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1 Duer's "Discourse on Kent," p. 14. 6 This work was published by T. & J. Swords, 2 Thompson's "History of Long Island," 2: 187- No. 167 William street, New-York, in the year
189. 3 See his "Practice, N. Y.," edition of 1794. 4 Dubois vs. Phillips, Ex., 5 Johns, 235.
5 Mrs. John Watts, Sr., nee Ann De Lancey. VOL. II .- 40.
1794, and serves to note the points of departure at that time.
7 "Johnson's Cases," 30 ; 1 "Johnson's Chan- cery," 100, 117, 517, 607.
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entry in 1777 shows that the party plaintiff was " The People of the State of New-York," and no longer "Dominus Rex," the reader would not infer that the blank leaves stood for a revolution, the most mo- mentous of all revolutions in history. If the character of the great courts of equity and law remained in the year 1799 much the same as under the crown government, the resemblance of the inferior ju- dicatories was not less marked. The courts of common pleas in the various counties, and the courts of the justices of the peace, were only survivals of a preexisting state of things that came in with the English common law. So the general sessions of the peace and the Oyer and Termi- ner, possessing criminal juris- diction, were part of the very early English institutions of New-York.1 Up to the year 1799 there was little that was new here excepting the repub- lican form of government.
BULL'S HEAD TAVERN.
During the period between the formation of the State government and the year 1800, the pre- ponderating influence of those who had been reared under the old form of government is very manifest; the changes in the substan- tive law of New-York were consequently very few. The great law officer of the State was Robert R. Livingston, the chancellor, who held office until the year 1801, when John Lansing, Jr., succeeded him. Unfortunately, Chancellor Livingston's decisions have not been published, but it was said by Chancellor Jones, long afterward, "that this august tribunal (the Court of Chancery), though since covered with a halo of glory, never boasted a more prompt, more able or more faithful officer than Chancellor Livingston."" This tribute is fully corroborated by the character of the chancellor's published opinions which were rendered while he was a member of the council of revision, and by his standing rules in chancery, which are always a species of legislation. Chancellor Livingston's personal influence was augmented by the fact that he sat in a tri- bunal which was not new to the people of New-York. The court had been erected in 1683, before Lord Nottingham, styled "the father of English equity," had ascended the "throne of equity," as it was called by the lawyers. The chancery jurisdiction was greatly feared, and the enormous power of the New-York chancellor in the pres-
1 1 "Johnson's Cases," 180. 2 Francis's address to the Philo-lexian Society of Columbia College, 1831, p. 29.
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK 627
ent century came to be an anomaly in a republic, and one bitterly assailed by the generation of democratic lawyers who came on the political scene subsequent to the year 1800, and who were not indoc- trinated with the traditions of the chancery bar or of Westminster Hall, or bred in the offices of the ante-Revolutionary lawyers. The downfall of the power of the chancellor of New-York forms an inter- esting page in the history of this present century, and well marks the cessation of that old school of manners and habits which survived the War of Independence. It does not belong to the present chapter. Until about 1800 the habits of thought of the lawyers here seem to have been modeled exclusively on those of the English bar, and there was very little effort to escape from the legal traditions and habits of England. Solaio Sant Romy While the conservatism thus engendered acted as a very desirable check on hasty legislation under a new form of government, it had its bad side in a tendency to aggrandize and perpetuate political power in the lawyer class-a tendency visible in the constitution of 1777, which this century had to undo.
The constitution of 1777 provided that attorneys and counselors should be appointed by the court and licensed by the first judge, and be regulated by the rules and orders of the court (Section 27). By an act of the State legislature' all attorneys, solicitors, and counsel of the province, who had not served in Congress or under the State government, were suspended until after an inquisition, by the free- holders of the county, as to their loyalty. If, on such inquisition, the lawyers were found loyal, they might be restored to practice by the court. In 1781 this act was further amended so as to require the attorney-general of the State to appear on such inquisitions, and de- barring all lawyers whose suspension was removed who should not take an oath of allegiance within a certain time prescribed.2 Prior to the year 1800, three years' study in the office of a practitioner was necessary to qualify an applicant for the position of attorney. Attor- neys after two years' practice could apply for a counselor's license, which was granted, upon an examination of abilities, by the court.
The qualifications of the lawyer class were of extreme importance under the first constitution of New-York, and were so treated, for they might be called upon as lawyers to exercise political functions new to the history of their profession. Indeed, by a singular provision of this constitution, they were the only class in the State deemed com- petent to constitute the council of revision, which enjoyed the power of revising laws and a qualified negative on all legislation. Such an anomalous privilege did much to justify M. de Tocqueville's observa- tion (now no longer true) to the effect that the lawyer class stood in
1 C. 12, Laws of 1779. 2 C. 13, Laws of 1781; C. 14, Laws of 1783.
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America for the aristocracy of other countries. In New-York the chancellor and the justices of the Supreme Court, under the first State constitution, possessed more power than the judges of any other modern political community of the world. They not only enjoyed the enormous powers and jurisdiction vested in the judges of the great English courts, but they sat in the final Court of Errors as well, and in addition had, practically for life, or good behavior, the old veto power on legislation inherited from the English crown. They thus, far more than any other class, succeeded to the old power of the crown over the province of New-York. Allied to the interest of the manor proprietors, the judges could, under the first constitution if they were so disposed, direct and control the entire government of the State. This fact, taken in connection with the very restricted character of the suffrage,-for only freeholders pos- sessing considerable estates could then vote for governor or sena- tors,- made the government of New-York down to the end of the eighteenth century a very unsatisfactory one, and republican largely in name. That such a form of government was tolerated as late as the year 1821 was largely due to the fact that the recipients of this enormous power were men of unusual accomplishments and of a private character never excelled in the history of the American States. But in the present century even the genius of Chancellor Kent was unable to save such institutions from merited extinction. The history of their downfall belongs to the succeeding century, which has been one of profound changes in the direction of freer in- stitutions. The anomalies in the first constitution, which did not keep separate the executive, judicial, and legislative departments of govern- ment, have now been swept away. Many ancient and undemocratic institutes of the English common law have been to some extent cor- rected. The constitution of 1777, which contained no provision for its amendment, was nevertheless amended in 1801: but all these things belong to an account of the present century.
Until the year 1797 the history of the city of New-York, it being the capital, is inseparably blended with that of the entire province and State. In this year the seat of government was transferred to Albany, a city more convenient to the new settlements of the northern and western counties. Many of the new settlers were from New Eng- land, where the traditions and ideas of a landed and legal aristocracy were less tolerant than those of the stolid Anglo-Dutch natives of New-York, who had become so inured to ancient institutions that they actually suffered the authorities of the new State to dispose of
CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK 629
over five millions of acres of unpatented lands for about one million of dollars, of which sum one gentleman paid less than eight pence an acre for three million six hundred and thirty-five thousand two hun- dred acres. Among the new patentees there was a disposition to per- petuate the old English custom of long farm leases, and to establish a superior house in the center of the rent- paying district. The novelist Fenimore Cooper, who was connected with the patentees by various ties, has uncon- sciously, in the romances called "Little- page Manuscripts," given us a valuable history of the movement in New-York from the point of view of the landlords, and has revealed the effort to perpet- uate the rural institutions of England. Unfortunately, his genius has so covered a gross outrage with the beauty of sen- timent as almost to conceal its iniquity. The other side of the movement, founded on the inherent right of the people to profit by the Revolution and to share in the crown lands, has never been told so well-as the right ultimately vindicated itself, and there was no need of a popular JohnWatts requiem.
Until the close of the last century the political influence of the city of New-York was subordinated to the interests of the rural parts of the new State. The constitution of 1777 made the city no nearer self- government than before. All the city officers, originally appointed by the crown authorities, continued to be appointed by the council of ap- pointment, consisting of a small board of senators, presided over by the governor for the time being. On this board the city could only hope for one representative, and it might be, and
in fact was, SO consti- tuted often- times as to
deprive the city of all influence and vest the vast power in the rural counties. It is therefore obvious that under the State constitution the city gained little, and that the ap- pointing power was if anything more obnoxious under it than when exercised by a crown governor who resided in the midst of the burgh- ers, and was amenable to personal complaints. A distrust of the urban community is further expressed in the first constitution, in the
630
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
provisions relative to qualifications for governor. While the freemen of the old city were qualified to vote for assemblymen, unless free- holders they could not vote for governor or for State senators; nor did the freedom of the city "qualify for these several offices of high dignity." But in the last decade of the century preceding this forces were at work which, in this century, have made the phrases of the New-York constitution of 1777 concerning the political supremacy of the people a fact rather than an idea. The history of these forces, so closely interwoven with the public and private law of the State, belongs to the history of New-York in the nineteenth century.
TABLE OF DATES IN NEW-YORK HISTORY
1701-March 5, Lord Bellomont died. October, Thomas Noell ap- pointed Mayor.
1702-Colonel Nicholas Bayard tried for High Treason. Lord Corn- bury arrives. Philip French appointed Mayor.
1703 William Peartree appointed Mayor. Free Grammar School established under care of City Corporation.
1704 French Huguenot Church in Pine street built.
1706 The "French Scare." A Treasurer of the Province appointed. 1707 Ebenezer Wilson appointed Mayor. Two Presbyterian minis- ters arrested for preaching.
1708 A Charter relating to ferry privileges granted to the city. Lord Lovelace arrives and succeeds as Governor. Begin- ning of German immigration.
1709 Death of Lord Lovelace, and a Canadian campaign undertaken by Colonels Nicholson and Vetch.
1710 Jacobus Van Cortlandt appointed Mayor. Governor Robert Hunter arrives with three thousand Palatines.
1711 Caleb Heathcote appointed Mayor. Slave-market established at the foot of Wall street.
1712 Census of New-York taken-4848 whites, 970 blacks. First Negro Insurrection.
1714 John Johnston appointed Mayor.
1719 Presbyterian Church in Wall street built. Governor Hunter returns to England.
1720 William Burnet, Governor, arrives. Robert Walters appointed Mayor.
1722 Water street ordered to be laid out on East River front.
1725 Johannes Jansen appointed Mayor. "The New-York Gazette" begun by William Bradford.
1726 Robert Lurting appointed Mayor.
1728 Governor Burnet transferred to Massachusetts, and succeeded by Colonel John Montgomerie.
1729 The City Library founded. Greenwich and Washington streets surveyed.
631
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HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
1730 First smelting-furnace in the United States built in New-York.
1731 A new Charter granted to the city. Smallpox prevails. July 1, Governor Montgomerie dies, and President of Council, Rip Van Dam, assumes the government. New Dutch Church on Nassau street completed.
1732 Governor William Cosby arrives. First stage line between New-York and Boston, running once a month.
1734 First City Poorhouse built.
1735 Paul Richard appointed Mayor. The Zenger Trial.
1736 Governor Cosby dies, and is succeeded by Lieutenant-Gov- ernor George Clarke.
1739 John Cruger, Sr., appointed Mayor.
1741 The Negro Plot, and many executions of the accused.
1743 Admiral George Clinton becomes Governor.
1744 Stephen Bayard appointed Mayor.
1747 Edward Holland appointed Mayor. James De Lancey commis- sioned Lieutenant-Governor.
1752 The Royal Exchange in Broad street built. St. George's Chapel erected in Beekman street.
1753 Sir Danvers Osborn becomes Governor; commits suicide.
1754 The Society Library founded. The Walton House built. The "Plan of Union " adopted at Albany, New-York.
1755 Sir Charles Hardy, Governor. Beginning of the French and Indian War.
1756 Corner-stone laid of Columbia College building.
1757 Governor Hardy accepts a naval command, and James De Lancey assumes the government. John Cruger, Jr., ap- pointed Mayor.
1760 De Lancey dies, and Dr. Cadwallader Colden becomes Lieu- tenant-Governor. Canada finally conquered by England.
1761 General Robert Monckton appointed Governor.
1762 Public street-lamps provided. John Street Theater opened.
1763 Lighthouse at Sandy Hook. Close of French and Indian War.
1764 New-York Assembly's Address: "Taxation only by Consent."
1765 Sir Henry Moore appointed Governor. The "Stamp Act" passed in Parliament. The "Stamp Act Congress" meets in New-York. First Non-Importation Agreement. St. Paul's Church built.
1766 Whitehead Hicks appointed Mayor. Repeal of the Stamp Act. 1768 Chamber of Commerce founded. Brick Presbyterian Church built opposite the Common.
1769 Second Non-Importation Agreement signed. North Dutch Church built on Fulton street. Sir Henry Moore dies, in September.
633
TABLE OF DATES IN NEW-YORK HISTORY
1770-January, conflict between citizens and troops on Golden Hill, antedating the "Boston Massacre." Earl of Dunmore be- comes Governor. Non-Importation Agreement abandoned by New-York, because of defection elsewhere. Statues of George III. and William Pitt arrive.
1771 Lord Dunmore transferred to Virginia, and William Tryon be- comes Governor.
1773-December, a fire in the fort destroys the Governor's Mansion. The " Boston Tea-party."
1774-April, tea-ships refused admittance at New-York. September 5, first Colonial Congress.
1775-April 23, the news from Lexington reaches this city. June 4, exploit of Marinus Willett in preventing the removal of arms. October, Governor Tryon removes his family and effects on board a man-of-war.
1776 First system of city water-works constructed. February 4, General Charles Lee enters New-York with Connecticut troops; General Sir Henry Clinton arrives off Sandy Hook. April 14, General Washington arrives in New-York. July 9, the Declaration of Independence published to the troops and (on the 18th) to the citizens. August 26-29, the Campaign and Battle of Long Island. September 15, the British occupy the city ; (on the 21st) a fire destroys a large portion of the city; (on the 29th) David Matthews appointed Mayor. November 16, Fort Washington taken by the enemy.
1777 New-York adopts a State Constitution. The flag of the United States determined on.
1778 Lord North sends Commissioners with proposals of peace. August 3, a second destructive fire.
1780 Attempt to capture General Arnold.
1781- October, restoration of City Records carried off by Governor Tryon in 1775.
1783-November 25, evacuation of the city by the British, and en- trance of the American Army. December 4, Washington's farewell to his officers at Fraunces' Tavern.
A carefully prepared index to the complete work will appear in the fourth volume.
END OF VOLUME II.
PUBLISHERS' ANNOUNCEMENT
OF
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK,
From the earliest settlements on Manhattan Island to the year 1892, the four-hundredth anniversary of the discovery of America by Columbus, edited by Gen. James Grant Wilson, assisted on the cooperative plan by a corps of able writers who prepare chapters on periods or de- partments in the history and life of the city to which they have given special study. To be illustrated by portraits and autographs of prominent personages, also by fac-similes of important and rare documents, and by maps, views of historic scenes, houses, tombs, etc., executed in the handsomest manner, and numbering more than one thousand, including several hundred vignettes by Jacques Reich, the accomplished artist who has contributed portraits to General Wilson's "Cyclopedia of American Biography" and other important works.
No time seems more appropriate than the present for placing be- fore the public a work like this, which shall utilize the abundant original material bearing on the history of the metropolis that has come to light since the last important history of the city was pub- lished, and which shall combine the united researches of several writers in their chosen and lifelong fields of inquiry. It is for this reason that the publishers do not hesitate to commend the present work to the scholar and to the general reader alike as a trustworthy source for the latest and most accurate historical information.
The Memorial History of the City of New-York will be completed in four volumes, royal octavo, of above 600 pages each. The first volume was published in 1891; the second volume will appear in July, 1892, and the other two volumes semi-annually thereafter, or sooner, the entire work to be completed in the spring of 1893.
VOLUME I
Embraces the events falling within the seventeenth century, begin- ning with the discovery and the earliest colonization.
VOLUME II
Covers the events of the eighteenth century down to the year 1783, thus including the momentous period of the Revolution, during the whole course of which the position of our metropolis was a unique and trying one. This has been fully set forth by the writer on this period, and has also been most copiously illustrated.
VOLUME III
Will take up the history of the city when it became a part of a free Republic, and will further treat of the nineteenth century, bringing the account down to our own times, and telling the story of the city's marvelous progress and rapid growth until it has reached the mag- nificent metropolitan proportions of this memorial year of 1892.
VOLUME IV
Will contain exhaustive monographs and interesting accounts of special departments, such as Churches, Arts and Sciences, Museums, Hospitals and other Charities, Commercial and Literary Associations and Societies, Libraries, Seats of Learning, Clubs, Theaters, Markets, and Inns, Music, Newspapers, Currency, Central Park, Governor's Island, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and other suburbs, Statues and Monuments, the Military, Navy-yard, Shipping, Yachts, and an ex- tended article by the Editor on the Authors of New-York, illustrated with about thirty beautiful vignette portraits.
THE NEW-YORK HISTORY COMPANY, 132 NASSAU STREET, NEW-YORK.
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE, April 24, 1892.
GENERAL WILSON'S MEMORIAL HISTORY.
THE MEMORIAL HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, FROM ITS .FIRST SETTLEMENT TO THE YEAR 1892. Edited by James Grant Wilson. With maps, plans, and illustrations. Volume I. Large 8vo, pp. xxiv-605. New-York History Company.
THE first volume of the Memorial History of New-York, edited by General James Grant Wilson, aided by a large corps of distinguished writers, fully justifies the claim that it is to be an exhaustive work, and in all respects worthy the importance of its subject. No pains or expense have been spared in the preparation of this book. It is printed on heavy laid paper, in large type, and is illustrated with fine full-page steel- engravings, hundreds of woodcuts in the text, and a large number of fac-similes, maps, and plans. Many of these fac-similes, and many also of the historical docu- ments which appear in the work, are now published for the first time. The archives of Holland have been ransacked to furnish new material for the history of the Dutch occupation, and many interesting and important facts have been ascertained through search among the family papers which have been preserved for generations by the descendants of distinguished early colonists, both Dutch and English.
At such a distance in time, and after so many laborious inquests as have been made into the beginnings of New-York, it might be thought that the last word must have been said on every really important event and question. But this is not the case. The researches of General Wilson and his contributors have resulted in the discovery of much new evidence materially affecting the conclusions to be drawn in several matters of consequence, so that an element of novelty enters into this history which differentiates it from all its predecessors. The work opens, as such a work should do, with a review of the explorations of the North American coast previous to the voyage of Henry Hudson. Here are presented sketches of the Northmen's voy- ages (the writer being a believer in the story of " Vinland the Good"), the voyages of the Welsh, of the Zeno brothers, Sebastian Cabot, Ayllon and the Spaniards, Verra- zano, Gomez-from whose time (1525) the situation of the Bay of New-York was known-closing with an examination of the question whether the Dutch were on Manhattan Island in 1598. Whether they were or not is not indeed vital, nor does it seriously interfere with the claim of Henry Hudson as a discoverer. In all such cases a period of reconnoissance precedes the period of practical and fruitful work. It is
GENERAL WILSON'S MEMORIAL HISTORY
credible that the Bay of New-York was entered by a score of navigators before the keel of the Half Moon furrowed its waters. But all these early explorers were look- ing for a passage to Cathay, and had no eyes for anything else. Hudson's voyage was the first to have effects of historical significance, for it was followed almost immedi- ately by trade and settlement.
The second chapter of the Memorial History treats of the native inhabitants of Man- hattan and its Indian antiquities. It contains an interesting disquisition upon the iden- tity of the so-called Manhattan Indians and the origin and meaning of the name Man- hattan. In the third chapter the antecedents of New Netherland and the Dutch West India Company are carefully and thoroughly discussed, with correlated subjects having a direct or indirect bearing upon the Dutch occupation. The account of the strange vicissitudes of the Dutch West India Company is but another illustration of the "sic vos non vobis" tendency of human affairs; of the manner in which the crops sown by one hand are so often gathered by another. This tendency in fact appears again and again in the history of New-York, and more than once it has been helped by what can only be characterized as deliberate disregard of equity on the part of the stronger dis- putant. The present historian exhibits a perhaps not unnatural satisfaction in the circumstance that the Puritans of Massachusetts, though preeminent sticklers for in- tegrity and just dealing, were far less scrupulous than the comparatively unregenerate people of New-York in their land transactions with the natives, and in their general treatment of the latter. In truth, it must be said that the Pilgrim Fathers were as worldly as their neighbors when it came to questions of the kind, and that none were more eager to acquire possession of land in particular.
The editor contributes the chapters on Henry Hudson's voyage and its results in trade and colonization, and on Peter Minuit and Walter Van Twiller, who ruled New- Netherland from 1626 to 1637. In beginning the direct history of the Dutch occupa- tion, he pays a tribute to Irving in observing that since Diedrich Knickerbocker's veracious history appeared it has been difficult to treat this period with the proper seriousness. The comic view of the Dutch colony and its rulers has been so deeply implanted by Irving's genius that, whoever thinks of them, insensibly recalls the Knickerbocker account; and one result of this is to do injustice to those honest Dutch- men, who really were not the bibulous, indolent, tobacco-stupefied boors they have been caricatured as. General Wilson's sense of justice leads him to vindicate the people of New Netherland by impressing upon the reader that they were part and parcel of that Dutch nation which was then renowned throughout the world for its industry, its enterprise, its inventiveness, and its magnificent gallantry. The Dutch, he asserts, were the Yankees of the sixteenth century, and the English of that age were far behind them in material progress. Yet, while all this may be admitted, the fact remains that in the administration of their colonial affairs the New Netherland people do not appear to have manifested much energy or foresight. Take the case of the Fort, which they could not be persuaded either to finish or to keep up. Yet it must have been clear to most of them that their security, that even their tenure of Manhattan Island, might and quite probably would depend upon their ability to defend themselves.
A chapter is given to the administration of William Kieft, and another to that of Peter Stuyvesant, who has, perhaps, suffered more than any of his compatriots from Washington Irving's humorous travesty. Stuyvesant was a strong and honest gov- ernor, choleric, no doubt, but conscientious, a hard worker, and one who did much to improve New-York. When the time came for the surrender of his charge, he was tempted to make a fight, but more prudent counsels prevailed, and the transfer to English rule was effected without trouble of any kind. When New Amsterdam had become New-York, and Richard Nicolls was the first English governor, there was a period of quiet and steady progress, and an incident during this period
HISTORY OF NEW-YORK
shows that infant New-York was in at least one respect more advanced than her neighbor Massachusetts. There was a trial on a charge of witchcraft, and the accused was acquitted. It can hardly be believed that the same result would have occurred in Boston at the time. In liberality of sentiment, especially regarding religion, New- York was notably advanced, both under Dutch and English rule, and many victims of New England bigotry found shelter and welcome on the island of Manhattan.
The Memorial .History account of the administration of Sir Edmund Andros (1674- 1682) presents that governor in a far better light than he occupies in most of the earlier histories. In his measures for the health and order of New-York, and his arrangements for dealing with the Indians, he was in advance of his age. He was also prepared to give the people of New-York representative institutions - which, however, the king refused to allow. Respecting the charges of tyranny and oppres- sion preferred against Andros, the history says: "The charges of tyranny which the Dutch and the dishonest English traders whose peculations he had exposed and cir- cumvented zealously circulated, even to the foot of the throne itself, will not compare either for harshness or intolerance with the acts of persecution previously practised by Director Stuyvesant against the Quakers and members of the Church of England both upon Manhattan and Long Islands ; and yet, from the peculiar position in whichi Andros was placed, the least malignant of the epithets bestowed upon him was, most unjustly, that of 'the arbitrary and sycophantic tool of a despotic King'! The admin- istration of Governor Andros, moreover, forms not only a distinct but a memorable epoch in the colonial history of the city of New-York. It is true that he failed in his efforts to place the currency of the colony on a healthier basis than it was under Dutch rule, but in nearly every other measure of reform he was entirely successful. He effected a complete reorganization of the militia; repaired the fort, and strengthened the defenses of the harbor; increased the trade of the province; beautified the city ; largely augmented the revenue from the excise; and by a personal supervision of municipal affairs and an untiring industry gave such a tone to the political and social condition of the people that its effects were apparent for fully a century after the period of his incumbency."
That is certainly high praise ; and, moreover, it appears to be deserved. But Gover- nor Andros was not the only early ruler of New-York who has suffered from harsh and prejudiced judgment. One of the most interesting chapters in the present vol- ume is that on the period of the Leisler troubles (1688-1692). The view taken by the editor and his contributor is strongly favorable to Jacob Leisler, whose tragic fate was caused by the spirit of faction and class hatred. It has been common to represent him as a mere demagogue at the head of a mutinous rabble, and as such his enemies at the time undoubtedly regarded him. But the circumstances were most unfavorable to cool observation. The revolution which drove the last Stuart from the English throne had left the colonists in North America uncertain as to where authority lay. Boston was the first to revolt from the Stuart rule, to recognize William, and to over- throw the local government representing James. New-York followed more cautiously. There the James government desired to hold on, but the people would not have it so; and the train-bands, or militia, practically settled the matter by marching to the Fort, demanding the keys, and resolving that the government should alternate among the militia captains, each of whom should be supreme during his term of duty. Jacob Leisler was the senior captain, and so naturally came into this arrangement; and when, later, William's cautious, not to say ambiguous, letter arrived, its tenor certainly warranted the choice of Leisler as lieutenant-governor.
Had the new governor, Sloughter, reached New-York at the same time as Major Ingoldesby, there would have been no question of authority raised. But when Ingold- esby arrived first, and without credentials demanded the instant surrender of the Fort, Leisler was justified in refusing to comply with the demand. What led to the unjust
GENERAL WILSON'S MEMORIAL HISTORY
trial, and the still more unjust execution, of Leisler was the fury of the James govern- ment of New-York, which had been chafing for months over the disappointment of its hopes and expectations, and which found in the new governor a weak and pliable instrument of vengeance. The reversal of the colonial proceedings in this case by the English parliament, after a full and dispassionate investigation, should have put an end to all controversy in the premises, it might be thought; but the Leisler party was far less influential than the anti-Leislerites, and thus it happened that the memory of this victim of faction has never been completely cleared from the false imputation of demagogism. The elaborate presentation of the case in the Memorial History ought to determine it finally; for no unprejudiced person can read this statement without becoming convinced that Jacob Leisler died the death of a martyr.
Benjamin Fletcher appears here as a good governor, contrary to many previous opinions; but the editor never forgets that the early New-Yorkers were a turbulent. factious, censorious, and insubordinate folk, and that consequently it is necessary to receive their accounts of their rulers with a good deal of allowance. The old Dutch element was disposed to quarrel with every English governor, and the Dutch, English, and French merchants regarded and treated as enemies and oppressors all who would not let them do as they pleased, without any restriction, in matters of trade and taxa- tion. It was in Fletcher's administration that the rise of piracy occurred, to make New-York picturesque, to fill the pockets of scores of her merchants, and to do no good to her morals. We see here the first act in the drama of Captain Kidd, " as he sailed," and Lord Bellomont, so mysteriously associated with the man who went out to suppress piracy by becoming a pirate himself. Fletcher seems really to have been innocent, but Bellomont, whose own innocence is disputed, persecuted him, and, being able to pack the Board of Investigation, succeeded in ruining his antagonist, who forthwith disappears from history. The two concluding chapters of this volume are occupied with the constitutional and legal history of New-York in the seventeenth century, and with an account of printing in New-York during the same period. The first-named chapter is an erudite judicial treatise which leaves little or nothing to be said on the subjects treated. The chapter on printing in the seventeenth century in New-York is illustrated by quite a profusion of fac-similes, mostly examples from the press of William Bradford, who held the post of royal printer in the city for upward of half a century. We have omitted to mention in its proper order the administration of Thomas Dongan, one of the most useful and beneficent in the line of royal gover- norships, and which is here illustrated by the full text of the charter granted to New- York by Dongan, together with fac-simile specimens of the original document.
The steel-engravings, which include portraits and scenes, are very good, and so are the woodcuts in the text, and the examples of old printing, book-titles, etc. In short, the Memorial History has been written and made mechanically in the most careful and thorough manner, and the first of its four volumes gives conclusive evidence that it is to be a monumental work, and standard.
1
STANFORD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
To avoid fine, this book should be returned on or before the date last stamped below
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1942 FEB 82 1942
O JUN-5'35
Sacomoer 1946
Man 16 1337
NOV 2 9 /1937
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