"COLONEL" JOHN SCOTT § OF LOJVg ISLAND Book .U5^S4 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT OF LONG ISLAND 1634 (?)-i696 BY WILBUR C ABBOTT PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN YALE UNIVERSITY ^-^—^ifcPi ■J2,'%Vv./«-^^ OF LONG ISLAND With the rise of England and the decline of Holland on the sea, it was thus becoming evident that, short of some miraculous reversal of fortune, the days of the ascendancy of New Netherland were numbered. Under such circum- stances English agitators were naturally peculiarly dis- tasteful to the Dutch, and especially to such men as the director-general^ Stuyyesant. Scott was carried to New Amsterdam, there examined, and ultimately released, doubt- less with stern admonitions to go, and sin no more. He seems to have passed the next few years in the pur- suit of a more or less honest livelihood. It would appear from some later statements that he divided his time between the exercise of his profession as a blacksmith and the raising of cattle, or, as it was less elegantly expressed by - i i \l his contemporaries, "keeping cowes." But these pursuits by ^^^ v '^r ^ no means exhausted his energies. He had already turned his attention to the chief source of wealth in a new country — land ; and even before his entry into international affairs, he had found opportunity to exercise his gifts in that direction. For that, the time and place were peculiarly favorable. When he had been released from his obliga- tions to Massachusetts justice he seems to have made his way to Connecticut, thence to the oldest settlement on Long Island, — the oldest English settlement, indeed, within the present boundaries of New York, the town of Southampton, which thenceforth for some years became the center of his activities. He chose well. As towns went in those days Southamp- ton was already well established. It had been founded about 1639 or 1640 by emigrants chiefly from Lynn, under the lead of Edward Howell, Edward Cooper, and the minister, Abraham Pierson, the father of the first presi- dent of Yale College. This party of some forty families had, according to the custom of the time, formed a com- 7 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT pany, and secured a concession from one Farrett, the agent of that Sir William Alexander, Earl of Stirling, to whom James I had granted and Charles I confirmed rights over nearly all the best portions of northern North America, but whose chief source of revenue had thus far been the sale of Nova Scotian baronetcies and the rights of colon- izing Long Island. For this land there were already two claimants besides — the Dutch of New Amsterdam and the settlers of the recently planted colonies of Connecticut and especially New Haven opposite; and these, as well as the new colonists from Lynn, were to play no small part in the fortunes of Scott. Those colonists almost at once came into collision with the Dutch, and, driven from their first landing-place at Schout's Bay by a force from New Amsterdam, they had sought out the Earl's agents at New Haven and from them secured a deed by which, in consideration of £400, they were permitted to make terms with the Indians for the eastern end of Long Island, where by June 1640 they seem to have established themselves. The colony had flourished from the beginning. Not only was the climate peculiarly agreeable; the tillable land, once it was cleared, sufficiently fertile; but the sea was full of whales, "crampasses," and seals, from which oil could be extracted, and teeming with fish and oysters. By the time of Scott's arrival the settle- ment was already outgrowing its boundaries; and a year before his arrest he had signalized his advent into the real- estate field by selling to its directors the adjoining district of Quogue, which he had bought from one Ogden, who had acquired it from the Indians. The passion for land speculation never left him; and his stay in Southampton was filled with his activities in that field. The records of the settlement in the years between 1660 and 1664 are filled with accounts of his land transfers. 8 OF LONG ISLAND For the tracts which he conveyed, he claimed to have — and possibly did have — deeds from the Indian sachem Wayan- danck and his son Weacham; but the real titles seem to have resided principally in his own too exuberant imagina- tion, and that of the savage chieftains. They long re- mained to vex the colony ; and, however sacred the ceremony of transfer "by turf and twig" which gave them into his hands, there is at least one instance which sheds some light upon his character and activities. For in 1664 when the people of Seetauket purchased land of the "Sachem of Uncachage, Tobacus," they insisted on that noble savage adding to the instrument these words : "Further saith that he sold no land to John Scott." Besides his canny forehandedness he seems to have shown other traits. A month after his arrest he was de- fendant in a suit for defamation in New Haven. Three years later he was made a freeman of Southampton, was granted a house-lot there, was appointed one of the tax commissioners ; was suing and being sued by his neighbors, chiefly about land; married Deborah, daughter of one Joseph Raynor of that place; acted as attorney — among other things for a "whale company"; and still later to determine the town boundaries. But through it all ran the motif of land, and the continual suspicion that his titles and transfers were more or less questionable. In short he appears to have been one of the first — in view of later happenings one hesitates to say the worst — of that long line of plausible individuals who have seen in Long Island real-estate the true El Dorado so long and so vainly sought by Spanish explorers in South America. Meanwhile, too, he rose in the world. For whereas he was not long since described as "John Scott, Smith," he now appears as "Captain John Scott." COLONEL JOHN SCOTT Thus ended the first period of his long and active career. Whether he was moved by the suggestions of those whom he involved in his real-estate transactions, or whether he sought a wider field for his rapidly developing talents, about the end of the year 1660 he set sail for England. To that next scene of his activities he seems to have cammed three things, each of some significance in its way. The /. first and most important was himself, his abilities and his ambitions; the second was a collection of curiosities, not .j^ ^ 7^ - — otherwise identified; the third was a copy of a book printed two years before in Cambridge, Abraham Pierson's volume entitled ''Some Helps for the Indians, Shewing them how to improve their Natural Reason to knozv the true God and the Christian Religion." This last seems, on the whole, a peculiar piece of prop- erty for him to cherish, nor one calculated to advance the fortunes of a Long Island real-estate dealer at the court of his gracious Majesty King Charles the Second, of some- what less than blessed memory. Just how the book in question may have helped the Indians one extract may reveal. "How," says this admirable work, "do you prove that there is but one true God?" "Because," it answers itself, "singular things of the same kind when they are multiplied are differenced among themselves by their peculiar properties ; but there cannot be found another God differentiated from this by any such like properties." This, and much more to the same purpose, was set forth in the no doubt pleasing but comparatively rudimentary vocabulary of the Quiripi dialect, in which it seems, if possible, less comprehensible than in its original tongue. It may be hoped that it was more so ; but it was never trans- lated, as was originally planned, into Narragansett, and the natives of Rhode Island were, in consequence, deprived of the privilege of possessing a volume which would doubtless 20 OF LONG ISLAND have been of incalculable intellectual as well as spiritual importance to their development. But however little it may have helped the Indians, it may seem still more surprising that Scott imagined that this pearl of missionary literature could have helped him. The explanation is simple enough, though it might not occur at once to the ordinary mind. But Scott's was no ordinary mind. The book bore on its original title-page a statement that it had been "examined and approved by Thomas Stanton, Interpreter General to the United Colonies." The copy which Scott exhibited with just pride to his new English acquaintances was precisely like the original with one slight exception. Its title-page announced to the reader that the volume had been "examined and approved by that Experienced Gentleman (in the Indian Language) Captain John Scot." And it has been perhaps not unnaturally supposed by the learned antiquarians, who nearly two hundred years later interested themselves in this earliest product of Scott's literary skill, that the ingenious gentleman had found an obliging printer in London who was good enough to print the title-page thus simply but effectively altered to suit the new circumstances and com- pany in which the book found itself — and so further the natural ambition of a rising young man by commending him to his new friends as a useful agent of his native land in its North American possessions, perhaps in some lucra- tive official capacity. If there were any doubt that Scott had a genius for the exercise of certain arts by which men rise in the world it would be at once dissipated by the mere fact that he came to England when he did. The situation might have been made to his hand. The king had just been restored. The court was full of needy adventurers and still needier royalists, of whom King Charles himself was chief. The 11 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT country was, for the moment, in a ferment of loyalty; and what was more to the purpose, the unsettled situation of affairs left over from the civil wars and the interregnum, the difficulty of distinguishing true claims from false, and more especially honest men from rogues, offered an un- paralleled opportunity to men not over-scrupulous to ad- vance their fortunes. This Scott could scarcely have known in its entirety when he made his exit from Long Island, but that he grasped its significance so quickly and so immediately set himself to take advantage of the bless- ing fortune had put in his way argues again the adaptable and resourceful qualities which the man possessed, to an even greater degree than his happy inspiration in regard to the title-page of the missionary volume. It argues still more, for it reveals that imaginative quality which was so eminent a feature of his intellectual equipment. Moreover, there is one other circumstance/ to be taken into account in connection with Scott's advent in England in the year of the Restoration. Whatever the importance of the reign of Charles II in other fields, in that of colonial development it was one of the principal epochs in English history. In the preceding forty years there had been estab- lished in North America a series of settlements which ex- tended from Virginia and Maryland on the south through New Sweden, New Netherland, New Haven, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Hampshire, and the Kennebec region to New France along the lower St. Lawrence. The greater part of these colonies were English, and the troubles of the reign of Charles I had poured into them a population which made them the largest European society outside of Europe. The various colonies had found their legal status a matter of considerable con- cern in the face of the civil disturbances in England; and when the Restoration of Charles seemed to promise settled 12 OF LONG ISLAND government, they hastened to have their various privileges confirmed or enlarged by royal charter. In consequence every colony deputed representatives to protect its interests, and among the strange faces with which London was filled in the early days of the new reign, those of the colonial agents were conspicuous. From Boston came Samuel .^ko. ^Mj^^erii-y Maysrick to represent the interests of Massachusetts ; from Rhode Island came George Baxter to second the efforts of Clarke and urge the cause of the English in territories claimed by the Dutch; from Virginia came Governor Berkeley; from Connecticut came Governor John Winthrop — and from Long Island came Captain John Scott. In addition to this there was another element involved. The royalists had come back for the most part stripped of their old inheritance by the catastrophe which had over- taken their party in the preceding twenty years. The number of places and pensions which England itself afforded fell far short of the number of those who pressed their claims on the new administration. The needy royal- ists were not long in perceiving that the rapid development of the colonies, and the possibility of forming new colonies, offered opportunities for increase in their fortunes. In consequence, amid the manifold activities which the court and council of Charles II revealed in these early years, colonial projects were conspicuous. From the Lord Chan- cellor, Clarendon, down, the courtiers bestirred themselves in colonial, and presently commercial projects, as their pre- decessors of Elizabethan times had busied themselves with privateering schemes to spoil the Spaniard. These were supplemented by the issue of new grants and charters which, in effect, reorganized the British colonial empire. A year before Charles II returned to England the Virginians had proclaimed him King of England, Scotland, Ireland and Virginia, and restored the royal governor. Sir 23 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT William Berkeley, who made his way to England on the Restoration to plead in vain for the amelioration of the Navigation Act and a guarantee for her constitution. And scarcely had the Restoration been accomplished when Lord Culpepper, one of the members of the Plantations Com- mittee, began those plans to acquire a hold over the loyal colony which bore fruition a dozen years later in a grant to him and to Arlington of its rights for a generation, and perhaps contributed to the so-called Bacon's Rebellion. Among the earliest acts of the new government had been the appointment of Clarendon and seven others to act as a council for the colonies, and through that body came a reorganization of the plantations in America. In 1662 the charter of Connecticut was granted by the king at the solicitation of the Connecticut agent, John Winthrop, who for fourteen years thereafter was annually chosen its governor. By that charter, much against its will, New Haven was annexed to Connecticut, whose boundaries were extended from the Narragansett river to the Pacific Ocean. At the same time the government of Maryland was con- firmed to Lord Baltimore, and in the following year Baxter brought to Rhode Island the charter which had been obtained through the exertions of Clarke. At the same time, too, the lands south of Virginia were erected into the province of Carolina and granted to Clarendon and his associate, Berkeley. Finally, to make the story complete, when, a few years later, England seized New Netherland, the king granted to his brother, the Duke of York, the lands between the Connecticut and the Delaware; and James in turn gave to his followers, Berkeley and Carteret, the land between the Hudson and the Delaware. Thus, within five years after the Restoration, all the colonies of North America, save Massachusetts, had been given new charters or new masters. And it is perhaps no wonder that Scott, ]4 OF LONG ISLAND surrounded by this atmosphere, conceived that he too might profit by the general distribution of lands and offices. He thereupon bestirred himself to share in this windfall. The methods which he adopted were characteristic of the man and the situation in which he found himself. Under the circumstances it seemed fairly apparent to many men of his kind and of even meaner intelligence that whether or not Charles II was the fountain of honor and justice, he was certainly the fountain of pensions and patronage. In common, therefore, with a horde of other adventurers, Scott cast about for the best way to approach this potential source of benefits. After the manner of his kind, he took what seemed the most direct path to the royal presence — by way of the back stairs. He made friends with one Thomas Chiffinch, custodian of the royal jewels, "keeper of rarities," page of the closet, and, above all, brother of that William Chififinch of unsavory memory, who was /-Vy^f tt^tj ^t-ei^'^ the chief panderer to the royal pleasures. He scraped ) i/Ktr>^^-„. acquaintance with a certain Joseph Williamson, then secre- tary to that Henry Bennet who was even then on his way to place and fortune and the title of Earl of Arlington. Under such auspices Scott went to court, met Bennet him- self, and gained interest with a "potent gentleman," by presenting him with a parcel of curiosities valued at £60. And whither his ambitions tended may be judged by the fact that in May, 1661, it was reported through Long Island that the king had bestowed upon him that entire region. The report was not true, but it was not Scott's fault that it was false. There was some ground for the rumor. He had, indeed, petitioned for such a grant; and it even seemed for a time that he might achieve his purpose. But among the many characteristics which make Scott's career so interesting, one is conspicuous. It is what he and men 15 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT like him usually call ill-luck. For while his petition was still pending in this winter of 1661-2, there arrived in London no less a person than John Winthrop the younger, chief magistrate of Connecticut, seeking a new charter for his colony. As events were to prove there were few men in the world whose advent at this moment Scott ought to have feared more than that of Winthrop. Connecticut was not only anxious to have its charter rights secured; the colony, or some of its members, were exceedingly anxious to obtain title to Long Island, or at least that precise part from which Scott came. And not only were Winthrop's ambitions certain to clash with those of Scott, but it is not improbable that Winthrop knew of Scott's past. As between the governor of a commonwealth and a needy adventurer, there could be small doubt which way the authorities would incline. But Scott made the best of it. He promptly sought out and endeavored to attach him- ^y^ self to Winthrop, though at first, naturally, with small success. Despite this, Scott's petition was denied in the following spring for reasons which may well be imagined and which presently appeared. This was, of course, a blow. But your true adventurer is not a man to be daunted by a single reverse, nor is he accustomed to carry all his eggs in one basket. While Scott had been playing his part before court and council, he had been notably busy in other and less public capacities. The story may be briefly told. Somewhere in those busy days of 1 66 1, he met in London a certain Daniel Gotherson, -^^^ Quaker, sometime an officer in the Cromwellian army,^ "^"^ more recently a tradesman in London, and a spy for the government among his old associates, some of whom were more than suspected of treasonable practices. More- over, by some curious and unfortunate chance for him, this worthy gentleman was possessed of some lands on Long 16 c^ t^ OF LONG ISLAND Island which he had acquired many years before. His wife was a lady of some reputation as an exhorter among the sect to which she and her husband belonged. Her maiden name was Dorothea Scott, of Scott's Hall in Kent. Upon the ground of similarity of name Captain Scott — with that ready wit and that openness to opportunity in whatever form it presented itself to him — promptly claimed relationship with Mrs. Gotherson; and had that claim admitted, chiefly, it would appear, on the ground of his real or fancied resemblance to certain family portraits pre- served in Scott's Hall. It is, moreover, not improbable that here, as at a later period, he was aided in his in- gratiating design by his early Quaker connection with Southwick, from whom, and from Mrs. Gotherson, he derived a certain fluency in the peculiar dialect affected by that sect which was of much use to him both then and thereafter. At all events the new acquaintance, cemented by a common interest in Long Island real-estate, which has always been famous for bringing together the most diverse characters by its peculiar charm, prospered so rapidly and so completely that from these slender premises Scott pres- ently drew a great and characteristic conclusion. By the middle of 1662 he had devised one of the most remarkable instruments of a career peculiarly notable for remarkable documents. It runs as follows : "I, John Scott, of Ashford, on Long Island, in the south part of New England, Esquire, doe authorize Daniell Gotherson, Esquire, of Egerton in Kent, my true and lawfull attorney for me, and in my name and for my use to treat for 20,000 acres of land lying and being on the South side of Long Island, and between Acombamook and ye land of the aforesaid Daniell Gotherson, lying by Uncochuag on the south side of ye marsh land of the said John Scott, on which it butts South, 17 'h-t-^i-^'-^ COLONEL JOHN SCOTT and thereupon to conclude for such sum or summes of money as he in his prudence shall thinke a fitt consideration for ye whole or any part of ye said 20,000 acres so soulled, I hereby promise to ratify and confirme under my hand and seale, if ther be any deficiency in ye grants granted by ye said Daniell Gotherson, and to ye performance of premises I bind myselfe, heirs, Executors, and assigns" &c. To this Scott added an agreement to protect Gotherson's property against the sachems Wackcombwin and Wyan- danchchase, together with certain other documents of like import and equal value. These he sealed with his newly- ^ acquired signet bearing his coat of arms — which seems to -ir>-.hjc(rvi have been the property of Mrs. Gotherson! It is not easy .^^iJUc-:i 7 to comprehend how the human mind works, especially in l-^r/L^ the presence of a superior intelligence; but it is certainly a tribute to Scott's undoubted charm that the Gothersons were under the impression they were purchasing land from Scott; and that when some three years later Daniel Gother- son died, he bequeathed these mythical Long Island estates to his surviving heirs. It is perhaps even more to the point to observe that, as a tangible result of these documents, Scott came into possession of some £2,000 of Gotherson's />,^ money. "^ Having thus provided himself with the sinews of war, he turned again with fresh confidence to public life. He consorted with the colonial representatives in London, especially with Hooke of Massachusetts and Winthrop of Connecticut; and in particular, he put himself in touch with the affairs of the so-called Atherton Company. And with this we come upon another and peculiarly characteristic example of seventeenth century colonial enterprise. For this association, which played no small part in the affairs of New England, was a typical product of the period in which it flourished, and its history throws much light upon 18 OF LONG ISLAND the methods by which certain phases of early colonial de- velopment were conditioned. The facts are briefly these. The Rhode Island Planta- tion, as is generally known, was founded between 1636 and 1640 by Roger Williams and others, among whom was a certain John Clarke, who fled or were driven out by perse- cution from Massachusetts. The four original settlements were united in 1647 under the authority of a patent issued three years earlier by the Parliamentary board of Com- missioners for the Plantations; though the two divisionr of Providence and Rhode Island were separated for a time in 1654. Thus far all seems clear enough. But in those days of unsettled politics and still more unsettled boun- daries, certain ambitious gentlemen of Massachusetts, known from their moving spirit, one Colonel or Major Atherton, as the Atherton Company, conceived the idea of acquiring from the Indians west of the Narragansett a tract of land, and there establishing a new colony, despite the fact that the territory in question was included in the Rhode Island grant. They were somewhat aided in this philanthropic design by the fact that there was in existence a patent for those lands, professing to have been issued in 1643, but which, it seems, was not signed by the proper persons and therefore presumably not valid. Upon these somewhat slender premises they applied to the government of Charles II for a patent for their claim, endeavoring to have it removed from the jurisdiction of the Rhode Island and Providence plantations and annexed either to Massachusetts or Connecticut. In this they were more or less abetted by the authorities of the latter colonies, by John Winthrop in particular; and to this end they employed also the talents of Scott. For a time it seemed that they might put their scheme through. But, unfortun- ately for them, John Clarke, the able and honest repre- 19 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT sentative of the original proprietors, was still in England, and he now used his best endeavors to block the progress of this promising land deal. On the side of the Atherton Company Scott engaged the interest of Chiffinch, who was taken into the Society; and a petition was preferred against Clarke and his associates as "enimys to the peace and well- being of his Majesty's good subjects." This project was, for the time being, successful. A letter was secured from the King, and countersigned by Bennet, commending the Atherton associates to the "neigh- borly kindness and protection" of the four New England colonies, Massachusetts, Plymouth, New-Haven and Con- necticut, and urging that the proprietors be permitted "peaceably to improve their colony and plantation in New England," the King, "having been given to understand that his good subjects, Thomas Chiffinch, John Scott, John Winthrop and others were daily disturbed and unjustly molested in their possessions by certain unreasonable and turbulent spirits of Providence Colony." These latter conceived themselves to be, and probably were, the rightful owners of the land in question, so that their unreasonable- ness and turbulence were perhaps not unnatural under the circumstances, nor were they much soothed by the royal admonition, nor, indeed, much terrified by royal authority. Such were the proceedings to which the authorities of Massachusetts and Connecticut lent themselves with such excellent results. There was only one flaw in the scheme. While the Atherton Company had been busy with its back- stairs influence, Clarke had gone on the straight and narrow path which led, as it proved in this case, to success. The extraordinary letter which the conspirators had extracted from an easy-going king, obtained, as it were, by stealth, was not a document which stood the light of day. It was unknown to or ignored by the Council of which the min- 20 OF LONG ISLAND ister, Clarendon, the enemy of Bennet, was the head. Sev- enteen days after the letter came into being, the Council passed under the Great Seal a royal charter to Rhode Island, which nullified the provisions of the letter and after a long period of dispute, finally brought the machinations of the Atherton Company to naught. Meanwhile Scott had evolved another scheme. At the very moment that he was thus being endorsed by Charles, he was petitioning that monarch for office; and the peti- tion is worthy of notice, if only on biographical grounds. Scott's father, it recited, had been an ardent royalist during the late disturbances. He had not merely given his life to the royal cause; what was more to the present purpose, he had sold an estate of £200 per annum and advanced to Charles I no less than £14,300. Scott himself had been transported to New England, he averred, for his attach- ment to the crown; his "small expression of loyalty" having been made, as he phrased it, "by cutting the bridles and girts of some of the then Parliament's horses at Turnham Green." He went on to say that he had been brought before a Parliament committee, by whom, in spite of his giving them £500, he was sent to New England in the care of one Downing and abused. He had bought near a third of Long Island; and in consequence of these facts he begged Charles to make him governor of that province and the adjacent islands, or at least allow the inhabitants to choose their own governor and assistants yearly. The petition was favorably received by the king, who was "most graciously inclined to encourage it." It was referred to the committee on Foreign Plantations, and there for a time the matter rested. While it was being considered, Scott took another step, the first, as it was to prove, though he did not guess it, in a great and unscrupulous design of far-reaching conse- 21 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT quence. Upon his complaint that the Dutch had intruded on the New England mainland and islands, especially on Manhattan and Long Island, an order in Council directed Captain Scott, Mr. Maverick and Mr. Baxter, formerly of New Netherland, to draw up a narrative of the English king's title to that district, the Dutch intrusion, their "de- portment, management, strength, trade and government, and means to make them acknowledge His Majesty's sovereignty." And it is not too much to suppose that they drew it strong, for each of them, in his peculiar way, wanted something which a transfer of Dutch territories to English hands would or might have given him. How deep the design was which now enlisted them in its toils they could not well have known; for it was as yet probably no more than a suggestion, susceptible of a variety of interpretations, and a still larger number of possible courses of action. But, as events were soon to demon- strate, Scott was at the beginning of a policy, which he seems to have done much to suggest, of the utmost impor- tance not only to his adopted home in America but to England and the British Empire generally. And this already gives him a certain historical importance. Meanwhile he had not neglected his interests in America. In these same busy days he had several letters from one Captain John Leverett, then titular "governor of Boston," in -regard to the Scott claims — one dare not say estates — on Long Island. From these it would appear that Leverett, who seems to have been induced to act as Scott's agent, had been to Long Island to see about the payment of bills drawn by Scott upon his old neighbors, or the occupiers of the lands he professed to own in that region. Leverett's visit was unfruitful, for he writes that these stubborn people had not only taken time to consider whether they should pay, but that they had sent a certain Captain Young as their 22 OF LONG ISLAND representative to Boston, to ask for the original writing by which Scott was entitled to payment — Leverett having only a copy! Upon the latter's failure to produce the original patent, Young departed; and, Leverett wrote, th^ contumacious party which sent him showed "very unbe- coming jealousyes about your actings respecting the writing, and also some affirmations about the deed of purchase you have for the tract of land." There was, it appeared from Captain Young, "no expectation of payment to be had" from them. Moreover, Captain Scott's lady had requisitioned from the confiding Leverett divers things which he had supplied, including some thousands of feet of lumber, for which he desired payment to one Francis Smith, then on the way to England, together with various sums advanced by Leverett on Scott's account to several persons whom he enumerates. One would like to think that Leverett got his money back. Perhaps he did, though it seems at this distance somewhat improbable. But if he did not, it was certainly not because Scott was in want of funds. By the time Leverett's letter advising him of the approach of Smith had been despatched, he had received the decision of the Plantations Committee on his petition for the governorship of Long Island. Despite his moving account of his father's sufferings and his own, his request was politely but firmly denied for a variety of reasons, some of which, at least, appeared in the sequel. And, upon this, having exhausted his not inconsiderable ingenuity for the time, he set sail for America in the fall of 1663. He did not go empty- handed ; for though he had been disappointed in his dearest hopes of land grants and office, he had substantial consola- tion. He carried with him certainly some part of Gother- son's £2,000, and, incidentally, Gotherson's man Prior to manage the Long Island estates. He was accom- 23 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT panied by Gotherson's son, whom, with some other youths, he had induced to accompany him to America by hope of preferment there; and these, on his arrival, he promptly sold into service for sums which probably recompensed him for the expense of the voyage. He had, moreover, taken the precaution before his departure to secure Mrs. Gotherson's jewels to the value of some £200, which also accompanied him to America. Moreover, he had been commissioned apparently to bring over the Privy Council's instructions regarding the Navigation Acts and was thus enabled to return in a quasi-official capacity. So, taking all these items into consideration, with all his disappoint- ments he had concluded a not unprofitable venture. And with it there ended another stage of his active career. It is apparent in the mere statement of the case that his second appearance on Long Island was of a very different character from his first. He was now more experienced in the ways of the great world. He was a man of substance if not of much real property; he had been at court and talked with the king; he had even been received into royal favor. He had money to spend; and it was not his fault that he did not bear his Majesty's commission beside. No one as yet knew, in fact, that he did not. With that thought a new and brilliant idea took form in his fertile brain and presently produced consequences of no small importance to him and to others. Why should they know? Why should they not remain in that agreeable state of ignorance? He was, in a sense, a representative of the English government; he had done something at least to direct their minds to a new policy; it may well be that he had received a hint of what that policy might be, and of possible rewards which might accrue to him were it successful and his actions agreeable to its promoters. All this was soon re- flected in his activities. Before Christmas 1663, Colonel 24 OF LONG ISLAND Scott, for SO he now aspired to be called, was reported buying lands of the Indians, and exercising himself in requiring the enforcement of the Navigation Act against English goods being carried in Dutch ships. He g6t hi^- . j;^ aih^r^ self appointed, apparently on the strength of this, one of three commissioners empowered by Connecticut to settle the differences with the Dutch of Long Island; and he wrote to his friend Williamson, prematurely, that the English on the west end of Long Island, long enslaved by the Dutch, had rebelled, with the assistance of Connecti- cut, and desired that Williamson prevent any trouble with the Dutch ambassador until New England could be heard. By the fourth of January, 1664, on the strength of his assertion that the King had granted Long Island to the Duke of York, Flushing, Hastings, Oyster Bay and other towns had formed a confederation. He had hiid himself ^['''t2f~ made "president" of the English towns on Long Island and within a week thereafter, followed by 170 men, he had invaded Breuckelen and the neighboring towns "with sounding trumpet, beaten drum, flying colors, great noise and uproar," declaring England owned the land and that he himself would run Governor Stuyvesant through. To demonstrate his valor he even struck a little Dutch boy who refused to take off his hat to the English flag, harangued the people at Midwout "like a quacksalver," but failed to shake their allegiance, and so proceeded to Amersfoort and New Utrecht, where his men seized the blockhouse and fired a royal salute. He was now at the climax of his American reputation. New Haven in- structed a committee to treat with him about a patent for Delaware; Connecticut made him a magistrate on Long Island. In this capacity he met the Dutch commissioners, and exhibited to them a patent from Charles II granting to him the whole of Long Island — which only lacked that 25 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT monarch's signature to make it valid! The Dutch bent to the storm. They extracted from Scott an agreement that he would leave their towns unmolested for a month, though Scott declared that he would return in the spring with the Duke of York and secure not only Long Island but all New Netherland for the English crown. In the face of this declaration, however, the Dutch authorities induced him, some six weeks later, to extend immunity for a year — and meanwhile they prepared for war. Never was a demonstration better timed; but had Scott known just what was in the minds of the English court it is possible he would not have lent himself so readily to this course of action. For, consciously or unconsciously, he had suggested a brilliant and wholly unscrupulous design to the party about the Duke of York, to which the King, as usual, lent himself. The accusations against the Dutch drawn up by Scott, Maverick and Baxter served as its foundation. But there were other stones in the edifice. For a variety of reasons the court had decided on war with Holland; but it was impossible for the court of Charles II to follow a straight and honorable course. The war was desired partly for reasons of state, but more largely for reasons of profit to the court. A sum was subscribed among the war party, two expeditions were projected, and for them the King's authority to provide a fleet was secured. Sir Robert Holmes was despatched to attack the Dutch posts in Africa; another expedition under the com- mand of Colonel Richard NicoUs was prepared to act against New Netherland. That province was granted by Charles to his brother, the Duke of York; and in May, 1664, Nicolls sailed to secure the territory already dis- posed of. Thus in the very days that Scott engineered his demonstration against the Dutch — perhaps with the connivance of his English associates — and so made a pre- 26 OF LONG ISLAND text for hostilities, the stake for which he played was given to another. And, had Scott no other claim to the attention of history, the fact that he was one of the prime movers in that disreputable design, which brought New Netherlands into English hands, would entitle him to a place, however dishonorable, in its pages. Meanwhile, what of his career after his warlike efforts against New Netherland while this project was being set on foot? The record of the General Assembly of Con- necticut, held at Hartford in March, 1664, while Scott was resting from his patriotic exertions, and Nicolls was pre- paring his expedition, tells the story clearly and effectively. Under the presidency of John Winthrop, the court ordered that the letter, with "the warrant and instructions to the marshal, that have been read in this court," be attended to. That warrant is an illuminating document. It is to the effect that "John Scott, inhabitant in the liberties of Ash- ford, alias Setawkit, on Long Island, stands charged in the court at Connecticut for sundry heinous crimes, to wit, for speaking words tending to the defamation of the King, for seditious practices and tumultuous carriages in several plantations, for abetting and encouraging the natives in hostile practices towards each other; for usurping the authority of the King in tending to pardon treason; for threatening His Majesty's subjects with hanging and ban- ishment; for gross and notorious prophanation of God's holy day; for forgery and violation of his solemn oath; for acting treacherously toward Connecticut colony; for usurping authority on pretence of a commission; for calumniating a commission officer in this corporation; together with a general charge of villainous and felonious practices." Even from the briefest summary of this dry and formal legal document it will appear to the most casual reader that Scott had somehow not commended himself to 27 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT the authorities of Connecticut. The officials of New Haven, Milford, Branford, Stratford, the coast towns, and presently those of the islands adjacent, were ordered to deliver him to the marshal, Jonathan Gilbert, to be taken to Hartford for trial. His property was sequestered and commissioners ordered to invoice it and keep it from embezzlement; and Scott himself was presently arrested and carried to Hartford for trial. All this seems a curious return for his military services in behalf of the English government; and, on its face, a great injustice. Yet the explanation is comparatively sim- ple. It lies in the peculiar situation of colonial affairs in this transition period. On his return from England, bear- ing the Council's instructions in regard to the Navigation Acts, he had been received with favor, especially by the New Haven authorities, and he had, it may be remembered, been appointed a magistrate on Long Island by the Con- necticut officials of Hartford. It was the earnest desire of the latter to bring Long Island under their jurisdiction now that its eastern part had been liberated from the Dutch by the Treaty of Hartford. But on that proposition the Long Islanders were divided. The Baptists, Quakers and Mennonites who had found refuge there from New Eng- land persecution dreaded Puritan government; even many who favored annexation to relieve them from the fear of the Dutch declared they had received little but "if so-be's and doubtings" from Connecticut. In this situation they had welcomed, if they had not invjted, Scott to help them; '-^-^ with what result we have seen. For the opportunity had appeared too good to him to be lost; and he had promptly taken advantage of his momentary ascendancy to attempt to free Long Island from the dominance of Connecticut and make it a more or less independent province under his own presidency. It was not very surprising that its 28 OF LONG ISLAND inhabitants were inclined to follow the lead thus given, for independence was a very dear thing to them; but it is equally natural that the Connecticut authorities were infu- riated by his ambitions. But — possibly in view of their connection with the Atherton Company — Winthrop and his associates consid- ered the question of sufficient importance to summon a council of the four New England colonies, among other reasons because they feared, from Scott's assertions, that he was possessed of some secret authority from the Eng- lish crown for his actions, which might make proceedings against him inadvisable if not positively dangerous. Accordingly they wrote to the officials of the other colonies, especially to Major-General Leverett of Boston, Scott's old correspondent, inviting them to a conference, Scott's trial meanwhile being set for May 8th. The invitation was promptly accepted. Massachusetts sent down Lev- erett and Captain Davis; Plymouth sent William Bradford and Thomas Southworth, and these, with other represen- tatives, held deep speech on the case. Scott was not with- out friends. A hundred and forty-four inhabitants of Flushing petitioned for his release; the New Haven dele- gates favored him; and the Massachusetts and Plymouth delegates inclined to his cause. But Winthrop and his followers were firm. Scott was not released, his trial was duly held, he was convicted, and sentenced to pay a fine of £250, to be imprisoned at the pleasure of the court, and to give bond in the sum of £500 for his future good behavior. At first Scott blustered and threatened his accusers with charges of treason, relying apparently on his connection with Chiffinch and Williamson and what- ever understandings he may have had with those who pro- moted the seizure of New York; but he ended by humble submission, repentance, and the retraction of the charges 29 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT he had made against one person in Connecticut, probably the governor. Winthrop was not slow in following up his advantage. First the secretary and then the governor himself visited Long Island, conferred with the delegates of the English towns there; placed them under the author- ity of Connecticut; took steps to acquire the land between Westchester and the Hudson; met Stuyvesant, who urged the Dutch title, which Winthrop incontinently rejected, claiming all for England ; replaced all the officials appointed by Scott with his own nominees, and so returned triumph- antly to Hartford. Scott's cause was now wholly lost; and before Winthrop had returned he broke jail and escaped, taking refuge with his friends on Long Island. Winthrop and his Hartford party had won. But their triumph was of few days and full of trouble. On the 26th of August the first vessel of Nicolls' squadron anchored in Gravesend Bay. It was soon joined by others, bearing the levies from the New England colonies, as well as English troops. The Connecticut con- tingent appeared under the command of Winthrop. The Long Islanders gathered in force, conspicuous among them Colonel John Scott at the head of his company. Winthrop with his followers brought from Nicolls a demand for sur- render; and on September 8th, hopeless of defending the town in the face of threatened bombardment, Stuyvesant ratified the articles of surrender, which had been drawn up by commissioners appointed from each side, and New Amsterdam passed under the authority of the English crown. For Connecticut it was a barren victory. Four days earlier, Nicolls had made public the Duke of York's patent, and Winthrop had resigned on behalf of Connecti- cut her claim to Long Island; and with that the disputed province came finally under the authority neither of Scott 30 OF LONG ISLAND nor Winthrop, who had striven for it so strenuously, but of the Duke of York, who never saw it. To this historic event there are two corollaries relating to Scott. The first is a pass from Nicolls three days after the surrender, empowering him to return to his house at Ashford, without hindrance from the Connecticut authori- ties; and this, at least, he gained by his share in the sur- render. The second is a bill from his jailer in Hartford for "i2 weeks' dyat and other expenses," Mr. John Scott, as the petition relates, having escaped. There is a certain grim humor in the court's reply. It grants to the said Dan'l Garrad (Garret) the sum of £io out of Mr. John Scott's estate, "if he can come at it." That, as one might surmise, did not prove possible, and two years later it was added to the general levy on the county and so presumably ultimately paid by those in whose behalf as well as his own the Colonel had striven so valiantly. The controversy thus determined on the principle of entire injustice to all parties concerned, Scott app_ears to have taken up his old life and practices, little altered by the passage of years and the changed circumstances in which he found himself. Again, as a decade earlier, he is reported as buying and selling land, and again his name appears in records of lawsuits on Long Island. One man he sues for £ioo for slander, the fault is acknowledged and Scott forgives him. Another he sues for trespass, and with another he divides land bought from a third. The "Sunk squa Quashawam" desires and empowers her "ancient and great friend John Scott" to sue for all lands bought and paid for on Long Island by the English and the Dutch, to receive satisfaction for them and to sell all lands not already sold. There is a dispute over the Qua- quantanock lands, in the course of which Scott was appointed to go to Hartford to clear up the town's title 31 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT with respect to the Earl of Stirling's claims; while Southold and Southampton unite to sue Scott for costs and damage incurred in connection with land titles. And again he is accused of fomenting disturbances according to his wonted course among the people of Setawket. Against him the governor and council of Con- necticut protest to Nicolls that Setawket men say their plantation will be destroyed if the claims of ownership advanced by him on the ground of purchase from the Indians are allowed; and, still further, if the principle of engrossing land from the Indians for private uses is per- mitted, it will ruin the whole townships. Therefore they pray for an order that no land be bought from the Indians without consent of the General Court. And from this two things appear which throw a light upon the times and the position of Scott. He thought he was merely endeavoring to secure his share of this world's goods; and perhaps no one would have been more surprised to learn that he was rather a type than an individual, the representative of a principle rather than a mere adventurer in land. For, in the first place, Scott did not belong to that inner circle, which, in the language of the time, were "those who managed." The underlying spirit of his age was monopoly. Men formed corporations and associations and secured their position by royal patent, which effectually barred all competition within their chosen field, whether Indian trade or American lands. Perhaps in each case there was reason in this, but it unquestionably roused bitter opposi- tion among the outsiders. The records of the East India companies are full of complaints against those "inter- lopers," as they were called, who ventured to infringe the monopoly of the licensed company. The annals of the colonies are no less full of complaints against those who, like Scott, acted on the principle of a fair field and no 32 OF LONG ISLAND favors, of individual enterprise as against chartered privi- lege. It was his misfortune, throughout his whole career, to find himself in opposition to those on whom the crown — perhaps, in their view. Providence itself — had conferred that monopoly against whose restrictions his best efforts beat in vain. Had he been a different sort of man, it would be impos- sible not to feel a considerable sympathy with him in his endeavors to break through that charmed circle and estab- lish his own fortunes by virtue of his undoubted abilities. But the trouble is in his case, as in so many others of like sort, that his character deprives us of that sympathy which we might otherwise feel. The martyr is so often inferior to the oppressor in the qualities which make him endurable to society in general; and it is his misfortune, if it is not his fault, that he destroys by his own actions that hope of common support on which rests whatever hope of success he may possess. It is not possible to feel the same admira- tion for the Massachusetts authorities or even for Win- throp which historians like Bancroft voice in such fulsome words ; for it is now no crime to believe that not all of the early settlers of America were immaculate or infallible. Yet however we may sympathize with the principle for which Scott stood, it is difficult to condone the private character of the man, even though it was no worse than that of the more eminently placed rascals who managed to cheat him out of his inheritance and cast him aside as a broken tool. Still more, it seems probable that the colonial authorities, with all their shrewdness — to give it the mildest name — in defending their monopoly were, on the whole, right. The Indians with whom the colonists dealt had no notion of property or titles; they sold the same land over and over again, as often as they found a new purchaser. The 33 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT ensuing complications where this took place may be read in every page of colonial history; and had free competition been allowed it would have made an end of all security, and perhaps in many instances of the settlements them- selves. For to unscrupulous operators in land titles this situation has offered at all times an opportunity of which they have never been slow to avail themselves. And of these, as well as of the class opposed to monopoly, Scott seems to have been an eminent representative. How he managed it is apparent from another order of the court, this time in New York. In February, 1665, he was ordered to bring in, at the General Court of the Assizes following, a certain deed or writing "called by the said Captain Scott a Perpetuity, with the King's picture on it and a great yellow wax seal afhx't to it which he very frequently showed to divers persons, and deceived many therewith." At the same time that the authorities of New York took this step, their colleagues in Connecticut were deliberating whether Scott's fine would reimburse the colony for the damage he had done, and were considering what further steps should be taken in the matter. In addi- tion, he was charged with having stolen the instructions to Massachusetts and Mr. Maverick's petition from Lord Arlington's office. These actions evidently gave the Colonel matter for serious reflection, and when October came, with an order from the New York governor for him to appear before the General Court of Assizes and produce the letters patent which he claimed to possess, show his authority for the Long Island lands then in dispute, and, finally, to account for his other offenses, together with a warrant for his arrest, it seemed that the time for his departure had arrived. In point of fact, he had already gone. He gave the sheriff the slip, took ship for Barbadoes, and palmed/Ko himself off on Col. Morris — notable for his later removal 34 OF LONG ISLAND to New York, where he settled in that district known as Morrisania — as a Quaker escaping from persecution in the New England colonies ! He was received, apparently with open arms, and so, like a skilful commander, made good his retreat to a new position. Thus ended his career in America, where, as elsewhere, he was "a bird of prey and passage." But before he went he made his mark on history, and incidentally avenged himself on the courtiers whom he con- sidered had cheated him out of his rightful inheritance, especially the Duke of York. Though his plan could not possibly have brought him any reward, and thus bears little relation to his career as he or we conceive it. it is noteworthy not only for its ingenuity and efficacy but for the extraordinary results it produced on the geography, and even on the history of the United States. For it seems that to him more than to any other man is due the peculiar and unfortunate circumstance; that New York does not control both shores of the harbor on which it lies. The circumstance finds its first expression in the Duke's divis- ion of the lands granted him by the King, his brother. In June, 1664, before that grant was confirmed, and while Nicolls' expedition was on its way to America, the Duke of York conveyed to his followers. Sir John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, members of the Committee on Plan- tations, by whose advice New Netherland was seized, a territory bounded on the north by a line running north- west from the Hudson River at about the location of Yonkers, and on the west and south by the Delaware River; in short, the district known as New Csesarea or New Jersey. The new proprietors promptly drew up a constitution modeled on that of Carolina, and sent out a governor, Philip Carteret, a relative of Sir George, who arrived in the fall of that year. 35 COIONEL JOHN SCOTT Such was the news which greeted Nicolls at the moment he found himself in possession of New Netherland as governor of the new province. As a faithful servant of the Duke, he was furious; and apparently in November of that year he wrote a scathing letter to his master. He had, he said, seen the grant which the Duke had made to Berke- ley and Carteret for all lands west of the Hudson River; and he cannot suppose that either the grantor or the grantees could possibly have known how prejudicial it was to the Duke's interest or that of New York. He must, he went on, "charge it upon Captain Scott, who was born to work mischief as far as he is credited or his parts serve him. This Scott (it seems) aimed at the same patent which your Royal Highness hath, and hath since given words out that he had injury done him by your Royal Highness, whereupon he contrived and betrayed my Lord Berkeley and Sir G. Carteret into a design (contrary to their knowledge) of ruining all the hopes of increase in this your Royal Highness his territory, which he hath fully completed unless your Royal Highness take farther steps herein." Such was the last account against Scott in the North American colonies. One of a little previous date may be added to make the story complete. A month before Nicolls wrote thus to James, he had written to Morrice, then Secretary of State, that Mr. Maverick's petition was "stolen from Lord Arlington's office by Captain Scott and delivered to the governor and council of Boston — tho' Scott said Williamson had given it to him." This same Scott, he went on to say, "by a pretended seal affixed to a writing in which was the King's picture drawn with pen and ink or black lead with His Majesty's hand C. R. and subsigned Henry Bennet" had abused His Majesty's honor in these parts and had fled to Barbados. But Lord Wil- 36 OF LONG ISLAND loiighby, then governor of that island, had sent word he would arrest Scott and send him prisoner to England. This would certainly have seemed enough to settle the case of Scott. Pursued by three colonial governors, driven from his home by enough counts to keep him in prison the greater part of his life, and subject to enough fines to ruin what estate he had left, the fugitive would seem to have had small chance for any further activities in the British empire at least. Moreover, the Gotherson matter had come up to plague him again. For, before he fled to Barbados, Dorothea Gotherson had petitioned the King for an order to Francis Lovelace, deputy-governor of Long Island, to consider whether she had any claim to land bought there for her son; that her husband had paid John (p^^>-c^ Scott £2,000 and had thereby died in debt, his lands had .^., ^■ been taken, and though she had brought him an estate of £500 a year she was obliged to work for bread for herself and her six children. Scott had gone before this matter could be attended to, but it remained, as it proved, to vex and finally to wreck his fortunes in another land. Mean- -"^ " while, Governor Nicolls issued a special warrant to the high sheriff to seize all lands, goods, or chattels "which Captain Scott hath any right or pretense to within this government." This was not the end of the matter, even in the colonies. Mrs. Gotherson was a persistent as well as a greatly wronged woman. A year or two later it appeared she agreed with one Thomas Lovelace, kinsman of the deputy, that if he could make any money by the sale of her land in Kent which her husband had mortgaged, she would bring a hundred and twenty families into Long Island "to ye g't advantage of ye place." Accordingly, when Governor Lovelace went to New York to succeed Nicolls in 1668, he appointed a commission, of which Thomas was a mem- 37 ^6 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT ber, with "Captain Morris of Barbados," to enquire. But they could find nothing. The houses which Scott had built for Gotherson had been taken dovvn and moved to ^y^' Setauket, and given to Mrs. Scott by Governor Nicolls for her support after her husband had deserted her. One thing, however, the commission did find — Gotherson's son, who had been sojd into service by Scott to an inn-keeper -^"° in New Haven. That individual was willing to release him from his duties as stable-boy for the sum of £7; and with that, presumably, Mrs. Gotherson had to content herself for the time. And with that, too, as the learned gentleman who wrote an account of Scott's life many years ago for the Massachusetts Historical Society declares, Scott disappears from history. Not quite — for Scott had found the refuge which he sought in the West Indies. There Lord Willoughby, it appears, intended, in pursuance of Nicolls' request, to catch him and send him prisoner to England. But again Scott seems to have exercised his undoubted charm, drawn upon his credit with Williamson, and emerged presently reinstated, and, in so far as pos- sible, rehabilitated; for by the middle of the year 1665 we find him with a commission in Sir Tobias Bridge's regiment stationed there. It was a fertile field for his talents, for there was much doing in that quarter of the world which might well serve as an opportunity to reinstate himself. England was then at war with Holland and France; and Barbados, where Bridge's regiment was stationed, wa^ a storm-center of affairs. Scott landed there in April. In June he, with Colonel Stapleton, commanded the reserve in an attack upon the French stronghold of St. Kitts, concerning which he wrote a full account, in accordance with Willoughby's letter to Williamson that the latter's friend Scott "had escaped" and would inform him of the flight. Scott was 38 OF LONG ISLAND not content with describing his own prowess. He took occasion to condemn his brothers in arms, and contrasted their conduct with his own, — he, according to this account, having been wounded in the arm, breast and shoulder, and inflicted a loss of twenty wounded on the crews of the four boats that tried to take him. Accordingly we find him a little later petitioning for rewards. That petition is illumi- nating. It recites that in 1665 and 1666 he was in com- mand of a small fleet and a regiment of foot on an expedi- tion against the Dutch of Tobago and at New Zealand, Dissekeeb or "Desse Cuba" and "Trinberan" in Guiana. At the latter place, by the help of the Caribbees, he burnt and destroyed towns, forts, goods, etc., worth £160,000, and spent for His Majesty's service 73,788 pounds of sugar. He therefore asks a reward, which, on the basis of this and another petition in which he values his expendi- tures at £1,620, and includes the loss of a ketch valued at £500, he requests £738 at 4^ per cent be charged on the Barbados excise. Besides these we have another and even more detailed account from his pen of the war, and especially of the part he took in it. According to that veracious chronicle, he declares that in the month of October, 1665, he "having been commissionated Commander-in-chief of a small fleet and a regiment of soldiers, for the attack of the Island Tobago, and several other settlements in the hands of the Netherlanders in Guiana, as Morocca, Wacopow, Bowro- mome and Dissekeeb, and having touched at Tobago, in less than six months had the good fortune to be in posses- sion of those countries, and left them garrisoned for his majesty of Great Britain, and sailed thence for Barbados, where meeting with the news of the eruption of war between the two crowns of England and France, endeav- oured to persuade Francis Lord Willoughby to reduce those 39 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT several small garrisons into one stronghold, and offered that was the way to make good our post in those parts, having to do with two potent enemies, but his Lordship, that was his majesty's captain-general in those parts, was of another opinion, and embarked on the unfortunate voy- age for the reducing of St. Christopher, etc.," in which design he perished by a hurricane. Besides these, still, we have another and what appears to be a wholly independent narrative of the same events, under the signature of a certain Captain Byam, who adds this eulogy at the beginning of his story: "In November 1665 there arrived from his Exc^'ce (Lord Willoughby) his Serjt Maj^ Jno Scott after his victory at Tobago w^h a smal Fleet and a regiment of Foote under the Carrecter of Major-General of Guiana, Chiefe Commissioner and Commander-in-Chiefe by Land and Sea in a few months his great Fortune and gallantry prudent and Industrious Conduct made him master of all the great province new Zealand & Desseceub settled a peace with the Arrowayes left both Collonys in a Flourishing Conditio^ and well garrison'd for the King of England," etc. Nothing could be clearer than such a story, supported by the testimony of two witnesses, one of whom was the hero in question. All the story is partly true. Perhaps it is all true; and perhaps we should not lay too much stress on the fact that the second, though written ostensibly by Captain Byam, is only known to us through what purports to be a copy — and this copy is in Scott's own hand! The story, such as it is, has been accepted by historical scholars of the highest consequence; and in view of this circumstance, two other pieces of evidence in the case are not without interest. The first is a communication from Sir Thomas Bridge which relates that "Major Scott sent to the governor of St. Kitts with a letter and money for 40 OF LONG ISLAND the English officers there and to get an understanding of the French strength returned with httle satisfaction and many complaints. The English officers complained of his imprudent carriage in the message and ill deportment in the engagement." The second is the record of a court-martial held at f^o ^uf^M" Nevis by Lord Willoughby's command on January 4,^v<^-^ yiP-t^c^at^^ f • 1667, before Sir Thomas Bridge, Lieut.-Col. Stapleton, Major Androsse and seventeen others, on a charge against "Capt. John Scott, late colonel of Sir Tobias Bridge's regi- ment of foot." Its findings begin with the observation that "the said Scott is generally knowne to bee a notorious coward, and wherever hee has been employ'd in His Majesty's service has brought great dishonour upon our King and Country." From that premise it goes on to the specific charges that in the attempt on the mainland fort of Morocca "he absented himself at the instant time of stormeing the said Fort"; that when the fort was taken and the men were on the way back to the ships, he acted very badly in the face of the enemy; that when the expedi- tion came to Barohmah Fort, as soon as it was within gunshot he "sculked away alone in a Boat," until the place offered to surrender. Thirdly, that at St. Christopher's, where he commanded a foot company, he "left his men and sculked under a rock," ran away and stripped himself and swam out to the ship, pretending he was wounded. Fourthly, to vindicate himself to the Lieutenant-General, he aspersed several officers, especially Captain John Cotter. And finally that for his dishonorable actions on the main- land and at St. Christopher's, he had been frequently ''basted and cudgelled by soldiers under his command at Barbados." All this and more is sworn to and corroborated by various witnesses cited before the court, some twelve in number, and by the examination of several officers who 41 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT were not present at the sitting, and on these grounds Scott ^0 was unanimously found guilty. Moreover, Captain Cotter was given leave to go to England and exonerated from all of Scott's charges by Lord William Willoughby, who had succeeded Francis. It seems therefore at least possible that Scott was not the hero that he, and his friend Byam, through the medium of Scott's pen, painted him, during the entire war, how- ever he may have distinguished himself on occasion. And to this again there is somewhat to be added. Later in the same year Willoughby sent a letter to Williamson by Scott declaring that the latter "had done his duty well since Portsmouth," and later still, in January, 1668, he writes Williamson again that he will come home and give as good an account of the Indies as Major Scott, who he hopes has arrived, and if so has probably told Williamson "some truth but not all gospel." Which observation reveals in some sort that Willoughby had not the greatest confidence in his late lieutenant's veracity. And that is confirmed by the governor's pass to Cotter, which included the somewhat irrelevant remark that if Scott had come to trial before the court-martial "his smooth tongue would not have saved him." In any event, Scott left the service and arrived in Eng- land some time in the latter part of 1667. That arrival is in a sense characteristic of his extraordinary quality of reaching a particular spot at the moment when circum- stances were favorable to his designs. It had been so in 1660; it was to be so on at least one other occasion; and it was peculiarly true in the present instance. In June the Dutch, who were still at war with England, had made their raid into the Medway and the Thames. Partly owing to that exploit England and Holland had made peace in July. In August Clarendon, who had been made the scape- 42 OF LONG ISLAND goat for the miscarriages of the war, had been driven from place and fled from England. And at almost the precise moment that Scott arrived in England, big with the news and the importance of his heroic exploits in the West Indies, and the less romantic but perhaps more accurate information that the Dutch and French had been defeated in that part of the world, a new ministry was just being inducted into office. That ministry, known as the Cabal, numbered among its members Scott's old patron, Bennet, now Earl of Arlington, who, with two of his colleagues, Buckingham and Shaftesbury, played so great a part in the determination of Scott's fortunes thenceforth. Here, as in his earlier advent at the court of Charles II, was a situation made to his hand, and he was not slow to take advantage of it. His first experience was, however, unfortunate; for the year 1668 had hardly dawned when he was arrested for debt and taken to the Gatehouse prison. He promptly appealed to Arlington for relief, and reiterated — with some small additions — his recent eminent services to the government. In this petition he raises the sum he spent in behalf of his native land to £3,000; asserts that he had re-settled Antigua and Montserrat, made peace with the Indians before he had been thirty hours in Barbados, and had sailed to England on Lord Willoughby's motion, to give the King an account of affairs in the West Indies. Moreover, he had saved the King's ships from a hurricane. He had served a gracious Prince, he concludes, yet for £30/10, not yet due, he is in jail without influence on His Majesty for release and must go from jail to jail. It is a pathetic plea, and Arlington was apparently touched by it, for, through some influence, Scott's petition for £100 was allowed, and apparently by July or August he actually got the money — and how great a feat that was 43 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT at this precise period of English finance can only be appre- ciated by a somewhat intimate acquaintance with the circumstances of English administration of the time. He got, indeed, much more; for by the end of August a royal warrant, countersigned by Arlington, conferred upon him a government appointment, the post of royal geographer! For he had approved himself, as Buckingham observed in later years, a very useful rogue. And with this we come to another remarkable passage in a remarkable life. For a dozen years or more Scott had played some little part in public affairs. Now, inspired by the situation in which he found himself, and mindful of his unusual gifts and experiences, he aspired not to make but to write history. As soon as he was settled in his new post — probably even before — he had begun an attempt to justify his appointment by the execution of a great work on the "Coasts and Islands of America." This included, among other things, a "Discription of Guiana," which was one day to give him standing in the world where even he could scarcely have imagined it. What, we may well ask, were the qualifications of such a man to undertake this most difficult form of literary composition; what was his training, his purpose, and his hope of success in that field? That question was to be asked again on at least one occasion of great importance; and, as he has given the answer in his own words, it is proper that they should be inserted here. For his methods as he described them were so precisely those of Herodotus, the father of history — or, according to his enemies, the father of lies — that they may well be quoted in their entirety. "In my youth," Scott begins his narrative, 'T was a great lover of Geographic and History in Generall, but aboute the Eighteenth yeare of my age I tooke up a reso- 44 OF LONG ISLAND lution to make America the scene of the greatest actions of my Hfe, and there to sett myselfe a worke (if possible) to finde out the Latitudes, the Longitudes, and to know the oridginall discovery with the situations of all places both on the Continent and in the Islands; as also the names of Persons and of what Nations they were who have possessed them, and what fortune each Nation hath had, and (as neare as I could) the fortune of the severall governors successively, and of the respective Collonies, the most remarkable distempers and diseases, the Commodityes abounding and advantages of trade, what places were more or less Tenable of Nature, and what were made strong by fortifications, in what manner, and to what degree; More- over how these colonies have prospered or declined in Trade, increased or decreased in number of Inhabitants from Europe, and the proper causes thereof; Together with the strength of the severall Indian Nations, their customes, Governments, and Commodities, and what advan- tages may be made of them in point of Warr or by Trade. I labour'd likewise to discover the Rocks, Sandes Shelves, and Soundings about every Island, and in the Entrance of all Ports, Havens, Rivers, and Creeks, as well on the Terra firma as the Islands, my scope at first being only for my owne particular sattisfaction, but now I am not out of hope these things may be both of some reputacion to myselfe, and a generall advantage to the English Nation, by which especially I shall have my end and reckon these eighteene yeares past, by running through all manner of dangers (at seve'll times) to make Collections and Obser- vations, have been spent to good purpose for my Country, and thereby put mee in possession of the greatest fellicity that can befall a man in this life." 'T had once a purpose," he continues, "to have given you a large discription of all America," but considering 45 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT the Spanish Indies had been fully treated, he decided to confine his book to "new accounts from observations of my owne (or such living Testimonies as I could credit) Touching those places which have not been sufficiently sett forth by any man before me; Purposely omitting that part of the Spanish Indies that I have noe knowledge of. . , . I chose rather to content myself e with what (in great part) I know, what my owne eyes have seen, and much of what my feet have trodden, and my sences brought under an exact inquiry, confineing my selfe with the River amazon on the South . . . from whence in my Mappes and History I pass Northward to Newfound Land. ''More than 1200 miles along the shore, surveying all the Islands worth notice, comprehended within that vast part of the Atlantick Ocean one hundred and six of which Islands I have been Personally upon, have Travelled most parts of New England and Virginia, and a greate part of Guiana, and other places of the Maine between the Tropick of Cancer and the forementioned grand River, and with Shipps and Barques have sayled into very many of the Rivers, Bayes, Ports, and Creeks within the two boun- daries of this discription. As for those places which have not come under my survey, and the Originall of many of the Colonies, whether English, Spanish, French or Dutch, whose plantacions are settled beyond the Memory of any man that I could meet with, in such cases I took my meas- ures from the best authors, as Herera Ovida and Acosta among the Spaniards, Thunis a grave Authour among the French, John Delaet among the Dutch and from many other Authours and sev'll curious manuscripts that came to my hand besides the Carts of which I ever labour to gett the best extant and besides actually to converce with good Artists that had been upon the place, and such persons I •ever strove to oblidge and draw to me of what so ever 46 OF LONG ISLAND Nation they were; I made it my business likewise to pur- chase or borrow all the historys and Journalls that I could heare of whether Lattin Ittalian Spanish or Portu- gais French Dutch or in our Language, wherein I may say I have by reason of a generall generous conversation had luck extraordinary, and herein what paines I have taken what cost I have been att is so Notorious, that over and above the knowledge of a great number of Gentlemen which I have been oblidged too for a communication of printed books, Manuscripts, Patents, Commissions, and papers relating to those parts, the many booksellers of England and Holand will doe me Right to testifie my continuall inquisition." Concerning this simple and modest narrative of the historian-errant, there is perhaps only one observation necessary. It is that, taken in connection with the extremely active life which Scott led during those same years in which he was engaged upon his historical labors, one can only marvel at his extraordinary industry and concentration and his application to such scholarly ideals when his mind must have often been so busy with other matters than the pursuit of ultimate truth. Perhaps in this connection, if it is not too wearisome, it may be interesting to compare with this, and with the narrative of his life up to this point, the preface which he composed for this great work. Amid the strenuous activi- ties with which his earlier and later years were filled it may be worth a quiet hour to stop, as he did, and contemplate the eternities and immensities. "Deare Countrymen," he begins : "Forasmuch as man is not borne for himselfe, or to confine his Aimes within the narrow compass of his owne poor pleasures or advan- tages, but being a creature of celestiall extract ought ever to be looking upwards from whence he came. Proposing to 47 yJ i i\ ^Vv>V« 'i COLONEL JOHN SCOTT himselfe an imitation of God, that universall goodness after whose image he is made, and after that Glory and greatness in some measure, which is absolutely and infin- itely inherent only in him, but displayed throughout the frame of this wonderfull Globe of Heaven and Earth (which glory consists in the Ample manifestation of that goodness by acts of benevolence towards the whole race of mankinde, doing good through all generations, teaching us thereby what we ought to doe for one another) There- fore Pardon mee (Sirs) if I who, knowing the circum- stances of my owne Life have reason enough to consider that having been bred much in warrs, & the world might judge those imployments might neither give mee time, nor inclinations for such a worke do yet nevertheless presume to tell you that I would faine be an humble follower of that great Example of publick good, because we are all commanded to follow it and be like him," he has, in brief, begun this book ''because it comes attended with all the affections & dutyes which I owe unto our Native Coun- try." As to the subject matter, he continues, "Perad- venture the like may not be scene again, if I perish before the Publication; and this is said (I assure you) not in vanity of mind to prize myselfe above others, but rather to magnifie God's goodness to me who hath by carrying me through innumerable labours and hazards, in various imployments, given me such opportunities as have not been afforded to many in times past & will rarely befall any one man hereafter, in that part of the world which I intend to discribe." This, among its other revelations, shows that Scott's con- nection with Southwick and the Gothersons was, after all, not wholly without its effect upon at least his literary style. One part of this entertaining preface is unquestionably true, the like of Scott's narrative, even so far as it went, has not 48 OF LONG ISLAND been seen again. It is a loss to literature that he was not permitted to complete this great work and that only a part of what he did write has seen the light of print; and when one considers under what auspices his efforts did finally appear, it goes far to justify his assertions and to increase the regret at its incompleteness. But if it is unfortunate that he never completed this work, it is perhaps a still greater loss to posterity that he was able to enjoy his new dignity so short a time. Three days before Scott was commissioned royal geographer, Col. Richard Nicolls, having been superseded as governor of New York by Col. Francis Lovelace, sailed for England, where he arrived in the latter part of the year 1668. Within six months we find, whether in consequence of his arrival or of other circumstances, two pieces of evidence material to the case of Scott. The first is a series of communications from Dorothea Gotherson to Governor Lovelace and his brother Thomas reciting the fact that she had appealed to the King to right her wrongs; that Charles had taken pity on her; and that steps had been taken through the Council to communicate with Lovelace, with what result we have already seen, in the discovery of her son and the attempt to recover some of the property lost through Scott. • A- The second is an intimation that on Nicolls' arrival in England he informed the king of Scott's career in America, and that upon this Scott "vanished from White- hall." That he did vanish appears from another note from Mrs. Gotherson indicating that she had received letters- from him, and expressing the hope that he would return from Holland, whither, it appears, he had gone. To this may be added a communication from Scott to Williamson disavowing all connection with a certain Andrews whom Scott had recommended and who had committed some unnamed villainy, with the result that, joined to these other 49 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT circumstances, Scott completely lo^t Williamson's favor ''^ and with it his principal claim to recognition and respect- ability. It is perhaps small wonder that this is accom- panied by "a scrap of paper," requesting "prayer for a troubled, sinful, and almost despairing soul." He did not return from Holland for reasons known to himself and to i^"^ the English government, and probably not wholly unsus- pected even by Mrs. Gotherson. What those reasons were, and in what activities and society he busied himself is shown, among other testimony, by the deposition of a certain John Abbot, an English resident of Haarlem. He declared, in later years, that between 1669 and 1672 he had often had at his house "one John Scot, commonly called Major General Scot," who went in company with "an ancient gentleman. Coll. Wogan," William Cole, Dr. Richardson, and a Mr. Ray, '^" alias John Phelps. He deposed further, that Scott had maps and charts of the West Indies, that he was a man evilly spoken of, and that in spite of the fact that he heldi'''''''^jv a commission in the Dutch army, he had on at least one occasion been soundly beaten by Abbot's servant. Taking all these things into account, there can be little doubt that this was the royal geographer. But who were these new associates, and what was he doing in Holland? The answer is not wholly clear, but there is evidence enough to enable one to arrive at an approximation to the truth. Wogan and Phelps had been members of the high court of justice which had condemned Charles I to death. Dr. Richardson was one of the most active movers in the Nonconformist plot which had led to a rising in the northern counties of England in 1663. All were proclaimed outlaws and traitors. Their chief busi- ness was the fomenting of disturbance against the govern- ment of Charles II; their chief hope was to overthrow 50 OF LONG ISLAND that government; their chief means of support lay in certain contributions taken up among the faithful in England under guise of sending aid to the Waldensians, the persecuted Vaudois, or the "Poles"; and there is evidence that Scott benefitted by this "Polish fund." These men were, in short, the center of a widespread intrigue, which had for its purpose the creation of trouble for the English authorities by whatever means that could be accomplished. They had many friends and correspondents throughout the world, and with Scott's entry into this circle he came in touch with the underground politics which played such ''^ a part in the reign of Charles II, and was thenceforth to condition the late royal geographer's career to the end of his life. In this the old Cromwellians had their full share. Upon the Restoration, their party had been broken up. Some leaders, like Vane and Harrison, had been seized and executed. Some, like General Lambert, whose popu- larity prevented the government from bringing them to the block, were doomed to life imprisonment. Some, like Goffe, Whalley, Dixwell and Bourne, found refuge in America. Some, like Ludlow, Sidney, and Lisle, fled to Switzerland. A few took service in continental armies, ^t Others, like those with whom Scott now consorted in this r l^illct:^-- "^ f-^^ "Adventure of the Regijcides," remained in the Netherlands. n'c^^^"^ There they were in close touch with the Dutch government on the one side, and on the other with the discontented Nonconformist element in England that had been driven first from the church then from politics by the so-called Persecuting Acts of the Anglican party during the Claren- don administration, which had thus endeavored to crush Nonconformity once and for all. They were a distinct menace to the English government, which could take no step without reckoning the possible danger from these men 51 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT and the aid which they might bring to the enemies of England. Many of them had actually taken part in the recent Anglo-Dutch war. At least one Cromwellian officer had commanded troops on English soil against his coun- trymen, in an effort to take Harwich fort; while in the famous raid up the Medway and the Thames the Dutch fleet had been partly manned, and probably largely piloted, by English sailors in Dutch service. It was therefore natural enough that a fugitive like Scott should seek and find refuge and a welcome among this group. It was no less natural that he should acquire a commission in the Dutch service ; and it was perhaps most natural of all that he should seek to turn his gifts and knowledge to the account of his own advantage in this environment. One need not accept Mrs. Gotherson's theory that he used the information which had come in his way as commander in the West Indies and as royal geographer to further his fortunes with the Dutch authori- ties; but there was good ground for that hypothesis and it is not easy to believe that he found these any handicap in his new venture. At any rate, it seems certain that he commanded at least a company in the Dutch army, though it is not probable that he derived his title of Major-General from that cir- cumstance. It is equally certain that he was implicated with, a man named Despontyn in various dubious financial transactions relating to that company's pay. He entered into a plan to defraud a Jew of a considerable sum; he cheated his landlady. It is not necessary to accept the story that he defrauded the States of Holland out of £7,000 or £8,000, and that he was driven from the country and hanged in effigy there in consequence; but probably only the amount and the disgrace were exaggerated; the main fact seems clear. There is, moreover, evidence to show 52 OF LONG ISLAND that he provided his new employers with maps, soundings and plans of the defenses of English harbors, and infor- mation of English naval strengths and designs, and in so far Mrs. Gotherson's surmises were justified. And there is only too much evidence that this same Scott, "shield- bearer and geographer-royal," as he styled himself, was, during his stay in Holland, at once dishonest and dissolute in a large variety of ways not necessary to enumerate here. Meanwhile English affairs, during the period of Scott's sojourn in Holland, took a fresh turn in that devious course which they pursued throughout the Restoration period, and in so doing unconsciously helped Scott in determining his own course, in whose direction he was ably assisted by the authorities of the countries in which he successively sought refuge and a livelihood. His stay in Holland coincided almost exactly with the period during which the Cabal remained in power. That period bears a peculiar reputa- tion in English history, and one not wholly favorable to its policy or its members. This is not surprising, whether we consider the character of some of its members, the policies which they pursued in their collective capacity, and, in particular, the fact that their history has been written chiefly by their enemies, the Anglicans. Whatever religion they professed or despised, they were none of them of the latter party, whose overthrow brought them to power, and whose revival drove them in turn from place. The first act of their administration had been the signa- ture of the Triple Alliance with Holland and Sweden to check Louis XIV's aggressions. Yet they bore no love for the Dutch, who were the chief rivals of that interest to which the Cabal devoted its best talents — the develop- ment of English commerce. That feeling was shared, on different grounds, perhaps, by their sovereign, who, in 1670, signed the secret Treaty of Dover with his cousin, 53 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT the French king, in return for a substantial pension. Thereafter events moved toward an Anglo-French alliance and a joint attack on Holland; and, at about the time that Scott found his position in Holland becoming difficult, his government began to take steps to prepare for war with that power. The Nonconformists were conciliated in so far as possible, and many of the exiles were pardoned and per- mitted to return. A royal Declaration of Indulgence gave virtual toleration to the Dissenters. The stop of the Exchequer provided the government with a sum which, added to a Parliamentary grant, enabled the administra- tion to equip the navy; and hostilities began by an attempt to seize the Dutch Smyrna fleet. Louis XIV poured his armies into the Netherlands and Holland faced one of the most dangerous crises in her troubled history. And what of Scott in these busy days of broken alliances and international treacheries? The evidence is conflicting, as it well might be. Some of it goes to show that he improved his stay in Holland to inform his own govern- ment of the doings of the exiles, and carried on negotia- tions between them and the English authorities. Some of it seems to suggest that the attack on the Smyrna fleet failed owing to a warning sent the Dutch by Scott. That ^"^^^ there is ground for believing that all of this is more or less true appears from certain testimony that he was employed by Arlington to live at Bruges as a spy; that he was seen there by other English agents — notably the first English woman novelist, Apra Behn — in the exercise of his profession; that he was paid by the English consul there ; and that he presently lost his employment for having Ao opened negotiations with the Dutch. And there is nothing incompatible with his own character or that of the times and class which he adorned in the supposition that he took his profit where he found it, and was paid by both sides. In 54 OF LONG ISLAND any event, his stay in Bruges seems to have been of few days and full of trouble, for, besides his other misfortunes, he was found sketching the fortifications of the place, was driven out and compelled to seek refuge in Paris. There he arrived, as usual, at the opportune moment ; for England and France, allied against Holland, found themselves again in accord, and prepared to employ the services of one so recently in Dutch service. He did not go empty-handed. As in his earlier exodus to and from the court of Charles H, he brought to Paris an interesting collection of curiosities. First among them were the maps and plans upon which he always relied, and not without much reason, to give him standing in a new community. Moreover, he seems to have secured from various persons various small sums of money to meet his unavoidable expenses, a "Silver Belt, a Fowling-peece or two, two or three copper-plates of Mapps, one great picture, of great value as he pretended, and two swords, one whereof (to magnify its value) he pretended to have been Crom- well's." Nor was this all, for we find one Sherwin, the inventor of a new method of casting ordnance, writing about this time to the Marquis de Seignelay, French Minis- ter of Marine, begging him to recover two little cannon, stolen by Scott, whose "intrigues have ruined the whole enterprise" of supplying the new guns to the French government. Thus equipped, he arrived in Paris at a propitious time to dispose of the information he possessed, and he found the French capital a fertile field for the exercise of his peculiar talents. He was nothing if not impartial, and he was as little bound by any weak scruples of patriotism as the most recent of internationalists. His career, indeed, began auspiciously, for as he had earlier informed the English of Dutch designs, and more recently enlightened 55 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT the Dutch regarding the English plans, he was now in a position to provide the French with information regarding both the English and the Dutch, and in a fair way, if oppor- tunity presented itself, to gain material which could be disposed of, in turn, to England, or even to Holland, if circumstances seemed to make it necessary or profitable. He set up at first apparently as a map-maker and a geographical expert, with what more obscure relations with '^^ the French government may be surmised. He had, it ^ would seem, no great skill himself in cartography, but he was fortunate enough to be able to find a man who could draw, and him he supplied with data from his own knowl- edge, and, on at least one recorded occasion, from his imagination. Meanwhile he strove, not without success, to ingratiate himself with those in place and power. He dabbled in alchemy, he even seems to have dreamed of getting a French ship and turning pirate. He had some k oJyinlK: obscure connection with a certain Mile, des Moulins, to whom he wrote letters in French, signed ''Jean Scot of Scot's Hall," and from whom he received varigus sums r' o for expenses in journeys made on her account. And it may be noted here, as perhaps only a peculiar coincidence but possibly a matter of not entirely extraneous interest, that a man of that name sometime in Dutch service, some- time secretary to the Earl of Arlington, was hanged in England about this time on a charge of treason. Scott was more fortunate. He seems to have been employed in sorne capacity by the Prince de Conde, under ^ circumstances of such peculiar character that it seemed necessary to the French authorities a little later to deny categorically that he had ever been in the immediate service of the French government, without, however, committing themselves to the indiscretion of alluding to his connection with Conde. Beyond this there are scattered notices of 56 OF LONG ISLAND other and less public activities. He seems to have stolen a locket from a certain M. Delavall, a hat from one man, a muffler from another. He managed to make the acquaint- ance of a Catholic nobleman, the Earl of Berkshire, then resident in Paris — a connection which was presently to be of some service in bringing him again into the public eye; and he seems not to have wholly severed his relations with the less obtrusive side of English administration, for there is evidence that at least during the year 1677 he was at times in London, in close touch with Sir Ellis Leighton, chief agent of the Duke of Buckingham, upholding the French interest, denouncing William of Orange, and frequenting the purlieus of the court. Thus he passed some busy years. Meanwhile the situa- tion in European, and more particularly in English politics, altered, and with it came a corresponding change in Scott's position and his relationships. While he had thus busied himself England and France had made their joint attack on Holland. On the continent the courage of the Dutch held the Anglo-French attack at bay, and though the outbreak of war had been accompanied by a revolution which cost the Dutch leader, John de Witt, his life, it brought to the head of affairs a greater spirit, William HI, whose abilities presently drew together an alliance against Louis XIV. The support of England became the prize for which the rival groups of allies contended. London was filled with their agents, the French striving to hold the English to their allegiance, the Dutch, the Imperialists and the Spaniards striving to detach them from the French cause. The Cabal was driven from power, and succeeded by the Anglican or Court Party under the Earl of Danby. Little by little the English people were awakened to the true significance of Louis XIV's designs. The struggle v/as transferred to the House of Commons, which first 57 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT summoned Arlington and Buckingham before it to account for the miscarriages of the war and their part in the illegal proceedings which had preceded it; and then, under the direction of the leaders of the Country Party, in which Buckingham and Shaftesbury came to play the principal roles, turned upon the King and the French policy. The result was a complete reversal of parts in English and in Continental affairs. The English king was compelled to break with France, to make peace with Holland, and to give his consent to the marriage of his niece with William of Orange. That astute prince made head against his enemy. The Imperialists, having defeated the Turks, were enabled to throw their strength against the western front. The English Parliament voted great supplies, authorized the raising of an army and pressed forward to war with France on the side of the grand alliance now formed against Louis XIV. In the face of these events the Grand Monarque was compelled to peace, and in the month of August, 1678, diplomats assembled at Nymwegen to negotiate the great treaty which takes its name from that place. Meanwhile the situation in England was complicated by the introduction of a religious element. From the begin- ning of the reign of Charles II the Catholics had bestirred themselves to recover what they might of the position they once held in the British Isles. The king himself was not unfavorable to their cause. His brother, James, Duke of York, with many members of the court, openly embraced the ancient faith; and among the results of the anti-French agitation the passage of a Test Act drove him, with his co-religionists, from civil and military command. The Catholic minority, like the Cromwellians before them, resorted to conspiracy against the government of Charles II. The king, who had assented to the secret treaty of 58 OF LONG ISLAND Dover, which contained a clause looking toward the re-establishment of Catholicism in England, took no steps to combat the movement. The people became aroused to the danger, and their alarm was fostered by the leaders of the Country Party. The result was an explosion. At almost precisely the same moment that the diplomats assembled at Nymwegen one of the most extraordinary episodes in English history began its spectacular course, for the King was warned that there was a Catholic con- spiracy, famous as the so-called Popish Plot, then on foot against his person and his crown, as well as against English Protestantism. To that warning, drawn up in the form of an elaborate memorandum by two men, Titus Gates and Israel Tonge, he paid little heed. But when, two months later, a London justice of the peace, Sir Edmundberry Godfrey, before whom Gates had sworn out a copy of his information, was found murdered, the London mob, the English people and in particular the Whig party, under the able leadership of Shaftesbury and Buckingham, were roused to a frenzy, unparalleled in English history. The whole great mystery was thrown at once into politics. The Whigs saw in it an opportunity to dispose of their rivals, especially the Duke of York, whom they hoped to exclude from the succession to the throne. So far as may be judged from this dis- tance, the ambitions of Shaftesbury lay in the direction of overthrowing Danby and making the accession of the Duke of York to the throne impossible, with whatever dreams he may have had of directing English affairs himself as the head of a dominant party in the state. What designs the ^^L Duke of Buckingham entertained are still more difficult t^ ^l- w cM^ti determine, but it seems not improbable that among them was some wild project of becoming, if not king, at least Lord Protector of the realm, to whose crown he pretended to possess hereditary claims. 59 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT But this much is certain. Almost if not quite alone of all the characters who have played a part in English history the brilliant and erratic Buckingham surrounded himself with a group of bravos, which comprised some of the greatest scoundrels left unhung in England. There was that Christian who became the model for the villain in Scott's novel of Peveril of the Peak. There was Colonel Blood, who had achieved eminence by his all but successful attempt to steal the crown and sceptre from the Tower some years before. These were fair types of the lower order. Among those of higher rank was Lord Howard of Escrick, perhaps the most finished rascal of his time; and, not to call more names, there was the Duke's representa- tive in Paris and at times elsewhere, Sir Ellis Leighton. For while Shaftesbury relied on his wits, on the famous Green Ribbon Club which formed the active principle of the Whig party, and on the "brisk boys" of the London mob, the Duke, whether his designs were deeper or his morals more blunted, was not so nice in his taste in supporters. Another group was perhaps more respectable in its per- sonnel, if not more scrupulous in its designs. About the Duke of York had grown up a Catholic cabal among whose membership were numbered such names as Lord Bellasis and Lord Powis; Lord Petre; the Duke's secretary, Cole- man; and a company of lesser agents, among whom a section of the Jesuits were the ablest though not the most conspicuous. What their aims were we have already sug- gested, the succession of James to the throne, and the elevation of Catholicism to equality if not supremacy in the state. In such a golden age of conspiracy nothing could have been more natural, indeed one might almost say inevitable, than that Scott should have found some part to his liking, 60 OF LONG ISLAND and, what was always to his liking, his interest. Just how he came into touch with Buckingham we know, but the means are certainly peculiar. For he seems to have been recommended to Leighton about 1676 by Peter and Richard Talbot, Irish Catholics then resident on the continent for reasons best known to the English government, and with some obscure relation to the Duke of York. Leighton, in turn, brought Scott to the attention of Buckingham, who found him, as he said, a very useful rogue. There may be some clue to this mysterious connection between Scott, Leighton and the Talbots in the fact that Scott had com- mended himself to the Earl of Berkshire by professing himself, according to the testimony of one of the Earl's servants, as belonging to the same communion as that of the exiled nobleman, that of the Catholic church. 'H^ At any rate he was soon a member of the company of choice spirits enrolled under the banner of Buckingham. In September, 1678, the Duke seems to have visited France, incognito. There at Abbeville he met Scott and "such company as ought to be seen in disguise," and probably at that time made such plans as were soon revealed in Scott's actions. For in November we find Buckingham writing to Louis XIV desiring to be of use to that monarch, especially for "the last favor" from the French King's hands. The bearer, Mr. Scott, he goes on to say, will tell him orally the message he sends. This was accompanied by another letter to M. de Pomponne, in the same tenor and by the same hand. All of which, ostensibly, had to do with a plot to assassinate Louis. Meanwhile in England the Popish Plot agitation under skilful manipulation had assumed the dimensions Nof a national panic. Oates and Tonge became popular heroes. Every Catholic fell under suspicion, and arrests were made 61 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT right and left. The Earl of Powis, Lord Petre, Lord Bellasis, Viscount Stafford and Lord Arundel of Wardour — the principal men named in Oates' information — were taken into custody, and presently impeached. Coleman and six other men — almost certainly the wrong ones — were tried and executed as quickly as the machinery of the law could be set in motion. Many more were accused and hard put to it to defend themselves. Parliament passed the Test Act excluding Catholics from office, Danby was impeached, and by March, 1679, the Duke of York was compelled to seek refuge in Brussels. Thus began that great episode which so greatly dis- turbed the course of English politics in the years 1678 and 1679 and diverted English attention even from the Peace of Nymwegen, which the French King had mean- while been compelled to sign with his enemies. It need hardly be said that the Whigs, under the lead of Shaftes- bury and Buckingham, embraced the opportunity thus afforded them to press hard their attack upon the Duke of York. Every device of political agitation, every means of furthering the Plot was relentlessly used by them ; every informer encouraged, every "discovery" exploited. In turn, after Oates and Tonge, there came other witnesses on the scene, Bedloe, Prance, Dugdale, and others less notable, a choice collection of criminals, conspirators and perjurers, to give evidence concerning the Plot and the murder of Godfrey, to be rewarded for their services, and, in general, to save the country from the evils which threatened it. With such matters stirring in the world, this was no time for such a man as Scott to be idle; and we find him, in consequence, going back and forth between England and France, busily engaged, apparently on Buckingham's errands. Here too we get finally a glimpse of what sort 62 OF LONG ISLAND of man he was in his external appearance. On October 19, 1678, traveling at Gravesend under the name of Godfrey, he is shown in the flesh. "A proper well-sett man in a great light coulered Periwigg, rough-visaged, haveing large haire on his Eyebrows, hollow eyde, a little squintain or a cast with his Eye, full faced about ye cheekes, about 46 yeares of Age with a Black hatt & in a streight boddyed coate cloath colour with silver lace behind." Thus for the moment we have him, held by the order of the Admiralty Secretary, Pepys, who did not then apparently ^^ know who or what he was, save that his actions had led to suspicion. By whatever method, he seems to have got safe away, but a month later (November 8, 1678) a royal warrant addressed to Col. Strode, the Lieutenant of Dover Castle, directed him to seize Scott as soon as he should land at Dover. For his numerous journeys in the preceding months in various guises and under various names, usually Godfrey or Johnson, had made him suspect to the English government, especially in view of his unbridled tongue. With all his gifts, Scott's volubility made him peculiarly unfitted for the role of a conspirator. He had continually boasted himself a friend of Buckingham, continually acted in "violent and overbearing fashion," was often "full of Guinneyes," "without any visible estate to support him- self with," not seldom drunk, and known to carry with him maps, plans and estimates of naval and ordnance matters. Thus, wherever he went he was a marked man, and one, under the circumstances, to be watched and, if possible, apprehended. Despite all this he was not caught, and it was not until the following spring that he came again into public life. The circumstances were, like most circumstances in his life, extraordinary. In March, 1679, the Earl of Berk- 63 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT shire died in Paris. Some weeks after that — to be exact, on April 28 or 29, a fortnight after Danby had been com- mitted to the Tower, and at the moment that Parhament had passed a resolution against the Duke of York — there arrived at Folkestone a man who called himself John John- son. On his way to London, it seems, he was arrested at Dover and there compelled to give an account of himself, which he was, apparently, by no means loath to do. He was, he said, a pensioner of the Prince of Conde. He had formerly commanded the Prince's regiment of horse in the French service and had surveyed the Prince's land in Picardy and Burgundy. His name was Scott, the occasion of his return was to see his native country, his profession that of a soldier, his landing at Folkestone only to see the boatman that had transported him in the preceding October, "whom he understood to be in great trouble for carrying him over." He offered to take the oaths of Supremacy, Allegiance, and the Test. This was perhaps the more desirable, inasmuch as it appeared from his testimony that he had been most solicitous for news relating to Parliamentary votes of money to raise a fleet and an army, and peculiarly inquisi- tive regarding naval and ordnance estimates. To gratify that curiosity, it appeared that a certain Captain Newman finally drew up for him in a little book "a collection of the severall estimates from the offices of the navy and ordnance," the charges, the members, the rules, the force and the state of the coast fortifications, especially of Ports- mouth, Plymouth and the Isle of Wight. Whereupon the Colonel disappeared for five or six weeks, returning in funds and bringing with him a rich wardrobe and some sort of a paper "under the French King's own hand." All this was in due time set forth in a deposition by Captain Newman himself, though his testimony was apparently not 64 OF LONG ISLAND available until too late to be of much use for the purpose for which it was taken. Accordingly, Scott was carried to London. There he told a curious story, and produced a still more curious document. The Earl of Berkshire, he said, having long been ill, sent for him in March to advise about a physician. One was procured, but it was too late, and the Earl, having had Scott brought to him, sent the servants away and confided to him that there had been "a foolish and an ill design" carried on in England of which he had known nothing till Lord Arundel, Mr. Coleman and others had told him it could not miscarry, and that he should be "looked on as an ill man if he did not come in in time." He had heard nothing about killing the King or he would have revealed it. Lord Bellasis was an "ill man"; "he and others were accustomed to speak ill of the king, indeed very irreverently." He refused to tell Scott who the others were, made him promise to tell the King, and so contin- ued : "My Lord Stafford was all along a moving agent — though not very malicious. . . . My Lord Powis his covetousness drew him in further than he would have gone. — My Lord Peeter . . . was ever averse to all things of intrigue in this matter." And so. Lord Cardigan being at the door, he dismissed Scott, urging him not to forget this, "nor the business at Rohan." This, with some circumlocu- tion and much elaboration, was the message Scott brought to London. It is not easy to discover what, if any, benefits or injuries occurred from this curious episode to Scott or any one else. The most recent historian of the Popish Plot is himself somewhat at a loss to account for it, since, as he observes, Scott "ran counter to the testimony of Gates as to the designs against the King's life, he never sought reward as a professional informer would have done, he gave 65 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT no evidence against those condemned for the Plot, and his name does not appear in the secret-service lists." He con- cludes that he must have had some knowledge of Berk- shire's correspondence with Coleman from the nobleman himself, and that "a scoundrel following in the track of Oates and Bedloe would never have concocted such a story" — hence it is "probably genuine." Moreover he adds, like the worthy member of the Massachusetts Historical Society who fifty years earlier contributed to the biography of Scott, "Nothing more was known of him." This he qualifies a little in a foot-note recording that Scott testified before the House of Commons later that Pepys had given information to the French court regarding the navy "but the affair was never investigated." What, then, can be made of this? As it has been observed of an earlier episode, all of it is partly true, per- haps part of it is all true. Scott had known the Earl of Berkshire; the Earl of Berkshire was a Catholic; he had had some communication with the Catholic party in Eng- land; he was now dead. That much is certain. Oates' testimony, now fairly well known, had implicated Lord Bellasis, Lord Petre, Lord Arundel of Wardour, the Earl of Powis and Viscount Stafford. They were, as a matter of fact, then prisoners in the Tower. Coleman had been tried and executed for treason, and the five Popish Lords impeached. All of this, and much more, was matter of common knowledge. Thus far we are willing to go with the chronicler of the Plot, or with Scott, or with any man who had read or heard of the events of those busy days between August, 1678, and April, 1679 — and there must have been very few men who had not. But it would hardly require any very intimate acquaintance with those circum- stances, any power of divination, or any very profound ability to draw up such a statement as that which Scott 66 OF LONG ISLAND brought to the attention of the government, for all of it, save Scott's connection with the Earl of Berkshire, had ceased to be even news. And while we may admit, with Mr. Pollock, that the surprising thing about this informa- tion is its moderation, we may not, in view of Scott's history, be willing to agree with him that this is any necessary proof of its truth or of Scott's importance as a witness. In any event, every one is agreed that nothing came of it. The Long Island real estate dealer was not destined to occupy a niche in that temple of fame presided over by the pious Dr. Oates — at least for the present. And this negative conclusion seems justifiable on the ground of cer- tain other testimony not wholly impertinent to the case. For a Mrs. Escott, sometime servant to the Earl of Berk- shire, testified presently that Scott showed her master a map of the places in England which were to be taken by the French, that he often entertained the Earl with "stories of ye cheats hee has put upon ye world in several places," that they both agreed that innocent blood had been shed over the Plot, that Scott went to mass and passed as a Roman Catholic, that Benson, "a. rogue," also came to see the Earl, who a month before he died "was so deaf that no stranger spoke to him but as shee went to him and hallowed it in his ears." Which testimony, inasmuch as it was taken in another matter, may perhaps be not unworthy to set beside — or even against — Scott's entertaining narra- tive of Berkshire's last hours, and may, perhaps, even modify somewhat the importance attached to Scott's testimony by Mr. Pollock. However that may be, Scott no longer appears as a wit- ness to the Plot proper. None the less he was not idle. For scarcely had he emerged from this exploit when he began to figure in another and scarcely less interesting 67 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT episode which grew directly out of that frenzy. This was the attack made on Samuel Pepys, Secretary to the Admi- ralty, and on Sir Anthony Deane, his colleague, for fur- nishing information to the French government concerning English naval affairs and, incidentally, for Pepys' alleged Catholicism, which, under the Test Act, would have cost him his place. Here Scott was cast for a leading part. The plot developed clearly and rapidly. On the 27th of Oc^tober, 1678, ten days after the discovery of Godfrey's body, a certain Captain Charles Atkins laid before Secre- tary Henry Coventry information against a friend and namesake of his, one Samuel Atkins, clerk to Samuel Pepys, which, however vaguely, seemed to point to some obscure connection between the accused and Godfrey's murder. Three days later he appeared before the Privy Council. On November i he swore to his statement before a justice of the peace, and Samuel Atkins was promptly seized, carried before the committee of inquiry of the House of Lords, where, in spite of every inducement to give testimony unfavorable to the Duke of York and his party, he indignantly denied the whole story. Thence he was sent to Newgate. A new informer, Bedloe, was pressed into service against him, other witnesses sum- moned, and on February 11, 1679, he was brought to trial. There the case collapsed. The witnesses were vague and unsatisfactory, the prosecution weak, and at the crisis of the trial Atkins produced an alibi so strong that the case was dismissed, an effort to prove the accused a Roman Catholic broke down ignominiously, and he was triumph- antly vindicated on every count. But the men behind this case, Shaftesbury and Bucking- ham at their head, did not rest here. Scarcely had Atkins been acquitted on the ground of the alibi, which had been prepared by his master, when the attack was directed 68 OF LONG ISLAND against Pepys himself. It was some time getting under way, but once it began it assumed formidable proportions. On the 20th of May, 1679, Mr. William Harbord, M.P. for Thetford, reported to the House of Commons from the Committee of Enquiry into the Miscarriages of the Navy "some miscarriages of Sir Anthony Deane and Mr. Pepys relating to Piracy &c." These related ostensibly to the fitting out of a privateer from government stores six years before, securing for her a French commission, and employing her against the Dutch, with whom England was then at war. But it appeared almost immediately that the matter was far deeper than this. For the first witness and the first piece of evidence submitted to the committee and by them to the House was Colonel Scott and his testimony. That gentleman, as always, provided an interesting nar- rative. "Having been acquainted with several great men belonging to the navy," he began, "by their death he was now discharged from privacy, things being settling in Eng- land." "M. Pelisary, Treasurer General of the French King's navy," he deposed, "had shown him draughts of English ship-models, the government of the Admiralty, the strength and condition of the English navy, its methods of fighting, maps and soundings of the Medway and Kent shores, and of the Isle of Wight, plans of Sheerness and Tilbury, all signed by Mr. Pepys, who, it appears, received for them some £40,000. But," he added, with his wonted caution, "there is a mystery in this, more than I dare speak of." With that regard for religion and that high sense of patriotism which he showed at all times in his career, Scott testified that hereupon he had said to Pelissary, who was a Protestant, "I hope these rogues that have betrayed their country are not of our 'Religion.' " Pelissary answered, "They are of the Devil's Religion; let us drink off our wine." 69 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT Such evidence, despite its clear and convincing presen- tation, it may well be imagined, did not go wholly unchallenged. There being some efforts "to take off Scott's testimony," Harbord observed that he would like to present two other witnesses. The story of one of them at least could hardly have afforded him much comfort, since the witness merely deposed that five years before he had been refused the command of the frigate Jersey by Pepys, and further that a short time before he had heard Scott declare that Pepys was "a great betrayer of his country and in time he would make it appear, and that Pepys was one of the Arch-Tray tors of the Kingdom." To this he added that he had "heard Pepys commend the Catholics for their constancy in Religion" — which last was, save at this time, perhaps, no hanging matter. With that we come to the real root of the matter. Pass- ing by the charge that Pepys had sold his country's secrets to France, Harbord pounced on the charge of Papacy. "There had been," he said truly enough, "reflections upon Pepys formerly as to his Religion, and by collateral proof I shall much convince the House that he is not of our Religion. I am sorry," he added, "I must say it of a man I have lived well withal." That there had been rumors of Pepys' Catholicism — as of that of every man in any way connected with the Duke of York, who was Lord High Admiral — was true enough. What Harbord omitted to say that neither on the occasion he mentioned nor on any other had there appeared any ground whatever for such a charge. That ground now appeared in the evidence of John James of Glentworth, Lincolnshire, sometime Pepys' butler, now, for obvious reasons, not in that service. He deposed that there was one Morello who used to say mass at the Queen's Chapel, St. James's, Somerset House and Whitehall. He 70 OF LONG ISLAND had heard this man say that he had studied at Rome. "He had Beads and Pictures, and a private door to his room. He used to carry a pistol and a dagger and went often into St. James's Park, and went to Pepys's house at Chelsea. He was frequently shut up with Pepys in his closet singing of Psalms often till three o'clock in the morning. He was a learned man and would dispute with Pepys in Philosophy. When a Proclamation was out for Papists to go out of Town, Pepys helped him away with his Papers and Books." When James added to this the statement that Pepys had said there was no employment in the navy for any man save by favor of the Duke the case was complete. In brief, it was sought to prove that Morello was a dan- gerous man — as must appear to the most casual reader of this damning indictment! James' story was true. At any other time and under any other circumstances the fact that one had as a friend a man who shared his tastes in music and learning or even that he sat up until three in the morning singing psalms with him, would have been laughed out of court as proof that he shared that friend's religious views or that he was a danger to the state. That men obtained employment in the navy by favor of the Lord High Admiral was hardly surprising, much less ground for an accusation of either treason or Popery. But at this precise moment men were being sent to the block on evidence no less flimsy. Sir John Hotham rose promptly to add that he had spoken to Oates in the lobby and that Oates told him he knew Morello as a Jesuit who had "importuned to have charge of the English business." Another leader of the Country Party, Garroway, declared this was "evidently one of the branches of the Plot." "We have a Land-Plot," said he, "this is a Sea-Plot." Sergeant Maynard declared this was almost as bad as the charges against the Lords in the Tower, and that the papers should be put in the Speaker's charge. 71 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT Then Pepys spoke. First he traversed Harbord's whole statement. He had, he said, been a member of Harbord's committee, he had attended its meetings, and he had never heard there any accusation either from Scott or from James. He denied that the Admiralty or he himself had ever knowrj , about the alleged privateering scheme detailed by Har- .-^^^^ bord. "As for the charge of Col. Scott (Lord! Sir.) . . . This Gentleman I know not, nor ever saw : I know f'' neither his name nor quality, where is his abode or depen- dencies," unless he was the man who under the name of Godfrey was sought by and escaped the officers not long since at Gravesend, Deal and Dover, but in whose London lodgings the Lord Mayor found "papers of ill importance . , . just such papers as he accuses me of." All charges made by Scott Pepys solemnly and categorically denied. As to James, he turned him away for being in the house- keeper's room at three o'clock Sunday morning. As for Morello, he was sent to Pepys by one Hill; he was a good scholar and a master of music, harmless and moderate in opinions, and he could and would at the desire of the House appear to clear himself. Deane followed in the same strain. To Scott's charges he replied that he had, in fact, built two boats for the French King — to be used on the Grand Canal at Versailles in three feet and a half of water! He declared, moreover, that a member of the House lately in Paris named Scott as one giving intelli- gence to the French court. Then followed a sharp debate. Sir Joseph Williamson, Scott's old friend and patron, although he refrained from all mention of Scott, must have had him in mind, for he vigorously seconded Deane. Sacheverell, the Country Party leader, Garroway, and Harbord pressed the charge. Sir Francis Rolle added a touch of Rabelaisian humor. 72 OF LONG ISLAND Sir William Coventry rose to observe he had had James as a butler, that he did not love to do ill offices to one who had served him, but that James' service "was not so direct as to recommend him to a friend." Coventry's brother Henry, then Secretary of State, contributed two interest- ing pieces of information. The first was that Scott had ab'sconded from London in the preceding October under a misapprehension. The government was not looking for him at all but for Conyers, a Jesuit, but Scott's flight gave ground for suspicion against him. The second was that Scott had been employed by the Prince of Conde to survey his lands. And to this Harbord added two other bits of biography— or romance— that Williamson had told him Scott was the ablest man in England, and that he had a testimonial from De Witt [who was dead] that he had commanded eight regiments of foot for the relief of Flanders. He averred further that a great man had told him that some had tried to corrupt Scott to bear false witness against him, "but Scott detested it." The upshot of the matter was that Pepys and Deane were committed to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, with the understanding that they be examined two days later. On that occasion Harbord made another attack on them, and they were committed to the Tower. There they remained for ten days. On June 2 they were brought before the King's Bench, where the Attorney-General refused to allow them to be admitted to bail. Somewhat later, in spite of the fact that Scott meanwhile swore to an information on the lines laid down in his testimony before the Commons, the Attorney-General changed his mind. The prisoners were permitted to offer security in the sum of £30,ooo-a huge amount for those days— and so regained their liberty. In the following February they were released from that obligation, Scott having refused 73 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT "^-^ to recognize the truth of his deposition and James having confessed that he had concocted his story under Harbord's instigation. Nor is it without some small significance in this connection that about this time the Duke of Bucking- ham recommended to Sir Thomas Leet and Mr. Vaughan one J. James, sometime in his service, for the post of store- keeper at Woolwich — which casts a certain amount of light upon this episode. And so ended the Adventure of the House of Commons. What induced Scott to bring these charges of treason and Popery against Pepys? The answer is not difficult to guess. The Popish Plot frenzy was at its height. It seemed to Buckingham, Shaftesbury and their Whig sup- porters that, with its aid, they might not only be able to displace the Tories in the conduct of affairs, but even exclude the Duke of York from the succession — with all the possibilities that such a victory might entail. But why attack Pepys? To this three answers have been given. The first is that, ten years belore, Pepys had been commis- ■% sioned by the Duke of York to gather evidence in the matter of Mrs. Gotherson's appeal to the King for justice against Scott, that it was on the strength of this testimony that Scott was driven from place and court, and thereafter • ^ nourished a grudge against Pepys. The second is the gen- eral explanation that Pepys was, in his capacity of Secretary of the Admiralty, very close to the Duke, who, until the passage of the Test Act, had been Lord High Admiral; that a successful attack on Pepys might well involve James, and in any event would have a powerful tendency toward weakening the Duke's position before Parliament and the country. The third is the answer which, in later years, was given by Scott himself, an answer which is perhaps as good an explanation of his own conduct and of the Plot in general 74 OF LONG ISLAND as can be found anywhere. "Their Design," said he "was to destroy the Government and make themselves Kings, or rather Tyrants, and for that end did all they could to bring an odium and hatred upon his Majesty and Family, and by their fictions delude a Giddy and unthinking people. Their party was of three sorts. Those that wanted office and were disappointed. Those that were enemyes to the Government of Church and State, and Fooles that the other two brought over to be of their side." And to which of these groups did Scott belong? If we had not his own confession, it would be easy to guess. Despite his manifold protestations it is fairly apparent that he was no zealot for either church or state; and hitherto, save in a larger sense, he had been a knave rather than a fool. In this affair, he admitted, he "acknowledged him- selfe a Toole, much used, as well as a Cabinett Counsel- lour." "One that had hoped to be [Pepys'] successor in the Secretarye's Employment," he declared, "had putt him upon contriving [Pepys'] destruction." The design was to take Pepys' life, "but the said person found he was not likely to succeed in case they had proceeded." And, he added, Shaftesbury had made great promises to him to further this design. The scheme was not unpromising. Pepys was a devoted adherent of the Duke of York. Though not himself a Catholic, he was no fanatical Protestant, folding a lucra- tive office, and being a highly efficient public servant, he naturally had enemies. He was thus, under the circum- stances, a shining mark. But in all the mistakes of a mistaken career, Scott never committed a/ greater error than when he joined in the attack on the Secretary of the Board of Admiralty. Pepys was what he was because of his qualities. He had risen by his abilities, he had main- tained himself not so much by favor as by his courage and 75 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT intelligence. He had not dealt with dishonest contractors, surly sailormen, and shifty courtiers, for fifteen years without acquiring a fairly thorough acquaintance with the world and its wickedness, together with some knowledge of how to meet the exigencies of life. Moreover, he had an extraordinarily wide acquaintance; and, above all, he was, by the accident of fate, set in the precise position, as it chanced, to deal with a man like Scott. He had for many years been in the closest touch with the navy — and he turned at once to his friend. Captain Dyer. He was the intimate friend of the Duke of York, who was the grantee of New York — and he despatched a letter at once to the Duke's appointee, Governor Francis Lovelace, for a record of Scott's activities in that quarter of the world. He wrote Mrs. Gotherson for information; and to Savile, the English ambassador in Paris; and just at this time, by chance, Thomas Lovelace turned up in England and agreed to testify for Pepys — or at least against Scott. Pepys had married the daughter of a French Huguenot refugee — and he sent his brother-in-law, Bartholomew St. Michel, post-haste to France to secure evidence. Thence after nine months he returned, not only with depositions but with witnesses. Besides this, Pepys entrusted a Captain Gunman with a similar errand in Holland; and employed a well-known secret-service agent, Puckle, on the same task. He wrote to a score of individuals himself. He put into action his intimate knowledge of London; he sent to the port towns, where his acquaintance was naturally exten- sive; and he enlisted the services of his many and intimate friends. As a result, it seemed that every one Scott had ever injured — and their name was legion — presented himself by letter or in person to contribute to this grand assize. The consequence was what might have been foreseen. In the Pepys manuscripts in the Bodleian Library and in 76 ^ >J-° OF LONG ISLAND his own collection, which he presented to his college in Canibridge, there are two full volumes of manuscripts, fPJy^ marked the Mornamont Papers. Probably nowhere in the ^^ \ y world is there so complete a record of the activities of a i-'" private individual in one place as these manuscripts con- tain of the doings of John Scott. Every twist and turn of his dishonest career, every piece of villainy, every shift and device of his shifty and devious life, every exhibition of cowardice, dishonesty, untruthfulness, every scheme he entertained, every rebuff he suffered, every disgrace and punishment inflicted on him, is there recorded. His obscure origin and his poor pretense of gentility, his dis- reputable actions in America, his cowardice and court- martial in the West Indies, his treachery in England and on the continent, his discreditable relations with the governments of the Netherlands, France and his own country, his thefts, his plots, his private debts and dishon- esty, his efforts at bigamy (for he seems to have aspired to the hand of Lady Vane!) — everything, from triple treason to the evasion of a board bill, is there set down. Were it not for the fact that so many of its statements are corroborated by independent testimony then unknown to Pepys and his informants we might almost doubt its accuracy. It is a damning record; and it reveals, more clearly than any mere statement can express, one great outstanding fact. There was no man in the British Empire, no man in the whole world probably that Scott would not have done better to let alone than Samuel Pepys. Reading its manifold testimony to the utter worthlessness and untrustworthiness of the man, one is inclined to the belief that of the three categories into which Scott himself divided those who entered into the machinations of the Popish Plot, he belonged to the third, he was not only a knave, he was a colossal fool. 77 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT And whatever else the Popish Plot accomplished, what- ever effect it had upon the Duke of York and Pepys, however it affected the course of English history, it did one other thing. It made an end of John Scott. It is commonly said that the matter was "allowed to drop." As a matter of fact, Scott went into hiding, and probably left England for a time. For Samuel Pepys was not a man to let such an attempt upon his life go wholly unnoticed, once he was clear of the preposterous charges brought against him; nor were the men of the court party likely to err on the side of leniency. For the moment, indeed, they did nothing against those who had engineered this tremendous attempt to alter the course of the English government. The Whigs were still too strong. But when Shaftesbury's last coup had failed; when the eloquence of Halifax had defeated the Exclusion Bill; when another election had put the House of Commons in the hands of the King and the Whig leader had sought refuge in Hol- land, they struck. A stringent Test Act was passed against the Presbyterians; the' Scotch Covenanters, who had risen in revolt, were cruelly suppressed; and the Duke of Argyle tried and condemned for treason, saved his life only by flight. The Duke of York was despatched to Scotland to stamp out the remaining embers of opposition, and the King's natural son, the Duke of Monmouth, found his triumphal progress in the north cut short by imprison- ment. The Duke of Buckingham retired from public life, .and the Whig cause descended from politics to conspiracy. And, at this precise moment, the Lord delivered Scott into the hands of his enemies. With the fall of his for- tunes, he had begun to drown his sorrows more and more in drink. He had always been quarrelsome, he now became what he seems never to have been before either to soldiers or servants — dangerous. One evening, being farther gone 78 OF LONG ISLAND than usual, he killed a hackney-coachman named Butler, for refusing to carry him home to his lodgings from the public- house where he had been spending the evening. The occasion was too good to be lost. He was arrested. Imme- diately two powerful influences joined issue over him. On the one side Pepys promptly bestirred himself. He wrote to his clerk and friend Hewer, concerning Scott, "whome God is pleased to take out of our hands into his own for justice. For should he prevail with the widdow for for- giveness (which in some respects I could wish might be prevented) there is the King's pardon behind, which I am confident he is able to make relating to the state as well as us, that it might well enough atone for this his last vilany. Nor do I doubt but to save his owne life he will forget his trade and tell the truth, tho' to the hazard of the best Friends he has, which pray let Sir Anthony Deane think of, and of putting in a caveat against his getting any pardon from the court (if he should attempt it) till we are first heard." Pepys was right. Scott escaped, leaving this time even his famous charts and papers behind him. These were promptly appropriated by Pepys and added to the collec- tion already secured by the Lord Mayor on the occasion of Scott's earlier flight. Together they formed a notable body of literary and cartographical remains. Included among them were accounts of proceedings in Parliament, lists of ships, much miscellaneous information relating to the army and navy, notes on alchemy, even some poetry. There was the unique copy of the Help to the Indians, which by this almost miraculous chance was thus preserved to puzzle bibliographers and blacken Scott's reputation among them. There was the beginning of his history and description of America; and it is probable that through Pepys these came into the hands of his friend Sir Hans 79 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT Sloane and so ultimately into the British Museum collec- tions, where they still remain. Scott himself took refuge in Norway, supported, it was declared, by those who feared his return to England. There he was seen in the summer of 1683 by a certain Captain Gelson, who promptly wrote of his meeting to Pepys, and of his account of the Popish Plot which we have read. It is small wonder that Pepys consulted with Deane as to how they might bring him back and so manage affairs that, to save his own skin, he would tell what he knew and so ruin "the other party, notably Herbert and other rogues." That purpose they were not able to accom- plish. He remained safely on the continent, pensioned, it was supposed, by these same "rogues" for many years. He did not even dare to return in 1688, when the Glorious Revolution brightened the lives of so many patriots. Not until 1695 did he show his face in England again, and even then he promptly met with arrest and imprisonment in Newgate for coming from France without leave. But he was now a harmless, broken man, against whom even Pepys was not willing to move. Moreover, his friends were now in power. His old sponsor, Harbord, had been made a privy councillor after the Revolution, vice-treas- urer for Ireland and finally ambassador to Turkey. He was now dead, but there were enough men left of the party which Scott had served to heed his appeal, backed, no doubt, by his threats. In the summer of 1696 he was pardoned and, in the words of another of his biographers, we are again informed, "we hear no more of him." This, as it was to prove, was very far indeed from the fact, but at any rate he seems to have passed shortly thereafter from the scene of his earthly activities. And so, for the third time, it would appear that was the end of John Scott. Finally, what of the family whom he deserted? Con- 80 OF LONG ISLAND cerning them there are many references. His wife, as we have seen, was given certain of his possessions to keep her from starving after his flight. Not to enquire too closely into her character and career, she ultimately married a resident of Southampton. There were two sons, the elder John, and a younger who rejoiced in the name of Jecko- miah. The former, about the time of the Popish Plot, came to England, like Japhet, in search of his father, whom, however, he did not find. It is probably to him that this edifying letter was addressed. The younger became, in turn, a "Captain," and his somewhat extravagant conduct still forms a picturesque page in the annals of Southampton. "London, May the 6th, 1681. My Deare Child, I have sent to thy Brother a hatt, a Suite of Cloaths, a pair of stockings, some Gloves, Cravats, Paper, a grammar, to send to you by Capt. Bound in a portmantle, and have writ to Capt. Howell to take you Into his famely. I charge you yield to him exact Obedience and be verry Dilligent in wrighting and such other Rudiments as your Skoolmastor is capable of Instructing you in, and lett me find by a letter by Capt. Bound what Profisiency you make in Wrighting and Casting accompts. Mr. Laughton is very able to Instruct you, and I am sure will do Itt to the utmost. If you give me Incuragement I shall be very kind to you and take great care for your Preferment, and shall send for you as sone as your Brother has made one voige to gett the Practicall Part of Navigation, that at his Returne to Southampton he may be able to give such account of him- selfe that Render him usefull and acceptable to his friends, and if God preserve him, come master and merchant, of a shipp and cargo, but I Designe you for annother sort of Life, thearefore do not through want of an Industrious address Injure your selfe by Destroying my hoapes and 81 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT Expectations, and had your Brother com over when I sent for him he would have learned that which I find he is now uncapable of in a great measure, and might have bin back againe before this time, and soe has in effect lost to or three years which I hope he will with great Industrey Retrieve. I have sent you a hod and Skarfe, and three Paire of Gloves, for you to make a present on to your mother to shew your Dutifull Respect to her, for what ever Differance, she and I have had Remember shee is your mother, and you ow her a Dutty of the Greatest tendernes. I charge you keep close to your Book; the first good accompt you give me I will send you anything that you signifie to me you have occation for, by a Letter firmly wrighte by yourself e as sone as you can. Capt. Howell must be an evidence for you, as also of your sivell Gentle behavior, I trust God in his mersey will dispose you to have an Ey to his service and not to think It labour lost, for it is the Interest of Every Private Parson to make a search Into ye Nature and Quallity of the Relligion by which aloane he can hoape to be Etternally happy. Present my humble service to Capt. Howell and Give him this Incloased Paper, my service to your unckle Joseph and all my friends, wright upon Mr. John Topping and present my service to him and Pray his Excuse for not wrighting att this time, I shall sudenly God willing Doe him the trouble of a Letter, I am your very Affectionate Loveing feather John Scott." Such is the story of the life of this extraordinary char- acter during those years when he played an active part in the affairs of this world for good or ill. It may be there was something good in it. I have not been able to find it, for though he lived long and touched many sides of life 82 OF LONG ISLAND it seemed always to be the wrong side. Yet to it, as to so many other tales, there is an epilogue. From the days when he first met the Gothersons and conceived the idea of linking his obscure and anonymous origin to that of a family of place and consequence in the world as he knew it, to his last endeavors, he never lost sight of this self- imposed gentility. He continually described himself as John Scott of Scot's Hall in Kent, in the face of all the facts, and of the bitter opposition of that family which sought every means to disavow the relationship. He invented a name for his imaginary English domains, Mor- namont, and it was under the sarcastic title of the Mornamont Papers that Pepys bound up the collections he made of Scott's activities when he was defending himself against Scott's charges. He took the trouble to have a new and garbled page inserted into a history of Kent to bolster up his claim. But it was never allowed — until it was too late. Among the little ironies of his ironical history it is worthy of note that when Scott was at last pardoned by the government of William HI at the solicitation of those who had used him for their purposes, he finally achieved his ambition. For that paper describes him as John Scott, late of Scot's Hall in the county of Kent, Gentleman. Of all his pretensions, this alone was left to him. Almost at once he died; and if he departed not wholly in the odor of 'v-^ sanctity, he bore with him at least a distinct aroma of gentility to comfort him in his last moments. Nor is this all, or even the most entertaining part of the epilogue. Much the most important chapter remains — the chapter which relates the adventures of his posthumous reputation. If, from whatever limbo he entered on his departure from this world, he could have beheld the for- tunes of his memory, he would have been filled with exceedingly mixed emotions. For two hundred years his 83 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT name occurs nowhere without some reference to his dubious character and his undoubted rascalities in America, in the West Indies, and in those European countries which wit- nessed or suffered from his activities. As late as 1882 a certain G. D, Scull issued an account of what he calls "the troubled life" of Dorothea Gotherson, for circulation among her descendants in America, and this in the follow- ing year he expanded into a volume, which included her writings. That volume contains a full if not very accurate account of John Scott and his practices toward the Gother- sons — so long does the smart of a land-swindle endure. Some fifteen years later Scott was included in the Diction- ary of National Biography, purely, it would seem from reading its brief and somewhat inaccurate narrative of his life, on account of his various villainies, and perhaps as a horrible example. So far he had fared as badly at the hands of the historical muse as he had at the hands of his outraged contemporaries. But his revenge was ultimate and complete. For as he finally made good his claims to the recognition of his gentility by his government, so he seems finally to have vindicated his veracity before the bar of history in a manner so surprising and unexpected as to deserve more than a passing mention. It will be remembered that in the month of April, 1895, the Venezuelan authorities brought to a head the long- standing dispute over the boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela by the arrest of two members of the British Guiana police for trespassing upon Venezuelan territory. The men were released and made their report to their gov- ernment; and Venezuela at once appealed to the United States for aid in the controversy which they foresaw would ensue with the British authorities. President Cleveland was persuaded, by an appeal to the principles of the Monroe Doctrine, to take up the case, and in December of that year 84 OF LONG ISLAND sent to Congress his famous message declaring that any attempt by Great Britain to enforce her claims upon Ven- ezuela without resort to arbitration would be regarded by the United States as just cause for war. Congress sup- ported the attitude of the President, and, in pursuance of the determination of both sides, commissions were promptly appointed by Great Britain and the United States to inves- tigate the whole question. Each commission engaged the assistance of expert lawyers and historians; the United States employing on that work the talents of Professor George L. Burr, of Cornell University, and Professor J. Franklin Jameson, then of Brown University, the editor of the American Historical Review and more recently director of the historical division of the Carnegie Institu- tion. The English government appointed a similar body, under the direction of Sir Frederick Pollock; and each side set to work to prove its case. The earliest settlements of the Dutch upon the Essequibo and the adjacent lands were investigated, the earliest maps collected and compared, and an amount of light shed upon the beginnings of European occupation in that quarter of the world which was of the utmost value and interest to historians. And, conspicuous among the witnesses thus summoned to the bar of history was Colonel John Scott! For it will be remembered that he not only wrote the beginnings of a projected Discription of America, but a Relation of his own valiant achievements and adventures in precisely that obscure corner of the world now suddenly made the test of good faith and friendship between the two great Anglo- Saxon nations which had earlier had the privilege of sharing the blessings of Scott's residence among them. His testimony did not, indeed, finally determine the question at issue, though he was a material witness. But the result was curious in the extreme so far as Scott's for- 85 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT tunes were concerned. Each side found in his statements some confirmation of its contention. The Americans — and it may be noted that he was not so favorable to their views — were somewhat prone to rake up the old colonial scores against him. The English, despite the account in the Dictionary of National Biography, were rather more inclined to admit his testimony without troubling much about searching the records for evidence of his character. Each side seems to have more or less tacitly assumed that whatever his deeds or misdeeds elsewhere, his account of what he saw in the West Indies was, on the whole, tolerably credible. And though the Dutch historian Netscher was rather inclined to doubt Scott's geography as well as his history, his views were not seriously entertained by either the American or the English investigators in whose hands rested the preparation of evidence in the Venezuelan case. In consequence, Scott cuts a better figure before this court than before any of the numerous tribunals which summoned him as defendant or witness during his lifetime. More was to follow. Some six years after the Venezue- lan controversy, a relative of Sir Frederick Pollock's, John Pollock, published the most elaborate account of the Popish Plot which has yet appeared, a work marked, on the whole, by admirable spirit, much knowledge, and remarkable ingenuity. In that narrative Scott plays, if not a leading, at least a conspicuous part in building up the argument to which Mr. Pollock addresses himself. He does not, indeed, commit himself irrevocably to the contention that the Colonel was an unimpeachable witness. But, as we have seen, he lays great stress on the fact that Scott did have genuine knowledge of the Earl of Berkshire's correspond- ence, that "the simplicity and directness of his relation points to its substantial truth"; and that the moderation of his narrative is a further proof of its genuineness. He OF LONG ISLAND goes farther still. No one looking for the rewards of a professional informer, he says, would have acted as did Colonel Scott; no scoundrel following on the track of Oates and Bedloe would ever have concocted such a story; and, in brief, "His information may be accepted as genuine." Here, then, we have a clean bill of health. To Pollock, as to those who drew up the English side of the Venezuelan case, there was no Scull, no Mornamont Papers, not even a Dictionary of National Biography. Nor is this all the tale of his long-belated vindication. Some years after the Venezuelan controversy was deter- mined, an English historical scholar, the Rev. George Edmundson, than whom there is probably no better author- ity in his particular field, contributed an article to the English Historical Review entitled "The Dutch in Western Guiana." In the forefront of his contribution he sets out that the American scholars who gathered the evidence in the Venezuelan case had endeavored, not without a consid- erable measure of success, to throw discredit on Scott's testimony in its bearing upon the history of Dutch coloniza- tion in Western Guiana. He continues: "A careful examination of all available evidence has led me to form an entirely different opinion upon the trustworthiness of Scott." For he declares, "The credibility of a writer relat- ing otherwise unknown historical facts depends upon (i) his nearness to the events narrated, (2) his personal access to sure sources of information, (3) his motives in writing, (4) his proved accuracy in cases where his statements can be verified." All these tests, he concludes, are "absolutely satisfactory in the instance of Major Scott." He was in fact the commander of the English expedition of 1665-6; and, as Mr. Edmundson says, "he tells us in his preface that he had always been a great lover of geography and history, and that from an early age he had purposed to 87 COLONEL JOHN SCOTT write a large description of all America, also that he had personally been upon no less than one hundred and twenty- six islands in the Atlantic Ocean, and had travelled over (among other places) a great part of Guiana." Whereupon Mr. Edmundson quotes Scott's description of his Herodotean method of research and concludes : "It is •clear then in the narrative given by Scott of the early history of the Dutch colonies in Western Guiana that we are dealing with the narrative of a contemporary, familiar with the localities about which he was writing, conversant with all the literature upon the subject, including documents and journals in manuscript, and having exceptional oppor- tunities for personal commune with men intimately acquainted for a long period with the country and its his- tory. It is further important to note that the work, which was never published, and of which only a fragment was committed to paper, was a long-cherished design, the prepa- ration for which was scientifically thorough, and carried on for years; and that it is impossible to attribute to the writer any motives of political partisanship, or any other .aim than that put forth by himself 'of giving new accounts from observations of my owne.' More than this, his claim is fully borne out by the accuracy which is shown by him in those parts of the narrative which can be historically verified." Thus history, like time, whose chronicler it is, brings its revenges. At the hands of this learned and reverend gen- tleman Scott has finally come into his own, even though it has taken more than two centuries for him to find any one to believe him so whole-heartedly. Perhaps Edmundson is right, perhaps Scott did tell the truth — "some truth but not all gospel" is what Willoughby wrote of him, and that judgment still holds after two centuries, despite the Pol- locks and Mr. Edmundson. It is impossible not to feel a 88 OF LONG ISLAND certain regret that such talents as he unquestionably pos- sessed should not have somehow worked to better ends. Had he only succeeded somewhere, had he secured the grant 1^ of Long Island, had he been able to retain his post of ""^^^Tcri^^ geographer-royal — but the conjectures are futile. He broke on the rock of the Gothejson affair, and that not only l^u deprived him of the sympathy of his own generation, and of its successors, it revealed qualities which would at almost any time have made his permanent success impossible. None the less he is a considerable figure. That he should have done so much to determine the fate of Long Island and New York, that he should have contributed to the set- tlement of the boundary between New York and New Jersey while he was alive is remarkable enough. But that two centuries after his death he should take such an active part in the adjustment of the boundary between Venezuela and British Guiana and cut such a respectable figure in the his- tory of the two nations with which his life was so intimately and so scandalously bound up, passes the bounds of what we usually regard as probability. What his tongue could not accomplish for him while he was alive, his pen did for him among posterity; and if he failed in all else it ensured for him a safe corner in a great controversy, from whose rec- ords he may henceforth look out with some of his old con- fidence upon a world which, with all his wit, he failed to quite deceive while he was still a part of it. Viewing all this, it again becomes apparent why so many men appeal from the harsh judgments of their contemporaries to the serene tribunal of history. 89 NOTES Page 2, line 32 : The principal accounts of Scott hitherto are those in the Dictionary of National Biography, in the Proceedings of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society, and in Filling's Bibliography of the Algon- quiari Languages — the two latter quoted more particularly below; together with the long notices in G. D. Scull, Dorothea Gotherson, more fully noted later. Page 4, line 17 : Mass. E«cords, II, 45, 89, 92. Hutchinson Collec- tions, Prince Soc. 1865, 380. Page 4, line 33: Scull, 54. Eawl. MSS., 175 ff., 101, 107. Page 5, line 4: The name is spelled variously Scottshall, Scotshall, Scot's Hall and Scott's Hall. I have used the last for convenience. As this seat of the Scott family was within a few miles of Ashford, it is of course, by no means impossible that John Scott did belong to some of its collateral and obscurer branches; but it seems certain from the repudiation of the relationship by the family that the relationship, if it existed at all, was neither close nor desired. Op. Camden Britannia ed. Gough, 1806 ed., on the estate and family, and further reference to the family, and notes. Page 5, line 7: Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 90, 170-2, 182, 188, 1-26, 188, 182. Page 5, line 13: Southampton Town Eecords, I, 175. O. P. Allen, Scott Genealogy, p. 10. Page 8, Line 30: Howell, Hist. Southampton, and J. T. Adams, Hist. Southampton (this latter an admirable account). Brodhead, Docts. rel. to Col. Hist. N. Y., ed. by O'Callaghan and Fernow, also Hist. N. ¥., 1, 670. Pilling, 398. Conn. Hist. Coll., II, 8. Thompson, Hist. Long Island, I, 481, etc. Page 9, line 16: New Haven Eec, II, 89, 92. Page 9, line 31: Southampton Town Eec, I, 117-175 passim. Scull, Dorothea Gotherson, 30-1 n., 54 ff. Surrogate Eec, N. Y., Mar. 1657, quoted in A. S. Cook, Will of Ellis Coolc. Page 9, line 33: Conn. Hist. Soc Coll., Ill, 8. Page 10, line 14: Scull, 55. Pilling, Bibliography of the Algonquian Languages, 398, hereafter quoted as "Pilling." Owing to the circum- stance that this volume was almost miraculously preserved, a biography of Scott by that eminent bibliographer and historical scholar, Mr. Wilber- force Eames, was included in this work. It is an excellent account, as , far as it goes, and although I havei checked up aU its sources, I have No ' quoted it for convenience where that procedure saves space. Page 11, line 27: Conn. Hist. Coll., Ill, 8. PiUing, 398. Page 15, line 17: Not Thomas as stated in Mass. Hist. Soc. Proc, 1862-3, p. 67. See also Scull, p. 55. Page 15, line 28: C. S. P. Dom., 1662, passim; Palfrey, I., 569 n. Scull, 9; PiUing, 398; Arnold, Hist. B. I., I, 583; Palfrey, I, 565 n. 91 NOTES Page 16, line 21: Mass, Hist. Soe. Proc, 1862-3, 41-77; Calendar State Papers, Colonial, quoted as C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, Mar. 2, 1663, p. 125. Page 18, line 20: For the Gotherson episode see Scull, passim, esp. pp. 57-8; Eawl. MSS., 175 ff., 112, 119-123, 125-6, 128-9, 131-40, 144, 147. Page 20, line 7: See above Hist. Narragansett Patent references, esp. Pilling, 398; and C. S. P. Col. 1661-8, p. 125; Arnold, I, 383; Pal- frey, I, 565 n. Conn. Hist. Soe. Coll., Ill, 8; Van Eensselaer, Hist. N. Y., in 17tli cent., I, 500 ff. Page 21, line 6: C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 143; Palfrey, Hist. New Eng., I, 564. Page 21, line 31: Palfrey, I, 565, 566 n.; Pilling, 398; Brodhead, I, 725; Hutch, Coll., 380. Page 22, line 9: C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 147; Docts. rel. to Hist. N. Y., Ill, 46 ; Palfrey, 565 n. Page 23, line 16: Rawl. MSS. A, 175, ff. 110, 116. Page 24, line 14: Scull, 55 ff.; Brodhead, I, 726; Palfrey, I, 554, 566 71.; N. H. Eec, II, 510; Pilling, 398. Page 25, line 12: Southampton Town Eecords, II, 37; Brodhead, I, 726; Pilling, 398; C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, 173. Page 25, line 28: Brodhead, I, 726; Pilling, 398; N. H. Eec, II, 515, 541; Doct. Col. Hist. N. Y., II, 393, 399-40. Page 27, line 2: Cp. ref. to page 9, Line 33; page 23, line 16, etc. See also O'Callaghan, Hist. New Neth., Brodhead and Pilling to the same effect, and C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, pp. 147, 173; Palfrey, I, 566 n.; N. H. Eec, II, 515, 541; Docts. rel. Col. Hist. N. Y., II, 393, 399-407; Brodhead, I, 727. Page 28, line 8 : Pilling, Brodhead, I, 733-5, &c., as above. See also N. H. Eec, II, 539-540; Mass. Archives, II, 183; Palfrey, I, 566 ?i., 567. Hutch. Coll., 384; Pub. Eec Comm., I, 418. O'Callaghan, Hist. New Neth., II, 512. Page 29, line 17: Mass. Arch., II, 183, 184, 357; N. H. Eec, II, 539- 540; Palfrey, I, 566 n., 568 n., 567; Hutch. Coll., 384. Palfrey, I, 567 n. Brodhead, I, 733; PiUing, 398; Doc. rel. Hist. N. Y., Ill, 400. Page 30, line 11: Cp. above and Palfrey, I, 568 n.; Comm. Eec, I, 436. Page 30, line 14: Comm. Eec, I, 436; Palfrey, 568 n.; Pilling, 398. Page 31, line 2: Van Eensselaer, I, 525 ff.; C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 225; Pilling, 398. Page 31, line 13 : Pub. Eec Comm., I, 436, 441 ; II, 16, 36, 50. Page 34, line 9: Doc. Hist. N. Y., Ill, 86; Brodhead, Van Eensselaer, Pilling, etc Pub. Eec Conn., II, 16; C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, I, 273, 415, 441; II, 36, 50. Page 34, line 24: C. S. P. Dom., 1665, p. 148; C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 607. Eawl. MSS. A, 175, 75 ff. Page 35, line 3 : Cp. ref. to 29 and C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 415. Eawl. MSS., 175 ff., 75 b. Scull, 59. Pilling, 398. Page 35, line 34: Cp. Van Eensselaer, Hist. N. Y. in 17th Century. Page 36, line 21: C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 337. 92 NOTES Page 38, line 11: See Scull, and Bawl, MSS. as above passim, esp, pp. 9-11 from Pepys' papers. Page 38, line 23: C S. P. Col., 1661-8, pp. 456, 529. Page 39, line 19: C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 529, 478, 480, 483. Page 41, line 5: Scott's Relation, quoted U. S. Boundary Comm. Rep'ts. C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 480, 483. C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 482. Page 42, line 4: Rawl. MSS., A, 175 ff., 149-56. Page 43, line 30: C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 189, 493. Page 44, line 3 : Col. Treas. Bks., 1667-8, p. 386. l Page 44, line 8: Col. Treas. Bks., p. 386, 597. Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f.,- lOo. Page 42, line 23 : C. S. P. Col., 1661-8, p. 478, 499, 539. Page 47, line 13: Eawl. MSS., A, 175, ff. 372. Also quoted in U. S.^ Comm. Venezuela Boundary, Vol. I, p. 173 n. Page 48, line 29: Scull, 12-15. Page 49, line 22: Scull, 12-15, from Mornamont Papers, Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 372 ff. V , , Page 50, line 5: C. S. P. Dom., 1667-8, p. 493. Page 50, line 11: Eawl. MSS., A, 175, f., 1-29, 53-54 b., 315, 335, o^Oy oOly out , Page 53, line 8: Eawl. MSS., A, 173, 175 passim, many references, 319, etc., 331, 359 b, 360, esp. f. 29; Scull, do. from same source; Wheatley, Pepys' Diary, Introd., XXXV. Page 55, line 8: Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 35-356; Scull (from Morna- mont papers). Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 262 ff. Page 55, line 20: Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 66. Page 55, line 26: Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 179; Scull, 63; Eawl., A, 188 f., 262 ff. Page 56, line 14: Eawl. MSS., A, 175, 195, 195, 367; do. 190 f., 117. Page 56, line 21: Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 168-172 b, 185, 268, 270^ ^i Li IT, Page 57, line 2: Rawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 190. Page 57, line 11: Eawl. MSS., A, 175 f., 163-4 b, 173; ScuU, 30 (Mrs. Gotherson to Pepys). Page 61, line 6: Scull, 61. Page 61, line 19: Scull, 62; H. M. C. Eepts., I, 21; IV, 245 f. Page 61, line 29: Aff. Etrang., cxxxi f., 183, quoted in Burghclere, Buckingham, p. 353. Page 63, line 8: Rawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 114 ff. Page 63, line 13 : Eawl. MSS., A, 173 f., 200. Page 63, line 28: Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 129-129 b; do. 175, 163-4 b, 114 ff. Page 64, line 8 : Rawl. MSS., A, 188 f ., 127. Cp. also Pollock, Popish Plot, 61, and notes, Scull, 65, Coventry Papers, xi, 396. Page 65, line 27: PoUock, Popish Plot, 61-64, 69 n. App. B, infor- mation quoted. Page 67, line 14: Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 272 ff. 93 NOTES Page 68, line 30: Cp. Pollock, Popish Plot, passim, 106 f£.; Wheat- ley, Pepys' Diary, xxxii ff. ; Janner, Pepys and the Popish Plot, Eng. Hist. Eev., Apr., 18&2; Scull, 16, 17. Page 69, line 7: Grey's Debates, VII, 303 ff. Page 73, line 30: Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 32-35 f. Page 74, line 3 : Wheatley, Pepys ' Diary, xxxiv. For a better account see the original editioin of the Diary by Smith. See also Mercurius Anglicus, 17 Mar., 1679-80, where James publicly acknowledges the falsity of his evidence. Page 74, line 8 : Rawl, MSS., A, 175 f ., 336. Page 74, line 24: Scull, 16, 17. Page 75, line 21 : Rawl. MSS., A, 190 f ., 56 ff. Page 76, line 33: Eawl., 175, 177; SeuU, 205-6. ScuU, 20, 25. Eawl. MSS., A, 188 flf., 278, 313, 46-53, 194, 56, 7. Page 77, line 12: Not content with claiming connection with the Scotts of Scott 's Hall in Kent, he seems at times to have hinted at his kinship with the greater Scott family, the dukes of Buecleugh, whose heiress, Anne Scott, married Charles IPs son, the Duke of Monmouth. Page 77, line 34: These papers are preserved in part in the Eawl. MSS. collection in. the Bodleian Library, Oxford, from which these notes are chiefly derived; in part among the Pepys papers in Magdalen Col- lege, Cambridge; in part in the British Museum. Some are calendared in Andrews' Bibliography of documents relating to colonial history in British archives. Some are calendared in Col. State Papers, Dom. and Col. The best example of Pepys' questionnaires is his letter to S. Pett, Jan. 17, 1679-80, quoted with answer (from Mrs. Gotherson) in Scull, 25. This seems to set at rest any question that this was the same man, which has sometimes been questioned, even were there not a mass of similar corroborative evidence to this effect. See also Eawl. MSS., A, 188 f., 262. Scull, 17. Eawl., A, 175 f., 92-3, 157, 193, 81. Mornamont Papers [Eawl. MSS., A, 173, 175, 188, etc.]. See also Burghclere, Buckingham, for letter to Louis XLV carried by Scott, Nov., 1678 (from Aff. Strang., cxxxi f., 193), which goes far to confirm this. Page 78, line 7: Scull, 22. Milborne's testimony. Eawl., A, 175, 683. Page 79, line 3: Rawl. MSS., A, 178 f., 145 ff. Intelligencer, 20 May, 1681, do. 23 May. Eawl. MSS., A, 178 f., 164, inquest on Butler. Rawl. MSS., A, 178 f., 178, 238, 238 b, 260, as to murder; Scull, 65-6. Page 80, line 6 : Rawl. MSS., A, 190 f ., 56 ff. Page 80, line 12 : C. S. P. Dom., 1694-5, p. 487, June, 1695. Page 83, line 17: Rawl. MSS., 175 f., 43. Page 85, line 31: See U. S. Comm. Venezuela Boundary Eepts., 1896-7; English Blue Bks., same subject and date and Suppl. Rept., U. S. C. Page 86, line 25: Pollock, as above. JUL