CHAP. XX.
Representation of
the Assembly to governor Hunter; and his answer.
Pursuant to the
resolutions of the house, an address was prepared, and
sent to the
queen, and a representation to governor Hunter: This last is a
particular answer
to the charges, and was as followeth:
"The humble
representation of the general assembly of her majesty's
province of
New-Jersey.
"To his
excellency Robert Hunter, Esq; captain general and governor in
chief of the
provinces of New-Jersey and New-York in America, and
vice-admiral of
the same, &c.
"May it
please your excellency;
"When the
lord Lovelace was pleased to let the representative body of this
province know,
that her majesty desired to be informed of the causes of
the differences
between the gentlemen of the council and them; nothing
could be more
satisfactory; because they entirely depended, that a person
of so much
justice and veracity, would put things in their true light; and
had he lived long
enough to have complied with her majesty's commands, we
had not now been
under the necessity of laying the following
representation
before your excellency. "We are very sorry we have so much
reason to say, it
was lately our misfortune to be governed by the lord
Cornbury, who
treated her majesty's subjects here not as freemen who were
to be governed by
laws, but as slaves, of whose persons and estates he had
the sole power of
disposing. Oppression and injustice reigned every where
in this poor, and
then miserable colony; and it was criminal to complain
or seeth any way
sensible of these hardships we then suffered; and
whatever attempts
were made for our relief, not only proved ineffectual,
but was termed
insolence, and flying in the face of authority: the most
violent and
imprudent stretches of arbitrary power, were stamped with the
great name of the
queen's prerogative royal; and the instruments and
strenous
assertors of that tyranny, were the only persons who in his
esteem and their
own, were for supporting her majesty's government:
Bribery,
extortion and a contempt of laws, both human and divine, were the
fashionable vices
of that time; encouraged by his countenance, but more
by his example;
and those who could most daringly and with most
dexterity trample
upon our liberties, had the greatest share both in the
government of
this province and his favour: This usage we bore with
patience a great
while, believing, that the measures he took proceeded
rather from want
of information or an erroneous judgment, than the
depravity of his
nature; but repeated instances soon convinced us of our
mistaken notions;
and that he was capable of the meanest things, and had
sacrificed his
own reputation, the laws, and our liberties, to his avarice:
No means were
left unessayed, that gave hopes of gratifying that sordid
passion: The country
was filled with prosecutions by informations of the
attorney general,
contrary to law. Those of her majesty's subjects who
are called
Quakers, were severely harrassed, under pretence of refusing
obedience to an
act of assembly for settling the militia of this province,
when neither the
letter nor meaning of that act justified the severities
used on that
account; the measures that were then taken, being chiefly
such as the
implacable malice of their adversaries suggested: The rights
of the general proprietors,
which upon the surrender of the government,
were promised to
be preserved inviolable to them, and which her majesty,
by her
instructions, had taken all possible care to do, were by him
invaded in a very
high degree; their papers and registers being the
evidences they
had to prove their titles to their lands and rents,
violently and
arbitrarily force from them, and they inhibited from selling
or disposing of
those lands; by which means their titles were made
precarious, the
value of lands through the whole province fell very much,
and a great stop
was put to the settlement and improvement of it: To be
short, all ranks
and conditions of men grossly abused, and no corner of
the country
without complaints of the hardships they suffered from the
exercise of a
despotick and mistaken power: An administration so
corrupt, so full
of tyranny and oppression in all its parts, induced the
assemby to have a
regard to the cries of that unhappy country they
represented, and
accordingly, in a most humble manner, remonstrated to
his lordship
their grievances; who was of opinion, their remonstrance lay
open to a very
ready answer; but that he might give them no occasion to
say he had done
it with heat and passion, he took some few days to do it;
but with what
coolness and temper it was done, those who have seen it
can judge; they
both lie before your excellency (No. 1 and 2). Sometime
after the
assembly were adjourned; and when we met again, made a reply
to that answer;
which reply (No. 3) lies before your excellency; but
neither the one
nor the other procured the desired effects; on the
contrary, the
number of our grievances were increased, some of the most
considerable of
our inhabitants deserted the province, and many of those
that remained
thought themselves unsafe in it; the only hopes they had,
was the arrival
of the lord Lovelace, which supported their sinking
spirits, and gave
them an expectation of better days.
"Upon the
first sitting of the assembly, after his arrival, he
communicated to them
a paper, called, The address of the lieutenant
governor and
council of New-Jersey. It was no surprise to us, to find any
thing indecent or
virulent proceeding from such men; but it was with
some concern, we
beheld what endeavours they had used, to render her
most gracious
majesty disaffected with her honest and loyal subjects
here, by
accusations which were not only false, but what they knew to be
so, at the time
of their writing of them, and which we had made appear to
be so, had they
not used evasions and shifts to avoid coming to the test,
in the time of
lord Lovelace, and while the assembly was sitting; then
they seemed to be
for reconciling matters, and burying every thing in
oblivion, in
hopes their own deeds of darkness might partake of the same
covering; and
hoped the sweetness of that noble lord's temper, and
inclinations to
peace, might secure them from that examine which was
necessary to
expose them in their true colours; and how much on that
occasion they
fawned and flattered, appears by an address of theirs to
him, which for
the peculiarity of the language (and we might say the
unintelligibleness
of the terms) ought never to be forgotten: It begins
thus, Your
lordship has not one virtue or more, but a complete
accomplishment
fall perfections, &c. and at the same time they were
deifying him (if
such an address could do it) they were caballing and
articling against
him, triumph'd in his death, and have barbarously
treated his
memory; and notwithstanding the laws of heaven and nature,
(as they are
pleased to express themselves) and all the fine things they
say of you, added
to the justness of your administration, they'll give you
the same
treatment when they can; the knowledge we have of their
practices, has made
us trespass a little longer on your excellency's
patience than we
at first designed: But to return to the address; be [we?]
believe the
gentlemen of the council have transmitted something to one
of her majesty's
secretaries of state, which they called proofs, and with
all the secrecy
they could, hoping it may obtain at that distance,
especially when
backed by some whose interest it is, that all they have
said be credited:
To prevent the ill consequences that may attend the
belief of what
they have said, or indeed can say, we shall endeavour to
prove every
article of the said address false; and that the subscribers
knew several of
them to be so at the time of their signing; what we say is
publick, not
carried on in darkness, to prevent that reply, which the
gentlemen
concerned to justify themselves, and upon the spot, may make
if they can.
"We begin
with the title of the address; which is, The humble address of
the lieutenant
governor and council of Nova-Caesaria or New-Jersey in
America.
"This
carries a falsehood in the very front of it; for it was no act of
council; but
signed by some in the western, and by others in the eastern
division of
New-Jersey, by one or two in New-York, at different times,
being privately
carried about by a messenger of my lord Cornbury's; and
some were raised
out of their beds to sign it; it never pass'd the
council; was
never minuted in the council books, and the lieutenant
governor has
several times protested he signed it without ever reading it:
The gentlemen of
the council cannot deny the truth of this; if they do, we
can prove it; but
to justify themselves they say, it was signed by the
lieutenant
governor and the gentlemen of the council, though not in
council: So that
it's plain, they designed to abuse the queen, by giving
it the stile of
an act of council, which her majesty and every body that
reads it would
take to be so, when they knew in their consciences it was
not so; but that
their malice or servile fears induced them to sign it, and
may not improperly
be called, forging an act of council; it's apparent that
Roger Mompesson,
esq; signed it by himself; that it was brought to him
as an act of
council, and that as such he thought himself obliged to sign
it, as by his
reasons for signing it appears; which reasons could have had
no weight, had he
not understood it to be so; for he owns he never
examined into the
particulars of it.
"The first
article is, We the lieutenant governor and council of her
majesty's
province of Nova-Caesaria or New-Jersey, having seriously and
deliberately
taken into consideration the proceedings of the present
assembly or
representative body of this province, thought our selves
bound, both in
duty and conscience, to testify to your majesty our dislike
and abhorrence of
the same. This is true, if signing any thing without
reading or
examining into the particulars of it, and by some between
sleeping and
waking, be arguments of seriousness, and deliberation,
otherwise not;
except by the words seriously and deliberately, be meant,
their resolutions
on all occasions to do what the lord Cornbury commanded
them; as indeed
their signing this address, and their conduct in every
other thing, did
but too plainly evince, to be the only seriousness and
deliberation they
were capable of: When Col. Quarry signd that address, we
believe he was
misled, and depended too much on the credit of others; we
must do him the
justice to own, that he has of late declined joining with
them in many of
their hot and rash methods, and behaves himself at present
like a man of
temper, who intends the service of the queen and good of the
country. These
addressors tell her majesty, that they were in duty and
conseience bound
to testify their dislike and abhorrence of the same to
her: Had they abhorred
falsehood, and discharged their duty as in
conscience they
were bound to do, in refusing to join with the lord
Cornbury, in all
his arbitrary and unjust measures, and particularly in
that scandalous
address, (pardon the expressions) the country would not
have had that
just cause to complain, as now they have, and in probability
always will,
while they continue in their present stations: There were no
proceedings in
that assembly that any honest man had reason to dislike;
and their
endeavours for the good of the country, deserve the highest
praise, and ought
never to be forgotten by New-Jersey.
"The second
article is, That the unaccountable humours and pernicious
designs of some
particular men, have put them upon so many irregularities,
with intention
only to occasion divisions and distractions, to the
disturbance of
the great and weighty affairs which her majesty's honour
and dignity, and
the peace and welfare of the country required: The so
many
irregularities are, we suppose, what the lord Cornbury mentioned in
his answer to
their remonstrance; which that house replied to; as may be
seen in their
reply (No. 3) and whether they were irregularities or no,
the world can
judge; but be they what they will, the addressors are never
able to prove,
that the unaccountable humours of some particular men put
them upon them;
they may indeed boldly say they did, and if that will do,
they may say
again, that it was with intention to occasion divisions, &c.
but that neither
proves, that any particular men influenced that assembly,
nor that the
intentions of doing so, were as they say; that being
impossible for
them to know; and if we may be allowed to know the
intentions of
that assembly, they were far otherwise than what the
addressors
represent them to have been.
"The 3d
article was, That we had highly encroached upon her majesty's
prerogative
royal.
"The 4th,
That we had notoriously violated the rights and liberties of the
subject.
"The 5th,
That we had manifestly interrupted justice.
"These three
articles are what the lord Cornbury, in his answer to the
remonstrance,
charges that assembly with, which are fully answered in the
aforesaid reply,
and proved to be false charges; and this the addressors
knew when they
signed the address, if ever they read the reply or address
(which is very
much to be questioned) and we believe, if the truth were
known,
notwithstanding their pretensions to seriousness and deliberation,
they had little
more hand in it than setting their hands to it, as we
shall endeavour to
evince: It is undeniably true, that it was signed at
different times,
and in different places; it then must be true, that
it was brought
ready drawn to the signers, and its very probable that they
did not read it,
certainly not with any consideration: The lieutenant
governor, as we
observed before, has owned he did not, and the late chief
justice, Roger
Mompesson, Esq; a man as likely to read and consider as
any of them, owns
under his hand, he never did examine the particulars
of it; which is,
in other words, owning he did not read it; and its not
very likely the
rest should: These three articles are the very words used
by the lord
Cornbury in his answer: the whole address seems to be an
abridgment of
that answer, several sentences the same, the stile the same,
and the same vein
of intemperance and ill nature through them both; and
in all likelihood
done by his lordship, who made the addressors father
whatever his
lordship was ashamed to own.
"The 6th article
is, That the remonstrance was a most scandalous libel.
"The 7th,
That the lord Cornbury made a full and ample answer to it.
"The 8th,
That the reply of the house of representatives of the province
of New-Jersey,
was a scandalous and infamous libel; and they add on that
head, this last
libel came out so suddenly, that they had not time, as
yet, to answer it
in all its particulars.
"Certainly
it is impossible, that ever men in their right wits, after
reading such an
address, should sign it! Was it ever known, that any book
or paper wrote by
a house of commons, was called a libel, and a most
scandalous and
infamous libel? If the gentlemen had intended to shew their
talents of
railing and abusive language; they could hardly have taken a
more effectual
way, than by that address, which if it prove nothing else,
proves them to be
very much masters of those qualifications; but we cannot
be of opinion,
that their calling the remonstrance or reply a libel,
proves them to be
so; nor had they any reason to expect it would be taken
by her majesty,
for any thing more than a demonstration of their want of
temper; for if
those two papers were libels, then the house of
representatives
might have been punished for them, or at least prosecuted;
and if so, any
vote, resolve, address or remonstrance that they made, or
any other house
of representatives could make, would subject the said
house of
representatives (the authors of them) to the same inconveniency,
whenever the
gentlemen of the council were pleased to call them so: This
is so contrary to
the known practice of England, to the laws, to the
rights and
privileges of the house, that it is a needless labour to prove,
either that the
gentlemen never read what they signed, or knew what they
signed to be
false at the time of their signing of it: But to say a little
more, the
remonstrance and reply are so far from being false, that they
are most true:
Several of the facts are owned by the lord Cornbury, and
where he either evades
or denies them, they are made out in the reply: His
bribery was
proved by a cloud of evidences in the house; and whatever else
is charged upon
him, he knew to be true; and it is neither in the power of
his full and
ample answe; nor even of the address itself, to persuade the
contrary: The
assembly say indeed in their remonstrance, Had the afairs of
New-York admitted
his lordship oftener to attend those of New-Jersey, he
had not then been
unacquainted with their grievances; and that they were
inclined to
believe they would not have grown to so great a number. This,
perhaps, may be
one of the falsehoods the addressors mean; and truly it
ought to be
acknowledged, that the then assembly had no reason to believe
his lordship's
presence in this province would have any other effect, than
the increasing,
instead of diminishing their grievances; but when the
addressors say
that the reply came so suddenly out, that as yet, they had
not time to
answer it in all its particulars: They seem to imply, that
they had answered
it in some of them; which has not been done, no, not as
yet, though it
has been out above three years: And, its coming out so
suddenly, &c.
is a great mistake, to say no worse of it; for it had been
out above six
months before their address was signed: This is another
proof that they
never read the address before they signed it; or if they
did, that they
knew what they signed to was false, at the time of their
signing.
"The 9th
article is, That these disturbances are owing wholly to Mr. Lewis
Morris and Samuei
Jenings, men of turbulent, factious, uneasy and disloyal
principles; men
notoriously known to be uneasy under all government, and
men never known
to be consistent with themselves.
"The 10th article
is, That to these men are owing all the factions and
confusions in the
governments of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania.
"These
articles are not only the stile of the lord Cornbury's answer to
the remonstrance;
but for the most part the very words. If Mr. Morris, and
Mr. Jenings, were
such men as the addressors say they are, viz. turbulent
and factious,
uneasy under all governments, and the causers of the
factions and
confusions of New-Jersey and Pennsylvania; then certainly to
continue thus
turbulent, &c. evinced they were not inconsistent with
themselves, but
constantly pursued the same measures: This was an
expression the
lord Cornbury was very fond of, and very much used, and the
addressors here
have been but the parrots of his thoughts; and all they
have said of
these gentlemen (one of whom is in his grave, viz. Mr.
Jenings) is a
notorious abuse; for whatever was done by the assembly (if
it's their
proceedures they call disturbances) was not done either by the
influence of Mr.
Morris or Mr. Jenings, but from a just sense of their
duty, in
discharge of the trust reposed in them by the country, and to
prevent the ill
effects of an arbitrary and unjust use of power, by the
lord Cornbury, so
much encouraged by the slavish compliants of the
addressors, men never
known to be inconsistent with themselves, nor we
fear never will.
"We should
not trouble your excellency longer on this head, did we not
know this is an
article which the addressors think they can justify, and
which they
suppose will prove a sufficient defence for all they have said;
therefore, to put
this matter in some measure out of dispute, we say, in
the first place,
that should they be able to prove what they say in that
article, yet it
would not justify their other accusations, nor the severe
reflections they
have unjustly made on the representative body of this
province: 2dly,
It plainly appears by the journals of the house, that the
assembly insisted
on the same things, when neither Mr. Morris nor Mr.
Jenings were among
them; and now endeavours to evince to your excellency,
that their
proceedings were reasonable. 3dly, The disturbances in Jersey
or Pennsylvania,
ascribed to Mr. Morris or Mr. Jennings, were no other
than the
opposition of an unlawful and unjust authority, and that during
the proprietors
government, before it was surrendered to the queen; so not
a fit matter to
have been at that time seriously and deliberately meddled
with by the
addressors, and could be done with no other intent but to
mislead the queen,
into a belief that Pennsylvania and New-Jersey, were
then disturbed by
these gentlemen; 4thly, We do not find, that ever Mr.
Morris was
concerned at all, even during that time, in the western
division of
New-Jersey or Pennsylvania.
"The 11th
article is, That this is done with design to throw off the
queen's
prerogative royal, and consequently to involve all her majesty's
dominions, in
this part of the world, and the honest and good well meaning
men in them, in
confusion, hoping thereby to obtain their wicked purposes.
"It is
evident from this article, that the accusations of Mr. Morris
and Mr. Jenings,
were to mislead the queen into such a belief as we have
instanced; 1st,
from their using the terms (is done) being in the present
tense: 2dly, they
assign the reason why tis done, viz. not only to
encourage this
government, but all the governments in America, to throw
off her majesty's
prerogative royal, and as a consequence of that, to
involve all her
dominions in this part of the world, &c. in confusion;
which is in plain
English, throwing off our allegiance, and revolting from
the crown of
England; the addressors in the first place, suppose all the
plantations on
the continent of America inclinable to a revolt, whenever
they have an opportunity;
or at least if they don't believe it themselves,
would have the
queen believe so, and be apprehensive of some danger
from it; which if
she had, it's natural enough to suppose such severe
methods would
have been taken, as would prevent any such thing; so
that what the
addressors have said, is not only an accusation of all the
plantations in
America, of want of loyalty and affection to her majesty;
but an endeavour
to alienate her affections from them: We thank God it
has not had the
ill effects they intended, and hope no representation
founded on the
malice of any men, ever will; but that the authors of them
may always meet
with as little credit as they deserve: Can it be thought,
or could the
addressors themselves ever seriously and deliberately think,
that the province
of New-Jersey, (one of the most inconsiderable of all
her majesty's
colonies, and the most incapable of making any defence,
having no
fortification that exceeds a stone house, and of them but very
few; a great part
of whose people are quakers, who by their principles are
against fighting,
would be so unaccountably mad, as to throw off their
allegiance
(especially to be the first in doing it) and expose themselves
to unavoidable
ruin and destruction? Whoever can seriously think this, and
with deliberation
assert it, ought very seriously, and without much
deliberation, be
confined to the society of mad-men, as persons that can
seriously and
deliberately believe and say any thing; which is all we shall
say to this
ridiculous, as well as malicious charge, and pass to the 12th
article; than
which nothing more untrue, and knowingly so, could be
asserted, as we
shall by what follows, make out; the article runs thus:
That the assembly
are resolved neither to support the queen's government
with a revenue,
nor defend it by settling a militia.
"Now it is
plain, that this house never did deny to raise a sufficient
support for the
government, and took proper care concerning the militia,
as by the several
acts for those ends does more largely appear; nay, when
the expedition
against Canada, was on foot we gave three thousand pounds
for that end,
over and above the support of government; and the casting
vote for the
raising that money, and the settling the militia now, was
given by Mr. Hugh
Middleton, one reputed a quaker; so that it will very
easily appear,
that accusation of the addressors, was not only very
untrue, but that
they knew it to be so at the time of their signing of it;
nay more, we
shall make it appear, that the gentlemen of the council have
used their utmost
endeavours to defeat the government of a necessary
support, and to
frustrate, as much as in them lay, the expedition against
Canada; so that
the accusation lies most justly against them, and not
against us; for
the acts for the support of the government, and settling
the militia, made
in the time of the good lord Lovelace, was pass'd by
them with the
greatest difficulty; and the act for raising three thousand
pounds, towards
carrying on the expedition against Canada, was at their
direction, by
Elisha Lawrence and Gershom Mott, two of their tools, who
were members of
this house, (and were not quakers) voted out, and who on
the first and
second reading, voted for it, concealing their design of
voting against
it, 'till the time of their voting; and not being quakers,
were not
suspected of voting against it, otherways care had been taken to
put it out of
their power; and to make it appear, that it was done with
design, by
direction of the lieutenant governor and council, to cast a
reflection on the
house, and to justify their allegations in their
address, even at
the expence of defeating the expedition; the lieutenant
governor colonel
Ingoldsby, tho' assured by the speaker, and other members
of the house,
that if the house was prorogued but for twenty four hours,
care should be
taken the bill should pass; who presently after did,
notwithstanding,
adjourn the house, from the thirteenth of June to the
twenty eighth of
July following; a time so long, that if the house and
council had been
never so willing, the season would by that time have been
so far advanced,
that it had been of no use then to have raised either men
or money towards
that expedition; as the lieutenant governor and council
very well knew;
and had not the honorable colonel Nicholson, and Col.
Vetch, in an
extraordinary viz. on the twenty third day of June, neither
money nor men had
been raised on that account: This we think comes up to a
demonstration,
that these gentlemen, rather than not gratify their
resentments, and
give some colour of justifying what they had said, chose
to sacrifice the
service of the queen, and the common good, on so
extraordinary an
occasion, to their private piques; and indeed their
proceedures ever
since, have confirmed the country in that opinion, and
exposed their
conduct to a just censure, and shewed that they have been so
far from
endeavouring (as they say, in the last article) by application to
the governor, to
remove the grievances, if any were; that if their best
advice was at any
time offered, it was rather how to continue and render
them more
intollerable: We are sorry we have so much reason to say this as
we have; but a
long and uninterrupted series of despotick and arbitrary
government exacts
it from us; and which we are sure they will, to their
power, continue
as long as to the great misfortune of this colony, they
remain in any
places of publick trust.
"To enter
into a detail of their several male-admistrations, t'would take
up more time than
we can at present spare, and stretch the bounds of this
representation to
too great a length: We have already laid before your
excellency some
proofs against Mr. Hall, one of the council, of his
extortion, and
imprisoning and selling the queen's subjects; who, if
they had been
guilty of the crimes alledged against them, ought to have
been prosecuted
accordingly and not discharged on any hopes of private
gain; and if not
guilty, ought not to have been laid in prison and in
irons, and by
those hardships forced to become his servants, rather than
endure them: But
a man that could, after taking up adrift several cask of
flour, deny them
to the owner, and sell 'em, is capable of any thing that
is ill; and how
fit for so honourable a post as one of her majesty's
council, or
indeed any other place of trust in this government, is most
humbly submitted
to your excellency's consideration.
"Were there
nothing against Mr. Peter Sonmans, but his being indicted for
perjury; from
which by a pack'd jury he was cleared, as appears by the
memorial (No. 4)
there being but too much reason to believe he was justly
accused; it would
be no mean reason to lay him aside from her majesty's
council; it being
some sort of reflection to continue a person even
supposed guilty
of so heinous a crime, in so high a post, which her
majesty in a
particular manner has endeavoured to secure the honour of; by
directing in her
instructions, that no person necessitous or much in debt
shall be of it;
much less a person known to be a bankrupt, as Sonmans is,
and who at this
time, and for some years past, has lived in open and
avowed aduldery,
in contempt of the laws, which his being in power not
only protects him
from being punish'd, but enables him to carry on his
wicked designs,
by imposing on the honest and simple people, who suspect
no trick from a
person of his rank; as appears by the depositions (No. 5)
relating to the
Amboy petition against Dr. Johnston and Mr. Reid; and to
stretch and warp
the laws, to the manifest prejudice, ruin and undoing of
many of her
majesty's subjects, whose complaints from the several parts of
the province, (so
unfortunate as to be under his direction,) we make no
doubt has long
e'er this reach'd your excellency's ears; and which, we
persuade
ourselves, will, when your excellency is satisfied with the truth
of them, have
their proper effects.
"The courts
of law in which the gentlemen of the council were judges,
instead of being
a protection and security to her majesty's subjects, of
their liberties and
properties, in disputes that came before them, became
the chief
invaders and destroyers of them both; and what should have been
the greatest
benefit, proved the greatest grievance; as we we shall
instance in a few
of the many things we could: And first, notwithstanding
her majesty, for
the ease of her subjects here, has been pleased to
appoint the
supreme court of this province to be held alternatively at
Amboy in the
eastern, and Burlington in the western division of this
province; yet the
causes of one division are tried in the other, and
juries and
evidences carried for that end, at the great and needless
charge of those
concerned, as well as great expence and loss of time to
the people in
general; who can receive no benefit by the courts being held
alternatively, if
the ends for which they are so held, be not answered,
and causes tried
in the same division to which they do belong; besides it
is a practice of
very mischevious consequence, making the people entirely
depend on and be
subject to the judges of the said court, who can by that
method, lay any
persons they do not like, under the necessity of being at
the
beforementioned charge, and make them that way sensible of their
resentments;
which, as we have instanced, they have been too ready and
willing on all
occasions to do: Secondly, the writ of habeas corpus, the
undoubted right,
as well as great privilege of the subject, was by William
Pinhorne, Esq;
second judge of the supreme court, denied to Thomas Gordon,
Esq; then speaker
of the assembly; and, notwithstanding the station he was
in, was kept
fifteen hours a prisoner, until he applied by the said
Pinhorne's son,
an attorney at law, and then, and not before, he was
admitted to bail;
which fact as well as other things, may appear by the
said Gordon's
case (No. 6) now laid before your excellency. The
proceedings
against a person in that station, and at that time, made it
but too evidently
appear, that the said Pinhorne would not stick to join
with the lord Cornbury
in the most daring and violent measures, to subvert
the liberties of
this country; and cannot be look'd on by this house, or
any succeeding
assembly, duly considering the procedure and the address
abovementioned,
afterwards signed by him, but as a person ready and
willing on any
occasion, to attempt upon their liberties, and overthrow
them if he can;
and how safe we can think ourselves while he continues in
power to hurt, is
most humbly submitted.
"Many
persons prosecuted upon informations, have been, at their excessive
charge, forced to
attend court after court, and not brought to tryal, when
there was no
evidence to ground such informations on; but they kept
prisoners in
hopes that some might be in time procured; and two of them,
to wit, David Johnston
and his wife, after some weeks imprisonment, not
admitted to bail
'till they entered into a recognizance, the condition of
which was, That
if the lord Cornbury was dissatisfied with admitting them
to bail, upon
notice thereof signified to them, they should return to
their
imprisonment: His lordship was dissatisfied, and Leeds and Revell,
who took the
recognizance, sent their orders to them to return according
to the condition
of it.
"Actions
have been suffered to continue, after the persons in whose names
they were
brought, have in open court disavowed them, declaring they had
never given
orders for any such actions to be brought.
"Actions
upon frivolous pretences have been postpon'd, and the tryals
delayed to serve
particular persons, when the juries and evidences were
all ready, and
attending on the tryals.
"Though it
be the right of the subject, by proper writs, to remove actions
from any inferior
to a superior court; yet at the court of sessions held
at Barlington, in
December 1709, colonel Daniel Coxe, colonel Hugh Huddy,
colonel Thomas
Revell and Daniel Leeds, esquires, justices of the said
county, did
reject a writ of certiorari, obtained by Mr. George Willocks,
and allowed by
Roger Mompesson, chief justice, and committed said Willocks
'till he entered
into recognizance, to appear at the next court of oyer
and terminer.
"The case of
Peter Blacksfield, who by a mistake or design, was divested
of his estate,
and ruined; is so well known to your excellency, that we
need say nothing
more about it.
"The people
called quakers, who are by her majesty admitted to places of
the most
considerable trust within this province, are sometimes admitted
to be evidences;
as one Mr. Beaks, a quaker, was in a capital case against
one Thomas Bates,
at a court of oyer and terminer, held by justice
Mompesson, Col.
Coxe, Col. Huddy, and others; on which evidence, he was
condemned to be
executed; and sometimes they have been refused to be
jurors or
evidences, either in civil or criminal cases; so that their
safety, or
receiving the benefit of her majesty's favour, seems not to
depend on the
laws, or her directions, but the humours and capricios of
the gentlemen who
were judges of the courts: We, with all humanity, take
leave to inform
your excellency, that the western division was settled by
those people, who
combated with all the inconveniencies attending a new
settlement; and
with great difficulty and charge, have from a wilderness
improved it to be
what you now see it is; there are great numbers of them
in it, and should
they not be admitted as evidences or jurors, they would
be very unsafe;
for it is in the power of ill men, to come into their
religious
assemblies, and murder as many as they please, and with
impunity, tho' look'd
on by hundreds of quakers; or break open their
houses and rob
with safety; and the encouragement the gentlemen of the
council have
given to the meanest of the people, to abuse them, confirms
us in the
opinion, that there wants not those who have will enough to
perpetrate the
greatest mischiefs on that people, when they can escape the
punishment due to
their crimes.
"The
procedure of the whole body of the council, in relation to Mr.
Barclay, is a
demonstration of their arbitrariness and partiality, as by
his case, (No. 7)
now laid before your excellency, will more fully appear:
When he produced
a commission before them, from the proprietors in
England, which
superceded that lame one given to Mr. Sonmans; they (as
appears by an
order of council) took the said commission from him; than
which nothing
could be more arbitrary and unjust; for that commission was
the property of
Mr. Barclay, and he had the right of executing the powers
of it; and if any
persons was aggrieved, or the commission not good, the
law was open to
dispute it; and a copy of it sent to the queen would have
answered all the
just ends that sending the original could do: It was
indeed a short
way of determining in favour of Peter Sonmans, and putting
it out of the
power of Mr. Barclay, to right himself, during that
administration:
The gentlemen may call this a strenuous asserting of the
queen's
prerogative royal; but we can call it by no other name than an
open robbery,
committed in their judicial capacity, under a pretence of
authority; than
which nothing could be worse, or of more pernicious
consequence.
"To
conclude, all persons not friends to the gentlemen of the council, or
some of them,
were sure in any tryal at law to suffer; every thing was
done in favour of
these that were: Justice was banish'd, and trick and
partiality
substituted in its place: No man was secure in his liberty or
estate; but both
subjected to the caprices of an inconsiderate party of
men in power, who
seemed to study nothing more than to make them as
precarious as
possible. Your excellency's coming, has put a check to that
violent torrent
of injustice and oppression, that bore down every thing
before it; and we
hope, that during your administration, ill men will not
have authority to
hurt, nor their representations gain any credit with a
person so able to
discern the motives of them; which are no other, than
the gratification
of their own resentments, even at the price of the
publick safety,
as we have in great measure already proved; and their
proceedings now
does plainly confirm what we have offered; for what can be
the intent of
rejecting our bills without committing of them, but to
irretate us to
that degree, that nothing might be done, either towards the
support of the
government, or the settling of a militia, that they might
have wherewithal
to justify themselves in what they have said of us?
What was the
cause of their rejecting the bill for preventing of corruption
in courts of
justice, but the consciousness of their own crimes, and the
fears they had of
that examine, which must necessarily have exposed their
conduct to a due
censure? What was it that made them throw out the bill
against bankrupts
(though made by her majesty's express direction) and
profess
themselves against any bill whatsoever on that head, but the dread
they had of
feeling the just consequences of it themselves? Nay, one of
them, William
Pinhorne, esq; by name, was pleased to say, it was with
horror and
amazement he beheld a bill with that title; we are not so fond
of the bill as it
was drawn, but that we would have readily joined with
the council in
any reasonable amendments, had they offered them; but we
think no honest
man could be against a bill that makes the estates of
persons becoming bankrupts,
liable to pay their just debts; and we hope
New-Jersey won't
long be a sanctuary for such. The bill, entitled, An act
for enabling
persons aggrieved by on act for settling the militia of this
province, was, to
make the distresses unreasonably and illegally made on
pretence of the
militia act, returnable to the owners, and to punish the
persons that did
it; but this they will not pass, knowing that so just an
act would be
attended with consequences they can by no means bear; the
instruments of
that oppression being to be protected by them at any rate,
and nothing to be
heard against them, because they were officers of the
government, tho'
their practices were never so unreasonable or unjust, and
her majesty's
subjects left remediless, and must patiently sit down, after
having their
houses and plantations plundered, and their persons abused by
a crew of needy
and mercenary men, under pretence of law; but it was such
persons that were
useful to them, and such they must for their own safety,
protect: 'Tis for
this reason they combine together, to secure, as far as
they are able,
Jeremiah Bass, their clerk, the secretary of this province,
and prothonotary
of the supreme court; in all these offices his pen is to
be directed by
them; they dread an honest man in these offices: How he has
behaved himself,
is in some measure known to your excellency, especially
in the case of
Dennis Linch, the Maidenhead people, and Peter Blacksfield;
the two last are
notorious malversations in his office, and appear under
his hand, and by
the minute books of the supreme court; and it is no
excuse in him,
when men are turned out of their estates and ruin'd, to
say, it was a
mistake; if such an excuse would do, it is very easily made
on any occasion;
and in this province, can be safe, when such a person
continues in
offices of so great trust. All the original copies of the
laws passed in
the time of the just lord Lovelace, are somehow or other
made away with;
Bass offers to purge himself by his oath, that he has them
not, nor knows
any thing of them; and it may be so for aught we know; but
in this provmce
where he is known, it is also known, that few men ever
believed his
common conversation, and several juries have refused to
credit his oaths;
he corroborates what he says with the evidence of Peter
Sonmans, one of
the council, a person once indicted for peijury; and how
he was cleared,
the aforesaid memorial makes out; so that we do not think
him a person of
sufficient credit to determine that point. It is certain,
that the
secretary's office is the place those laws ought to be in, and he
ought not on any
pretence to have parted with them out of the province: It
is certain, the
lieutenant governor ought, within three months after the
passing of them,
to have sent copies of them to the lords commissioners
for trade and
plantations, and duplicates of them by the next conveyance
after; and this
under pain of her majesty's highest displeasure, and the
forfeiture of
that year's salary, on which he should on any pretence
whatsoever omit
the doing of it; how comes it then about, that neither the
secretary Bass,
nor Mr. Cockrill, private secretary to the lord Lovelace,
and who lived six
months after his master's death, was never examined
about them? Mr.
Cockrill could have cleared up that matter while alive, if
the lieutenant
governor could be thought so grossly to neglect what he
knew to be his
duty; why did not Mr. Bass apply to him in all that time
for those laws?
If he had parted with them, as he pretends, so much
against his will,
it was very natural to suppose he would have used the
utmost
application to get them again; yet no one enquiry is said to be
made after them,
either by Bass or the lieutenant governor, of the lady
Lovelace, who
staid in New-York long after the death of her lord, or of
his secretary;
nor no noise at all made about them 'till this time, so
long after the
arrival of your excellency; can any body think it was the
interest of
either the lord or lady Lovelace, or his secretary, or any of
his lordship's
friends, to destroy a law which gave the lord Lovelace
eight hundred
pounds, and without which he could not have it? but it does
appear to be the
interest of the lieutenant governor and his friends to
destroy it; for they
had got an act passed, which took from the lord
Lovelace three
hundred and thirty pounds of that money, and gave it to the
lieutenant
governor; and two hundred and seventy pounds more of it was
given to him for
the support of the government. Had he sent the act made
in favour of the
lord Lovelace, to the queen for her approbation or
disallowance, and
her majesty had approved of it, as in all probability
she would have
done, then the act made in colonel Ingoldsby's favour had
been void; but
had the other gone home first, there was an expectation it
might pass, the
queen knowing no more about the first act, than that a
vote had passed
in favour of the lord Lovelace. And to make it plainly
appear, that
colonel Ingoldsby, and the gentlemen of the council, were
apprehensive of
the danger of sending those acts to England; to the act we
have now past,
for making the printed copies as effectual as if the
originals were in
the secretary office, that your excellency may be
enabled to
transmit them to her majesty; they have added a providing
clause, that the
act made in Col. Ingoldsby's time, (which takes that
money from the
lord Lovelace) shall not by this act we have past, be made
void in the whole
or any part thereof; but continue in full force and
virtue, as if this
act had never been made: This amendment they insist on,
tho' they knew,
and do know, we will never agree to a clause so foreign to
the title and
intent of the bill; but this is done by them, with design
that the bill
shall not pass; by which means her majesty will be without
authentick copies
of the acts, during that good lords administration; and
they hope will
confirm the acts past in colonel Ingoldsby's time: What we
have said on this
head, shews very plainly who are the persons that ought,
with most reason
to be charged, with the making away those original laws.
"We are
concerned, we have so much reason to expose a number of persons,
combined to do
New-Jersey all the hurt that lies in their power: Her
majesty has been graciously
pleased to remove colonel Richard Ingoldsby
from being
lieutenant governor, and we cannot sufficiently express our
gratitude for so
singular a favour; and especially for appointing your
excellency to be
our governor: We have all the reason in the world to be
well assured, you
will not forget that you are her subject; but will take
care that justice
be duly administered to the rest of her subjects here;
which can never
be done while William Pinhorne, Roger Mompesson, Daniel
Coxe, Richard
Townley, Peter Sonmans, Hugh Huddy, and William Hall, or
Jeremiah Bass,
Esqrs, continue in places of trust, within this province;
nor can we think
our liberties or properties safe while they do; but if
they are
continued, must with our families desert the province, and seek
some safer place
of abode: We shall wait 'till your excellency can
transmit accounts
of the state of this colony, to her majesty; and assure
you, that we will
on all occasions very readily, to our power, comply with
her majesty's
directions, and be wanting in nothing that may conduce to
make your
administration happy, both to yourself and us.
"Signed by
order of the house of representatives.
"WILL.
BRADFORD, Clk.
"Die
Veneris, A. M. 9 Feb. -- 1710."
This
representation was received kindly by the governor; he answered, "that
her majesty had
given him directions to endeavour to reconcile the
differences, that
were in this province; but if he could not, that he
should make a
just representation to her; and that he did not doubt, but
that upon the representation
he should make, her majesty would take such
measures, as
should give a general satisfaction."
The governor
accordingly backing the remonstrance to the queen, got all the
councellors
removed, that were pointed out by the assembly, as the cause
of their
grievances, and their places supplied by others: The business of
this session
being finished, the governor prorogued the house.