The last meeting of Lord Cornbury with the assembly of New Jersey is, however, worth recording. Samuel Jennings, speaker of the assembly, a steadfast Quaker, was deputed to read a remonstrance to him on his acceptance of bribes, his new method of government, his encroachment on public liberties, and a long list of other offences, all very plain-spoken, as befitted an assembly of which a fearless, uncompromising Quaker was the speaker. “Stop!” exclaimed Lord Cornbury, not relishing the nature of the remonstrance. Again Jennings repeated the charges with greater emphasis than before. On this Lord Cornbury retorted by charging the Quakers with disloyalty and a factious spirit; and they, in return, replied in the words of Nehemiah to Sanballat, “There is no such thing done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart!” And finally, said they, “to engage the affections of the people, no artifice is needful, but to let them be unmolested in the enjoyment of what belongs to them of right.”
As regards New York, we must take up the thread of history somewhat before the Revolution, having last parted from it when Sir Edmund Andros, the governor, made his ineffectual attempt on Connecticut. The government of Andros was arbitrary and unpopular, the people having no share in the legislation, and no voice in the imposition of taxes, while the popular institutions of New Jersey on the one hand, and Connecticut on the other, served but to increase their dissatisfaction by contrast.
Thomas Dongan, a Catholic, succeeded Andros as governor; he arrived in the province in 1683, and by the advice of ‘William Penn, came with instructions from the duke to convene an assembly of representatives. The first assembly, consisting of a council and eighteen representatives, to the great joy of the colony, met the following year, and a “Charter of Liberties” was granted, which declared the supreme legislative power to reside in the governor, council and people, met in general assembly; that every freeman and freeholder should enjoy the elective franchise; that no freeman should suffer but by judgment of his peers, and that all trials should be by a jury of twelve men; that no tax should be assessed but with consent of the assembly; that no seaman or soldier should be quartered on the inhabitants against their will; that no martial law should exist; and that no one professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, should at any time be in any way disquieted or questioned for any difference of opinion in matters of religion.
In 1684, the governors of New York and Virginia met the deputies of the Five Nations at Albany, on the Hudson, and renewed with them a treaty of peace.
On the accession of the Duke of York to the throne, the people of his province naturally expected, if not favour, at least the continuation of a representative government, which, however, was in part withdrawn; an arbitrary tax was imposed, and printing-presses forbidden. It was soon perceived that the intention of the king was to introduce the catholic religion into the province, and the officers appointed by him were of that faith; this added to the general dissatisfaction.
The exiled governor, Dongan, was recalled by James II., shortly before his abdication, and Francis Nicholson, lieutenant-general of Andros, who was now governor of New England, succeeded him. Dread of the establishment of Popery added to general discontent, and the want of perfect good feeling between the Dutch and English inhabitants of the province caused any change to be welcomed with joy; accordingly the news of the deposition of James, and the accession of William and Mary, was received with enthusiasm, and the people rose in rebellion to the existing government.
Jacob Leisler, a Dutch merchant and captain of militia, whose temperament, however, unfitted him for the command, was elected by the insurgents as their leader. Opposed to this faction were the large Dutch landholders, some English merchants, the friends of episcopacy, and the government party; nevertheless, at the head of several hundred men and a few companies of militia, and with the general populace in his favour, Leisler, at the commencement of June, took possession of the Fort of New York, in the name of William and Mary, to whom an address was sent, which in due course was received without disapprobation by King William.
Dongan, who had not yet left the harbour, was joined by Nicholson, thus deprived of his authority, and the two hastened to England. The magistrates in the meantime, unable to resist this popular movement, after seeing Leisler appointed by a committee of safety as temporary governor of the province, retired to Albany on the Hudson, where, denying the authority of Leisler, they yet continued their administration in the name of William and Mary. Milborne, the son-in-law of Leisler, who had just arrived from England, was appointed by him secretary of the province, and sent to demand the surrender of the Fort of Albany, which of course was refused.
About this time, a letter arriving from the king, addressed to “Francis Nicholson, or to such as, for the time being, take care for the preserving the peace and administering the law in New York,” together with a royal commission; Leisler, in Nicholson’s absence, regarded his own authority as now sanctioned by the monarch.
In the meantime, France having espoused the cause of James, war was declared with England, and the little party at Albany, alarmed by the hostile inroads of the French and their Indian allies on the frontier settlements, and weakened by internal discord, yielded up the fort to Milborne.