BURNET APPOINTED GOVERNOR.

285

the two branches of the colonial government for a period of several years.

In 1719 Governor Hunter quitted the province, and the duties of his office were discharged by Peter Schuyler, the oldest member of the council, until the arrival of William Burnet, who was appointed to succeed him. Burnet was the son of the celebrated Bishop Burnet, and is described as “a man of sense and polite breeding, a well-read scholar sprightly, and of a social disposition. He studied the art of recommending himself to the people, had nothing of the moroseness of a scholar, was gay and condescending, affected no pomp," and took much pleasure in the practice of chancery. He was well apprised of the danger to be apprehended from the French upon the north-western frontier, and soon penetrated their design of forming a line of posts from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi. He erected a fort at Oswego on Lake Ontario, in hopes of defeating their design. But the French were not thus to be foiled. They erected Fort Frontignac at the outlet of Lake Ontario, and another fortification at Niagara, commanding the entrance into it: they also launched two vessels upon the lake. Burnet privately assembled the sachems of the Five Nations, and having represented to them the transactions of the French at Niagara, they besought succour from the English against the governor of Canada, who, said they, "encroaches on our land, and builds thereon." This favourable opportunity was seized on by the governor to procure from them a deed surrendering their country to his majesty, to be protected for their use, and confirming their grant of 1701.

The assembly elected in 1716 had been on such good terms with the governor, that he continued it till 1727, when the dissatisfaction of the people at being so long without the exercise of their elective rights induced him to dissolve it. That which next met consisted almost exclusively of his opponents. The court of chancery, established by the governor and council without the consent of the assembly, and always unpopular in the colony, was rendered doubly so by some of its decisions,

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MONTGOMERY, COSBY, CLARK.

which led to a declaration by the assembly that it was a "manifest oppression and grievance." In consequence of this, the governor immediately dissolved the house; but on its next session it passed an ordinance to remedy certain abuses in the practice of chancery, and to reduce the fees of the

court.

Burnet being soon after appointed governor of Massachusetts, was succeeded at New York by colonel Montgomery, whose short administration was not distinguished by any remarkable event. He died in 1731, when Rip Van Dam, the senior member of the council, became acting governor. His administration was feeble and inefficient; and during its continuance the French erected at Crown Point, within the acknowledged boundaries of the English colonies, a fortification which served as a rallying-point for hostile Indians.

the

William Cosby, who succeeded Rip Van Dam, was at first a very popular governor; but having attacked the liberty of press by instigating the prosecution of Tenger, the printer of a newspaper, for publishing an article derogatory to his majesty's government, he lost the favour and confidence of the people. Tenger was ably defended by Andrew Hamilton, an eminent lawyer of Philadelphia, and acquitted by an impartial jury. For this valuable service, the magistrates of the city of New York presented Mr. Hamilton the freedom of their corporation in a gold box.

George Clark succeeded as governor in 1736. The contest about the disbursement of funds, which had ended twenty years before in the victory gained by Governor Hunter over the house, was now revived, and a new series of angry reproaches, and summary dissolutions on the part of the governor, ensued. In one of their sessions, the assembly voted an address to the governor, which, after stating some of the vital principles of government, and enumerating some of the recent misapplications of the funds of the colony, concludes in these words: "We therefore beg leave to be plain with your honour, and hope you will not take it amiss when we tell you that you are not to expect that we will either raise sums unfit to

GOVERNOR CLINTON.

287

be raised, or put what we shall raise into the power of a governor to misapply, if we can prevent it; nor shall we make up any other deficiencies than what we conceive are fit and just to be paid; nor continue what support or revenue we shall raise, for any longer time than one year; nor do we think it convenient to do even that, until such laws are passed as we conceive necessary for the safety of the inhabitants of this colony, who have reposed a trust in us for that only purpose, and which we are sure you will think it reasonable we should act agreeably to; and by the grace of God we shall endeavour not to deceive them."

Clark wisely determined not to contend with men so resolute in maintaining their rights, and therefore thanking them for their address, he assured them that he would co-operate in all measures conducive to the welfare of the colony. But harmony did not long subsist between them, and in 1740, the assembly having supported the rights of the people with firmness and decision against every attempted encroachment of the executive, the governor construed their attachment to liberty into a desire for independence; and even charged the colonies with a design to throw off their dependence on the

crown.

George Clinton, who succeeded Clark in 1743, seems to have retained the popularity with which most of the governors commenced their administration, by giving his assent to a bill which limited the duration of the colonial assemblies. In return for this favour, the people readily furnished recruits and subsidies for a vigorous prosecution of hostilities against the French, who were then at war with England. The Indian allies of France made frequent incursions upon the towns of New York, burning and plundering some, and spreading such terror in the colony, that other towns were deserted by their inhabitants. The assembly in 1746 determined to unite with the other colonies in an expedition against Canada, in which England was to assist by a naval force. But the fleet did not arrive at the time appointed, and the season for military operations was passed before the other colonies had completed

288

POPULATION OF NEW YORK.

their preparations. Further efforts were for a while rendered unnecessary, by a treaty concluded early in the next year, which gave the colonists peace and security until the recurrence of hostilities several years after, when all the colonies united their forces in a war which terminated the French dominion in Canada, and of which a connected history will be given hereafter.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the whole population of the colony did not exceed one hundred thousand-less than one-half the number now contained in the city of New York alone. The Indian wars, which had raged with little intermission on the frontiers from the first establishment of the colony, were an effectual check to the extended settlement of the interior. This is evident from the rapid increase of the population, when these unfavourable circumstances had ceased to exist.

The provincial organs of government in New York were the governor, the council and the assembly. The governor, appointed by the king, was commander-in-chief by sea and land, and received from the provincial revenue a salary of about £1500, together with perquisites amounting to about as much more. The councillors were appointed by the crown, but might be suspended by the governor. They received no salaries, but acted as a privy council to the governor, besides performing the same legislative and judicial functions as the English House of Lords. The members of the assembly (elected by freeholders possessing lands or tenements improved to the value of forty pounds) had a daily allowance for their attendance; and to them was committed the enacting of the laws, which were to be communicated to the English privy council, and might be annulled by the king at any time. The governor could prorogue or dissolve assemblies, appoint judges, and grant ecclesiastical benefices, and could also grant land to be held of the crown by soccage tenure.*

Grahame.

EW JERSEY was first settled, by the Danes, in 1618, at a place called Bergen, situated at the mouth of the Hudson, and about three miles west of New York. Shortly afterwards several Dutch families settled in the vicinity of New York. In 1625, a

company was formed in Sweden, under the patronage of Gustavus Adolphus, for the purpose of planting a colony in America: and, in 1731, a party of Swedes and Finns emigrated, and purchased of the Indians tracts of land on both sides of the Delaware, but planted their first colony on its western shore.

No attempt, to colonize this portion of the continent, was made by the English, till the year 1640, when they commenced a settlement at Elsingburg. This colony was soon broken

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