A history of New York, for schools

Preface

A FEW words respecting the origin of our present population, and the motives which induced the first emigrants to seek a home in a new world, may not be amiss as a preface to a history of New York.

The Puritans, or Pilgrims, who abandoned all that men usually hold dear, and sought a resting place in the wilderness ^^for conscience^ sakej^^ were people of property and education ; and although there were among them men of high attainments and heroick character, equality was the distinguishing feature of the colony. They were democratick republicans. None were distinguished as the rich, or despised as the poor — none were ignorant — none were immoral. Such were the settlers from whom a great portion of the present inhabitants of this State have sprung.

4 PREFACE.

The original emigrants to New Amsterdam were such as may be the boast of their descendants ; and the second race that flowed in upon and mixed with them, were at least their equals. In 1609 Henry Hudson saw the Highlands of Navesink. In 1614, Adrian Block and Hendrick Christianse landed the first Dutch colonists on this shore. In 1620, the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Rock. Of those who arrived in her, a poet has said,

Amidst the storm they sang : And the stars heard, and the sea ! And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free !

Yes ! " amidst the storm they sang" the praises of their Creator — Amidst the howlings of the wilderness and the yells of the savage, they forgot not that the only sure foundation for a republick is education. In ten years from the landing of the Pilgrims, they established the university of Cambridge.

Thus we see, that hoioever honourable the descendants of the Dutch colonists of New Amsterdam may, and ought, to esteem

PREFACE, their origin^ the progeny of the New England settlers, who now form so great a part of our city's population^ may claim as high and pure a source. Neither must we forget another race, as pure^ in the persecuted protestants of France, many of whom sought and found a resting place here, adding to the brightest intellectual light of the country.

It is not our part to forget, but to forgive. And while we remember the injuries inflicted and attempted by the government of Great Britain, let us bear in mind t?ie many, many blessings, we owe to England and Englishmen. The first press that came to the Colonies was sent from England — the first printer that came hither was an Englishman ; — the sentiments of republicanism we now feel are from England ; — we owe to her literature, law, religion — not to her government, but to her poets, philosophers, statesmen, and divines. To enumerate the good derived from England, would require pages ; but I must mention one that is beyond all price — language. Our language is that of Shakspeare and Milton ; — while those who are not familiarized to the idiom of

PREFACE.

these great men from infancy, are blind to thei? beauties, to us they are as " household words,'' ever in our mouths and in our hearts.

If these little books should render the history of the State of New York more familiar to the generations who are to follow me, and whose duty it will be to support her honour and increase her prosperity, my end will be attained.

THE AUTHOR.

J

Introduction

Mr. Martwell had finished reading the last of a multitude of letters which he threw, as lie hastilyglanced over them, on the breakfast table. " And now," said he, " to the counting-house and answer them."

'■ Ever to the counting-house, nephew," said a venerable gray-haired man, who sat, book in hand and spectacles on nose, near the window.

" Yes, uncle, I to the counting-house, you to the libraries. How goes on your collection of documents upon New York history ?"

'■ I daily add some fact, or overthrgw some error."

" You know, sir, that brother Philip, before he went to Europe, instructed my boys in the history of their native state to a certain period : — I could wish you would amuse yourself by continuing the lessons."

" Philip had a happy facuUy of engaging their attention, and making instruction an amusement."

" And have I not seen you sit with little Phil and Mary, one on each knee, their eyes and mouths staring and a-gape, while you recounted the adventures ot Benjamin Broadaxe the carpenter, who turned sailor, and his courtship of Dolly Dumpling the cook's daughter?"

" Pooh ! pooh ! child's play ! But pray, sir, why do you not instruct your own children?"

" Two reasons, uncle. Ignorance and want of time. I must attend to business."

"And as I am out of date — a thing of past time, — I am only fitted to prepare children for the future. Be it so. I love your children, and would not have them grow to maturity as ignorant as their father ; therefore, I will make some preparation, and undertake the task."

"Preparation! Why you are as full of old stories as Mother Bunch."

INTRODUCTION.

" Thank you for the comparison. But the preparation I mean, is a collection of pictures. I would impress truth upon their minds through the eye, as well as ear. Go you to your counting-house. I will think of the scheme."

Some days after this coMoquy, the old man called his nephew's childrjen around him, (no unusual thing,) telling them he had something to show them.

" Here are two pictures. The good girl and the studious boy."

" Why this is our Mary !" said Philip, (a boy scarce ten years of age.)

" To be sure it is. Is she not a good girl ?"

" Ah, now I know why Mary was shut up with you in your study, and you would not let me in. You were painting her picture !"

" I am glad to find, my boy, that you can draw conclusions from that which you know; and that your deductions so truly point to by-gone circumstances or appearances, not understood previously. You will, in time, learn to conclude from your knowledo:e of the past and present, with some degree of certainty, what the future may produce."

"I don't understand you, sir," said Philip.

" You understand me, John ?" said the old gentleman.

" I think I do, sir. You mean that when Philip is older he will be able to guess, or lo judge, of that which is 10 come, by the knowledge he has attained of former events ; and by the persons and things that shall then surround him."

" That is my meaning," said Mr. Betterworth, (for such was the old man's name.)

" For example," said William, (a boy of more fierydemeanour than his elder brother,) " we know how to gain a battle, by reading of the faults committed by a general who lost one ; or of the measures which insured a glorious victory to a successful hero."

" I am glad to find that you are aware, at so early an age, of the uses that are to be made of historical

INTRODUCTION. 3

truth ; but I had much rather that the lesson taught should be how to make men live happily, than how to destroy them. I hope, William, that you will learn to see by the light of history that war originates in evil, and inflicts every species of misery ; and that there is more glory due to the peace maker, than to the conqueror of kingdoms and exterminator of armies. Nay, boy, the teacher of a truth is of more worth than all the blood-stained heroes recorded from time immemorial."

"But, uncle," said Philip, the youngest boy, "you show us a good girl and a studious boy. Is the boy good, as well as the girl ?"

" I mean to say that he is, when I call him studious."

" Then both are good ; and yet the boy is barefoot and poor, and the girl is dressed like a rich man's daughter."

" I mean a lesson in that. I would teach you that goodness may, and does, reside with the poor and with the rich. I would willingly reprove the rich person who concludes that vice must reside with poverty, and the needy man or woman who imagines that all who prosper are wicked. I would have the poor love the rich, and the rich love the poor ; as their Creator loves them all. Ah, here comes Mary, just from school, with the same hat and cloak and good-girl smile that I have given to the picture. To-morrow you must all come to my study ; I have something more to show you, and something more to sav to you."

RULERS OF NEW YORK, FROM 1625 TO 1777.

Rulers of New Netherland under the government of the States General of the United Netherlands, and the privileged West India Company, icith the title of Directors General.

Peter Minuit, 1625

Wouter Van Twiller, 1633

William Keift, 1638

Peter Stuyvesant, 1647

Rulers of New York under James Duke of York, with the title of Governor.

Richard Nichols, 1664

Francis Lovelace, 1567

On the 30th of July, 1673, the Dutch retook New Netherland, and chose as Director or Governor Anthony Colve, 1673

but at the peace of Breda the territory was ceded to England, and the Governors under the Duke of York were Sir Edmund Anaros, 1674

Thomas Dongan, 1683

By the death of Charles and accession of James to the throne of England, New York became a king's government; and Dongan was Governor under the King until 168S, when the people threw off the government of James for that of WilHam III, and chose Jacob Leisler Commander in Chief of the province.

Jacob Leisler, Sept. 1689

The titles of the subsequent rulers will be designated thus : P. C. President of the Council ; L. G, Lieutenant Governor; G. Governor.

Dec.

C.

Jacob Leisler, L. G.

Henry Sloughter, G.

Richard Ingoldsby, P.

Benjamin Fletcher, G.

Lord Bellamont, G.

John Nanfan, L. G.

Lord Cornbury, G.

Lord Lovelace, G.

Richard Ingoldsby, L. G.

Gerardus Beekman, P. C.

Robert Hunter, G.

Peter Schuyler, P. C.

WiUiam Burnet, G.

James Montgomerie, G.

Rip Van Dam, P. C.

William Cosby, G.

George Clarke, L. G.

George Chnton, G.

Sir Danvers Osborne, G.

James De Lancey, L. G.

Sir Charles Hardy, G.

James De Lancev, L. G.

Cadwallader Colden, P.C.

" L.G.

Robert Monckton, G.

C. Colden, L. G.

Sir Henry Moore, G.

C. Colden, L. G.

Lord Dunmore, G.

William Trvon, G.

Wilham Tryon, G.

First native American Governor, and Governor of tht independent State of New York,

George Clinton, 1777

Contents

OP

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Chapter I

Henry Hudson sees the Navesink hills, p. 10— Jolin Colman killed, p. 11 —Rum and tobacco, p. 12— Hudson's River, p. 13 — Hudson betray ed by Green, and turned adrift to perish in the Northern Ocean, p. 17.

Chapter II

Arrival of Block and Christianse — Helle-gaat, p. 18 — Commencement of New York and Albany ; first fort on Manhattan Island, p. 19 — Second Fort, p. 20 — Peter Minuit, p. 21 — Dutch houses, p. 22 — Wouter Van Twiller, p. 23 — Governor Kieft, p. 24 — Huys van goede hope, p. 24 — Peter Stuyvesant, p. 25 — Surrender to the English, p. 25 — Charles II, and Duke of York, p. 26 — Nichols, Lovelace, Andros, Dongan, p. 26 — First representative assembly, p. 28.

Chapter III

James II. William ni. — Jacob Leisler, p. 29— Sloughter ; Leisler executed as a rebel, p. 31 — Fletcher governor, p. 32 — Col. Peter Schuyler, p. 33— First printing press in New York — William Bradford, p. 34— Printers and newspapers, p. 37.

Chapter IV

Lord Bellamont, p. 38 — Size of New York, p. 38— Kidd the pirate, p. 40 — Lieutenant-governor Nan fan, p. 43 — Lords Cornbury and Lovelace, Mr. Ingoldsby, p. 43 — Governors Hunter and Burnet, p. 45 — American congresses, p. 46 — Montgomerie, Vaiidam, Cosby, p. 47 — Lord Augustus Fitzroy and his wedding, p. 48 — Clarke, p. 49 — Crimes, slaves, redemptioners, and convicts, p. 51 — A story, p. 53.

* CHAPTER V.

The Negro plot— Stadt Huys or City Hall at Coenties Slip, p. 57— A new City Hall in Wall Street, p. 58— More of the Negro plot, p. 61-- John TJry, p. 63— Campbell and Highlanders, p. 66 — Burning of Schenectady, p. 72.

CHAPTER VL

Governor Clinton, p, 73 — Sir Danvers Osborne, p. 75 — Mr. Delancey, p. 76 — Sir Charles Hardy, p. 76— Story of Sarah Wilson and Tom Bell, p. 88.

CHAPTER VII.

Great designs of the French, p. 90 — Lord Chatham's opinion of men fit for governors of the Colonies, p. 90— Cadwallader Colden and Wentworth, p. 91 — Robert Monckton, p. 92— Story of Indian warfare, p. 94— Blessings derived from England, p. 95.

CHAPTER VIII.

Flatlenbarick hill, p. 97— Captain Isaac Sears, p. 100— Cause of tha war of 1775— Custom-house officers, p. 103— Captains of English armed ships made custom-house oflBcers, p. 103— Smugglers and informers, p. 103— Tarring and feathering, p. 105— Murder of a female by an English man-of-war firing into Mr. Rlcket's pleasure boat^ 105— Impressment, p. 110— Death of Lieutenant Panton, p.

8 CONTENTS.

llfj-MiViin Adams and Michael Corbett— the Trial, p. Ill— Stamp Act, p. 112— Congress at New York, p. 113— Reception of the stamps at New York, p. 115— Riot, p. 117— Governor Moore, p. 118— Letter of William Smith to Major Horatio Gates — Repeal of the Stamp Act and Lord Chatham's statue in Wall Street, p. 123.

CHAPTER IX.

Equestrian statue of George the Third set up in Bowling Green, p. 125 — Overthrown, p. 126 — Further attempts at taxation ; and disputes respecting quartering soldiers, p. 128 — Death of Sir Henry Moore, p. 129 — Meeting in the fields, and its consequences, p. 129.

CHAPTER X.

The liberty pole, p. 130— Contest between the citizens and the English soldiers, p. 134— Honours paid to Captain McDougal in jail, p. 137 — Phihp Schuyler, p. 138— Conclusion of the story of the princess, p. 140.

CHAPTER XI.

Insolence of the king's officers, p. 140 — Letter of a military officer, p. 141 — East India Company's tea, p. 143 — Isaac Sears, p. 144 — Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, and Nathaniel WoodhuU, a minority in the assembly, p. 145— Doctor Yeldall, the mountebank, p. 147— Sadenc^ of Mr. Merrymem, p. 149— Pirates, p. 150.

CHAPTER XIL

Indians, p. 151— The Six Nations, p. 152— Webster the interpreter, p. 153 — Confederacy of the Iroquois, p. 154— Customs and religion, p. 155— Hospitality, p. 157— Riches and poverty, p. 158 — Reformation of, the Onondagas, p. 159 — Education, eloquence, instabihty of reformation founded on deception, p. 160 — Ease with which the Indiana parted with large tracts of land — Johnson, Smith, p. 164 — Town of, Pompey, p. 165.

CHAPTER Xin.

French church, p. 167 — Case of spontaneous combustion, p. 168 — Governors Montgomerie, Tryon, Dunmore, p. 171 — Disputes with New Hampshire — Ethan Allen, Seth Warner — Bennington mob, p. 172 — Resolutions to send back the tea, p. 175 — Province house burnt, p. 176— Departure of Tryon, p. 177 — James Rivington and Obristopher CoUes, p. 179.

CHAPTER XIV.

Old house in New Street, p. 180— Arrival of the tea — The ship stoppec* at Sandy Hook, p. 181 — Arrival of Chambers and his tea, p. 1^ — Departure of the Nancy, p. 184- Great committee, p. 185— Delegates to congress, p. 185 — John Jay's declaration of rights, p. 187.

CHAPTER XV.

Settlement of New Jersey, p. 189— Delaware Indians, p. 190— An Interpreter's story, p. 193.

CHAPTER XVI.

Early government of New Jersey, and purchases from the Indians, p. 197— Perth Amboy, original name of the place, p. 198 — Story of robbers and counterfeiters, p. 205.

CHAPTER XVn.

Painting and painters, with other artists, p. 207— Newspapers, p. 207— Cunningham and Hill, at the liberty pole, p. 209— Cunningham provost marshal, p. 211 — Rivington and the committee of the provincial congress, p. 213— Minority in the New York legislature, p. 214— Doctor Warren, p. 216.

FOR SCHOOLS.

Chapter I

The interlocutors are three boys: John, aged 14; William, aged 12; Philip, aged' 10; one girl^ Mary, aged 8 ; and their Uncle, aged 71.

William. Now, that Uncle Philip has gone away, will not you tell us the history of New York during the war 1 You know he only told us how the quarrel began between America and England, and the most curious things must have happened after that. Now, do you tell us, Uncle ; you are older than Uncle Philip, and ought to know more.

Uncle. That does not follow, my boy ; Uncle Philip knows by reading. A man can know but little who does not read : he has read more than I have.

Mary. But you have seen all the people he told us about.

Uii. Oh, no, child. Do you suppose that I saw Henry Hudson ?

John. Hush, Mary. You should remember dates; Uncle Thomas told us he is 71 years old; and, of course, he can only remember what passed 50 or 60 years ago.

Phil. Uncle might remember many things that Uncle Philip could only know from hearsay, or reading of them.

Mary. I am 8 years last June, and I remember a long, long time.

10 HISTORY OF NEW JTORK.

Phil. Now, sir, you will oblige us all very much, if you will go on with the stories of old times. You have read all the books as well as Uncle Philip, and know some things of your own, besides.

Vn. Well, children, I will do as you wish ; but I must first examine you in respect to what you have been told. Do you think you remember the first part of the History of New York sufficiently to understand the second ?

Mary. O yes, sir: I remember all about Indians —

John. Hush, Mary.

Un. You, John, William, and Philip, having become some years older since your Uncle Philip taught you, should have gained more particular information on many points that were then only touched upon. And Mary is almost as old now as Philip was, when your Uncle gave you the first part of the history of your native town and state. I will question you, John, as the oldest, respecting the early history, and will perhaps add circumstances which, at that time, your Uncle thought you were all too young to understand. Who was the discoverer of this Island, and the beautiful hay and rivers that surround it ?

Mary. O! I know! Henry Hudson! Henry Hudson !

John. Henry Hudson, an Englishman, who had failed in his attempts to find a northwest passage for ships to the East Indies, and had been dismissed from the service of the English, was received into the employ of the Dutch East India Company, and in his third voyage of discovery, after coasting as far south as Virginia, he turned north again, and saw for the first time the highlands of Neversink.

Un. I should call them Navesink, which I believe was the Indian name.

Mary. But Uncle Philip said Never-sink ; and that you know means that they keep above water,

Un. Well, we will not dispute that point ; but, John, when did Hudson arrive in this neighbourhood?

John. He saw land the 2d of September, 1609, and next day entered the great bay between Sandy Hook, Staten Island, and Amboy.

Phil. And then, you know, the Indians killed John Colman.

Vn. You are right. Colman had command of a boat that was sent out to catch fish, and the Indians attacked the men, perhaps thinking that they had no right to come upon their fishing grounds ; so they discharged a flight of arrows, headed with sharp flint stones, one of which struck Colman in the throat and killed him.

Phil. Why didn't the sailors shoot the Indians ? Had they no guns in the boat ?

Un. Yes ; but the guns of that time were clumsy things, Avithout locks, and could only be fired off" by applying a match to the touchhole.

Mary. As they fire oflT cannon on the Fourth of July.

Un. Yes. And it so happened that the weather was rainy, and the sailors had let their matches become wet, so that they could not defend themselves, and got back to the ship as fast as they could, carrying poor Colman dying with them. You see, on the map, a little island outside of the Narrows, just off Long Island.

Johri. Yes, sir.

U71. Well ; there they buried Colman, and called the place Colman's Island.

Phil. It is called Coney Island on the map.

Un. We shall find that many places have had fheir names changed, as I think very foolishly.

Now, it is a pity the name of John Colman had not been preserved by calling the place of his burial after him ; for it appears that he commanded the boat which bore the first Europeans through that passage so familiar to us all, as the Narrows. They described it as entering a river between two islands, and said, that after proceeding some distance, they came to an open sea, for so they called our beautiful harbour. It is probable that the wet, rainy, or misty atmosphere, prevented them from seeing Manhattan Island and its rivers. After the death of Colman, many Indians came on board, and brought tobacco and Indian corn, which they exchanged for knives and beads. They afterward brought oysters and beans, as well as tobacco and corn.

John. Is it not strange, sir, that they should cultivate such a nauseous weed as tobacco?

Un. Is it not strange that civilized men should cultivate it?

John. They do it for the purpose of trade, sir.

Un. True, my boy, it seems as if for che purposes of trade and gain — men, calling themselves civilized, and Christians, will cultivate and manufacture any thing, however noxious. But it is equally strange, that civilized men should consume this nauseous weed; yet we find it sought after, and its juices, its smoke, or its dust, applied to the organs of taste and smell all over the world. There is an exciting, stimulating, intoxicating effect, produced by tobacco.

Phil. And you know, Uncle, that the Indians delighted in rum, which Uncle Philip said Hudson gave to them. Was it not vWeked to do so ?

Un. Europeans found they could gain their interested ends by distributing this poison among the Indians. We may lament that the poor ignorant savages should be tempted to an indulgence which deprives them of reason : but v/e must wonder that men who know that it is an evil, and leading to every enormity, should still continue a practice so degrading as the use of intoxicating liquors; or so base as the distribution of them among the ignorant of the savage or the civilized race. But go on, John. Did not Henry Hudson pass with his ship through the Narrows?

John. O yes, sir, and he went up the North river as far as he could find depth of water for his ship.

Phil. And he called it Hudson's river, and he landed among the Indians.

John. It is supposed that he went with his vessel, the Half Moon, as far as where Albany now stands, and then returned ; and after sometimes trading with the Indians, and sometimes killing them, he went back to Europe again, without going up the East river at all. It is said his men forced him to go to England, although he was sent out by the Dutch. The king of England kept Hudson from going to Holland, and employed him to make discoveries for Great Britain : but he i>ever returned to New York.

Un. So we have no farther to do with his history.

John. But we know that he was sent by the English on his fourth voyage, and discovered Hudson's Bay, and that he was set adrift in a boat by his crew, and was never heard of more.

Un. True ; and there are particulars of this mutiny which were published by a man who was on board the ship, which I have read, and think you ought to know. It was the 17th of April, 1610, when Hudson sailed on his fourth voyage of discovery. Before he weighed anchor, it had been Lis misfortune, as it proved, to be applied to for charity by a young man of the name of Henry Green, a Kentish youth of good familj'- and educacation, who had fallen into evil company and courses 2 in London ; had spent all his properly, and so disgusted his friends and relatives, that they turned him away as a worthless vagabond. He pretended repentance, and by his art gained the good will of Hudson, who took him to his house, and gave him employment, and, when he sailed, took him along as his clerk or bookkeeper. Green proved both a hypocrite and a reprobate. He gained Hudson's favour, and ill used the officers and men of the ship. The Captain's partiality created great dissatisfaction among the mariners, which was increased by the hardships they underwent among the ice and snow of the polar regions, and was brought to a mutiny by the failure of their provisions and the arts of Green.

W7n. I remember that Green was the rmgleader in the mutiny, as Uncle Philip told us ; but how could he be so, if he quarrelled with the sailors and was a favourite with the Captain.

Un. He was an unworthy favourite, a man of evil habits, in a word, children, he was selfish ; and the selfish are ready to destroy others for the gratification of their own ambition or vanity. Such are the great heroes and conquerors you read of, who, to accomplish their schemes, sacrifice the friends they mislead, the dependants who look to them for support, and the peaceful inhabitants of foreign countries ; who are denominated enemies, or hereticks, or infidels, or by any name that can deceive the soldiers who are led on to murder their fellow men : such have been all the great conquerors of the earth.

Mary. Uncle, I don't understand you.

Un. My feelings have made me forget that my auditors are children.

Wm. I think I understand.

John. I know I do ; for I have read of Alexander and Cesar; but I never thought of the miseries you speak of: then, Bonaparte — ah! I remember now what I read of the wounded men at Leipsic — and the poor soldiers in Russia ; thousands on thousands freezing and dying.

Phil. But Washington was a conqueror, and I am sure he was good.

Tin, He was victorious in defence of his country ; in repelling those who, if successful, would have been conquerors. The conquering hero is one who carries blood and devastation over other countries than his own; the victorious patriot defends the property, lives, and liberties of his countrymen. But we have left poor Henry Hudson in the ice, surrounded by mutinous, half-starved sailors, and exposed to the arts of the selfish Henry Green. This man became the enemy of Hudson apparently for a very trifling cause. The gunner of the ship died ; and, as is customarj'-, his clothing was sold by auction, that the sailors might buy what they wanted, and the money be kept for the heirs of the deceased. Green coveted a particular garment ; but Hudson justly sold it to the highest bidder, a man who chose to give more than Green. This was the ostensible cause of Green's enmity to his benefactor ; but the real cause was the wicked disposition he had acquired while a debauched spendthrift in London. It is in vain that you give to the selfish: they require all ; if you refuse the last thing coveted by the selfish man, yoii make an enemy of him, because he seeks his own gratification, rather than the welfare of his fellow. I have dwelt upon this, my children, because I shall show you in the history of New York, and could point out in all other history, just such men as Henry Green, seeking their own gratification at the expense of others.

John. I shall remember, sir ; and when you speak of a selfish man, I shall think of Green. But Green destroyed Hudson, the man to whom he owed so much.

Phil. And to whom we owe New York.

Mary. And Hudson's river.

Un. The wicked do not always prevail to the destruction of the good ; and when they do, they do not gain happiness for themselves, though their prosperity may flatter them for a time. Green, like many selfish men, could make himself agreeable by pretending to act for the good of others, and by flattering personal attentions to those he wished to gain. Green finding Hudson's ship in difficulty, surrounded by ice, provisions short, and the Captain still bent on pursuing his voyage for the benefit of his employers, paid his court to the sailors, and soon persuaded them that he was their friend, and that Hudson, for his own private views, kept them m these inhospitable seas, where their lives were m constant jeopardy. He told them that only fourteen days' provisions remained, and that they must take command of the ship and seek their safety, or starve; that by getting rid of Hudson, and some others, particularly the sick men, they would increase the share of provisions and the chance of escape ; that the Captain had concealed bread and other necessaries in his cabin, for his own private usO; while they were starving ; that self-preservation was the first law of nature, and to save themselves they must turn the Captain and the sick men adrift in the shallop.