The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-01-29

OLD MANUSCRIPTS.
Valuable P%archments, of
Two Centuries Ago,
Sadly Neglected.
FOUND IN THE RUBBISH
They We're on the Floor in the
N. ]. Historical soclety's
Rear Room.
FOUND IN THE RUBBISH

have been removed and many more BUSH
els remain. The sound of the dustpah
and the brush are heard throughout the
place, and there is to be no capituiaton
until the last evidence of disorder mas
disappeared. they have there now a star
wart colored man who is kept constantly
at work wrestling with the heaps OF rub
bish.f piling pamphlets in order, hustiing
antiouated tones and bringing forth TO
the light of day strange old parchments
which have not been disturbed for many
a long year, says the Newark Sunday
Call."
A few days ago they came upon some OF
the most valuable of all the society's
treasures buried beneath a heap OF ODDS
and ends. down upon the floor. 1t was a
packet of old p~archments, unique ana TO
the historian worth far more than their
weight in gold; and yet no one had for
twenty years or so known where these
parchments were. 1t was supposed mat
no one had been unkind or wicked enough
to remove them, but they might just as
well have been in South Africa. Dr. Mott
came upon the ~parchments one day While
overseeing the cleaning operations. He
rescued them from their undignified posi-
IlOn OIL Tie iOOi dHo eheJ
" provided for hereafter.
These old parchments were exhibited at
the Centennial in 1876, at Philadelphia, and
no one has seen them since. They have to
no with the early history of New Jersey
at the time when the monarchs Oh Eng
land were parcening off the land on this
side of the ocean among their frlehos anu
favor;tes Two or three of them have
been more or less seriously injured Wy
neglect. Their long sojourn on the hooi
nnder a mass of rubbish has had It's ell
feet. They were folded up and the creases
have in some instances worn throush'
making Sits across the manuscript
Whenever these Sits have occurred IN d
corner of one of the folds the edges nave
gradually worn away, leaving unSlgn.ly
holes Dampness has done its WORK .oo.
ana across the faces of some OF the mos
valuable parchments are unslghtiy Stains
almost obIiterating the writing.
rrhasa old documents were all drawn
nm in fhe Seventeenth Century. They are
csueds sIndentures'' and the CLERKS VINO
made them were experts IN tnelr my. ~ ~
OF them is none other than the -ce p.1l 81
Commit Parti'' grant by James, LUKE VI
York to five gentlemen of northern NEW
Jersey. The date is 1880, and the pounaah,
ries of the. grant are set 1orth WI ha
tedious exactness- On the paek VI liz
narchment is the following, still clearly
5eeinherable. although it was penned
over two centuries ago: Package x. NO.
Edward Byllinge. William Penn, GaMen
Iawrfe. Nicholas Tuers. John Eldrldge
and Edward Warner. Aug. 8, 1850: :
The William Penn here mentioned rs
none other thar the William Penn OF
Pennsylvania, about whom everybody
who knows anything at all concernins
early American history, knows some
thing. Then there is a little dlamonu-
SHAPED place on the outside of the parch-
ment. made by the fskillful arrangement
of a red and white braided cord, passed
lin and out of holes puhclareu II ~
sheepskip. and in the centre of that space
is the signature of James, Duke OF YORK:
He wrote himself James, simply, as II
there were none others of that name IN
all the world. The old red and whlte
cord has faded woefully, and the whole
instrument seems pitifully shabby one
can scarcely realize that it was the means
Of dividing UP thousands and thousands
of acres OF the best land in all this State.
The FIVE men who received the Dement'S OF
the grant soon sold it in parcels.
Now. the children in the schools read
in and study in their histories of this
same grant and of others of which the
New Jersey Society possesses the original
documents. What better lesson could
there be than that these pupils should
come to the society's rooms and see for
themselves the old documents, just as
they are and with no nonsense ABOUT
them? A youngster in school is apt to
iOOh jill LndL PdI VI 1AA7 ibo&DA
tells of deeds. grants releases. etc, as
very dry studying. He prefers the Indian
fighting and SO on If he We're allowed
to see the old papers and look at them
he would lose much of his idea that all
such things were dull and dry.
One of the most interesting of all. the
old instruments which have been rescued
from the rubbish heap, is a most impos-
Ing looking parchment, q deed from King
Charles II. to the same Duke. of York, in
which he says: 81 do give and grant unto
our dearest brother. James. Duke of York,
his heirs and assigns. all that part of the
Mayne land of New England and then
he specifies. The grant covers a large
stretch of territory. and sthe ease with
which it is given away is astonishing to
us of today, who have no idea of the
value of all this property: Had the old
kin so much as dreamed of the wealth
of the "Mayne land of New England his
worthy eyes would have popped out of
their sockets, and it is very much to be
doubted if he would have been so gener-
ous. The instrument starts out in most
imposing fashion. in Latin. and goes on
bravely for two lines, when, without the
slightest warning. by means of periods or
anything else, it drops into English with
out a capital even to mark the transition
There is a fine picture of the king on the
document, wrought as a part of the initial
letter, at the beginning of the paper. 1t
shows him in fun black wig, big collar
and all the accoutrements of the time.
This old wood engraving is exceedingly
valuable in itself. Attached to this in
5 strwm farni i q f + igy gpld s e fairly but bla ak
~ II 49,
and from rubbing about on the floor of
the bach room of the Historical Society's
apartments, it has taken on a somewhat
bedragg1ed appearance. II has fastened
upon it a block of yellow wax, which is
cracked and whitened in spots. with age.
Probably the signature of old "Carolus
Secundusv was on the outside of the
document somewhere, but it is practical
1y. if not entirely. obliterated. In one
place you can still make out the letters:
schar1." which may possibly be the first
part of the monarch's signature. Here
and there IN the parchment, faint marks
of a quill pen can be discerned. but the
passing of the years has well nigh de-
stroyed them. The traces seem like dim
figures seen through a mist: like human
forms disappearing In the gloom of past
ages.
Then there is another document. in
which the Duke of York gives a lease for
a year to Sir George Carteret. for the
northern part of New Jersey, on july rs.
1894. Here the signature OF the great Duke
is in an excellent state of preservation.
In still another parchment Duke James
grants the whole of New Jersey to
Lords Berkeley and Carteret in 1864. How
easy 1t was to give land away in those
daysi Millions on millions lay hidden
behind those grants, of which no man
dreamed.
The old parchments are to be carefully
looked after from now on. They will be
preserved in cases, and will be ranged
so as they can be seen in so far as prac-
ficahle. Tt is impossible to restore them
to the condition they were before they
found their way into the rubbish heap,
for some nave great stains. to remove
which would mean the removal of the