USA > New York > The Empire State: a compendious history of the commonwealth of New York > Part 12
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IVIS
ANY
De Nonville now appealed to Dongan as a Roman Catholic to aid him in converting the Indians to Christianity. Dongan was not ASSIDUI 168 6 deceived by this false pretence. He promised to do all he could to protect the missionaries SEAL OF THE CITY OF ALBANY. among the barbarians ; that was all. The Governor of New York outwitted and out- generalled the Governor of Canada at every point, though the latter was ably assisted by the venerable Lamberville, the Jesuit priest at the Onondaga Castle. Exasperated beyond measure, the discomfited De Nonville wrote to the French Minister : " I am dis- posed to go straight to Orange [Albany], storm their fort, and burn the whole concern."
In May, 1687, De Nonville, with a force of over two thousand French
* In 1686 (July 22d) Governor Dongan incorporated Albany as a city, with large fran- chises, including the management of the Indian trade, and appointed Peter Schuyler to be its first mayor, Isaac Swinton its recorder, and Robert Livingston its clerk. Dirck Wessels, Jan Jansen Bleecker, David Schuyler, Johannes Wendell, Levinus van Schaick, and Adraien Garritse were appointed aldermen ; Joachim Staats, John Lansing, Isaac Ver Planck, Lawrence van Ale, Albert Ryckman, and Elbert Winantse, assistants ; Jan Bleecker, chamberlain ; Richard Pretty, sheriff ; and James Parker, marshal. Such was the first political organization of the city of Albany, the capital of the State of New York.
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DE NONVILLE'S INVASION.
regulars, Canadians, and Indians, coasted along the southern shores of Lake Ontario and penetrated the Seneca country from Irondequoit Bay. Eight hundred of his regular troops had been sent over from France for this expedition. The invaders desolated the Seneca country, destroying all the stored corn (more than a million bushels), the growing crops, cabins, and a vast number of swine belonging to the natives. Then De Nonville took possession of the country in the name of the French king ; but by an act of foul treachery and atrocious cruelty he gave a death-blow to Jesuit missions among the Five Nations, and confirmed their friendship for the English. De Nonville had employed Lamber- ville, the venerated Jesuit priest at Onondaga Castle, to decoy many Iroquois chiefs into a stronghold under the pretence of holding a confer- ence. There the dusky representatives of their people were seized, put in irons, sent to France, and committed to the chain-galleys at Marseilles. This was done to strike the Five Nations with terror. It had an oppo- site effect. The missionaries had to flee for their lives before the angered braves, and Lamberville was saved only by the generous protec- tion of the chief of the Onondagas.
In the spring of 1688 the province of New York was " consolidated " with New England under a colonial viceroy (Sir Edmond Andros), and formed a part of the ephemeral political organization known as the "Dominion of New England." At this time the king, as he informed the Pope, was preparing to " set up the Roman Catholic religion in the English Plantations."
The viceroy arrived in New York from Boston in August, and was received by the loyal aristocracy with great parade. In the midst of the rejoicings news came that the young queen (James's second wife) had given birth to a Prince of Wales, heir to the British throne. The event was celebrated by the royalists the same evening by bonfires in the streets and a banquet at the City Hall. At the festive board Mayor Van Cort- landt became so hilarious, it is said, that he made a burnt sacrifice to his loyalty of his hat and periwig, waving the blazing victims over the banquet-table on the point of his straight sword.
The Dutch inhabitants of New York (as well as the Protestant repub- licans) were disappointed. They had looked forward with hope for the accession of James's daughter Mary, the wife of their own Protestant Prince of Orange, to the throne of Great Britain ; now it could not be hoped for excepting on the death of the infant Prince of Wales or revolution. The latter alternative was near at hand.
The folly and recklessness of King James in his efforts to establish the Roman Catholic as the State religion of his realm alarmed the Pope,
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
who said to his cardinals : "We must excommunicate this king or he will destroy the little Catholicism which remains in England." Before this remedy could be applied the fate of King James was fixed. His folly and recklessness had aroused the whole English people to a keen sense of the danger impending over their liberties.
The crisis was soon reached. The king unwisely declared that none should serve him but sneh as would aid him in his designs. There was soon an open rupture between the monarch and the Anglican Church and the great universities, which he sought to control. The royal soldiers in eamp, the Churchmen and Dissenters, the Whigs and the Tories coalesced in sentiment, and an invitation was sent secretly to William of Orange to come and "deliver the land from popery and slavery."
William had expected such an invitation for a long time, and was ready to accept it. He gathered a fleet in Holland, for what purpose neither James nor his friend and coreligionist, Louis of France, knew. After accepting the call of a nation for help, William published a decla- ration that he was bound for England to save the liberties of the people there, and to investigate the alleged birth of a Prince of Wales, " in which matter he and his wife were deeply concerned.
With a strong land and naval force William reached Torbay, on the coast of Devonshire, where he landed on November 5th, 1688. The best men of the country joined his standard. James was forsaken by his army and family ; even his son-in-law, Prince George of Denmark, who married the Princess Anne, joined the deliverers. Perceiving that all was lost, James secretly sent his queen and infant son to France, and soon followed them thither. He left his palace a little after midnight in December, and cast his Great Seal into the Thames ; but he was brought back. He succeeded in reaching France not long afterward. So ended the Stuart dynasty in Great Britain.
On the flight of the king the government authority was assumed by the House of Lords. They requested William of Orange to take control of public affairs and to call a convention, to assemble on January 22d following. That body declared William and Mary joint sovereigns of Great Britain. James made efforts to recover the throne he had abdi- cated, but failed.
News of the revolution in England first reached Virginia, whence it
* It was alleged that the son of James's Italian wife was only a supposititious child, the offspring of another beside the queen. He was excluded from the succession. In 1715 he laid claim to the crown of Great Britain, and is known in history as " The Old Pretender."
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REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND.
was carried to New York, in February (1689), by a skipper, and com- municated to Francis Nicholson at Fort James. He was the lieutenant- governor of the province. He forbade its divulgence among the people, as he wished to prevent any "private tumults" until he could communicate with Andros, who was at Fort Charles at Pemaquid. Andros had departed from Pemaquid for Boston when the express arrived, and reached that place at near the close of March. The people there, suffering from the tyrannies of Andros, were on the verge of open insurrection when, on the 14th of April, a vessel brought to Boston authentic information of the accession of William and Mary. Andros was seized and cast into prison, and soon afterward he, with fifty of his political associates, was sent to England, charged with maladministra- tion of affairs in the colonies.
Meanwhile a crisis in public affairs had been reached at New York. The people there were also on the verge of insurrection when the " great news" was revealed in that city. The authority of Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson was questioned by a large portion of the inhabi- tants of the city and province. In: Richofom Two parties were formed, one composed of the adherents of James, the other of the friends of William and Mary. The SIGNATURE OF FRANCIS NICHOLSON. former embraced the aristo- cratie citizens, including Nicholas Bayard, the commander of the city militia, the members of the council, and the municipal authori- ties.
The friends of the new monarchs formed a large majority of the citi- zens. They maintained that the entire fabric of the imperial govern- ment, including that of the colonies, had been overthrown by the revolu- tion, and that, as no person was invested with authority in the province, it reverted to the legitimate source of all authority-the people -- who might delegate their powers to whomsoever they would.
Among the principal supporters of this view was Jacob Leisler, a German by birth, a merchant, the senior captain of one of the five train- bands of the city commanded by Colonel Bayard, and one of the oldest and wealthiest inhabitants. His wife was Alice, daughter of Govert Loockermans. He was a zealous opponent of the Roman Catholics, and a man of great energy and determination. He was kind and benevolent, and was very popular. He had just bought lands in Westchester County to form an asylum for persecuted Huguenots, who had fled from France
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes .* The domain was named New Rochelle, after Rochelle in France, from which place many of them eame.
Rumors of terrible things contemplated by the adherents of James spread over the town, and produced great excitement. The five companies of militia and a crowd of citizens gathered at the house of Leisler, and indneed him to become their leader and guide in this emergency. Colonel Bayard attempted to disperse them, but he was compelled to fly for his life. A distinct line was now drawn between the aristocrats, HON led by Bayard, Van Cortlandt, Robert Liv- OR ET I ingston, and others, and the democrats-the majority of the people-who regarded Leisler as their leader and champion. At his sug- gestion a " Committee of Safety" was formed, THE BAYARD ARMS. composed of ten members-Dutch, Huguenot, and English. They constituted Leisler " Captain of the Fort," and in- vested him with the powers of commander-in-chief-really chief magis- trate-until orders should come from the new monarch. This was the
Bajar
SIGNATURE OF NICHOLAS BAYARD.
first really republican ruler that ever attained to power in America. He took possession of Fort James and the publie funds that were in it, and in June, 1689, he proclaimed, with the sound of trumpets, William and Mary sovereigns of Great Britain and the colonies. Then he sent a
* Jacob Leisler was born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and emigrated to America in 1660. In 1683 he was appointed one of the commissioners of the Court of Admiralty at New York, and was the leader in the popular movement of assuming the functions of govern- ment on hearing of the revolution in England. The people chose him to be their governor until the new British sovereigns should send them one. His political enemies finally brought him to the scaffold in 1691.
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LEISLER ASSUMES POLITICAL CONTROL.
retter to the king, giving him an account of what he had done. The New Englanders commended Leisler's acts. Lieutenant-Governor Nichol- son, lacking spirit, and fast bound by " red tape," perceiving the strong support given to Leisler by the New Yorkers, departed for England after formally giving authority to his councillors to preserve the peace during his absence, and until their Majesties' pleasure should be made known.
At this juncture the northern colonies were thoroughly alarmed by the opening hostilities of the French and Indians on the frontiers. A convention of delegates from the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New York assembled at Albany, and there held a con- ference (September, 1689) with the heads of the Five Nations. The New England delegates tried to persuade the Iroquois to engage in the war against the Eastern Indians, but they wisely declined. They, however, ratified the existing friendship between them and the English colonists.
Jacobfeiler
SIGNATURE AND SEAL OF JACOB LEISLER.
Nicholson's desertion of his post gave Leisler and the Republicans great advantages. He ordered the several counties of the province to elect their civil and military officers. Some counties obeyed, and others did not. The counter influence of Nicholson's councillors was contin- ually and persistently felt, and Leisler and his party became greatly incensed against them, especially against Bayard, who was the chief insti- gator of the opposition to the " usurper," as he called the Republican leader. So hot became the indignation of Leisler and his friends that Bayard was compelled to fly for his life to Albany. The other council- lors, alarmed, soon followed him. At Albany they acknowledged allegi- ance to William and Mary. They set up an independent government, and claimed to be the true and only rulers of the province. In this position they were sustained by the civil authorities at Albany.
Leisler now sent his son-in-law, Jacob Milborne, an Englishman, with three sloops filled with armed men and ammunition to take possession
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
of Albany, protect the inhabitants against the menaced attack of the French from Canada, and to assert there the supreme power of the peo- ple's governor at New York. Mil- borne was instructed to withhold assistance against the barbarians in case he should be denied admission to the fort.
Milborne, with his force, arrived at Albany early in November, and demanded of Mayor Schuyler, who had been appointed the commander of the fort, admission to it. It was refused. At that time a convention, largely controlled by Robert Livingston, composed of delegates from each ward in the city, was sitting daily in Albany, and exercising executive authority temporarily. A deputation was ROBERT LIVINGSTON. sent from the convention to meet Milborne. They introduced him to the convention, when he harangued the members for some time, bnt with little effect. Then he presented his credentials to the recorder, and afterward harangued the populace in front of the City Hall, but they were not responsive.
Milborne now took a bolder step. He flung open the gate of the city near the fort, marched his men out with loaded guns, and drawing them up in front of the stronghold, made a peremptory demand for its surrender. Schuy- 3 ler refused compliance, and caused a protest of the convention to be read from one of the bastions. Some Mohawk warriors, who had been watching Milborne's movements from a neighboring hill, sent word to Schuyler that if the New Yorkers should attack the fort they would fire on them. Perceiving his 5 peril, Milborne took connsel of prudence, THE LIVINGSTON ARMS. withdrew, dismissed his men in confusion, and hastened back to New York. A letter soon came from the sheriff at Albany reporting treasonable words spoken by Robert Livingston con-
SPERO MELIORA
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LEISLER ORGANIZES GOVERNMENT.
cerning King William. Leisler ordered Livingston's arrest, but he escaped to New England. Soon after this event a letter arrived at New York by a special messenger from the British Privy Council, directed to " Francis Nicholson, Esq., or, in his absence, to such as, for the time being, take care for preserving the peace and administering the laws in His Majesty's province of New York." Bayard having heard of the document, entered the city in disguise, had a clandestine interview with the bearer of the letter, and claimed the right, as one of Nicholson's councillors, to open the despatch. The messenger refused to let him have it, but delivered it to Leisler, whom he found acting as governor by the grant of the people. Leisler at once caused the arrest and im- prisonment of Bayard on a charge of a "high misdemeanor against His Majesty's authority." From this time the opposition to Leisler's government assumed an organized shape, and was sleepless and re- DE D. lentless. Leisler justly regarding himself as invested with supreme power by the people and the IB.RE spirit of the letter from the Privy Council, at once assumed the title of lieutenant-governor ; appointed councillors ; made a new provincial seal ; established courts, and called an assembly to VLIEI provide means for carrying on war with Canada. The aggres- sive old Count Frontenac was FIRST GREAT SEAL OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW YORK .* again governor of that province, and was making preparations to extend the French dominion southward. The conflict that ensued will be noted presently.
Colonel Henry Sloughter was appointed Governor of New York, but did not arrive until the spring of 1691. Richard Ingoldsby, a captain
* The first great seal of the province of New York was sent over by Governor Sloughter from William and Mary in 1691. It bears the full-length effigies of the joint sovereigns, before whom kneel two Indians in the position of offering gifts. The woman presents to the queen a beaver-skin ; the man presents to the king a roll of wampum. On the reverse of the seal are the royal arms of Great Britain, with the inscription round the circumference : SIGILLUM PROVINC : NOSR : Nov : EBOR : ETC. IN AMERICA. This seal was superseded by one sent by Queen Anne in 1705.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
of foot, arrived early in the year, with a company of regular soldiers, to take possession of and hold the government until the arrival of the gov- ernor. He was urged by Leisler's enemies to assume supreme power at once, as he was the highest royal officer in the province. He hangh- tily demanded of Leisler the sur- render of the fort, without deigning to show the governor his credentials. Leisler, of course, refused, and or- dered the troops to be quartered in the city. Ingoldsby attempted to take the fort by force, but failed. For several weeks the city was fearfully excited by rival fac- tions-" Leislerians" and "anti- Leislerians."
On the arrival of Governor Slonghter, in March (1691), Leisler GERARDUS BEECKMAN. at once loyally tendered to him the fort and the province. Under the influence of the enemies of Leisler, the royal governor responded to this meritorious action by ordering the arrest of the lieutenant-governor ; also Milborne, and six other " inferior insurgents"-Abraham Gouver-
Beechman Major 1690
SIGNATURE OF GERARDUS BEECKMAN.
neur (Leisler's secretary), Gerardns Beeckman," Johannes Vermilye, Thomas Williams, Myndert Coerten, and Abraham Brasher - on a
* Gerardus Beeekman, son of William Beeckman, was a leading citizen of New York, living at Brooklyn. He was a physician, and took a prominent part in public affairs. He was one of Leisler's warmest adherents, and was a member of his council. After Leisler's death Dr. Beeckman was tried for treason, condemned, and sentenced to be hung, but was pardoned by order of the king in 1694. IIe was a member of the provin- cial council under Governors Cornbury, Hunter, and Burnet, and died in 1724.
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SENTENCE OF LEISLER AND ASSOCIATES.
charge of high treason. The accused, were imprisoned. "Bayard's chain was put upon Leisler's leg." The enemies of the latter were re- solved on swift revenge.
When the accused were arraigned, Leisler and Milborne refused to plead to the indictment, for they denied the authority of the court which had just been organized for the purpose, and was composed wholly of Bayard's political friends. The judges were all councillors, and the petit jury was composed of "youths and other bitter men," quotes Brodhead. The trial, as had been predetermined, resulted in the convic- tion of the accused, and they were sentenced to be hanged. All but Leisler and Milborne were afterward pardoned. The excepted prisoners had appealed to the king, but the perfidious councillors did not send their ap- peal to His Majesty ! THE BEECKMAN ARMS.
Evident enemies of Leisler, in Albany, sent word to Bayard, at whose house Governor Sloughter was staying, that the Mohawks, disgusted with the mismanagement of Leisler, were in treaty with the French, and that it was indispensable that the governor should quickly conciliate the Five Nations. Bayard urged the governor
Abat Jourmeur
SIGNATURE OF ABRAHAM GOUVERNEUR.
to act promptly. So urged, he asked the opinion of his Council, in which Bayard was most powerful. That body unanimously resolved, " That, as well for the satisfaction of the Indians as the asserting of the govern-
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
inent authority residing in his Excellency, and preventing insurrections and disorders for the future, it is absolutely necessary that the sentence pronounced against the principal offenders be forthwith put into execu- tion." This resolution was communicated to the Assembly, which answered, " that this House, according to their opinion given, do approve of what his Excelleney and Council have done."
The governor hesitated ; for, though a libertine in morals and an habitual drunkard, he was a just man, and had determined not to sign the death-warrants of the convicted until he should hear from his sov- ereign, supposing Leisler's appeal had been sent to him.
Meanwhile the people, in large numbers, signed petitions to the gov- ernor for the pardon of these prisoners. The council became alarmed, and caused the arrest of some of those who brought the petitions. Fear- ing the effects of the daily increasing clamor of the people ; determined to have the lives of the prisoners, and finding they could not induce the governor to violate justice or his conscience, the councillors con- spired to extort from him his signature to the death-warrant by foul means. They invited him to a dinner-party at the house of one of them, on Staten Island, on a beautiful day in May. One of the coun- cillors carried to the banquet a legally drawn death-warrant, and when the governor was sufficiently stupefied by excessive dranghts of wine, he was induced to sign the awful paper, unconscious of its purport. It was sent to the sheriff at New York the same evening, and the next morning Leisler and Milborne were summoned to prepare for immediate execution. They sent for their wives and children, and after a sorrow- ful parting, the two victims were led to the scaffold in a drenching rain. Their enemies, fearing the governor might reprieve the prisoners, kept him drunk, and the victims were hanged before he became sober." The scaffold stood near the site of the Tribune building, on Printing House Square, New York.
An eye-witness of this murder by the form of law wrote that just at the moment of the execution the heavens grew black, the rain fell in torrents, and the screams of women, who were present, were heard on every side. Restrained by the troops, only a few citizens were present. Milborne, seeing among them Livingston, one of the worst
* We have observed that six of the friends of Leisler condemned to death were pardoned. On the day of the execution of Leisler and Milborne (May 16th, 1691) the Legislature of New York passed an aet for the pardon of all such as had been active " in the late disorders." Twenty-two persons received the benefit of this act. In 1699 an act of indemnity was passed in favor of all these persons excepting Leisler and Milborne.
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EXECUTION OF LEISLER AND MILBORNE.
enemies of Leisler, said, " Robert Livingston, I will implead thee at the bar of Heaven for this deed." Leisler uttered a prayer for bless- ings upon the province and his family ; and alluding to his enemies, he said, " Father, forgive them ; they know not what they do."
" Thus perished," says Hoffman, "the loyal and noble Captain Leisler of New York ; so loyal to his king, so noble to his compatriots." His enemies extended their malice to his family and that of Mil- borne. They were attainted, and their property was confiscated. But justice was swift in righting a great wrong. Before four years had passed by their property was restored, and the British Parlia- ment declared that Leisler and Milborne were innocent of the crime of treason.
When the governor became sober, he was appalled at what he had done. He was so keenly stung by remorse and afflicted by delirium tremens that he died a few weeks afterward. Calm and impartial judgment, enlightened by truth, now assigns to Jacob Leisler the high position in history of a patriot and martyr.
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THE EMPIRE STATE.
CHAPTER IX.
THE revolution of 1688 in England produced much suffering in some of the English colonies, for it was the cause of war between Great Britain and France, which extended to their respective American dominions. It continued about seven years, and is known in American history as "King William's War."
In this conflict the Indians bore a conspicuous part, and terrible were many of their achievements. Under the influence of Jesuit priests they became allies of the French.
Hostilities began in the East in the summer of 1689. The Indians attacked the frontier settlements of New England in July, killing and torturing many white people. In August a war-party fell upon the stockade at Pemaquid, in Maine, and captured the garrison. A few months later Governor Frontenac sent an expedition into New York, with the design of seizing Albany. He had gathered at Montreal a large military force of French and barbarians, and in the dead of winter (February, 1670) he despatched over two hundred French and Indians (eighty of the latter were " praying Indians," or Roman Catholic con- verts), under two lientenants, with orders to penetrate the Mohawk country and attempt the capture of Albany.
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