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FREDERIC DE I'EYSTEB 
 
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T 131 IE 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT, 
 
 GOVERNOR OF THE PROVINCES 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW YORK, MASSACHUSETTS AND NEW HAMPSHIRE, 
 
 FROM 1697 TO 1701. 
 
 AN ADDRESS 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AT 
 THE CELEBRATION OF ITS SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 
 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18th, 1879, 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERIC de PEYSTER, LL. D., F. R. U.S., 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE 
 
 MDCCCLXXIX. 
 
 SOCIETY. 
 
OffS)T£ 
 
 F 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 Owing to a misunderstanding with the printer, the " proof sheets " of this Address 
 were not diligently compared with the author's manuscript, in consequence of which, 
 several typographical and orthographical errors and a few other mistakes occur in its 
 pages. As these errors were not discovered until the entire edition of the Address had 
 gone through the press, the printing of an errata became necessary. It will be found 
 on page 60. 
 
SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY, 
 
 At a meeting of the New York Historical Society, held in its 
 Hall, on Tuesday Evening, November 18th, 1879, to celebrate the 
 Seventy-Fifth Anniversary of the Founding of the Society, the 
 First Vice-President, Mr. Charles O'Conor, presided. 
 
 In accordance with the course observed on similar commemo- 
 rative occasions, the Rev. Thomas E. Vermilye, D. D., senior 
 minister of the Reformed (Dutch) Church, New York City, at the 
 request of the presiding officer offered up a very impressive and 
 appropriate prayer. 
 
 Mr. O'Conor then introduced the orator of the evening, 
 Frederic de Peyster, LL. D., President of the Society, who 
 delivered the Anniversary Address, the subject being " The Life 
 and Administration of Richard, Earl of Bellomont.'" 
 
 On the conclusion of the address, Hon. Erastus Brooks, after 
 some remarks, submitted the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to the 
 President of the Society, Frederic de Peyster, Esq., LL. D., for his 
 learned and able address delivered before the Society this evening, 
 and that a copy be requested for publication. 
 
 The resolution was seconded by Prof. Henry Drisler, LL. D. 
 with remarks, and was adopted unanimously. 
 
 [Extract from the Minutes.] 
 
 [Signed] ANDREW WARNER, 
 
 Rp cording Secretary. 
 
Office?^ of fftc Society, 
 
 FREDERIC de PEYSTER, LL.D., F.R.H 
 
 
 
 FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT, 
 
 CHARLES O'CONOR. 
 
 SECOND VICE-PRESIDENT, 
 
 BENJAMIN H. FIELD. 
 
 FOREIGN CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 
 
 ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, LL.D. 
 
 DOMESTIC CORRESPONDING SECRETARY, 
 
 EDWARD F. de LANCEY. 
 
 RECORDING SECRETARY, 
 
 ANDREW WARNER. 
 
 TREASURER, 
 
 BENJAMIN B. SHERMAN. 
 
 LIBRARIAN, 
 
 JACOB B. MOORE. 
 
FIRST CLASS FOR ONE YEAR, ENDING l88o. 
 
 BENJAMIN H. FIELD, WILLIAM DOWD, 
 
 GEORGE H. MOORE, LL.D. 
 
 SECOND CLASS — FOR TWO YEARS, ENDING 1881. 
 
 SAMUEL OSGOOD, D.D., WILLIAM R. MARTIN, 
 
 CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, LL.D. 
 
 THIRD CLASS — FOR THREE YEARS, ENDING 1882. 
 
 EDWARD F. de LANCEY, JAMES H. TITUS, 
 
 JACOB D. VERMILYE. 
 
 FOURTH CLASS — FOR FOl'R YEARS, ENDING 1883. 
 
 JOHN TAYLOR JOHNSTON, ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, LL.D., 
 
 ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY. 
 
 CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, LL.D., Chairman. 
 JACOB B. MOORE, Secretary. 
 
 [The President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, and Librarian arc members, cx-ojfficio y of the 
 Executive Committee. 1 
 
 Committee on tfic tfwc dfUfo< 
 
 ASHER B. DURAND, 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 GEORGE H. MOORE, 
 
 JOHN A. WEEKS, 
 DANIEL HUNTINGTON, 
 CEPHAS G. THOMPSON. 
 
 ASHER B. DURAND, Chairman. 
 ANDREW WARNER, Secretary. 
 
 [The President, Librarian, and Chairman of the Executive Committee are members, cx-officio, 
 of the Committee on the Fine Arts.] 
 
LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OF 
 
 RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 OstfsO 
 
 The subject which I have chosen for my Address, this evening, 
 is a sketch of the Life and Administration of Richard, Earl of 
 Bellomont, Governor of the Provinces of New York, Massachusetts 
 and New Hampshire, under William the Third. As the time at 
 my disposal is limited, I shall be able to refer only to the most 
 important details of Governor Bellomont's administration, confining 
 my remarks principally, if not wholly, to those bearing in an espe- 
 cial manner on the history of the Province of New York. 
 
 As the first actual friend of the people and sympathizer with 
 honest democratic forms of government who administered the 
 affairs of this Colony under the English crown, the Earl of Bello- 
 mont must ever have a strong claim to the respect and regard of 
 the citizens of this State ; and, as the unflinching foe of dishonesty 
 in every form, an equally strong claim to the respect and regard of 
 all impartial men. 
 
 In the first named particular, Bellomont was in complete 
 accord with the great mass of the inhabitants, then chiefly Dutch, 
 or of Dutch descent. lie bravely and consistently defended the 
 memory of their two leaders, Leisler and Milborne, who perished on 
 the scaffold, victims to the implacable hatred of a small hut powerful 
 clique of persons whose only thought was profit and self-aggran- 
 
 i 
 
2 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION oK 
 
 dizement. He likewise insisted upon justice being done to the 
 memory of these unfortunate men, and on the restitution of their 
 property to their suffering families, although in so doing he knew 
 that the hatred of those opposed to these proceedings would be 
 transferred to himself. 
 
 A marked feature of Bellomont's career was that he disdained 
 to increase his fortune by affiliation or collusion with public or 
 private plunderers, although at that time no province under the 
 English Crown offered more abundant or safer facilities for amassing 
 great wealth than the Province of Xew York. His study of the 
 affairs of the Province previous to coming thither, had tended to 
 convince him that the so-called aristocratic party, here, that assumed 
 to influence and direct the administration of the colonial govern- 
 ment, was composed principally of persons whose conduct was 
 selfish in the extreme, and who preyed on the Colony to the great 
 detriment of its material prosperity and the peace and welfare of 
 its inhabitants, openly in defiance of the law. 1 1 is strong and 
 ever present sense of duty would not allow him, once having 
 assumed office, to neglect enforcing the Acts of Parliament bearing 
 on the affairs of his government, even though some of them were 
 obnoxious to the people ; but he resolved to conciliate the loyal 
 and well-disposed inhabitants by a determined opposition to wrong- 
 doing in every form. 
 
 The life of such a personage cannot be devoid of interest to 
 the general public, and must afford many valuable lessons to the 
 thoughtful student of history. It is additionally interesting from 
 the fact that it is more or less intimately connected with events 
 that have stamped themselves indelibly upon the pages of history. 
 The greatest among these w T as the English Revolution, which, by 
 forcing the abdication of James II, and raising to the English 
 throne the sagacious, brave and patriotic AVilliam, Prince of Orange, 
 " dispelled all the mysteries of kingcraft and priestcraft, and 
 settled monarchy on its only true basis, the rights of the people." * 
 
 * Note to Williams's edition of Blackstone's Commentaries. 
 
RICHARD. KARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 3 
 
 As we are often enabled to gain a clearer insight to the 
 character of a man by a knowledge of his family history and 
 descent, I shall begin this Address by presenting a brief genealogy 
 of Governor Bellomont, and saying a few words about the Coote 
 family, of which he was a distinguished representative. 
 
 According to the records of the British Peerage, the family of 
 Coote is of very ancient date, being able to trace its lineage back 
 to Sir John Coote, a native and knight of France, who nourished, 
 it is supposed, sometime in the eleventh century. This Sir John 
 married the daughter and heiress of the Lord of Boys in the same 
 kingdom, and had issue a son, likewise Sir John, who came over to 
 England, and settled in Devonshire, where he married the daughter 
 of Sir John Fortescue of that county. The descendants of this 
 union contracted alliances with other families of wealth and position 
 in England ; and from this source are sprung the several distin- 
 guished families of later times bearing the name of Coote. 
 
 In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the immediate ancestor of 
 Lord Bellomont was Francis Coote, Esq., who was in the service of 
 the Queen. His son. Sir Nicholas Coote, was living in the year 
 1636. Sir Nicholas had issue two sons; the elder son, Charles, his 
 heir, the grandfather of the Earl of Bellomont, entered the service 
 of his country as a soldier, and, as Captain of "one hundred foot," 
 served in Ireland in the wars against O'Xeil, Earl of Tyrone. 
 He subsequently became Provost Marshal of Connaught, and later, 
 Vice-President of the same Province ; and in 1621, having recently 
 been sworn of the Privy Council, he was created a baronet of Ireland, 
 by Letters Patent dated April '2d in the same year. Some years 
 previous to receiving this last honor, Sir Charles married " Dorothea, 
 the younger daughter and co-heir of Hugh Cuffe, Esq., of Cuffe's 
 Woods, County Cork, Ireland, and had issue three sons, Charles, 
 Chidley, and Richard." * Upon the breaking out of the Irish 
 Rebellion, in 164-1, he again entered the field, this time at the head 
 
 * Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerages of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
4 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 of one thousand men. Although lie rendered himself peculiarly 
 obnoxious to the inhabitants " by his sanguinary speeches at the 
 council board and massacres throughout the country,'"* and won a 
 most unenviable reputation by the excessive severity and harshness 
 with which he conducted his campaigns against the Irish, he was 
 acknowledged to be a most successful military chief. One of his 
 most notable military successes, was the surprising passage of 
 Montrath Woods. In this daring exploit he advanced to the relief 
 of the Castle of Birr at the head of thirty dismounted dragoons, 
 beat off the enemy with the loss of their leader and forty men, and 
 after spending forty-eight hours in the saddle, returned to camp 
 without having lost a single man.f About a year later he lost his 
 life in a sally from the town of Trim. At his death, his eldest son 
 Charles, who held the office of Provost Marshal of Connaught — 
 to which he had been appointed on the promotion of his father to 
 the Presidency — succeeded to the title of Baronet. In 1645, the 
 civil war being then at its height, he was made Lord President of 
 Connaught, and during the ensuing ten or twelve years was actively 
 engaged in warlike operations in various parts of Ireland, lie was 
 a staunch adherent of the " Republicans," and received many dis- 
 tinguished marks of favor from Parliament. His principles, how- 
 ever, seem to have been somewhat elastic, for when, on the death 
 of Cromwell, public agitation began to shape itself in favor of the 
 Restoration, he was one of the first among the parliamentary 
 leaders who fell in with the current of popular opinion. Acting 
 simultaneously with several other prominent parliamentarians, who 
 from various motives now declared for Charles II, he made himself 
 master of Galwav and Athlone, and soon after took possession of 
 Dublin Castle. 
 
 A Convention favorable to the Restoration was assembled in 
 Dublin, and continued its session in defiance of the orders of the 
 English Council of State. The declaration of Charles II, at Breda, 
 being presented to the Convention, was accepted by acclamation ; 
 
 * Encyclopedia A mericana. 
 
 \ Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerages of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 5 
 
 and, amid great rejoicings, the King was proclaimed in all the large 
 towns throughout Ireland. "Thus," to use the language of an 
 impartial writer, "the restoration of the son in Ireland, was effected 
 by the same persons who had been mainly instrumental in bringing 
 his father to the block." 
 
 While these events were progressing, Sir Charles Coote 
 despatched a trusty messenger to the Marquess of Ormonde at 
 Brussels, requesting that His Ma jesty be informed of his affection 
 and duty, and declaring that the whole kingdom of Ireland was 
 ready to receive him. The King, who knew the strength of Sir 
 Charles and the importance of his support, received this declaration 
 with great satisfaction; and in return for his loyalty promised him 
 an earldom, and a high military command. After the Restoration, 
 the King, who, whatever were his faults, was not unfaithful to his 
 friends, confirmed Sir Charles in his post of Lord President of 
 Connaught, appointed him Keeper of the Castle of Athlone, 
 granted him various important immunities, and raised him to the 
 peerage of Ireland, under the title of the Earl of Montrath, by Letters 
 Patent dated the t!th of September, lfifiO; this title being chosen 
 in commemoration of the famous exploit of his father, previously 
 referred to. The favor of the King did not however confine itself 
 to Sir Charles; on the same day that the latter was created an Earl, 
 his brother Richard, who had likewise been active in promoting the 
 Restoration, was raised to the peerage, as Baron Coote of Colooney, 
 County SligO, Ireland. 
 
 Some twenty-five or thirty years previous to his elevation to 
 the peerage, Richard Coote married Mary, the second daughter of 
 Sir George St. George, Baronet, of Carrickdrumruske, County 
 Leitrim, Ireland. From this union there were four children, 
 Charles, Richard, Ohidley, and Thomas. The first named died in 
 infancy. The father. Lord Coote, died on the 10th of .Inly, 1683. 
 At his death, Richard, his eldest surviving son, inherited the 
 title. 
 
 * Ree's Encyclopedia. 
 
6 
 
 LIFK AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 Richard, the second Baron Coote (afterwards Earl of Bello- 
 mont), was born in lfi36. Of his career during the early years of 
 his life, very little is recorded. The first mention of him in history 
 is as a member of Parliament for Dwitwich, England, a place long 
 celebrated for its famous salt springs, and supposed to have been 
 the Salinae of the Romans ; and he appears to have represented 
 this borough several years. 
 
 The restoration of the Stuarts, although welcomed by the 
 people as a guaranty of peace, stamped the democratic revolution 
 in England as a failure, but this failure did not kill the principles 
 involved. The doctrine of passive obedience to the will of the 
 sovereign, zealously upheld by the great reformers — Luther, Cram- 
 ner, Ridley, and Latimer — had received a severe blow ; and the 
 right of resistance, inculcated by Calvin and Knox, had been too 
 successfully tested to be forgotten. Republican principles, the 
 inevitable outgrowth of this latter doctrine, which contained the 
 germs of political freedom, were but temporarily stilled, and from 
 motives of policy rather than fear, lay dormant during the reign of 
 the second Charles. These principles, it is true, were cherished 
 only by the thoughtful few; but firmly rooted in their minds, 
 were destined to bear golden fruit ere the close of the century. 
 Augmented by a fear, if not detestation of Catholicism, they first 
 showed themselves in the English Commons, which, on three con- 
 secutive occasions, passed the bill excluding the Duke of York, 
 recently converted to that faith, from the succession to the throne. 
 This bill, it is almost needless to say, was defeated by the action of 
 the Lords and the King. Even the people were not yet ready for 
 so violent a measure ; and on the death of ( Iharles, no opposition 
 was shown by them to the succession of his brother James. 
 
 As on the occasion of Charles II coming to the throne, so on 
 the accession of James, the nation " wearied with plots and cabals," 
 and heartily disgusted with the constant agitations and fears to 
 which it had been made a prey during the preceding reign, "had 
 run into the extreme of loyalty and subservience." The King's 
 will again became the indisputed law, and by new enactments of 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. i 
 
 the Parliament the Kind's Council was vested with almost despotic 
 power. Large revenues were accorded the sovereign, who was 
 thus entirely relieved from that galling dependence on Parliament 
 ! which had SO effectively held his predecessor in check. Peaceful 
 relations with Holland were entered upon with great earnestness 
 by -lames, and many acts of kindness and attention were shown by 
 him to his son-in-law, the Stadtholder. 
 
 The speedy suppression of the insurrection headed by the 
 Duke of Monmouth, natural son of Charles II, served to strengthen 
 and confirm the power of .lames. Hut he was foolish enough to 
 use Ins opportunities to effect Ins own nun. Taking advantage of 
 the excitement attending the rebellion, he instituted measures 
 having for their object the restoration of the Catholic religion and 
 the establishment of a standing army. The fears of the nation — 
 who was devoted to Protestantism — were excited, and decided 
 opposition was awakened. These fears were still further increased 
 by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV ; and the 
 members of the Reformed Church throughout Europe shared the 
 alarm of the English people. French persecution drove hundreds 
 of Protestants to England for safety, and this leaven, operating 
 upon the agitated nation, hastened the development of the crisis, 
 that three years later was to force the King to abandon his throne. 
 
 Despite the growing distrusted' the King by the nation, James 
 maintained the most friendly relations with the Stadtholder of 
 Holland; he declared he was not in sympathy with Louis in his 
 harsh measures against the French Protestants, and asserted that 
 the measures he had himself instituted in England, had no other 
 object than the vindication of his royal prerogatives, and were 
 intended as much for the benefit and security of his successor 
 as for himself. 
 
 The nobility of England, in unison on the subject of the 
 protection of their rights against all encroachments, were divided 
 into two great parties. The Tories in accord with the Spiritual 
 Lords may be termed the party of "divine right.'' The Whigs, 
 more liberal, opposed principally the encroachments of the sovereign ; 
 
8 
 
 LIFE AM) ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 they accepted the spirit of the age, and may he termed the party 
 of "progress." The conduct of James, who evidently no longer 
 pretended to govern by the laws of the land, hut according to his 
 own will and pleasure, was well calculated to excite the fears of 
 both parties. When, however, it became "manifest that nothing- 
 short of the overthrow of the Protestant Church was his ultimate 
 design," the indignation of both Tories and Whigs was aroused. 
 
 In the spring of 1HS8, James gave mortal offence to the clergy 
 of the established Church by his second declaration of liberty of 
 conscience. The doctrine of passive obedience having been found 
 to work disadvantageously to the prospects of the Church, was no 
 longer advocated by the bishops ; and setting the example, in their 
 own persons, of resistance to the royal order, seven of their number 
 refused to promulgate this declaration. For this offence they M ere 
 imprisoned, but on trial were acquitted, greatly to the joy of the 
 nation. Protestants of all sects took alarm at the conduct of the 
 King. The Presbyterians, compelled by the firmness evinced by 
 the seven bishops of the Church of England to acknowledge that 
 they were wrong in accusing that Church of a leaning towards 
 Catholicism, joined with it in the struggle for the preservation of 
 the State and the Protestant religion. To this large and important 
 element were united all opposed to James, whatever their party or 
 denomination. 
 
 Up to this time relief had been looked for by the Protestants 
 only from the succession to the throne of their co-religionist, Mary, 
 the elder daughter of James, and wife of Prince William of Orange, 
 then Stadtholder of Holland. But even in this patient hope they 
 seemed destined to disappointment, for, on the loth of June, 1688, 
 the King's second wife, Mary of Modena, like himself a Catholic, 
 gave birth to a son. There were many who looked upon the 
 new-born Prince of Wales as a supposititious child ; and, as may 
 be imagined, this belief, although without any other foundation 
 than a deep-seated distrust of James, tended to increase the outcry 
 against him. 
 
 Both parties of the aristocracy and all branches of the Protes- 
 
BIOHABD, KA BX OF BEIXOMONT. !> 
 
 taut church now concurred iu the belief that nothing but revolution 
 could save the religion and liberties of England : and in the 
 husband of the Princess Mary was discerned one competent to act 
 as the deliverer of the nation. Several English gentlemen betook 
 themselves to Holland on various pretences, but really with the 
 design of influencing the Prince of Orange to secure his wife's suc- 
 cession. Private negotiations were also entered into with William, 
 through Gilbert Burnet, afterward Bishop of Salisbury. A powerful 
 reason urged why William should interest himself in the project, 
 was that it promised protection to Holland by preventing the union 
 or alliance between England and France which must follow the 
 overthrow of the Church of England.* it was finally decided to 
 invite William to come over to England ; he demurred at first, but 
 finally yielded, upon being assured that his wife had readily 
 promised to surrender the supreme authority to him in the event of 
 her reaching the throne. 
 
 Arrangements for the invasion of England were speedily per- 
 fected, and a succession of fortunate circumstances enabled William 
 to land at Torbay, in the south of England, on the 5th day of 
 November, 1688.f Englishmen of rank and influence now hastened 
 to join him, and his march to London was one continuous ovation. 
 
 At the time of the accession of James II to the throne, Lord 
 Coote quitted England for the Continent, where he remained 
 for several years. The important services rendered by his family 
 to Charles II, made him well known at court, and his prolonged 
 absence was remarked. Displeased and possibly disturbed by it, 
 for the King knew that he was a .staunch protestant, James issued 
 an order on the '22d of November, lh'sy, peremptorily command- 
 ing his return under pain of proscription. Thus admonished, Lord 
 Coote came back to England the same year, and the followiug year 
 entered Parliament. 
 
 A prominent Whig, Lord Coote was one of the principal 
 leaders in the movement to establish the Protestant succession ; 
 
 * Trevor's Life of William LIL. 
 
 \ Clavis Calendaria. Vol. II, p. 229. 
 
10 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 and when it became known that the Prince of Orange had accepted 
 the invitation of the bishops and nobles to come into England, he 
 was among the first who hastened to welcome him. WilHiam 
 received him cordially, and immediately appointed him to a position 
 near his person. A few weeks after William and Mary were seated 
 on the throne, he was appointed Treasurer and Receiver General to 
 the Queen. Pleasing in person and manner, sensible and honest, 
 he became a , warm personal friend of the King. In consequence 
 he incurred the severe displeasure of James, now a fugitive in 
 Ireland, and on the assembling of the Jacobite Parliament at Dublin, 
 he was attainted. Being an Irish peer this was a serious matter, 
 as it involved the confiscation of whatever property he possessed 
 in Ireland. On the other hand, this mark of the fallen monarch's 
 displeasure served to increase the regard in which he was held by 
 William ; and in evidence of this he was created Earl of Bellomont, 
 by Royal Letters issued on the 2d of November, 1689 ; he also 
 received other and more substantial marks of the royal favor. 
 
 Early in the year 1695, William thought tit to name the Earl 
 of Bellomont to be Governor of New York. At this period affairs 
 in the American colonies were in a most unsatisfactory condition 
 to the English government. The alarming increase of piracy, 
 which threatened to drive all commerce from the seas, and an 
 "unlawful trade in fraud of the acts of Navigation and Plantations, 
 infinitely prejudicial to England," were two of the most serious 
 evils, and called for immediate repression. The presence at New 
 York, "a place remarkably infected with those two dangerous 
 diseases," of a Governor of an unusually strong will and honesty of 
 character, was imperatively demanded. In this emergency the 
 King settled upon his trusted friend Bellomont, who more than any 
 one about him he felt confident possessed the necessary requisites 
 for filling this important position. In notifying Bellomont of his 
 appointment, William remarked that " he thought him a Man of 
 Resolution and Integrity, and with those qualifications more likely 
 than any other he could think of to put a stop to that illegal Trade, 
 and to the growth of Piracy ; for which reason he made choice of 
 
KK'IIAKI), KAKI. OK HKI.I.OMOXT. 
 
 11 
 
 him for that Government, and for the same reason intended to put 
 the Government of Ni w England into his hands." 
 
 To appreciate fully the true condition of the Northern American 
 colonies at the time of Bellomont's appointment — which is desirable 
 in order to comprehend correctly the magnitude of the task 
 entrusted to him — it is necessary to glance at the causes that dur- 
 ing the preceding fifty years or more had been actively at work in 
 developing this condition. 
 
 Towards the middle of the seventeenth century, the intolerance 
 and covetousness of the Puritan settlers in America had nearly cost 
 Holland her colony on the Hudson River, Cromwell having been 
 induced, through the representations of the aggressive New 
 Englanders, to take steps to conquer New Xetherland. Although 
 the Treaty of 1653 interfered with this project — the Protector in 
 this Treaty admitting the territorial rights of the Dutch — it did so 
 for a short time only. When Charles II was restored to the 
 English throne, the boundary lines between New England and New 
 Xetherland were still unsettled. In 1662, Connecticut secured a 
 patent from the English government, conveying to it a large por- 
 tion of the province occupied by the Dutch ; and to enforce this 
 unjust grant even went so far as to send troops to drive out the 
 inhabitants and take possession. 
 
 The enmity to the Dutch was not, however, confined to the 
 English in America. The British government, jealous of the com- 
 mercial success of Holland, passed the most stringent laws prohibit- 
 ing foreign vessels trading with the English colonies. These laws 
 failed to produce the desired result in America, and finally it was 
 determined to usurp Xew Xetherland. 
 
 At the instigation of the Earl of Clarendon, then Prime 
 Minister, Charles II, in 1664, granted to his brother -lames, the 
 Duke of York, a large portion of American territory including 
 Xew Xetherland, to which, as is well known, he had not the 
 faintest shadow of a rightful claim. At this time the Duke of 
 York was Chief Director of the British East India Company, and 
 
12 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 I 
 
 was desirous of pushing its interests against the rival Dutch Com- 
 pany ; he was also Lord High Admiral of England, and as such had 
 supreme command of the British Navy. 
 
 The unwearied industry and patient endurance of the Dutch 
 had enabled them to gain possession of such an important foreign 
 trade, that the English were obliged to bestir themselves in order 
 to master this successful rivalry. Public sentiment in Great Bri- 
 tain had been assiduously worked up to a hatred of the Dutch, and 
 at last Parliament prayed the King to take measures " to redress the 
 wrongs done to His Majesty by the subjects of the United Pro- 
 vinces." * Here was an opportunity for the young and ambitious 
 Duke of York. War seemed imminent ; but without waiting for 
 the storm- to burst, James who found his arbitrary measures in 
 pushing the interests of the English Company " twarted by vessels 
 of war belonging to the Dutch Republic, secretly despatched a 
 squadron under Sir Robert Holmes, to make reprisals on the Hol- 
 landers, who had, he believed, broken the treaty they had entered 
 into with the English." f Holmes proceeded directly to Africa, 
 and after some success against the Dutch settlements on the coast, 
 returned to England. Thence with a fleet consisting of four ves- 
 sels of war, having on board the Commissioners appointed by the 
 Duke of York under authority of the Privy Council, and a force 
 of four hundred and fifty soldiers, he sailed to North America, 
 leaving Portsmouth, England, early in May, 1064:; and arrived at 
 Boston, " after a tedious voyage of ten weeks. "J By the middle 
 of August, the English, in imposing force, presented themselves be- 
 fore New Amsterdam. It was madness for the Dutch inhabitants 
 to think of defending the city, as the Fort had been constructed 
 solely with a view to protecting them from an inland attack, and 
 was useless against ships of war. Besides this, the Dutch fleet was 
 absent from the North American waters, and its succor could not 
 be expected. The regular attacking force of English, which alone 
 
 * Davies' Hist, of Holland. 
 
 \ Cust's Lives of the IVarriors. Vol. II, p. 482. 
 \ Brodhead's Commemorative Address, p. 26. 
 
RICHARD, KARI. OF BRLLOMONT. 
 
 13 
 
 outnumbered the Dutch garrison, was largely increased by aux- 
 iliaries from Connecticut and tlie eastern end of Long Island, a 
 number of whom were savages.* 
 
 The brave old Stuyvesant mustered his small force, and pre- 
 pared for the defence ; but the people of the city, more prudent 
 though no less brave, finally persuaded him that it was his duty to 
 surrender, and the veteran was forced to yield, although he sorrow- 
 fully declare he " had much rather be carried out dead."+ 
 
 Colonel Richard Xicolls, wbo was the Duke's companion in 
 exile, and had come over in the expedition commanded by Sir Robert 
 Holmes and Sir Robert Carr, as Deputy Governor of the new 
 Province, now assumed the administration of affairs : he re-named 
 the city " Xew York," in honor of his royal master, and later, 
 having subjected Fort Orange, up the Hudson, gave to that place 
 the name of " Albany," after a Scotch title of James. 
 
 It is unnecessary here to enter into details regarding the rule 
 of the Duke of York in the newly acquired province. Towards 
 the close of the year ltWU, the City of Xew York was incorporated. 
 The Governor and Council exercised almost despotic sway through- 
 out the province, the inhabitants of which bad nothing approxi- 
 mating even to political liberty. Harshness was the rale of the 
 administration, and grinding taxation the method resorted to to 
 enslave the people. 
 
 In 1<»72 the States of Holland and Zealand raised William, 
 Prince of Orange, to the office of Stadtholder. Louis XIY now 
 sought to inflame the ambition of William by offering to make 
 him sovereign of the United Provinces under French and English 
 protection ; but the latter was proof against these offers ; and to 
 the remarks of the English ambassadors, that if he rejected them 
 he would behold the ruin of his country, he replied : " I have 
 
 * James W. Gerard. 
 
 f Dunlap's Hist, of the New A'ether/ands, Province of New York and State of 
 New York, to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. 
 
14 
 
 LTFTC ANT) ADMINISTRATION (IF 
 
 thought of a means to avoid beholding the ruin of my country to 
 die in the last ditch." * 
 
 At length Charles II, urged on by the King of France, opened 
 hostilities against the Dutch. The opportunity now presenting 
 itself to reconquer New Netherland, which had been so unjustly 
 seized by the English, in 1664, the Dutch despatched a squadron 
 of five war ships, under the brave commodores Benkes and Evert- 
 sen, to New York. On arriving in the bay, Benkes and Evertsen 
 sent a formal demand for the surrender of the city ; and on the 
 30th of July, ( 1 aptain Manning, in command of the English gar- 
 rison of the Fort, surrendered to the Dutch fleet without striking a 
 blow. Having taken possession the conquerers changed the name 
 of the city to " New Orange," and appointed Captain Anthony 
 Colve — who came over with the expedition — Governor. The 
 greater part of the population being Dutch, the new regime was 
 heartily welcomed ; and the officers and magistrates of the Province 
 willingly took the oath of allegiance to the States General and the 
 Prince of Orange. 
 
 The wonderful successes of the intrepid Dutch admirals, De 
 Ruyter and Tromp, eventually compelled the English to withdraw 
 their fleets from the coast of Holland, where they seemed to obtain 
 the least permanent advantage ; and as they retreated, the coura- 
 geous Dutch went so far as to follow in pursuit. The people of 
 England were maddened by these inglorious proceedings, and a 
 strong feeling grew up against the French alliance, it being openly 
 asserted that Louis was using the English for the gratification of 
 his own ambitious designs. Another circumstance that greatly 
 influenced public opinion in favor of peace, was the frightful 
 ravages made by the privateers of Zealand upon the English mer- 
 chant marine. Added to this, Spain and Norway, taking alarm at 
 the plan of conquest pursued by the French monarch, assumed a 
 threatening attitude. Ever zealous of their commercial prosperity, 
 and foreseeing that in the event of a war with these powers, their 
 
 * Davies History of Holland. 
 
RICHAKD, KAKI. OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 15 
 
 trade must inevitably be transferred to the United Provinces, the 
 people of England became so strongly opposed to the continuance 
 of hostilities, that Parliament refused to vote further supplies, com- 
 plained of the French alliance, and advised peace. 
 
 Charles II reluctantly yielded to the suggestions of Parliament, 
 and calling Sir William Temple from his retirement, deputed him 
 to arrange a treaty of peace with the Marquis del Fresno, the 
 Spanish ambassador, who had been empowered by the States to act 
 in their name. The treaty was signed at Westminster, on the 9th 
 of February, L674, and was considered by the Dutch greatly to 
 their advantage, despite the fact that it cost them a war indemnity 
 to England of two million guilders, and all the British territory 
 they had conquered during hostilities. New York thus fell back 
 under the English flag, and passed again into the possession of the 
 Duke of York. On the 31st of October, 1671, Governor Colve 
 formally resigned the Territory to " Edmund Andross, Seigneur of 
 Saumarez," who had been appointed Governor. 
 
 A circumstance occurred during the first year of the reoccu- 
 pation of New York by the English, which though slight in itself, 
 was in some degree the precursor of the important though unhappy 
 events that took place about fifteen years later, the settlement of 
 the animosities growing out of which, formed so difficult a part of 
 the labors of the administration of the Earl of Bellomont. This 
 circumstance arose from the Duke of York recommending the 
 Rev. Nicholas Van Kensaellaer "to be Minister of one of the 
 Dutch churches in New York or New Albany when a vacancy shall 
 happen."* Mr. A r an Kensaellaer, it seems, chose a church in 
 Albany, and went thither to assume his duties. At the same time he 
 laid claim to a large tract of land extending " twenty -four miles 
 upon Hudson's River and as many on each side."+ He was un-. 
 successful in making good his claim to this land, being defeated in 
 the courts by Kilian Van Kensaellaer. The congregation of the 
 Dutch church at Albany refused to receive him as their minister 
 
 * Duke of York to Governor Andros, 23 July, 1674. 
 ■f History of Neiu York, by Chief Justice Smith. 
 
L6 
 
 LIKE AND ADMINISTRATIS >N OF 
 
 on the ground that he was ordained to the ministry of the Episcopal 
 Church ; and as Mr. Van Rensaellaer persisted in his claims and 
 assumptions, they put forward their pastor, Dominic Xiewenhuyt, 
 as their champion. Governor Andros, of course, as in duty bound, 
 supported the claims of the clergyman recommended by his master, 
 and Dominic Xiewenhuyt was subjected to great annoyance by 
 being obliged to make frequent visits to New York to confer with 
 the authorities. The magistrates and the people of Albany sym- 
 pathized warmly with Xiewenhuyt, and went so far as to imprison 
 Van Eensaellaer, for "dubious words" uttered in one of his ser- 
 mons. By order of Andros, however, he was released, and a suit 
 for false imprisonment was brought against the magistrates who 
 had been concerned in his arrest, they being held in £5000 bail. One 
 of these magistrates, named Jacob Leisler, more bold than the rest, 
 refused to give bail, and in consequence was imprisoned. But the 
 people of Albany persisted in upholding the action of their ma- 
 gistrates, and finally the suit was abandoned. 
 
 This successful protest of the Dutch Protestants against the 
 policy of the Duke of York, doubtless prompted the inhabitants of 
 the Province to the steps which resulted in the establishment of the 
 provisional government under Leisler, in HiS9-90. 
 
 The prominence subsequently gained by Leisler in the affairs of 
 the Province, warrants a reference to his career, which I venture to 
 present in a few words. 
 
 On the 27th of April, 1660, the ship "Otter" left Holland for 
 New Xetherland, having on board some fifty passengers, sixteen of 
 Avhom were soldiers in the service of the Dutch West India Com- 
 pany. One of these soldiers was a young German named Jacob 
 Loyseler or Leisler, who was registered as from " Francfort." * 
 The inducements to engage in trade at that early period were 
 peculiarly tempting to young men of energy and ambition; and 
 yielding to them, Leisler ere long gave up his military career and 
 entered the employment of Pieter Cornelisen Vanderveen, a pros- 
 
 * Documentary Nisi, of N. Y. Vol. Ill, p. 57. 
 
KICMAKI), KAKI. OK B K I. LOMONT. 
 
 17 
 
 perous Dutch merchant of that day, who was the principal pro- 
 jector of the first three-masted vessel known to have been built in 
 the Colony. 
 
 The death of Vanderveen took place in 1661, and his large 
 estate passed into the hands of his young and childless widow, who 
 was the daughter of Govert Loockermans, a wealthy fur-trader and 
 shipowner, who came to this colony in 1633. Elsie Tymen Van- 
 derveen was horn in Hanover Square, her father at the time residing 
 in and owning one of the handsomest and best houses in the city. 
 On the death of her husband she continued his business, as was the 
 custom of the day, and Leisler, who had now risen to a responsible 
 position in Vanderveen's store, was entrusted with the management 
 of affairs. Finally, an attachment having sprung up between the 
 comely young widow and the soldierly young clerk, they were mar- 
 ried, Leisler thus becoming a wealthy merchant. lie appears to 
 have been a person of more than ordinary consideration in the 
 Colony from a very early period. In 1074, during the administration 
 of Governor Colve, he was appointed one of the Commissioners for 
 the forced loan ; and in Governor Dongan's time was one of the 
 Commissioners of a Court of Admiralty. Several years latter he 
 purchased for the Huguenots the tract called New Rochelle. Dur- 
 ing a voyage to Europe, in 1678, he had the misfortune to be cap- 
 tured by the Turks, but obtained his release by the payment of some 
 two thousand " pieces of eight, " at five shillings each. 
 
 We have just seen that he was once a magistrate of Albany, 
 and prominently connected with the Dutch Church in that city. 
 At a later period he was a resident of New York ; and at the 
 breaking out of the revolution, in 1689, commanded one of the local 
 militia companies. Few residents of the city were more popular, 
 and it was to him the people looked for leadership when they rose 
 to hold the Province for the officers of William III. 
 
 As shown by the baptismal records, Leisler had seven children. 
 The eldest of these, Mary, became the wife of Jacob Milborne, 
 who was associated with Leisler in the provisional government of 
 New York, in 1H89-91, and who finally perished with him on the 
 
18 LIFE AM) ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 scaffold. The third child, Jacob Leisler, Jr., distinguished himself 
 by his persistent and successful endeavors to secure the reversal of 
 the decree of attainder on his father and brother-in-law ; and 
 notwithstanding his youth, was an important figure in the affairs of 
 the Colony in his day. 
 
 When the Duke of York came to the throne, his interest in 
 the Province of New York suffered no diminution, although the 
 welfare of the Province can hardly be said to have been advanced 
 thereby. One of Ins first acts was to disapprove of the Charter of 
 Privileges which he had granted shortly before, but which he now 
 refused to confirm, deeming its provisions too liberal, and fearing 
 they might curtail some of his own rights. One beneficent measure, 
 however, did receive his sanction. This was the granting to the 
 City of Xew York, in 1686, of the"Dongan Charter," so-called 
 from the fact that it was obtained mainly through the influence of 
 Oovernor Dongan. 
 
 The alarm caused throughout Europe by the Revocation of 
 the Edict of X antes in li>S.">, eventually spread to America. In 
 New York, fears were entertained that the Catholic King of 
 England, who seemed to be quietly instituting measures for the 
 revival of Catholicity at home, would possibly instruct Governor 
 Dongan, likewise a ( 'atholic, to establish that religion in the 
 Province over which he governed. A further cause for dissatisfaction 
 in New York was afforded by the consolidation of all the English 
 Provinces north of the fortieth degree of latitude (with the exception 
 of Pennsylvania) under one government. This measure was resolved 
 on by James, chiefly as an effective means to check the growing 
 influence of New France (as Canada was then called), which was 
 regarded with extreme jealousy by the English. 
 
 This compulsory union of New York and Massachusetts under 
 one governor, was extremely distasteful to the Dutch inhabitants 
 of the former Province, between whom and the people of New 
 England there had always existed a somewhat serious rivalry. As 
 Protestants, however, their angry feelings were somewhat mollified 
 by the appointment of Sir Edmund Andros — a member of the 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF TiKI.I.OMONT. 
 
 19 
 
 Church of England — to administer the government of the united 
 provinces. 
 
 The continued efforts of James to force the Catholic faith 
 upon the English people, culminated, as is well known, in the Revo- 
 lution ItiSS-!), which led to his abdication and the election of 
 William and Mary as his successors. 
 
 On the accession of the Prince of Orange to the throne, the 
 Protestants in New Fork and New England, comprising nearly the 
 entire population, were greatly alarmed lest the officers holding 
 their commissions from .lames, and the adherents of that monarch 
 in gereral might attempt to maintain his authority in the American 
 colonies, to the exclusion of that of the newly elected sovereigns. 
 To anticipate any action towards such a design, and for the pur- 
 pose of holding the colonies in safety until the arrival of the prop- 
 erly accredited officers from King William, a popular uprising took 
 place. In New England a Committee of Safety was organized, and 
 under its order Sir Edmund Andros, the Governor of the Colony, 
 whose headquarters were at Boston, was seized and imprisoned. In 
 New York, where the great body of the peojde were Dutch, the 
 elevation of a Dutch prince to the English throne was hailed with 
 undisguised delight. Moreover, being heartily sick of the continued 
 outrages perpetrated upon them during the administrations of the 
 English Governors, who had little regard for their rights, they 
 naturally looked upon their countryman. Prince William, as their 
 heaven-sent deliverer. 
 
 Without the shedding of a drop of blood, the City of New 
 York was placed in the hands of the militia. The Captains com- 
 manding the several companies, were fortunately men of wealth, 
 character and influence, and so controlled the people that no overt 
 acts were committed. Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson, who resided 
 in New York, finding himself powerless to maintain his authority, 
 left the nominal administration of affairs in the hands of his Coun- 
 cillors, Philipse, Van ( 'ortlandt and Bayard, and sailed for England. 
 
 Before his departure, however, the militia had made them- 
 selves masters of the Fort, Having gone thus far, the need of a 
 
20 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 leader became apparent. The militia and the people in general, 
 unanimously settled on Captain Jacob Leisler as the person for this 
 position ; and, in accordance with their desires, he assumed the 
 leadership. Almost his first act was to call a convention of citizens, 
 which met on the 26th of June, 1689. This body was composed 
 of men of representative character, a number of whom were resi- 
 dents of the neighboring towns. A Committee of Safety was or- 
 ganized, which appointed Leisler " Captain of the Fort," and sub- 
 sequently "Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the 
 Province." 
 
 It is needless to add that Leisler was immensely popular, and 
 that this popularity greatly simplified his early labors. The Dutch 
 residents of the Province had the greatest confidence in his abilities, 
 and had little if any fault to find with the measures he adopted. 
 On the other hand, he was an object of hatred to the officers of 
 James, and to their aristocratic English and Dutch friends. 
 
 Leisler called to his assistance in the provisional government 
 an old friend and former business associate named Jacob Milborne, 
 whom he appointed Secretary of the Province. These two per- 
 sons, aided by a Council, administered the government of the 
 Province about two years ; and the impartial historian must admit 
 that whatever faults may be ascribed to them, disloyalty to King 
 William was not among the number. 
 
 In the early part of the spring of 1691, Colonel Sloughter, 
 who had been commissioned Governor of New York, in January, 
 lf)90, arrived at his post. He immediately published his Commis- 
 sion, and sent a command to Leisler to deliver up the Fort. This 
 order reached Leisler several hours after sundown, but regarding it 
 as a violation of military rule to give up a fortified place during 
 the night, he refused compliance. The next morning, however, 
 he sent a letter to the new Governor, formally relinquishing the 
 Fort. Colonel Sloughter was deeply angered at this delay, and 
 gave orders for the immediate arrest of Leisler and his principal 
 followers. Their trial speedily followed, and as they were found 
 guilty of treason, sentence of death was passed upon them. An 
 
1MCHAKD, F.ARI. OK HKI.I.OMOHT. 
 
 21 
 
 appeal from this verdict and sentence was sent to the King 1 , but be- 
 fore a reply could reach New York, Sloughter was prevailed on to 
 sign the death-warrants of Leister and Milborne, and they were 
 accordingly publicly executed on the 1 7th day of May, L691. 
 
 Governor Sloughter did not long survive this political tragedy. 
 He was taken suddenly ill on the 21st of July following, and died 
 on the 23d. 
 
 Sloughter was succeeded by Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, under 
 whom the affairs of the Province became still more perplexing to 
 the Home Government. The ill-feeling between the Dutch and 
 English residents, always more or less bitter, was intensified by the 
 execution of Leisler and Milborne, who were now quite generally 
 regarded as heroes and martyrs. Strong efforts were made to have 
 justice done to the memory of the unfortunate men, and to cause 
 the restoration to their families of their confiscated property ; and 
 for this purpose Jacob Leisler, Jr., the promising son of the 
 executed Lieutenant-Governor, was sent to England to endeavor to 
 influence the Home Government. Another cause of trouble was 
 persistent violation of the Acts of Trade, which, though secretly 
 and quite successfully evaded in the neighboring provinces, were 
 disregarded almost openly and without scruple, by the Dutch in 
 New York. The consequence was a serious falling off in the 
 revenue — a most unpalatable fact for the Lords of Trade. 
 
 But the most alarming evil, was the aid and comfort afforded 
 to pirates by many of the well-to-do citizens of New York, and 
 connived at, it was said, even by the officers of the Colonial 
 government. 
 
 The origin of piracy dates back to the dawn of commercial 
 enterprise. In the century preceding the Christian era, the evil 
 had attained the most gigantic proportions. The freebooters were 
 masters of four hundred cities, and had at their command a thou- 
 sand well-manned galleys. So boldly, successfully, and extensively 
 did they carry out their depredations, that the prosperity of imperial 
 Rome became seriously jeopardized. The extirpation of this mon- 
 strous evil became an urgent necessity, and to no less a personage 
 
^1 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 than the great Pompey was entrusted the task. Armed with almost 
 absolute authority in the Mediterranean, and with a large army and 
 powerful fleet at his command, lie eventually succeeded in accom- 
 plishing this important labor. This blow may be said to have 
 almost paralyzed piracy for about fourteen centuries. The growth 
 of trade with the East and West Indies consequent on the brilliant 
 discoveries of the daring navigators Colombus, Diaz, and de (lama, 
 in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, again awakened the 
 cupidity of evil men, and piracy was revived and prosecuted as a 
 " royal Toad" to fortune. In the seventeenth century, its magni- 
 tude and extent excited the gravest alarm throughout the commer- 
 cial world. The practice of issuing commissions to private vessels 
 of war was common among the nations of Europe in this century. 
 The commanders of these " privateers " were not, however, over- 
 scrupulous in their regard for the rights of commerce ; and although 
 for a time they generally limited their depredations to the merchant- 
 ships of the enemy, they soon came to regard all vessels engaged in 
 commerce as their legitimate prey. 
 
 During the progress of hostilities with France, England had 
 not hesitated to follow the example of other nations in granting 
 commissions to private vessels of war. The commanders of many 
 of these " privateers " encouraged by the success which attended 
 the reckless and daring men who, acknowledging allegiance to no 
 flag, preyed indiscriminately on all commerce ; and observing the 
 singular immunity from interference and punishment which they 
 enjoyed, concluded to follow their example. Breaking away from 
 the restraint of their commissions, they now waged war on all 
 vessels that promised' booty, not even exempting those sailing under 
 the flag of their own country. 
 
 The effect upon commerce of this course, which so largely 
 increased the number of freebooters, and covered the high seas 
 with piratical craft, was most disastrous : trade in both hemispheres 
 was almost paralyzed ; and England, ever a trading nation, was 
 threatened whith the loss of that which has been aptly compared 
 to her life-blood. This alarming state of affairs became still worse 
 
RICHARD, KARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 23 
 
 from a threat of reprisals made by the Grand Mogul, who had lost, 
 through the depredations of English pirates, several richly laden 
 vessels, among them one in particular freighted with valuable 
 presents for the holy city — Mecca. 
 
 The American colonies were a favorite resort for the English 
 pirates for several reasons, but principally owing to the sense of 
 security enjoyed, and the ease witli which provisions were obtained. 
 It was well-known that several of the most notorious pirates had 
 originally sailed from New York with commissions as privateers ; 
 and it was even rumored that the officers of the Crown had connived 
 at piracy. It is evident that in those days the people of the Colonies 
 felt no very great antagonism to either pirates or piracy. Many of 
 the freebooters plundered in foreign parts, and their victims were 
 frequently infidel Moors, or hated French, Spanish, or Portuguese 
 traders. The advantages derived from a connection with these 
 ocean plunderers were almost too great to be despised ; wherever 
 the freebooters touched, from Maine to Virginia, they were gene- 
 rally sure of being tolerated — at least till they had disposed of some 
 of their plunder and obtained supplies. In commercial New York, 
 their foreign gold was ever welcome. But, large as was the supply, 
 it did not suffice. More than one of the wealthy merchants of the 
 city freighted vessels with rum, tobacco, and munitions of war, and 
 despatched them to the haunts of the pirates, where these com- 
 modities readily sold at an enormous profit. This was not all. 
 Many of the pirates at the places visited, having acquired sufficient 
 wealth to meet their desires, abandoned their bloody pursuit and 
 returned to civilization in the homeward-bound merchant vessels, 
 paying round sums for their passages. 
 
 The looseness of morals in this respect in the American colonies 
 — and particularly in New York — at last aroused attention in 
 England, and the government resolved to take some decisive action 
 against the growing evil. At this time the Leislerites in England — 
 among whom was Jacob Leisler, Jr., the son of the executed Gov- 
 ernor — were making strong efforts to secure the removal of Governor 
 Fletcher, whose close affiliation with and willing subservience to 
 
'24 
 
 LIFE AM) ADMINISTRATION' OF 
 
 the aristocratic party in New York, seriously retarded the attempts 
 of the friends of Leisler and Milborne to secure justice to the 
 memory of these political martyrs, or to obtain for their families 
 the restitution of their confiscated property. They had already 
 failed in their attempt to secure Fletcher's removal on charges of 
 misappropriation of the public money and general malfeasance in 
 office, but these charges had not been treated seriously by the Lords 
 of Trade, in whose mind the valuable services rendered by Fletcher 
 in the war with the French in Canada, were still fresh. 
 
 Availing themselves of the public sentiment against free- 
 booting, the Leislerites now accused Fletcher of complicity with 
 pirates. All that they urged against him seemed to have a strong 
 basis in fact, and it was finally decided by the authorities that the 
 interests of the public service demanded his recall. 
 
 Never was the need for an honest and able person to admin- 
 ister the government of New York greater than at that period. 
 The tasks which such a person wonld be called upon to perform 
 were those which demanded uncommon ability as well as unques- 
 tioned integrity. The differences between the two factions of the 
 Province required To he healed. The Acts of Trade were to be 
 rigidly enforced. Piracy was to be suppressed. Besides these 
 labors the Indians were to be conciliated and the French watched. 
 
 The King fully realized the importance of the trust and finally 
 decided to appoint in the place of Fletcher, the Earl of Bellomont, 
 whom, as I have stated, he regarded as the fittest person about him 
 for undertaking such responsible duties. In 1H95 he indicated his 
 choice to the Lords of Trade, who, without delay, confirmed Bello- 
 mont. The several commissions and instructions were, however, 
 not laid before the King until the early part of April, 1697. On 
 the 18th day of June following, having been duly approved, they 
 were sealed with the great seal. On the 1st of July, in the same 
 year, Captain John Nanfan — a cousin of the wife of the Earl of 
 Bellomont — was appointed Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 No sooner was it known that the Earl of Bellomont had been 
 appointed to this important post, than his house in Dover street, 
 
 i 
 
IMCllAKD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 25 
 
 London, was besieged by all those who had interests to conserve in 
 New York. Among the number was " ColoTiel Robert Livingston, 
 a Man of considerable Estate and fair Reputation who has several 
 Employments in that Province ;"* he had frequent access to the 
 Karl "as well upon the account of the publick affairs there as of 
 several matters which he had then depending before the Council 
 and at the Treasury. "+ 
 
 In conversation with Colonel Livingston, the Earl mentioned 
 piracy, which he regretted had received such encouragement in 
 New York. Livingston assured him that there was good ground 
 for complaint on this score ; and gave it as his opinion that if 
 effectual measures for the suppression of this nefarious business 
 were not promptly instituted, the evil would increase to such a de- 
 gree and involve so many persons, that its mastery would be diffi- 
 cult if not impossible. 
 
 At a subsequent interview with the Earl, Livingston spoke of 
 a Captain William Kidd, " lately come from New York in a sloop 
 of his own upon the account of trade,";}: and recommended him to 
 the Earl as a bold, honest, and skilful mariner, who " knew most of 
 the men who had been abroad Roving, and divers who had lately 
 gone out ; and likewise had some knowledge of places where they 
 usually made their Rendez-vous ;"§ he also said that he believed 
 Kidd would undertake to seize these freebooters if placed in com- 
 mand of one of the King's ships of war. 
 
 It was not at all improbable that an experienced and daring 
 commander such as was Kidd, " well acquainted with all the haunts 
 of the pirates who prowled between the Cape of Good Hope and 
 the Straits of Malacca "|| would be able to cope successfully with 
 the pirates of the Indian Ocean. It was known that few of the 
 piratical craft were large, and that the pirates were not in the habit 
 of uniting for common defence. Bellomont was not slow to per- 
 ceive the advantages of such an expedition. The suppression of 
 piracy in the Eastern seas would greatly simplify the task of breaking 
 
 * Kidd, + Kidd. 
 
 | Macaulay's Hist, of England. 
 
 % Kidd. 
 
 § Kidd. 
 
26 
 
 I.IKE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 it up in the American Colonies, whither the freebooters oftener 
 resorted to dispose of than to secure plunder. He accordingly lost 
 no time in laying the project before the King. 
 
 Just at that time it happened that all the King's ships lit for 
 service were employed in the war with France. There was also a 
 marked scarcity of seamen, and to keep the navy fairly manned, 
 required the employment of every imaginable means, including the 
 constant use of the press-gang. 
 
 The King not feeling authorized to act on the suggestion of 
 Bellomont, referred the project to the Admiralty, who received it 
 lukewarmly and " raised difficulties," to quote the expressive language 
 of Macaulay, "such as are perpetually raised by public boards when 
 any deviation for the better or for the worse from the established 
 course of proceeding is proposed."* The fact that the carrying 
 out of the scheme would necessitate the expenditure of a large sum 
 of money, was, however, the chief reason for its being finally rejected. 
 
 On learning that the Admiralty would not touch the project, 
 Livingston, who seemed determined to carry it into effect, made a 
 second proposition to Bellomont. This was that a private vessel 
 of war should be fitted out and duly licensed and commissioned to 
 proceed against the French and the pirates. According to the 
 testimony of Bishop Burnet, the King looked with favor on this 
 second project, the carrying out of which it was estimated would 
 cost about £6000, and signified hi.- willingness to subscribe one 
 third of the sum. Captain Kidd had meanwhile been presented to 
 the Earl by Livingston. There is some authority for the belief that 
 Kidd was coerced by threats into accepting the command of the 
 proposed expedition, but the weight of testimony goes to show that 
 Kidd not only freely lent his aid to the affair, but even joined with 
 Livingston in subscribing one-fifth of the estimated cost. 
 
 At this juncture the King withdrew his offer on the ground of 
 pecuniary embarrassment. Some delay ensued in consequence, but 
 Bellomont finally succeeded in interesting his friends the Duke of 
 
 Hist, of England. Vol. V. 
 
RICHARD, KAMI. OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 Shrewsbury, the Earl of Rumney, the Earl of Oxford Lord High 
 Admiral of England, Lord Chancellor Somers, and Sir Edmond 
 Harrison a wealthy merchant, who together aided him in making 
 up his subscription to four-fifths, Livingston and Kidd, it being 
 remembered, having already taken a fifth. 
 
 Macaulay states, in his History of Engla/nd, that the negotia- 
 tions which resulted in the fitting out of this expedition, were 
 conducted between Bellomont and his friends, after the former had 
 reached America. This is clearly an error into which the eminent 
 historian fell, from a belief that Bellomont must have proceeded to 
 America as soon as he received his appointment as Governor of New 
 York ; when the facts are, that although named to the position 
 early in 1695, he did not receive his commission until the summer 
 of 1697, and did not arrive in New York until the spring of 1698. 
 
 On the loth of October, 1695, articles of agreement were 
 drawn up in London, between the Earl of Bellomont, Mr. Living- 
 ston, and Captain Kidd. Bellomont took it on himself to procure 
 from the King or the Lords of the Admiralty, the necessary com- 
 missions empowering Kidd to act against all pirates. In the agree- 
 ment it was stipulated that all prizes taken from the French should 
 be disposed of in the usual way directed by law; but that all cap- 
 tures from pirates should be sold for the benefit of the owners and 
 crew, twenty-five per cent, of the gross proceeds going to the crew 
 in lieu of pay, the remaining seventy-five per cent, to be divided 
 between Bellomont, Livingston, and Kidd, in proportion to their 
 contributions.'"' 
 
 It is noteworthy that the names of the gentlemen who aided 
 Bellomont in raising the amount of his subscription do not figure 
 in the agreement ; nor indeed do these gentlemen appear to have 
 any knowledge of Kidd, nor interest in the undertaking, beyond 
 their private and friendly aid to Bellomont. It is possible, though, 
 that Bellomont may have promised to remunerate them by a share 
 of the profits ; in which case, the affair, to them, was a purely 
 
 * Documents relating to the Colonial I/iston of New York. Vol. VI, p. 762. 
 
28 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 speculative one ; moreover, having the sanction of the King, it could 
 not have appeared in the least degree objectionable or illegal. 
 
 Thus began that unfortunate connection between Bellomont 
 and Kidd, which was destined to cast a temporary but deep shadow 
 over the honest Earl, and to bring the adventurous Captain to an 
 ignominious death upon the scaffold. 
 
 The name of Kidd lias come down to us as that of a most vil- 
 lainous sea-robber, and is linked with harrowing tales of bloodshed 
 and murder, and legends of untold wealth ; and the reputed con- 
 cealment by burial of much of this ill-gotten gain at various places 
 along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Delaware, has for years 
 dazzled the imaginations and depleted the purses of the credulous. 
 
 It is certain, however, that the epithet " Prince of Pirates," 
 and others of similar character, so freely bestowed on Kidd, never 
 rightfully belonged to him. His reputation among all but a few 
 careful students of history is based mainly on the ballads — or con- 
 fused recollections of them — which commemorate in most wretched 
 rhyme his alleged misdeeds and exploits. But the ballads alone are 
 not entirely responsible for the false ideas which came down to us 
 in regard to him. At the time of his arrest, party feeling ran no 
 less high and bitter than in our own day. The political enemies of 
 the noblemen who were concerned in aiding Bellomont in fitting 
 out the expedition commanded by Kidd, availed themselves of 
 Kidd's misconduct, to assail all who lent him their support and 
 countenance, seeking by this means to secure their downfall. In 
 the prosecution of this design, Kidd's deeds, or rather misdeeds, 
 were greatly magnified, often largely at the expense of truth. 
 
 An examination of the leading events in the life of Kidd, will 
 convince the dispassionate enquirer, that he was not the evil and 
 abandoned character he is so generally regarded ; and as I feel 
 that the citizens of this community, in which he was once a res- 
 pected and representative resident, can not be indifferent to his 
 history, I venture to present, in the briefest manner possible, a few 
 of the leading facts therein. 
 
RICH ARB, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 29 
 
 Born in Scotland,* about the middle of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury, William Kidd was the son of a clergyman — a fact which of 
 itself would he sufficient to convince sonic wiseacres that he could 
 come to no good end. His father, John Kidd. belonged to the 
 Scottish Non-Conformists, and was a man of great piety and strong 
 religious convictions, who testified his regard for principle by sub- 
 nutting to k> the torture of the hoot" — a most cruel ordeal — dying 
 on the 14th of August, ir>7!>. William Kidd adopted the sea at an 
 early age, and while still a young man became shipmaster and 
 noted as ahold and successful mariner. His trading ventures proving 
 fortunate, he became a man of some wealth. lie married Mrs. 
 Sarah ( )ort (said to have been a lovely and accomplished woman), 
 the widow of a former friend and fellow officer ; and purchasing 
 property in New York, established his residence in Cedar or Liberty 
 street. In the French war he commanded a privateer, and distin- 
 guished himself in two engagements in the West Indies. At the 
 time of the Leislerian troubles he naturally sided with the Officers 
 of the Crown and the British residents ; and, in the interests of the 
 Province, kept his vessel in the Bay, in case it should he needed to 
 defend the city against the French. For his services to the Pro- 
 vince, the General Assembly of New York, on the recommendation 
 of Governor Sloughter and Council, granted him, on the lJ-th of 
 May, 1691, the sum of £150. After this, he commanded a ship in 
 the merchant service ; and as we have seen, quitted this employ- 
 ment to engage in the suppression of piracy. 
 
 The several subscribers to the enterprise projected by Living- 
 ston for the suppression of piracy, having paid in the sums agreed, 
 a thirty-gun vessel called the " Adventure-galley " was purchased, 
 and after some little difficulty manned and equipped. As the owner 
 risked the vessel, and the crew their lives, in this venture, the pro : 
 jectors demanded of the government the proceeds arising from the 
 sale of whatever was captured, with the exception of the tenth 
 ordinarily reserved for the Crown from the sale of prizes taken 
 
 * Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York. Vol. IV, p. 583. 
 
30 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 from the King's enemies ; but it was not until the vessel had sailed, 
 that they succeeded in obtaining such an unusual grant. 
 
 In the month of April, 1696, Kidd sailed from Plymouth, 
 England, in the " Adventure-galley,'" with a crew variously estimated 
 at from fifty to eighty men. Although his instructions were to 
 proceed directly to the haunts of the pirates in the East Indies, he 
 disregarded them and sailed for New York, arriving in this port in 
 the month of July, bringing with him a Erench vessel which he 
 had captured on the way and which on his arrival he duly delivered 
 to Governor Fletcher. He remained in New York nearly three 
 months, during which it seems he led a very dissolute life. It was 
 rumored about the city that he intended to turn pirate, and that he 
 had promised Governor Fletcher £10,000 if he made a good voyage. 
 News of his arrival quickly spread itself over the Province, and 
 many adventurous and desperate men flocked to him from all parts. 
 Although no wages were offered, the agreement being that the men 
 were to receive twenty-five per cent, of the profits to be divided 
 among them, he easily recruited his crew up to about the number 
 of one hundred and fifty. 
 
 According to Governor Fletcher it was generally believed in 
 New York that if Kidd, acting in accordance with his commission 
 and instructions, failed to make a profitable voyage, he would not 
 be able to govern such a horde of men under no pay, who would 
 then probably mutiny and compel him to turn pirate. * 
 
 With a complete and enthusiastic crew, a staunch vessel and 
 suitable supplies and ammunition, Kidd sailed from New York for 
 Madeira, arriving there in February, 1697, By the month of July 
 he found himself at the entrance to the Red Sea ; up to that time 
 having made no capture with the exception of the Freneh prize 
 taken on his way to New York. The well-known and learned 
 liistorical writer, Mr. Henry C. Murphy, in his exhaustive and 
 interesting article on Kidd, published in Hunt's Merchants' 
 Magazine, January, 1846, states that this voyage to Eastern waters 
 
 * Gov. Fletcher to the Lords of Trade. Doc. relating to the Col. Hist, of N. Y. 
 Vol. IV, p. 275. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 31 
 
 was k 'a plain departure from the objects of the expedition, which 
 was publicly announced to he the destruction of pirates in the 
 American seas, and especially at Xew York ; " hut I find that 
 Bellomont himself expected that Kidd would avoid New York, 
 and sail directly for the haunts of the freebooters in the Indian 
 Ocean ; * and indeed his acquaintance with the resorts of the pirates 
 in those waters, was one of the chief reasons for his being selected 
 to command the expedition. 
 
 We must now leave lvidd for a while to return to Bellomont. 
 Delay in issuing his commission and the financial embarrass- 
 ment of the Home Government, prevented the Earl's departure 
 from England until towards the close of 1697. lie was accom- 
 panied to America by his wife and by his Lieutenant-Governor, 
 Captain .John Xanfan. The voyage was an unsually stormy one, 
 and the ship was compelled to put in at Barbadoes, arriving there 
 on the 5th of -January, 1698. More than two months were con- 
 sumed at this place in repairing the vessel. By the 9th of March, 
 the ship was refitted and sailed for New York, where she arrived 
 safely on the 2d of April. 
 
 The reception accorded to Bellomont, by the people of all 
 classes, was most cordial ; crowds nocked to the landing place to 
 greet him, and he was met everywhere with assurances of respect 
 and good-will. Four barrels of gunpowder were burned by order 
 of the City Government in honor of his arrival. His commission 
 having been published in due form, he immediately entered upon 
 the duties of his office. lie retained in the Executive Council those 
 who had served under his predecessors ; and having administered 
 to them the customary oath of office, he issued a call for a new 
 Assembly to meet on the 8th of May, lf>98. 
 
 The representatives of the people, not to be outdone by their 
 constituents, now united in extending a formal reception to the 
 newly arrived Governor. The corporation of the city, at the head 
 of which was Mayor Johannes DePeyster, tendered him a formal 
 
 * Earl of Bellomont to Secretary Vernon. Doc. rcl. to the Col, Hist, of N. Y. 
 Vol. IV, pp. 760, 815. 
 
32 LIFE AND A I ) M I N I S T K A T I OX OF 
 
 banquet, at which an address full of loyalty to the King was 
 read. 
 
 Bellomont was a nobleman of high rank, the son of a peer and 
 accustomed to a courtly style of living — for which he ever retained 
 a fondness; but he was not a man to neglect his duties for a life of 
 ease and pleasure. His parliamentary experience and thorough 
 acquaintance with English political affairs and the foreign policy of 
 the government, peculiarly fitted him for his new duties, upon 
 which he entered with few if any misgivings. 
 
 Some years before coming to America he had married a young 
 girl (said by some writers to have been but twelve years of age at 
 the time)* named Catherine Nanfan, the daughter and heiress of 
 Bridges Nanfan, Esq., of Bridgemorton, ( Jou'nty Worcester, Eng- 
 land, t By this union he had two sons, Nanfan and Richard. His 
 domestic relations were exceptionally pleasant; and except an occa- 
 sional attack of the gout, he enjoyed tolerably good health. 
 
 Wholly unembarrassed by fear or favor, he began his adminis- 
 tration with a linn resolve to discharge his duties to the satisfaction 
 of the King and in a straightforward and honorable manner ; and 
 although beset by the most perplexing opposition, from the very 
 outset, he uever swerved from his honest intentions. 
 
 Bellomont's tine personal appearance was well calculated to 
 make a decidedly favorable impression upon the people of New 
 York. Tall, good-looking, and graceful, he bore his sixty-two 
 years as lightly as though they were but tifty.* No less pleasing 
 in manners than appearance, agreeable in conversation, affable in 
 demeanor, and extremely stylish in dress, it is not at all strange 
 that he became at first sight a prime favorite with all classes of the 
 community. With the Dutch, whom he subsequently declared to 
 be " most hearty for his present majesty," and " a sober industrious 
 people, obedient to government," he ever retained his popularity. 
 
 ♦Sketch of Lord Bellomont in Stryker's American Quarterly Register. Vol. I, 
 p. 434. By J. B. Moore. 
 
 \ The Peerage of Great Britain and Ireland. Sir Bernard Burke. 
 I Mr. Lamb's History of New York. 
 
RICHARD, EARX OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 33 
 
 The cordial relations which it was well-known existed between him 
 and William III, and his early aid in bringing that prince to the 
 throne of England, and in supporting the Protestant religion, may 
 have done much to influence them in his favor ; bnt above all these 
 considerations, was his constant solicitude for their welfare, and his 
 consistent and persistent championship of the cause of their mar- 
 tyred leaders, Leisler and Milborne. He had scarcely been in the 
 Province a week, before his conscientious attempts to enforce the 
 laws and carry out his instructions, raised up around him a host of 
 personal enemies. Each successive attempt on his part to perform 
 his duty served but to increase their number, and the hatred thus 
 engendered, pursued him with slander, misrepresentation, and vin- 
 dictiveness, down to the day of his death ; and even after that event, 
 took delight in insulting his memory.* 
 
 From the date of Bellomont's confirmation as Governor of 
 New York, this enmity began. His predecessor in office, Colonel 
 Benjamin Fletcher, a man of very questionable judgment, to say 
 the least, chagrined at being superseded, sought by every means in 
 his power to render the office of Governor a most uncomfortable 
 one for his successor to fill ; hoping, as the sequel showed, to be 
 reinstated to the position. 
 
 Towards the latter part of Fletcher's administration, and imme- 
 diately following the news of Bellomont's appointment, began the 
 iniquitous system of land grants, which for a time paralyzed the 
 development of the Province, and might have operated most disas- 
 trously against its future greatness and prosperity, had not the saga- 
 city of the honest Earl foreseen its evil consequences, and his 
 determination arrested and in part prevented them. 
 
 Some idea of the nature and extravagance of these grants of 
 Fletcher may be obtained from the following brief schedule of six 
 of them, taken from the New York Colonial Manuscripts, which 
 will serve to show their enormous extent : 
 
 " 1. A grant to Colonel Nicholas Bayard for a tract of land in 
 the County of Albany, about 24 or 30 miles in length. 
 
 * History of New York. Dunlap. 
 
LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 " 2. A grant to Godfrey Dellius, Minister at Albany, for a 
 tract of land on the East side of Hudson's river, about 70 miles in 
 length and 12 in breadth. 
 
 " 3. A grant to Colonel Henry Beeknian, for a tract of land in 
 Dutchess County, about 16 miles square ; and likewise for another 
 tract of land upon Hudson's river, about 8 miles in breadth and 20 
 in length. 
 
 " 4. A grant to Colonel William Smith, for sundry tracts of 
 lands and meadows in the Island of Nassau [Long Island] computed 
 to contain about 50 miles. 
 
 " 5. A grant to Captain John Evans for sundry tracts of land 
 lying on the West side of Hudson's river and containing about 40 
 miles in length and 20 miles in breadth [amounting to 800 square 
 miles.] 
 
 " 6. A grant to Wm. Pinhorne, Esq., and four others, for a 
 tract of land lying on the Mohawk river, about 50 miles in length 
 and 2 in breadth on each side of the said river." 
 
 In addition to these and other extravagant grants, Fletcher 
 made several smaller ones, the latter comprising land, to dispose of 
 which he had no authority or right whatever. These grants also 
 were made after he knew that his successor had been appointed, 
 and besides evincing a desire to embarrass Bellomont, seem to show 
 Fletcher's intention of making all the profit possible out of his 
 government before it passed into other hands. 
 
 Attached to the Governor's residence at the Fort, was a garden 
 for pleasure, fruit, and herbage, known as the " King's Garden," and 
 a farm called the "King's Farm," for the pasturing of the Governor's 
 horses and cattle ; the two forming part of the King's demesnes. 
 In the time of James II, Governer Dongan proposed to grant the 
 King's garden for the maintenance of a school founded by the 
 Jesuits ; but the King — much as he is supposed to have favored the 
 Catholics — refused his consent, on the ground that "he would not 
 have his Governors deprived of their conveniences."* 
 
 * Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. IV, 
 p. 490. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 35 
 
 Contrary to all precedent, which preserved these demesnes 
 intact for the sole use of the Governor, Fletcher, on hearing of 
 Bellomont's departure from England to take charge of his govern- 
 ment in New York, made grants of the most valuable portions, 
 probably with a desire to annoy the person who was coming to 
 supersede him. The " King's Garden " was leased to Colonel 
 Heathcote, and the " King's Farm " to Trinity Church ; while still 
 other portions of the Governor's lands would have been granted 
 away, only that the Council thought Fletcher was going too far in 
 the matter. 
 
 The consequence of all this was that when Bellomont arrived 
 he found that the greater part of the King's demesnes which rightly 
 belonged to the Governor for his use and pleasure during his term 
 of office, had been granted away, and that what was left was in a 
 most sadly neglected condition, and so limited in extent as to be 
 scarcely sufficient to pasture a horse and a cow. The house in which 
 he was obliged to take up his residence was in such a wretched 
 state of repair that the rain came in through the roof ; and the 
 flooring of the lower halls and rooms was in an advanced state of 
 decay. These minor annoyances, however, Bellomont bore as cheer- 
 fully as possible ; and after getting settled in his abode, turned his 
 attention at once to more important matters. Scarcely a week had 
 passed since his arrival before he had occasion to carry out his 
 instructions regarding the enforcement of the Acts of Trade. These 
 Acts, it must be acknowledged, bore heavily upon the people of the 
 Province, who were not only taxed five per cent, on imports and 
 exports, but were obliged to restrict their trade to English ships 
 trading directly with England, it being at that time well established 
 among all European nations, that the commercial advantages of 
 colonial possessions should redound to the benefit of the mother 
 country, as asserted by many historians. 
 
 Moreover, as these Acts of Trade were framedby the English 
 government, which, to the greater part of the people of New York, 
 was alien and arbitrary, their violation was not generally regarded 
 as a very grave offence by the colonial merchants, the greater 
 
36 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 number of whom were Dutch and French. Bellomont's duty was 
 to obey instructions. Accordingly, when it came to his ears that 
 an unfree ship laden with East Indian goods was in port, he 
 immediately gave orders for the seizure of the vessel and its 
 cargo. 
 
 The tardy and imperfect manner in which his orders were 
 obeyed, convinced him that no dependence was to be placed on the 
 Customs officials. At the head of these was Mr. Chidley Brooke, 
 the Collector and Beceiver-General, who was a former protege of 
 Bellomont's uncle, and who owed his advancement in life princi- 
 pally to the influence of the Coote family, to which it is said he 
 was distantly related. Bellomont's first investigations showed him 
 that Brooke was unreliable, and he at once suspended him from 
 office ; appointing two Commissioners in his stead, until the govern- 
 ment confirmed a successor. One of these Commissioners was 
 Colonel Van Cortlandt, a member of the Council, and a man of 
 excellent repute ; the other, a Mr. Monsey, who had filled for several 
 years the office of Searcher of the Customs, at a salary of £50 per 
 annum, and whom Bellomont advanced to the higher grade of 
 Commissioner, at £200 per annum, from a belief that his experience 
 in the Customs would render his services in this new position 
 valuable. 
 
 But the trouble was not confined to the chief officer. Even 
 the Sheriff and Constables, whose duty it was to attend to the seizures, 
 were bribed to neglect their duty, or were themselves interested in 
 defeating the operation of the law. The excitement of the 
 merchants grew intense over Bellomont's decisive action. Mr. 
 Monsey's first attempt to carry out his instructions, resulted in his 
 life being threatened by the angry merchants ; whereupon he 
 resigned his office, and Mr. Ducy Hungerford, a distant connection 
 of the Earl, was appointed in his place. 
 
 Shortly after Bellomont assumed the government, charges of 
 complicity with pirates had been brought against Mr. William 
 Nicoll, a member of the Council ; and as the Earl deemed them 
 well-founded, he suspended him from office. The suspension of 
 
RICHARD, EAKI. OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 37 
 
 Mr. Brooke, who was likewise one of the Council, removed a second 
 member ; and a third, in the person of Mr. William Pinhorne, who 
 remonstrated with Bellomont in violent language for his arbitrary 
 proceedings against the merchants, soon followed. "Hindered by 
 his assistants, opposed by the people, and threatened by the 
 merchants," — to borrow his own account of the situation, the 
 Governor certainly had no pleasant time of it ; but the opposition 
 he encountered served only to strengthen him in discharging his 
 duty, and he proceeded no less firmly, although unsupported. 
 His efforts at reform, would, he saw, prove entirely futile if men 
 were retained in the Council who would not assist him in carrying 
 out his policy ; and he resolved to suspend every member whom he 
 suspected of dishonesty. 
 
 The next great outcry against him arose from his enforcing an 
 Act of Parliament restoring, to their families, the confiscated estates 
 of Leisler and Milborne. It should be remembered that after the 
 execution of these two men, their friends and adherents made 
 strenuous endeavors to place their conduct in its true light before 
 the English government. A calm investigation of the facts convinced 
 Parliament that their execution was wholly unwarranted ; and an 
 Act was passed legitimatizing the government founded by them, 
 reversing the attainder, and directing the return to their heirs of 
 their confiscated property. When Bellomont reached the Province, 
 he found that this Act bad been treated with positive contempt. 
 The estates had passed into the hands of several owners who had 
 purchased them at public sale ; and some of these persons had 
 already disposed of a portion of what they had thus acquired. 
 These new owners formed what we would now call a " ring," and 
 seem to have had sufficient influence with the colonial officers to 
 retard, for the time being, the return of the property to the heirs of 
 Leisler and Milborne, as directed by the Act of Parliament. 
 Before leaving England, the Earl was convinced that the two men 
 had been unjustly and cruelly dealt with, although in giving orders, 
 on his arrival in Xew York, that the provisions of the law be 
 instantly carried into effect, he did not in the least exceed his duty, 
 
38 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 nor even give way to prejudice, however great his personal feeling 
 in the matter may have been. 
 
 A circumstance which annoyed Bellomont very much, and 
 which showed him the temper of the persons composing the 
 Council, was the fact that they avoided as much as possible lending 
 him their assistance, although they maintained a close communica- 
 tion with Colonel Fletcher, who still remained in New York. 
 
 The first Assembly called by Bellomont proved as severe a 
 disappointment to him as his Council. Despite his proclamation, 
 " commanding all fairness of elections and legal and just returns of 
 Representatives," the election of eleven out of nineteen who were 
 returned was disputed. These eleven, however, with a boldness 
 and persistence that would have done credit to more modern poli- 
 ticians, managed to retain their places. The greatest disorder and 
 confusion followed ; and it was evident that nothing in the way of 
 legislation could be accomplished. Bellomont had no inclination 
 to imitate the example of some of his predecessors, either in mana- 
 ging elections or in interfering with the rights and liberties of 
 legislators ; but the manifest corruption in this case so disgusted 
 him, that upon receiving a petition from several of the well-disposed 
 members, he peremptorily dissolved the Assembly after it had been 
 in session about one month. 
 
 At the time Lord Bellomont entered upon his duties, the 
 entire European population of the British colonies in North 
 America did not exceed two hundred thousand persons.* Of this 
 number New York had somewhat less than twenty-five thousand, 
 and New England about seventy-five thousand. In New York, 
 the preponderating element was Dutch ; in New England, the 
 people were almost all English. Between the inhabitants of these 
 two provinces there existed a rivalry which, at times, fell but little 
 short of antagonism. Notwithstanding this, however, both moved 
 onward with rapid strides in the work of civilization and develop- 
 ment ; and the remarkable intelligence and prosperity of their 
 
 * Bancroft's History of the United States. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 39 
 
 descendants at this day, attests the wonderful vigor of the parent 
 stock. 
 
 But although it is not generally known, and even when known 
 not sufficiently pondered on, the people of New York and New 
 England were in reality homogeneous. The complete elucidation 
 of this remarkable fact would, in itself, occupy a somewhat lengthy 
 address, yet, as the subject is rarely touched upon, I venture to 
 allude to it briefly in this place. 
 
 The English historian Ileylyn, writing in the early part of 
 the seventeenth century, says : " In the time of Henry II [about 
 A. D. 1170] Flandres was so overflowne that many thousands of 
 people, whose dwellings the sea had devoured came into England 
 to beg new seats ; and were by that King first placed in Yorkshire 
 and then removed to Pembrokeshire." These, however, were not 
 the first colonists from Flanders who settled in England, as in the 
 preceding reign many others had come over at the invitation of the 
 English King. 
 
 A recent historical writer, who has evidently given close study 
 to the subject, in commenting on this statement of Ileylyn's, says : 
 " For Yorkshire it would seem more plausible to read Lincolnshire, 
 whose southeast subdivision was styled Holland, embracing a tract 
 of land recovered from the sea by a Dutch colony settled therein 
 prior to the sixth century. Boston, its chief town, already in the 
 reign of Edward III [1327-77], one of the principal commercial 
 ports of England — whose lofty church tower two hundred and 
 ninety feet in height, resembles that of Antwerp cathedral, and is 
 visible forty miles out at sea — was originally called St. Boto[u]lph's 
 town, after a prelate who preached the Gospel in the seventh cen- 
 tury in Belgic Gaul.'''' * * * 
 
 * * * " This Saxon district, the last to submit to William 
 the Conqueror, was as late as 1140 a refuge for the last free English 
 Saxons. Thus, the same spirit which animated the Saxon Menapii 
 to defend their marshes against the fearful Julius and his mighty 
 namesakes and maintained the freedom of their native sea-land, 
 inspired their issue in the fens of England to resist the potent 
 
40 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 Norman Conqueror and avert his cruel thrall from their new homes. 
 Again when prelacy and Stuart tyranny sought to impose their 
 yoke upon another generation, the same stern influence bade them 
 gird up their loins and cross the Ocean, far, far away to a new 
 world, bearing forth the precious seed destined to bring forth price- 
 less harvests." * 
 
 Thus it will be seen that the English settlers of New England 
 and the Hollandish element of New York were identical in origin. 
 Surely, the consideration of this fact should tend to bind their 
 descendants together by that most indissoluble of ties, a common 
 origin, and aid in maintaining that perfect harmony on which the 
 cause of progress and the future of the nation so largely depends. 
 
 Following the example of England and Holland, the early 
 settlers of New England and New York strove for the maintenance 
 of their religious rights, but as yet entertained no thought of 
 perfect religious toleration. Protestantism, still in its infancy, and 
 inexpressibly dear to those who professed it, demanded for its 
 nurture and increase the removal of all opposition ; and by reason of 
 this fact, the action of its avowed and devoted adherents in 
 hesitating, even when greatly in the majority, to accord perfect 
 religious freedom to Catholics, can be understood without difficulty. 
 Therefore it is that while we, in these later days, recognize the 
 wisdom of the founders of the American Republic, in making 
 religious as well as civil liberty the foundation of our institutions, 
 we cannot harshly condemn the methods by which the early settlers 
 of New England and New York sought to insure their own religious 
 freedom. 
 
 The fact that Bellomont signed an Act passed by the New 
 York Assembly, making it a felony for any ecclesiastic of the church 
 of Rome to reside in the Province after a certain specified date, has 
 been adduced by some historical writers as a proof of intolerance 
 and bigotry on his part, and referred to as an indelible stain upon 
 his character. An impartial investigation of the circumstances will 
 
 * History of Carausius, by Gen. J. Watts de Peyster. 
 
BICHAHDj EAEL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 41 
 
 suffice, however, to prove to any unbiased mind, that it was "rather 
 a measure of state policy than persecution," there heing a wide- 
 spread belief at the time that the Indian tribes were being excited 
 to hostilities by Jesuit priests, working in the interests of the 
 French. Yet it cannot be denied that Bellomont was a most zealous 
 Protestant, and sought by every legitimate means to advance the 
 interests of the Church to which his sovereign and the great 
 majority of his countrymen belonged, and in the preservation of 
 which, in England, he himself, as one of the leaders in the Revolu- 
 tion, had played no unimportant part. 
 
 While Bellomont can hardly be accused of favoring any parti- 
 cular clique or party among the colonists, it is true that he had a 
 warm feeling of sympathy for the Leislerians. Yet, even for these, 
 he did no more than common justice dictated. After a few months' 
 residence in New York he found that they were largely in the 
 majority ; and, in an essentially democratic spirit, he paid them that 
 attention which, as a just Governor, he felt was rightly their due. 
 lie did not proceed to any great lengths even in this. I have 
 already mentioned that he ordered the restoration of the confiscated 
 property to the families of Leisler and Milborne ; and that by so 
 doing he stirred up a ho>t of enemies. But he merely enforced the 
 provisions of an Act of Parliament, and however gladly he did so, 
 it was duty and not favoritism on his part. 
 
 A circumstance which occurred some months later, and which 
 was made the cause of many and grievous complaints against him 
 by his enemies, was really but the carrying out of the legal provi- 
 sions reversing the Act of Attainder on Leisler and Milborne, and 
 was permitted out of deference to the wishes of their friends, who 
 composed the popular majority. This circumstance was the disin- 
 terment of the remains of Leisler and Milborne from the hole 
 beneath the gallows into which they had been hastily thrown after 
 the execution, and their reinterment, with Christian ceremonies, in 
 the burial ground of the Dutch Church. Out of a proper and 
 praiseworthy respect for the memory of the deceased, their relatives 
 and connections, including Abraham Gouverneur, who had married 
 
42 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATE >X OF 
 
 Mary Leisler, the widow of Jacob Milborne, and who was now the 
 Speaker of the Assembly, decided on taking this step, provided 
 they conld obtain the Governor's permission. As soon as it became 
 known that the Leislerians were moving in the matter, a strong 
 influence was brought to bear on Bellomont to prevent his giving 
 his countenance to the plan. The ministers of the Dutch, French 
 and English churches, and many of the wealthy residents of the 
 city petitioned against it ; the former, on the ground that it was 
 likely to give rise to a breach of the peace ; the latter, presumably 
 through hatred, they being pronounced anti-Leislerians. Bellomont's 
 sentiments would not however allow him to refuse this tardy act of 
 justice; and, braving the opposition, he not only granted permission 
 for the burial, but allowed a hundred soldiers to attend as a guard 
 of honor. The disinterment took place at midnight, and although 
 " it blew a rank storm for two or three days together," upwards of 
 twelve hundred persons — mostly Dutch and many of them from 
 neighboring towns — were in attendance. This large crowd formed 
 in procession, and to the beating of muffled drums and lighted 
 torches, proceeded with slow and solemn step through the dismal 
 storm, to the City Hall, where the remains were allowed to lie in 
 state for several days, after which they were interred in the Dutch 
 Church.* 
 
 In referring to this weird affair, Bellomont, in a letter to the 
 Lords of Trade, says : " I do not repent my so doing since no man- 
 ner of ill consequence ensued, and if it were in my power I would 
 restore them [Leisler and Milborne] to life again, for I am most 
 confident and dare undertake to prove it, that the execution of 
 these men was as violent, cruell and arbitrary a proceeding as ever 
 was done upon the lives of men in any age under an English gov- 
 ernment, and it will be proved undeniably that Fletcher hath de- 
 clared the same dislike and abhorrence of that proceeding that I 
 now doe, notwithstanding his doubleness in publishing a book to 
 applaud the justice of it and screen his sycophant Councillors, 
 
 * Earl of Bellomont to the Lords of Trade, Oct. 2lst, 1698. Doc. rel. to Col. 
 Hist, of N. Y. Vol. IV, p. 401. 
 
RIClTARn, EART. OP BELLOMONT. 
 
 43 
 
 Nicholls, Bayard, Brooks and the rest of the hloodhoiuids. * * * * 
 I do not wonder that Bayard, Nichols and the rest of the mur- 
 derers of these men should he disturbed at the taking up of their 
 hones ; it put them in mind ('tis likely) of their rising hereafter in 
 judgment against them."'* 
 
 This affair and others of far less importance were greatly 
 magnified by the merchants of New York and their correspondents 
 in London, in the hope of inducing the Lords of Trade to decide 
 on Bellomont's removal. 
 
 Besides the anti-Leislerians and the angry merchants, Bellomont 
 had other enemies almost as powerful, and fully as vindictive and 
 uncompromising. These were the persons who had obtained 
 extravagant grants of land from Governor Fletcher. Upon investi- 
 gation Bellomont discovered that about three-quarters of the 
 Province had been granted away to eleven persons. Perfectly 
 amazed at the extent of these grants, which he knew was not fully 
 realized in England, and perceiving the disastrous effect upon the 
 growth of the Colony which must result from confining such vast 
 areas of fertile territory in the hands of a few speculators, he urged 
 the Lords of Trade to confer upon him power to vacate them. 
 The people of Albany, through their representatives, had already 
 memorialized him to vacate one of these grants — that made to William 
 Pinhorne and others. They asserted that this grant totally disre- 
 garded the natural rights of the Indian inhabitants who had been 
 their faithful allies during the French war, and also interfered 
 with the rights of white settlers. The best part of the Province — 
 that bordering upon the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, had been 
 unwisely, if not criminally, cut off from the people by these grants; 
 and Bellomont determined on having it restored if possible. After 
 the Lords of Trade had carefully studied the matter, they saw that 
 Fletcher's policy in grants had been detrimental to the welfare of the 
 country, in fact, had seriously interfered with its prosperity. They 
 explained affairs to the Lords Justices of England, and the latter 
 
 * The Earl of Bellomont to the Lords of Trade, May 15th, 1699. Doc. rel. to the 
 Col. Hist, of N. Y. Vol. IV, p. 523. 
 
44 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 thereupon instructed Bellomont "that lie should put in practice all 
 methods whatsoever allowed by law for the breaking and annulling 
 those exorbitant, irregular and unconditional grants." 
 
 In obedience to these instructions, Bellomont directed the 
 Attorney-General of the Province to prepare and bring in a bill for 
 vacating Fletcher's grants. Six of the Council were present when 
 the bill was brought up, three of whom, being themselves large 
 land-owners, voted against it. The other three, with Bellomont's 
 casting vote, passed it. This bill had been purposely framed to 
 avoid giving general alarm, as Bellomont foresaw that the opposition 
 of a large number of interested persons would probably result in 
 defeating the measure. Having passed the Council, the bill was sent 
 to the Assembly, and being successfully passed there, required 
 merely the endorsement of the Lords of Trade and the approval of 
 the King to become a law. 
 
 But influences were speedily set to work to counteract this 
 wholesome law. Those interested contributed money and sent one 
 of their number to England, where, by counter-statements and mis- 
 representations, he succeeded in preventing the immediate endorse- 
 ment of the Act of the New York Assembly. Much as Bellomont 
 labored in this measure, he did not live to see it carried out as 
 emphatically as he desired ; but he had the satisfaction of knowing 
 that the steps he took could scarcely fail to eventually secure the 
 restoration to the people of the Province, of the large and valuable 
 territory of which they had been illegally and unjustly despoiled. 
 
 As previously stated, Bellomont had three principal objects in 
 view in coming to America ; these were the enforcement of the 
 Acts of Trade, the suppression of piracy, and the healing of the 
 local troubles between the colonists. To these objects, which 
 primarily occupied his attention, may be added the vacating of the 
 land grants ; and also the preservation of peaceful relations with 
 the Indians, who were to be prevented from falling under French 
 influence. 
 
 Unaided by vessels of war, embarrassed by dishonest and 
 untrustworthy officials, and opposed by a powerful clique of 
 
RICHARD, KAMI. OF BBLLOMONT. 
 
 4:, 
 
 merchants, Bellomont's efforts to suppress illegal trade were 
 necessarily but slightly successful. 
 
 In operating against piracy he was more a power in his own 
 person, for he could refuse commissions and protections to free- 
 booters, and could also, with the aid of the troops at his command, 
 arrest any who came within his jurisdiction. As his sense of justice 
 was ever too great to allow him to palliate wrong, he could not bring 
 himself to please the opponents of Leisler and Milborne by refusing 
 justice to the families of these two patriotic men, or honor to their 
 insulted names and memory; consequently he accomplished little 
 towards uniting the two contending parties. But from his point of 
 view he did almost as well ; for he acknowledged the claims of the 
 democracy — which was largely in the majority, so far as regarded 
 numbers — to representation in the government; and by giving the 
 people his support and encouragement, increased their loyalty to 
 the Crown. 
 
 Regarding his labors in vacating the extravagant grants of land, 
 reference has already been made. Although not completely 
 successful, they were sufficient to arouse public attention in England 
 to the methods by which the Crown and the people both were 
 robbed of valuable possessions for the enrichment of a few grasping 
 individuals. His negotiations with the Indians were, as a rule, 
 quite successful ; and would doubtless have been emphatically so, 
 had the Home Government paid greater heed to his suggestions and 
 recommendations in regard to their treatment. 
 
 About August, 1698, the East India Company informed the 
 Lords Justices that intelligence had reached them of acts of piracy 
 committed by Captain Kidd. Circular-letters were accordingly 
 sent to all the colonial governors giving notice of this news, and 
 ordering a strict lookout to be kept for Kidd's appearance and his 
 immediate capture if possible. In the early part of this Address 
 I gave the particulars of the fitting out of Kidd's expedition, and 
 the details of his cruise for the first fifteen or sixteen months after 
 leaving England, during which time he had adhered to his instruc- 
 tions. From an impartial study of the various accounts of this 
 
4(1 
 
 LTFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 notorious freebooter, I am led to believe that he became a pirate, 
 not so much from any particular design on his part, as by force of 
 circumstances, and previous training as a privateer. With a crew 
 of lawless men, whose only hope of reward was based on captures 
 of some kind, which, since leaving New York, they had not been 
 fortunate enough to make, it would not be surprising if fears of a 
 mutiny compelled him to depart from the letter of his instructions. 
 But, whatever the actual cause, he began his piratical career by an 
 unsuccessful attack upon the Mocha fleet ; followed by the capture 
 of a Moorish ship, from which he realized very little booty ; and 
 an attack upon a Portuguese man-of-war which he gladly quitted 
 after testing her prowess. This unprofitable warfare seems to have 
 satisfied him temporarily ; and it is possible that if he had been 
 able to control his men, he would have confined himself thereafter 
 to his legitimate work, or else have returned to England. This 
 seems all the more probable from the fact that he allowed the next 
 ship that he fell in with — the Royal Captain — to proceed un- 
 molested, merely exchanging with her the usual marine courtesies. 
 But this unpiratical conduct, though it affords presumptive evidence 
 of a desire on Kidd's part to avoid exceeding his instructions, did 
 not satisfy Lis men. One of them so irritated Kidd by his com- 
 plaints that, in a fit of passion, the latter struck him to the deck 
 with a bucket, inflicting injuries that proved fatal the next day ; 
 and this, the only act of blood that stained his career, and a some- 
 what pardonable one. it would appear, in a man completely at the 
 mercy of a desperate and turbulent crew, forms the only foundation 
 for the alleged bloodthirsty proclivities still attributed to him. 
 Succeeding this event, be made several small captures, followed by 
 that of the ship " Quedagh Merchant " valued at about £64,000. At 
 no time in his career does he seem to have abandoned the idea of- 
 returning to England and giving an account of himself ; for, as late 
 as the time of disposing of some of the goods taken in this last 
 prize, he is known to have set aside the percentage due the owners. 
 He claimed afterwards that the '"Quedagh Merchant" sailed under 
 a French pass, and consequently was a legal capture. Still, if so, and 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 47 
 
 if he had tlje intention of acting fully up to his instructions, he 
 should have taken her to some British port and had her condemned, 
 a proceeding to which he does not appear to have given even a 
 thought. 
 
 Arriving at Madagascar with his prize, he burnt the "Adventure- 
 galley," having first disposed of her outfit to pirates whom he met 
 there, and who feared at first that lie would attempt their capture. 
 About two-thirds of his crew now quitted him to follow the fortunes 
 of another leader, they previously receiving their share of the 
 plunder taken from the last prize. With the remainder of his men, 
 Kidd sailed in the "Quedagh Merchant" for the West Indies, arriving 
 there in the spring of 1699. Almost the first news which greeted 
 him was that he had been declared a pirate. Alter some little 
 difficulty he succeeded in purchasing a sloop; and putting into it 
 forty men and some of his treasure, and leaving the rest of his booty 
 in the " Quedagh Merchant," in charge of about a score of men, he 
 sailed northwards, shortly arriving in Delaware Bay, where he 
 readily obtained supplies. Later, he made his appearance in the 
 vicinity of New York ; but learning that Bellomont was in Boston, 
 he proceeded to Rhode Island, where he disembarked a messenger 
 to inform the Earl of his arrival, and to make protestations of his 
 innocence. 
 
 Bellomont was overjoyed to hear that Kidd was so near at 
 hand and resolved to capture him, as his reputation in England was 
 beginning to suffer from his connection with the expedition. 
 With the advice of his Massachusetts Council, he sent back word 
 to Kidd that if his representations were true he could come to 
 Boston with safety. 
 
 On the 1st of July, 1699, Kidd arrived in Boston in his sloop, 
 and presented himself before the Governor and his Council for 
 examination. He was not successfid in making his innocence 
 appear, but the Earl hoping to discover where the ship " Quedagh 
 Merchant " was secreted, refrained from committing him to prison. 
 A number of circumstances, however, showed Bellomont that the 
 temper of the people of the Province was favorable to Kidd, and 
 
48 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTBATION OF 
 
 fearing his escape and the disappearance of his spoil, he gave orders, 
 on the 6th of July, for his arrest. At the same time, the cargo was 
 taken possession of by commissioners appointed by the Council, 
 and a search was instituted for such goods and treasure as had been 
 concealed or disposed of by Kidd, in the several places where he 
 had touched before arriving at Boston. 
 
 After his arrest, Kidd sent word to Bellomont that if he " would 
 let him go to the place where he left the ' Quedagh Merchant,' and to 
 St. Thomas's Island and Curascao, he would undertake to bring off 
 fifty or three score thousand pounds which would otherwise be lost ; " 
 and, "that he would be satisfied to goe a Prisoner."* 
 
 Situated as Bellomont was, he did not dare to entertain this 
 proposal; but after trying in vain to learn where the "Quedagh 
 Merchant " lay, he ordered a vessel to be lifted out to go in search 
 of her. Before this vessel sailed, however, he received information 
 from a reliable source that the men left in charge of the "Quedagh 
 Merchant," had removed her cargo in a sloop to Curascao, and then 
 burnt her to the water's edge. 
 
 The commissioners appointed to take charge of the property 
 of Kidd, reported the total of all seized and recovered as " one 
 thousand one hundred and eleven ounces of gold, two thousand 
 three hundred and fifty three ounces of silver, fifty-seven bags of 
 sugar, forty-one bales of goods, and seventeen pieces of canvas." 
 A portion of this property consisted of several pieces of plate and 
 two hundred and sixty dollars in money belonging to Mrs. Kidd ; 
 and twenty-five crowns, English money, belonging to her maid ; 
 all of which was subsequently restored. 
 
 It having been decided to try Kidd in London, the Home 
 Government, sent over the Advice Frigate, commanded by Captain 
 W vnn, to bring him thither ; and, in company with thirty other 
 pirates, he arrived in England on the 12th of April, 1700, and was 
 committed to prison in London. A year passed before he was 
 brought to trial. In the meantime a fierce political opposition to 
 
 * The Earl of BelJomont to the Lords of Trade, Jan. 5th, 1699. Doc. rel. to 
 Col. Hist, of N. V. Vol. IV, p. 602. 
 
KICUAKD, EAKL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 49 
 
 Lord Somers and the Earl of Oxford, respectively Lord Cbancellor 
 and Lord High Admiral of England, had sprung up, and their 
 impeachment was determined upon. Every means was taken by 
 their enemies to effect their ruin ; and among other charges brought 
 against them, was that of connection with Captain Kidd, in which 
 the Earl of Bellomont also was mentioned. 
 
 The enemies of Bellomont 1 in England, principal among 
 whom were the agents of those he had offended by his activity in 
 suppressing illegal trade and in vacating the land grants, took 
 advantage of this affair to press for his removal from office. They 
 insinuated that he was sent from New York to countenance Kidd 
 and other pirates, in the face of the fact that he had been the means 
 of causing the arrest of a number of freebooters, and that he had 
 almost succeeded in eradicating the evil in the provinces over 
 which he governed, and that, too, by his vigorous and unaided 
 measures. 
 
 At this time also, the question of the Irish forfeitures was in 
 agitation in Parliament, and much opposition was shown to the 
 grants of confiscated estates made by William III to several of his 
 favorites. The efforts of the Tories and Republicans — who united 
 against the Whigs — were successful ; and in abolishing the grants 
 no distinction was made between those who were enriched by 
 u injudicious partiality " and those who had been " sparingly 
 rewarded " for services to the State and the Protestant religion. 
 Among those who suffered was Bellomont, who found himself 
 deprived of an estate to which he was entitled as well by reason of 
 the services of his father and grandfather, as by his own zeal in 
 supporting the King, and the losses he was at by the rebellion in 
 Ireland. 
 
 The malicious rumors regarding his complicity with pirates, 
 and the proceedings in relation to this and other matters in the 
 House of Commons — where his name was now frequently dragged 
 into debate — annoyed and worried him exceedingly. Conscious of 
 his entire innocence of evil design, and knowing how earnestly he 
 strove to discharge his onerous duties to the satisfaction of his 
 
50 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 sovereign, his sorrow and mortification at being thus grossly 
 maligned and misrepresented must have been keen in the extreme. 
 But his proud nature, while chaffing under this harsh and unjust 
 persecution and neglect, gave way to but little complaint ; nor did 
 he for an instant relax that stern attention to duty which with him 
 was ever a fixed principle. The following extract from a communi- 
 cation by him to the Lords of Trade, dated October 17th, 1700, 
 shows the temperate nature of his remonstrances against the treat- 
 ment he was receiving : 
 
 " I have been much troubled to find my name brought on the 
 stage of the House of Commons about Kidd. 'Twas hard I thought 
 I should be push'd at so vehemently when it was known I had 
 taken Kidd and secur'd him in order to his punishment ; which 
 was a sure sign the noble Lords concern'd with me, and myself, 
 had no criminal design in setting out that ship. Another mortifica- 
 tion I have met witli is the loss of a rent-charge of a .£1,000 a year 
 which the Xing was pleased to give me upon an Irish forfeited 
 estate, in recompense of the great loss I had sustained by the 
 rebellion in Ireland. If I have served the King and interests of 
 England here, I am sure I have been strangely rewarded there." 
 
 All through his administration Bellomont showed himself 
 possessed of an inflexible integrity. By winking at illegal trade 
 he could easily have gained the favor of the merchants, and silenced 
 all opposition ; for the clamor against him arose mainly from the 
 fact that many of those engaged in trade found their profits sadly 
 lessened by his extraordinary vigilance ; by becoming a partner in 
 their unlawful practices he could quietly, but surely, have amassed a 
 fortune. But he pursued an exactly opposite course ; and so 
 careful was he not to involve himself in any way with those engaged 
 in commercial transactions, where it was possible that the influence 
 of his name might be used in evading the law, that he refused an 
 offer of silent partnership in a legitimate business, made to him by 
 a New England merchant.* He might have added largely to his 
 
 * The Earl of Bellomont to the Lords of Trade, 28th Nov., 1700. Doc. relating 
 to Col. Hist. N. Y. Vol. IV, p. 792. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 51 
 
 income by granting immunity or protection to pirates ; but though 
 very tempting inducements were held out to him — amounting in 
 one instance at least to £5000, for protecting a single company of 
 pirates,* and in several other instances to quite large sums for 
 similar services, he indignantly refused them all. 
 
 Having taken Kidd into custody, he carefully guarded all the 
 treasure seized with him, and instituted an honest search for what 
 had been removed from the sloop before it put into Boston. 
 Having recovered this portion, he added it to the original seizure 
 and sent the whole to England, " without retaining to the value of 
 a farthing " for himself; and, according to the testimony of Secre- 
 tary Vernon, f he pursued the same honest course with the effects 
 of every pirate he seized. 
 
 Bellomont's own statement in regard to the possibilities of 
 profit in administering the government of New York, shows that 
 the post could have been made a decidedly valuable one to a 
 Governor with an elastic conscience. He says : " 'Tis true if 1 
 could make this a mart of piracy, confederate with the merchants 
 and wink at their unlawful trade ; if I would pocket all the off- 
 reckonings, make three hundred pounds per annum of the article 
 of victualling the poor soldiers, muster half Companies, pack an 
 Assembly that would give me what money I pleased and let me 
 misapply it as I pleased, and pocket a great part of the publick 
 moneys; I could make this government very valuable, I believe 
 more than that of Ireland, which is reckoned the best government 
 in his Majestie's gift.''' X 
 
 But the honest Bellomont refused to profit by doing wrong 
 himself, or allowing others to do wrong. He contented himself 
 therefore with his legitimate perquisites, an account of which for the 
 first year of his administration in this Province, with a reference 
 to his salary, I quote from one of his letters to the Lords of Trade : 
 
 " That your Lordships may be judges of all the profits of this 
 
 *Doc. relating to the Colonial Hist, of the State of New York. Vol. IV, p. 458. 
 
 \ Letters of fames Vernon to the Duke of Shrewsbury. Vol. Ill, p. 27. 
 
 \ Doc relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. IV, p. 378. 
 
52 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 government, I resolve you shall know to a shilling what the per- 
 quisites are from time to time. I formerly sent you an account of 
 the seizures of ships and unlawful goods with the apprizements 
 and sales of them, and for how much ; and in thirteen months that 
 I have been here I have got but eighty-three pounds six shillings 
 New York money from the Secretary for passes for Ships, Licenses 
 for Marriages and Probats of Wills and all other things wherein 
 the Seale of the Province has been used. And when I went to 
 Albany the present from the Indians consisting in Beaver skins 
 and some few others skins, I sold for eighty pounds nine shillings 
 and ten pence New York money. I can safely declare upon oath 
 that the particulars above specifyed and my salary of four hundred 
 pounds per annum are all the profits I have had, received, or made 
 directly or indirectly since my being in the Government, that I 
 know or remember." * 
 
 When Kidd was brought before the Commissioners in England, 
 he defended himself on the ground that his men had forced him to 
 exceed his instructions. When questioned as to the amount of 
 treasure brought by him to New England, he said he estimated it 
 to be worth about £30,000 ; but added that part of it had been 
 embezzled by those who got it into their hands, although he 
 acquitted Lord Bellomont of having kept any part of it. 
 
 The trial of Kidd did not take place until the 8th of May, 1701. 
 Having been " found guilty on an indictment for the murder of 
 Moore, the gunner, and on five separate indictments for piracy, he 
 was sentenced to be hung, and in the same month [May 12th] was 
 accordingly executed.'" + 
 
 Some apologists for Kidd, in their endeavor to make it appear 
 that he was a martyr to circumstances, have felt it necessary to 
 blacken the character of Bellomont, whom they accuse of dealing 
 perfidiously with his former friend. A conscientious study of the 
 whole subject must however convince the impartial and unpreju- 
 diced student that no other course was open to an honest man like 
 
 * Doc . relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York. Vol. VI, p. 522. 
 \ Henry C. Murphy. 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BEXLQMONT. 
 
 53 
 
 Bellomont, tlian that which he took. His duty as a magistrate was 
 plain ; he had orders to suppress piracy and to arrest pirates ; and 
 so far as he had the power he carried out the law. Even if Kidd 
 had been forced into piracy by a mutinous crew, it was not for 
 Eellomont to decide that he was not guilty. His duty to himself 
 and to his family demanded that he should exonerate himself from 
 all charges of complicity with Ividd's illegal deeds ; and this was 
 only possible through the fullest investigation — which, to his credit 
 be it.said, he anxiously courted. 
 
 " To an intelligent and candid judge of human actions," says 
 the eminently wise Maeaulay, from whom I quote, "it will not 
 appear that any of the persons at whose expense the " Adventure- 
 galley " was fitted out deserved serious blame. The worst that could 
 be imputed even to Bellomont, who had drawn in all the rest, was 
 that he had been led into a fault by his ardent zeal for the public 
 service and by the generosity of a nature as little prone to suspect 
 as to divise villainies. His friends * * * might surely be 
 pardoned for giving credit to his recommendation. It his highly 
 probable that the motives which induced some of them to aid his 
 design was genuine public spirit. But if we suppose them to have 
 had a view to gain, it was to legitimate gain. Their conduct was 
 the very opposite of corrupt. Xot only had they taken no money, 
 they had disbursed money largely and had disbursed it with the 
 certainty that they should never be reimbursed unless the outlay 
 proved beneficial to the public. That they meant well they proved 
 by staking thousands on the success of their plan ; and if they 
 erred in judgment the loss of those thousands was surely a sufficient 
 punishment for such an error. On this subject there would probably 
 have been no difference of opinion had not Somers been one of the 
 contributors."* 
 
 I have thus far merely attempted to show the obstacles en- 
 countered by Bellomont in his attempts to suppress piracy and 
 illegal trade; and have dwelt briefly on the opposition awakened by 
 
 History 1 of England. 
 
54 
 
 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 his labors in this direction and against the extravagant land grants. 
 These labors were the most important of his administration, and to 
 them he gave the greater part of his attention and energy. His 
 success, it is true, was far from being what was expected by the 
 English government or desired by himself. Yet, in the face of all 
 the circumstances, it was as much as could have been accomplished 
 by an impartial and honest governor. At the time he came to the 
 Province, knavery and rascality may be said to have been at a pre- 
 » ' mium, and those who practised them unblushingly, became, in many 
 instances, both wealthy and powerful. This element, with the 
 friends and adherents of Fletcher and the so-called " Jacobites " — 
 who detested Bellomont for his efforts in furthering the English 
 Revolution — formed a party which not only steadily opposed every 
 reform introduced by the new Governor, but also persistently mis- 
 represented and maligned him. Active in the Province, it had also 
 its agents in England ; and with a spirit similar to that which actuates 
 some of our modern political parties, it seems that their rallying 
 cry was " anything to beat " Bellomont. It is impossible to say 
 how far their attempts would have been successful, had not the 
 hand of death intervened and removed the object of their per- 
 secutions. 
 
 The time allotted to the delivery of this Address does not per- 
 mit of my touching on any of the minor matters that engaged Bel- 
 lomont's attention in his government of this Province ; and for the 
 same reason T am obliged to omit any account of his administration 
 in England. One subject, however, I feel that simple justice de- 
 mands I should not wholly neglect. Therefore I shall detain you a 
 few minutes longer to refer to his religious character, which was 
 variously assailed by his enemies, and with such success as to lead 
 the Bishops of London to congratulate the Reverend Mr. Vesey, 
 Rector of Trinity Church, on the probable success of the efforts 
 made for the Earl's removal from office. 
 
 Although but little is known of the religious tendencies of 
 Bellomont in early life, it is certain that in his later years he was a 
 professing Christian, and a regular attendant at church and 
 
RICHARD, EARL OK BELLOMONT. 
 
 55 
 
 communion. There can be no more question of his sincerity than that 
 of thousands of worthy persons who in youth have not been especially 
 noted for their religious zeal, but who in mature life become pillars 
 of virtue and piety. In New York he was attentive to his religious 
 duties and zealous in promoting Christianity, particularly among 
 the Indians. 
 
 Bellomont's neglect in attending church began about the time 
 the Act of Assembly was passed vacating the extravagant land 
 grants. Among those who became his enemies, owing to his efforts 
 in favor of this act, was the Reverend Godfrey Dellius, the Dutch 
 minister at Albany. This person, by adopting the methods then in 
 vogue for obtaining lands from the Indians, became possessed of an 
 immense tract of land, described as covering eight hundred and 
 forty square miles, which was duly granted to him by Governor 
 Fletcher. The evil of these land grants was clearly perceived by 
 the Assembly and the conduct of those who obtaind them justly 
 denounced. The course of Dellius seems to have been deemed 
 peculiarly reprehensible, he being a clergyman ; and when the Bill 
 vacating the grants was sent to the Assembly, that body attached 
 to it a clause for depriving him of his benefice at Albany, and 
 refused to pass the Bill without that clause. To this Bellomont and 
 his Council agreed, believing that it was " better to lose a wicked 
 Clergyman than a good Bill." 
 
 Shortly after the passage of this Act those persons who were 
 deprived of land by it, subscribed £700, and employed Dellius to 
 represent them in England. Fortified with certificates of piety 
 and good life, the latter went abroad, and succeeded in prejudicing 
 in his favor the Classes of Amsterdam, which sent Bellomont a 
 remonstrance. In England he was no less successful. The Bishops 
 of London, who, it appears, had then jurisdiction over New York, 
 likewise hearkened to his representations of Bellomont, and came 
 to regard the Earl as a personage dangerous alike to church and 
 stale. This opinion was strengthened by a communication from 
 the Wardens and Vestry of Trinity Church, which represented 
 Bellomont as the enemy of that Church, and prayed that the 
 
56 
 
 J JFK AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 Bishop would interest himself in protecting it from the destruction 
 threatened. The only step taken by the Earl against Trinity 
 Church was to approve of the Act which deprived it of the King's 
 Farm granted to it by Governor Fletcher ; and this proceeding was 
 by no means harsh, for in it Bellomont but reclaimed land rightfully 
 belonging to the Governor's house, and for which he had pressing 
 need, as I have previously stated. 
 
 It is strange that merely depriving the Church of a piece of 
 land, to which it had but seven years' lease, should have sufficed to 
 obliterate the recollection of Bellornont's numerous benefactions 
 and kindnesses of a previous date. But such was the case. Mr. 
 Vesey, the clergyman to whom Bellomont had been a good friend, 
 now became his enemy, and not only neglected to pray for him, as 
 was the custom towards all Governors, but openly and repeatedly 
 prayed for the safe passage and success of Dellius, who had 
 been deprived by law of his benefice and had gone abroad the 
 avowed enemy of the Earl. It can scarcely be wondered at that 
 Bellomont remained away from church under the circumstances. 
 That he did not abandon his religious duties and that he did not 
 become an enemy of the church, is evident from the regularity of 
 his attendance at King's Chapel in Boston, and the solicitude he 
 manifested for the welfare of religion in that place. 
 
 Bellomont's visit to Massachusetts took place in 1699. In the 
 spring of that year, having succeeded in restoring the affairs of 
 New York to a reasonable degree of order, he accepted the invita- 
 tion of the Lieutenant-Governor, Council and Assembly of Massa- 
 chusetts, to visit that Province. Leaving the government of New 
 York in the hands of Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan, he departed for 
 Boston, accompanied by Lady Bellomont and a large retinue of 
 servants. 
 
 I have not time to dwell, even briefly, on Bellomont's course in 
 New England. He was everywhere well received by the inhabi- 
 tants, who were greatly pleased with him. His various duties in 
 Massachusetts and New Hampshire occupied his attention during 
 
Bti HARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 57 
 
 the remainder of the year, and in that time he was the recipient of 
 the sum of £1500, voted him by the General Court of Massachu- 
 setts, with which he was in perfect harmony. A most important 
 incident of his sojourn in New England, was the arrest of Captain 
 Kidd, the details of which I have already given. 
 
 Eeturning to Xew York at the close of the year, he resumed 
 his old battle against illegal trade* and piracy, and gave those who 
 persisted in violating the laws so little peace, that a petition against 
 him, signed by a large number of New York merchants, was sent 
 to England. It contained thirty-two heads of complaint, and 
 charged Bellomont with defaming the character of eminent and res- 
 pectable persons, by accusing them of corrupt practices in trade, and 
 with abetting piracy. About the same time, the merchants of Lon- 
 don petitioned the King to interfere and afford redress to their suf- 
 fering brethren in New York. Despite these assaults, Bellomont 
 gave them no peace, so long as he suspected they were violating the 
 law ; and to my mind no greater proof of his honesty could be 
 adduced than this fact. 
 
 The continual worry and annoyance to which he was subjected 
 by his numerous enemies, both in America and England, had a bad 
 effect on his general health ; and in consequence, the gout, which 
 had lately begun to give him serious trouble, made rapid headway. 
 In February, 1701, an unusually severe attack set in, which termi- 
 nated fatally, on the 5th of March following, producing a profound 
 feeling of grief in the provinces. 
 
 The remains of the Earl were interred with becoming honors 
 " in the chapel of the Fort at the Battery,"* " then occupied by 
 the royal military forces for public worship. "f When the Fort 
 was taken clown and the Battery leveled, the leaden coffin was 
 removed, and finally deposited in St. Paul's Churchyard. Dunlap, 
 the historian, cites Mr. Pintard as authority for the statement that 
 this Society, at one time, possessed the Earl's coffin-plate. 
 
 ♦Sketch of Lord Bellomont, by J. B. Moore ; in Striker's Amer. Quar. Register, 
 Vol. I. 
 
 t Discourse (August, 1856) by the Rev. Dr. Thomas DeWitt. 
 
58 LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION OF 
 
 In Massachusetts, the general grief was no less profound than in 
 New York, and a general fast was ordered throughout that Province. 
 
 Lady Bellornont remained in New York for several years after 
 her husband's death ; but finally went to live in England, where 
 she married a gentleman named Samuel Pytts. She survived the 
 Earl some thirty-six years. 
 
 At the time of Bellomont's death, Lieutenant-Governor Nan- 
 fan was absent in Barbadoes on business connected with his wife's 
 estates, and the administration of the Government pro tern., com- 
 formably to the King's instructions, fell upon Colonel Abraham de 
 Peyster, senior member of the Council. Captain Nanfan shortly 
 afterwards returned to New York and remained in charge of affairs 
 until the arrival of Edward Hyde, styled by courtesy Lord Corn- 
 bury, who was appointed to fill the vacancy occasioned by Bello- 
 mont's death. 
 
 Such an eminent authority as the historian Macauley, after a 
 brief review of Bellomont's career, declares that he was a man " of 
 eminently fair character, upright, courageous, and independent." 
 In this opinion it would be impossible for a conscientious student 
 of history not to concur. Beset in his administration by difficulties 
 the most harassing, maligned and misrepresented to the Home 
 Government, lacking the support of the most of those in the 
 Province who belonged to the wealthy and aristocratic classes, and 
 conscious that these latter were continually intriguing to secure his 
 disgrace and removal, he jet never was tempted to swerve from his 
 duty, which he made superior to every consideration. And there 
 is no doubt, had his life been spared, that he would have succeeded 
 in carrying oat to a successful ending, the numerous reforms in the 
 conduct of colonial affairs which had been so flatteringly and 
 confidently entrusted to his management by the King; and that 
 his wise policy for improving, developing and harmonizing the 
 interests of the colonies, would have been productive of the happiest 
 results. 
 
 In conclusion, I have only to add that a careful study of the 
 history of the period, has convinced me that Lord Bellornont was 
 
iicliotype Printing Cu b ■-■ 
 
RICHARD, EARL OF BELLOMONT. 
 
 59 
 
 persistently maligned and abused, solely because he had an eye to 
 the public service and not to individual advancement. Strange to 
 say, his enemies were to be found among all classes, a fact which, to 
 my mind, however, determines his great honesty and independence 
 of character. Those engaged in illegal trade hated him, because he 
 was not to be bribed or cajoled into tolerating the least infraction of 
 laws. The merchants were also his enemies, because he would not 
 violate his obligation of office and wink at their evasions of the 
 Acts of Trade. All opposed to Leisler and Milborne were against 
 him, because he carried out the Act of Parliament ordering that 
 justice be done their memory. Even the greater part of the clergy 
 were arrayed against him : those of the Dutch Church, because he 
 would not tolerate the iniquitous conduct of Dellius ; and those of 
 the English Church, because he would not alienate a portion of the 
 estate attached to the Governor's residence. Thus it will be seen 
 the private interests of a large class were opposed to the law ; and 
 Bellomont, as the representative of the law, and its faithful adminis- 
 trator, was reprobated and vilified by that class. 
 
 It must not be thought from this that he had no friends and 
 adherents among the colonists. On the contrary, his cordiality and 
 fair-dealing won for him the esteem of all right-minded persons ; 
 and by them he was both appreciated and respected. His only 
 weapon in dealing with his enemies was the truth. To him is 
 eminently applicable the famous lines of Horace: 
 
 "Integer vitee scelerisque purus 
 Non eget Mauri ' jaculis, neqne arm 
 Nec venenata gravida sagitti.s 
 Fusee, pharetrd y" 
 
 thus admirably translated by the Reverend Doctor Erancis : — 
 
 The Man, who knows not guilty Fear, 
 Xor wants the Bow, nor pointed Spear ; 
 Xor needs, vihile innocent at Heart, 
 The Quiver, teeming with the poison d Dart. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 e 6, 
 
 
 
 for Dwitwich 
 
 read 
 
 Droitwich. 
 
 
 
 
 " indi spitted 
 
 
 indisputable. 
 
 7. 
 
 fifteenth line 
 
 
 ' ' who 
 
 
 which. 
 
 9. 
 
 
 
 ' ' followiug 
 
 
 following. 
 
 IO, 
 
 
 
 ," Willliam 
 
 
 William. 
 
 12, 
 
 
 
 " twarted 
 
 
 thwarted. 
 
 13, 
 
 eleventh line, after "Holmes' 
 
 should bs 
 
 a proper marginal reference, and at 
 
 
 foot of page a note, giving 
 
 as authorit 
 
 y, Gen. Cust's Lives 1 
 
 •f the Warriors, 
 
 
 Vol. II, p. 482. 
 
 
 
 
 
 13, 
 
 [Note]* should read The Old Streets 
 
 of New York undo 
 
 the Dutch, by 
 
 
 James W. Gerard. 
 
 
 
 
 
 14, 
 
 [Note] * should read Davies' 
 
 History of Holland. 
 
 
 
 16, 
 
 
 
 for Dominic 
 
 read 
 
 Dominie. 
 
 17, 
 
 
 
 ' ' latter 
 
 
 later. 
 
 19, 
 
 
 
 " gereral 
 
 
 general. 
 
 21, 
 
 
 
 " out 
 
 
 on. 
 
 22, 
 
 
 
 " Colombus 
 
 
 Columbus. 
 
 " 
 
 
 
 " whit It 
 
 
 with. 
 
 25. 
 
 
 
 " Kidd 
 
 
 "A full Ac- 
 
 
 count of the Proceedings in 
 
 relation to Capt. Kidd ; in 
 
 two Letters Written 
 
 
 by a person of Quality to a 
 
 Kinsman 
 
 of the Earl of Bellomont in Ireland. 
 
 
 [London ; MDCCL] 
 
 
 
 
 
 27, 
 
 
 
 for Oxford 
 
 read 
 
 Orford. 
 
 
 twenty-ninth line 
 
 
 ' ' have 
 
 
 have had. 
 
 30, 
 
 
 
 ' ' Freneh 
 
 
 French. 
 
 31- 
 
 
 
 " unsuallv 
 
 
 unusually. 
 
 34, 
 
 
 
 ' ' Govcrner 
 
 
 Governor. 
 
 49, 
 
 
 
 " Oxford, 
 
 
 Orford. 
 
 50, 
 
 
 
 " chaffing 
 
 
 chafing. 
 
 53, 
 
 
 
 ' ' his 
 
 
 is. 
 
 54, 
 
 
 
 ' ' England 
 
 
 New England. 
 
 
 
 
 ' ' Bishops 
 
 
 Bishop. 
 
 55, 
 
 
 
 " than that 
 
 
 than of that. 
 
 
 
 
 ' ' obtaind 
 
 
 obtained. 
 
 
 
 
 ' ' Classes 
 
 
 Classis. 
 
 
 
 
 " Bishops 
 
 
 Bishop. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 OF BELLOMONT 
 
 PEYSTER. 
 
 [Originals in the possession of the New York Historical Society.] 
 
 Boston, the gth of Jariy, [16] 'gg. 
 
 Sr. I have yours of the 26th of last month, and desire you will be as good 
 as your word in getting the four hatts made, and sent to Barbadoes. 
 
 I desire you will deliver the Inclosed Letter to Mr. Latham with your 
 own hand, and pray Incourage him all you can to proceed upon cutting the 
 Ship Timber that I have directed him. I have got the sizes and scantlings of 
 such Timber as will be proper for the King's use, and have now sent an acc't 
 of them to Mr. Latham. You will do well to Injoyn Mr. Latham to take 
 speciall care to cut none but such as is principall and choice Timber, and to do 
 it as cheaply as he can reasonably afford it. It behooves you to take some pains 
 with Latham, so that- the King may be compensated for putting the ship 
 Fortune upon him, which I am in some apprehension the Ministers will resent 
 as a misconduct in the Lt. Governor and Councill of N. York ; and there is no 
 way of repairing the King, but by sending him that Ship's Loading of choice 
 Timber, and at a cheap rate. 
 
 As to the report of my Lord Cornbery's* coming over Governor, if it 
 were true I should be very easy ; but I do not at all believe it, the more for its 
 comeing from Dellius, who, we all know, has a notable Talent at lying. 
 
 * Lord Cornbi'RV succeeded 3d May, 1702, after the death of Beli.omont. 
 
 LETTERS FROM THE EARL 
 
 TO 
 
 COLONEL ABRAHAM de 
 
ii 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I cannot draw Bills of Exchange for money in Engl'd till I have advice 
 that the arrear Due to the souldiers is received. There came a ship in here 
 from England on Sunday last, after twelve weeks' passage, but I had not one 
 letter by her. The Master tells me that Capt. Mason, Master of the ship 
 Bellomont, had severall packets for me ; he was sailing out of the Downs, 
 along with this ship, but the wind chopping about, he fears Capt. Mason was 
 forced back again. 
 
 I am heartily glad of your good Luck, in your ships comeing in from the 
 Madeiras, at a time when there is such a scarcity of wine at N. York. 
 
 I desire you will make some safe bargains w'th Mr. Latham, and furnish 
 him with money. I shall by next post write to Coll. CORTLAND to pay you all 
 the arrears of my salary. I wish you would take a copy of my Letter to Mr 
 Latham, which I have not time now to send you. My Service to Madm. 
 D- Peyster. I am 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Boston, the 22nd /any, [16] 'pp. 
 
 Sr. I have got the gout in my right hand, and cannot yet write to you my 
 Self. The Pipe of wine last come from the Madeiras, must be delivered to my 
 Cousin Nanfan, but the Box of Sweets* is a present from Mr. Bolton, the 
 Consul, to my Wife ; therefore I desire you will send it by the first opportunity 
 to her. 
 
 I recommended your business with Mr. Van Sweeting to my Lord Chan- 
 cellor and Mr. Secretary Vernon, and drew up a state of your case with my 
 own hand, as well as I could, and sent to each of them ; but then your freinds 
 that solicits your business in London, must apply to my Lord Chancellor and 
 Mr. Secretary, with great Caution and discretion ; for men of their upright 
 character will not care to be solicited in a matter of that nature. Our last ship 
 went for England about Ten days ago, so that I cannot have an opportunity of 
 writing again about that business of yours till Spring. 
 
 I desire you will not faile to take a speciall care about the Ship Timber, 
 which I writ to you of last post, for I look upon my Reputation to be much 
 concerned in that matter. 
 
 I send you a Copy of Mr. Bolton's Letter to me, that you may see what 
 
 * The word is doubtful. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 iii 
 
 lie writes, and what he Challenges as due to him upon the Balance of the 
 account. 
 
 I hear the Jacobite party in N. York have named a new Governor, before 
 the King ha's thought fit to name one ; and I am also told they lay Waggers 
 that I shall not go any more to N. York ; but for all that, I desire you will 
 bespeak me Two pipes of good ale and Two pipes of small beer at Albany or 
 Schenectady, which I would have laid in at N. York, against my goeing thither. 
 Pray charge the man you bespeak it of to boyle it very well, and to make it as 
 good as possibly he can. 
 
 I have writ to Coll. Cortlandt, by the post, to pay you what money is 
 due to me of my salary, which I desire you will call to him for. My Service to 
 dadam De Peyster. 
 
 I am, your humble Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Boston, the 5th of Feb'y, [16] '99. 
 
 Sr. I have your letter of the 22d of last month, but have rec'd no Letter 
 from Mr. Latham, as you made me expect, by this post. The Scantlings of 
 Ship Timber I mentioned in my Letter to him, are for a first-rate Man-of-War. 
 If he cannot get Timber of so large a size, I would have him get as near those 
 sizes as he can, for, the bigger and larger, the better. If he does not make 
 haste to cut the Timber, he will lose the proper season of the year ; therefore, 
 I beg of you to hasten him all that ever you can, and give him Incouragement 
 that I will be very kind to him if he uses me faithfully and well in the Ship 
 Timber. 
 
 I have writ very pressingly to Coll. CORTLANDT to pay you my full arrear 
 of Salary, which I hope he will do, especially if you Dun him a little for it. 
 
 If the other Hatter you mention will make the four Hatts I bespoke as well 
 as Yarrixgton, I shall be satisfied that he make them. 
 
 The Two Merchant Ships that have Letters for me from England, are not 
 yet arrived, but the advice Man-of-War, a 4th rate, Capt. W\'NN, Commander 
 arrived here last Saturday, in six weeks, from Portsmouth, and brought me 
 orders from the King to send home all the Pyrates and their Effects. The 
 Ministers continue to write to me with great Kindness, and tell me the King is 
 very well pleased with my administration in my Governments. If the angrv 
 Gentlemen of N. York have their Intelligence from better hands than the King's 
 Ministers, or of a Later Date than the 10th of last December, then I shall 
 
iv 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 believe they are very deep in the secrets of the Cabinet ; and if they can prevail 
 by their Interest to make a new Govemour of New York, with all my heart 
 what please the King shall please me. Our Service to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Boston, the igth Feb'y, /6pp. 
 
 Sir. I find the Letters which I writ to England about your business, are 
 rec'd, for I have answer to them. 
 
 I am very thankful to you for your care in Imploying Mr. Latham to 
 provide the Ship Timber. I desire you will continue your care in Incouraging 
 of him to the speedy and exact performance of that service, wherein you can 
 never oblige me more as long as you live. If I imploy any body at New York 
 to go home Master of the ship Fortune, it shall be that Symmons that you 
 mention, because you recommend him ; but I would not absolutely engage 
 myself to him as yet, because possibly some reason may offer in the meantime 
 why he may not be so proper a man for such a Trust. 
 
 I desire you will take care to send the Inclos'd to Mr. BOLTON, the Consul 
 of the Madeiras ; and that you will also send the money he charges in his acc't 
 as due by me to him. I have sent to him for three pipes of wine — one whereof 
 I have bespoke to be white Madeira. I desire you will give the Master of your 
 ship particular charge of my pipes of wine, and that you will send as much 
 money in Bits* as will pay for those three pipes. 
 
 My Cousin Nanfan will show you part of a Letter from one of the King's 
 Ministers to me, by this Man-of-War, w'ch I have already copied exactly from 
 the said Letter. I do assure you I have had Letters by the same ship from 
 almost all the Ministers, full of expressions of kindness, and approving of and 
 Commending up my Administration in my Governments. 
 
 My Service I pray to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I was yesterday on horseback, and rid four or five miles, but am yet weak, 
 especially in my hands, so that I cannot write without Trouble. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 * Bits— Probably Pistareens (Spanish and West Indian), of which there were as many as a half 
 dozen (or more) kinds, bearing different dates and varying slightly in value — from 16 to 18 cents U. S. 
 currency. 
 
APPENDIX. V 
 
 Boston, the ijth of March, [16] 'pp. 
 
 Sir. I am heartily vex'd to understand from my Cousin Nanfan that 
 Latham has not yet cut the Timber I directed, for now the Spring is so 
 forward that they will perceive, when it comes into England, that the Timber 
 was not cut in the proper season. This will be reckoned a fault in me, that 
 after I have given an account home of my design of sending that Ship Loaden 
 w'th Ship Timber, I should come off so poorly as to send what is not good or in 
 season. I fear this neglect in Latham is not to be retriev'd. 
 
 I shall not venture to order the money you writ about in your last letter for 
 bringing stores from England formerly, till I go to New York, and then advise 
 with the Council about it. 
 
 I have writ to my Cousin Nan fan to appoint Mr. Walters Judge in 
 your stead pro hac vice* I am quite out of money here, and must draw on 
 Coll. Courtlandt for 50^, unless you have received my Salary from him. 
 Our Service to Madam De Peyster. I am, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 Coll. De Peyster. BELLOMONT. 
 
 Pescataqua, jd Aug., [16] 'pp. 
 
 Sir. I hope this Letter will find you safely arriv'd at York, where I wish 
 you may meet your family and friends in good health. 
 
 I desire you will not faile to send me a copy of the French Lady's letter to 
 her Paramour, Mr. Dellius, about the big belly she lays to his charge ; and, if 
 it be possible to recover the original Letter, I desire you will get it for me, and 
 send it by the first post. I intend, next post, to write to Coll. Courtlandt, 
 to pay you the arrear of my Salary, and also the growing Income thereof 
 monethly, as it becomes due. I have not time now to write to him. I wish you 
 would tell Mr. LEISLER that I cannot move the King to get his father's debt 
 order'd to be paid, for want of Governeur's and other people's testimony, on 
 oath, that they saw Capt. Leisler's bookes and that there was such a sum 
 due, as Dr. Staats and Governeur told me; but the sum they mention'd 
 I have forgot. Let this be done Immediately, if they are able to Swear to it ; 
 it must be drawn up handsomely, that I may transmit it to England. 
 
 I desire you will find out some honest, able ship carpenter at York, to send 
 along with Ryer Schermerhoorn, to view the woods on Mr. Dellius's 
 
 * "Pro hac vice." — " For this term," or, " For this time ;" 1. e. " For this occasion." 
 Col. De Peyster and Roiiekt Walters were Puisne Judges of the Supreme Court. 
 
vi 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 biggest Grant,* and to bring me an exact account whether there be any Pine or 
 fir Trees big enough or long enough for Masts for the King's ships of War, from 
 30 inches to 48 inches in diameter, and whether there grow any quantity, and 
 how convenient for a water carriage. That is, whether they grow near the river, 
 that they may be floated down the river to York. He must be very particular 
 in his account and very exact, that I may send it to England ; and I would have 
 him also bring an account what other sorts of well grown Timber Trees of oak 
 or other trees he meets with there, and he must go over all that Land to view 
 the woods, which I would have him put into writing. Therefore, the man you 
 send ought to know how to write. There was also some other part of the 
 Country which R.YER SCHERMERHOORN, and, I thinke, the Mayor of Albany, 
 told me of, where they said there grew good masts for ships. I desire you will 
 appoint the Carpenter to go thither along with Ryer; also, I leave it with you 
 to make the bargain with the Carpenter, and I will perform it with him ; and if 
 he wants money to bear his charges, I desire you will advance it, and stop it 
 out of my Salary. Pray send the account as it stands between you and me. 
 I desire you will take all possible care to preserve the ship Fortune, and I will 
 send her to England, next Spring, with naval stores to the King. Let me hear 
 from you every post. Myne, with my wife's kind Service to your selfe and 
 Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am Your very affectionate Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 1 have receiv'd your Letter from Boston. I desire to know when the next 
 ship goes to England, that I may send the pipe of wine. 
 
 Boston, 21 Aug. [16J qq. 
 
 Sir. I am very glad of your safe arrival at York, and I must tell you we 
 misse you here, where you are in the favor and good opinion of every body. 
 If Dr. Staats and Mr. GovERNEUR'sf memories are too short in respect to 
 the debt due to Capt. Leisler, I know not which way to move the King in 
 behalf of Mr. Leisler, for, unlesse the debt can be ascertained, it would be 
 most ridiculous for me to ask the King to refund to the heir of Capt. LEISLER 
 a debt of I know not what sum. Therefore I advise you to call Mr. LEISLER, 
 
 * See Smith's History of New i'ori, paje 159, Edition (Albany) in 1 Vol. of 1814. 
 t Abraham GOUVERNBUK, Member from Orange County; married Gov. Leisler's daughter, the 
 widow of Milborne. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 vii 
 
 Dr. Staats, and Mr. Walters and Mr. Governeur together, and see what 
 they can say to refresh one another's memory in that matter; otherwise it will 
 be Impossible for me to do Mr. Leisler the Service I am desirous to do him. 
 
 I would willingly send my pipe of wine to England, but JEFFERS is so 
 Crosse a fellow, and not my friend, that I am not willing to venture it by him, 
 least he should play tricks with it out of spite to me : but, where there is a good 
 opportunity, I will desire the favor of you to have it shipp'd, and sent to England. 
 My Cousin, Nanfan, has the key to the Cellar where the pipe of wine is ; it was 
 left by John, my butler, with Robert, the Coachman's Wife. You may Call 
 to 'em for it, and send the wine when you see convenient ; but I believe the 
 pipe must be fill'd up, which I desire may be done with good wine. When the 
 ship is almost ready to saile let me know, that I may write a letter, to the person 
 I send the pipe of wine to in England. 
 
 I desire you will let me know pr next post whether the battery which 
 Coll. Fletcher sold, or granted away to Ebenezer Wilson, be entirely built 
 on in N. York, and whose land it was he made batteries on in the war time. 
 Mr. Leisler I believe was one, and I think a quaker another — George 
 Heathcote is the Quaker's name, as I thinke. But, pray, inform your selfe 
 of this particularly, and let me know. 
 
 You must by all means get me that Letter from the woman in Canada to 
 Dellius, and send it me by next post, if it be possible, for 't will be of great 
 use to me. 
 
 I am not at all pleased with your present Sheriffe, De Rymer.* I hear he 
 returns such Juries as do the King all the wrong in the world, upon all the 
 Tryals of unlawful things and goods. I know not whether I have reason to 
 like Governeur better than De Rymer. The not sending home an agent 
 from the Assembly to withstand the Indeavors of Bayard Dellius, and all 
 the knaves of that party, was the foolishest step that was ever made. I told 
 Dr. Staats enough of it, but could not get him to apprehend the Importance 
 of it ; and, it seem'd to me, that Volatile Speaker, Governeur, acted in 
 concert with his Predecessor, and was false to his party. New York is an 
 unhappy place, that there is not better choice of men to serve the King and 
 their Country. My wife fell very ill on the road between Pescattaqua and this 
 place ; but, I thank God, is somewhat better. Our kind Service to Madam 
 De Peyster ; mine to Dr. Staats, Mr. Walters, and your brother. Pray 
 let me hear from you what passes at York ; and, be assured that, I am, 
 Your very affectionate friend and serv't, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 * This must be de Riemer. See V. H. N. Y., page 233. 
 
viii 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Mr. Schermerhoorn, whom I writ to, to go and view some trees fit for 
 masts for the King's ships, and send me word where they grew, and of what 
 bigness they were, has answered my Letter, but tells me not where the trees 
 grow, only says there are a good store, and large enough for the King's use. 
 He desires I would grant him and the Mayor of Albany the Land where they 
 grow, w'ch is 6 miles long and 2 broad, which is making a bargain with the 
 King, and not dealing candidly with me. Pray, chide him and the Mayor of 
 Albany for their disrespect to the King, and disingenueity to me. Besides, 
 I have complain'd to the King of Coll. Fletcher's extravagant Grant's of 
 Lands — and shall I commit the same fault and absurdity my selfe, that I have 
 accus'd Fletcher? Pray, let me know whether Dr. Staats is likely to 
 prevail with LUPARDUS and NUCELLA, to write to the Classis of Amsterdam 
 and the Dutch Ministers in London, to prevent DELLIUS's ill designs and 
 Lyings. Pray, send me a barrel of the best flour by the first sloop. 
 
 Boston, 28th Aug., [16] 'pp. 
 
 Sir. I thank you kindly for your Care in Imploying Latham to go and 
 view the woods along with Mr. SCHERMERHOORN. Mr. Leisler* being here, 
 I will make up of Dr. Staats and Mr. Governeur's affidavits, for his Interest 
 and Service, and will send them to such hands in England as will make, I hope, 
 a right use of them. 
 
 I have not now Time to look over your account, though I am under no 
 doubt with you — (having an entire opinion of your sincerity and uprightnesse) — 
 nor yet to order Coll. Courtlandt to satisfie my debt to you ; but by next 
 post you may expect it. 
 
 I will not faile to write to the Ministers, in whom I have an Interest, in 
 your behalf ; and will transmit them a state of your Case, exactly as you have 
 now sent it to me. I am now engaged in preparing packets for England, to 
 send by a ship that will go the end of this week or beginning of the next ; and 
 then you shall not be forgot. My wife and I present our kind service to Madam 
 De PEYSTER. She bids me tell you the Letter Madam De Peyster was to 
 write to her is forgot, and she upbraids you for deluding her w'th such false 
 hopes. I am, 
 
 Your very affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 ♦Son of the " remarkable " and deservedly distinguished Gov'r, Jacob Leisler, executed for 
 treason in i6gi, whose innocence was subsequently established, the attainder reversed, and his properly 
 restored to his family through the exertions of his son— by whom the loyalty of his father and of his 
 brother-in-law, Milbokne, and the machinations of their enemies, were plainly made manifest. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 ix 
 
 [On the back of the letter is the following :] 
 
 Mr. Weaver is certainly Collector of N. York, and has the King's Com- 
 mission for it, as Sr. John Stanley writes me a word in a Letter I rec'd 
 from him this last week ; and Mr. Weaver writes in his last Letter he had 
 kissed the King's hand for it, and had got the King's Warrant for preparing his 
 Commission under the Great seal of England. I hope you have prevail'd w'th 
 Dr. STAATS, and those that have an Influence on Mr. NUCELLA and LUPAP.DUS, 
 to get them to write to the Classis of Amsterdam to defeat Dellius's knavish 
 designs. The LEISLER party had clone well to have subscrib'd Certificates 
 against Df.LLIUS, as his friends did for him, and to have sent them to me. 
 
 Boston, 4th Sept., [16] 'gg. 
 
 Sir. I cannot perform my promise of Looking over your account as yet, 
 for I am Ingaged at present, and have been so all this last week, in writing 
 packets or volumes of Letters to England by a ship that pretends she stays 
 for me. 
 
 I writ to my Cousin Nanfan, last post, to Let the City of N. York have ye 
 stones of the old bastion or batteries To build their Town-house. 
 
 I am not dissatisfied with the Sheriffe, since my Cousin NANFAN* and you 
 vouch so for his honesty; but he should have taken more care of But'KMASTER. 
 
 I have writ to my Cousin Nanfan, this post, my reasons why it will not 
 be fitt to Continue the same Mayor and Sheriffe another year for the city 
 of N. York. 
 
 As soon as you receive the original, or a Copy of the Letter to Dellius 
 from the French woman at Canada, I desire you will not fail to send it To 
 
 Your very affectionate Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Our Service I pray to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 Mr. LEISLER tells me an ugly story of Mr. Graham's design of Cheating 
 him of a house-plot at N. York. I desire you will send for Mr. Walters 
 privately, and advise him to Caution old Mrs. Leisler (with whom her son has 
 
X 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 left a Generall Letter of Attorney) not to part with that piece of ground to 
 GRAHAM, nor anything else. That man will undo himself with his knavish 
 Tricks. One would thinke he has guilt enough on his head, for being the 
 Principall author of the murther of Leisler and Milburn ; but, it seems, 
 bathing his hands in the blood of the Father is not enough, but he will also 
 cheat the son. I am content that you show this Letter to Mr. Walters ; and 
 pray get him to send me affidavid of Mr. Graham's Insinuations to his Father, 
 Leisler, and himselfe, to procure their Interest to be chosen a member of the 
 Assembly ; w'ch they were prevail'd with to do, and afterwards he became 
 Leisler's and Milburn's mortall Enemy. This account Mr. Walters told 
 me once or twice. 
 
 Dr. STAATS also told me how he was affronted, and threatened by a Papist 
 in the field, when the Election was of members to serve in New York, in that 
 very Assembly that worried Mr. Leisler and Milburn to death, under the 
 conduct of Mr. Graham. Let me also have Dr. Staats' affidavit of that ; 
 and some proof of Maj. Treadwell's imprisonment to hinder either his being 
 Chose, or his sitting in Assembly after he was Chose. If it be possible, let me 
 have these evidences next post. 
 
 Boston, Sept. pth, [16] 'pp. 
 
 Sir. I have receiv'd yours of the 4th Inst., and will not faile to write to 
 England ab't your affair with Van Sweeton w'th this packet, w'ch I am to 
 send away within 4 or 5 days. 
 
 I am very sorry I have not the Letter to DELLIUS to send home. I desire 
 you will speak to Mr. WALTERS to deliver you upon oath what was transacted 
 between Mr. Graham and him at the time Graham prevail'd w'th Capt. 
 Leisler and him to make an interest for Graham's being chose to the 
 Assembly, that press'd Coll. Slaughter to take away the lives of Capt. 
 Leisler and Mr. Milburn, as I writ to you in my last Letter. And, pray, 
 get Dr. Staats' affidavit, as I desir'd in that Letter. 'T is wonderfull to me 
 that Dr. Staats and the rest of Leisler's Party have not, in all this time, got 
 counter-subscriptions, sign'd by their party, at Albany, against DELLIUS, as the 
 other party got subscriptions in favor of DELLIUS. They are just the people 
 that Will. Nichols paints Staats to be, in his pamphlet, Impenetrable 
 B . [blockheads?] 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 xi 
 
 When you hear any news from Schermekhoorn ab't the Trees for 
 masts; pray let me know it. My wife's and my Service to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 I have writ to Coll. Courtlandt to pay you my arrear of Salary, and for 
 ye time to come to pay it to you monthly, 'as it grows due. 
 Coll. De Peyster. 
 
 » 
 
 Boston, the joth Oct., [16J 'gg. 
 
 Sir. I desire vou will immediately send for Mr. Latham, the ship 
 Carpenter, and Ingage him to set about Cutting and Squaring such a quantity 
 of Ship Timber as will load the Ship Fortune against the Spring, when I will 
 send her so loaden to Portsmouth, in England, for the use of the King's Navy. 
 The question will be, whether Latham be well affected and honest, and will 
 cut such Timber as is choice Timber. The four sorts w'ch I understand are 
 fitted to be sent to England, are knees, planks, beams, and wale pieces. The 
 next best thing to the cutting of principall Choice Timber, is the doing of it 
 Cheap — wherein I desire you will contrive all the ways you can think of, for my 
 credit. If 3 or 4 souldiers will be useful to Mr. Latham to help in felling of 
 Trees, my Cousin Nanfan, upon sight of this Letter, will order so many of 
 them, if so many can be found that will or can work ; and I will allow such 
 souldiers 4 shills. per week over and above their present subsistence. Pray, 
 take more than ordinary pains to agree w'th Latham at as cheap a rate as 
 possibly you can. My wife's and my kind Service to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Yr. very affect, friend and servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 [On the back of the Letter is the following :\ 
 
 I will not fail to recommend you to England, for the supplying the frigat at 
 N. York ; and I hope ere long to Imploy you in a businesse that will be five 
 times more profitable than that. Pray, write me word, next post, what agree- 
 ment Latham and you are like to come to. I would have you acquaint my 
 Cousin Nanfan w'th the steps you make in that matter, and take his advice in 
 every p'ticular ab't it. 
 
xii 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 I hope you have taken care to return another ioo^ to Mr. PALMER, in 
 beaver skins, or logwood, or something ; and if you have not done it, I desire 
 you will not faile to do it by next ship, and send me word of it with the master's 
 and ship's name, that I may give Mr. PALMER'S advice of it from hence. 
 
 [ This is another Letter — date gone.\ 
 
 I have rec'd yours of the 8th Inst., and have writ to my Cousin Nanfan, 
 to stand by and support Latham in cutting and bringing away the Timber. 
 I have letters from England by Mason, but the dates so stale that the news 
 and accounts must be so too. The Ministers seem pleas'd with the act of 
 Assembly of N. York for vacating the extravagant Grants of Lands. We have 
 no news of Mr. Goodwin's receit of the 50^ you remitted to London for my 
 wife. Pray, let me know if your Correspondent has given you any account of 
 paying that money. 
 
 I have writ to Coll. COURTLANDT, this post, to quicken him in paying you 
 all that is due of my salary — tho' he has promis'd, in his letter, this post, to do 
 it out of the first money he receives. In his account sent out a month ago, he 
 charges me with 300^, which I order'd to be paid to Coll. Schuyler, for 
 victualling, soon after coming into that province ; but I have now writ to my 
 Cousin Nanfan, to p'cure an order of Council for placing that debt on the 
 Revenue, there being no reason in the world I should pay it out of my salary. 
 Therefore, there will be 300^ more for you to receive for me — only that I am 
 willing to Lend my Co. Nanfan 50^ of it. I desire you will not faile to . . 
 
 for charging that sum and when that's done, to 
 
 solicite Coll. COURTLANDT for the payment of that, and all the rest of my 
 arrear of salary to you. 
 
 My wife desires yours and Madam De Peyster's care in Looking after 
 the necklace of pearl. She has sent you a role of Tobacco lately, sent me from 
 Virginia, by Coll. JENNINGS, w'ch she hopes will prove as sweet-scented as any 
 you have smoak'd this long time. 'T is deliver'd to one TELLER, the master of 
 a sloop, which is to sail the first fair wind to N. York. 
 
 Pray, take care about providing suitable goods for the Indians, against my 
 going to Albany, as I desired you in my last. Our affectionate service to 
 Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am your affectionate friend, and humble servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 xiii 
 
 Pray, do not fail to speak to my Co. NANFAN.'to order Coll. Courtlandt 
 to pay you the price of the ship Nassau, w'ch Mr. Graham gave his opinion 
 belonged wholly to me, as being a wreck, and Mr. Newton is of the same 
 opinion here. There's no reason Coll. Courtlandt should keep the money 
 all this while in his hands, and I perceive he would willingly to the end of the 
 Chapter. 
 
 Coll. Hamilton writes to a person in this Town that the faction . . . k 
 desire that De .... not return to 'Albany. Pray, let me know how you 
 feel by that piece of news. 
 
 Boston, the 24th. 
 
 Sir. I have rec'd, this post, your Letters of the 8th and 18th Inst., and 
 am glad you have Imployed Mr. Latham in Cutting the Ship Timber, and 
 hope he will perform that service according to my expectation. I writ last post 
 to the Lieut.-Governor, to appoint Mr. Walters Judge of the Superior Court. 
 
 I am heartily glad of your victor)' agt. Van Sweeten in England. I am 
 also glad of your two ships coming laden from the Madeiras, w'ch will supply 
 new York plentifully w'th wine ; and I hope you will find your account largely 
 therein. 
 
 I desire you will let me know what you take to be the Cause of the present 
 scarcity of money in N. York. It would make one believe merchants there send 
 it to England in specie, as the merchants here do. 
 
 I have writ, this post, again, to Coll. Courtlandt, to pay you all the 
 arrears of my salary. He shall find, in a little time, that I know when I am ill 
 us'd, for I can take away when I please the benefit he has of furnishing the 
 Fort with wood, and other things, and paying workmen, w'ch I believe he 
 makes more than ordinary advantage of, and also of victualling the Companies 
 
 — and of this last article a good advantage, when the subsistence 
 
 is paid in England. I am now in a way of making that matter certain, so that 
 the victuallers shall, for the time to come, receive their money duly. 
 
 My wife presents her thanks and service to Madam De Peyster, for her 
 kind Letter. She has a pain in her head, or she would answer it this post : she 
 desires by all means Madam De Peyster will be so kind as to secure the pearl 
 necklace for her, if it be good and Cheap. 
 
 I draw on Coll. Courtlandt, this post, for 56^ 5s., by bill of exchange, 
 payable to Joseph Bueno, the Jew, at ten days' sight. I wish you would 
 watch whether Courtlandt be carefull to save my credit. Perhaps he may 
 be such a brute as to let my credit suffer, and not accept my bill : but I will 
 
xiv 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 then Immediately turn him out of all. I dare not meddle with a farthing of the 
 2,ooo£ tax till I have the King's leave. I am quite out of money. I hope to 
 see you at N. York the latter end of June. My service to Madam De Peyster. 
 I conclude. 
 
 Your very affectionate Friend and Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Against next post, I will examine Coll. COURTLANDT'S account of my 
 salary, which I have not yet had time to do. 
 
 Boston, the jtk April, 1700. 
 
 Sir. I receiv'd not yours of the 25th of last month till this day — the post 
 having been stopped four or five days on the way hither by the bad weather. 
 
 I am very thankfull for your kindness, in supplying me with the Two 50^ 
 bills of exchange ; but having drawn last post on Coll. COURTLANDT for 50^, 
 I shall have occasion but for one of the Bills, and do now return you t'other. 
 
 I am glad you write me word that Mr. LATHAM is proceeding in cutting 
 the Ship Timber, which I desire you will Incourage him in, for I set my heart 
 much on that matter. 
 
 I have directed a message to be carried to the 5 Nations, by Coll. 
 Schuyler, Mr. Livingston and Mr. Hanson, and John Baptist Van 
 Epp is to go Interpreter with them. They are to go no further than to the 
 Onondaga's Castle, and are to send my message to the other Nations by some 
 trusty Indians. They have my instructions, in writing, what to say to the 
 Indians, and how to behave themselves in every respect. I have appointed all 
 the Sachems of the 5 Nations to meet me at Albany on the 10th day of next 
 August, and the messengers are to tell them that I intend them then a good 
 present. I desire you will keep this private a while, tho' long it will not be a 
 secret at Yorke, because I have writ to the Commiss'ers at Albany of my design. 
 I wish you would advise me, too, how I may secure a quantity of such woolen 
 clothes as are fit for the Indians, viz : shrowds and dresses, &c, and not pay so 
 extravagant rates for them, as I did the last time I went to Albany, and there 
 must be Linen for shirts for them too. I would gladly have you and Mr. 
 Livingston concern 'd in furnishing those things, provided I may be reasonably 
 used, and I will undertake to pay you in 3 months' time. I intend as good a 
 present to the Indians as ever was yet made them, and from thence you may 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 XV 
 
 take your measures as to the quantity you are to provide. I am told those 
 woolends may be had 20 per cent, cheaper than at York ; but I hope you will 
 take such a course, as I may not be abus'd in the price. I would employ you 
 singly in the affair, but that I am obliged to Mr. LIVINGSTON, and would not 
 willingly put any slight upon him. Besides, I believe I must lodge at his house 
 at Albany. 
 
 We are in fear that the ship commanded by Mason and Horton, and the 
 brigantine by Jones, are all three lost. ' 
 
 Pray, give my service to your brother, the late Mayor, and to Dr. Staats, 
 Mr. Waters and Mr. Governeur. Tell Mr. Gouverneur I rec'd his letter 
 and news, and thank him for it, but have not time to write to him. 
 
 I desire you will Inquire whether there has been any news at York of 
 Mr. Leisler's arrivall in England. I sent a packet to England by him, to the 
 Ministers — but have not since heard of him or from him. 
 
 Let me know if it be True if Mr. Hungerford is married to Mistress 
 Bond. 
 
 My wife desires the favor of Madam De Peyster, to buy her the pearl 
 necklace, if they be good and reasonably cheap. So, w'th our kind service to 
 her, I conclude. 
 
 Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Boston, the 12th of May, 1700. 
 
 Sir. I had not time to write to you last post, to tell you I receiv'd yours 
 of the 29th of last month, w'th 3 papers inclosed, viz : a bill of loading signed 
 Mathias de Hart, another signed John Van Brugh, and a copy of Coll. 
 Courtlandt's account of the price of the ship Nassau. 
 
 Yours of the 6th inst. I rec'd last night. I desire you will deliver the 
 Inclosed letter to Capt. Evertson, for the Governor of Kickoverall. When 
 I come to York, it will be time enough to endenize Capt. Evertson, and so 
 tell him. I had a letter from Mr. Governeur about itt this post. 
 
 I am glad the new Town-house is so far advanced. I fear by Mr. Latham's 
 stay so long in the woods, he will make that Ship Timber I bespoke very 
 chargeable, w'ch will spoil the good grace of the matter. 
 
 Our kind service to Madam De Peyster. I am, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
xvi 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Dr. Staats writes Coll. Romer word that Spencer is come from 
 England, and says he heard Fletcher* say he would have me out of my 
 Governments, tho' it should cost him 10,000^. Pray, let me know the truth 
 of it, but make the inquiry as privately as you can. 
 
 De Rimer, the late Sheriffe, and Mr. Gouverneur, have plaid the fool 
 extremely, for taking such a foolish bond for Shelley's appearance. I believe 
 I shall be directed from England to prosecute them both for putting such a 
 fraud upon the King, for it can passe under no better a name. 
 
 Boston, the 8th of June, 1700. 
 
 Sir. I am glad of your safe return home from your circuit. I have had 
 no letters from the Ministers by the two Ships lately come from London, except 
 one from my Lord Chancellor, and two or three from particular friends. It 
 seems Mr. Weaver sent the Ministers packets by Jeffers, to N. York, who 
 is, I hope, arriv'd there by this time. I am afraid Latham will have made 
 that Timber he is about very chargeable, which will spoil my design in a great 
 measure. 
 
 I am quite out of paper, and this town affords none that is good. Our kind 
 Service to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am your affectionate friend and Servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 Pray, call on Mr. Clarkson for my fees, and receive them for me. I believe 
 I shall be forced to find another Secretary, that has sense enough not to betray 
 the Secrets of the Government. Hungerford must have had notice of the 
 writts for arresting, from CLARKSON. 
 
 Boston, the jth July, 1700. 
 
 SIR. Latham's account has frighted me— it seeming to me a most 
 extravagant one. I can only tell you that Mr. Partridge, for 300/, loaded a 
 ship of 260 Tons, at Pescattaway; and the ship Fortune, which is but of a 130 
 Ton, will, at this rate, take a load that will cost 306^. 6s. 2>^d. I desire you 
 
 *CoI. Benjamin Fletcher, Governor of the Colony prior to Bellomont. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 xvii 
 
 will forbear paying the money till I get to York, for I am not at all satisfied 
 with Latham's account, and his usage of me. I had better have had the 
 timber provided at Pescattaway than have run the hazard of being so cheated, 
 as I find I am like to be. 
 
 My wife and I are thankfule for your kind Invitation to your house, but we 
 are Loath to be Troublesome to you, and therefore Intend to go directly to the 
 Fort, and there take up our quarters. Our kind service to Madam De Peyster. 
 
 I am your affectionate friend, 
 
 and humble servant, 
 
 BELLOMONT. 
 
 I intend to embark next Friday, God willing. I believe the Timber ought 
 to be shipped out of hand.