Many years elapse before an Irish name is discovered among the early settlers of New York, and then it is so overwhelmed and encumbered with Dutch orthography and Dutch pronunciation as to be well nigh indistinguishable, even to its owner if he ever ran over it. Against an ancient Dutch muster roll profound knowledge must bow deferentially. The most expert linguist stands in awe of it, and his most skilful expedients are often baffled in efforts to translate it, for the Seventeenth Century Dutch scrivener knew, read, saw, felt, thought, recognized nothing but Dutch—nor were mustees, Indians and negroes exempt from this classification. All were clothed in Dutch orthographical habiliments as religiously as they were fed with suppawn at breakfast, whether it was welcome or not.
When the time arrived, however, for Irish names to appear officially in the Archives of the Province of New York, it is supremely gratifying to us, who are proud of our Irish blood and the State and country in which we live, to discover two bright particular stars blazing steadily from a firmament black with corruption.
When Thomas Dongan, a gallant soldier and experienced man of affairs, arrived in New York City, in the fiftieth year of his age, as governor of the province, liberty of action was restrained as arbitrarily as liberty of speech was repressed. The printing press was embargoed. Freedom of worship was circumscribed. Quakers and Jews were ostracized and driven from the pale. Dongan was charged by his royal master with three important duties:
1. To call an assembly of representatives of New York. 2. To allure the Indians from the French. 3. To introduce the Roman Catholic religion into the Province.
The first was easy of accomplishment, for the governor was simply required to carry out the King’s orders, which were most agreeable to the persons directly affected. The second was facilitated by the governor’s recognized status as a Catholic. The third was impossible, because of the anomalous position of the King and the avowed and deep-rooted hostility of the people to the church of Rome. Furthermore, in the prosecution of his work toward the fulfillment of these obligations the governor invariably was balked by the prurient meddling of his royal master.
The General Assembly met at Fort James in the Battery, New York, in October, 1683, held a three weeks’ session and passed fourteen measures, including the famous “Charter of Liberties and Privileges.” In this act occurred the first official mention of “the people” in a constitutional document in America, or, as it reads, the supreme authority under the King and the duke “shall forever reside in a governor, council and the people met in general assembly.” It was also provided that the representatives should appoint their times of meeting and that they could adjourn from interval to interval at their will; that no tax should be imposed but by the consent of the governor, the council of twenty-one and the representatives; and that no billeting of troops in time of peace should be tolerated. Full and free liberty was granted to all persons professing faith in God by Jesus Christ, unmolested to exercise the mode of worship agreeable to them, provided “the good people be not disturbed.” To Albany and New York were given charters.
In this connection before proceeding to the consideration of the broader lines of Dongan’s policy and of the matters he accomplished or failed to accomplish, it may not be amiss to glance at some of the restrictions placed upon and some of the liberties enjoyed by the New Yorker of that period. The population of the province was estimated at 20,000 souls. None but freemen were permitted to sell by retail or exercise any handicraft trade; a tax of £3, 12s. was laid upon every merchant and shopkeeper and of £1, 4s. upon every handicraft man when set free; only freemen or a resident of the city three years were permitted to trade upon Hudson river; all the inhabitants on the Hudson river were prohibited from trading across the sea; bakers were required to keep good household bread made of flour, as “the meals come from the mill”; no flour bolted or “bisket” should be made for exportation but in the city; no flour or bread should be imported into the city from any other part of the province; the assize for bread was established every three months.
A few ancient police regulations of Dongan’s time will forcibly appeal to the modern dweller in New York. Servile work on the Lord’s day was proscribed under a penalty of ten shillings, with double the fine for each repetition. Children were forbidden from gathering in the streets or places to play on that day. Public houses were prohibited from selling liquor on the Sabbath during divine service unless to travellers. Constables were compelled to walk the streets with their staffs to see that the law was fulfilled, and were further required to return the names of all strangers that come to reside within the ward as masters of public houses were ordered to report all strangers that come to lodge or live with them, as the custom is today in every European city. In the days of Dongan twenty carmen and no more were appointed under proper regulations—one of which demanded that they fill up, amend and repair the breaches in the streets and highways, in and about the city, when required by the Mayor, gratis. No negro or other slave was permitted to drive any cart, except brewers’ drays, within the city. The carrying of concealed weapons was interdicted.
The high hopes the colonists had entertained of the liberal and enlightened policy James had outlined by Dongan’s introduction were soon dashed to the ground and they suffered all the pangs of a crushing disappointment. The Assembly promised by the Charter of Liberties was never convened, for in February, 1685, Charles II, King of England, died. His brother, the Duke of York, ascended the throne and as James the King promptly repudiated the Colonial policy of James the Duke, the charter was vetoed, the Assembly was abolished and the province was precipitated backward to the old Monarchial order of things.
Dongan in the meantime had won the affection and confidence of the Iroquois, partly by means of his religious professions and by his tact and straightforwardness in dealing with them. The innocent-hearted child of the forest trusted Corlear most implicitly in spite of French intrigue and French subsidies. It was the influence which Dongan had gained that restrained the tribes from a contemplated foray in Virginia. With the Indian situation confidently in his hand, Dongan was checked by his King, who had entered into a religious coalition with Louis XIV, the most powerful sovereign in Europe. James ordered the governor to prevent the Iroquois from attending a council in Canada to entertain proposals for peace. The lieutenant on the ground, unbiased by notions of European politics, far better understood the situation in New York than his royal master three thousand miles away. The governor was more far-sighted than his King. Dongan diligently aspired to annihilate French supremacy over the Indians, but questioned the wisdom of using Jesuits, whose predilections for the French were well known to him. The Iroquois were loyal to New York and had never forgiven the French for the seizure of their sachems by order of Louis XIV. Dongan faithfully attempted to foster the former sentiment, as he never neglected an opportunity to remind his red allies of the latter prejudice. The efficacious methods he had pursued were destroyed by the treaty of neutrality which inhibited New England and France from assisting Indians who were at war with one another.