him in peace and
friendship. Carteret, probably perceiving his purpose, refused to go,
and requested of him if he had anything necessary to communicate to
come to him, as he was now not far from his residence, and as he,
Carteret, had been so frequently at the fort in New York, he should
come once to his house, where he might be assured he would be welcome.
Hereupon the governor returned again to New York with his object
unaccomplished, and shortly afterwards, by proclamation, declared the
nullity of the government of Carteret; that at the most he was only
the head of a colony, namely, New Jersey; and that he was guilty of
misusing the king's name, power, and authority. He sent boats several
times to Achter Kol to demand the submission of the place to his
authority, which the people of Achter Kol jeered at and disregarded,
being ready to uphold the king and their own governor, whom they bound
themselves by an oath to maintain. This occurred repeatedly, and
Carteret said that so far from wishing himself to oppose it, he would,
on the contrary, immediately submit, if the governor of New York would
produce the least authority from the king for what he claimed or did.
He however never brought forward anything of the kind, but continued
his proceedings; and at night, and unseasonable hours, and by
surprise, took from New Jersey all the staves of the constables out of
their houses, which was as much as to deprive them of the power to
act. Seeing he could accomplish nothing by force, he declared the
inhabitants released from their oaths to the Heer Carteret; they
answered they could not acknowledge any release from their oaths,
unless by the same authority which had required it of them or the
exhibition of a higher one, that of the king. At length he corrupted
one of Carteret's domestics, for Carteret had no soldiers or
fortifications, but resided in a country house only. He then equipped
some yachts and a ketch with soldiers, arms, and ammunition, and
despatched them to Achter Kol in order to abduct Carteret in any
manner it could be done. They entered his house, I know not how, at
midnight, seized him naked, dragged him through the window, struck and
kicked him terribly, and even injured him internally. They threw him,
all naked as he was, into a canoe, without any cap or hat on his head,
and carried him in that condition to New York, where they furnished
him clothes and shoes and stockings, and then conducted him to the
for