deemed it proper to proceed to England in person to advise with the proprietaries. He sailed accordingly, but on his voyage was taken prisoner by the French, and for some time detained. MAP OF EAST JERSEY. The Map which precedes the foregoing portion of the narrative, was compiled from various sources, and without being entirely accurate, will give the reader an idea of the extent of the settled portion of the pro- vince, about the time it passed into the possession of the '• twenty-four ;" as well as other information which maybe of service in rightly determin- ino' its condition both before and after that event. THOMAS RUDYARD. This gentleman, selected as the first representative of Governor Bar- clay in the province, was originally from the town of Rudyard, in Staf- fordshire, but at the time of his appointment was a resident of London. His legal attainments are stated to have been of a character that insured him an elevated rank in his profession, and it was probably from his con- 124 THOMAS RUDYARD. [1689. nection with the trial of Penn and Mead in 1670,^' in which Smith says he took a prominent part, that he became interested in the East Jersey project. Certain it is he took an active part in the preliminary measures for the advancement of the province after its transfer to the twenty -four proprietaries ; the Concessions, — their plan for the foundation of their capital, Perth Amboy, — a map of the country, — and other documents, being deposited at his residence in George-yard, Lombard street, for the inspection of all adventurers to the western world. Selected by the proprietaries as their deputy-governor, Rudyard appears to have embarked for the province with a full determination to make it thereafter his home. He brought with him two persons less able than himself to bear the toils, exposure and deprivations, incident to a newly-settled land, but who seem to have entered upon their new sphere of life with that energy of mind and contentedness of disposition which invariably bring their reward : these were his daughters, Margaret and Anne, — ladies highly esteemed — and the first has left a name in the tradi- tionary annals of Perth Amboy (for many years her residence) which is associated with many remembered virtues ; the stamp of truth being set to the record by the fact that the Episcopal congregation of the ancient capital is to this day enjoying, to a considerable extent, the fruits of her liberality. Ere six months had elapsed after their arrival, Rudyard, when writing to his friends in England, says of his daughters, " they tell me they would not change their place for George-yard," showing that they had identified themselves with the objects around them in no small degree ; but the impartiality of the chronicler requires the notice of a proba- bility that attractions, other than those of general society, climate, and natural scenery, had their due weight in making them thus contented, for they were both '• woo'd and won" soon after their arrival, by two gentle- men of New York. Anne became the wife of Mr. John West, " mer- chant," and Margaret the wife of Mr. Samuel Winder, who after his marriage removed to a plantation near Middletown, where he died. He had previously resided on Staten Island. However much Rudyard may have been annoyed by his unceremo- nious dismissal from office,^" he appears to have submitted to the wishes of his associates without opposition ; an indication of a mildness of dispo- sition, which, in connection with the great interest he manifested in the *' William Penn and William Mead of their meeting houses, met in the street were indicted " for being present at, and before it, and Penn and Mead there preaching to an unlawful, seditious, and preached to them. Proud's Pennsylva- riotous Assembly," contrary to the provi- nia, I., p. 84. sions of what was called the Conven- ""^ See page 99. tide Act. The Quakers, being kept out 1689.] THOMAS RUDYARD. J25 prosperity of the province, and the prudence evinced in the genera! ordering of its affairs, prompts some regrets that he could not longer have remained at the head of the government. Previous to Mr. Rudyard's departure for Jamaica,^' he gave his daughters one-half of his proprietary right, excepting a few specified lots, and left written instructions with his sons-in-law for the management of his and their estates, commencing with this admonition : " Impyimis, that you love each other, be tender of each other's reputation, and in all matters of weight not only advise with, but be assistant to each other, as becometh the relation you bear.'' Deficient as may be our knowledge of his character in other respects, we may charitably suppose that what he could thus inculcate he could also exhibit, in all its beauty, in his own " life and conversation." He died abroad in 1692, leaving, besides his daughters, two sons, Benjamin, who at the time of his father's death resided in the island of Barbadoes, and does not appear to have come to America, as he disposed of his inheritance in 1695 ; and John, to whom his father left all his West Jersey lands, in which section of the state he probably has descendants.'^^ Mr. Rudyard's executors declining to serve, Messrs. Robert Wharton and George Willocks were appointed administrators ; and the intimacy that arose by consequence, between these gentlemen and the families of West and Winder led to a more tender connection with their wives when death deprived them of their husbands, which was the case a few years thereafter, Anne becoming the wife of Mr. Wharton, (and subsequently the wife of Governor Andrew Hamilton,) and Margaret the wife of Mr. Willocks. It was as Mrs. Willocks that the latter became a benefac- tress of St. Peter's Church at Perth Amboy, as has been stated, and a tablet to her memory, in connection with others, is inserted in the wall of that ancient edifice. She left no children, and it is not known that her sister did, at least no descendant of the deputy-governor is thought now to be living in East Jersey. '^' E.J. Records, A,pp. 138,217,218. mentioned in his will, he mayhave'fol- November, 1685, December 5, 1685. lowed the sea.' He mentions six chil- His will was dated at New York, De- dren (Thomas, John, Daniel, Mary, cember 7th. Margaret and Ruth,) and a brother-in- '* John Rudyard died February, 1726, law named Daniel Smith, and from "sailor's instruments" being 126 GAWEN LAWRIE. GAWEN LAWRIE. [1689. The character and acts of Deputy-Governor Lawrie have been loo much dwelt upon in the foregoing pages to render necessary an ex- tended notice of him in this place. Little information, however, is now to be gathered respecting him and many others whose exertions created for us the goodly heritage we enjoy, and such illustrations of iheir private character and domestic relations as are calculated to interest us are especially rare. We first meet with Lawrie's name, in connection with those of Wil- liam Penn and Nicholas Lucas, as one of the assignees of Edward Byl- linge (the purchaser of West Jersey from Lord Berkeley,) who in 1676 placed m their hands for the benefit of his creditors the whole province of West Jersey. Lawrie was one of the creditors, but what direct in- terest lie acquired in the province, as such, is not known to the author, a though the records of the western division may give the information. It was without doubt considerable, and the management of Byllino-e's aflairs, ,n all probability, prepared the way for his embarkino-, with Penn and other Friends, in the East Jersey enterprise. The deputy-governor brought with him to the province his wife and lamily, and took up his residence at Elizabethtown, continuing to reside there nolwiths.anding the expressed wish of the proprietaries that he would remove to Perth Amboy, a circumstance to which some writers have attributed his removal from office, as has been stated." It is not to be wondered at, that, with his family around him, he should have pre- ferred remaining the occupant of the proprietary house at the former place to the comparatively uncomfortable residence in the embryo city • but he evidently took a warm interest in Perth Amboy, and may with truth be considered its founder. j vv ui He surrendered the government to his successor in October 1686 became one of his council, and so continued until his death, which occurred at Elizabethtown m the autumn of 1687. Mrs. Lawrie (Mary) survived her husband, and in his will he charged his children to render her everv kindness and attention, she '■ having been loving, tender, and careful b2 to them and him." - They had one son, ^Ja^Ls,) wh^se dauThtriL " See page 108, note. and daughter Ann, arrived in the pro- - E. J. Records,B p. 137. In 1683, vince and settled at Freehold in Men Thomas Lawne, probably a brother of mouth county, where it is thought their the deputy-governor, with a son James descendants are yet living. 1689.1 LORD NEILL CAMPBELL. 127 bella married William Davis of New York, and inherited much, if not all of the estate of her grandfather ; and two daughters, Mary, who became the wife of William Haige. and Rebecca, who married Miles Forster, both of them men of standing in the province. Nothing is known of the descendants of Mrs. Haige ; a son of Mrs. Forster removed to the island of Barbadoes, and two daughters died unmarried. The autograph of Gawen Lawrie does not present his " clerkly skill" in a very favorable light, however great an adept he may have been in business matters.^* LORD NEILL CAMPBELL. The connection of this nobleman with the province was of so tran- sient a character, that no opportunity is afforded by his public acts to judge either of his character or qualifications, and of his private life the author has no information. He died previous to 1693. In selecting East Jersey as a place of refuge he was no doubt influ- enced, in part, by the fact that two sons had already emigrated. John is mentioned as early as 1684, with his wife, three children, and eleven ser- vants ; and Archibald came out immediately after the fatal termination of his Uncle Argyle's enterprise, in which he was engaged as well as his father.^" There is a curious conveyance on record, under date of December 16th, 1684, by which one Moneybaird makes over to John Campbell all his interest in Perth Amboy, "on consideration of the said Campbell's send- ing a footman in velvet to wait on Moneybaird during the lime of parlia- ment in New Jersey, and holding his stirrup." The author's antiquarian lore is at fault here, as Moneybaird does not figure at all among the worthies of the province, and could certainly have had no anticipated right to a seat in "parliament;" and " a footman in velvet" would under any circumstances have been rather a strange attendant upon a yeoman of that period. 75 The true orthography of his name is ''® " Two sons of Argyle, John and left in doubt even by his own sign-ma- diaries, and Archibald Campbell, his nual. It is given indiscriminately by nephew, were sentenced to death and most of the old documents as " Laurie" forfeiture, but the capital part of the sen- and " Lawrie," but the latter is consi- tence was remitted." Fox's James IT. dered the correct form. p. 153. 128 THE SEAL OP THE PROPRIETARIES. [1689. Archibald Campbell died in May, 1702, and it is uncertain whether or not he left children ; John died in December, 1689, leaving one son and two dauffhters. THE SEAL OF THE TWENTY-FOUR PROPRIETARIES. The only impressions of this seal that have been seen by the author, are appended to documents in his own possession, or in the Rutherfurd Coi lection, although there may be others scattered through the State. That such a seal ever existed, is a fact but little known, it having long since disappeared. It may have been destroyed on the surrender of the gov- ernment to the crown, or, being thereafter of no use, have been lost through carelessness. AUTOGRAPHS ofj-OTtie of the mo^t jjromiTunt indiridiials coriP^ct^d with tJit G^orerrvrrvent of \ Eat t Jersey ■ I ^wrc&Af^ krli 'anoL PERIOD IV. FROM THE SUBVERSION OP THE AUTHORITY OF ANDROS TO THE SURRENDER OP THE GOVERNMENT TO THE CROWN. 1689—1702. The period upon the consideration of which we now enter is involved in more doubt than any other in the history of New Jersey. The proprietary records, so soon as the government was placed under the supreme control of Andros, became no longer the depositories of the offi- cial or other papers connected with its administration, and for three or four years cease to throw any light upon passing events. The correspondence between the Board of Proprietors in the province, or the Deputy-Governor with the proprietaries abroad, has become lost in the lapse of years, and we are consequently reduced to mea- gre gleanings from incidental notices, introduced in irre- gular and otherwise unimportant documents, for such facts as enable the student to form some, however imper- fect, conception of the condition of the province. Hamilton left East Jersey for Europe in August, 1689,^ and the inhabitants were left to the guardianship 1 Gordon says /urae, probably on the Records (B, p. 479) mention Hamilton faith of the opponents of the proprieta- as acting as Deputy Governor until ries.who asserted they were left without 18th August, 1689 ; and as continuing a government after that month ; but the at the head of affairs until May 18th 9 230 STATE OF THE GOVERNMENT. 1689.] of their county and town officers from that time until 1692. These, however, possessed ample powers to meet all common emergencies, and without any pressures from abroad, or attempted exercise of any disputed preroga- tive within the province by the agents of the proprieta- ries, the authority of these local magistrates appears to have been respected and the peace of the community preserved.^ And so averse were the opponents of the proprietaries to the re-establishment of their authority, that for a time the public sentiment was in favor of a continuance in this state of comparatively imperfect or- o-anization as to government. For on the arrival of Hamilton in England, and the death of Governor Bar- 1G90, which is presumed to be the time when he arrived in England after his detention by the French, and re- signed his office. 2 Mr. Bancroft, in his 3d Vol. (9 Edit.) p. 47, asks the significant question, " Will you know with how little government a community of husbandmen may be safe .?"— and adds, " For twelve years the whole province was not in a settled condition. From June, 1689, to August, 1692, East Jersey had no government whatever, being in time of war without military officers, as well as without magistrates." The fact that the prov- ince must have contained nearly ten thousand inhabitants at this time goes far towards refuting the supposition that no legal restraints were in existence. If the functions of all the provincial officers had ceased — if there were no courts — no administration of justice — no punishment of the guilty — would not subsequent legislation have declared it distinctly ? But a reference to the va- rious charters and local regulations, will show most clearly how little probability there is that such " a state of nature" (as Mr. Bancroft terms it in his earlier edi- tions) existed. [See E. J. Records, B. and I. Lib. 1. 2d part, pp. 19-22,11. Lib. in. p. 6, Grants and Concessions. Bill in Chancery. Answer to Bill pp. 6, 14, 15. Newark Town Records.] This question is discussed at length in the Newark Dai- ly Advertiser of March 30th, 1840, and June 17th, 1842, (copies of which are in the N. Y. Hist. Library,) but in those papers it is presumed that Andros ap- pointed distinct officers in 1688, which has been shown not to have been the case. Mr. Bancroft's authority (and probably Grahame's also, for he too ap- pears to have a similar impression) was undoubtedly Chalmers, who (p. 622) adopts as true an assertion made by the opponents of the proprietaries in a peti- tion to the crown in 1699, (to be found in Smith's N. J. p. 508,) which appears to have been satisfactorily refuted. See Grants and Concessions, p. 690. Bill in Chancery p. 124. Newark Daily Ad- vertiser, June 17th, 1842. 1690.] ESTIMATED POPULATION. IJJI clay, which occurred on od October, 1690, the proprie- taries appointed John Tatham to be their governor, and subsequently, in 1691, Colonel Joseph Dudley, but both nominees the people " scrupled to obey," — on what grounds is not slated, — thereby nullifying the effect of their subsequent complaint that the proprietaries had left them during this period " without any government what- ever."^ In the population of the province up to this period, there had probably been an increase since the estimate made by Nicholls in 1680, of nearly a hundred-fold, so that the number of souls in East Jersey could not have been much short of ten thousand. It was a constant cause of complaint with the governors of New York, that the freedom from taxation and mercantile restric- tions in East Jersey, operated greatly to the prejudice of that province, by inducing emigration to the west side of the Hudson : the old towns of Newark, Elizabethtown, and Middletown, were constantly drawing increasing numbers from New England and Long Island, extend- ing their limits or forming in their neighborhood cen- 3 Bill in Chancery, p. 124. Pocket sired Col. Dudley, the first of his Majes- Commentary of first settling of New ty's Council here, to inspect and manage Jersey, &c., in Philadelphia Library, p. their affairs, who is very capable of iheir 13. Dudley at that time was one of the trust, but will do nothing therein with- New York Council, and subsequently out his Majesty's direction, which I am Deputy-Governor of the Isle of Wight, honestly of opinion may do well, if your Member of Parliament, and Governor Lordships shall so Judge, until they may of Massachusetts," a cunning man, and be annexed with this province, or other- some say a notorious time server." wise, as his Majesty shall command. Douglas II. 248,269. Governor Slaugh- New York Colonial Papers. John Ta- tar of New York, writing to Lord Not- tham, Smith says, (page 191.) was " a tingham May 6, 1691, said, after allud Jacobite," which caused his rejection by ing to the sad condition of the New the Assembly of West Jersey, but England colonies, " the two Jerseys are whether he resided there or in East Jer- in something a better posture, and the gey does not appear, proprietors of them in England have de- 132 WANT OF CLERGYMEN AND SCHOOLS. [1691. tres for other towns and villages ; while both from Scot- land and England a large number of families had arrived and settled in various parts of the province. The new capital, Perth Amboy, had become an important village, comprising among its inhabitants many who in subsequent years filled important stations in the civil or political circles. The Scotch became especially inte- rested in the prosperity of the town, and from it the new settlers spread themselves westward, entering upon the unbroken interior, or establishing themselves on the banks of the Raritan and other streams, becoming soon sufficiently numerous to call for the creation of a new county — Somerset, in 1688, being set off from Mid- dlesex. With the view of placing their capital on the direct route between New York and Pennsylvania, roads were opened leading thence to the Delaware at Bordentown, intended to supersede the old path by the way of Inian's Ferry, (now New Brunswick,) and between Perth Am- boy and New York, packet boats were established to convey passengers and freight. With the increase of population and the extension of settlements, the want of clergymen and schoolmasters began to be seriously felt, and strenuous exertions were made to obtain them ; indicating, in conjunction with other minor circumstances which may be gleaned from the imperfect records, that an interest in what would affect the future permanent well-being of the province pervaded the people to a greater extent than before, and in some degree commensurate with the advancement otherwise apparent. It would have been singular if under such circumstances the people had been willing to remain long without a government of some kind. 1692.] HAMILTON APPOINTED GOVERNOR. ^33 The New England Colonies, on the successful termi- nation of the revolution in favor of William, did not hesitate to resume the exercise of those functions of which they had been deprived by his predecessor ; and the proprietaries of East Jersey, in like manner, as the agreement with the crown on the surrender of their powers had never been fully consummated, took again into their hands the affairs of the province and re-organ- ized its government. On 25th March, 1692, Andrew Hamilton, who was then in London, was appointed governor.^ John Bar- clay, a brother of the late governor, who had been a resident of East Jersey for some years, received the ap- pointments of receiver-general and surveyor-general ; and Thomas Gordon, a Scotch gentleman who was also a resident, and who subsequently filled many important offices, was appointed deputy to William Dockvvra, — the proprietors' chief secretary and register in England, — to reside and act in the province. In September Governor Hamilton arrived, and was received in a manner that removed every impediment to the re-establishment of the proprietary government, experience having probably satisfied the people of the benefits flowing from the exist- ence in the province of some supreme authority ; and the personal popularity of Governor Hamilton conducing to the peaceable resumption of the rights which under other circumstances they would have been disposed to deny to the proprietaries. The governor appointed his council on the 14th September,^ and met a general as- sembly at Perth Amboy on the 28th of the same month. * East Jersey Records. His salary ^ East Jersey Records. His council the first year was to be 300 pounds,and consisted of Capt. Isaac Kingsland of after that 200 pounds. New Barhadoes ; Capt. Andrew Bowne 134 TAX FOR THE BENEFIT OF NEW- YORK. [1692. At this session the laws previously passed subsequent to 1682, were, with a few exceptions, re-enacted, and others amended.^ An act was also passed authorizing four hundred pounds to be raised by a special tax,^ in order to lishten the burden of New York in the war ex- istins: between England and France, the frontier settle- ments being much exposed to expeditions from Canada. This was in accordance with the expressed wishes of the government, and the directions of the proprietaries in England under date of 1st June preceding f and although the representatives, in the preamble to the act, give as their motives for its passage, their sense of duty, the allegiance they owed their majesties, the brotherly love felt towards their neighbors, and the due defence of their own borders, yet the most probable operating cause for this liberality on their part, was the desire felt to secure the favor of the crown by what might be considered a popular demonstration of respect for its commands; and on the part of the proprietaries, their expectation that to evince such a willingness to conform their sentiments to of Chingagoras {Monmouth County), ble in several towns occasioned by tole- John Inians of iiaH5. 560. that year, and that, iherelore. u year j(>tj, «Sti;. Grunts and Concessions, p elapted utter his death before the con- til)U.&c. 154 THE PROVINCE JOINED TO NEW-YORK. 1702. favor of the government established over them to render its due administration practicable with safety to the seignorial rights of the proprietaries ; and as their autho- rity was also to be contested with that of their neigh- bors of East Jersey, they, anxious to be free from actual and anticipated evils, participated in the surrender.^^ After the execution of the Quintipartite deed in 1676, the province had its distinct government and offi- cers ; but in 1692, when Andrew Hamilton received the appointment of governor from the eastern proprietaries, West Jersey was also confided to his care, and he con- tinued nominally its governor, until the surrender, (residing part of his time at Burlington,) excepting while absent in England during the administration of Basse. With the exception of the question of boundaries,^ there does not appear to have been any transaction in which the two provinces participated during this period, or any negotiations or correspondence relating to matters of public interest. On the acceptance by the crown of the powers of government tendered by the proprietaries, the two pro- vinces were united and placed, together with New York, under one governor, possessing, however, a council and assembly distinct from that province. It is probable the proprietaries would have been permitted to nomi- ^^ Byllinge would not allow that on Daniel Coxe, a large proprietary, pur- the transfer of the province to his as- chased the interest of his heirs in the signees, he had parted with his right of soil and government, and administered government, and until 1683 a deputy- the latter by deputy till 1690. In the fol- governor under him was recognized in lowing year he disposed of his interest the province. In that year a governor to a company styled the West Jersey was elected by the people, but subse- Society, who were the parties by whom quently the pretensions of Byllinge were the surrender was made, again acknowledged, and a deputy from ** See page 67, note. him received ; but on his death in 1687, 1702.1 ANDREW HAMILTON. ^55 nate the first governor could they have agreed among themselves upon a suitable person ; but failing in this, the office was conferred upon the queen's kinsman, Edward Hyde, Lord Viscount Cornbury — grandson of the Chan- cellor Earl of Clarendon — who had been proposed by King William before his death, on account of his services rendered in the enterprise which gave him possession of the throne of England. ^"^ His commission and instruc- tions having been submitted, and approved by the pro- prietaries, were issued immediately after the surrender of the government was completed ; and on 3rd May, 1703, Cornbury arrived at New York. ANDREW HAMILTON. The encomiams passed upon the integrity and abilities of Governor Hamilton, by the proprietaries, have already been noticed, and from what is there shown of his administration, we may believe their confidence to have been well bestowed. His qualities, as a man, appear to have made him more esteemed in. the province than any of his prede- cessors, but we are debarred the satisfaction of regarding him in the private walks of life, in consequence of the few materials furnisiicd by the existing records of his time. When recommended to Lord Neill Campbell by the proprietaries, for the services he had rendered during his previous visit to the province, he was authorized to receive forty pounds sterling, or a grant for five hun- dred acres of land, whichever he might elect, in consideration of the •'charges and paines" he had incurred.^'^ It is also stated that he was about " transferring his family towards the improvement of his planta- tion," but whether we are to include a wife among the number is uncer- *^ Smith's N. J., 220. Hist. William dard on his landing at Torbay, taking ni., Lond 1702. Cornbury was among his regiment with him. the first officers who deserted to his stan- =7 E. J. Records, B, 25. ]56 JEREMIAH BASSE, [1702. tain, for after he had been some time in the province, he married Ann. the widow of Robert Wharton, of JNew York, and daughter of the for- mer Deputy-Governor Rudyard. He may liave married again, subse- quently, for in his will his widow and legatee is called Agnes. He died in Philadelphia, January, 1709, then holding the office of Deputy-Governor of Pennsylvania,^^ to which he had been appointed on 1st November, 1701. His being selected by William Penn as his rep- resentative is an additional proof of his worth. No connection has been traced between Governor Hamilton and An- drew Hamilton, the eminent lawyer of Philadelphia, who died in 1741. but it is probable some relationship existed. The governor left one son, John, who subsequently held several offices in New Jersey, under the Royal Provincial government, and has the credit of devising the scheme for the establishment of post offices in the colonies. He obtained a pa- tent for it about 1694, and afterwards sold his right to the crown. JEREMIAH BASSE. How long Mr. Basse had been absent from the province when ap- pointed governor by the proprietaries in England, does not appear : but the ease with which the unquiet, designing spirits among which he was thrown made him their pliant servant, would incline us to believe that he was not prepared, by the information he had received of the state of (he province, for the excitement and contentions which at (hat time existed. As it has been shown, however, that where his pecuniary interests coincided with those of the proprietaries, he exhibited a good degree of firmness in the discharge of his duties, he may have been in 1699, what the landholders' party style him in 1710, their "great debtor,'"' and consequently disposed to identify himself with their opponents. Unfavorable as is the impression made by his administration of the affairs of East Jersey, it is rather increased than lessened by his subse- quent career. He did not return to the province until the government had passed into the possession of the Crown. He then came over as secretary under Lord Cornbury, and if a man's associates are ever to be allowed to influence an opinion of his character, there is some pallia- tion in permitting such a connection to bear unfavorably upon Mr. Basse. We find, too, that he shared in the obloquy of his lordship's adniinistra- *" Proud's Pennsylvania, I. p. 454. *' Smith's N. J. 1702.1 JEREMIAH BASSE. I57 tion, and subsequent kindred proceedings ; the House of Assembly in 1710, openly accusing him to Governor Hunter of malversation in his offices of Clerk of Council, Secretary of the Province, and Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, — of a disregard of truth, — of allowing himself to be made the tool of a faction : — and expressly name him as one of those whose continuance in otFiccs of trust must ever endanger the liberties and property of those interested in the province.^" Every possible allowance should be made for the warmth of political opponents, but there is no- thing to be found conflicting with the general truth of the Assembly's representation, while circumstances of a confirmatory character are not wanting. In 1716, Mr. Basse was elected a representative from Cape May, having become a resident of that county ; and in 1719, he was At- torney General of the Province, a distinction which would indicate the possession of greater popularity. He died in 1725, and the following extracts from his will are given, as containing expressions which, if sincere, may deliver his memory from undue censure: while at the same time they are curious and interesting, exhibiting the general character of the most systematic wills of that day, and embodying information referring to St. Mary's Church at Burlington. "In The Nan)e of God Amen." •' I Jeremiah Bass of Burlington, in Province of New Jersey, Being att This time By the Good Providence of God, of Sound Mind and Mem- ory, (Blessed Be His Name lor the Same,) Considering seriously the un- sertainty of This Transatory Life, and Those many accidents that May disable me from settling That Estate that God in His mercy Hath in- vested me with, and being sensable In the time of Sickness, and on a Death Bead, the Most Prepared person will Have Enough To Doe To Contemplate the Estate He is Entring into in which His portion ol' Joy and Sorrow must Certainly Be adjudged To Him without any Alteration To all Eternity." " I doe therefore Make and declare this To Be My Last will and Testament, Revoking and Dis ^annulling all other or former wills By Me Mad and declared." "Imprimis I Comitt my Soul To God That Gave iit and my Body To Be desantly enterred without any pomp, and I do Ernestly desire that Great Care may Be Taken to prevent all Manner of Rudeness that May Be occationed By To Much Strong Lickquor and If There Be any Minister of Episcopal ordination Residing In Town, or Esie To Be Had Let a funerall Sermond Be preached from ye 19th of Job 25 : 26 and 27th verses ; and The psalms To be Sung, part of the 103 from verse ye 10th To the End, and the 90th psalm after The new Translation. — Thus my Desire Is To Be Buried according To The Rites and Serimoneys of The Best of Churches, the Church of England, of which [I call myself] an unworthy Member and In which Communion I desire [I may die.] My 60 Smith's N. J., pp. 395, 398. 158 JEREMIAH BASSE. [1702. Life May not In all Things and att all times Been Corispondant to The Rules of So good and holy a Religion, yet I trust my Sins shall Be Bloted out and My pardon sealed through The alone Merits and medi- ation of my Blesd Lord and Savor Jesus Christ, who as Second per son In The Holy and In the undivided Trinity, In the Beginning Mad the world and all These Glorious Orbs of Light that Bespangle the fer- mament who in ye fullness of time after as The Divine Logos he had In a More pecular Maner Governed the Jewish Church Took our na- ture upon him, and was Born of the Virgin Mary, and Being Crucified By pontius pilate He raised Himself up from the Grave By His own power, and on His assentioninto heaven Established for himself a King- dom In this world which is His Church altogether independent on The Civill Magistrate In Matters purely Spirituall, and appointed His Apos- tles and Ther Successors the Bishops Prests and Deacons as His offi. sers and Ministers of That Kingdom which He will Sopport and Maintain against all Oppositions till the End of The world and finall Judgment and that this Truth may Be more promulgated and taught My will and De- sire is that lorty shillings sterling per annum [be paid to] some honest and worthy Minister of Episcopal ordination more Perticulerly the Rec- tor of the Church of St. Mary's in Burlington for the time Being or if ther should Be a vacancy there, and that Church Be suplied then to the Ministers of Christ Church in Philadelphia, and ther successors for the preaching two sermons annually, the one on Easter Sunday and the other on Whitsunday for the Mentaining and illustration of this great truth and for due and punctuall payment of this Legacy I charge all My Real Estate in the town of Burlington." He then proceeds with the division of his property, leaving his wife Elizabeth executrix during her widowhood, to act with the advice and consent of his son-in-law, Robert Talbot, and Andrew Hamilton, of Philadelphia : but should she marry again, his daughters, Katherine Talbot and Ann Bass, and his son Burchfield, were to be Joint execu- tors in her place. He willed that should his children all die without heirs before a full and entire division of the estate took place, such part as might be remaining was then to be given to the, — "Minister, Churchwardens and vestory of the Church of Saint Ma- ry's in Burlington and To Ther Successors for and towards the augmen- tation of ye Living of the Said Church and The encouragement of Cat- echising Every Wensday and Friday in Lent." Item my Desire Is that if it can well Be avoided my Library Be not Sold But Be preserved for the yoose of My Son Burchfield if He In- cline to Learning and aplie Himself To the Study and pursue either of Divinity Law or phisig. But in Case His Inclination do not Lead Him To any of These Study's To Be divided amongs My Children unless my Son Talbot Shall Incline to account att a just valine in Law of so Much of any other part of My Estate always provided that My Wife 1702.] MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. I59 and Daughter Ann Have the prevelldge of chosing what they Like out ofthe Books of Divinity or History or Morality on the same terms."^' This will was dated January 1724, and was proved before the Surro- gate on 9th August 1725. Whether any ofthe descendants of Governor Basse are yet living in the state is not known. MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS. Having brought the narrative down to the transfer ofthe government to the Crown, it may be of service, in forming a just conception of the actual state of the province at this time, as well as ofthe manner in which the proprietaries discharged their duties as chiefs of the commonwealth, to notice several miscellaneous topics connected directly or indirectly with its advancement in the various concomitants of civilization. Some statements have already been made respecting the increase of population up to the year 1692,^^ and it is to be regretted that no defi- nite data exist on which to base any satisfactory estimates for the ensu- ing ten years. It is probable, however, that, from the uncertain tenure of lands, and the distracted condition ofthe government during that pe- riod, there was little immigration into East Jersey. We are enabled to form some conclusion ofthe relative importance ofthe different counties, and of their respective advancement in wealth and population, by the assessments laid at two periods by the Assembly. In 1683, to raise fift}" pounds, the four counties then existing were assessed in the followincr proportions : Bergen, £11. Essex, £14. Middlesex, £10. Monmouth, £15. In 1693, each county was divided into its several townships, and to raise in 1694, the sum of £79 12s. 9d., the following proportions were enacted, exhibiting the relative importance of each town, as well as of each county : *' It was thought advisable to trans- the testator's death ; although it is pro- cribe the document literally, excepting bable some of the peculiarities of ortho- the substitution of the letter u for v, graphy may have been those of the co- (which is used throughout instead,) the pyist. copy which is followed having evidently ®* See page 131. been made with great care and soon after 160 FACILITIES FOR TRAVELLING. Bergen, Essex, Middlesex. Monmouth, Somerset, Bergen, Hnckensack, £ s d 7 9 6 3 IS 9 f Acqackanonck and ^ r lo I .\ew Bar ha does, ^ Newark. t Elizabethtown, ( Woodbridge, } Piscalaway, I Perth Araboy, iMiddletown, Shrewsbury, Freehold, 6 15 11 2 8 5 5 6 2 9 17 6 11 17 3 14 [1693. £ s d 11 8 3 24 12 15 11 25 8 6 2 13 £79 12 9 From this table it appears that Monmouth County still remained the first in importance, but Essex, since 1683, had rather gained ground in the strife for preeminence. Middlesex had not improved in the same proportion, but iiad far exceeded Bergen, which must either have been overrated previously, or became less populous and wealthy. For the change which time had wrought in the face of the country, we are left to conjecture, no definite information respecting the character and quantity of the agricultural productions being obtainable ; but it is very evident that, the labors of the husbandman must necessarily have been confined to narrow limits in the immediate neighborhood of the several settlements, from the few facilities that were afforded for communication with the interior, other than those which the rivers presented. It is diffi- cult to realize that, at the period to which this narative refers, many of the principal roads — those great arteries, of such essential service in the circulation ofintelligence and wealth throughout the body politic, — were yet shrouded in wood, or unmarked on the barren heath. The only Indian path, or track, of which there is any record, was one which has been mentioned, extending from Shrewsbury river to the northwest limits of the province ; and the only road opened bj^ the Dutch, appears to have been that by which intercourse was kept up with the settlements on the Delaware, in what is now Maryland. It was con- nected with New Amsterdam by a water communication from Elizabeth- town point, or thereabout, and ran to the Raritan river at a point near where the present New Brunswick stands; its route probably being the same with what is now known as the old road between those places. The Raritan was forded at low water, and the road ran thence in almost a 1675-83.] FACILITIES FOR TRAVELLING. . jgj straight line to the Delaware, (above where Trenton now stands,) which was also forded. This was called "the upper road;" another, which branched off five or six miles from the Raritan, and arrived at the Dela- ware by a more circuitous route at the site of the present Burlington, was called '-the lower road." ^^ The Communipau ferry, established in 1661,^^ was placed under due regulations by Governor Carteret in 1669, and continued for many years the only authorized mode of communicating with New York from the Bergen district.^^ The first public measures for the improvement or establishment of roads, seem to have been adopted in 1675. In November of that year it was enacted that two men in each town should be appointed " to lay out common highways :" and in April following, the appointment of per- sons was directed to be made by the towns of Middletown and Piscata- way, •' to make out the nearest and most convenient way that may be found, between the said towns, upon the country chargc."^^ This was required to be done in thirty days, (indicating that the topography of the country was such as rendered the opening of the road a work of little labor,) under ' the penalty of what damage might ensue for the want thereof These measures were ibllowed in Marcli, 1682-3 ^^ by the appointment of commissioners from among the most influential men in the province, " to lay out and appoint" in the different counties, (Essex, Bergen, Mid- dlesex and Monmouth being all then existing.) " all necessary highways, bridges, passages, landings and ferries, fit and apt for travelling passages, and landing of goods.'' These Boards continued in existence for several years, and under their direction the first system of intercommunication was established. They made a return to the governor of the routes se- jected, and the roadswhen made were to be kept in order by the person town, or township deriving the greatest benefit from them. The present generation travel many of the roads laid out by these commissioners. In July, 1683, instructions were issued to Deputy-Governor Lawrie calculated to effect the establishment oi' a road between the new capital *^ Bill in Chancery, p. 5. all times, but more particularly on three ** See page 20. days in the week, to be agreed upon ^^ Rates were established for the unanimously by the inhabitants of Ber- transportation of Corn, Barrels and Half gen and Communipau, when they were Barrels of Beer, other goods and liquors obliged to attend punctually. Subse- in casks. Horses, Oxen, Cows, Hogs and quently the ferryman was a personage of Sheep, as well as for passengers, in fair sufficient importance to be elected by the weather, but "by night or in unseasona- people. — E. J. Records, Lib. III., p. 27, ble weather," the rates were as the par- ®^ Grants and Concessions, p. 118. ties might agree. The ferryman was *' Grants and Concessions, pp. 256, obliged to keep his boat in readiness at 294, 22 L 11 162 FACILITIES FOR TRAVELLING. [1695-8,. "Perth town," and Burlington ; and Lawrie, the ensuing year, carried the plan into execution. The road was opened, and a ferry-boat, for the transportation of freight as well as passengers, connected it with New York ; but notwithstanding strenuous exertions were used to make the route preferable to the other, by the way of New Brunswick, they were unsuccessful. In 1698, the proprietaries directed Gov. Basse to procure from the Assembly a specific act making it, by law, the public road, and providing for its good condition ; but no such endorsement wa& secured.^^ The preference manifested for the old road did not raise its character materially, but in 1695 its improvement was contemplated by laying a tax for five years on the Inn-holders of Piscataway, Woodbridge, and Elizabethtown, to prevent its "falling into decay,"^^ and on the 2d De- cember, 1697, the ford at New Brunswick was changed into an estab- lished ferry.'^" The only public conveyance through the province previ- ous to the surrender, of which any knowledge has been obtained, was a wagon on the Amboy road, which, under authority from Governor Hamilton, ran at irregular times, and without established rates, in con- nection with the packet-boat to New York.''' The progress of legislation and its objects, have been cursorily noticed ill connection with the regular course of the narration, but an examina- tion into the tenor of some of the laws not particularly noticed elsewhere may afford interest, at least, if not instruction. Although thirty-four years had elapsed since the exercise of legisla- tive powers in the province, yet. so unsettled had been the government for much of that period, that at the time of ihe surrender, the laws were still marked by much of that instability and inapplicability to the wants and circumstances of the people, which usually characterise those of in- experienced or young communities. The diversity of national habits, of associations and education among the people, tended not a little to increase the difficulty and prevent the adoption of a systematic code of laws. The descendant of Puritans from New England, the persecuted dissenter from ** Grants and Concessions, pp. 256, wife at five shillings sterling per annum. 294,221. It is doubtful if the transportation of *" Grants and Concessions. The sum heavy vehicles or of merchandise was required annually to keep the road in provided for. Even in 1716, an ordi- repair at that time was ten pounds; nance of Governor Burnet's, prescribing three were paid by the innholders at the rates of ferriage, only provides for Piscataway, fifty shillings by those at " Horse and Man," and " single per- Woodbridge, and the remainder by those sons." At that time all goods carried in Elizabethtown. between New York and Philadelphia '• Called subsequently -'Inian's ferry " went by the way of Amboy. — E.J. Re- from John Inians, who was the first cords. Bill in Chancery, p. 5. Neville'9 grantee ; the privilege to continue dur- Laws, I. p. 60. inf the natural lives of both himself and 7' Smith's N. J., p. 302. 1668.J EARLY PENAL LAWS. jg;j Britain, the peaceful republican Quaker, and the staunch friend to roy- alty, here met on common ground ; naturally disposed to carry out each his own views as to what constituted good government, and either to withhold his approbation to measures proposed by his fellow legislators. or to profit by the first opportunity to substitute his own. Even when apparently united in a desire to advance the prosperity of the province by wholesome laws, a wrong estimate of the means to be adopted too often thwarted their endeavors. The spirit of the settlers from New England is plainly manifested in the penal laws which were early passed, and— although modified to some extent by the views of the less rigid immigrants from Europe- continued for the most part in force during the whole period of the pro- prietary governments. Drawing upon the Levitical code for many of the provisions and for much ol' the language of their laws, the descendants of the Puritans set up, in the penalties prescribed lor their offending neighbors, an enduring memorial of the influence they possessed and ex- ercised over their fellow colonists from other quarters ; and it is fortunate that the rights and privileges of the inhabitants of East Jersey, in relation to religious liberty, were so expressly guarantied in the concessions and fundamental constitutions of the province, or we might have to read a record of assumed powers for the regulation of man's belief' Gordon '* See page 44, for the regulations for Newark, where the New England peo- ple were supreme. The author would not be understood as undervaluing the character or the services of the Puritan settlers of New Jersey. To them and 10 their descendants is the state indebted for much of the stability of its institu- tions, the prevalence of virtuous princi- ples among its population, and the great deference for the laws which has, with so few exceptions, existed within its limits. During the period of provincial his- tory to which the foregoing narrative refers, the Newark people appear to have ever continued steadfast to law and order notwithstanding their proximity to Elizabethtown, where disorganizing doc- trines and proceedings were so preva- lent ; although, in subsequent years, led away by designing men, they became in a considerable degree identified with the party inimical to the proprietary interests. When 1670 arrived, and the first quit rents became due, although they in- formed the governor that they ' held and possessed their lands and rights in the said town both by civil and a divine right,' yet they were ready when the time should come ' to perform their duty to the lords and their assigns,' — and so it proved. On the 24th March every man's rent was required to be paid in wheat, into the hands of specified messengers who ' on the morrow were to carry it to Elizabethtown.' And annually there- after, so long as quietness prevailed in the province, a similar course was pur- sued. And in March, 1680, in answer to the proclamation of Andros abrogating the authority of Carteret, they wrote to him that ' they had taken the oath of al- legiance to the king and fidelity to the 164 EARLY PENAL LAWS. [1668-82, in his History of New Jersey, when comparing the laws of the Eastern and Western provinces, observes that, " the genius of Calvinism, which rules by terror and the ever suspended sword in this and in the future world, is strongly impressed apon the one, whilst a prudent reserve in naming crimes, and a humane forbearance in their punishment charac- terize the other. The ancient lawgivers prescribed no punishment for parricide, deeming the offence impossible: the Q,uaker legislators had no enactment against arson, no prescribed p'anishment for murder, or treason, and other heinous offences ; and yet during four and twenty years of their administration, no instance of such crimes was known within their territories. In East Jersey there were thirteen classes of oflfences against which the penalty of death was denounced, ^^ while in West Jersey such punishment was unknown to the law." This was the first penal code enacted in 1668, and renewed in 1675. In 16S2, some modification took place. The crimes for which death mio-ht be incurred were Arson ;^^ Murder ;''* Perjury to the prejudice of life; Stealing away any of mankind ;^* Burglary and Robbery on the commission of the third offence, as incorrigible f^ Theft if incorrigible f Witchcraft;"^ Conspiracy to invade or surprise a town or fort; Smiting, or cursing their parents by children without provocation, on the complaint of the parents only ;''^ Rape, subject to the discretion of the court j^" Gross and Unnatural Licentiousness;"' but Life was not to be taken save on proof of two or three witnesses. Infidelity in the married life was made punishable by divorce, corporal punishment, or banishment, as the court might award ; but in 1682, the parties were made subject to a fine and were bound to behave themselves present government, and until they had er's estate was given to the heirs of the sufficient order from his majesty they sufferer, in addition. would stand by the same. These in- '^ Exodus 21 : 16. stances of their faithfulness to their en- ^® For the first offence full restitution gagenients, and others of the same kind, was to be made, and the culprit branded present a strong contrast to the proceed- with T in the hand ; for the second, res- ings of many of their neighbors. titution and the brand of R in the fore- " Mr. Gordon should have added head, and if unable to make restitution, ' under certain circumstances.' Mr. corporal punishment to be inflicted in- Bancroft, in his early editions, confounds stead. this code with a few mild laws passed " For the first, second, and third of- imder tlie Dutch government in 1673. fences treble restitution ; if unable, the ''^ The person to be tried for his life culprit to be corporally punished. or receive corporal punishment, at the '^ Exodus 22 : 18. pleasure of the court, should he refuse '^ Exodus 21: 17. Levit. 20: 9. or be unable to make full satisfaction. *" Deut. 22 : 25. 7^ In 1682, one-third of the murder- "' Levit. 20: 13, 15, 16. 1668-82.] EARLY PENAL LAWS. i(55 for a year. A want of chastity was at first made punishable by fine, marriage, or corporal punishment; but in 1682, three months' imprison- ment or a fine of five pounds was incurred, and in 16S6 ten stripes at the public whipping-post were substituted in place of ilie imprisoameni, should ihe fine not be paid. Night-walkers, or Revellers after nine o'clock, (the time subsequently extended an hour,) were lobe secured by the constable till morning, and unless excused on examination to be bound over to appear at court. Marriages had to be published three times in some public " meeting or kirk," or publicly advertised two weeks ; and to render them legal the consent of parents, masters, or guardians had to be obtained. Horses and cattle roamed at large, and were obliged to bear the brands of the town to which they belonged, as well as the ovirners' private marks. The provisions respecting assaults by cattle upon either man or beast, trespasses by cattle and injuries done to them, were almost identi- cal with those of Scripture.^^ These were enacted in 1682, at which time the laws relating to the punishment of theft, seduction, injustice to the widow or fatherless, and for damage sustained by fire from the careless- ness of others, were all made conformable to the Levitical law.*^ The resistance of lawful authority by word or action, or the expres- sion of disrespectful language referring to those in office, was made punishable, either by fine, corporal punishment, or (as from 1675 to 1682) by banishment Oireulators of false news respecting public at- fairs, were fined ten^ shillings for the first ofience, and for the second were ^'whipped or stocked;" and in 1675, all liars were included, for the sec- ond offence incurring a fine of twenty shillings; and if the fines were not paid the culprits were put in the stocks or received corporal punishment. The resort so frequently had to this last mode of punishing offenders, was without doubt owing to the want of proper prisons ; for although we learn that at one time the province prison was "at the house of Captain Berrj' in Bergen," and at another, that Woodbridge had one within its bounds, there are no grounds lor presuming either or both to have been of suffi- cient dimensions to accommodate all the offenders who might have been sentenced to confinement, had not corporal punishment been substituted. " Concerning the beastly vice Drunkenness," the first laws inflicted fines of onj; shilling, two shillings, and two shillings and sixpence, for the first three offences, with corporal punishment if the offender should be unable to pay, and if unruly he was to be put in the stocks until sober. In 1682, this vice was treated more rigorously ; each offence incurred a fine of five shillings, and if not paid the stocks received a tenant for six hours: and constables not doing their duty under the law, were fined ten shillings for each neglect. This increase of punishment would indicate a greater prevalence of the baneful practice, the result probably of the remo- val of restrictions which had existed on the sale of liquors in small quantities. 8» Exodus, chap. 21 and 22. "^ E.-iodus 22. 166 EARLY LAWS. [1668-92. In 1668, each town was obliged to keep an "ordinary," for the rehef and entertainment of strangers, under a penalty of forty shillings for each month's neglect ; and none but ordinary keepers were permitted to retail liquors in less quantity than two gallons.^^ In 1677, the quantity was reduced to one gallon. In 1683, ordinary keepers were debarred the privilege of recovering debts for liquor sold amounting to five shillings ; but whatever good this might have done was destroyed by the Assem- bly's authorizing the retailing of strong hquors by the quart, without restriction. In 1692, " forasmuch as there were great exorbitances, and drunkenness observable in several towns, occasioned by tolerating many persons in selling drink in private houses;" an attempt was made to establish an excise of four shillings per barrel on Beer, and one shilling per gallon on Wine, Brandy, &c., but in 1693, it was repealed, and the licensing of retailers confided to the governor. As to personal rights, the laws were framed in a liberal spirit. In 1675, imprisonment for debt, save where fraud was intended, was pro- hibited. In 1678, the benefit of the Common Law of England was as- sured to every one. In 1682, it was provided that no one should be im- prisoned save by the judgment of his peers, or the laws of the province. All Courts were open to religious persons of any persuasion, and they were allowed to plead in their own way and manner, either in person or by their friends or Attorneys. All legal proceedings were to be in English, and as brief as possible. Trial by jury was confirmed with •' rea- sonable challenges allowed the offender." All persons to be bailable except capital offenders. No court, by execution or other writ, to autho- rize the sale of any man's land, without his consent,*^ but the rents or profits might be stopped for the payment of just debts. " All prizes, stage-plays, games, masques, revels, bull-baitings, and cock-fightings, which excite people to rudeness, cruelty, looseness, and irreligion," were to be discouraged, and punished by courts of justice, according to the nature of the offence. Swearing, or "taking God's name in vain," was made punishable by one shilling fine for each offence, as early as 1668, and such continued to be the fine until 1682, when a special act provided that the fine should be two shillings and sixpence, and if not paid, the offender was to be placed in the stocks or whipped, ^* It is somewhat remarkable that liquors for six shillings a gallon and one notwithstanding this prohibition, and a shilling and sixpence a quart, they pay- similar one of their own adoption in ing wheat for it." The lowness of the 1671, preventing sales under a gallon price was probably too great a tempta- " unless in case of necessity," excepting tion. by their "ordinary keeper" (Henry Lyon) *» "On the subject of real estate in the good people of Newark should, in the New World the puritans and the 1G73, have authorized " Mr. Crane to lawyers differed widely." — Bancroft, II. "ell liquors in the town," he "having p. 319, [9th Edit.] 1675-86.] EARLY COURTS. 1^7 according to his age, whether under or over twelve years. The observ- ance of the Lord's day was required: servile work, unlawful recreations, unnecessary travelling, and any disorderly conduct, being punishable by confinement in the stocks, fines, imprisonment or whipping.^^ The courts charged with the administration of these laws were of four kinds. County Courts, Monthly Courts, a Court of Assize, and Courts of Common Right. The County Courts were established in 1675, hold- ing two terms each year for the trial of all causes, and no appeal from them was allowed in matters under twenty pounds, excepting to the Bench or Court of Chancery. The judges were elected in the several counties The same year a Court of Assize, to hold one term yearly, at Woodbridge, was created, and also the Monthly Courts of small causes, whose jurisdiction in civil cases extended to sums of forty shil- lings. These courts consisted of three persons, chosen by the several towns yearly, each possessing its own, and their decisions were final. *^ In 1682, a jury was allowed at the cost of the person desiring it. A grand jury was to be chosen in each town, to be under oath to take notice of all infringements of the laws and present them to the next court, " always provided that no town shall oppress their neighbors by contin- uing them in the place above the space of one year." Any person refus- ing to serve on one of these juries when elected, was subjected to a fine of thirty shillings. In 1678, it was declared unnecessary for all the consta- bles in the province to attend the court of assize; two from the adjoining towns, with the one at the place where the court was held, being suffi- cient. In 1682, Courts of Common Right were established, to hold ibur terms a year at Elizabethtown, to which appeals could be made from any inferior court in cases where five pounds and upward were at stake, and it was declared the Supreme Court of the province. Previous to this, the office of Sherifl["does not appear to have existed. In 16S6, the number of terms was restricted to two, and Perth Amboy was the place where they were to be held. Although a Court of Chancery was referred to as early as 1675, no such court was ever established while the province remained under the proprietaries.^^ ** In 1704 many of these prohibitions 1673, which are in Albany Records, were re-enacted, but by that time it Vol. XXII. p. 375. would seem that the use of ardent spi- ^^ Previous to this several of the rits began to be considered necessary. Towns had their own courts in opera- Keepers of public houses were not to tion. In Newark there were two courts allow " tippling on the Lord's day, ex- held annually as early as 1669, the ver- cept for necessary refreshment." See diets being by a jury of six men ; and in Grants and Concessions for all the laws 1672 there were quarterly terms, prior to the surrender, excepting those *^ The first held was in 1718, during passed under the Dutch domination in Governor Hunter's administration, and 168 WANT OP MINISTERS. [1667-84. The legal provisions which have been noticed were intended to sat- isfy the requirements of morality: but, from the mingled character of the people assembled within the province, from different lands, of different sects, chieffy concerned in advancing their pecuniary condition, — where liberty of conscience was assured to all, and where ministers of the gos- pel were so rarely to be found to guide and control the waywardness of man's nature, — little zeal was shown in religious matters. " There were some of almost every religious profession under hea- ven,'"*^ oberves one writer, causingsuchadiversity of opinion and separa- tion of communities, as naturally prevented any rapid or systematic ad- vance in the establishment of ministers or the erection of churches. The places principally settled by emigrants from New England, as they were more united in " doctrine and fellowship," were perhaps exceptions ; secur- ing the services of clergymen, or aiming at regularity in public worship, from the earliest period of their existence,^" although in them also there were difficulties attending their permanent establishment. The influence of this class of the population was undoubtedly beneficial. In 1684, an early settler thus writes to his friends in Scotland : '' There are here very good religious people, they go under the name of Indepen- dents, but are most like to the Presbyterians, only they will not receive every one to their society. We have great need of good and faithful minis- ters, and I wish there would come some over here ; they can live as well and have as much as in Scotland, and more than many get." " At this time, from the death of others, there was but one clergyman in East Jersey, who resided at Newark ; public worship, however, was regularly attended in many of the towns, but in several parts of the province the people were without any religious services till a much later period ; the first important it was considered that the assumption many different offices in his neighbor- by him of the office of ChaHcellor was hood. In 1692 he applied to the Board an undue exercise of authority, and one of Proprietors for land " at an easie which might result in great injury to the acknowledgment, in respect of his nu- people ; but his conduct received the ap- merous family," (seven sons, &c.) and probation of the Queen's government, one hundred acres were granted to him. Answer to Bill, p. 4. Dunlap's N. Y-, He had already, he stated, expended I. p. 281. large sums in purchasing and improvingf. •*' Rogers' N. America, and see page *' Scot's Model, pp. 199, 200. An- 51, note. other class of the population is desig- 90 We find a clergyman at Newark nated by another settler as "a most care- in a year after it was founded. At Eliza- less and infrugall people ; their profes- bethtown, John Fletcher, their minister, sions are most part Protestants, few died in 1682 ; how long he had pre- Quakers, some Anabaptists ; it is most viously officiated is not stated. From desired there may be some ministers 1690 or earlier, to 1704, John Herri- sent us over, they would have consider- man was established there. (Murray's able benefices and good estates." Scot's Notes on Elizabethtown.) He filled Model, 194. • 1693-5.1 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS. 169 •measures towards supplying both East and West Jersey originating in England, with the Society for Propagating the Gospel, subsequent to the surrender :^^ the example of the Society being followed by other denom- inations of Christians. The immigration from Scotland to the central portion of the province included many of the Scottish Kirk. Two of their ministers, if no more, are known to have accompanied the settlers,^^ and in 1698, a clergyman of the Church of England was established at Perth Amboy, the capial.^'' It is probable that in 1702 there were eight or ten regularly settled minis- ters in the province. Schools and schoolmasters were twice made the subjects of legisla- tion under the proprietary governments, but it is impossible to discover from the imperfect records to what extent education was fostered ; al- though, as has been before stated, from various indications it is evident that, with increase of population increased interest was felt in this all- important matter. ^^ In 1693 the inhabitants of any town by warrant from any Justice of the Peace might meet and choose three men to make a rate and establish the salary of a schoolmaster for as long a time as they might think proper; a majority of the inhabitants to compel the payment of any rates levied and withheld; the Act setting forth that " the cultiva- ting of learning and good manners tends greatly to the good and benefit of mankind." This act being found inconvenient, " by reason of the distance of the neighborhood," in 1695 another one was passed, directing the choice of three men annually in each town, to be authorized to select a teacher and the most convenient place or places where schools should be kept. The currency of both East and West Jersey during the whole pe- riod of their colonial existence was much more stable than that of the neighboring colonies, and we at no time meet with such a state of con- fusion and difficulty as elsewhere prevailed at different periods.^" ^* For a description of the Religious ®^ The first schoolmaster in Newark state of the province previous to 1700, was established therein 1676; he was deplorable enough, see Humphries' to " do his faithful!, honest, and true En- Hist. Account of the Society for the deavor to teach the Children or Servants Propagation of the Gospel. of those as have subscribed, the reading ^^ E. J. Records, A, p. 385. and writing of English, and also Arith- ^* Humphries. E. J. Prop'y Minutes, metick if they desire it, as much as He was the Reverend Edward Perthuck, they are capable to learn, and he capa- sent out by the Bishop of London at ble to teach them within the compass the request of several of the proprieta- of this year." Town Records, ries preferred in 1695. In 1702, the ^^ Madame Knight in her Journal, re- Society sent out the Rev. George Keith, ferring to Connecticut as late as 1704, to travel through the provinces and de- says, " they give the title of merchant termine upon the best location for Mis- to every trader who rate their goods ac- sionaries. cording to the time and spetia they pay 170 PROVINCIAL CURRENCY. [1668-92. In East Jersey, for some time afler its settlement, the coins of both Holland and England, and their respective moneys of account were used; and the Indian wampum afforded the means of exchange with the abo- rigines. As its fabrication was free to all persons^'^ every one was director of his own mint, and verifying trulj^ the words of Scripture, — "the hand of the diligent maketh rich" — he who most assiduously sought the simple bullion from which it Avas coined, was in the way of becoming the wealthiest of hip race.^^ Barter, as is always the case in the infancy of settlements, was the mode by which much of the traffic of the province was carried on, and sumptuary laws were passed from time to time, between 1668 and 1692, regulating the price at which various manufactures and productions of the soil should be received inpayment of the public charges, or on settle- ment of accounts. The following table will show the years in which material changes were made in these established prices. 1668. 1678. 1692. Winter wheat, per bushel, 5s. 4s. 6d. 4s. Summer wheat, " 4s. 6d. 4s. — in, viz. Pay ; Money ; Pay as Money ; and Trust. 'Pay' is grain, pork, beef, &c. at the prices set by the General Court that year : ' Money' is pieces of eight-rials or Boston-bay shillings, (as they call them,) or good hard money, as some- times silver coin is termed by them, also wampum, viz. Indian beads, which serves 'or change : ' Pay as Money' is provisions as aforesaid one third cheaper than as the Assembly or General Court sets it: and ' TiTJSt' as they and the merchant may agree for the time." Of course the prices varied wieh the difference in pay. " Vanderdonck's New Netherlands. It was called by the Dutch Sewant. ®^ Vanderdonck says " the species are black and white, but the black is worth more by one half than the white ; the black is made from Conch shells which are to be taken from the sea, or which are cast ashore from the sea twice a year. They strike off the thin parts of these shells and preserve the pillars or standards, which they grind smooth and even, and reduce the same according to their thickness, and drill a hole through every piece, and string the same on strings, and afterwards sell their strings of wampum in that manner : this is the only moneyed medium among the natives with which any traffic can be driven." Several of these strings, varying in number with the importance of the oc- casion, formed the belts of wampum made to figure so largely in conferences with the Indians. Smith (Hist. N.J. 76) says the white wampum was fabri- cated from the inside of the great conchs, and the black or purple from the inside of the clam or muscle : from the Indian name of which last shell-fish the term wampum was derived. In 1673 the value of this Indian money was fi.xed by proclamation from the Governor and Council of the New Netherlands at six white or three black (instead of eight white and four black, which had been the previous rate) to the stiver : twenty stivers making a guilder, which was equal to si.xpence currency or fourpence sterling. 1668. Peas, per bushel, 3s. 6d. Indian corn, " 3s. Rye, 4s. Barley, " 4s. Beef, pr. lb. 2^d. Do. (1675)pr. bbl. 50s. Pork, pr. lb. 3^d. Do. (1675) pr. bbl. 70s. Tobacco, (1675) pr. lb. 4d. 1668-92.1 PRICES AND PROFITS. 171 1678. 1692. 2s. 6d. 2s. 6d 3s. 6d. — 3s. 6d. — 2d. — 40s. 30s. 3d. — 60s. 50s. 3d. 3d. Tn 1675 tried tallow at 6d. per lb.; green hides at 3d. per lb.; dry hides at 6d. per. lb., and good bacon at 6d.per lb. ; were made receivable in payment of taxes, but, with peas, (after 1676) were no longer retained as "currency." Indeed in 1676 only wheat, peas, and tobacco, were re- ceived for the public charges. In 1677. wheat, rye, Indian-corn and to- bacco, were the prescribed medium; and in 1679 and 1692, Butter at 6d. per lb. was added to the articles given in the table for that year. Not until 1692 was the payment of the taxes in current silver provided for, and then it was left optional with the tax-payers ; conclusive evidence that little coin was in circulation even then. The counties were expected, generally, to collect and transmit to the seat of government these products when received for taxes, at their own expense. In 1677 "ordinary keepers" were authorized to charge for strong liquors retailed by the gill, not to exceed 10s, 8d. per gallon ; per quart, 2s. 6d. ; good wine, was to be 7s. per gallon; cider 4d. per quart; meals, each, 8d. ; oats, 9d. per peck; pasture of horse, 6d. per day, by the week in summer Is. 6d., in winter Is. Sd. In 1684, servants' wages were not under 2s. per day besides victuals, and at Perth Amboy, where buildings were being erected, they were 2s. 6d. At that time the cur- rency was one-fifth more than sterling. In 1683, twenty-eight per cent is stated to be the usual profit on goods brought from England ; but Samuel Groome, writing to the proprietaries, observes, " when I pay workmen and laborers, I pay them in goods rated cent-per-cent New York money; but then I must pay them two or three parts silver."*® The Act passed in April 1686, and repealed in October of the same year, regulating the value of silver, has already been noticed on a pre- ceding page.'"" It was the only attempt made by the legislators of the province to make the circulation of the precious metals dependent upon other than natural laws, and was soon abandoned."" ^' See Scot's Model, pages 159, 163, '*" An attempt of the same kind was 164, &c., for several other items of made the same year in Maryland, and prices. in Carolina in 1683. "«' Seepage 115. 172 COMMERCIAL PROJECTS. [1678-94. The exertionf3 of the proprietaries to insure their province the benefits of direct intercourse with foreign countries have been particularly noticed in the foregoing pages. From 1683, when they reminded their Deputy Governor that care was to be taken that goods be not exported to New York or other places, but that all goods were to be brought to Perth as the chief staple, '"^ down to the time of the surrender, they were especially concerned in obstructing the regular course of the trade of the province, which naturally tended towards the more populous towns of New York, with the view of dispensing with intermediate agencies in the transmis- sion of its products to foreign markets. What little success attended their measures has been seen. It is true that want of success was to some extent owing to the hos- tility of the province of New York, but the legislative enactments re- sorted to could not be otherwise than detrimental to the interests of the inhabitants ; for, instead of extending bounties and other advantages to those who should engage in this foreign traffic which they so anxiously desired to establish, prohibitions were enacted, checking as a necessary consequence the production, by lessening the number of avenues of distribution or demand. As early as 1678, when the condition of the province was so favora- ble for grazing that great numbers of cattle could have been raised at little or no expense, a law was passed prohibiting the transportation out of the province, or sale to any one not residing within it. of all hides or tanned leather ; and the following year the prohibition was extended to Indian dressed skins. So in 1694, " for the better encouragement of build- ers of ships and other vessels " within the province, — as if the whole con- tinent should depend upon the skill of the men of East Jersey, — the expor- tation of any "timber, planks, boards, oak-bolts, staves, heading, hoops, or hop-poles," was expressly forbidden, excepting to some port "over the broad seas— there to unload ;" and, even to these ports, the exportation was encumbered by the requisition of bonds and the scrutiny of inspectors in all the towns. The effect of this law was necessarily hurtful. Bj- confining the consumption of the produce of the forests to the people of the province alone, it took away from the new settlers one inducement, at least, for clearing their lands, and thus operated to retard their cultivation ; and, by lessening the demand, the value of timber must have been also affected to the prejudice of the interests of the proprietaries; nevertheless it was by their approval that it became the law of the land. We have no evidence that it in the least benefited the class of persons for whom it professed to be framed, for it is doubtful if one vessel was built more than would have been without it. '"^ '"^ E. J. Records, A, p. 368. was the chief port some doubts may be '"•' There was no vessel built at Perth entertained if any number were built Amboy at all until 1702, and as that elsewhere. The same system was pur- 1632-84.] FISHERIES. 173 These and other instances of mistaken policy, were, in all probability the primary causes why, in subsequent years, as well as before ihe sur- render of the government, the trade of the province with other portions of the continent, was so limited in extent. In connection with its commerce, the proprietaries at one time dwelt particularly in their publications and instructions upon the fisheries of the province, and it was expected that whaling would prove to be a branch of business exceedingly profitable."" Vanderdonck, in his Description of the New Netherlands, says, thewhales would not compare in fatness with those of Greenland, but they were numerous in the winter on the coast, and in the bays, where they frequently grounded on the shoals. Seals were also seen upon the coast, and even in the harbor of Perth Amboy. De Vries, however, who engaged in the whale fishery, during one of his voyages on the coast, in 1632-3, pronounced the business an unprofitable one. The first attempt to establish this branch of commerce on a perma- nent footing, was previous to the purchase by the twenty-four proprietaries, but with what success is unknown. On 15th February, 1668, a commis- sion was granted to a company in Elizabethtown, to take whales, &c., for three years, (and all other persons were prohibited from doing so,) for one twentieth part of the oil in casks, and should Staten Island fall within the province, a town for twenty-four families was to be granted the com- pany, at some convenient site.'"^ In 1678, a similar commission was granted to another company, at the same place. '"^ In 1684, there were persons engaged in whaling, and the proprieta- ries authorized the deputy-governor to use their eflforts in the province sued under the royal government. In merchandise sent to New York or Penn- 1714 the exportation of staves, &c., sylvania for exportation. As early as to the neighboring provinces was bur- 1670, we find the Town of Newark pro- thened with duties and regulations, hibiting the making use of or selling any These in 1717 were repealed because timber for pipe staves or heading ex- " prejudicial to the inhabitants," as cepting for the town, " under the penalty might have been foreseen ; but in 1743 of losing all their labor for any timber they were re-enacted for fear there might so sold in the town or within four miles " not be enough left for the necessary of the town anywhere." The cause of use of the eastern division," and con- this is not stated. tinned in force until the revolution of '"* See Brief Account, &,c., Note S. 1776. Wheat, exported to the other Scot's Model, p. 156. provinces, was also made subject to '"^ E. J. Records, 2d Liber III. p. 22. duty in 1714 ; but this was repealed in While this grant was in force a whale 1717. In 1725 the duties were tried was cast ashore at Navesink and deli- again for a limited period ; and acting vered up to the company, governor Reading, as late as 1758, re- '*'* Ibid, Vol. II. Liber 3, p. 152. commended an outward duty upon all 174 FISHERIES. [1702. in furthering the endeavors of the fishermen, rather than have them establish themselves elsewhere ; but there is no evidence that the busi- ness was prosperously conducted.'"^ These desultory gleanings might have been extended to a greater length, had the original design of the present volume embraced them. Many of the subjects introduced would otherwise have been less briefly noticed, but it is hoped that more particular inquiries may be instituted by others, and successfully prosecuted, until the past shall have imparted all its lessons of experience for our benefit. '"' Scot's Model, p. 181. E. J. Records, A, 364. Grants and Concessions, p. 175. NOTES Note A, page 13. The following is the whole quotation from Denton, as given anony- mously by Ogilby. " If there be any terrestrial happiness to be had by any people, especial- ly of an inferior rank, it must certainly be here. Here any one may fur- nish himself with land, and live rent free, yea with such a quantity of land, that he may weary himself with walking over his fields of corn, and all sorts of grain, and let his stock amount to some hundreds, he need not fear their want of pasture in the summer, or fodder in the winter, the woods affording sulTicient supply, where you have grass as high as a man's knees, nay as high as his waist, interlaced with pea vines and other weeds that cattle much delight in, as much as a man can pass through. And these woods also every mile or half mile are furnished with fresh ponds, brooks, or rivers, where all sorts of cattle during the heat of the day do quench their thirst and cool themselves. These brooks and rivers being environed on each side with several sorts of trees and grape vines, arbor like interchanging places, and crossing these rivers do shade and shelter them from the scorching beams of the sun. Such as of their utmost labors can scarcely get a living, may here procure inheritances of lands and possessions, stock themselves with all sorts of cattle, enjoy the benefit of them while they live, and leave them to their children when they die. Here you need not trouble the shambles for meat, nor bakers and brewers for beer and bread, nor run to a linen draper for a supply, every one making their own linen, and a great part of their woolen cloth for their ordinary wearing. And how prodigal (if I may so say) hath nature been to furnish this country with all sorts of wild beasts and fowl, which every one hath an interest in, and may hunt at his pleasure: when besides the pleasure in hunting he may furnish his house with excel- lent fat venison, turkeys, geese, heath-hens, cranes, swans, ducks, pigeons, and the like ; and wearied with that, he may go a fishing, where the rivers are so furnished that he may supply himself with fish before he can leave off the recreation. Here one may travel by land upon the same continent hundreds of miles, and pass through towns and villages, and never hear the least complaint for want, nor hear any ask him for a farthing. Here one may lodge in the fields and woods, travel from one end of the coun- try to another, with as much security as if he were lock'd within his own chamber; and if one chance to meet with an Indian-town, they shall give 176 NOTES. him the best entertainment tliey have, and upon his desire direct him on his way. But that which add.s happiness to all the rest, is the healfhful- ness of the place, wliere many people in 20 years time never know what sickness is : where they look upon it as a great mortality if two or three die out of a town in a year's time. Besides ihe sweetness of the air, the country itself sends forth such a fragrant smell, that it may be perceived at sea before they can make the land. No evil fog or vapor doth any sooner appear, but a north-west or westerly wind immediately dissolves it and drives it away. Moreover, you shall scarce see a house but the south side is begirt with hives of bees, which increase after an incredible manner. So that if there be any terrestrial Canaan, 'tis surely here, where the land floweth with milk and honey." Vanderdonck' mentions Chesnuts ; and says, "they would be plentier if it were not for the Indians, who destroy the trees by stripping off the bark for covering for their houses. They and the Netherlanders also, cut down the trees also in the chesnut season, and cut off the liratis to gather the nuts, which also lessens the trees." He enumerates among the native productions, persimmons, mulberries, wild-cherries, and crabs ; — ■' the mulberries," he says, "are better and sweeter than ours, and ripen earlier :" — several kinds of plums, hazel-nuts, black currants, gooseber- ries, blue Indian-figs, strawberries, "in abundance all over the country," blackberries and raspberries. The English first brought over quinces. The Dutch introduced orchard-cherries, Spanish cherries, peaches, '■ merecotoons," apricots, several sorts of best plums, almonds, cornelian cherries, figs, several sorts of currants, gooseberries, &c " The land," he states, ''is full of many kinds of grapes," and the description he gives of the luxuriance of the vines is quite touching, — "it is a pitiful sight to see the grape vines run up the trees, over the bushes, and hidden among the woods neglected, untrimmed, and uncultivated." He also mentions the "bush-burning" alluded to in the foregoing extract from Denton, and says it " presents a grand and sublime appearance." It facilitated the growth of new vegetation, enabled the hunter to track his game more readily, and by thinning out the woods and destroying the dry branches, enabled him to move with greater celerity and with less fear of discovery by the animals which he might be pursuing. This continued to be the custom for many years in different parts of East Jersey. In Newark it was usual to appoint two of their most res- pectable citizens, annually, to superintend the process; and in 1673, some day in May was to be selected, when " every male from sixty to sixteen, shall go out to burn woods ;" and a fine Avas imposed upon any one firing the meadows purposely or accidentally, previous to the tenth of March in each year. > N. Y. Hist. Coll. 2(1 series, Vol. I. NOTES. J-- Note B, page 22. The following is a literal copy (excepting some corrections in or- thography and punctuation,) from the Albany Records, Vol. XXI. p. 43 Ij as translated by Vanderkemp. " 1663. Voyage to Newesing/ made in the Company's yacht, with what happened during it ; being on said yacht Mr, Krieges, Govert Lockermans, Jacques Corteljon, Peter Zevel, with ten soldiers, two sailors, and the Sachem, with a savage of Siaten Island. 6 Dec. We sailed from the Manhattans about 3 o'clock, and arrived about evening at six at Staten Island, where the Sachem of said Island with the savage, went on shore. They remained there about an hour and then returned. Hoisting again our sail, we sailed through the Kil Van Kol, arrived at the back of Shutters Island upon undeep water, cast our anchor, and remained there till the next ebb. 7 do. We raised our anchor again about three in the morning, rowed down with the ebb the kil behind Staten Island. Somewhat later in the morning we hoisted our sail and laveered^ so long till the ebb was past, when we again cast our anchor. The flood being gone about two o'clock in the afternoon, we raised the anchor and laveered again. We discovered a sail towards evening, which we approached in the evenino- and spoke to it ; as it was Peter Lowrensen with a small sloop in which was Jacob Cowenhoven; they said they went out to barter venison. We both laveered together with our yachts that same evening towards the end of Staten Island, and cast there our anchors just opposite the Rari- tans Kil, where we did see two houses with southern savages : said Co- wenhoven informed us that the English in an open sloop, being nineteen strong, sailed the day before up the Raritan river, where the savages of the Newesing^ and Raritans were collected together about three miles on the kil. The savages communicated the same. We remained that night before the Raritans Kil to sail it up the next morning to follow the Eng- lish, but as during the night there was a very severe gale from the north- west, we were compelled to remain there that night. 8 do. The wind continued to blow very severely from the northwest so that we could not proceed on the Raritans Kil, and were compelled to stay there that day. We resolved then to dispatch the savage Hans by land to the savages of Newesing, who were assembled about three miles in the country on the Raritans Kil ; which was directly effected with send- ing him off immediately with verbal orders, as that he should warn the Sachems of the Newesings and Raritans, that we were laying with the yacht before the kil, and that we wished that they would come hither to us, to speak with them ; and commanded further Hans to tell the Sa- ' " Newesing," Newasons, or Navesink. ' " Laveered," tacked. * Afterwards more properly called Menesings. 12 178 NOTES, ehems,if there arrived some English, or were actually among them, with a view to purchase some land from them, that they should not sell it to the English, as they had not even asked it of the Dutch Sachems on the Manhattans, and came thither in silence : and if the Sachems on the New- esings wished to sell some land, that they then should come to us, then we would speak together : on which, Hans with the rising sun directly departed to communicate it to the savages, while we remained before the Kii. 9 do. We saw in the morning about 9 o'clock the English vessel com- ing down, on which we directly raised the anchor and sailed towards it; so as we did, arriving near her, we asked them from where they came ; on which the skipper, Stoffel Elsworth, answered, ' from ihe Kil :' asked, what he had done there ; answered, ' he brought the English thither.' We told him this was unbecoming, it was against our Government to act in this manner, and that he should answer for it ; on which William Geldor cried out, " It is well — it is well." In the vessel were Charles Morgan, John Bon, James Holbert, John Totman, Sam Spyser, Thomas Wytlock, Sergeant Gybbings, from the first bay a man, named Kreupels-bos, one of Flushing, two from Jamaica, and a few more whom we knew not, to twenty in number. On the same day in the afternoon, returned about three, Hans the savage, whom we had dispatched on the eighth towards the Menesing Sachems who encamped it a consid- erable distance from the Raritan Kil ; and Hans the savage conducted to us six or seven savages, who informed us, that the English, before Hans the savage came to them, had arrived there, and presented the savages with some wine, and two fathoms black seewant' and one white, after which they had asked them if they would sell to them some land ; in the mean time [came] Hans the savage, when the whole was at an end, so that the English departed. 10 do. We departed again from the Raritan Kil, accompanied by two savages who were acquainted with the lands of the Menesings : we went down the bay, arrived at the kil which enters between Rensselaer's pier and the sand point ; met there again Stoffel Elsworth in his little sloop, and all the English sitting on shore near the kil ; we went with our boat on shore, and went towards them along the strand ; when we approached them we did see every one standing in arms. When the Sheriff Charles Morgan and John Bon advanced towards us, I asked them what was their business there, they answered, they went trading; we replied, if they went to trade, why then they had such a strong force with them 1 They said the savages were villains and could not be trusted, and there- fore they went in such numbers ; we told them, that we were informed they came to purchase lands from, the savages ; they answered, ' we went only thither to see the land.' We again told them that they ought not to ' " Seewant," wampum. NOTES. Y^Q undertake to purchase any land of the savages, as the largest part of it was already purchased by the Dutch, John Bon then asked me. under what government I presumed that they resided. I answered that they lived under that of the States General, and under that of the director General and Council here ; to which he replied, why then are we not as well permitted to trade and explore land as yet I answered him again, that they ought not to undertake to purchase any land from the savages, except that they previously obtained the consent of the Direc- tor General and Council ; to which John Bon replied ' it shall be well :' then said StoffelElsworth, 'I told them already the same, that they should not do it.' Govert Lockermanstold them then, ' ye are a party of traitors as ye act against the government of the state :' they said the king's pat- ent was quite of another cast. Lockermans asked 'from where have ye your pass T they answered 'from the Manhattans.' Lockermans retorted ' why do you act then against this state V to which Charles Morgan an- swered, ' sek noty bey affet." The Enghsh had their savage with them, who was of the Menesings, and had share in the murder of Mispath's Kil, as our savage had informed us, whom we had taken with us in our sloop and carried hither, and his name was Q,uikems, jiving on the New- esing Kil, on the land called Townsing. We left then the Enghsh along shore and entered the kill about four miles along the west wall where the country was very mountainous; and the opposite side, as the savages informed us, was very poor, and some good land, old maize-fields and yet some plantations which 1 before explored with Corteljon: then we crossed the hilly parts about nine miles, and perceived by a sign on board, that Stoffel with his sloop and English had entered the kil. We remained before it during the night, 11 do. The wind being S, W. we resolved to sail again towards the Manhattans, so as we did." Note C, page 37, The following is a fragment of a letter from Col. Nicholls, to the Duke of York, a copy of which is among the New York Colonial papers. It ie without date, but was evidently written in 1664. " I must now descend to the particular occasion of giving your royal highness this trouble, wherein my Lord Berkeley and Sir George Car- ' " These words of Morgan I do not understand, and cannot interpret." Trans- lator. 180 NOTES. teret are concerned ; who, I know also, will be so just to me as to have me excused for manifesting clearly my knowledge to your royal high- ness. About ten days past, Captain BoUen shewed me a letter from my Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, and therewith a grant from your royal highness to them, for all the lands to the west of Hudsons River, as more fully may appear in the said grant : wherein is comprehended all the improvable part of your royal highness's patent, and capable to receive twenty times more people than Long Island and all the remain- ing tracts, in respect not only to the quantity of the land, but to the sea coast and Delaware River, the fertility of the soil, the neighborhood to ' Hudsons River, and lastly, the fair hopes of rich mines, to the utter dis- couragement of any that shall desire to live under your royal high- ness's protection. In short, I hold myself obliged to give your royal highness this account upon certain knowledge, having exactly consid- ered and preferred the advance of your royal highness's reputation in these parts above all considerations or obligations whatsoever : and, for my boldness, I can at last but beg pardon. Neither can I suppose that my Lord Berkeley or Sir George Carteret knew how prejudicial such a grant would prove to your royal highness, but must charge it upon Cap- tain Scot, who was born to work mischief, as far he is credited or his parts serve him.' This Scot, it seems, aimed at the same patent which your royal highness hath, and has given out words that he had injury done him by your royal highness : whereupon he contrived and be- trayed my Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret into a design (con- trary to their knowledge) of ruining all the hopes of increase in this territory which he hath fully completed, unless your royal highness take farther order herein. Upon this tract of land several new purchases are made from the Indians since my coming, and three towns begin- ning. I gave it the name of Albania, lying to the west of Hudson's River, and to Long Island the name of Yorkshire, as to this place the name of New York, to comprehend all the titles of your royal highness. Far be it from me to aggravate any thing beyond the bounds of a faithful servant ; for, when it may conduce most for your royal high- ness's service, I shall as freely surrender up all parts to your royal high- ness's pleasure as it becomes me to do. I presume farther to propose a better and more entire tract of land, worthy of great consideration, to my Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, which is that part of Dela- ' For a notice of this man see from the Indians, and in various other Thompson's highly interesting History ways he found persons sufficiently cre- of Long Island, 2d Edit. 2d Vol. p. 320. dulous to become purchasers," &c. He ■' He was a man of shrewdness, but base resided on Long Island, and being driven and unprincipled ; professing to be the from there subsequently lived in Nesv rightful owner of numerous tracts of England, land in various parts, under purchases NOTES. 181 ware River which is reduced from the Dutch, if it is not already dis- posed ; if so, then that my Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret may have a hundred thousand acres along tlie sea coast, which is a most noble tract of land : but it will cost them £20,000 before it will yield them a penny, and their children's children may reap the profit." Again, under date of April 9th, 1666, Colonel Nicholls thus wrote to Lord Arlington : " My humble conception and certain knowledge directs me to inform your Lordship, that by tlie unskilfulness of the informers, the west side of Delaware River, now seated with Swedes, Finns and Dutch, is crushed between the Lord Baltimore's Patent on the west side, and the Lord Berkeley's indenture on the east, that the present inhabitants can- not possibly subsist in so narrow a compass." He, therefore, calls upon them to rectify these mistakes, and advises that twenty miles on each side of the River Delaware, which had been taken from the Dutch, should be given to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, instead of the lands granted them. Note D, pages 22 and 40. Mr. Bancroft in the earher editions of the second Volume of hie History of the United States (p. 316) says— "A few families of (Quakers had found a refuge in New Jersey before the end of 1664: more than a year earlier, (March 26, 1663,) New England Puritans, sojourners on Long Island, solicited and obtained leave to establish themselves and their cherished institutions on the Raritan " — and he quotes Albany Re- cords, IV. p. 415. In a notice of this passage in the Newark Daily Advertiser of March 12th, 1840, the identification of these applicants for an establishment on the Raritan, with the actual settlers at Elizabethtown, was attempted, (the question possessing some interest in determining the progress of colo- nization,) and an opinion expressed that the permission could not have been granted by the Dutch authorities, or, if granted, that the settlement was not made. Subsequent editions of Mr. Bancroft's work have the passage modi- fied, as follows:— "Before the end of 1664, a few families of Q,uakers appear also to have found a refuge south of Raritan Bay.^'' [Neither the place nor the authority is given.] " More than a year earlier, New Eng- land Puritans, sojourners on Long Island, solicited of the Dutch, and, as the records prove, obtained leave to establish on the the banks of the Raritan and the Minisink, their cherished institutions, and even their criminal jurisprudence." — p. 317. This reference to "the Records" ISa NOTES. seems lo discredit the testimony of the settlers themselves — for they say in their subsequent applications that they " were obstructed by the then ruling Dutch." The writer regrets that he is obliged to differ from one whose historical researches have earned for him so much of renown, but the document re- ferred to by Mr. Bancroft cannot, he conceives, be offered in corroboration of his views. It is a despatch from the Directors of the West India Company, dated, Amsterdam, 26th March, 1663, and reads as follows : — " Thus far we paid our attention to the two letters signed by the Director and Counsel- lors. The next which claims it, is that of the Director Stuyvesant in particular, in which we observe a petition of some English neighbours, "who desired to establish themselves in considerable numbers within the limits of the company's jurisdiction behind Staten Island, about the Rar- itan river, and did see from the annexed documents your Boil's opinion about it, to which we then make no objection, especially so as this settlement might serve as a bulwark to our nation against the savages on the Raritan and Minisink, wherefore it should have been gratifying to tis that this proposal had been carried into effect, in which efforts we hope that your Honour shall continue. If we are not mistaken, then the principal obstacle which retarded its progress, was the appeal in criminal cases and capital crimes of whoredom, adultery and similar offences, which they punish according to the law and the expressed word of God, against which maxim, although the laws of our Fatherland use some connivance in this respect, we make no objection, but could not willingly transfer to them the absolute disposal of all criminal cases whatever, without appeal. Nevertheless, if the admission and settlement of this nation on that spot is considered so all important to ours, we could per- mit, to facilitate this negociation, that no appeals to us should take place in all such crimes in which the process of the crime is instituted upon a voluntary confession, in which could not be consented in all other cases of a dubious nature, as your honour must apprehend ; besides further, that their laws, in punishing all similar crimes against tlie maxims of our Fatherland should only be put in practice against their own countrymen, and not against such of our nation who might settle amongst them. Yoiir Honour must not give up this point, as long as it is tenable — it is of too high importance — provided if the object in view is not obtainable without this sacrifice, then your Honour is authorized to treat with the English on such terms as in your opinion are best adapted to promote the welfare of our State and its subjects." — [Albany Records, IV. 415.] Now here we have an application to tlie " then ruling Dutch, ob- structed" by obtacles suggested by Governor Suyvesant, and which he specifies in his " opinion," forwarded to the Directors in Holland. This circumstance alone certainly identifies the Elizabethtown company with the applicants referred to ; and tlie fact of their renewing their appHcation NOTES. 183 to NichoUs, is proof that nothing definite in the shape of " permisBion " was ever obtained. But this is not all the testimony bearing upon the sub- ject. In Volume XIX of the same Records [pp. 409 to 421] we have in- formation of a petition for land from the English in Connecticut, (Robert Treat being among them — afterwards a Newark name,) and the action of the Council thereon in November, 1661. No particular location is mentioned, and nothing specific seems to have been determined on. In Volume XX [pp. 73 to 77] the matter is again on record as under con- sideratipn from March to May 1662. Forms of oaths were prescribed for the settlers, and other stipulations made by the Council, but there were difficulties in the way of a full completion of any arrangement. What those difficulties were, the foregoing despatch informs us ; for it is at this stage of the negociation it comes in to prove that up to March 1663, no agreement had yet been perfected : and in Volume XXI, pages 231 to 237, is a record of a renewal of the negotiations in June 1663 : but there is nothing to show that any actual permission was given — that the terms prescribed were acceded to — or that a settlement was made while the country continued under the domination of the Dutch. — [See Denton's New York, reprint of Penn. Hist. Soc, pp. 12, 13.] Note E, page 42. The following is a synopsis of the agreement between Carteret and Pierce, Pike and Toppan, on the 21st May, 1666. Art. I. Liberty is given to the associates to settle one or two town- ships consisting of from 40 to 100 families, between Rah way and Rari- tan Rivers : the settlement to commence before the month of November ensuing. The inhabitants within the bounds of each town to lay out their respective portions " within themselves " — one thousand acres to be laid out in two tracts, of 500 each, for the proprietors. Art. II. The inhabitants of each town were to have a charter granted them, — to choose their own magistrates for the government of the corporation, — their own minister, and to nominate their military offi- cers and Justices of the Peace for the approval of the Governor ; and they should have courts to try all causes actionable within their own jurisdiction, from which no appeal was to be made under the sum of five pounds. Art. III. Liberty of conscience guarantied short of licentiousness and disturbance of the peace : 200 acres of land to be allowed for the maintenance of the ministry, and also, enough for the erection of a church, for a churchyard, and other public uses. 1^4 NOTES. sembly. ^PP''"^^^^"" °^^^^e Gfovernor, Council, and General As- th.tZ' ^' ^^"^ "''""'' ""^^^^^"^ °^^ ^''^ *^"^^ ^»d *e payment of the halfpenny per acre, quit rent, provided for. Art. VI. The inhabitants to join with those of the other towns in repelhng invasion or queUing insurrection. Pc,«f''!'T,"'^'^^*'^'''^°^*^''' ^'^ ^^^^ ^ ^'•e*^ ^«^^e in electing del- egates to the General Assembly. Art. VIII. The inhabitants to submit themselves to the laws and swear or subscribe the oaths of allegiance. Art. IX. Full liberty to be given to their removing to any other place, and to their selling their lands as they might think proper Art. X. The punishment of criminals prescribed. ill' ?n ^r^f'.T ^ ^^ resurveyed after seven years' possession, f .f 7; "habitants to pass all necessary laws not contrary to those of the province. Three montlis were given the associates to make known their final determination. w^lfw^iJ^'J ?^' *^ ^g^eement was confirmed by John Martin, Hope- Phir n-n ^'''"^'' -^"^^ ^^"™^"' ^^"J^^^i" Hull, John Smith, Charles Gillman, and Hugh Dunn; and on Oct. 20, 1670, Governor Carteret waived all objections that might have been made on the ground ot ^leir not havmg " come in exactly according to tlie time limited." E J. Records, Lib. I. 2d part, pp. 19 to 22. Note F, page 42. Synopsis of Woodbridge Charter, June Isf, 1669. Art. I. Specifies the metes and bounds, which are particularlv de- scribed, and the tract is said to be bounded on the east by Arthur Cull bound, north by Elizabethtown, west by New Piscatawav, and south bv the Karitan. " ^ Art. II. Stipulates that the corporation shall consist of at least sixty amihes, and as many more as shall be thought proper ;-directs how the land shall be divided, surveyed, &c., each patentee to pay a halfpenny er acre annually to the proprietors. Art. III. The freeholders to have power to choose their own magis- trates, to be assistants to the President or Judge of the Court, and'for ordering all public affairs within the township, to nominate their Justices and Military officers, to be approved of and commissioned by the Governor Art. IV. The majority of the freeholders and freemen to choose their own mmister or ministers, towards whose support each inhabitant NOTES. 185 shall contribute according to his estate. — 200 acres of land to be laid out for the use of the minister and 100 acres for the maintainancc of a free school — " which said land shall not be abducted, but shall remain from one encumbent to another for ever ;" — tlie said lands, as well as those for building a church or school-house, and for a church-yard and market- place, to be exempt from the quit rent — any inhabitant " of a different judgment in matters of religion," might maintain any other minister witliout molestation. Art. V. Authorizes " a Court of Judicature " to consist of a Presi- dent (who should be a Justice of the Peace) and, at least, two magis- trates, a Clerk, &c., having jurisdiction over all cases involving the sum of £5 sterling and under ; and also for the trial of all criminals and causes of misdemeanor — inflicting fines, and punishments such as " stocking, whipping, (not exceeding twenty stripes,) pilloring, ducking, branding, and the like." No freeholder to be arrested and detained for debt until judgment and execution, unless it could be made to appear that he was about defrauding his creditors by leaving the country, &c., — all fines to be disposed of for charitable or public uses. Art. VI. Guaranties liberty of conscience according to the terms of the concessions. Art. VII. The inhabitants to have the privilege of a free trade un- burthened by any excise or tax save such as may be imposed by the Governor and General Assembly for defraying public charges. Art. VIII. The inhabitants to join with those of other towns in re- pelling invasion, or attacks of Indians, but not to make war unless by consent of the Governor, Council and Assembly. Art. IX. The freeholders to choose two deputies to the General Assembly. Art. X. The freeholders to submit themselves to the laws and go- vernment of the province, to swear allegiance to the proprietaries, and to have full liberty to remove and dispose of their lands. Art. XI. Provides for the general ordering of affairs for the good of the township by a majority of the freeholders. The document concludes with a proviso that, as Amboy point was to be reserved by the Lords Proprietors " in lieu of the seventh part men- tioned in the concessions," it was understood and agreed that the nine- hundred acres of upland was to be on and about Amboy Point, as then surveyed by the Surveyer General, and for the hundred acres of meadow, (one thousand acres being the quantity reserved,) it was to be laid out in the most convenient place nearest thereto. It was signed by Philip Carteret, Governor ; James Bollen, Nicolas Verlett, Samuel Edsall, Robert Vanquellen, William Pardon, and Rob- ert Bond ; and confirmed under date of 7th September, 1672, by Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret themselves. 186 NOTES. Note G, page 47. The following is a synopsis of the Bergen Charter. The preamble reads thus : '' This Deede Witnesseth of a Charter Granted to the Towne and Freeholders of Bergen and to the Vilages and Plantations thereunto be- longing Cituated and being in the Province of New Cesarea or New Jersey, By the Hon^ie Capt Phillip Carterett Esq"" Governo'' of the said Province and his Councill under The Right Honb'e John Lord Berkley Barron of Stratton and S'' George Carterett Kn* and Baronet the absolute Lords Proprietors of the same, Containing the Limitts and bounds of the Jurisdiction of the said Towne together with the Immuni- ties and Priviledges thereunto belonging and appertaining." Art. L The bounds are specified, and the whole, containing 11,520 acres, transferred to the " jurisdiction, corporation or township of the said town of Bergen ; the said corporation submitting themselves to the au- thority of the Lords Proprietors and the government of this province."' Art. IL Fifteen poxinds sterling to be paid annually in lieu of the halfpenny ^er acre. Art. IIL All freeholders, living on the plantations included within the bounds of the corporation (including " Bergen^ Ahasimus, Comunipau. Minkacque, Prenbrepock^) to be accounted freemen of the corporation," &c. Art. IV. The freeholders or a majority of them to make choice of two deputies to General Assembly. Art. V. To choose their own magistrates, to be assistants to the President or Judge of the Court, and to nominate their Justices of the Peace and Military officers, to be commissioned by the Governor. Art. VI. VII. To choose their own ministers, &c. — similar to the Woodbridge Charter, Arts. IV. and VI. Art. VIII. IX. Authorized to divide off vacant lands within their bounds. Art. X. Free trade allowed the inhabitants. Art. XI. Inhabitants liable to be called out to repel invasion, &c. Art. XII. To choose their own Constables. Art. XIII. Inhabitants to submit themselves to laws of the Province and subscribe oath of allegiance. Art. XIV. Authorizes Courts, &c., similar to Woodbridge Charter. Art. V. * Controversies subsequently arose * On or before May 1, 1666, persons under this clause, as to the true owner- claiming " Pembrepow" and " Men- ship of the lands not covered by private kelque," adjoining Constables Hook, grants, which were not definitely settled were called upon to prove their title, or until commissioners were appointed by the land would be sold to others. E. J. the Legislature for the purpose in 1764. Records, Vol. II. Lib. 3, p. 6. NOTES. |g7 Note H, page 48. William Sandford. — Some interest, as well as mystery, is thrown around this name by the records. Whence he came does not appear, but he was probably from the West Indies. His title of Captain (of the Militia) was conferred upon him July 15, 1675 : — he then resided at Newark. The observation in the body of the work, respecting his con- tempt for office, grew out of his declination of a Councillor's appoint- ment tendered him in 1669. His scruples however seem to have been overcome subsequently, for in 1682 he served in the Council of Deputy Governor Rudyard, and, as Major Sandford, in the Council of Deputy Governor Lawrie. On 24th April, 1677, Sandford transferred to Mrs. Sarah Whartman, in trust for the use of his " eldest daughter Nedemiah, and the children naturally born of the said Sarah Whartman, viz. — Catharine, Peregrine, William, and Grace," one equal third part of all his property between the rivers, with one-third of the stock, household stuffs, &c., provided it were improved for her maintenance and the education of the said cj^il- dren, and the principal not disposed of in anyway without his consent.^ Whether he left tlie neighborhood after this or not is unknown, but the next year (August 10th) Mrs. Whartman relinquished all she had received, re-transferring it to Sandford, having of her " own head and obstinate will" violated the condition of the conveyance by removing the stock.^ These proceedings assume rather a strange aspect when considered with reference to the following fact. Sandford died in 1692, letters of administration on his estate being granted 1st September. His will was dated January 3d, 1690,^ in which he acknowledges Sarah Whartman to be his lawful wife, " some considerable reasons having engaged them to conceal their marriage," and a certificate of the marriage is annexed, signed by Richard Vernon, as having occurred " on board the Pink Susannah in the river of Surinam, the 27th March, 1667. He desires his body " to be buried, if it may be, in his own plantation, without mourn- ing pomp, or expensive ceremonies," and implores his honored friends Col. Andrew Hamilton,* Mr. James Emott,^ Mr. Gabriel Meenville and Mr. William Nicholls of New York, to assist and favor the concerns of a poor ignorant widow and five innocent children " [another daughter, Elizabeth, having been added to those already named], " with their best > E. J. Records, Vol. 11. Lib. I. part ^ g j Records D. p. 280. 2d, p. 86. ■• Deputy-governor. ' E. J. Records, Vol. III. Lib. B, p. ^ Secretary of the province, of difTer- 304. ent courts, &c. 188 NOTES. advice, help and council, to preserve them from those vultures and har- pies which prey on the carcasses of widows and fatten with the hiood of orphans." His daughter Nedemiah married Richard Berry. Catharine married Dr. Van Imburgh, and left numerous descendants, and Elizabeth became the wife of Capt. James Davis ; but the fate of the other children is unknown. Major Nathaniel Kingsland does not appear to have visited the province. At his death he left one-third of his New Jersey plantation to his nephew Isaac Kingsland. His children who survived him were : Johriy Nathaniel, Isabella, wife of Henry Harding, Carolina, wife of John Barrow, Mary, wife of William Walley, and Esther, wife of Henry Applethwaite. Isaac Kingsland resided in New Barbadoes, and was in the Council during the administration of Deputy Governors Lawrie, Lord Niell Campbell, and Andrew Hamilton. He died in Jan- uary or February, 1698,' and left Edmund, John, Mary, Hester, Ehz- abeth, (which was also the name of his wife,) Frances and Isaac ; some of whose descendants are yet residents of the eastern portion of the state. — His brother, Gustavus Kingsland, acted as one of his executors. A sister of Major Nathaniel Kingsland (Elizabeth) was married to a Mr. Mandeville of New- Jersey. Note I, page 51. The following is the proclamation of Governor Carteret convening the first General Assembly in New Jersey : — from E. J. Records, Vol. II. Lib. 3. " Whereas, by the infinite goodness, providence, and blessing of Al- mighty God, this Province of New Jersey is in a probable way of being populated ; there being a considerable number of families already set- tled in several parts of the same, and many more that in a short time are to come and place themselves under this government ; for the bet- ter propagating and encouragement thereof, I have thought fit, with the advice of my Council, to appoint a General Assembly to begin the 25th day of May ensuing the date hereof, for the making and constituting such wholesome laws as shall be most needful and necessary for the good government of the said province, and the maintaining of a reli- gious communion, and civil society, one with the other, as becometh Christians, without which it is impossible for any Body Politic to pros- per or subsist. " Wherefore these are in the Lords Proprietors names to will and require all the freeholders belonging to * * * to make choice and E. J. Records F, p. 529. NOTES. 189 appoint two able men that are freeholders, and dwellers within the said limits, to be your Burgesses and Representatives for you, and they be- ing empowered by you are to make their personal appearance at Eliz- abethtown, the 25th day of May next as aforesaid, and there to join with me your Governor and my Council to advise in the management of the atiairs that are needful and necessary for the orderly and well gov- erning of the said province : — Hereof you may not fail, as you and every of you will answer your contempt to the contrary. Given under the seal of the Province, the seventh day of April, 1668, and in the 20th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord Charles the Second of Eng- land, Scotland, Prance, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &,c. "PH. CARTERET." GOVERNOR Carteret's official seal. Note K, page 53. The following are the messages which passed between the Gov- ernor and Council and the Assembly on the occasion referred to in the text : they show what were some of the grounds of dissension. " The sixth of November, 1668. " A Message sent in by the Deputies to the Governor and his Council. " Honoured Gentlemen, " We, finding so many and great inconveniences by our not setting 190 NOTES. together, and your apprehensions so different to ours, and your expecta- tions that things must go according to your opinions, though we see no reason for, much less warrant from the Concessions, wherefore we thinli it vain to spend much time of returning answers by writings that are so exceeding dilatory, if not fruitless and endless. And therefore we think our way rather to break up our meeting, seeing the order of the Concessions cannot be attended to." " The Answer by the Governor and his Council. " In answer to your last proposition, we desire you to appoint two of your deputies to consider with us, in what point we act contrary to the Concessions, it being too late to-night to entertain so long a debate, we will be ready to-morrow morning to give them a hearing, and if reason will satisfy you, we shall be very well pleased that you proceed accord- ing to the Lords Proprietors Concessions, and the trust imposed upon you, if not you may do what you please, only we advise you to consider well of your resolutions before you break up." Copia Vera. JAMES BOLLEN, Secretary. [Grants and Concessions, p. 9., from E. J. Records.] Note L, page 69. The following extracts from the New York Colonial Papers illus- trate this matter of the Customs : In a postscript to a despatch to Major Andros, from Sir John Werden, the Duke's Secretary, February 13th, 1674-5, the Governor is thus advised. " I had almost forgot to tell you that we have as yet done nothing towards the adjusting Sir George Carteret's pretensions in New Jersey, where I presume you will take care to keep all things in the same pos- ture (as to the Duke's prerogatives and profits,) as they were in your predecessor's time, until you shall hear of some alterations agreed to here." In a despatch dated 31st August, 1676, he says, " I add thus much further in relation to Sir George Carteret's Col- ony of New Jersey, it is that I have acquainted his Royal Highness with what Mr. Dyre wrote to me, about his late bickering with Captain Car- teret, for not letting a present pass, &c. And though small matters are hardly worth the notice, especially where Sir George Carteret himself is concerned, (for whom the Duke hath much esteem and regard,) I do not find that the Duke is at all inclined to let go any part of his prerog- ative which you and your predecessors have all along constantly as- serted in his behalf, and so, though at present in respect to Sir George NOTES. 191 we soften things all we may, not to disturb his choler, (for in truth the passion of his inferior officers so far infects him as puts him on demands which he hath no colour of right to,) / verily believe should his foot chance to slip, those tcho succeed him must be content with less civility than we show him in this point, since that we should exercise that just autho- rity his Royal Highness hath, without such reserves as though intended but favours note, may if confirmed, redound too much to Hie prejudice of your Colony. You will reserve what I say in this paragraph to your- self." The above, in Italics, exhibits the germ of that hostility to tlie com- mercial prosperity of East Jersey, which was manifested when it had passed into the hands of others. _ Note M, page 81. The following documents are the foundation of the letter men- tioned in the text : — they are among the New York Records. " August the 6th, (80.) '• Memorandum. " Mr. Byllinge, for himself and others, having long insisted on their right derived from the Duke's grant to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, (as Proprietors of West New Jersey in America,) to be exempt from paying any customs or other duties, or being any ways under the jurisdiction of New York, but alleging the said West New Jersey to be wholly independent therefrom : after many hearings by the appoint- ment of his Royal Highness, who was pleased to refer the whole matter to the decision of Sir William Jones, &c. At the last Sir William Jones gave his opinion under his own hand as foUoweth : ' 28th July, 1680. ' I do hereby humbly certify, that, having heard what hath been in- sisted on for his Royal Highness, to make good the legality of the de- mand of five per cent, from the inhabitants of New Jersey, I am not sat- isfied (by any thing I have yet heard) that the Duke can demand that or any other duty from the inhabitants of those lands. And that which makes the case the stronger against his Royal Highness is, that these inhabitants claim under a grant from his Royal Highness to the Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, in which grant there is no reser- vation of any profit, or so much as jurisdiction. WM. JONES.' " In compliance to which opinion, his Royal Highness, this day, 6th August, 1680, at London, did command Sir John Werden to bring him a Deed of confirmation (or Release) tendered by Mr. Byllinge, the more 192 NOTES. formally to convey the said West New Jersey to him and the rest of the Proprietors, and plainly to extinguish the demand of any Customs or other duties from them (save the rent reserved as at the first.) And his Royal Highness, though his Council at Law (Sir John Churchill and Sir George Jeffrey being both absent,) had neither drawn nor signed it, was pleased to execute the same accordingly, by reason that Mr. Byl- linge urged the necessity of it now, to have the benefit of the ships' pre- sent voyage, some being now ready to sail unto those parts of West New Jersey above mentioned." " These are to direct and require you to prepare for my signature a Deed, or fitting instrument, (agreeable to that I have already executed unto Edward Byllinge and others,) whereby I may release and confirm unto Sir George Carteret, the heir of Sir George Carteret, (lately de- ceased,) the moiety of New Jersey (called East New Jersey) in Ame- rica. For which this shall be your warrant, provided it be entered with my Auditor-General within two months of its date. Given under my hand at Windsor, the 6th day of September, 1680. " To Sir John Churchill, Knt., my Atty. Genl., to Sir George JefTreye. Knt, my SoUcr. Genl." Note N, page 80. The following is a synopsis of the correspondence which took place previous to the dissolution of the Assembly in 1681, from the copy in the New York Colonial Papers. Chalmers had access to the document, and refers to the correspondence in his work, but its details have never before been made public. October 19, 1681. — The Representatives desire to be informed whether they are to consider the late grant from the duke as the foun- dation of the government. October 19th. — The answer returned is, that the Patent from the Duke, confirmed by the King, must be regarded as the foundation of the government. A hope is expressed that none of the bad seed sown by Sir Edmund Andros had taken such deep root as to lead to doubts on the subject, unless indeed Sir Edmund's actions were approved of by them. " Wherefore," say the Council, " we desire in the prosecution of your duties that you would fall upon something that may be for the good of the province." NOTES. J93 October 20th. — The Council desire tlie Representatives to appoint a committee to meet one from their board to confer upon the mutters in dispute : the conference to be that afternoon. The conuuittee appointed by the Assembly consisted of Captain John Bowne, Speaker, Thomas Johnson, Edward Slaughter, or Slater, and John Elsby ; the names of the Council committee are not given. The Representatives pass a resolution that the Concessions oranted by the Proprietors February 10th, 1664-5, are to be taken according to the letter without any interpretations whatever : — and, in pinswer to the. Council's communication, the Clerk informs that body that in the in- quiry first propounded they intended nothing more than to arrive at a right understanding ol' the matter referred to, and " deem all reflecting expressions may be forborne as not tending to peace." October 21st. — The Council inquire what misinterpretations have been put upon tlie Concessions. October 21st. — The Representatives pronounce the " Declaration of tlie true intent and meaning of the Lords Proprietors, and explanation of the Concessions," to be a breach of the Concessions ; under which certain persons have presumed to act to the great prejudice of the in- habitants and settlers. October 21st. — The Council in reply require the acts of encroach- ment, &c., to be specified and by whom committed. October 22d. — The Representatives request the appointment of committees with a view of obtaining a full explanation in relation to the matters complained of October 22d. — The Council appoint Monday 24th, between 11 and 12, as the time for the conference, and the same committee is appointed by the Assembly, excepting John Curtis in the room of John Elsby, and an adjournment is agreed upon to Tuesday the 25th. October 25th. — Spent in debates. October 27th. — The representatives pronounce the Declaration and Concessions contradictory one with the other, and demand that the for- mer be made void. October 27th. — The Council acknowledge the receipt of the message and say in answer : " Wee well know that the General Assembly doth not consist of you, the Deputies alone, wisdome is justified of her chil- dren and teacheth men wherein they stand distinct to answer for them- selves and not for the whole : you further add that you desire and ex- pect that the boddy of the said Instrument should be made void, as you have had the benefit of reading as well as weighing (as you say) the said Instrument. If you had also had the Benefitt of understanding you would neither have desired nor expected the same to be made void." October 2Sth. — The Deputies declare tliat the Inhabitants of the province, are not obliged to conform themselves to the Declaration, they 13 194 NOTES, having found that instrument contrary to the tenor of the Concessions. They say, in making known their objections to the Governor and Coun- cil, they, " instead of returning a positive answer doe reflect upon tlie abihty and understanding of the Deputies, and thereby expHcitly denyed the same, we are therefore necessitated in pursuance of the trust re- posed in us to make this our publication against the said Declaration," &c. The Council remind the House, " to the end that no encroachment or contradiction may be put upon the concessions," that no provision had yet been made by them for the support of the government. October 29ih. — The Council advise the House that the purpose of another conference wluch had been proposed was the removal, if pos- sible, of all that obstructed the well settling of the affairs of the pro- vince. October 29th. — The Representatives cannot discover from the Coun- cil's answer, the object of the conference. October 29th. — The Council desire that a debate may be had of the whole General Assembly, (joint meeting,) and in another communica- tion, [as if they themselves had just discovered it,] call the attention of the assembly to the fact that in the sixth article of the Concessions the Proprietors had reserved the right of alteration ; and they say, " It is a matter of lamentation that the Representatives of the Province, should be soe sJiort sighted that they cannot see what he which runnes may read." October 29th. — The Deputies, in answer, doubt the correctness of the application placed upon the sixth article. October 29th. — The Council write that they had attended at the place and time appointed for the joint meeting, but the Deputies had not attended as promised: — They say, " Had we men to doe with all that have regard to their promises, it would be a happinesse both to us and the Province, you may doe well to call it to mind that as you bare the shape of men, you should acknowledge your error, and doe yourselves and the contrivers of the Breach soe much rightastojoyneinaDebate tobe held by a Committee of the whole General Assembly, upon Monday next, by 10 o'clock of the same day, to the end that every member of the General Assembly, may see with his own eyes, and hear with his own ears, the things that concern the present bleeding condition of the whole province, to which time we have adjourned." October 31st. — The Representatives, as if impressed with the weight of the suggestions of the Council relative to the sixth article, undertake to refute them. October 31st. — The Council again remind the House of the required provision for the support of government, " according to the conces- sions." NOTES. 195 October 31s<. — The Representatives answer, that they are attending to their own and the country's business — " every thing is beautiful in hie season," say they. November 2d. — The Deputies were summoned by Captain Jamee Bollen, (the Secretary of the Province,) Captain Henry Greenland, and Mr. Samuel Edsall, to attend immediately the Governor and Council. The Speaker desired time to consider the matter ; whereupon Captain Bollen declared by order of the Governor, that " this pretended house of deputies be dissolved," and left with the members a paper that objected to the stile of General Assembly assumed by the Representatives. !t said, " true wisdom would teach you better manners than to stile your- selves the General Assembly. Doubtless there was no want of Igno- rance and disloyalty Avhere this Bratt had its education, inasmuch as that the General Assembly consists of the Governor, Council, and Dep- uties, ergo the Deputies are no General Assembly. It was Lucifer's pride that putt him upon setting himself where God never intended to set him ; and his presumption produced or was forerunner of his fall ; you sett yourselves where the laws of England, nor yet the Concessions of this Province, never sett nor intended to sett men that are but in private capacity, &c." They object that some of the members are not qualified, inasmuch as they hold freeholds in conformity with the concessions ; and, in reference to the previous note received, they ■say it is evident they were " first for themselves, and then for the coun- try :" " Private spirits in men in public employment, are the jewels that adorn your brests." The House of Deputies with one consent protested against the dis- solution, as being contrary to the Concessions, and an innovation of the government. Thus ended this singular correspondence, the Deputies having as- suredly conducted their part of it with a much greater regard to deco- rum than characterized the share of the Council. Note O, page 88. It is presumed that the Deed from the Duke of York to the Twenty- four proprietaries direct, resulted from the following correspondence, taken from the New York Colonial papers : — Extract from a letter of the Register of Scotland to Sir John Werden, the Duke's Secretary, dated December 21, 1682 : — " I did write to you formerly of our desire who are Proprietors of East Jersey, to have our grant rather holden by Charter of his Royal J 96 NOTES. Highness, than as it is at present by transmission from our Authors : without any augmentation of our privileges, but only to be under the Duke's immediate protection." Sir John Werden's answer : "St. James, 4 January, 1682-3. " My Lord :— I should have answered your Lordship's of 21st Dec'r sooner, but that I have waited a good opportunity to make tlie proposal mentioned in your letter, about the East part of New Jersey. And now I am to desire a little farther explanation of what is aimed at in your proposal, that is, whether the proprietors of East New Jersey design to join that to New York (as heretofore) as a part of that gov- ernment and so share in it by sending their Representatives to the As- sembly at New York, (in such number as may be agreed on, if it be thought fit) and contributing to the public charges in proportion, &c., or else whether having their government in East New Jersey holden by charter from his Royal Highness immediately, rather than by trans- mission from their Authors, (as your Lordship expresses it,) and being under the Duke's protection be to be understood only of the Duke's con- firmation of their rights and possessions there, as they are devised unto them from Sir George Carteret or his heirs, by virtue of the Duke's grant heretofore to him and them. Moreover, for the ease of negotiating your affair, I desire your Lordship will appoint some one (well instructed) empowered to answer such objections as may be started by his Royal Highness's Commission- ers here, when that is laid before them. To the Rt. Honorable, the Lord Register in Edinburgh." Note P, page 88. The following notices of some of the twenty-four proprietaries have been compiled from various sources. Of many, however, as will be seen, no precise information has been obtained, and others are mentioned more particularly in the body of the work. James, Earl of Perth, was the fourtli who had borne tlie title. He was born in 1648, went through a course of philosophy at the Uni- versity of St. Andrews, and afterward visited France. He was sworn a Privy Counsellor in 1678, and after the fall of the Duke of Lauder- dale (having joined in the opposition to him) he was constituted Justice NOTES. jQ^ General of Scotland, (May, 1682.) and the same year was appointed one of the Extraordinary Lords of Session. On tlie 25th June, 1684, he was appointed, by Commission, to the high ofBce of Chancellor of Scotland and the same year to be also principal SheritFof the County of Edin- burgh. Being a stanch adherent of the Stuart family, and having declared himself a Roman Catholic, he was continued in all his offices on the accession of James II. in 1685, and had the chief administration of affairs in Scotland. In 1687, he was invested with the order of the Thistle, then revived, and, as we may suppose, from a well-founded con- jecture as to future events, he about the same time made a resignation of the Earldom of Perth, and of his whole estate, with the hereditable offices of Steward, Coroner, and Forester of Strathen, Genartney and Balquhidder, in favor of his son and heirs male. The ensuing year (1688) James abdicated the British throne, and in 1691 sought a residence in France. The Earl of Perth had been too deeply engaged in all the prominent events of his reign, to witness this departure of his sovereign unmoved. He retired from Edinburgh, and embarked in a vessel at Burnt Island for France. The lodgings he had left were plundered by the populace ; and, on his flight becoming known, he was pursued by an armed boat from Kirkaldy, overtaken, stripped of all he had with him of any value, and thrown into the com- mon prison at that place ; where he lay until removed to Stirling Cas- tle. He remained in confinement until relieved by warrant of Privy Council in 1693, on his giving bonds in the sum of £5000 to leave the kingdom. The Earl proceeded to Rome, where he resided two years, but his dethroned monarch at St. Germains, his place of refuge, sent for him and created him Duke of Perth,' first Lord of the Bedchamber, Cham- berlain to the Glueen, Governor of the Prince of Wales, and invested him also with the Order of the Garter: — honors of but httle value, ex- cepting as marks of the affection and consideration of his king, whom he survived more than five years : dying at St. Germains, March 11th, 1716, aged 68. He was buried in the Chapel of the Scots College at Paris. According to a contemporary, the Earl of Perth was " personally proud, told a story prettily, was of middle stature, with a quick look and * " Tlie Earl of Perth received the with the proprietors' dukedom, having very great honor from King James at but 30 or 40 houses standing on Amboy St. Germains in France, to be created Point." So wrote Oldmixonof thecapital Duke at the expense of the ruin of him- of East Jersey in his History of the Brii- self and his family. To compliment ish Empire in America : — much disposed this noble person the city of Perth was apparently, to ridicule most of the so called, and it is exactly of a piece schemes of the proprietaries. 198 NOTES, brown complexion." By other writers he has been pronounced tim- orous and wavering. The titles of Earl of Perth and Lord Drummond became dormant at his death, his eldest son being attainted. He married in succession Lady Jane Douglass, daughter of William, the first Earl of Douglass ; Lilias, daughter of Sir James Drummond, of Maching, relict of William, fifth Earl of TuUibardine : and Lady Mary Gordon, daughter of Lewis, third Marquis of Huntley. The Earl's eldest son was educated at Doway in France ; — the house of his mother, who was a bigoted Romanist, being a sort of sem- inary or nursery for tlie priests. He was a man of taste, well acquainted with polemical divinity, benevolent, affable, and of a cheerful tempera- ment. He never considered himself bound by any ties of allegiance, as he had never taken the oaths ; and forgetting the motto of his family, " Gang warily," he involved himself in ruin by returning to Scotland a short time before the invasion of 1745, and taking an active part in the operations of Charles Edward, until the battle of CuUoden in 1746 put an end to the hopes of the Stuart family. Obhged to flee, he died be- fore he reached a foreign shore.' The title of the father was claimed by tlie heirs male, but their being all adherents to the Stuart cause was sufficient reason for a refusal"-^ of the grant. It was restored in 1797, to James Drummond, the grandson and heir of the Earl, but he died without male issue in 1800, and, in consequence, the title became extinct. The estate, however, was saved, from its having been conveyed to flie eldest son previous to the attainder of the Earl. One-half of his right in East Jersey was conveyed to others by himself in 1683 and 1684, and the remainder by his son as heir and assignee, in 1704.^ In 1813, the Scottish estate was in the possession of the Hon. Peter Robert Burrel, who married Clementina, daughter of the last Earl, who was allowed by the King to adopt the Drummond arms : which are — Arms. — Or. Three bars wavy, gules. Crest. — On a ducal coronet, a slouth hound proper, collared and leashed, gules. Supporters. Two savages, proper, wreathed about the head and middle with oak leaves, holding batons over their shoulders standing upon a compartment like a green hill, semez of caltrops. Motto— ^^ Gang warily."^ * Boyse'sHist. of Rebellion, 1745, p. G9. ' Bill in Chancery, p. 84. * Thomas Drummond, son of the * Wood's Peerage of Scotland, Rus- Earl of Perth, was in America in 1764, sell's Modern Europe, Scott's Tales of a for the purpose of inquiring into the sit- Grandfather, &c. uation of the estate in East Jersey be- longing to the family. NOTES. J 99 " John Dritmmond of Lxindie," sometimes called Laird of Lundie, and styled by Grahams Lord Drummond of Gilston, was brother to the Earl of Perth, and in 1685 became Earl of Melfort. He retired to France in 1688, having for two or three years before been Secretary of State for Scotland to King James. He married twice, — the children by his first wife inheriting his Scottish property, the eldest son being staled Baron Lundie. The children by his second wife sutfered by his attainder, which took place in 1695; they were four in number. Three of them died without issue. One of them became a Colonel in the French ser- vice.^ In 1764, James Drummond, the grandson and heir of the Earl of Melfort was in America and applying for proprietary lands by right of the Earl's interest. " Robert Barclay of Urie." Any farther notice of this gentleman than that to be found in the body of the work is unnecessary. " David Barclay of Urie " was a brother of the Governor, and ap- pears to have visited the province previous to 1684.^ He died however about the end of August, 1685, on his passage to East Jersey from Ab- erdeen, in charge of a cargo of goods on account of the proprietaries.' His rights in the soil seem to have been inherited in whole or in part by a brother, John, who lived for many years, and died, in the province. " Robert Gordon of Clunie " was one of those proprietaries who ap- pear to have engaged in the East Jersey enterprise with no other object in view than pecuniary profit. He never came to the province, and sold his interest, one-half in 1683 and the other in 1705. " Arent Sonmans, of Wallingford," Scotland. This gentleman was a Hollander, residing at Rotterdam previous to his removal to Scotland. On becoming interested in New Jersey he intended visiting the province ; but on his way to Scotland from London, in company with Governor Barclay, in August 1683, when passing through Hunterdonshire, he was shot by a highwayman, in his thigh, and in the course of a few days the wound proved mortal, and he was buried in Friends' Burial Ground, Hinton.* He left a wife (Frances Hancock) and three children: Pe- ter who came to East Jersey, and became a person of some notoriety ; ' MS. argument of counsel, Arbitra- guraent Earl of Perth vs. Earl of Ster- tion case " Earl of Perth «s Earl of Stir- ling. Stirling's Bill vs. Hunt. This ling," in the author's possession. last authority says Sonmans was robbed * Scot's Model, p. 186. of his papers ; but it was thought by ^ E. J. Records A, p. 397. Stir- some that he was killed by an emissary ling's Answer in Chancery. MS. in N. from Holland, on account of political Y. Hist. Library. matters. * Smith's N. J. p. 425. MS. Ar- •200 NOTES. Rachel, the wife of Joseph Ormston, and Joanna, wife of Joseph Wright. The greater portion of Arcnt Sonmans' estate descended to his son. " William Penn, of Wormingliurst. Sussex." It is unnecessary here to portray the character or to sketch the hfe of one so well known. His right in East Jersey was one of the few that remained unlessened through all the changes and vicissitudes in the province, and descended at his death to his heirs. Penn does not appear to have taken any active part in the administration of the government of the province, his whole atten- tion being engrossed by Pennsylvania. " Robert West, Middle Temple, London," was a lawyer by pro- fession, and is characterized by Graham as having obtained " so much infamous distinction as a witness for the crown on the trial of Lord Rus- aell," one of the Lords concerned in the '' Rye House plot." West was implicated, but gave testimony against his companions. It may be seen at length in " A true account of, and papers relating to the horrid con- spiracy against the late King, fol. 1685." He is there mentioned (p. 25) as one of five republican lawyers, whose hatred of the government caused to be factious against the known interests of their own profession. •' They were all men of crafty heads and nimble tongues, restless spread- ers of false news, bold talkers in seditious clubs; where, according to the corrupt fashion of these times, the most profligate persons of all condi- tions were wont openly to arraign the monarchy, and vilify the church, under the fair show of amending both, and a tender concernment for the public good." His propriety right was soon parted with, being transferred to Thomas Cox the same year it was obtained ; but in 1692, he received a grant from the proprietaries for nine hundred and sixty acres " out of a Grate- ful sense of ye good services," as they say, " done to the Concernes of ye said Province by Robert West Esq'r. and particularly of Late in as- serting their Right to the Government thereof and do rely upon his fu- ture Endeavours to do all the good Offices for the Same that fall in his way."' It is not known that any of Mr. West's family ever came to east Jersey. " Thomas Rudyard, London, Gentleman," the first Deputy-Gov- ernor of the province under Barclay, is particularly noticed elsewhere. '•Samoel Groome, Mariner of Stepney," is mentioned in the fore- going pages, as accompanying Deputy-Governor Rudyard to the pro- vince in 1682. He had made a voyage to Maryland in 1676, in a vessel ' ' E. J. Records. NOTES. 201 of his own, returning by the way of West Jersey,' which may account for his subsequent connection with the eastern proprietaries. His let- ters, preserved in Scot's Model, indicate that he Avas much pleased with the appearance of the province, and indulged many pleasing anticipa- tions of the growth and prosperity of its embryo capital, which he did not live to see realized, as he died in 1683 : leaving on the stocks, unfin- ished, the first vessel built in East Jersey. He left a wife (Elizabeth), and one son, (Samuel,) but neither of them came to the province. The son seems to have had the control of his father's property, even during his life time ; for the proprietaries in July, 1683, writing to Law- rie, say that Groome may feel disposed to return to England, when he should hear of the great inclination shown by the son to sell his father's propriety.^ He probably did sell it, as it was transferred to Wm. Dock- wra the same month. " Thomas Hart, of Enfield, Middlesex, Merchant." This was an- otlier proprietary who preserved his right unimpaired ; and it descended, subsequent to 1700, to a sister Patience Ashfield, whose grandson and heir, Richard Ashfield, came to the province, and was appointed, Sep- tember 1725, Receiver-General of the Board of Proprietors. A de- scendant of Hart's, by the name of Bland, also became a resident of the province in 1767. "Richard Mew, of Stepney, Middlesex, Merchant." " Thomas Cooper, Citizen and Merchant Tailor of London." " Ambrose RiGG, of Catton place, Surry, Gentleman." "John Haywood, Citizen and Skinner of London." These four very soon parted with their respective rights, (excepting one-half of Cooper's, which was retained until 1706,) and took no interest in the province. Nothing is known of them save the simple annuncia- tion, as above, of their occupation and place of residence. "Hugh Hartshorne, Citizen and Skinner of London." In 1766, an applicant for the proprietary right of Mr. Hartshorne,^ in the person of John Hunt, made his appearance in New Jersey ; and through him were some items respecting the family made public. Hugh Hartshorne was an "upholsterer" of Houndsditch — a member of any one company being at liberty to engage in any business. He was ' Smith's N. J. p. 80. the title to Hartshorne"s right having * Grants and Concessions, p. 176. been previously acknowledged by the ' A suit in Chancery was the result ; Board to be vested in others. 202 NOTES. admitted to the freedom of the Skinners' Company August 1st, 1654, and died 25th April, 1684, aged 55. He left four sons, Hugh, Harrison, Edward and Thomas. Hugh, the eldest, was sexton of St. Botolph Aldgate, and died Nov. 28th, 1706, intestate, leaving two sons, Harrison and Hugh. The first died August 5th, 1719, leaving one son who died without issue ; the second died July 9th, 1741, leaving Hugh Hartshorne., mariner, his soft and heir, who died in 1745, unmarried, leaving all his property to his sister Sarah Hartshorne, who married George Saun- ders, and in January, 1765, sold her proprietary right to John Hunt. " Clement Pldmstead, Citizen and Draper of London." In 1683, one-half of his right was conveyed away, but the other de- scended to his heir, and by him, in 1715, was transferred to a relative, of the same name as the proprietary, then residing in Philadelphia, and from whom the Plumsteads in that quarter are descended. Nothing is known by the writer of the first Clement. One of the original deeds from James to the twenty-four proprietaries was given to the state in 1837, by Lieut. Plumstead, of the U. S. navy, a descendant. " Gawen Lawrie, of London, Merchant." has been particularly no- ticed on previous pages. "Edward Byllinge of the City of Westminster, Middlesex, Gen- tleman," very soon after securing his interest, sold it to Daniel Cox, of West Jersey. Byllinge was the purchaser of that province from Lord Berkeley, and nine-tenths of it eventually passed into the hands of Penn, Lawrie and Lucas, as trustees for the benefit of his creditors generally : being " all that he had left him towards their satisfaction :" — a security now most ample for a much larger sum than the total amount of his debts, which came to about thirty thousand pounds sterling. It is thought he came to West Jersey previous to 1683, as in that year he received a grant of four acres of land in Burhngton, for his own resi- dence. He died in 1687. " Thomas Warne, of Dubhn, Merchant," sold two-thirds of his inte- rest in 1682, and the remaining third descended to his son Stephen Warne, who, with his brother Thomas Warne, came to East Jersey in 1683 ; arriving in March, with eleven servants. Stephen was among the early settlers of Perth Amboy ; and Thomas, who was styled " Car- penter," took up his abode in Monmouth County. " William Gibson, Citizen and Haberdasher of London," died pre- vious to 1689, and his interest was disposed of by his heir. " Robert Turner, of Dublin, Merchant," never took any interest in the province, and sold most of his property in 1685. NOTES. 203 "Thomas Barker, of London, Merchant," sold one-half of his right in 1683, and the remainder descended to his widow, who effected a sale of it in 1713. None of the family ever visited the province. " James Braine, of London, Merchant," continued to hold his inte- rest in the province, without visiting it, until his death in 1690, when it was inherited by three sons. It remained in their possession for seve- ral years, but whether or not they came to East Jersey in person is not known. Note Q, page 90. Mr. Grahame, m his History of the United States, has so well stated the grounds of the connection which existed between the Court and the Quakers, that no apology is necessary for introducing the passage here. He says : " It is not difficult to understand how a friendly intercourse originat- ed between the leading persons among the Quakers, and Charles the Second and his brother. The quakers desired to avail themselves of the authority of the king for the establishment of a general toleration, and for their own especial defence against the enmity and dislike of their numerous adversaries. The king and his brother regarded with great benevolence the principles of non-resistance professed by these sectaries, and found in them the only class of Protestants who could be rendered instrumental to the design of re-establishing popery by the pre- paratory measure of a general toleration." ***** " They hoped to make an instrument of the king: while he permitted them to flatter themselves with this hope, that he might avail himself of their instrumentality for the accomplishment of his own designs." " Perhaps, since the days when the prophets of Israel were divinely commissioned to rebuke their offending monarchs, no king was ever ad- dressed in terms of more dignified admonition than Robert Barclay has employed in concluding the dedication of his famous " Apology for the Quakers" to Charles the Second. ' There is no king in the world,' he bids the monarch remember, ' who can so experimentally testify of God's providence and goodness, neither is there any who rules so many free people, so many true Christians : which thing renders thy govern- ment more honorable, and thyself more considerable, than the accession of many nations filled with slavish and superstitious souls. Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity ; thou knowest what it is to be ban- ished thy native country and to be overruled, as well as to rule and sit upon the throne ; and, being oppressed, thou hast reason to know how 204 NOTES. hateful the oppressor is both to God and man. If, after all these warn- ings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give thyself up to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy condemna- tion.' Yet, Charles gave himself up to lust and vanity, without appre- hending or experiencing any diminution of the regards of his Quaker friends ; and the falsehood and cruelty that stained the conduct of both Charles and James rendered them hateful to all men except the Catho- lics and Quakers." This fact, the historian remarks, led their contemporaries to consider the Quakers, at bottom, the votaries of popery and arbitrary power; he conceives a juster and more charitable censure to be that they were the dupes of kiugly courtesy, craft, and dissimulation. [Vol. II. p. 615. Edit. 1837.] Note R, page 101. As the twenty-four proprietaries appear to have formed high anticipa- tions of the beneficial tendency of the " Fundamental Constitutions " they proposed, a synopsis of them is here given, although they were never in force in the province ; in order that they may be compared with the Concessions, which they were intended to supersede. Art. I. Provided for the election of a governor on the death or dis- missal of Robert Barclay. Each of the proprietors to propose a candi- date, and the one receiving the nomination of sixteen to be appointed for three years ; and the actors in any scheme to lengthen his term to be considered public enemies and betrayers of the liberties of the province. Art. II. The government of the province was to consist of a Great Council, composed of the twenty-four proprietaries, or their proxies, and one hundred and forty-four of the freemen of the province : but inasmuch as the towns were yet few, &c., twenty-four for the towns, and forty-eight for the counties, making with the proprietaries ninety-six persons, should constitute the council until the larger number should be deemed necessary ; one-third of the members to be'chosen annually, to serve three years, and not to be eligible for re-election until two years had elapsed. Art. III. Persons qualified as freemen were such as had in pos- session fifty acres of land, (ten of them cleared and cultivated,) and inhabitants of the province. If residing in boroughs, a house and three acres were requisite ; or, should a hired house and lot be occupied, the NOTES. 205 possession of fifty pounds' worth of stock. The mode of election pre- scribed was, to put into a box the names of all qualified persons in the county, and fifty were to be drawn out ; these fifty were then to be re- turned to the box, and the first twenty-five subsequently drawn were to be those from whom the persons whose names remained in the box, were to nominate twelve or eight, (according to the number eventually to be elected,) from which number the election was to be made by ballot. The nominators were obliged solemnly to declare before the Sheritf that they would not name any one known to them to have been guilty, for a year previous, of drunkenness, lewdness, or any such im- morality, or who should be insolvent or a fool. Art. IV. A quorum of the Council was to consist of half of the pro- prietaries, or their proxies, and half of the freemen ; the votes of half the proprietaries and two-thirds of the freemen being necessary to pass a law. Art. V. For the constant government of the province, a Common Council was to be created, — composed of the proprietaries and twelve freemen to be balloted for out of the Great Council, — to act with the Governor. Art. VI. All laws were to be published in the name of the " Gover- nor, Proprietors, and Representatives of the Freemen of the Province;" and to be signed by the Deputy Governor, Secretary, two Proprietors, and two Freemen. Art. VII. The Concessions of the former Proprietaries relating to bearing arms, &c., were modified so as not to have them obligatory upon those who conscientiously considered themselves prohibited from the use of weapons : " Among the present proprietors there being seve- ral that declare they have no freedom to defend themselves with arms." Arts. VIII. and IX. The appointment of Secretary, Register, Trea- surer, Surveyor General, Mar-shal, Sheriffs, Judges and Justices of the Peace, was confided to the Common Council and Governor ; excepting the magistrates, &c., of Boroughs, who were to be appointed in accord- ance with the directions of the Great Council. Art. X. The power of pardoning to be exercised only by the assent- ing votes of eighteen proprietaries. Art. XI. The proprietaries might vote in both Councils by proxy. Art. XII. Proprietaries holding offices of trust only allowed to sit in the Councils by proxy. Art. XIII. One-fourth of a propriety must be held to allow the per- son to retain his right of government. Art. XIV. In all civil and ordinary actions, the proprietaries were to be liable to prosecution and punishment as all other persons, but for capital offences they were to be tried by twelve of their own body, or their proxies ; the bill of indictment being first found against them by a 206 NOTES. grand jury of twelve proprietaries and twelve freemen chosen by ballot. Art. XV. No proprietary was to hold more than one twenty-fourth of the province. Art. XVI. Freedom of religious opinion was guarantied to all ac- knowledging one Almighty and Eternal God, and none to be compelled to frequent or maintain any religious worship, place, or minister ; faith in Christ being made a necessary qualification for membership of either Council. This religious liberty, however, was not to extend to the avowal of atheism, or irreligiousness, or to those who indulged in the practice of profanity, drunkenness, lewdness, murdering or any kind of violence, or " indulgence of stage plays, masks, revels," &c. Art. XVII. After 1685 no person was to hold more than one office. Art. XVIII. A registry for charters, rights, marriages, births, bu- rials, servants, &c., was to be established. Art. XIX. Trial by jury was guarantied. Before the complaint of any person could be received, he should solemnly declare in court that he believed in his conscience his cause to be just. A court of appeals was established composed of four proprietaries and four freemen, the Governor to be President of it pro tern. Art. XX. Marriages not forbidden by the law of God might be solemnized, with the knowledge of parents or guardians and public no- tice, in the presence of creditable witnesses, " by taking one another as husband and wife," and filing a proper certificate of it, signed by the parties and witnesses, with the Register. Art. XXI. A solemn promise to speak the truth, was to be required from witnesses testifying in courts of justice. Art. XXII. Fourteen years' possession to give an unquestionable title to lands, excepting against infants, lunatics, &c.; and estates for- feited for treason to the croivn of England^ or to the province, might be redeemed by the nearest of kin in two months after the death of the criminal, with not more than one hundred pounds, nor less than five pounds, as the Great Council might decide, &c. Art. XXIII. No law to be in force more than fifty years — " to avoid an innumerable multitude of statutes " — excepting the " fundamental constitutions," which were not to be repealed except with the approba- tion of twenty-two proprietaries and sixty-six out of seventy-two, or one hundred and thirty-two out of one hundred and forty-four freemen. Art. XXIV. The Governor, members of the Councils, and other of- ficers, before they entered upon their duties, were solemnly to promise and subscribe to be true and faithful to the King of England and to the proprietaries, and faithfully to perform their duties. NOTES, 207 Note S, page 103. As the publication referred to in the text, was influential in indu- cing emigration to East Jersey, and is now only to be met with in Smith's History, it is thought advisable to reprint it here ; as it is one of the earliest published descriptions of the province. " A Brief Account of the province of East Jersey in America, published by the present proprietors, for information of all such persons who are or may be inclined to settle themselves, families and servants in that country. A. D. 1682." " To say any thing in the praise, or much in the description of a coun- try so well known, would seem needless. The late accounts and descrip- tions of the adjacent countries, West Jersey and Pennsylvania, which are much of the same nature, &c., might suffice ; but considering that in foreign colonies, yea, here in England, every particular county has some excellency in soil, product or situation, that affect and delight many persons beyond the places adjacent, we may for the satisfaction of such, give some brief account thereof First. This province or colony lies between thirty-nine and forty- one degrees of latitude, being about twelve degrees more to the south than the city of London ; and is bounded south-east by the main sea, east by that vast navigable stream called Hudson's river, which divides this from the province of New York ; west by a line of division, which separates this province from West Jersey ; and south upon the main land ; and extends itself in length on the sea coast, and along Hudson's river, one hundred English miles, and upwards. Second. The conveniency of situation, temperature of air, and fer- tility of soil, is such, that there no less than seven considerable towns, viz., Shrewsbury, Middletown, Bergen, Newark, Elizabethtown, Wood- bridge and Piscataway ; which are well inhabited by a sober and indus- trious people, who have necessary provisions for themselves and fami- lies, and for the comfortable entertainment of strangers and travellers ; and this colony is experimentally found generally to agree with English constitutions. Third. For navigation, it hath these advantages, not only to be situate along the navigable part of Hudson's river, but lies also fifty miles on the main sea ; and near the midst of this province is that noted bay for ships, within Sandy Hook, very well known not to be inferior to any harbour in America, where ships not only harbour in greatest storms, but there ride safe with all winds, and sail in and out thence as well in winter as summer. 208 NOTES. Fourth. For fishery, the Sea Banks there are very well stored with variety of fish for not only such as are profitable for transportation, but such also as are fit for food there, as whales, cod-fish, cole and hake fish, large mackerell, and also many other sorts of flat and small fish. The bay also, and Hudson's river, are plentifully stored with sturgeon, great bass, and other scale fish, eels and shell fish, as oysters, &c., in great plenty, and easy to take. Fifth. The country is also plentifully supplied with lovely springs, rivulets, inland rivers and creeks, which fall into the sea and Hudson's river ; in which is also much plenty and variety of fresh fish and water- fowl. Sixth. There is great plenty of oak timber, fit for shipping, and masts for ships, and other variety of wood, like the adjacent colonies, as chesnut, walnut, poplar, cedar, ash, fir, &c., fit for building within the country. Seventh. The land or soil (as in other places,) varies in goodness and richness, but generally fertile ; and with much smaller labour than in England it produceth plentiful crops of all sorts of English grain, besides Indian corn, which the English planters find not only to be of vast increase, but very wholesome and good in its use ; it also produ- ceth good flax and hemp, which they now spin and manufacture into linen cloth. There is sufficient meadow and marsh to their upland ; and the very barrens there as they are called, are not like some in England ; but produce grass fit for grazing cattle in summer season. Eighth. The country is well stored with wild deer, conies, and wild fowl of several sorts, as turkeys, pigeons, partridges, plover, quails, wild swans, geese, ducks, &c. in great plenty ; it produceth variety of good and delicious fruits, as grapes, plums, mulberries, and also apricots, peaches, pears, apples, quinces, water melons, &c., which are here in England planted in orchards and gardens ; these, as also many other fruits, which come not to perfection in England, are the more natural product of this country. Ninth. There is also already great store of horses, cows, hogs, and some sheep, which may be bought at reasonable prices, with English monies or English commodities ; or man's labour, where money and goods are wanting. Tenth. What sort of mines or minerals are in the bowels of the earth, after time must produce, the inhabitants not having yet employed themselves in search thereof 5 but there is already a smelting furnace and forge set up in this colony, where is made good iron, which is of great benefit to the country. Eleventh. It is exceedingly well furnished with safe and conveni- ent harbours for shipping, which is of great advantage to that country, and affords already for exportation, great plenty of horses, and also NOTES. 2Q9 beef, pork, pipe staves, boards, bread, flour, wheat, barley, rye, Indian corn, butter and cheese, which they export to Barbadoes, Jamaica, Ne- vis, and other adjacent Islands, as also to Portugal, Spain, the Cana- ries, &c. Their whale oil and whale finns, beaver, mink, and raccoon and martin skins, (which this country produceth,) they transport for England. Twelfth. The situation and soil of the country may invite many who are inclined to transport themselves into those parts oi" America : for, 1. It being considerably peopled, and situate on the sea coast, with convenient harbours, and so near adjacent to the province of New York and Long Island, being also well peopled colonies, may be proper for merchants, tradesmen, and navigators. 2. Its likewise proper for such who are inchned to fishery, the whole coast and very harbours' moutlis being fit for it, which has been no small use to the New England people, and may here be carried on also with great advantage. 3. For its soil, its proper for all industrious husbandmen, and such, who by hard labour here, on rack rents, are scarce able to maintain themselves, much less to raise any estate for their children, may, with God's blessing on their labours, there live comfortably, and provide well for their families. 4. For carpenters, brick-layers, masons, smiths, mill-wrights, and wheel-wrights, bakers, tanners, taylors, Aveavers, shoemakers, hatters, and [all or most handicrafts, where their labour is much more valued than in these parts, and provisions much cheaper. 5. And chiefly for such of the above mentioned or any other, who upon sohd grounds and weighty considerations, are inclined in their minds to go into those parts ; without which their going there cannot be comfortable, or answer their expectation. J Thirteenth. The Indian natives in this country are but few compar- ative to the neighbouring colonies ; and those that are there, are so far from being formidable or injurious to the planters and inhabitants, that they are really serviceable and advantagious to the English, not onlj- in hunting and taking the deer and other wild creatures, and catching of fish and fowl fit for food, in their seasons, but in the killing and de- stroying of bears, wolves, foxes, and other vermine and peltry, whose skins and furs they bring the English, and sell at less price than the value of time an Englishman must spend to take them. Fourteenth. As for the constitutions of the country, they were made anno dom 1664, and in the time of John Lord Berkely, and George Carteret, the late proprietors thereof; in which such provision was made for liberty in matters of religion, and property in their estates ; that un- der the terms thereof, that colony has been considerably peopled, and 14 210 NOTES. that much from tlie adjacent countries, where they have not onlj'- for many years enjoyed their estates, according to the concessions ; but also an uninterrupted exercise of their particular persuasions in matters of religion ; And we the present proprietors do determine, so soon as any persons here in England, or elsewhere, are willing to be engaged with us, we shall be ready and desirous to make such further additions and supplements to the said constitution, as shall be thought fit, for the en- couragement of all planters and adventurers, and for the further settling the said colony with a sober and industrious people. Fifteenth. Having with all possible brevity, given an account of the country, we shall say something as to the disposition of lands there. 1. Our purpose is, if the Lord permit, with all convenient expedi- tion to erect and build one principal town ; which by reason of sit- uation, must in all probability be the most considerable for merchan- dise trade, and fishery, in those parts ; it is designed to be placed upon a neck or point of rich land called Ambo Point, lying on Raritan river, and pointing to Sandy Hook bay, and near adjacent to the place where ships in that great harbour commonly ride at anchor ; a scheme of which is already drawn, and those who shall desire to be satisfied therewith may treat for a share thereof. 2. As for encouragement of servants, &c., we allow the same privileges as were provided in the concessions at first. 3. Such who are desirous to purchase any land in this province free from all charge, and to pay down their purchase moneys here, for any quantities of acres ; or that desire to take up lands there, upon any small quit rents, to be reserved ; shall have grants to them and their heirs on moderate and reasonable terms. 4. Those who are desirous to transport themselves into those parts before the purchase, if any thing there present to their satisfaction, we doubt not but the terms of purchase will be so moderate, equal, and en- courao-ing, that may engage them to settle in that colony. Our purpose being with all possible expedition to dispatch persons thither, with whom they may treat ; and who shall have our full power in the premises. As for passage to this province, ships are going hence the whole year about, as well in winter as summer, Sandy Hook bay being never frozen. The usual price is five pounds per head, as well masters as servants, who are above ten years of age, all under ten years and not children at the breast, pay fifty shillings ; sucking children pay nothing ; carriage of goods is usually forty shillings per ton, and sometimes less, as we can agree ; the cheapest and chiefest time of the year for pas- sage, is from midsummer till the latter end of September, when many Virginia and Maryland ships are going out of England into those parts ; NOTES. 211 and snch who take then their voyage, arrive usually in good time to plant corn sufficient for next summer. The goods to be carried there are, first, for people's own use, all sorts of apparel and household stuff", and also utensils for husbandry and building : secondly, linen and woollen cloths and stuffs, fitting for ap- parel, &c., which are fit for merchandize and truck there in the country, and that to good advantage for the importer, of which further account will be given to the enquirer. Lastly. Although this country, by reason of its being already con- siderably inhabited, may afford many conveniences to strangers, of which unpeopled countries are destitute, as lodging, victualing, &c., yet all persons inclining into those parts must know, that in their settle- ment there they will find their exercises ; they must have there winter as well as summer, they must labour before they reap, and, till their plantations be cleared (in summer time) they must expect (as in all those countries) the musketos, flies, gnats, and such like, may in hot and fair weather, give them some disturbance, where people provide not against them, which as land is cleared are less troublesome. And all such persons who desire to be concerned, may repair to Thomas Rudyard or Benjamin Clark, in George Yard, in Lombard street; where they may view the constitutions, the scheme of the in- tended town, the map of the country, and treat in terms of purchase. William Penn, Robert West, Thomas Rudyard, Samuel Groome, Thomas Hart, Richard Mew, Thomas Willcocks, Ambrose Rigg,- John Heywood, Hugh Hartshorne, Clement Plumstead, Thomas Cooper, are the present proprietors of East Jersey ; but their purpose is to take in twelve persons more, to make up the number of proprietors twenty- four. Proposals by the proprietors of East Jersey, in America, for the building of a town on Ambo Point, and for the disposition of lands in that province ; and also for encouragement of artificers and labourers that shall transport themselves thither out of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Forasmuch as Ambo Point, is a sweet, wholesome, and delightful place, proper for trade, by reason of its commodious situation, upon a safe harbour, being likewise accommodated with a navigable river, and fresh water, and hath by many persons of the greatest experience, and best judgment, been approved for the goodness of the air, soil, and sit- uation. We, the proprietors, purpose by the help of Almighty God, with all convenient speed, to build a convenient town, for merchandise, trade and fishery, on Ambo Point ; and because persons that hath a desire to plant there, may not be disappointed for want of proposals, we, the proprietors, offer these following : 212 NOTES. First. We intend to divide fifteen hundred acres of land upon Am- bo Point, into one hundred and fifty lots ; which lots shall consist of ten acres the lot ; one hundred of the lots we are willing to sell here, and fifty we reserve for such as are in America, and have long desired to settle there. Secondly. The price of each lot will be fifteen pounds sterling to such who purchase before the 25th of December, 1682 ; and to such who purchase afterwards, before the 25th of December, 1683, twenty pounds sterling. Thirdly. Every lot is to be as equally divided as the goodness of the place doth require, and the situation can admit. Fourthly. The most convenient spot of ground for a town, shall be divided into one hundred and fifty equal shares, and set out into streets, according to rules of art ; and no person shall be preferred before another in choice ; whether purchaser or proprietor. Fifthly. We reserve four acres for a market place, town house, &c., and three acres, for public wharfage. Sixthly. Each purchaser is obliged to build a dwelling house in the place designed for the town, and to clear three acres of upland, in three years, or else the proprietors to be reinstated in such lots wherein de- fault is made, repaying the purchase money. Seventhly. We the proprietors do within a year, hope, by God's assistance, to build for each of us, one house upon Ambo Point ; which we intend shall stand in an orderly manner, according to the best and most convenient model, and in pursuance of the design of the proposi- tions abovesaid. Eio-hthly. And for the encouragement of carpenters, joiners, brick and tile makers, bricklayers, masons, sawyers, and labourers of all sorts, who are willing to go and employ themselves and servants, in helping to clear ground, and build houses upon the general account of and for the proprietors. The said proprietors will engage to find them work, and current pay for the same, in money or clothes, and provisions of which there is plenty (as beef, pork, corn, &c.,) according to the market price at New- York during the space of one year at least, next after the 25th of December 1682 ; in which time, (through God's blessing and their industry,) they may have got wherewith to buy cows, horses, hogs, and other goods, to stock that land, which they in the mean time may take up according to the concessions ; neither shall such persons pay rent for their said land, so long as they are employed in the proprietors' work ; and their wages shall at all times be so much as other such artificers and labourers, in the said province usually have ; nor shall they be oblio-ed to work for the proprietors longer than they find encouragement 60 to do. I NOTES. gi3 Ninthly. And for the more ready and certain employing those workmen and labourers that shall transport themselves to East Jersey, this is to let all labourers and persons that shall transport themselves know, they must upon their arrival upon that place, repair to the register of the above said province, and enter themselves according to their res- pective qualities and designs, and thereupon they shall be entered into the service and pay of the proprietors. FOR DISPOSITION OF LAND IN EAST JERSEY. The governor of East Jersey, by and with the advice of his council, is to direct that all lands to be set and laid out for counties, tribes, cities, or parishes, according to the general concessions of the said province, be bounded and set in manner following, viz. : That all such lands be divi- ded into seven equal lots or parts ; one of which seven parts is to be first set out by lot for the use of tlie proprietors ; and the other six parts to be taken up according to the following concessions : First. That the planting of the said province may be the more effectually promoted, We do hereby grant unto all persons who shall transport themselves, their wives or children, unto East Jersey, and settle there according to the following concessions, by the 25th of De- cember, 1684, twenty-five acres of land for each head, whether wife, child, or servant, which servant shall be bound to serve the term of three years at least within the said province ; and for every such master of a family, fifty acres ; the said persons so imported are to be registered in the secretary's book of entries, to be kept for that purpose, and the imported to pay to the secretary for fees of attending that service, and entering them, twelve pence each head ; and every servant, male or female, who shall be so imported and registered by the twenty-fifth of December, 1684, shall, at the expiration of that time, have liberty to take up the quantity of thirty acres for their own use ; and all the aforesaid importers, and persons imported, who are hereby allowed to take up land, shall have and enjoy the same, under the terms and concessions following : Secondly. Forasmuch as this province is already considerably peo- pled and improved, (there being seven towns at least already settled upon it by English people,) and that no person is constrained by our concessions, to take up and pay ior land which is barren and unprofita- ble ; nor can it be reasonably supposed, that people should in this prov- ince, be now exposed to the like hazards and difficulties that others must look to meet with in those plantations that are less inhabited and more remote, and for situation by sea and land, not so commodiously placed for trade : Therefore we think it very reasonable and moderate, that all and every person and persons, shall have his and their respec- tive quantities of land set out at two pence an acre, yearly rent, to be 214 NOTES. paid into our receiver's office, either in money sterling, or in such com- modities as the growth of trade of the province affords at the merchants' price there ; but whosoever is wiUing to buy off his yearly rent, and be- come a freeholder, may so do, paying after the rate of twelve years purchase, which comes to fifty shillings for a lot of twenty-five acres, and so paying after the same rate for a greater or less quantity. Thirdly. And forasmuch as it will be most commodious for planters to live together, whereby they may be a meet help to each other ; It is ordered that all the purchasers and takers up of land, shall sit down by some village or township already laid, out, or to be laid out hereafter, in the said province, and having chosen the village or township, which shall be most convenient and profitable for their business, the surveyor general shall set forth to the said persons, such quantity of lands, to them granted out of the aforesaid six parts, which are not then taken up ; they paying to the said surveyor general, the usual rate of surveying in the said province ; and if any person going or sending over, is willing to have a greater parcel of land than twenty-five acres, he may purchase, but not more than one hundred acres ; he paying down, at the sealing of his grant, for the same, after the rate of ten pounds by the hundred acres ; and so more or less for a greater or lesser quantity. Fourthly. And if any person is willing to buy land, and yet for the present is not disposed to plant there ; he may so do, paying down here for his grant to the proprietors, according to the rate aforesaid. Pro- vided, that all those persons, who by these concessions shall take up land, be enjoined to build one dwelling house, on some part of their land, within the space of seven years, next after the 25th of December, 1682 ; and in case of default, one half of their land to return back to the proprietors. Note T, page 107. Governor Dongan was accused by the Scotch proprietors of endea- vouring to subvert their authority in East Jersey, but appears to have exonerated himself from the charge, exceptmg so far as a recommen- dation of a change of government went. The correspondence between them is in the New York Colonial Papers, and as it serves to throw some light upon the history of that period, it is here given as it appears in Chalmers' Annals. Letter from three Jersey Proprietors to Governor Dongan. " Sir — We did promise ourselves in you a good and kind neighbour both judging you would have so inclined to a colony wherein we are so NOTES. 215 much concerned, and that the regard you have to your master's honor and interest would have ohUged you to it ; considering we are such as have the happiness to claim an interest in his favor. " We have discoursed with his commissioners at London of those things that were hy you proposed in relation to the bringing our colon} under the government of New York, and doubt not but we have con- vinced them of the reason which induced us not to yield to such a pro- posal : and we doubt not both the Duke and they are fully convinced of our right in every respect, both of government, ports, and harbors, free- trade, and navigation. And, having conversed with the Duke, we found him very just and to abhor the thoughts of allowing any thing to be done contrary to what he hath past under his hand and seal ; and we persuade ourselves you will lay aside all thoughts of attempting what may reflect upon the justice or honor of your master, or may give us just reason to complain; since there shall be nothing wanting on our part that may tend to any advantageous correspondence ; which, as we expect from you, so shall be seriously recommended by us to our agents and always entertained by your assured friends and servants. PERTH, GEO. McKENZIE, " Edinburgh, 22d August 1684. " DRUMMOND." Governor Dongan's Answer. "My HONORED Lord — I had the honor of a letter from you and some other proprietors of East Jersey, and am mightily surprised to find that I am accused to act some things to the disadvantage of your colony and dishonor of my master : did I know my accusers and the crime objected I could be better able to answer. " Your Lordship may believe me, I have acted nothing unjustly to the prejudice of your agents or people : so far from it that, when I found them take wrong measures I advised them for the best, as 1 thought, both for the proprietors and people. What complaints they make of me I know not, but am sure the people cry out very much against them. What I wrote to his royal highness and his commissioners as his servant I was certainly obhged to, and to give my opinion what is convenient for the interest of this province ; and I believe, had your Lordship been in my station, you would have represented the great inconveniency of having two distinct governments upon one river ; yours having the ad- vantage of being some leagues nearer the sea than we are. " Your agents have dispersed printed papers, to the disturbance of tlic inhabitants of Staten Island, which hath been in possession of his royal highness above twenty years, (except the little time the Dutch had it.) 216 NOTES. purchased by Governor Lovelace of the Indians in the time of Sir George Carteret, without any pretences, till your agents made claim of it. It is peopled with above two hundred families.' To convince your Lordship that I have done nothing amiss in writing how convenient it would be to regain East Jersey, I do assure you that some of the pro- prietors themselves are of the same opinion, and have told me so. And to shew your Lordship how favorably I act, I am informed that, in the time of other governors, ships that came to Amboy made entry at New York, yet during my time, several ships have gone thither and I have desired no such thing, nor will I, till I am assured of his royal high- nesses pleasure. It shall not be my fault if there be not an advanta- geous correspondence. " I had almost forgot to tell your Lordship, that to the end a fair cor- respondence may be preserved between these governments, in an act lately made by the assembly, amongst other things, almost equal privi- leges were allowed to East Jersey with this province, and all the thanks I have is to be misrepresented, who will always endeavor to prove that I am THO: D0NGAN."2 " New York, 13th February 1684-5." The exact purport of the suggestions made by Dongan, referred to in this correspondence, has not been ascertained ; it is presumed how- ever to have been similar to that of those made subsequently; to which, as they evidently had an influence on after events, reference will here be made. Sir John Werden, in a letter to Governor Dongan, under date of August 27th, 1684, writes as follows : " You say Captain Billop will sell ' Reference to the E. J. Records, A. p. 2, will show that Lady Elizabeth Car- teret directed Secretary Bollen, March 28th, 1681, to present a claim for this island. " You are to Lay Claim to Stat- en Island as belonging to Us according to his Royal! Highnesses Grant." Al- though always in the possession of New York, the question of jurisdiction re- mained a mooted point until 1836, when the water boundary between the two states was settled by commission. Sir John Werden, writing to Governor Don- gan, November 1, 1684, says, " Staten Island without doubt belongs to the Duke, for if Sir George Carteret had had a right to it that would have been long since determined." * Chalmers conjectures that this answer, indicating too much lukewarm- ness in the Duke's service, tended to Dongan's recall through the use made of it by his opponents ; but it is more proba- ble his being superseded was owing to an idea entertained by James that he wanted zeal for his religion, in not ren- dering the Roman Catholic faith as pro- minent in the province as was desirable. (See Grahame's U. S. and Dunlap's New York) NOTES. 217 his plantation on Staten Island,' and if he does, certainly 'tis best that you endeavor to procure some inhabitant of New York ratlier to buy it than sulTer any of those of New Jersey to do it ; but whoever buys land in that island, it being under your government, he must be liable (as well as others) to the laws thereof." Extract of a letter from Governor Dongan to Sir John Werden, dated February 18th, 1684-5. " Billop's plantation is opposite to Amboy, and, if vessels be permitted to come there and not enter at New York, it will be impossible to hinder putting goods ashore on Staten Island. There was a report that he intended to sell it to one of East Jersey. I think it would do well if you please to look into the last patent of East Jersey to see whether shipping be obliged if they come into Sandy Hook to make entry at New York. The Quakers making continual pretensions to Staten Island, disturbs the people ; more than two hun- dred families are settled on it ; and in case His Royal Highness cannot retrieve East Jersey, it will do well to secure Hudson's River and take away all claim to Staten Island :" and he suggests the running of the line from the Hudson to the Delaware, in order that the Indians may be prohibited from crossing it in order to trade with the settlers in East Jersey. Two years thereafter, on the 22d February, 1686-7, the Governor wrote to the Lord President of Council, suggesting again the re-annexa- tion of East Jersey in order that his government might support itself; and as it shows the views of the New York government respecting the province, the following statement sent by him under the same date in answer to some inquiries propounded, is given at length from the New- York Papers ; " As for East Jersey, it being situated on the other side of Hudson's river, and between us, and where the river disembogues itself into the sea ; paying no customs and having likewise the advantage of having better land, and most of the settlers there out of this government, we are like to be divested of a great many of our merchants who intend to settle there, if not annexed to this government. Last year two or three ships came in there, with goods, and I am sure that that country cannot, — no not with the help of West Jersey, consume one thousand pounds in goods in two years, so that the rest of these goods must have been run into this government without paying his Majesty's customs, and in- deed there is no possibility of preventing it. And as for beaver and peltry it is impossible to hinder its being carried thither, the Indians value not the length of their journey, so as they can come to a good ' There is a tradition that Billop re- Island,) as a douceur from the Duke of ceived this plantation (extending origi- York for his gallantry in some naval nally over a large portion of Staten engagement. 218 NOTES. market, which those people can better afford them than we, they pay- ing no custom nor excise inwards or outwards. " Another inconveniency by the government's remaining as it does, is, that privateers and others, can come within Sandy Hook and take what provisions and goods they please from that side. Also, very often ships bound to this place, break bulk there and run their goods into that colony, with intent afterwards to import the same privately and at more leisure into this province notwithstanding their oath, they saving themselves with this evasion, that that place is not in this government. To day an interloper landed five tun and one half of teeth there. To prevent all which inconveniences and for the securing of this place from enemies, I desire to have an order to make up a small fort with twelve guns upon Sandy Hook. The channel there being so near the shore that no vessel can go in nor out, but she must come so near the point that from on board one might toss a biscuit-cake on shore. " If the Proprietors would rightly consider it they would find it their own interest that that place should be annexed to this government, for they are at a greater charge for maintaining the present government than the whole profit of the Province (which is by quit rent) will amount unto ; for they are at the whole charge, the country allowing nothing towards its support, so that had they not the charge of the government they might put that money into their own pockets. " And indeed to make Amboy a port will be no less inconvenient, for the reasons aforementioned, neighboring colonies being not come to that perfection, but that one port may sufficiently serve us all. We in this government look upon that bay that runs into the sea at Sandy Hook to be Hudson river, therefore, there being a clause in my in- structions directing me that I cause all vessels that come into Hudson's river to enter at New York, I desire to know whether his Majesty in- tends thereby those vessels that come within Sandy Hook, the people of East Jersey pretending a right to the river so far as the province extends, which is eighteen miles up the river to the northward of this place. " West Jersey's remaining as it does, will be no less inconvenient to this government for the same reasons as East Jersey: they both making but one neck of land, and that so near situate to us that 'tia more for their convenience to have commerce here than anywhere else, and under these circumstances, that if there were a war either with Chris- tians or Indians, they would be able to defend themselves without the assistance of this government. To be short, there is an absolute neces- sity those provinces, and that of Connecticut be annexed." In September, 1687, he again alludes to the subject, — and in the March previous the city of New York, in an address to the King, pe- titioned for tlie annexation. NOTES. 219 It is probable that Dongan's first movement in the matter was prompted by memorials presented to him by the Mayor and Council o^ New York, in February and March, 1684, complaining of the injurious effect the vicinity of East Jersey had upon the affairs of the city : and praying that it might be annexed "by purchase or otherwise.'" Note U, page 138. The following is the proclamation referred to in the body of the work: " By the Governor. A Proclamation. " It being very necessary for the good and prosperity of this Province that our principal care be in obedience to the laws of God and the wholesome laws of this province, to endeavour, as much as in us lyeth, the extirpation of all sorts of looseness and prophanity, and to unite and join in the fear and love of God and of one another, that by the reli- gious and virtuous carriage and behaviour of every one in his respec- tive station and calling, all heats and animosities and dissensions may vanish, and the blessing of Almighty God accompany our honest and lawful endeavours, and that we may join our affections in the true sup- port of his majesty's government over us, who has so often and so generously exposed his royal person to iminent dangers to reduce us from the growing power of popery and arbitrary government, and hath by a singular blessing attending his endeavours, procured our deliver- ance and a happy and honorable peace, and is a great example and encourager of religion and virtuous living : " I have therefore thought fit, by and with the advice of the council of this province of East Jersey, strictly to prohibit all inhabitants and sojourners within this province, from cursing, swearing, immoderate drinking, sabbath breaking, and all sorts of lewdness and prophane be- haviour in word or action, and for the true and effectual performance hereof I do by and with the advice aforesaid, strictly charge and com- mand all Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, Constables, and all other offi- cers within this province, that they take due care that all the laws made and provided for the suppressing of vice and encouraging of religion and virtue, particularly the observation of the Lord's day, be duly put in execution, as they will answer the contrary at their peril. ' Dunlap's N Y. II. app. p. 132. 220 NOTES. "Given under the seal of said province this eighth day of April, Anno Dom. 1698, in the tenth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord William the third, over England, &c.. King. J. BASSE." " By the Governor's command, JOHN BARCLAY. D6p. Sec'y and Reg'r. " Note V, page 141. As the law referred to in the text may be considered as embodying the views of the people as to the kind of government which would best conduce to their happiness, a synopsis of it is here given. The title is, " An Act declaring what are the rights and privileges of His Majesty's subjects inhabiting within the province of East Jer- sey." The supreme legislative power, vmder the King, to be in a Gov- ernor, Council, and the people by their chosen representatives in General Assembly. The executive power to be in the Governor, or in his absence the Deputy Governor, with the advice of three or more of his Council; — or should both Governor and Deputy be absent, in four of the Council, the first in nomination to preside, — the authority exercised to be according to the fundamental laws of England and the laws of the province. The representatives to be freeholders, chosen annually by free- holders. The General Assembly to meet annually, and to be composed of a majority of the representatives, the Council, and the Governor, or his Deputy ; whose concurrent voices could make or repeal all laws. The laws were to conform to the laws of England. The public records to be kept at Amboy, and deeds were to be at- tested in a manner prescribed. The General Assembly to constitute all courts save those of chan- cery. None but resident freeholders eligible to office, excepting that of Secretary and Register. Sheriffs were to continue in office only one year, and then to be in- eligible for three years. NOTES. 221 The Judges of the Courts of Common Right were not to be Judges of Courts of Chancery. No person allowed to serve in any office until he should have taken the prescribed oaths. The members of Assembly and their servants not to be subject to arrest, &c., (for high treason and felony excepted,) during the sessions of that body, or while going to or from the place of meeting. In case of the death or removal of a Representative, the Governor to i.ssue his writ for a new election. The apportionment of representatives to be as follows : Bergen County, ^ g^f "' ■.-.■. I — 3 C Acquacanonk and New Barbadoes, 2 Essex County, } Newark, ... 2 I Elizabethtown, . . .2 — 6 f Woodbridge, . . 2 Middlesex County, } Piscataway, . . .2 ( Perth Amboy, . . 2 — 6 C Middletown, ... 2 Monmouth County, ■? Shrewsbury, . . .2 ( Freehold, ... 2 — 6 Somerset County, ..... 1 22 and as many more as the Governor and Council should think proper. No estates of a feme covert to be sold or conveyed, unless by deed duly acknowledged. Wills were to have three witnesses, proved and registered within sixty days after the testator's death, and executors were liable to fine for neglect. No freeman should be compelled to fight, or to be pressed to go out of his own county, "much less out of the province," in time of war or peace, unless in case of a sudden invasion or by special act of Assem- bly. No soldiers were to be billeted upon the inhabitants unless in time of war. No freeman to be imprisoned, &c., except by the judgment of his peers and the laws of the province. Martial law not to be exercised except upon officers and soldiers, in garrison and in pay, during actual war. Neither justice nor right was to be sold, denied, or delayed. 222 NOTES. No one to be dispossessed of his land, «fec., excepting by due course of law. Trial by jury was to prevail in all cases. In all cases capital and criminal, a grand inquest of the county first to present the offence. No one professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, his only Son, to be called in question for difference of religious opinion, &c., provided that this should not extend to any of the Romish religion, to exercise their manner of worship, contrary to the laws and statutes of England. The provisions of the act were not to infringe the liberty or privi- leges of any grant or charter before given. — Grants and Concessions, p. 372. Note W, page 149. Extract from a despatch to Lord Bellamont from the Board of Trade, dated August 21, 1699. — From the New York Colonial Papers. " We told you in our letter of the 5th Jan'y last, the reason of our suspending awhile any further report about the Proprietors of East New Jersey's pretended right to a Port at Perth Amboy " [which was the necessity for consultation with the officers, from whom the proprietaries claimed to have received their authority] " and shall now explain to you a little more fully how that matter stands. The Proprietors of that province, thinking it seems they might have some advantage by com- plaint of your Lordships seizure of the Ship Hester, petitioned his Majesty upon that subject, which petition of theirs, being heard in Coun- cil the 9th of March last, was by his Majesty referred vmto our consider- ation, and we therefore send you here enclosed a copy of it with the order of Council thereupon. — Whilst we had that matter under consid- eration, those Proprietors laid before us also other memorials in which they offered some conditions, in order to compromise the dispute ; but such as we did no ways think it for his Majesty's service to accept of — And therefore upon the 18th of April last we laid before his Majesty another representation upon that subject. By that you will perceive the use we made of their proposal of a trial about the Port of Perth Amboy, by trying their right of government in the same question : a matter on which they are very tender, as being sensible of the weakness of their title — and we therefore thought it best to join both together. Hereupon NOTES. 223 after long delays, and after having in vain endeavored in the name of the Proprietors of West New Jersey (who are for the most part the same persons) to draw us into a snare by desiring our opinions for the approbation of Mr. Hamilton to be Governor of West New Jersey, — that so our allowance of the one, might have been an argument for the other because their title to both is one and the same, — they have in the end laid before us certain proposals for the surrender of East New Jersey upon certain conditions.' But we have not yet thoroughly considered the same. However there appearing to us several obvious exceptions against what they propose, and great difficulties in settling the matter to their satisfaction and without prejudice to his Majesty's right and to the interest of the Province of New York, we are apt to think that busi- ness may hang yet some time longer in suspense. And therefore we send you here enclosed the copy of their said proposals, and desire your observations thereupon, how far any of them will be advantageous or disadvantageous to the province of New York. But in the mean while we can offer to your Lordship no other rule for your conduct towards those provinces both of East and West New Jersey than what his Ma- jesty has already given you." Note X, page 150. The following is the letter from Governor Hamilton, referred to in the text. — It was rescued from the rubbish of a garret, and has never been before printed. Its perusal cannot but excite regret that the despatches of the proprietary governors should have been lost.^ How this should have found its way back to East Jersey is not known. " Perth Ainboy, 1st June, 1700. " Worthy Gentlemen : — I am at a great loss for want of advice from you how far you have concerted the affair of the surrender, the people here proposing to them- ' These proposals are printed in Register Book and Book of Orders for Smith's N. J. p. 5G0. the Governors and Proprietors, but thinks '■' At a meeting of the Board of Pro- it not advisable to part with them being prietors, April 11, 1767, a letter was other Peoples concerns." A Committee stated to have been received previously was appointed to apply through the agent from one Mrs. Margaret Bowles, dated of the province to Mr. Humphrey Bowles February 1st, 1738-9, in which she ac- or any other person for the book, but it knowledges " to have in her Custody the has never been obtained. 224 NOTES. delves that they will be upon the level with you when the government is out of your hands, may purchase lands from the Indians as well as you and throw up their patents and hold by their Indian purchase. I say proposing these advantages to themselves (and there's no beating them out of it) they lay hold on any twig they think will attain their end. I send for your perusal a copy of a petition that the factious part of the people sent about to get hands to, and I send you my remarks upon it.' " I was in a mistake concerning Mr. Royse, he had an old patent which contains about 20000 acres, but because the stations were uncer- tain and the boundaries would not meet, he addressed the proprietors at home for a new patent, which he had and contains about 6000 acres, for which he was to pay £5 a year for the whole instead of the ^ per acre, and the proprietors forgetting to make him surrender his old patent he ' now claims about 20000 acres by it, and so takes away upon Milstone River from Mr. Hart and on Raritan from Mr. Plumstead and Mr. Bar- ker considerable tracts of land, so that he uses both patents, the old one if he can, and the new one if the old fail him ; it was a great oversight. He is the ringleader of the troublesome sort of the people, and 'tis he that infuses the motive in them of holding by their Indian titles.^ If they have made any alterations in their petitions I know not ; but I believe it will be much to the same pnrpose ; but if the King give a counte- nance to a factious and a false petition to break your government, it will introduce ill precedents. " While the people propose to themselves such advantages by the gov- ernments being in the hands of the King, you cannot expect they'll raise money to defend it, nor any thing wherein they suppose you will share the advantage with them ; and therefore if the surrender is not com- pleted, a trial will be less expense, and whatever be the issue will vin- dicate you more than the surrender, lor instead of thanking you for the privileges you obtain, they will reproach you for receding from what they think their due. For instance, you propose that, upon the annexa- tion, the same number of counties continue, and by the same names, and that as many represent in General Assembly a county in East Jersey as they shall at New York ; and I perceive the Lords will allow but E. J. to be 1-6 of that Assembly, and should you consent to this proposition by charter, the people will curse you, for in York government two repre- sent a county, wherein E. J. being but 1-6 will be less than one to rep- resent a county ; and so will they cavil if the Port be precarious. Indeed I dont well see that their Lordships can retrench them, or a ' This was probably the petition to leader (and we have no reason to doubt be found in Smith's N. J. p. 558. the governor's statement) we may well * If such were the character of the imagine the character of tlie followers. NOTES. 225 charter tie them up to less than a just proportion.' I beseech you gen- tlemen without loss of time bring tilings to an issue, if they will not ad- vise the King to establish your Port by patent, and give the people a just proportion in the assembly you have a handsome retreat ; only this I must caution, you'll be forc'd to accept of a new charter to secure your land if it be allowed by council learn'd in the law that an Indian title be good tho' it is strange to me if it be, for if so, then the King's grant is of no benefit to the proprietors. But if you find the people will be forced to hold by their patents, the trial will clear you of imputa- tion. " Finding no hopes of raising money, I forbore calling our assembly till their own was to sit of course by an act passed in Mr. Basse's time, which is to meet yearly by proclamation the fourth tuesday of May ; and rather because the assembly of West Jersey was to sit on the 12th of the same month, and tliat the decency and order of that people might be of good example to them. I accordingly issued out proclamations in the fourth tuesday in May, and because several towns had not chosen I issued out writs to them to choose and to meet the said day. They accordingly met, and of the afternoon of that day the whole house came to me and the council. Capt. Bowne (as I Avas beginning to speak) told me that he was ordered by the representatives to ask by what authority I called them together. I told him he could very well have answered that point himself having heard my commission read upon my arrival. Mr. Royse asked if I had the approbation as the act directs. I told him that I was as much surprised to hear him ask that question, first that he had not scrupled that in Mr. Basse's time, believing that was the King's business to inquire into, not the people ; in which I told him he was in the right. 2d. For that he had upon my first coming heard me relate the several steps had been taken to obtain an approbation, and what obstructed it. But since he was not so just as to inform the rep- resentatives what he knew, that I would, and accordingly I related the whole steps that had been made and why it was not granted, viz., That to break their ports the crown had of late questioned the proprietors' right to government, looking on it as unaccountable to be a government and not allowed a port as all other distinct colonies in America are. That accordingly the Lords of trade, to whom the proprietors' petition was referred, had advised the King to consent to a trial in Westminster hall * These remarks refer to one of the peeted in pleasing the inhabitants, who proposals of the proprietaries containing were disposed to cavil at whatever they specific provisions to be inserted in the might do, which led to an unconditional act of surrender, which was submitted surrender. The proposals and reply of to the Lords in July, 1G69. It was pro- the Lords are ,in Smith's N. J., pp. 560 bably the difficulty that might be ex- to 563. 15 226 NOTES. for their claim to both, which report was confirmed by the King, and referred to the Attorney General to direct the method of the trial. That, after the report, I had applied to the council of trade and told their Lord- ships that since they were pleased to scruple the proprietors' title to government, I should be unwilling to act under any commission their Lordships' should account unwarrantable, and thereby draw either my- self or the proprietors under any inconvenience. I acquainted the rep- resentatives that (being ordered to withdraw) I was a short time after called in, that the Lords were pleased to tell me that they questioned the proprietors' right to government, yet they did not intend that as an inhibition to the proprietors or a forbidding them to act further until the trial betwixt them and the King were issued, or that the terms of the surrender were concerted, being sensible that people could not be with- out government; and therefore if I acted according to the laws of Eng- land the proprietors would be sufficiently justifiable in commissioning me, and I safe to act under it, but that the granting an approbation was a recognizing the proprietors' title, and by consequence giving away what they accounted the King's right. '\I farther told the representatives that all of them were sensible that the proprietors did not set up a government at their own hand, but that the obedience of the inhabitants was first commanded by King Charles the 2nd_ that no King since had absolved them from that tie : that the trial which the King offers them for their right to government is an ar- gument that he looks on their grants to be in force till that trial is issued, and therefore while it was safe for the proprietors to act, it was safe for them to obey. That the want of an approbation was no fault of the proprietors, for that they had followed the proper methods for obtaining it, and if the Lords refused it, it could not be charged as a crime in the proprietors, or in me if I acted without it, and that it was the King not the people was judge how far a person was qualified or unqualified to act, and the proprietors were always ready to answer for that, and it was they run the risk if any was, not the inhabitants. " Notwithstanding, Mr. Royse he still insisted that they were not safe to act without an approbation, which put me upon the necessity of plain dealing with them. I told them I was not a stranger to the point they were driving at, and that the getting the government out of the propri- etors' hands they accounted the means to obtain it, and it was that, not want of an approbation, was the reason of their pretended scruples; but withal, as they might miss the mark, so they were unmannerly and un- grateful to the proprietors, who had been at so great a charge to main- tain the government purely to make them easy and would always have thrown it up when the people had applied to them. That by keeping them a distinct province throughout the course of the late war, they had their purses and their persons in their own disposal, and freed of a NOTES. 227 charge of at least £15000 which their proportion would have amounted to, and though their carriage Avould ere long make the proprietors throw them off", yet even that government to which hy their own fault they were like to be annexed, tliey'd use the treason but despise the traitors. " Thereafter they withdrew, and understanding by some of the mem- bers that they were resolved to raise no money, and fearing they might use the authority of the assembly for countenancing their petition and so might make a better figure at home, than when signed by a few. straggling hands, I was glad of an opportunity of dissolving them ; and as luck would have it, with debates among themselves they omitted choosing a speaker the first day, and that dissolved them of course. I shall once more only recommend it to you to bring the affair of govern- ment forthwith to an issue by surrender, or rather by a trial, and then you are free of the expense of a new charter. I am unwilling to begin the other sheet, and therefore take leave. Worthy Gentlemen, Your most faithful servant, AND. HAMILTON." » Received the 24th July." APPENDIX, THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT PROVINCE OF EAST NEW JERSEY IN AMERICA. / BY GEORGE SCOT NOW FIRST REPRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL EDITION PUBLISHED AT EDINBURGH IN 1685. PUBLISHED BY THE NEW JERSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 18 46. INTRODUCTION. The work here reprinted for the first time, contains information relating to many of the first settlers of East Jersey, and to the condition of the province at an early period, nowhere else to be found ; and which has been rendered of little service to historians generally from the rareness of the original edition. Only four copies are known to exist — two in Europe and two in the United States. One is in the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh ; another in the Gottingen Collection ; the third is in the possession of John A. King, Esq., of Long Island ; and the fourth in Harvard College Library, from which the manuscript copy was taken for this reprint. The use of Mr. King's copy has also been politely extended to the Editor during the passage of the work through the press. Smith, the Provincial Historian, or some one in his behalf, must have had access to a copy ; as his history contains three or four letters and (in part) a description of the Province as it was in 1680, which were evidently extracted from this work, although it is not alluded to in any way by him. Mr. Bancroft refers to, and quotes it in one or two instances, but Mr. Grahame, the late elo- quent writer on our Colonial History, was the first, and heretofore, the only one to consider the work of sufficient 234 INTRODUCTION. importance to call for any particular notice of its charac- ter, or of the circumstances under which it was written ; which were briefly these : The Scotch Proprietaries found it a difficult matter to induce their countrymen, notwithstanding the depressed condition of the greater proportion of them at home, to seek relief in a voluntary and perpetual exile in a distant land. Some two or three hundred had done so, but it was necessary to a successful prosecution of their scheme of colonization, that the public interest therein should be more generally dif- fused and the embarkation of greater numbers secured. They therefore procured the publication of the work that follows, entering particularly into historical and statisti- cal details respecting the Province ; and, while present- ing in a desirable light the proposed refuge, combating with considerable ingenuity the prevailing objections to emigration. In the fulfilment of this project, the author com- mences with a learned disquisition upon the mode in which Americawas first peopled, in which, it may be re- marked, he apparently adopts views and conjectures similar to those which of late years have received the favorable consideration of some of our most eminent anti- quarians.^ Pie then proceeds to meet and overcome the various scruples that were presumed to operate against its farther settlement from Scotland, by arguments drawn from sacred and profane history, and from different con- sideiations of duty to themselves, their families, their country, and their religion ; the force and applicability of which each reader Tv ill determine for himself. The important advantages to be secured by a residence in ' See pages 11, 14 — 16. INTRODUCTION. oo/r 235 East Jersey are then portrayed, and the superiority of that colony over others in America and the West Indies warmly urged. The value of the work to the historian, however, consists in the information it gives respecting the condi- tion of the country ; and the views and prospects of the early settlers whose letters constitute a large portion of its contents, among whom were several who subse- quently filled important stations in the Province, and contributed by their abilities and worth to its advance- ment in prosperity and civilization. 'Tis true " * * * * We but hear Of the survivors' toil in their new lands. Their numbers and success ; — " yet who can read with indifference such items of intelli- gence, referring to those hardy pioneers from whose exertions sprung the fruitful fields and beautiful villages of East Jersey, so characteristically recorded by them- selves ? It is to the influence of these letters, and of the work generally, that we may consider it in a great mea- sure owing — adopting the language of Grahame — that " American society was enriched with a valuable acces- sion of virtue that had been refined by adversity, and piety that was invigorated by persecution." The author, George Scot of Pitlochie, was connected by descent and marriage with some of the most distin- guished families in Scotland ; which circumstance may have led the Proprietaries to confide to him the prepara- tion of the work, from the beneficial tendency his advo- cating the cause of emigration would have upon an extensive circle of acquaintance ; and his arguments, doubtless, received material support from the fact of his 236 INTRODUCTION. adding example to precept, by embarking himself and family for East Jersey. He was accompanied by nearly two hundred persons, and sailed from Scotland about August 1st, 1685; the Proprietaries granting him as a testimonial of their gratitude for the services he had ren- dered them, five hundred acres of land in the Province.^ But the career of energy and usefulness which prom- ised so much for the welfare of the Province was soon closed. Before the " Henry and Francis " (the vessel in which they sailed) arrived at East Jersey, both Scot and his wife (and possibly one child) were no longer living. Of the catastrophe or disease causing this un fortunate result, the records of the Province give us no information, and tradition merely brings down the fact that they died before they reached the land of their adop- tion. One daughter alone survived, Eupham (Euphe- mia) Scot, who in 1686 became the wife of John John- stone one of her fellow passengers, (the "Druggist at the sign of the Unicorn in Edinburgh " mentioned on the last page of ' the Model ;') and on January 13th, 1686-7, her husband received from the Board of Pro- • E. J. Records, A, 385, 386. The and no allusion whatever to the work grant was dated July 28th, 1685. Mr. appears elsewhere in the Records. Mr. Grahame advances some reasons why he Grahame starts an inquiry as to the iden- presumes Governor Barclay did not tity of this George Scot with the Cap- write the book himself, but thinks it tain Scot who, Governor Nicholls probable he gave his assistance in its [Chalmers' Annals, p. 634,] states, had preparation. He says, " The inequality been an applicant for the patent which of the performance strongly attests that the Duke of York obtained, and who, it was not wholly the composition of a in revenge for the disappointment he single author ;" but the Editor doubts if sustained, induced the Duke to part with the inequality alluded to is sufficiently New Jersey — then considered the best great to warrant such a supposition ; and part of the grant ! They were undoubt- it is very certain that in the above-men- edly different persons. Captain Scot's tioned grant nothing is said of indebt- name was John, edness to any other party than Scot -. INTRODUCTION. 237 prietors a confirmation of the grant which had been made to her father. John Johnstone long practised medicine in the Pro- vince, besides filhng several important public offices, and died, says the Historian Smith, " very much la- mented by all who knew him, and to the inexpressible loss of the poor, who were always his particular care." Their descendants became numerous, and for years before the Revolution their names are frequently met with in connection with high civil and military stations in the Province ; and although most of the families thus descended, from their identification with the Royal cause at the Revolution, were scattered in different directions or obliged to leave America; there are still, among the most respected citizens of New Jersey those who can trace their descent from George Scot ; testifying, by their own characters and talents, to the service rendered by their ancestor when in addition to the influence of his work he embarked his family for East Jersey. Following the dedication in the original edition, is an advertisement " to the Reader from the Printer," re- questing him " with his pen to help what he finds amiss, the author's pressing aflairs having hindered him from overseeing the press ;" and in transcribing the work, the manifold errors in orthography and punctuation caused some hesitation as to the course proper to be pursued. Desirous, however, to preserve its character as much as possible, and considering also that some of these errors mio;ht have originated with the writers of the several letters, and therefore be in some measure indicative of their literary attainments, the Editor has confined the corrections to what were deemed merely errors of the press. 238 INTRODUCTION. The predominating type changes frequently, in the original, some pages being in italic characters, some in roman ; but in this reprint it was thought unnecessary to alter the character, save for such words or passages as were printed diiferently from the current type of the page on which they appear. The following page shows the Title, and size of the leaf in the original ; and the figures between brackets, inserted in the text, indicate the division of its pages. W. A. W. Newark, New Jersey, 1846 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT Of the PROVINCE OF EAST::NEW::JERSEY IN AMERICA; And Encouragements for such as Designs to be concerned there Published for the Information of such as are de- sirous to be Interested in that place.- EDINBURGH Printed by John Reid, And Sold be Alexander Ogston Stationer in the Parliament Closs. Anno DOM. 1685. To JAMES Earl of Perth, Lord Drummond and Stobhall, &c.. Lord High Chancellour of Scotland. JOHN Viscount of Melfoord, GEORGE Viscount of Tarbet, Lord Drummond o/'Gilston, Secre- Lord Mcdoud and Castle-Haven tary of Slate for the Kingdom of Lord Clerk, Register (/Scotland. Scotland, one of the Members of and one of His Majesty's most Hon His Majesties most Honourable ourable Privy Council there. Privy Councill in both Kingdoms. My Noble Lords : As your Lordships concern in East Jersey, makes it appear to ail intelligent persons, that it is a Nationall interest to advance in general! the design of a Plantation, hence to America : so that in particular East Jersey [ii] is the most proper place, seeing your Lordships have chosen it among all the other parts of that continent, to settle your in- terest there ; Yet my Lords there are (to our shame) a parcell of peo- ple, who whether out of Ignorance or Malice, I cannot well determine decry the design ; I believe they have a share of both, and thereby weaken not a little the hands of a number of well meaning people who would gladly promote the same effectually, were they not imposed upon by the false rumors, industriously spread abroad to stifle any such in- clinations. I have been advised to consent to the publishing of the following sheets, at first collected only for my own divertisement and more clear information in the affair, as what may tend somewhat to prevent any foolish misrepresentation ; when by the perusall of the accounts from thence, the least jealousie is removed of any cheat in the thing itself eo advantageous a Character of the place coming from so many different hands. I have had too many demonstrations of your Lordships favour to fear your displeasure upon account of my presuming [iii] to send the same abroad under your Patrociny ; yea, I dare further advance, without the least apprehension of your dissatisfaction with me upon that liead to mind your Lordships that as you have laid the foundation of this de- 16 242 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT sign, as to any concern of this Countrey in that place, so it is expected your Lordships will continue to encourage the same. In process of time your Lordships may render your Names and Families as consid- erable in America as they are in Europe. My Lords, having resolved to dedicate myself, Family, and For- tune, to the promoting of this design, I should the more easily digest any frowns of Providence I have been trysted with, were I so fortunate as to find the opportunity, in Jersey^ of testifying my resentments of the favours I have received at your Lordships hands in Scotland, by noticeing any of your Lordships concerns there, and contributing what in me lyes to advance the same : nothing shall be wanting in me to tes- tifie how much I am My Noble Lords, Your Lordships' most humbly devoted Servant, GEORGE SCOT. OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 243 An Account of the Incouragement for promoting a Design of Plant- ing, in East New Jersey ; containing the Constitutions, and a Model of Government of that Province : in a Letter from a Gentleman at Edin- burgh, concerned there, to his Correspondent in the Countrey: Sir: Perceiving by your last Discourse, that you not only appeared somewhat resolved to be yourself concerned in promoting the present Design of carrying on a Plantation in America, but to endeavour to engage several of your Friends in the same undertaking when you found any probability of its taking effect ; I find myself oblig- ed, for your more full Information, to let you know at more length the Reasons inducing me to be so much concerned in the promoting this Atiair, submitting very willingly, the grounds prompting me hereto, to your most narrow scrutiny, whether in so doing I act Rationally or not? Having at London in the year 1679, the opportunity of frequent con- verse with several [2] Substantial and Judicious Gentlemen concerned in the American Plantations, I had thereby the opportunity of vmder- standing thorougly the great advantage redounding to that City from Undertakings of this nature, and rational grounds of Conjecture That tlieir Commerce with that place of the World, hath been one of the greatest Improvements of that Trade they have for many years enjoyed, which hath rendered it now one of the most considerable Cities in Europe ; the Customs thereof which in dueen ElizabetJi's time, were farmed at Fifty thousand pounds paying now into the Exchequer, near seven hundred thousand pounds yearly, which great Improvement may be much attributed to their Trade with America, brought now in a great manner to Perfection, which at that time was but in its Infancy. From that time I began to have strong inclination to be more fully informed in that Affair, and to be, at all imaginable pains, to notice the .same very concernedly, and for my more full satisfaction, I judged it requisite to trace the very beginnings of all the English Plantations, and their gradual progresses ere they arrived at that perfection they presently [3] are at, I could not rest satisfied with the first Methods I proposed to myself in Order to do this, of discoursing at large with such as had been in the several Plantations, by putting such interrogatories 244 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT to them thereanent, as I judged most proper for informing myself in all things relative to that knowledge I judged requisite for my own clear information, and for being a foundation to a Design I then began to frame, of being therein myself some way interested; And tho' I found one and the same account given me in solution of the most material Questions I proposed. Yea, from several hands, who were such whose knowledge in other things, with the good Character they generally went under, obliged me to notice their information as truth without the least jealousing the verity of the account they gave me ; yet for my more full satisfaction, I proposed what I judged would contribute more clearly to my full understanding that affair, to wit, the perusal of all the Geo- grapliical descriptions of these places in America inhabited by the English. The first tiling which offered to my view in this search, was a ques- tion in itself both pleasant and material. What way the continent of America came first to be inhabited after the Flood, it being a World f4] wholly unknown to Europeans^ Asiaiicks, and Africans, till the late discovery thereof by Americus Vespucius, and Christophorus Columbus, since by all circumstances, it is apparent that it hath been long inhabit- ed ; Laertius in his discourse anent the Original of the Amei^cans, Declaring, That the Spaniards destroyed thirty millions of them in those parts of America usurped by them, which is not the 100 part of that continent : And since it is by all agreed that after the Flood, Noah and his three Sons had their habitations in some parts of Asia ; there being no probable evidences that any of their Descendants led out the first Colonies thither, being so divided from the rest of the World, to wit, from the Western coast of Europe and Africa by the vast Atlantick Ocean ; from the North parts of Europe, by the great frozen Seas lying betwixt it and Green land, appearing to be the Northern Coast of Ame- rica ; from the Northern part of Asia., Tartaria, and Cathay, by the Prelum Annium ; from the East part of China, and the Philippine Islands by the Oceanus Pacificus, above 2000 leagues in breadth ; and divided from the great lately discovered Island Delfuego, [5] by the Straits of Magellan ; and that Island divided again from the uttermost Southern Continent (if any be) by a Great Sea not formerly kjnown to the Europeans, and Asiaticks ; being divided from Asia and Africa, by the great Indian Ocean lately discovered by De La Mers Navigation ; the only probable means of such a Migration, being of a far later per- fection, than what could answer such a population of so great a Conti- nent. To this apparently difficult question I find a very satisfying answer given very fully by the Learned Hales, his Assertion, to wit. That not- withstanding these apparent difficulties, a Migration unto America from the Descendants of Adam, and Noah, was not only possible, but proba- OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 045 ble; that the famine [migration?] was successive, that tho the lime or manner of these Migrations cannot certainly be defined, yet many of them were long since, some thousand of years, Yet after the universal Deluge, that the means of this Transmigration of the Descendants of Adam and A'oa/t, from Asia unto America, hath been both by Sea and Land. That the readiest means of the Migration of Colonies unto the Western World [6] from the Eastern, was by the help of Navigation whereof much might be casual by Tempests, or contrary Winds, ftun/tt; more Principal from design, be judging it probable that the use of Ships was not unknown to the Old World before the Flood, tho not in the perlec- tion as after. But that the Ark of Noah, being an exact piece of Archi- tecture, did give a patern for Vessels of greater burden, that from that time the skill of making and navigating Ships had been certainly im- proved ; Heathnish Histories giving us account, that Navigation was ancient among the Grecians, especially among the Pheniciayis, Tyiians, and Carthaginians ; Pliny in his Natural History, relating That the Navigation of the Argonauts to Colchis for the Golden Fleece, happened about 1000 years after the Flood : and that 200 years before that, Da- naus sailed out of (Egypt unto Greece, and tho there be no express men- tion of the Pixis Nautica for many years, after the mention of the use of Navigation, yet the same Author relates That the Phenicians steered their course by observation of the Stars. But the Sacred Scripture gives a better [7] account of the Anti- tiquity of Navigation. Jacob died 600 years after the Flood, yet he mentioned Ships and Havens for shipping, as things well known : and particularly Sidon, as a great Port for Shipping, where Zebulons Lot was to be cast ; Gen. 49. 13. Balaam, in the time of Moses, mentions the Ships of Chittim, or Grecians, as a known thing ; Num. 24. 24. In the Reign of Solomon, the Tyrians are noticed as expert seamen, he having a Navy upon the Coast of the Red Sea, from thence making Voyages with the Tyrians to Ophir, and Tarshish, places apparentlie in the East Indies, thence bringing Gold and other Commodities : 1 Chr: 8. 18: 9. 21. The Histories of all succeeding Ages of the Grecians and Persians, of the Tyrians, Phenicians and Carthaginians, of the Romans, CEgyp- tiaiis and Chineses ; and in the latter times of the Venitians, Sicilians and Rhodians, Spanish, Dutch, French and English, give us a full ac- count how Sedulous and Industrious all Maratime Coasts have been in advancing of Navigation, in multiplying of Shipping, in Merchan- dizing and Trading, in searching out and subduing Forreign Coun- tries, when either afflicted at home [8] by war or otherwaycs, or grown over populous. And therefore, says the Ibrecited Author, as latter years hath given us, of this age, witness of the Transplantations to America^ iYoin Spain, 246 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT France, Portugal. England, Scothwd, and Holland, and some Ages before that have given instances of Transplantations from Norwaij unto Greenland and Iceland : so it apjiears not only possible, but probable, that either by Casuality or Tempest, or by Intention and Design, either for Lucre of Gold, or for disburthening of the Countries Sur-charged with multitudes of Inhabitants, or by greatness of mind, affecting Noble Undertakings, or by Reason of Hardships, Oppression, and Wars at home, or by some of all these wayes, several parts of this great Conti- nent, at several times have been planted with Inhabitants, which through process of time, have multiplied into these many Nations, and have forgot their Original, and the Manners. Religions and Customs of these People, from whom they descended in Asia, Europe, or Africa. His judgment is, That the Countries in ^Ismand Europe, which with greatest probability have first Peopled America [9] appear to be the Britishjthe Norwegians, the Tartars, or Scythians, the Phenicians, Carthaginians, or the Chineses : Not mentioning the late migrations of the Spatiish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, English or Scottish. Doctor Powels relates, That 07i7w 1170, Madock one of the Sons of Owen Gwinneth, went over twice unto the Northern coast of America, and made there a British plantation ; This is at large prosecuted by Laertius in his second Observation. Grotius hath some Observations touching the Migrations of the Norwegians ; Laertius grants, that Iceland and some part of Green- land, were planted by Ericus Rufus, anno 928 ; that probably from hence Colonies were brought over unto the Northern parts o? America, over the Fretum Anion, in respect of the easiness and .shortness of that passage ; from Nova Zembla and the farthest North east part of Tar- tary, over that narrow sea, and partly by Reason of the congruitie of the Barbarous customs of the Americans and Scythians. Hornius thinks the Migration of the Phenicians and Carthaginians, especially unto the south-east part of the continent of America, [10] as Mexico and Brasil, very probable upon many accounts : 1. Upon the great skill and long practice of Navigation, and the multitude of Shipping of the Phenicians and Carthaginians : 2. Upon the Accommodation of the Port of Carthage, and other African ports bordering upon the Mede- ierranean Sea, to make their Voyages Westward, and the great advan- tage of the constant Easterly winds, which makes the Voyage to Mexico, and Brasil more easy : 3. Upon some ancient Histories, intimating the progress of the Phenician and Carthaginian Fleet unto some Islands, or Continents in or near the Atlantick Ocean : — And lastly, he finds much of the Origination of the Americans attributed to the Migration of the Seni or Sinenses, I'rom the Eastern parts of China, and the Philippine Islands, from the Islands of Borneo, and the Moluccas and Japan, through he Mare Pacifcum, unto the Wester^i parts of America ; which, tho OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 247 it be a large Ocean of above 2000 Leagues betwixt the Pldlippiw. Islands, and the West of tlie American Continent, and the passage hither dilKcult, in respect of the constant Easterly Winds betwixt the TVopicks : yet many [11] reasons appear to the likelihood of a planta- tion from thence. 1. In respect of the Peopling of China, which Mr. Webb sayes. Was first Peopled after the Universal Deluge, Shem the son of Noah, first settling here, it being the most ancient and primitive Language : that by means of the Almighty, and settledness of tliis vionaixhy, having continued ever since the Universal Deluge, It is most probable, the Western continent of America was Peopled hence: 2. Because they were the greatest Masters of Shipping, and best skilled in Navigation of any part in the World ; The Pixis Nautica being there known, and used long before the knowledge thereof in Europe. 3. The many Islands upon the South, and South-East part of China, as Borneo, Java, Gilolo, Celebes ; and others near the Equator, are dis- joyned but by very narrow Seas — not much broader than between Eng- land and France — from the neck of Land called Terra de Papes, or Nova Guinea, and Nova Hollandia, new discovered to be, at least in some parts, disjoyned from the more Southern Continent, by a great Sea, but anciently thought to have been a [12] part of the Soiothern Continent. Upon these and the like Probabilities, Judge Hales thinks it reason- able to conclude that the Americans had their Original from the Inhabi- tants of Europe, Asia, and Africa, that Transmigrated into that Conti- nent, either intentionally or Casually, or both. 2. That these Migrations were not of one single People, but of many and diverse nations. 3. That these Migrations were not altogether or at one time, but succes- sively in several ages, some earlier, some later. 4. That, therefore it is impossible to determine the time of such Migrations, only that they have been all since the Flood, now above 4000 years ago ; some Migra- tions 2, 3, or 400 years after the Flood ; some later, according to various accidents ; but there is no wayes probable that the earliest Migration hither was above 4000 years since, for if one hundred pair they might easily propagate a number competent to People all that Continent. 6. That it appears that since the last of these ancient Migrations, sup- pose that of Madock and his Brittons, until our late Migrations by the Spaniards, French, English, Dutch, and Scottish, there probably inter- vened an interval of at least 4 or 500 years ; in all which Interval ttie Commerce [13] and Communication between Europe or Asia, and America, hath as it were slept and been forgot both by tliem and us. 7. That in this interval of 500 years or thereabouts, in all parts, but in some parts far greater, there must in all probability happen a great forgetfulness of their Original, a great Degeneration from tlie Primitive CiviUtie, Rehgion, and Customs of these places, from whence they first arrived ; a Ferine and necessitous kind of Life, by a conver- t248 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT sation with those that having been long there, were fallen into more barbarous habit of Life and Manners, would easily assimilate, at least the next Generation, to barbarism or ferineness. Where a Colony comes and keeps itself in a Body, as the Roman Colonies did, and the Planta- tions in Virginia and New England do, and the New Accessions incor • porate and joyn themselves unto that Body. Customs, both Religious and Civil, and the Original Language are kept intire, but when the Accessions are but thin, and sparing, and scattered among the Natives of the Countrey where they come, and are driven to conform themselves unto their customs for their very subsistence, safety and entertainment, it falls out that the very first Planters do soon degenerate in their habits, customs, [14] and Religions, as a little wine poured into a great vessel! loseth itself; but if they escape a total assimilation to the countrey where they thus are mingled, yet the next Generation in such a mixture, is quickly assimilated to the corrupt manners, and customs of the peo- ple among whom they are thus planted ; so that it is no wonder, if in such kind of small Accessions, successively from one and the same, or severall Countries, The third Generation forgot their Ancestors, and the Customs, Religions, and languages of these people from whom they were first derived, and assume various tempera7nents in their language and customs, according as the places of their habitation and the Company among whom they live obtain. But there remains yet a great difficulty, touching the noxious untameable Beasts as Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Bears, which that continent abounds with ; how they come to be conducted over the seas, to be preserved in the Ark, and after to be transported again thither, it not being probable that they could be transported by shipping, seeing no man would be at the pains, charge and hazard, with such Beasts, which would do more harme than good. And altho pos- eibly, the Frozen Northern Seas might be a Bridge for their Passage, yet that appears [15] unlikly in respect of the great snows which accompany such frosts ; and the impossibility of supply of food in eo great and troublesome a journey, and as to swimming, tho the Seas between Tartary and Cathay, and some parts of America, be not so wide as the Atlantick, or Pacijick Ocean ; yet they are too large to afford a passage by Sea for Tigers and Lions not apt to take the water ; and it is not yet certainly discovered, tho conjectured, that there is any neck of Ground or passage by Land from any part of Europe, or Asia, nnto any part of the continent of America. The only thing then remaining to accommodate this difficulty, is to suppose that though it should be granted, there is no such Land passage extent, yet within the compass of four thousand years elapsed [since] the Flood, there have been some such junctions or land passages be- tween the northern parts of Asia, or Europe, and some northern parts of the continent of America: or between the south east part of China, or OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 249 the Philipine Islands, and tlie Southern continent, — though lately there be discovered an interposition of Sea, between the Island Drlfwgv and that southern continent, — whereby either from Asia to Greenland, in the north, or from China to Terra Australis incognita on the south, a land passage might be from [16] Asia to America for men and beasts ; though for some ages past, either by the violence of the water or by floods, or earthquakes, which hath made great alterations in the Globe of the Earth and Seas, that Bridge or Line of communication be now broken or obliterated: and truly such as observe the infinite number of Islands lying between the continent of CJiina and Nova Guinea, almost contiguous to each other hath probable reason to believe that these have been all formerly one continent joining CJiina and Nova Guinea together, though now by the eruption of the seas, crumbled into small Islands: hence there is ground to believe there hath been anciently necks of land which maintained passage of communication by land be- twixt the two continents. Pliny tells us of the great Atlaniick Island mentioned by the CEgyptian Priest, in Plato^s Timens, almost contiguous to the western part of Spain and Africa, now wholly swallowed up by that Ocean : which if truth, for ought we know might afford a passage from Africa to America, by land before that Submersion. [17] But to return from this, I hope not unpleasant degression, having seriously considered the advantages which may be rationally conjectured, to redound from the right management of a concern in America, I resolved to lay myself out wholly for the promoting such a design in this Countrey, as what I was convinced, would in the end not only tend to the Honour and advantage of our nation in General, but to the Particular Interest of such as would resolve to be therein effectually concerned : though I am abundantly sensible, there are not a few who take upon them to censure this undertaking, who have not the capacity to pry into the advantages which may rationally be proposed in prosecu- ting thereof the strongest argument they are able to bring against, it being taken from the practice of our Ancestors, altogether innocent of any such design, though reputed abundantly wise in their generation : that therefore in their children it can be no less than folly to introduce such a novelty ; the same appearing to thwart the verity of some of our old Scottish Proverbs that ill bairns are best heard at home : Fools are fain of flitting : and a Bird in hand is better than two in the [18] hush; esteemed no less by them than sometimes were the oracles of Apollo, at Delphos. Yes Sir, I have heard some, whose pretensions to wit were so great, that they were upon the borders of Commencing Vertuosi, snarling at this intention, who having been engaged in the debate be- wrayed their ignorance so far in the affair, as to inquire whether the plan treated anent, as the proper seats for a Collonie, from hence were Islands, or on the continent, if such so little versant in America, be com- 250 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT petent Judges of a matter of this import, I leave it to your determina- tion ;,and therefore, judging them altogether unworthy of being other- wayes rwticed than to pity their ignorance, not envying them the satis- faction of their own Opinions, I proceed more at length to acquaint you with the grounds I walk upon, in resolving to be so effectually con- cerned in promoting this design, as to hazard myself, Family, and For- tune, in Prosecuting thereof: submitting very cheerfully the considera- tion thereof to your narrowest and most exact scrutiny, whether the motives prompting me hereto be founded upon solid Reason or not ? I find the most brutish of Mankind proposeth some end to himself, whereby he is actuated, [19] the Voluptuous seeks after his pleasure, the Ambitious his preferment, the Covetous his treasure ; whence it is apparent, that all the intentions of man, how unrational soever, are ac- tuated by one of these three great engines of Jucundum Honestum and Utile. In the effectual promoting this design, I judge a man may ra- tionally have a prospect to all these three : I must confess, there is in the generality of Mankind a natural inclination to love the Land of their own Nativity beyond other places, tho upon several Considera- tions every way preferable, according to that of the Poet, Nescio quo natale SaluTn dulcidine cunctos, Tangit &{ immemores non sinit esse sui Yet we see, it hath been frequently so ordered in Providence, that several, upon different motives, have been brovight to quit their Native Soyl, and inclined to make choice of strange and remote Countries for their habitation ; and it is clearly seen, that this their removal hath tended both to their honour and outward more plentiful accommodation ; hence the Northern Climates, tho barren as to their Soyl, have been observed to produce bodies of Men, in greater abundance, [20] more strong and vivid than the more Southern and fertile places of the World ; where great multitudes o£ people pinched with the straits of their own Countrey, have issued forth to more agreeable ^inA. fertile places. Thus the Goths, Vandals, and Hunns overspread the Roman Empire, seating themselves in Italy and Spain, and a great part of Africa ; hence the eruption of the Franks from the Rhine, upon the more pleasant Valliesof the Loire [and] Seine, and giving thus, rise to most flourishing Kingdoms. I grant that upon the first view, it may appear somewhat of a Nov- elty, and that upon this consideration, the Undertakers may be lyable to the censure of such as prye not further into the Affair. Yet I am ready to believe that the more serious and Judicious will have other sentiments of this Design, when they consider, that not only is this practice warranted by the Scripture, but that the effectual prosecuting thereof, will be made clearly to appear, to be contributive as well to OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 05I the honor of the Undertakers as to their parlicidar Interest, and likewise to the general advantage of the Nation. [21] The placing of a People in this or that Countrey, is from the appointment of God, the Apostle speaks of it as grounded in Nature, Acts 17. 26. God hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of our habitation. Dent. 2. 8. 5 and 9. God woidd. not have the Israelites meddle withthe Edom- ites or the Moabites. because he had given them the land for a posses- sion. I do not find any taking upon them to define what particular sum- mons the first Undertakers of planting Collonies had, whether from the mouth of God immediately (as Abraham first and the Children of Israel thereafter,) or from the advice and Counsel of men: Yet that the Wis- dom of God directed them in this Course is evident from Moses his testi- monie, alfirming, that he separated the sons of Adam, and set the botinds of their habitation, Deut. 32. 8. So that whoever set on the work, God acknowledgeth it as his own: we read also in the 16th of the Acts, verse 12. Of a Collony (which is a company of People agreeing to remove out of their Countrey, and settle a City or Commonwealth elsewhere) which God blessed and prospered exceedingly and made it a glori- ous Church. [22] That Collonies as other States in Humane Society, have their Warrant from Gods direction and Command, is apparent to all. No sooner was Man created, than he was commanded to replenish the Earth, and subdue it. Gen. 1. 26. By these words, and the repetition of them to Noah, Gen. 9 verse 1, We see a promise expressed (as the title of a Benediction and thereto prefixed.) So it may also be per- ceived, that they include a direction or command. Calvin sayes upon these words, Jubit cos crescere ^ Simul benedictionem sitam des- tinat ; and Junius, pro ut vim intus indiderat sic palane manda tnm, dedit curandce propagationis ^ domination is e.vercendce. And Pa- roeus, Jubit igitur replere te^rram, non solum generatione ^ habita- tione, sed cum primis potestate cultu ^ usu, etsi vero nonidlce. orbis partes manent inhabitales, habemus nihilominus totius dominium, Jure Divino licet non habeamus totius orbis usuni cidpa ^ defectu nostra. If it be alledged, that tho it must be granted that the words have the force of a Precept, yet it was but to continue during the World.'i Infancy and no lorfger ; upon due consideration [23] it will be found, that there is no ground here for such a Limitation: For tho some Com- mandments founded upon, and respecting some State and Condition of Men, received end and alteration, when the condition was ended ; yet Precepts given to the body of Mankind, as these to Adam and N^oah, receive neither alteration in the substantials, nor determination, while Men and any void places of the Earth continue : so that allowing this Commandment to bind Adam, it must bind his Posterity ; and conse- 252 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT quently ourselves in this Age and our Issue after us, as long as the Earth yields empty places to be replenished. Where there is an empty vacant place there appears hence to be Liberty for the sons oi" Adam, or Noah, to come and inhabit : Abraham and Isaac sojourned among the Philistines ; Yea, I do not see that either they bought or asked leave of the Inhabitants : By sojourning is meant a constant residence there, as in ^possession of their men, although it be so termed, as if they had been Strangers, because they neither pre- tended to the Sovereign Government of the ivhole Countrey, neither did incorporate themselves unto the Common Wealth of the [24] Natives to submit themselves to their Government ; they did not buy that land to feed their Cattle, because they said, there is room enough ; intima- ting, that the Natives were no wayes injured by their Neighbourhood ; and so did Jacob pitch his tents by Sechem, Gen. 34. verse 21. Hamor said, there is room enough, therefore let them sit down among us, yea we see that in case the people who were former Inhabitants, did disturb them in their possessions, they complained to the King, as of injury done to them, as Abraham did, because they took away his well ; Gen. 21. 25. for his right thereto, he pleaded not his immediate call from God, for that would have seemed frivolous among the Heathen, but his own in- dustry and culture in digging thereof, yea, we see the King does not reject his Plea with, what had he to do to dig wells in their soil ?, but, admitteth it as a principle of Nature, that in a vacant soyl he who taketh jjossession thereof, and bestoweth Culture and Husbandry there- upon, his right it is : the ground herepf being from the Grand Charter given to Adam and his posterity in Paradise, Gen. 1. 28. Multiply and replenish the Earth, and [25] subdue it, which Charter was renewed to Noah, Gen. 9. 1. fill the Earth and multiply. In the next place the gift of the Earth, is to the Sons of Men, Psalm 115. 16. this necessarily enforceth their duty to people it. Were it not an injury done to the most High, to think He does ought in vain? or that He tenders a gift to Mankind, which He never meant should be enjoyed : And what way can Men make benefit of the Earth but by habitation and culture ? Neither do I judge it a rational answer to this, that God's intention is satisfied, if some part of the Earth be repletiished and used, tho the rest be waste, because we are still urged with the same difficulty, that the rest of which we receive no fruit, was never intended for us, because it was never God's mind w hat fashion to breed abundance of all sorts of Bestial, in both which, will the greater riches of Jersey consist : But it cannot be expected, that they know how to improve these Islands, for Sugar, Cotton, Indigo &c. and this being altogether out of their road, we should tMis be altogether deprived of the assistance we may rationally expect from them, by proposing to settle in a place where the Negro Slaves could do more service, and [217] be far more usefidl than the most laborious and judicious of o?on(7on concerned in this Plantation who are not of litis Prinrij)!.-, who have laid out considerable summs on this Design, as I am ohlii^cd to know by the account I have from one of them witli whom I havcrBome correspondence : who tells me he himself hath laid, ont 1800 pminds, It cannot rationally be supposed that they will be so unconcerned, as not to follow such measures as may secure what interest they have there. [2181 Methods are already laid down, which I know will satisfie you in this particular, that as to defence against any such inconveniencics, East Jersey will be as effectually secured as any of the Neighbouring Plan- tations. — As for any other apprehensions you or others may have ujion this head, I shall only say, whatever Mr. Barclays Principles may be. he is a Gentleman known to be abundantly qualijied to advance the interest of that Collony ; else the Trust thereof had not been devolved upon him by the Proprietors, who are Men more knowing in their own affairs, than to have made an escape [mistake ?] in so material a point: they are Men abundantly sharpsighted to remark his Actions, and accordingly as they find them for the interest of the place, to continue him in that Trust or not ; And you may be assured, he understands himself so well as to behave him- self in that station so as becometh a Gentleman, concerned in h is own Credit and Interest, seeing upon the least malversation, he is as welllyable to cen- sure of the Law as the meanest Inhabitant. Which consideration abund- antly [219] secures any reasonable Man against the apprehensions of any inconveniencies from his being Governour; thohis inclinations prompted him to act upon a selfish design, to the prejudice of the general interest of that Province, I perswade myself, he is more a Gentleman, than ever to be guilty of anything that is base, or unbecoming a Gentleman. It is now more than time to bid you farewell, having nothing further to add, hoping from what is here said, you will rest satisfied, that in pros- ecuting this design, I do act upon solid foundations : let the result be what it will, I hope you are convinced I have not proceeded indeliberately therein. I am not so foolish as to propose no difficulties to myself to be rencountered, notwithstanding all the encouragements above written ; I am too well acquainted with all the Spanish, FreJich, Dutch, Portu- guese and English undertakings of this nature, and their straits and dif- ficulties they have been trysted with in prosecuting thereof, to think I have any ground to expect to be altogether exempted from ail the in- conveniencies they met with ; as to this I cast myself altogether upon the divine Providence, being convinced, I am in my duty. If you please to [220] take a share, it would be not a little encouraging to me ; you see that we have some Gentlemen of our Countrey settled already there, eo that I am hopefull we may have there a very agreeable society: if your affairs cannot allow, your good wishes are expected by, Sir Yours &c. G. S. 312 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT Sir Since the conclusion above written severall other Letters are come to my hand which I liad not formerly seen, most of them of a later date : I resolved to add them to the rest for your further Confirma- tion. — A Letter for Mr Robert Paterson Principal of Marishal Colledge, in the City of New Aberdeen, w Scotland. Woodbridge, in East Jersey in America, March the 7th, 1685. Sir, I Hope you have heard of our Voyage and safe Arrival here. I thought it my duty to present my dutiful respects to you and all Friends at [221] Aberdeen, and to acquaint you of mine own and all their welfares who came over the last year, all which intend to settle in the Countrey except ^ , who has spent all his means already foolishly in drink, and is returning home for more. You have David Barclay and Arthur Forbes to inform you of this Countrey : when I have seeil it through all the Seasons of the year as they did, I shall then give you my opinion, if you be desirous : only in short, what I have seen I may write, — that it pleases me better than Virginia, Maryland, Pensylvania, or West Jersey, — that it is pleasant to mine eyes, and I find it healthful to my body. I am not troubled here (blessed be God) with defluctions, head aikes, and coughs, as at Edinburgh : — that the land is furnished with all conveniencies of Nature, such as Wood, Grass, Meadow, and abundance of fresh Water Springs, Brooks and Rivers, and plenty of Deer, Turkies, Geese and Ducks ; many tender Herbs, Fruits and Trees grow naturally here that will not grow in Scotland at all : these things are so notoriously known, that it is superfluity to write them, and no un- byassed person will deny them, or speak ill of the land. There is about a dozen or 14 houses in New Perth, and the half of those built since we [222] came ; several others are building presently, and many othera have taken Lotts to build ; Mr Mudie is building a stone house, and has a Horse Mill ready to set up ; Governour Rudyard intends another Stone house this Summer. — The Governours house, and the publick Court-house are abuilding. It is the best scituate for a City of any yet I have seen, or for ought I can learn, of any yet known in America. There is great encouragement here for all kind of Tradesmen : I intend myself to follow mostly Planting and Fishing. Let this remember me to all my Friends, Relations Comorads and Ac- quaintances at Aberdeen ; I could not write to them all, being busied about mine own settlement, and it is now far spent in the year, so that I do not expect to do much this year ; neither could I settle sooner, by reason that my bed-cloaths are not yet come from Mai-yland, and the land I intend to settle on is not yet purchased from the Indians. I in- OP EAST NEW JERSEY. 3I3 treat to hear from you 011 all occasions, and what remarkable News abroad or at homo, and how the Civilisln place is disposed of. My eervice to yourself and bedfellow. I am Sir, Your most allectionate and humble Servant Charles (Jordon. [223] For Mr. Andrew Irvine Merchant, at his Shop, in the East end of the Lucken Booth in Edinburgh, in Scotland. Amboy in the Province oi East New Jersey, in America, March the 5th 1685 Dear Andrew I suppose ye have heard of our voyage from my Brother, and Governour Barclay. I shall only in short tell you that notwithstanding the loss of our masts, we were not only 8 weeks betwixt land and land, and entered the Capes of Virginia the same day 9 weeks we parted from Aberdeen. We sailed up Chessapeek bay to the head of Bohe- mia River in 2 Sloopes, from thence we came to Elizabeth 7'o)f?/. partly by Land and partly by Water : the storm being the tail of a Hurricane, was not universall, for we heard of no Ships which met with it but ourselves ; nor the Montrose Ship did not meet with it. There is en- couragement for several trades here ; in the first place Planting : for Wheat, Indian Corn, Beef, Pork, &c. give all ready money in York and the Neighbour Collonies : Wheat 4 shillings the [224] bushel, Indian Corn 2s or half a crown. Pork and Beef &c. to be had at an ordi- nary easie rate. And in the second place there may be Fishing: For the Inhabitants aver they swim so thick in the Creeks and Rivers, at certain seasons of the year, that they have hailed them out of the water with their very hands. In the third place for one to have a Malt house, a brew house, and a bake house, to make Malt, brew beer, and bake bisket for Barbadoes and the Neighbour Collonies; providing lie have a Ship of his own, and skill to manage his business, would certainly be a good trade. Lastly for one to buy up the product of the Conntrey, such as all kinds of grains. Beef, Pork &c. and export them to Barba- does, and import Rumm and Malasses, would certainly be a good trade ; as likewise change keeping would be a good trade in Amboy, for the highest designe of the old Buckskin Planters (I am just now drinking to one of them, our Countreyman, who was sent away by Cromwell io New England ; a slave from Dunbar, Living now in Woodbridge Like a Scots Laird, wishes his Countreymen and Native Soyle very well, though he never intends to see it. Pardon this Parenthesis,) is to acquire a piece of monie to drink [225] in the change house. This Countrey 314 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT and particularly the Town (showeth it to be the best scituated for a city of any here known in America) is but yet in infancie (it not being above 48 years at most since ever there was a Planter in the Province: and that occasioned by their changing so many masters) yet there are severall thousands of People already, and no want of good company, and if ye please bad too, as in any place of the world : neither are we destitute of Books and Clergy, for George Keith (who arrived three weeks since with others, they were all winter in Darbadoes) hath brought Mathematicks, and Benjamin Clark a Library of Books to sell : so that you may see New Perth begins to be founded upon Clergy. Shew my Cusins, George Burnet and Richard Maitland, that I hope they will not laugh more at me, for saying in Edinburgh, I would line my house with Cedar-wood, for all houses here are covered with Cedar, and one just now built in Perth, altogether of Cedar Wood, it is reckoned a wood of no value here, except for its lastiness. I intend to follow Planting myself, and if I had but the small stock here I have in Scotland, with some more servants [226] I would not go home to Aberdeen for a Begetv- cie, as was profered me; neither do I intend it; however, hoping to get my own safe over. We are not troubled here leading our pitts, mucking our Land, and ploughing 3 times: one Ploughing with 4 or 6 oxen at first breaking up, and with 2 horses only, thereafter, suffices for all ; you may judge whether that be easier Husbandrie than in Scot- land. But I know you are no good Husbandman ; But which of the aforesaid trades you will choose, if you will come here yourself is more than I can divine, or will advise you to ; I have told you how things are, and in God\s Name take your own choice, as I have done. I shall tell you what I would do were I in your place, if it shall fall out you do come, I would get some trusty Comorads, Merchants, to joyn with me, and sett up a trade in Perth, for I think a mans own trade fitts him best : if you have 5000 Merks it is enough, 4 in goods and one in Money. Let none come here destitute of money, it is of great request here, and ^gets cheape Pennyworths, and 25 per cent of advantage by it : but I doe not advise you, for if you should meet with such trouble and disappoyntments as we have done by being put by our Port, you would perhaps be discouraged, and give me the blame. All our baggage ia not yet come from Maryland, and I want yet my bed Cloathes. and the Land I intend to settle on is not yet purchased from the Indians ; for after I have viewed all the Province, such of it as is yet habitable, I have chosen the South branch of Rariton-River for conveniency of Fishing, Fowling, and Meadows ; but all the best Land lyes back from the Riv- ers, and the Sea Coasts ; the further hack the better it is, which neces- sitates me to go a mile back. In brief what you heard of the countrey is all true, so I need not spin out long Descriptions of it: no unbyassed and indifl'erent Person will speak ill of the Land, it is both pleasant, and OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 315 wholesome ; and industiious People, after some few years Labour, may lead a pleasant, easie Life, and want for nothintjr; and I am oro|)iiiion may grow rich too, if they take pains for it, and follow Mticliandi.>^ing ; and some are actually grown rich since they come hero vvlio iiad no- thing before. If any shall miscredit what I have i^aid, I shall not think myself baffled for that, but let them live in their opinion and I will live in mine ; And if they please they may do with me as I did with John Skeens Wife, cast my Letters in mine own teeth, and when [228] they come upon the place, I shall make good what I say, face to face, as she did to me : and if they come not themselves, they need not trouble them- selves whether it be true or fiilse. The goods fit for this Countrey are all kinds of house hold Plenishing, without which and a years provision in victualls, let none come hither, if they would wish not to be preyed on by the old Planters. All course cloth such as hodden grayes, and Plaiding, course stockings and Linning ; no fine things for an infant Countrey, except for a mans own use : course Bedding and Blankets : — Governour Barclay can give you full information as to this point. The Inconveniencies we have met with are, great trouble and charges for want of our baggage; there is likewise trouble and charges for the first settlement in carting out ones goods to the woods: — fencing is the chief difficulty, and if there be many great trees the loggs must be drawn off with oxen and the branches burned, the trees are felled equal to a man's thigh high, but the roots are no impediments ; where is much brush the roots must be plucked up with grubbing howes : any man may learn Husbandrie here who was not acquainted with it in Scotland, {Tohn.cco would grow here as well as in Maryland^ but it is [229] best for Euro- pean graines :) I doe not intend to write more Letters to Edinburgh with this occasion, being busied about mine own settlement; therefore I intreat you will remember me to all my friends. Relations Comorads and Acquaintances at Edinburgh, and shew them of my welfair ; that I had not my health so well these 7 years by-gone, as now (Blessed be God.) and that I am not troubled with coughs and head aikes as in Edinburgh, which is likewise a great motive for me to stay in this Countrey. I intreat to hear from them all ; you will not readily miss occasions from London every Month to some place in America : And there is ordinarily occasions hither from the neighbour CoUonics. I have received Letters from the Bissets, and my Brother, from Mr. Alex- ander since we came : I entreat to hear particularly from the Professor of Divinitie and Mathematicks, Doctor Pitcairn, Mr. George Alexander, and any others who shall ask for me, wishing you and all your concerns well, I continue Dear Cusin, Your most affectionate Cusin and humble Servant Charles Gordon. 316 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT Postscript by the foresaid hand [230] If any pleases to tell me what their scruples are, I shall en- deavour to answer them, if Servants knew what a Countrey this is for them, and that they may live like little Lairds here, I think they would not be so Shy as they are to come ; and during their service they are better used than in any place in America I have seen. You may know my Subscription by the sign I gave you of my Pistoles misserving in the Boat, or at least when you tell your mother, you may mind on me, for you will miss some pints of wine you spent with me (that Friday night, you conveyed me aboard) on the Shore, and in the Ship. If there were a Caball of Merchants here to export the product of the Countrey to Barbadoes, and the West Indies, and to Import Rumm, Malaises. Sugar and Cotton^ &c. it would do a great deal of good to this Countrey. I intreat to know what remarkable Revolutions has happened either abroad or at home since I came away. Any Mer- chants who settle [231] here must take Lotts in the Town, and build houses. Mr. David Mudie is building a stone house, and hath already a Horse mill ready to set up presently in New Perth. Adieu — For Mr. James Mudie Merchant in Montrose. New Perth, the 9th of March, 1685. Sir, My Love ever being remembered to yourself, Lady aad Chil- dren, these are earnestly intreating you to let my Wife have any little thing she stands in need of untill it shall please the Lord I return, and I shall pay you very thankfully, I have left Thomas Parson, and re- solves to trade this Summer in the Countrey, and to come home with your Uncle the next Spring. I wish you were here and your whole Family, for I doubt not but the Countrey would please you well ; For there is abundance of much better Land here than ever Arbikie was, and an Earldome to be bought far below in pryce the vallue of what Buch pettie Lairdships as Arbikie is sold for in Scotland; without purging of the Lands of any incumbrances. For I [232] hope to winn as much monie this year, as will buy a better Lairdship than Arbikie ; and if ye resolve not to come over, I resolve to buy Land before I come from this, and title it Arbikie. But I shall be sorrie to take away your title, but if I do, it will be your own fault : and for your better incourage- ment, I know you love a Gunn and a Dogge, and here ye will have use for both. For Wilde Geese, Turkies, Ducks, and Drakes, Partridges. Conies, Doves, and innumerable more kinds of Fowls [of] which I know not their names, are here to be seen every hour of the day, in flocks above Thousands in Number ; And for your skieft which you use OP EAST NEW JERSEY. 3 ( 7 to Fish with bring here with you, or one like her, for I assure you of good employment, and yet ye may catch more Fish in one hour hero, than any Fisher in Montrose in two, excepting Podlocs at tiic shore head. Sir, take this as no jest from me, for wliat is here written is a rcall truth : but ye may think, it is not my dictating, but the Writer and I have set it together the best way we can ; But yet not so [23:^J full as I would have had it. Present my Love to your Sister, Uncle, and all Friends, and I am Sir, Your very loving Friend and Cusin James Mudie. A letter from David Mudie, Merchant in Montrose : For James Mudie q/Courthill in Scotland. New Perth the ^th of March 1685. Loving Brother I wrote you a lyne upon my arrivall] here, and by my last to my Wife, of the date the 12 December, I desired her to let you see it, which 1 hope she has done if it be come to her hands ; I do now understand this Countrie, better than I did at that time, and the longer I travell in it I like it the better : for a frugall man with a small fortune may very soon raise a good Estate, which I wrote formerly to my Wife. In rela tion to the Countrie, I find it most certain and much better than I wrote : this Winter hath "been exceeding hard and sharpe, the like not seen by those who have lived 20 or 30 years in it, which hath [234] hindered me of a great deal of work: yet I have cleared three Acres of Ground to be an Orchard and a Garden, which lyes close to the house which I am a building, which is all of Stone work with Cellars under the Ground, six Rooms off a floor, two Stories high, besides the Garrat: and I have two Masons dayly working at it since the first of February : three Wrights working at an Horse mill which will be clear against the latter end of this month : And I am told that the Mill will be Avorth 100 lib a year, but I am sure she will be better than 50. of clear Money, for every Scots boll of Wheat or Indian Corn payes here for grinding of it 2 shill : Ster. This house and mill stands me a great deal of Money, but there is none such in this Countrey, nor ever was. I resolve to go out to the Countrey to the Land which I have taken up, which is 2 hours going from my own house by water ; I mind to settle some of my Servants there against the middle of this Month ; I am provided with six course Horses, Oxen and Swine sufficiently in number, lor any Plantation for the first year : the Land I have settled on, in my Judg- 318 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT ment is extraordinary good. If any Friends or Acquaintance hath any inclination to [235] come over here, I can assure them, if they be Fru- gal! men, and have but 300 lib Sier: Slock, they may live better than a Gentleman with us of 40 Chalders of Victual!. I cannot now resolve to come home til this time twelve Months, since Thomas Parscn hath eo much disappointed me, as I have written to my wife : but agamst that time, if the Lord preserve my health, I will come home tlien. Present my service to Arbikie, and to my Sisters, and to all our Friends, whicli will save me trouble to give them a Line ; my love to your wife, and children, I am, Your loving Bi'other David Mudie Let Arbikie, my sisters, and the rest of my Friends see this Letter. Abstract of a letter from Robert FuUerton Brother to the Laird of Kinnaber, to Brothers a.nd Sisters, from Amboy the 6 of November 1684 Dear Brothers and Sisters, By the Mercies of the Most High, we are safe arryved, after a long Demur by [236] contrary winds : we encountered very happily at first with Long Island and the next day came to an Anchor in New Jersey^ The Passengers did all very well, though we had some very rough gusts, and were very thronged in so small a vessel, being 130 Souls, be- sides Sea-men: of these 27 were women, 6 or 7 children only; one man whom I hyred in your house called William Clark standing carelessly upon the Forcastle tumbled over boards, and drowned tlio we put out our boat and endeavoured in vain to save him. This Countrey pleaseth us very well, and appears to be nothing short of our expectation. We were yesterday, ranging about viewing our Land, whereof you shall have accompt by the next : the Land in general is good, and agrees with the accompt you have heard : the Trees are notliing so invincible as I did imagine, being neither so thick nor so great as we thought. The first plant which 1 touched was wild Bayes. which grow in abun- dance here, the fruits are very excellent, such sorts as 1 have seen — ap- ples the best I believe in the world, some I have seen oJ' a pound weight [237] Cattle in generall are abundantly plentifull, especially Horses and Oxen; the greatness and latness of the Oxen will Countervail the Ditlerence of the price, being about 5 lib sterling. The Countrey is not altogether levell, as some other Couiitreys here, but hatli easie OP EAST NEW JERSEY. 319 rysings, and Vallies. My new experience cannot give you euch an accompt as you may afterwards expect, but in generall the Countrcy may satisfie any rationall ingenuous mind ; yet I find there be Novices who know no happiness save home, with a glass of Wine, and Com- orads in a change House: tho there be no want licrc of mure nohle di- vertisements as hunting wild Beasts, wild Horses, and Deer : yesterday I did see several droves of Deer, and wild Horses, as I did ride up in the Countrey. The Lund which we were viewing is a large ])lain, under the blew hills, watered with two or three little Rivers, about 8 or 9 miles from New Perth, four from Rariton River Northward ; the land downwards is all taken up by the Q,uitrenters of Piscatawaij, liood- bridge, or Elizabe(h(own. There shall be nothing of care wanting in [238] your affairs, and I do expect the like from you ; I hope my Grand Mother is in health. — wish her from me long life, and good health, and assure her she wronged the Countrey in her opinion : present my love to all my Friends. — I am Your affectionate Brother Robert Pulterlon. A letter from John Forbes Brother to the Laird q/"Barula Directed to Mr James Elphingston oi Logic Writer to His Majesties Signet in Edinburgh, in Scotland From Amboy-point, alias New Perth, in the Province of East New Jersey, in America March IS 1685. Honored Sir, I having the occasion of this Bearer Mr Drummond, brother to John Druvimond the Factor in Edinburgh, and who came Passenger with me to this place from Scotland, I could not omit my duty in ac- quainting you by [239] this line of our safe arrival into America ; tho being by the Divine Hand of Providence miraculously preserved from the cruelty of the tempestuous Ocean, occasioned by a mighty storm of wind, (which happened upon the 12 day of September last) and which blew so tempestuously, that, in short, it carried first away our Bollsprit, and afterwards our whole three Masts, Flagstali; and all by the board, before the Sailors were able to get them out: it likewise took away the awning above our quarter-deck and left not so mucli as an yanl ol' a rope above our heads, all of which was done in the space ol" half an hour. We lay thus distressed like a pitiful Wreck all that night, (we having lost our Masts about 12 of the clock in the day) and two daye« 320 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT thereafter at the mercie of the Waves (which being hke mountains oc- casioned by the great storm of Avind) without hopes of recovery, being then above 200 leagues from this land of America, tossing to and fro expecting that each wave should overwhelm us : Yet at last it pleased God to turn the storm into a calm : and having preserved all our lower Yards, we made all haste and made Jury Masts of them ; with the help whereof (tho very unsufficient ones, to drive forward the bulk of so great a Vessel) and of [240] Gods miraculous Mercie and Providence, Who — immediately after we had put our ship in any mean posture for plying out her Voyage, — was pleased to send us such a fair and mode- rate gale of wind, a^ brought us in sight of the Capes of Virginia, within 15 dayes after, or thereabouts, having never ceased for the whole time till it brought us thither in safety. So we came within the Capes, and sailed up that great Navigable Bay, called Chessapeik bay, up through all Virginia up to Maryland, where we landed at the place where our ship was bound to take in her Tobacco, lor her homeward Loadning. But being thus Disabled, and not being able to ply out her Voyage to this place (where she ought to have landed us,) we was ne- cessitated to travel from thence by Land to this place, being upwards of 200 English miles, and having left our Goods behind us, (which was thereafter to come about in a Sloup) we was necessitated to stay all Winter in this New and young Citie, Avhere we had but very bad Ac- commodation for Lodging, tho we knew of no want of Victuals of all sorts for money, tho at a considerable dear rate. This hindered us long from our falling to work about our husbandries, 'which was a great loss of time to us ; However, when our Sloup came about [241] — which did not hold the half of our goods, So that every man yet wants the half of his goods. But are dayly expecting them by the same Sloup which we fraghted thither back again — I went out to the Woods to the Land we had pitched upon, with several otliers of our Countreymen such as Tho : Gordon, and Mr. Char : his Brother, Brothers to the Laird of Slraloch, J^mriaiar's two sons liobert andMr Thomas Fullerton, James Johnstone of Spotswood, and John Barclay the Governours Brother, with some others ; where we have all pitched near by one another, upon a piece of excellent land as we suppose ; Whereof I judge I have not the worst (if not the absolute best) piece of land in all the Tract, for we had it all at our own choosing and not by lots. This land lyes not on a Navigable River, but about 5 or 6 miles from Rariton River, which is Navigable up the nearest place to our Plantations ; For the best places of the Rivers are already inhabited by the old Planters of this Countrey who have been here some 16 or 18 years agoe. There are many places upon Navigable Rivers yet untaken, and some very near this place also, which is intended to be the Metropolis of this Province, But it is gene- rally sandy barren land ; and the best [242] land is computed by all to OF EAST NEW JERSEY. oni be in the woods, back some several miles from the Navigable Rivers ; So that we rather chuse land for profitableness, than for Conveiiioficcs of Towns and pleasure allenarly ; [entirely ?] For tlieri' is abundaiiee both of good and barren land in this Province, So that a man may chuee some for pleasure, and some for profit and Conveiiiency, for 1 intend to take up about 4 or 500 Acres where I have now settled: which is on a very pleasant place and good land, and whereof I have, with two hands (not having had time to get many Servants away with me. having come away upon so short advertisement; and whereof I lost one at Ma- ryland by sickness : so that now I have but two, and a woman Ibr dressing our Victuals and cloaths, till I get more sent me tiiis year) already cleared, or at least will clear, and [have] in Corn this year about 8 or 10 Acres of ground ; tho it was prettie thick of stately tall Timber; and tiiat since the 26. of January, at which time I went to the woods. 1 have 1000 Acres to take up at this time, out of the first Division of 10 - 000 Acres, ordained to be laid out to every Proprietor: I havino-boutrht a 10th part, whereof my Brother is half sharer. I have also taken up 400 Acres of excellent fine land on [243] Rariton River, about 20 miles above Amboy, whereon I design to set servants, that I expect over this ensuing summer : and so to divide our said parcels, and improve them for a year or two to tlie best advantage, and then to sell them off If I design to come home, which we can do at good profit. Now for a general description of this Countrey ; — it is a fine place for those who have a good stock, to lay out upon a stock of Cattel of all sorts, which do greatly multiply here in a short time, and are sold at great rates, and may soon increase a stock greatly : or it is a good Countrey for an Industrious Frugall Man, tjiat designs to follow Husbandries close- lie : providing he bring but some little stock to stock a Plantation with- all : or it is very good for Tradesmen, as good Carpenters. Smiths, Tailors, &c who will get lafge wages a day : But it is not a Countrey for idle sluggish People ; or those who cannot sometimes put too their hands, and encourage their Servants. It is a place that produces many fine Fruits, and Physick Herbs ; The Woods are stored with wild Deers, Conies, Wolves, Bears, Racouns, some Beavers, and several other Beasts, which have fine Furrs; and Fish, and Water Fowl for the killing. The Timber [244] are mostly Oak of all sorts, Walnut, Ches- nut, whereof there are great abundance where I have planted, tho they be scarce so bigg as these that comes to Scotland, yet large and pleas- ant. Strawberries grow very thick upon the ground amongst the Trees, so that some places of the Woods are in Summer as it were ct)vercd with a red cloth. As I am certainly informed. Fruit Trees advance at a great rate in this place, for a Man may have an Orchard within a few years after the Planting, that may yeeld him a great quantitie of Cyder, which is the chiefest ol" their drink in this Province, even amongst the 21 322 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT meanest of the Planters. So that this Countrey if well improved, may make a fine place ; for Nature has been deficient in nothing to it, either for pleasure or fruitfulness of the Soyl ; So that a man being once set- tled two or three years in it, and having Corn, Cattle, and all things necessary for the use of man within himself, And the trouble and hard- ship of his first settling by his hand, He may live as comfortably here as in any place in the World : Providing he could dispence with the want of his Friends and Relations, and the satisfaction of their Compa- nie, which is the loss I most regrett in this place. And thus having given you a short description of the place, I [245] cannot but in the next place, much regrett my misfortune, in not seeing you and taking your advise before I came to this place : But my Resolution was so sudden, by the encouragement I received from the Chief Governour, and some of the Proprietors at Aberdeen : (having come in onely to see my Sister with my Brother) and by the many Gentlemen that were going along in the ship, that I was induced to go along without so much as taking my leave of any of my Friends, save onely those that were then in Town : So that I came of resolution onely to see the place, and to settle onely if I found conveniency. — And having thus abruptly come away, when I came here, I designed not to return till I took some tryal of the Countrey, that at my return I might be the more able to give a true accompt thereof I am not as yet of any determined resolution as to my staying for altogether, as yet, but I resolved to stay this year, till I see what the ground produces, and to see how my endeavours take effect ; and God willing, by that time, I may in some measure be re- solved what to do, for then the greatest hardship will be over my head ; and by that lime I will have up a prettie good house, which is near already framed, whereas hitherto I have dwelt for the most part here in a Wigwam : [24:6'} (as we call them here) accounting all our hardship in the beginning but short, in expectation of good success in the end. But however I may be resolved hereafter, I intend, God willing, life and health serving, to come home or start within this year or two, and see all my Friends, and apologise the best manner I can for my abrupt departure. Now having thus in some measure discharged a part of my dutyfull respects towards you by this line, in letting you know of my wellfare and present condition ; Earnestly desiring ye will favour me with a return by the first occasion ; wherein I shall be glad to hear of your welfare, of your kind Ladies and Children (To whom and others my nearest Friends and Relations, and Comerads, I desire the favour to be Kindly remembered) begging pardon for [this trouble, and your patience to peruse this, when your leasure can permit : and afterwards to communicate it to my Uncle, Calder-hall and his Lady, or to my Cusins Harrie LocJdiart, or George Erskine, if they call for it : I not ^laving time at present to write to them at length, as I have in haste OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 303 done to you. I shall forbear to give you further trouble at prcBent ; in- treating you to remember me kindly to your Worthy and oblidging [247] Lady, and fine Children, and shall only subscribe myself, as I sincerely am, and shall continue, Sir, Your most affectionate Cusin and oblidged Servant, while John Forbes. A Letter from Thomas [Robert?] Fullerton, to his Brother the Laird o/'Kinnaber, dated from his new possession, in the plains of new Coesarea : Jamcary 7 1685. Dear Brother, You have, above, a transcript, containing the principal Contents of an abrupt Letter, sent you three or four days after our arrivall : since that time we iiave possessed our Selves in the above mentioned plain 11 miles from New Perth, four from Rariton Northward, and 12 from Eli- zabeth-Town ; we have the honour to be the first Inland planters in thJH part of America, for the former Settlements have been by the River- sides, which are all possessed [248] by the Quit-renters ; the which I would have grudged at, had I not found the goodness of the Land up- wards will countervail! the trouble of transportation to the water. Ab to the number and nature of these Quit-renters, they are about 2 or 300 Families, some civill and Discreet, others rude and Malcontent with the late Purchassers, and need some thing of austerity to make them Complaisant. We have at present sharp frosts, and a good deall of Snow, tiaree dayes of vitrifying frosts this winter, had not its match for cold these 16 years by gone, as the Inhabitants do inform us. Against this extream, we have a good Defence of Fire, and telling of Treee, and might live warm enough, were we not forced to travell for recruit of Provisions. I reckon the winter to consist only of nights, for the Su7is appearance by day moderateth the cold, and melts the Frost : I do not find the cold here to cause obstructions or coughs ; the Air is ever transparent. We have singular good stomachs, which if it con- tinue as they say. it will require a fertile Countrey when peopled. [249] I cannot find it necessary to give any particular account of this Countrey witli its product, because ye have had already many, and some very ingenuous of this nature ; besides I have not yet proof of all the seasons of the year. We have tiie Deer to walk tlie round nightly ■about our Lodge ; this morning I shot a large Hart, and followed luu bloody tract in the snow above two miles before he dyed ; I believe the fattest Deer in the world are here. We have made choise of your land next adjacent to mine, and have placed your Servants there, where 324 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT they will settle if we find convenient, when the snow is away : this is all at present from, Your affectionate Brother Robert Pullerton. Another Letter from the same hand, dated the 10 of March 1685. Dear Brother Before the despatch of the above written, of the date of this Instant, so that they may both go [250] together ; the Winter is now past, and we are providing ground for the seed, the Fields being bare, we can better distinguish where is good land. We have chosen our chief Plan- tation and yours two miles further up in the Countrey, close under the blew Mountains, where you may reckon you have an Estate of 40 Chal- ders of Victual, with no more Wood thereon than yourself would desire, and it might yeeld no less yearly, presently, if it were all plenished after a little pains to root out the brush ; that which wanteth Wood is open plain with short bushes, which we cut at the roots with a how. I wish the adjacent bounds were purchased, and possessed by our friends, who have any design this way; for it is excellent land; the mould in the Province in Generall, is either like that I possessed at the Northwater, or more marly or clay ; but all of it hath 3. 4. or five inches of black rotten mould uppermost. I have not much more to trouble you with, but my respects and love to all Friends; if my Uncle or any other Friends send their Sons here, let them advert to this Maxim, A Gentle- man [251] that is not to work himself mii^t be well provided with a stock, and this must be more or less as he designs his Estate. I question not your care in my affairs ; neither need you question in your concerns the care of Your affectionate Brother Robert Fullerton. Abstract of a letter from Charles Gordon {Brother to the Laird of Slraloch) to Doctor John Gordon, Doctor of Medicine at Montrose, dated at Woodbridge, in East Jersey, 7 o/ March 1685. Dear Brother, I Design 100 pound Sterling for goods and servants ; if Tradesmen and Servants knew they were better used here than in any Neighbour- ing Collonie, and that after their time is expired, they may gain a stock OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 325 by their work, and live like some of your Lairds before tliey dye, tiiey would not so mucli scrouple to eonie hither. There are a number of queries proposed by our Brother [251] Thotmis to tiu' Fuilertons, which I remember you desired me to answer ; the most materiall of them are answered, by this and my former Letters ; I shall therefore supcrceed any long discription of it, till I see it throw ail the seasons of the year; in short, I see it pleasant, and furnished with all ronveniencics of Na- ture, such as woods, grass meadow, plenty of Fresh Springs, Creeks, and Rivers ; I find it wholesome for I am not (blessed be God) troubled here with Defluction, head-akes, and coughs as at Edinburgk, which is a great inducement for me or any valitudinary man to stay in this Countrey ; People come from JJarbadoes, to York, and hither, for their healths sake.— If you design to come hither yourself, you may come as a Planter, or a Merchant, but as a Doctor of Medicine I cannot advise you ; for I can hear of no diseases here to cure but some Agues, and some cutted legs and fingers, and there are no want of Empericks for these already ; I confess you could doe more than any yet in America, being versed both in Chirurgcry and Pharmacie ; for here are abund- dance of [253] curious Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees, and no doubt Med- icinall ones for making of drugs, but there is little or no Imployment this way. Your Servants are settled on a pleasant plain beside the Fuilertons on a brook ; called The Vine or Cedar Brook, from a swamp of Cedars from whence it springs, and the multiplicity of vines which grow upon it. All your friends and Countrey men here are in good health, blessed be GJod : This hath been the hardest Winter that was almost since ever there were English here ; The sound betwixt Jersey and Staten Island was frozen in January tliat carts and horses went upon it; betwixt Martenmas and Christmas flying showers of snow with clear moderate frosts; in January deep snow and most bitter frosts which ever I found, but did no wayes affect peoples bodies ; the Air being ordinary clear and serene ; about the 20 of January, the snow went off insensibly, and about 3 weeks in February it was almost {ike Summer in Scotland ; the end ot' Feb)ncary -and he ginning of March for the most part rain and wind. Acquaint me with the value of sweet- 6ent-[254] Gumm, which flowes from the wood. Gum-trees, of Sassafra.s, Sassaparilla, and such other things as the Countrey naturally pro- duceth. Be pleased to send me some Medecins for Agues, and ac- cidental! cutts, or sores, in case myself or Servants be overtaken with them. I hope with the blessing of God here to make a livelihood for myself. I intreat to hear wliat remarkable news, and revolutions arc either at home with you, or abroad, and so continues Your most affectionate brother and humble Servant, Charles Gordon. 326 "^^^ MODEL OP THE GOVERNMENT A Letter from TTiomas Gordon^ Brother to the Laird of Straloch. For Mr. George Alexander, Advocate in Edinburgh. From the Cedar Brook of East New Jersey, in America, the 16 February 1685. Dear Mr. George. This is the fifth time I have written to you since i came to Ainerica, some of which I am confident have [255] come safe to your hands : so that I need not now resume them, for in them I gave you a full account of our danger by Sea, and travels by Land, and therefore I shall now proceed and begin where I left last. Upon the eighteenth day of November I and my Servants came here to the Woods, and 8 dayes thereafter my Wife and Children came also ; I put up a Wigwam in 24 hours, which served us till we put up a better house ; which I made 24 foot long, and 15 foot wide, containing a Hall and Kitchen both in one, and a Chamber and a Study, which we put up pretty well (with Pallissadoes on the sides, and Shingles on the roof) against Yuill, on which day we entered home to it ; and have been ever since, and still am clearing ground and making fencing : So that I hope to have as much ground, cleared, fenced, ploughed, and planted with Indian Corn in the beginning o? May, (which is the best time for plant- ing it) as will maintain my Family the next year, if it please God to prosper it. Robert Fidlerton and I are to joyn for a Plough this Spring, consisting of 4 Oxen and two Horses, but if the Ground were once broken up, two Oxen and two Horses, or 4 oxen alone will serve ; so that the next Spring I intend (God willing) [256] to have a Plough of my own alone. I intend to build a better House and larger, and to make a kitchen of this I am in ; which I will hardly get done this Summer, because I resolve to build upon my lot at New Perth. I am settled here in a very pleasant place, upon the side of a brave plain (almost free of woods) and near the water side, so that I might yoke a Plough where I please, were it not for want of Hay to maintain the Cattle, which I hope to get helped the next year, for I have several pieces of Meadow near me. The first Snow we had was about the midst of November, and went twice away again, and about the end of the Month it came on, and continued with very great Frost and knee deep Snow till towards the end of January ; and then the Snow dessolved pleasantly and calmly with the heat and influence of the Sun, and now I judge it as warm here as it will be with you in May, and much more pleasant, for we are not by far so much troubled with winds here, as ye are in Scotland ; the winter was generally very pleasant and calm, altho sometimes very vehement frost. I have spoken with several old Inhabitants here, who assure me they had not seen so hard a winter as this has been these 16 years bygone ; and trucly [257] if I never see much worse I shall be very well pleased with this Countrie. We have great abundance of OP EAST NEW JERSEY. 3-27 Deer, Turkies, «&c. here about us; and as for the wild Beasts, and Natives, (whereof I was greatly aflVayed before I came liere,) I find no danger, trouble, [or] inconveniency tliereby at all : there are abundance of all sorts of Cattle in this Countrey to be had at very reasonable rates, I can buy a good Cow for 4 lib. sier., a good Ox for 5 lib. ntcr., and a good Horse for 5 or 6 lib. ster. : a Hog for 20s ster. : a Bushel! of Wheat for 4s. ster. : of Rye 3s. 6d. ster. There are 8 of us settled here within half a mile or a mile of another, and about ten niileH from the Town of New Perth, or Amboy-point, so that I can go and come in a day, either on foot or horseback, viz. : Robert and James Pullerton, James Johnstone of Spoiswood, John Forbes. John Barclay, Doctor John Gordon his Servants, Andrew Ale.vander, and myself. This is the most of what I can say of this Countrey at present, for I intend to write nothing but what I either see or know to be certainly true, and for my part I am very well pleased with this retired Countrey life ; and I love this Countrey very well as yet, altho I hear [258] of some of our Countreymen who are not ; neither can it be ex'pected, that any Countrey in the World will please the dilTcrent humours of all Persons. Blessed be God, myself and Wife, and Children, and Servants have been and are still in good health, Avhich God continue : be pleased to conununicate this to both yours and my Friends and Acquaintances, because I have not leasure to write at great length to every one ; and let those remember me to all others that give themselves the trouble to inquire for Your most humble and and oblidged Servant, Thomas Gordon. A Letter from David Mudie, of the date of theformcr,to Mr. Alexander Gairns, one of the Ministers at Edinburgh. Sir, I did write to you a line upon my arrival here, and my last the 12 oi December, directed to John Graham; I desired him to let you see his letter, and my wifes, which would inform you [259] as fully as [if] I had written to you. Since that time I have travelled throw the Countrey, and informed myself of the conditions thereof, which still does the better please me : the winter hath been exceeding hard, and sharp, which hath much hindered me of work ; yet I have cleared three acres of ground, to be an Orchard and a Garden, which lyes at the back of my house, which I am building of stone, six good rooms off a floor, Sellers all under the ground, two stories high, and garrets, at which I have had Masons since the first of February; and I hope will have it fully Finished this Summer, I have also built a horse-mill : The house is 328 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT 32 foot wide, 40 foot long, the great wheel 30 foot Diameter, which I will have fully finished against the latter end of this Month ; it is told me ehe may be worth 100 pound Sterling a year ; I am sure she will be better than 50 clear money: this from, Sir Your humble and obedient Servant, David Mudie. [260] A Letter from Thomas FuUerton, Brother to the Laird of Kinnaber, to John Johnstone, Drugist. in Edinburgh, dated the 9 of March, 1685, from East Jersey. Loving Commorad, — Your Brother and I did write to you about three Moneths agoe, wherein we told you, that we were 9 weeks at sea, after we parted from Kellebegs, in Ireland ; we were all very well at Sea only we had more Stomachs than meat ; to prevent which, if you or any other Commorad come this way, it will be prudence to fortifie themselves with good Cheese, Butter, Bisket, Cakes and Brandie ; I believe you are cloyed with descriptions of the Countrey : And there- fore this in brief, the reports you hear of it are generally true, some it may be are Hyperbolick in magnifying its Goodness, but as many are detractive from what it really deserves. There is abundance of good Land for improving ; abundance of Swine and Cattle for the raising ; Deers for killing ; houses for the building ; But some expect all [261] these without pains. Your brother and I and our Servants, have had good Venison broth once, a day all this winter ; to be short, if a man please to live a Countrey Life to labour Land, plant Orchards, and such like ; I believe he cannot come to a place that will better answer his expectations, and when he hath a minde to be merry he will get a Punch-house, and very good fellows. I hope in a little time I shall want nothing but the company of the prettie Girls, to all whom, who retain any remembrance of me. Let my service be remembered, and to all friends. I long exceedingly to hear from you, but more to see you : we had many difficulties at our entrance, and in our first indeavours, But when you come, I hope they shall be prevented by Your affectionate Commorad Thomas Fidlerton. OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 339 [262] A Letter from James Jolinstono of Spotswooil, in Alexander Henderson toriter in Edinburgh, dated the 9 of March, \G85, from his Plantation at the blew Hills in East Jersey in America. Ki?id Coinniorad, These arc to present my best wish(;R to you, and ail acquaintances, if any injoymcnt could makeup the want of your Company, I should not complain here ; what else can contribute to profile or pleasure, being here to be had : neither is there any thing here to discourage us, Quakers are not numerous : Wolves are so far from troubling men, that if a man should lay a Glove upon a Carcass or their prey, they will yell, but not come nigh it. You cannot come nigh a rattle-Snake, but they will rattle witii their tailo, whereby a man is advertised either to kill them, or go by them ; they frequently charm the Squirrels, or other little Beasts off the tops of the Trees unto their mouth, and that without touching them with their teeth ; which if they did, they would [263] poison themselves. There is a Flee by the Salt Marshes most troublesome in Summer, but is not in the vp-lands. I am mightily well satisfied with my coming over, neither do I think I could live again in Scotland. In the Summer there is plenty of Fruits, Peaches, Walnuts, Chesnuts, Strawberries, and another berry like Currants ; Vines as good as any where. I and all who have come over, have kept our health very well ; our food hath for the most part been Venison we got from the Indians, which I like exceeding well. The Indian Corn, Indian Beans, and Pease, are pleasant Grains: we have very good fishing. Present my service to all Friends, and believe me to be ever Sir, Your obliged Servant, James Johnstone. Sir, I nothing question but by the perusal of the above written Letters, you are abundantly satisfied, that East Jersey as to all things necessary will accommodate our present design. But if some (Malevo- lent Persons) who because [264] they have not the courage nor resolu- tion to adventure upon such an undertaking themselves, do cavill at the design in others, may insinuate that the greatest part of these Letters being written by Gentlemen, it may be presumed, interest may oblige them to represent things otherwise than they are, to the advantage of the place. This is easily answered, that there are severall persons in this Town, who have perused all their Letters, and declare they find nothing contained therein, that they can contradict. But as for a further proof 330 THE MODEL OF THE GOVERNMENT thereof, I have thought fit to conclude with a letter from a Mason, sent over as a Servant, by Captain Hamilton ; he being a plain Countrcy- man, it is not very probable he can have any design. I had the Letters from his said Master, as followeth. [265] A Letter from James Cockburn Mason, Servitor in East Jersey in America, to Captain Hamilton, at the Ship tavern in Edinburgh, dated the 12 of March 1685, to his Uncle James Brown, Shoe Maker in Kelso. — Uncle this few Lines do testifie that I am well and in good health, blessed be God for it, desiring to hear the like from you, for I am very well in this land of America. We lake neither wild nor tame to eat : the most part of our drink is Rumm, Cyder, and Beer ; such as have •these to sell, drives a very good Trade. I am working at my work daily, in good weather, and have very good encouragement among the old Planters. If my Sister Katharin inclines to come over, she may have good service here, and Francie also ; it is better to be bound some ^ew years, than come free, except they have a good stock ; it is dear living here the first year or two. The Indians are a harmless People and very kind to us ; they are not a hairie People as was said to us in Scotland. A Shoemaker would live very well here, if he bring any store of Leather with him ; the Shoes are five or six shillings a pair : there is nothing discourages us more than want of Ministers [266] here, but now they have agreed about their Stipends ; there is one to be placed in New Perth, Piscattaway, Woodhridge, and Elizabeth Town ; they have a mind to bring them from Scotland. Uncle I hope you will let me know of your welfare, and how the Town is repaired again, and so I rest your Nephew until death John Cockburn. Another from the same hand to George Fal Mason in Kelso, /rom New Perth in America the 20 of March 1685. Cusin, These are to show you that I am in good health, blessed be God for it, wishing to hear the like from you. We had a long Voy- age, but we came very well to our Harbour in this place of America, within a stone cast of my Masters Lott: it is upon the very Harbour. This Town is scituate betwixt two great Rivers, the one called Rari- ton, the other Hudsons. It is a very pleasant Countrey and good for all Tradsmen; you was angry with me for coming 'away, but I repent nothing of it myself, for I have abundance of Imployment. I am at the OF EAST NEW JERSEY. 33 j building of a great Stone house in New Perth, witii another Scotsman. They build most with [267] Timber, but arc beginning to build willi etone: there is a good stone in tliis Countrey as in Si-o//6. -Their instructions respecting tlie natives, 5U, nute — Tlieir re- ception ot Gov. Carteret in Enghind, 57. — Tlieir autliori y contiimed liy Duke of York and the King, 67.— Their course to- wards their opponents, 58.— The Province divided between them, C7.— 'J'heir ofticial Berry! John,' 4r^, 55. 57,5:", 60,77, 93,96,100, 117, 11.5. Billop, Chri.nopher, 217. Bishop, John, 4-J. 52, 55, 77, 134. , , , , " Brief account of East Jersey," published by the twelve proprietaries, 103, 2li7. BoUen, James, 52, 77. Bond, Robert 52. Bookey, Abraham, 49. Bowne, John, (or Bound,) 40, 52, 77. Bowne, /vndrew, 133, 145.— Left by Basse as Deputy Governor, 147.— Attempt to make him Governor, 150. — His conference with -. Hamilton, 22.). * Bloomfield, Thomas, Jr., 77. Brooksban'-, Joseph, 162. Browne, John, 42 Burlington, 68, 143, 158, 162. Burnet, Uobert, 152. Bruen, Obadiah, 42. Bvllin-'e, Edward, becomes interested in West Jersey, 67, 154— One of the twenty- our proprietaries, 88,202. 0. Cabot, Sebastian, 16,22. Campbell, Lord Neill, sends over servants, 104. —Is appointed Deputy Governor, and ar- rives, 117, ;iu«c— Meets an Assembly, U'J. Heturns to Scotland, leaving Hamilton as his substitute, 1 18.— Notice of, 127. Campbell, John, ,04, 127, 123. Campbell Archibald, ]27, 128. Carteret Sir George, notice of, 30, no«e.— Re- ceives a grant for New Jersey in conjunc- tion with Sir J. Berkeley, 31.— Receives a new grant for Ihe northern portion of the Province, 64. — Relinquishes this grant and receives another for E. Jersey, 67.— His death, 70, 82 —Leaves E. Jersey to Trus- tees, 82.— His Trustees sell the Province to twelve proprietaries, 83. Carterut, Philip, appointed Governor, and ar- rives at Elizabethtown, 36.— Is acknow- ledged, 39.— Sends messengers to invite setJers, 41. — Purchases claims of Denton and Bailey, 41.— Calls an Assembly, 51, 1«8. — Cluioses his Council, 52, 77. — First opposition to his government, 53, 54. — Changes his Council, 55.— Goes to Eng- land, leaving John Berry as Deputy Gov- ernor, 57. — His property confiscated by the Dutch, 62, note. — Recommissioned and returns to the Province, 66 — His commer- cial projects, 69.— His correspondence with Andros, 71. — His government proclaimed null, 72. — Receives Andros at Elizabeth- town, 73.— Is seized, taken to N. Y., tried, and obliged to relinquish the exercise of his anihority, 74.— Receives a confirma- tion of his authority, 75.— Resumes the government, 76. — Dissolves the Assembly, 80, 197.— Notice of, 84 —His lands on Rari- tan,92 — His official seal, i&9. Carteret, James, chosen Governor by the dis- affected, .55 —His acts, 56, note. — Hs au- thority annulled, 58. — His previous life, 5'J. vote. Carteret, Lady Elizabeth, Widow and Execu- trix of Sir George. 36, 75, .S5. Carteret, George, grandson and heir of Sir George, 81, 82. Charles 11. grants the lands between Connec- ticut River and Delaware Bay, to Duke of York, 22— Confirms the authority (jf Berk- eley and Carteret, 57. — Confirms anew the authority i( Carteret in E. Jersey, 64. — He dies, and is succeeded by Duke of York, an Janus II, 110. Clark, Walter, 40. Clark, Benjamin, 211. Crane, Jasper, 53, note. Cranberry, 138. Clergymen, desire for, 132, 168. Codrington. Thomas, 92, lilO, 117, 139. Colve, Anthony, Governor under the Dutch, 6J. Communipau, 17, 20, 94, 161. Commercial projects, 172. Concessions, The, issued by Berkeley and Car- teret, 33,36, note — Their provisions, 33. — Respecting slavery. 35, itotc. — Altered in 167H, 58. — Confirmed by the twenty- four proprietaries, 97. Cooper, Thomas, 88, 152, 201. Cornbury., Lord, 165. Corsen, Cornelius 92. Council, The. — Powers of, under the Conces bions, 34.--Governor Carteret's, 52. 77. — They advise his going to Englnnd, 56. — A change in the powers of 58. — Kudyard's, 96. — Lawrie's, 100, 7io«6 — Caii.pbeirs, 117, note. — Hamilton's, 133, note. — Correspond- ence with the Assembly, 189, 19J. Cuurts of Bergen and Woodbridge to exercise general jurisdiction, 5j. — Different kinds established, 167. Coxe, Daniel, 154. Currency of E. Jersey, 170. Customs" in New Jersey, 65, 69, 70, 80, 109 — 111, 141 14', 100. D. Davis, Nicholas. 40. Davis. Samuel, 77. Davi--i William, 1^7. Delaware Bay, Settlements on, by the Dutch, 11. — And Swedes, 11. — Taken possession of by the English for Duke of York, 2d.— Delegates to Assembly of 1668, 53. Dellavalh^ John,92. Dennis, Robert, 42. 52. Dennis, Samuel, 100, 134. Denton, Daniel, 37, 38, 41. Denton, Nathaniel, 38. Diderick, Hans, 49, 77. Dockwra, VV illiam, 1U4, 133, 150, 152. Dominique, Paul, 152. Dongan, Gov. of New York. — Is visited by Lawrie, 107. — Is anxious for annexation of N. Jersey to N. Y., 107, 217.— His course in relation to the commerce of E. Jersey, 109 —Is superseded by Andros, 113.— His correspondence with the Scotch I'roprie- taries, 214. Dudley, Joseph, appointed Governor, 131. Dundas, James, 134. INDEX. 3:r niinn. Hugh, 43. L)uti:li. The. — Erect trading huuscs at Miinhat- tuii Ishind and Albany, G. — Tlicy nc^no\v- ledije. temporarily, the authority of Gov'r of Virginia, G. — .Morcliuuls' Company chartered, 7. — Cumphiints against thcni by Minisl(!r<)f Cliailes 1st, ut the Hague, 7, note. — Offer to eell their claim and im- provements, 9 — West India Company charieri;d,lO. — Settle on Delaware Bay, 1 1. — With the Swedes dispossess the Engiisli, and subsequently ovei throw the Swedes, Vi — Settle on west side N. York Bay, IG, ]9, 20.— Grants to Tatroons, 17.— They ob- ject to settlements by others, 2}, 177 — Controversy with people of New England, 22 — Di.spossessed by the English under Nicholls, 2:*. — They regain possfssion of tlie country,. W — Confirm the privileges of towns ill N. Jersey, 60. — Adopt a code of laws therefor, til. — Anthony Colve ap- pointed Governor, 62 — Country finally re- stored by them to the English, 02. Duke of York receives his grant fiom Charles II., 213. — Ciinveys New Jersey to Lords Berkeley and Carteret, 30. — (lis powrrsas received and conveyed, :!-2. — IJisallows Elizabethtowii and Monmouth jiurcbases, 4il, — His toleration, 51, note. — Confirms the authority of Beikeley and Carteret, 57. — Obtains a new I'atent from the King, 63. — Is presumed to have hesitated about renewing his gram for N. J., 03. — Renews the titles of Sir G Carteret to the northern portion of the province, 64.— Is not dis- turbed by dissensions iji'twecn Carteret and Andros, 70. — The duties limited by him to three years longer, 70. — Disavows the acts of Andros toward' Carteret, 75. — Con- firms E. and W. Jersey to their respective proprietors free of customs, &c., 81, 191. — Confirms the sale of the Pruvince to the twenty-four proprietaries, 88. — Ascends the throne as James II., 110. — (See James II.) nrumm«nd, John, 88. 199. Dyre v\ illiam, 65, 109, I'JO. E. East Jersey set off to Sir George Carteret, 67. — Line between it and and West Jersey run, 07, nute — Cartere.'s projects for its commerce frustratid by Andros, 09, 190. — Andros's course towards it, 70 — 77. — Con- firmed by Duke of York to George Car- teret, grandson and heir of Sir George, 81. — Left by Sir G. Carteret to Trustees for the benefit of his creditors, 82.— Is sold by them to a number of proprietaries, 83. - Kobert Barclay appointed Governor. 89. — Description of it in 1080, 91 — Thomas Rudyard arrives as Deputy of Barclay, 95. Is superseded, 99. — Gawen Lawrie arrives as his successor, 1 00. — " Brief account" of it published, 103, 207.— Scot's " Model of the Government," 104 — Its commerce ob- structed by New York, 109 — Lawrie su- perseded, 116. — Lord Neill Campbell ap- pointed DeputyGovernor, 1 17 — He returns 10 Scotland, 118. — Succeeded by Andrew Hamilton, 1 19. — Is placed under Andros, 113, 121. — Andros's authority being sub- verted, Hamilton goes to England for instructions, 123 —Map of, 88, 123 —Gov- ernmont in, during Hamilton's absence, 130. -Estimate of its population In If.90. 131. — I ho proprit'tarieii renunic their power* and appoint Hamilton Governor, KO.— lncruaiic'd to Andrew Huniilton, 148.— But U finally surrendered to the crown, 152.— Currency of, 170. — Exertions of New York (Jovern- ors to have it annexed to that province, 217. ' Edsall, Samuel, 52, GO, 94. Essex County, 97, I5:t, 160, 161. Elizabethtown, 15, 36. 40. 42, 52, 53. .54. .'>8, 00, 61. 02, 08, 09, 70, 72, 74. 77, 80, 93. 97, 100. 117, 131, 145, 100, 107, 108, I»l,2>l. Elizabethtown Bill in Chancery, tS. Einott, Jamcg, 1:7. F. Fonwick, John, becomes interested in New Jersey, as trustee for By Hinge, 05. — Ar- rives at West Jersey, 07. Ferrv, from Cominunipau, to New Amsterdam 20, 101. Fletcher, Governor, of New York. — Corrci- pondence with Governor Hamilton, 135. — Apprehensions of, respcctin" East Jersey, 141. — Urges annexation to New York, 142. — Is succeeded by Lord Bellaniunt, 143, 140, note. Fletcher, Kev. John. 108. Freehold 145, 100,221. Fisheries, 173. Forbes, John, 104. Forster, Miles, 152. Foster, John, 38, note. Fullertun, Robert, 104. Fundamental Constitutions, Ci do of, brought out by Lawrie, 100. — Synopsis of. 204. G. Grahame's Colonial History, new editi"ii of. 143, note —Extract from, 203. Graham, James, 92. Grants and Concessions, 87. George Hcndrick, 49. Gerritsen, Gerritt, 49. Gibbons. Richard, 40. Gibson, William, 88,202. Gomez, Stephen, 1. Gordon, Thomas, 133, 152. Gordon, Robert, S8, 199. Gordon, Charles, 104. Goulding, William, 40. Groome, Samuel, one of the twenty-four pro- prietaries, 88. — Appointed Surveyor aud Receiver General, 95. — His letter. 90. — It suspended by Rudyard and reinslaied by the proprietaries, 99. — Lays out Perth Amboy, 108,200. Grovcr, Jitmes, 40, 52, note, H. Hackinsack. 49, 160,221. Haige, William, 104, 127. Hall, Richard, 92. Hamilton, Andrew, one of Campbell's counsel, 117, note. — Is left by him as his substitute, 118.— His character. 120. — .Meets an .Vs- 22 338 INDEX. sembly, 120. — Acknowledges the authority of Andros, 121.— Goes to England, 123, 129.— Appointed Governor, and returns, 133. — Appoints his Council, 133. — Has West Jersey also placed under his athori- ty, 154.— Meets an Assembly, 133— His exertions in behalf of New York, 135. — His administration generally acceptable, 136. — Being a Scot, the Proprietaiies con- sider themselves bound to dismiss him from the Government, 138.— He sails for Eng- land. 138. — Is restored, 148. — Returns to the Province, 149. — Is opposed, 150. — Let- ter of his, 223.— Notice of, 155.— His death, 156, Hancock, Francis, 152. Hans, John, 53. Hart, Thomas, 88, 201. Hartshorne, Richard. 40, 49, 100, 134. Hartshorne, Hugh, 88,201. Hartman. Elias, 49. Hasel, Richard, 152. Haywood, John, 88, 201. Havvdon, Michael, 152. Herman, Augustine, purchases a tract between Passaic and Hackensack, 19, 38, and one on the Raritan, 20.— Removes to the Dela- ware, 20. — His sons, 20, note. Herriman, Rev. John. 168. Hobokon, 21,28,.47, 94. Holmes, Obadiah,40. Holmes, Jonathan, 40, 53, note, Hopkins, Samuel, 62, note. Hudson, Henry, arrives at Sandy Hook, 2. — His vessel, 3, note.— His explorations, 4.— His h'imeward voyage, 5. — His fate, 6, note. Hume, John, (or Hulme,) 40. Inians, John, 49, 134. Indians, (see JVatives.) Iron- Works of Lewis Morris, 93. Jacobs, Simon, 49. Jacobs, Walling, 49. James II , orders a wiit of quo icarranto against the Proprietaries, UO.— Sends over Sir Edmund Andros as Governor of all New England, 112. — Accepts the Government from the Proprietaries, and appoints An- dros Governor of New York and New Jer- sey, 113.— His toleration, 119.— (See Duke of York.) Jaques, Henry, 42. Johnstone, John. 117, 152,237. Johnstone, James, 104. Johnston, Thomas, 77. Jones. Sir Wm., his opinion lespecting Cus- toms in New Jersey, 81, 142, 191. Jones, Richard, 92. K. Keith, George, 67, 104, 169. Kent, Stephen, 42. Ketchell, Samuel, 42. Kidd, William, 146, note. Kingsland, Nathaniel, 48, 188. Kingsland , Isaac, 61, 93. 100, 117, 133, 188. Lane, Sir Thomas, 152. Laprairie, Robert, (or La Prie,) 62, note. (See Vanquellen.) Lawrie, Gawen, becomes interested in W. Jer- sey, 67. — Is one of the twenty-four proprie- taries ofE. J., 88. — Is appuinted Deputv Governor, 99.— He arrives in the province, 100. — His council, 100, note. — Brings with him a code of Fundamental Constitutions, 100.— Hesitates to put them in force, 101 .— Is pleased with the province, 102. — Imports servants, 104.- His instructions from the proprietaries, 105 —Visits N. Y. Governor, 107 —Receives William Dyre as Collector of the Customs at Perth Amboy, 109—13 superseded by the Proprietaries, 116.— Is one of his successor's Council, 117, note. —Notice of, 126. Lawrence, John, runs division line between E. and W. Jersey, 67, note. Laws, (1668), 52, 164.— Code of Dutch Assem- bly, 61,— (1675-81,) 78, 79. 104,— (16S2-3). 97, 165,-( 1686), 115,-( 1687), li9,-(1692j, 134. -" ' V y, Legislation, remarks respecting, 162. Ijine between E. and W.Jersey, 67, note. Lookermans, Govert, 48, 177. Lovelace, Governor, of New-York, receives notice from Duke of York, to respect the rights of Berkeley and Carteret, 57. — Im- poses duties in New-Jersey, 69, note. Lubbers, Cornelius, 49. Lucas, Nicholas, 67, Lyell, David, 152. Lyon, Henry, 77, 100. M. Machielson, Johannes, 49. Machielson, Cornelius, 49. Manhattan, Island, Council of Natives at, 9. — True derivation of name, 3, 7;o, 71, 2 8. Shatluck, William, 77. Slavery, under the Concessions, 25 note. Staten Island, 15, 2iJ, 2b, 215, 217. Swarne, Samuel, (or Swain), .52, 53. Seals, of Berkeley and Carteret, f3, nf the twenty-lour Proprietaries, 128— of Govern- or Carteret, 1-9. Shrewsbury, 16, .52,53, 54, 55,60,77, 78,91, 94, 145, IGi), 221.— See Monmouth Cou-iitij. Speare, John Hendrick, 49. Steenmelts, Gas[jer, 52. Swedes, The, Settlements of, on Delaware Bay, 11. — They join the Dutch in dispos- sessing the English, 12. — Are themselves dispossessed by the Dutch, 12. Smith, John, 42. Spicer, Samuel, 40. Sonmans, Arent, 88, 199. Sonmans, Feter, 15.i Somerset county, i20, note, 132, 138, 160, 221. Scot, George, writes " The Model, &c., of East Jersey," 104,235. — Embarks for the Province, and dies on the way, 105, 23S. Scot, Captain John, 1-0, 236. Schools, and Schoolmasters, 132, 136. Stout, Richard. 4 K Sylvester, Nathaniel, 40. T. Tart, Edward, 53. Tatham, John, appointed Governor, 131. Taylor, Matthew, 92. Travelling tUcilities for, 9a, 132 136, 160. Treat, Robert, 4t), note, 52, note. Tilton, John, 4'1. Tomason, Urian, 49, Tompkins, Michael. 42. Towiiley, Richard, 117. Vanderdonck, his statement respecting tlie na- tives, 2, note — His map of the country, 28. Vanquellen, Robert, 52, 62, 77, 92. Van Vorst, Ide Cornelison, 47. Verleti, Nicholas. 21, 2ri, note^AH, 52. Verrazzano, John, his intercourse with the na- tives, 1. Voyage of Lookerman around Staten Island, 177. W. Wampum, value of, 170. v^ atson, Luke, 37, 38,41. Watts, Michael, 152. Ward, John, 77. Ward, Nathaniel, 145. Warne, 'I'homas, 88, 104, 139, 152, 202. Warne, Stephen, 104. Wharton, Robert, 125, 15G. Weehawken, 19. West, Robert, 88, 200. West, John, 124. West Jersey, seitlement of, 67, 68. — Line be- tween it and East Jersey run, 67, note. — Confirmed to the assignees of Berkeley, by Duke of York. 81, 191.— Its Government surrendered with that of East Jersey, to James II., 113. — Less disturbed than East Jersey, 153 — Notiansactions with it of in- terest, 154. — Its government finally surren- dered to the Crown, with that of East Jer- sey. 154. — Plans of New York Governors to have it annexed to that province, 217, 216. Willocks. George, 125, 152. Winder, Samuel, 92, 1 17, 124. Winterton, Thomas, 53. White, John, 92. Whitehead, Samuel, 145. Woodbridge, 42, 52, 53, 55, 58, 60, 61, 62, 77, 92, 100, 145, 160, 183, 184,221. INDEX TO TPIE APPENDIX. A. Awrlca, how peopled, 244-249 — Emigration ihiiher advocated. 2-19 — From its fulfil ing Scripture, y5l-i55. — From various other considerations, 255 — What place there- in best calculated for a colony, 263 American Plantations, importance of, to Lon- don, 243. B. Barclay, Governor, objections to emigration to East Jersey on his account refuted, 310. Barclay, Forbes, and Lawrie, their letter to the Scotch proprietaries, 288. Campbell, John, letters from, 303,305. Cocklmrn, James, letters from, 33". Concessions of Berkeley and Carteret, 267. East Jersey, the best place for a colony, 263. — Right ol tne Projirietaries thereto, 263, 27u. — Patent from the King to the Duke of York therefor, 264 —Its climate, 264.— Its situation, 265. — Its productions, &c., 265- 266. — Its commerce, 267. — The natives of, 267.--Concessions to settlers therein, 267. A new scheme for its government devised, 268. — Facility of transportation thither, 269. — Confirmatory giant thereof to the twenty-four Proprietaries, 271). — Account of the settlemen s therein, 271-277. — Con- veniencies and comforts there for emi- grants, 277. — Its advantages over West Jersey and Pennsylvania, 307. — Over Car- olina, 308, 309. — Over the West Indies, 309. — Objections noticed respecting the Uuakeis. 31J. — Advertisement eonceiniugj 331. ^ ^ i t IHH 1 1 1 'hi mm ■ l!l!i Mlik.. ' ; ; : ! [ fflilli^ > lg. •j IB™ .': lililiiiiiii