USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 37
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The falsity of the alarm was quickly discovered, and the troops ordered to disperse. Instead of obeying the colonel or their captains, they crowded in a noisy and disorderly manner towards the fort, shouting, " TO CAPTAIN LEISLER, TO CAPTAIN LEISLER," and threatened all those who tried to restrain them. They pressed inside the gate, and, seeing the discomfited captains halting in their rear, they wildly swore ven- geance upon them unless they came in also. "We will pull down your houses over your heads," and " You are vile traitorous papists like Nich- olson and his dogs," rang upon the air. Prudence seemed the better part of valor, and the unwilling officers yielded to the popular clamor.
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Leisler had remained within the fort, and was ready with a document similar to the one prepared on Friday, which he read aloud as soon as he could obtain a hearing. It was received with riotous demonstrations of approval. Signers were called for, and over four hundred men put their names, or their marks to it, for a large proportion of them could neither read nor write. It was signed also by the captains and subordinate officers.
Colonel Bayard retired from the scene as soon as he saw that he could be of no use in stemming the rebellion. In the "west room " of Philipse's city mansion Nicholson and his three counselors remained all day; with- out soldiers and without fort, they were indeed but the figure-head of a disabled government. In the afternoon the master of the ship from Bar- badoes landed, but Leisler took care to have him conducted directly to the fort, where his papers were examined. The mayor and aldermen of the city learned through a passenger that William and Mary had been proclaimed at Barbadoes. They even saw a copy of the London Gazette which contained the order for continuing all Protestants in office in Eng- land. The hope was thus created that relief would shortly arrive in the shape of direct instructions.
But Sir William Phipps had clogged the way. He was so zealous for the establishment of a commonwealth in Massachusetts that he prevented the transmission of William's order continuing all persons in office in the colonies. When he himself arrived in Boston, his first act was to advise the Puritans to bend to circumstances, and proclaim William and Mary without delay. The General Court convened and voted an address to the new sovereigns, which contained happily expressed felicitations, and a prayer for the restoration of the old Massachusetts charter with new privileges. Dr. Mather stood guard over the interests of Massachusetts in England, and so explained the proceeding against Andros, that William was half convinced of its justice. At least, he was too nearly overwhelmed with the complicated affairs of his new government to enter into any special investigation of its remote branches while there was an outward show of peace. He therefore directed that the govern- ment which the Bostonians had established for themselves should be continued until further notice.
The next occurrence of any note in New York was the arrival of Philip
French, who had been in England on private mercantile business June 6. and had returned in the same vessel with Sir William Phipps. As soon as it was rumored that he was on the way from Boston, overland, Leisler placed sentinels and armed men some distance out of town to watch for him and conduct him to the fort. He was the bearer of letters
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THE DISABLED GOVERNMENT.
to different persons, which were all opened, and such as were addressed to the lieutenant-governor and counselors were read aloud to the soldiers. French was able to give an intelligent account of what had transpired in England, but he had no idea where the orders for New York had gone to, if there had been any, which every one believed. The next day a vessel entered the bay from Boston, and Leisler, on the alert, received the cap- tain with military parade and took his papers. Two letters addressed to Mayor Van Cortlandt were first opened and read aloud in the fort, and then forwarded to him. The act was regarded as an outrage, and the indignation of the helpless officers of the government was beyond expres- sion. Nicholson thought it wise to go to England and render a personal account of the condition of affairs, and this course was warmly approved by his associates.
Leisler wrote letters to the leading men in Boston and in Hartford. In one addressed to Major Nathan Gold, under date of June 7, June 7. he said he wanted to have " one trusted man sent to England to procure some privileges"; and, assuming to speak for New York, he added, " I wish we may have part in your charter, being, as I understand, in the latitude." This last passage is a revelation of ignorance which shows that he was acting independent of advice at that time; for among the captains were men of education and intelligence, who might have told him better if he had not been too self-sufficient to ignore the necessity of counsel. He penned an address to William and Mary, for the " Militia and Inhabitants of New York," giving a tedious and long-drawn-out narrative of recent events, and promising entire submission to their pleasure. It was signed by all those who had signed the previous docu- ment, with the exception of Captain Minvielle, who was sick of the "hot- headed proceedings," and declined to act any further with the revolu- tionists. He went to Nicholson and solicited and obtained his discharge from the military service.
The address was sent to some Dutch merchants in London, who June 10. were requested to deliver it to the king, and add if possible “ a seasonable word." The captain of the vessel who was to convey it across the water refused passage to Nicholson, and also to Rev. Mr. Innis, the Episcopal clergyman who was in haste to reach London with complaints. Nicholson went directly to Staten Island, and bought a share in Dongan's brigantine, and after much vexatious delay set sail on his voyage. He deputed Philipse, Van Cortlandt, and Bayard with the charge of New York affairs during his absence. The three gentlemen were each person- ally known to many of the prominent English statesmen, and their im- portance in the colony had been the steady growth of years. But now,
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
since aspersions had been cast upon their loyalty, it was esteemed best to counteract its effects as far as possible. Hence they wrote a letter to Secretary Shrewsbury, giving a detailed description of the overthrow of the government. To this letter was attached several confirmatory docu- ments. One was a Latin certificate from Dominie Selyns, signed by the consistory of the Reformed Dutch Church, in which the three gentlemen were declared to be " pious, candid, and modest Protestant Christians, fill- ing the offices of deacons and elders with consummate praise and appro- bation." Rev. Mr. Innis provided himself with written evidence from the Dutch and French clergymen, that he was a sincere and conscientious Protestant churchman.
Nicholson's departure gave Leisler unexpected advantage. He became stern and patronizing, magnified his questionable appropriation of author- ity into a noble patriotism, compared himself to Cromwell, and declared that the " sword must now rule in New York." He used lofty expres- sions in ordinary conversation, and put labored paragraphs into his letters, but he spelt like a washerwoman. He changed the name of the fort from James to William, and called a convention for the 26th of June to organ- ize a "Committee of Safety," in imitation of Boston. He never fully understood the principles which underlay the movement in Boston, and had little or no conception of the singular tact and address which guided her through her perils. He was blindly infatuated with the new and novel idea of his own greatness, which had burst upon him like a meteor. Everything for the moment wore a silvery tinge. He commended his fellow captains for their dutiful deference to him. But erelong the ablest of them proved less tractable than he had anticipated ; while attempting to remove from office the Roman Catholic Collector, Plowman, he was met so squarely in opposition by Captain De Peyster and Captain Stuy- vesant, who would have nothing to do with violence under any circum- stances, that he was obliged to desist.
William and Mary were proclaimed at Hartford on the 13th. June 13. Shortly after, Major Gold and Captain Fitch set out for New York on horseback, with a copy of the printed proclamation and letters of advice and encouragement to Leisler. The news that they were on the way preceded them. The mayor and aldermen of the city had remained passive 'during the confusion, but it was agreed that they should meet the Hartford gentlemen, if possible, before their interview with Leisler. Therefore Mayor Van Cortlandt, accompanied by Colonel Bayard and several of the aldermen, rode out into Westchester, hoping to encounter
them on the road, and finally stopped to dine at the house of June 20. Colonel Lewis Morris. They discovered there that they had been
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DRINKING THE NEW KING'S HEALTH.
followed the whole distance by Leisler's son and Sergeant Stoll. They did not meet the travelers either, who entered the city by another route and held an interview with Leisler that same evening at the fort.
The next morning Mayor Van Cortlandt called upon Messrs. Gold and Fitch, and asked for the proclamation, in order that the city might June 21.
do suitable honor to the new sovereigns. But it was already in
the hands of Leisler. The following morning it was read to the soldiers in the fort. A little later, Mayor Van Cortlandt was visited at his residence by Leisler, Gold, and Fitch, accompanied by a file June 22. of halberdiers. Leisler accused him of shirking his duty, and ordered that William and Mary be proclaimed from the City Hall. Van Cort- landt replied with some asperity, that it was well known that he had made great efforts to obtain the proclamation for that very purpose, but now, as Leisler had taken it upon himself to read it in the fort, he might read it where else he pleased. Leisler flew into a rage and accused Van Cortlandt of siding with the Catholics and King James. Hot words fol- lowed. In the end Van Cortlandt expressed his willingness to summon the aldermen, and give notice to the citizens, if he could have an hour's grace.
When they had assembled at the City Hall, Leisler arrogantly ordered Van Cortlandt to read the proclamation. The latter was exasperated by the tone of command from a man who, although his senior by many years, was not his superior, and replied that the person who had read it in the fort in the morning should be called upon again, as he had no clerk. Leisler retorted, denouncing the mayor's conduct in strong language and calling him a "papist." The crowd, not understanding the drift of the dispute, became excited, and called out, "Seize the traitor !" and " Down with popery !" Van Cortlandt stepped forward and explained that he was not hindering the reading. Quiet was at last restored, and the proc- lamation was read by one of the captains.
The Hartford envoys listened to the stories of " hellish designs " until they said their " flesh trembled." They imbibed the popular belief that New York was full of "papists," who might at any moment rise and butcher peaceful Protestants. They congratulated Leisler upon his cour- age and invincible loyalty. As the people dispersed from about the City Hall, Colonel Bayard invited the mayor and aldermen to go with him to his house and drink the new king's health. The invitation was accepted. While going through the ceremony with great enthusiasm, a messenger came from Messrs. Gold and Fitch, asking them to join Cap- tain Leisler and his officers in the fort and drink the new king's health. In order to let the people see that they were not lukewarm subjects of
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
a new dynasty, they consented. The mob, however, gathered about them in a riotous manner, and were disposed to do them mischief. Alderman Crundall was violently ejected from the fort and seriously injured. The sheriff was pounded and kicked, and had his sword taken from him. Colonel William Smith was called a "devil and a rogue," and escaped rough usage by running. Philip French was struck on the side of his head with a musket and stunned. Van Cortlandt attempted to pass out, and was met with abuse on all sides, while a deafening shout rent the air of " We don't want you here."
A fire was discovered in the evening in the turret of the church in the fort, under which the powder was stored; it was supposed by many to be the work of the " papists," a demoniacal design to destroy the fort and the town.
Two days later Mayor Van Cortlandt obtained a copy of the royal proclamation which confirmed Protestant officers in their places June 24. in the colonies, and which had been, so disastrously for New York, detained in Boston. He convened the aldermen and the citizens at once, and published it in the same manner as William and Mary had been proclaimed on the 22d. Thus was established beyond question the authority of Philipse, Van Cortlandt, and Bayard, who held their com- missions from the crown.
Leisler was furious over the occurrence. He charged "Jacobitism " upon every one who would not join his standard. He called the three counselors " popishly affected, lying dogs." He saw undoubtedly that he was in danger of losing his position unless he labored vigorously to sustain it.
The next morning Van Cortlandt convened the counselors June 25. and the Common Council of the city at his house, and conferred long and earnestly. They thought it best to remove Collector Plowman, " for the peace of the restless community," and appointed commissioners to take his place until a successor should arrive from England. Colonel Bayard, Thomas Wenham, John Haines, and Paulus Richards were chosen, took the customary oaths and the keys, and entered upon their duties.
In less than half an hour there was an uproar. They had only had time to change the "J" in the king's arms to a " W." Leisler came upon them with a company of soldiers, and ordered them out of the building. The resolutions of the mayor and council were pasted over the door. Leisler read these with contempt. Colonel Bayard attempted to argue the position, but was met with the old charge, " You are all rogues, trai- tors, and devils." The soldiers jerked Wenham into the street by the neckcloth, and battered and bruised him until some bystanders remon-
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ALMOST A COLONIAL REVOLUTION.
strated to save his life, and were in turn assaulted and nearly murdered. Bayard was cut at fiercely, but the crowd was so thick that only his hat was injured. He succeeded in escaping into the house of Peter De Lanoy, which was immediately surrounded and in danger of being pulled down. Bayard made his further escape after a time. But the startling cry was raised, and spread from one end of the town to the other, that " the rogues had sixty men ready to kill Captain Leisler."
The next day Mrs. De Peyster, the mother of Captain De Peys- June 26. ter, and Mrs. Van Brugh went to Mrs. Bayard, and told her that her husband was in hourly peril of assassination, and advised that he should leave the city for a time. He was similarly counseled by some of the aldermen, who were amazed at the fury with which he was pursued. Assisted by his friends, who provided horses for him some miles above Philipse manor, he, at- tended by two negro slaves, managed to es- cape to Albany, where he was hospitably re- ceived and entertained by Mayor Peter Schuy- ler and Robert Livings- ton.
Leisler appointed Pe- ter De Lanoy collector of the customs, having successfully routed the commissioners. Then the Convention which he had summoned came to- Portrait of Hon. Peter Schuyler. (From the original painting in the possession of the family.) gether. The excitements of the last few days had convinced half the town that the other half were concealing daggers and about to rise and sustain the Roman Catholics. To deny the charge was almost equivalent to a confession of guilt. Many of the delegates were men who were struggling with imperfect ideas of a democratic goverment, and openly promulgated the sentiment that "there had been no legal king in England since Oliver Cromwell." Two of the delegates seeing the tendency of the Convention to make Leisler com-
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
mander-in-chief, withdrew after the first session. The remaining ten formed themselves into a "Committee of Safety." Their names were, Richard Denton, Teunis Roelofse, Jean De Marest, Daniel De Klercke, Thomas Vermilye, Samuel Edsall, Matthias Harvey, Peter De Lanoy, Thomas Williams, and William Lawrence.
They appointed Abraham Gouverneur clerk of the committee. June 27. He was a young man of nineteen, the son of the French Huguenot, Nicholas Gouverneur. He had a remarkable education for one of his years. He could read, write, and speak readily the three languages chiefly spoken in New York, and kept the records with great clearness and pre- cision.
The first business of the Committee of Safety was to appoint Leisler
"Captain of the fort." He was to open all letters and examine all June 28 strangers that came into the city. Every person suspected of popery was to be arrested and thrown into prison.
Six weeks afterward these ten men, assuming to represent a few of the towns near the metropolis, issued a second commission appointing Leisler commander-in-chief of the province. It was illegal, and served to illus- trate the errors into which men will fall who are unaccustomed to rule. Had the authority of such a commission been resolutely questioned it would have tumbled into dust. Leisler argued the necessity of the measure as a prevention against anarchy. He must have more power. Should the French attack the province, or the "Jacobites " rise to carry the colony by storm, the want of harmony in Albany and elsewhere would prove fatal to all concerned. So the Committee of Safety gave him what they did not possess, and he tightened his reins and became more arbitrary than ever.
Meanwhile the time for the regular holding of the mayor's court was approaching, and Leisler determined to put a stop to it. He sent July 2. a message the evening before to Paulus Richards to the effect that if the mayor undertook to hold court, "the people would haul the magis- trates by the legs from the City Hall and he would not hinder them." The morning came, and Mayor Van Cortlandt sent John Lawrence, Francis Rombouts, William Merritt, and Thomas Crundall to the fort to consult Leisler in regard to his intentions. But he only repeated the threat. The aldermen did not care to run the risk of encountering a mob while they had no means of defense, so the mayor's court was ad- journed for four weeks, presuming that by that time relief in some tangi- ble shape would have arrived from England.
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NEW YORK UNDER LEISLER.
CHAPTER XX.
1689 - 1691.
NEW YORK UNDER LEISLER.
NEW YORK UNDER LEISLER. - THE ELECTIONS OF 1689. - MRS. VAN CORTLANDT'S COUR- AGE. - LEISLER'S EXECUTIVE ABILITY. - ALBANY IN PERIL. - INDEPENDENCE OF ALBANY. - MAYOR PETER SCHUYLER. - MILBORNE'S DEFEAT. - CONNECTICUT TO THE RESCUE. - COLONEL NICHOLAS BAYARD. - CAPTAIN LODWYCK IN DISGRACE. - CAP- TAIN DE PEYSTER IN DISGRACE. - THE ROUGH SEARCH FOR COLONEL BAYARD. - WIL- LIAM III. OF ENGLAND. - THE TANGLE IN NEW YORK. - THE KING'S LETTER TO NICHOLSON. - NEW YORK THREATENED BY THE FRENCH. - LEISLER'S AGENT AT WHITEHALL. - MATTHEW CLARKSON. - THE KING'S LETTER SEIZED BY LEISLER. - LEISLER'S ASSUMPTION. - AN OUTBURST OF RAGE. - PHILIP FRENCH IN A DUNGEON. - THE JAILS AND PRISONS FILLED. - ARREST OF COLONEL BAYARD. - ARREST OF WILLIAM NICOLLS. - PURSUIT OF ROBERT LIVINGSTON. - THE FRENCH ON THE WAR- PATH. - BURNING OF SCHENECTADY. - SHOCKING MASSACRE. - ALBANY APPALLED. - ALBANY SUBMITS TO LEISLER. - THE FIRST COLONIAL CONGRESS IN AMERICA. - LEIS- LER'S VIGOR. - WHOLESALE COMPLAINTS. - CONNECTICUT'S REBUKE. - DESPOTIC LAWS. NEW ROCHELLE. - WEDDING OF LEISLER'S DAUGHTER. - ADVICE FROM BOSTON. - THE GOVERNMENT OF NEW YORK AS ORDAINED BY WILLIAM III. - ARRIVAL OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR INGOLDSBY. - THE CITY IN TUMULT. - LEISLER AGGRESSIVE. - BLOODSHED IN NEW YORK. - GOVERNOR SLOUGHTER'S ARRIVAL. - LEISLER IMPRIS- ONED. - THE SUNDAY SERMON. - THE TRIAL OF LEISLER AND HIS COUNCIL. - LEIS- LER AND MILBORNE UNDER SENTENCE OF DEATH. - THE ASSEMBLY OF 1691. - DR. GERARDUS BEEKMAN. - SLOUGHTER'S CHARACTER. - SIGNING OF THE DEATH-WAR- RANT. - THE EXECUTION OF LEISLER AND MILBORNE. - IMPRESSIVE SCENES. - EF- FECTS OF LEISLER'S DEATH. - THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. - DEATH OF SLOUGH- TER. - INGOLDSBY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. - ETIENNE DE LANCEY.
T New York was under a military despotism. Leisler counted THE summer passed away in tolerable quiet. The city of 1689. all as "Papists " who would not recognize his authority. As none of the city magistrates would administer the oaths of allegiance in the fort, he sent for Dr. Gerardus Beekman, a Long Island justice, to perform that service. On one occasion four Cambridge students came into the city with Perry, the postman, and on suspicion of papacy were arrested and their letters seized and examined. Even the drums beat an alarm and four hundred soldiers appeared. But the modest travelers were found to
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
be honest men, and were set at liberty. Several prominent citizens were arrested without warrant, and there was no time when many persons were not lying in prison for disaffection to the new government.
Aug. 25. In August Jacob Milborne returned from Holland, where he
had been staying for some months. His : elder brother, William Milborne, was an Ana- baptist minister who had taken an active part in the overthrow of the gov- ernment of Andros. He himself declared that the English Revolution justi- fied all that had been done in New York. He became an arm of strength to his old friend with whom he had formerly been associated in com- mercial ventures. He took up his abode in Portrait of Dr. Gerardus Beekman. (From an original painting in possession of the family.) Leisler's family. He was by no means a genial companion; his disposition had been soured by early misfortunes, and his mind was one great uncultivated field of reformatory ideas. But his English education and his indomitable pluck were invaluable. Leisler's letters henceforth appeared in better dress, and were less subject to criti- cism. Ensign Stoll was sent to convey a document to Whitehall which was full of loyal asseverations. Leisler explained how in June he had been made captain of the fort, but omitted to mention his last absurd commission.
As the customary time for elections approached, Leisler ordered the towns and counties to proceed to choose new officers for the coming year. The charter of New York required that the mayor and sheriff of the city should be appointed annually by the governor and council, and the clerk by the governor, and that they should remain in office until others should be duly appointed in their places. The charter also ordained the Catho- Sept. 20. lic feast of Michaelmas as the time to elect its aldermen. On that day the voting went on in the different wards, but the Leisler fac- tion were alone in the field; their opponents denied the legality of the whole proceeding. Robert Walters, the son-in-law of Leisler, was returned as one of the aldermen.
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MRS. VAN CORTLANDT'S COURAGE.
Leisler was perplexed as to how to manage about the mayor and guber- natorial appointments. He finally summoned the Protestant freeholders of the city together to elect them. A few only were present, and the majority of votes were for Peter De Lanoy. This was the first election of a mayor by the city, or what was supposed to represent the city, of New York.1 Johannes Johnson was returned as sheriff, and Abraham Gouverneur as clerk. Leisler issued a proclamation on the birthday of James II., as the charter dictated, confirming the election. Thus Oct. 14. with characteristic inconsistency he violated one most essential point in the charter, and rigidly observed two others touching upon noted Catholic days.
A constable was sent to the house of Mayor Van Cortlandt to obtain the city charter, seals, records, etc., -for what were city officials without municipal paraphernalia ! Van Cortlandt was not at home. A commit- tee was then appointed to wait upon Mrs. Van Cortlandt and demand them of her. She was a sister of Mayor Peter Schuyler of Albany, a tall, grandly proportioned woman, with a touch of imperialism Oct. 16. about her, as if born to command. She received the committee politely, but declined to give up anything which had been left in her care by her husband. A sergeant-at-arms next visited her, but when she learned his errand she coolly shut the door in his face and defied his blustering threats. An effort was then made to find and imprison Van Cortlandt, but without success.
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