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1064 to visit the New England Governments, wlio declare they find “ the Limits of Massachusits Bayto be Seconnet Brook on the South west, and Merimack River on the North East and two Right Linesdrawn from each of those two places till they come within Twenty miles of Hudsons River.” Nor anExtract of a Letter from Colonel Nicholls Governor of New York in November 1605 to the Duke ofYork in which Speaking of the Agreement made with Connecticut he says, “ this Determination was aleading case, of Equal Justice and of great good Consequence in all the Colonies , and therefore we wereassured would be an acceptable Service to your Royal Highness, though to the Diminution of yourBounds, so that to the East of New York and Hudsons River, nothing considerable remains to yourRoyal Highness except Long Island , and about Twenty miles from any part of Hudsons River. Ilook therefore upon all the Rest as Empty Names and places possest forty years by former Grants,and of no consequence to your Royal Highness ; except all New England could be brought to submitto your Royal Highness’s Patent.”
If any Settlement was then made by the Commissioners and the Massachusetts Bay, it appears noton Record, altho’ that with Connecticut in the same year, is Registered in both Provinces—And ifactually made, it w'as unauthorized, the Powers to the Commissioners being expressly confined tothe Disputes between the New England Governments, Namely—Massachusits Bay, Connecticut , NewPlymouth, Rhode Island & the Providence Plantations , as evidently appears from the Commission, acopy of which I inclose Your Lordships; nor can it be supposed that the Crown meant to invest aPower in the Commiss rS to settle Boundaries between the Governments of New England and thisProvince, the Commission bearing Date in April 1664, and the conquest of this Government fromthe Dutch not taking place till the month of August following—There is also a Mistake in theAssertion, that the “Places were Possest forty yeares by former Grants,” unless by the Dutch —forthe English did not settle to the Westward of Connecticut River till 1635 or 1C36, which settlementwas made Southward of the Massachusits south line without authority from any Government ; theDetermination then, in respect to Connecticut could not with propriety be considered as a Leadingcase of Equal Justice in all the Colonies ; nor could the Boundary of Connecticut River , have affectedthe other Governments so materially as Connecticut , as those Governments have a far greater ExtentEastward than Connecticut . This Reasoning is Justified also, from the Consideration that the Crowndid not by any act Ratify or approve the opinion of the Commissioners, or of Governor Nicholls whowas one of them, but on the contrary, after the Dutch had in 1673 reconquered this Province, andby the Treaty of Breda in 1674 yielded it to England , made a second Grant to the Duke of York inthe Same Terms with the first. And it appears by the Minutes of the Agreement with Connecticut in1683 that Governor Nicholls and the other Commissioners had been deceived in the Line theyestablished with that Colony in 1664, which instead of leaving to this Province twenty miles Eastof Hudson’s River soon cross’d that River and left the far greatest part of that River out of NewYork Government.
Massachusits Bay hath nothing I humbly conceive to urge in Support of their claim to a TwentyMile Line, East of Hudson’s River, but a possession gained in opposition to the Letter and Spiritof their Grants from the Crown, thro’ the Inattention of this Government. This argument may inEquity intitle Individuals to a confirmation from the Crown of the Lands they actually possess,rendering to His Majesty the usual Quit Rent reserved in this Province, but cannot be offeredas conclusive on the part of the Crown in respect to its Interests arising either from its Revenue ofQuit Rents, which by computation at 2|6 p 100 acres would amount to near ,£1200 sterling pannum, or from Escheats; neither can it with Justice I think be extended to the case of thoseInhabitants of New York , who hold Land Eastward of a Twenty Mile Line, the Lands being at the