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Charles II. had long been restive under the restric- tions which his Parliament imposed on his exercise of absolute power. Catholic France, under her able but unscrupulous monarch, Louis XIV., was now the leading power of Europe and the mortal foe of the Netherlands, which was Protestant in religion and republican in government. Charles, ignoring the fact that in 1669 he had formed a league with Holland and Sweden-known in history as "The Triple Alliance,"-now proposed to Louis to form an alli- ance with him against the Dutch, and to maintain Louis' claim to the throne of Spain, on condition that he (Louis) should aid him in establishing an ab-
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solute monarchy in England. War was therefore declared by the two nations against the Netherlands. The English engaged the Dutch fleets on the ocean, while Louis marched an army of 200,000 men into the Netherlands. He was, however, defeated and driven back by the Dutch, who cut the dykes and flooded the country with the sea, somewhat as later the Rus- sians repulsed Napoleon by burning the cities their fathers had reared. Meantime the Dutch privateers had nearly swept English commerce from the ocean ; while in the spring of 1673 a Dutch squadron, com- manded by two brave admirals, Evertsen and Binckes, had been despatched to recover their lost territory in America, and inflict as much damage on English shipping in those seas as possible. The squadron anchored in the lower bay on the 29th of June with about twenty English prizes in tow.
Governor Lovelace was in Hartford in consulta- tion with Governor Winthop. Captain Manning, in command of Fort James, at once charged his guns, sent a drum through the streets to beat the alarm, and despatched a messenger post-haste to Hartford for Lovelace. The Dutch commanders, however, knew well the value of time, and moved their fleet to within musket-shot of the fort, while they sent to Manning a laconic summons to surrender. "We have come for our own," they added grimly, "and our own we will have." Manning sought to parley and secure terms, but Evertsen replied that he had already promised protection to citizens and property, and added that unless the Dutch flag was hoisted in half an hour he should fire on the fort, "and the
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glass is already turned up," he added significantly. Manning stood to his guns, and when the half hour had expired the fleet fired a broadside into the fort, killing several men and wounding more. At the same time, the Dutch commander threw six hundred men ashore at a point just back of the present Trin- ity Church, and assailed his enemy in the rear. Manning, finding the odds too great, surrendered on conditions. He was allowed to march out through the gates at the head of his garrison with drums beating and colors flying. In the fort, the red-cross flag was pulled down, while the blue, white, and orange again floated triumphantly. The fort took a new name, William Hendrick, the province was called New Orange, after the young Prince of Orange, now the hope and pride of the Dutch State. The Dutch occupation was of short duration, however, and had little effect on the fortunes of the city. On the 9th of February, 1674, a treaty between Holland and England was signed at Westminster, by the terms of which Holland relinquished forever all claims to her former colony of New Netherlands. Governor Love- lace, however, was not restored to office, Sir Ed- mond Andros being appointed in his place. Love- lace returned to England, where he learned that his predecessor, the gallant and generous Nicolls, had been killed in one of the first battles of the war.
Andros, the new Governor, was a courtier by birth as well as by training. His father had been Master of Ceremonies to Charles II., and he himself had been trained in the king's household. He was also a good soldier, and a man of title and estate, having
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recently become, by the death of his father, bailiff of Guernsey and hereditary seigneur of the fief of Sausmarez. He was a scholar, and a patron of art, something of a statesman, but harsh and imperious in temperament. His lovely and accomplished wife, Lady Mary, daughter of Sir Thomas Craven, accom- panied him.
The frigates Castle and Diamond, with the distin- guished party on board, arrived on the 22d of Octo- ber, 1674. Anthony Colve, the Dutch Governor, received them with stately ceremony, and after the proper amount of speech-making and letter-writing had been done, delivered over the government. Be- fore embarking for Holland, Colve performed an act of courtesy greatly to his credit : he sent Sir Edmond as a present the elegant coach and three broad- backed Flemish horses which he had used in his offi- cial journeys.
Few events of sufficient importance to be included in our story occurred during the reign of Governor Andros. He had many vexatious disputes with New Jersey and Connecticut over the question of bound- aries, and some trouble with the people he governed, who wished their laws made by an assembly of men chosen by the people, as was the case with their sister colonies.
With the capture of the city by Nicolls, the Eng- lish-speaking people in New York, together with the more progressive Dutch citizens, had expected a more liberal form of government than they had enjoyed under the West India Company, but, in- stead, they found the one-man power still para-
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mount ; they had exchanged the rule of a company of merchants for the rule of a duke. True, they had been given concessions, but still they were allowed no voice in the management of their affairs. At length, in the summer of 1681, under their leader, John Younge, high sheriff of Long Island, they drew up a monster petition to the Duke, reciting their grievances, which were : the exaction of a revenue without their consent, and the enthralling of their liberties and burdening of their trade by an arbitrary power exercised over them; and praying that the Duke would henceforth govern his province through a governor, council, and assembly, as was done by the king in his plantations. James gave careful at-
tention to this petition. Dyer, his Collector of Customs in New York, had written him that the merchants had refused to pay the duties levied under his laws, alleging that they were illegal and unconstitutional ; in fact, that he, Dyer, had already been indicted by the colonial court "for traitorously exercising regal power and authority over the king's subjects." Fortunately for New York, James had two excellent advisers-his brother, King Charles, and the illustrious William Penn, who had recently drafted, with the aid of the republican statesman Algernon Sidney, a wise and liberal form of govern- ment for his new province of Pennsylvania. King Charles said it was evident that, in order to collect a revenue, an assembly must be granted. Penn ex- hibited his system of laws as a model, and, resting his hand lovingly on the Duke's shoulder, advised him to give the province the franchise. The Duke,
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after debating for some time the question of selling his American estate-for.which large offers had been made,-decided to retain it and give it the franchise ; but as Andros had become obnoxious to the people, he decided to recall him, and appoint in his place Thomas Dougan, a gentleman who had distinguished himself in many battles, and who had served credit- ably as Lieutenant-Governor of Tangiers, in Africa.
Dougan arrived at Nantasket, near Boston, in August, 1683, and came on to New York by way of Connecticut and Long Island, everywhere received with respect and affection by the people, who were pleased by the affability of his manners, and by the news he bore, that the Duke had granted their peti- tion. One of Dougan's first acts was to issue writs for an election of representatives to the long-desired Provincial Assembly. By these writs we find that New York then extended eastward on the mainland as far as the west bank of the Connecticut River, and included Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket ; at least the Duke claimed this under his patent, although Connecticut disputed his claim to the territory between the Connecticut River and the Hudson.
New York, Albany, Rensselaerswyck, Esopus, Long Island, Staten Island, Pemaquid, and Martha's Vineyard sent deputies in answer to the writs, the whole number amounting to eighteen ; most of these were Dutch. This first Assembly of New York con- vened on October 17, 1683, with Matthias Nicolls as Speaker, and sat for three weeks. The first act passed by it was a "Charter of Liberties and Privi-
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leges," granted by the Duke. This charter recognized the principles of self-government and self-taxation which the people had long contended for, and se- cured freedom of conscience and religion to all. It also provided for the levying of duties on goods im- ported. Another act of Assembly divided the prov- ince into twelve counties. A third established courts of justice, of which there were four distinct classes: town courts; county courts, or courts of sessions ; a general court of oyer and terminer ; and a court of chancery, or supreme court,-the latter composed of the governor and council. From the judgment of this court, however, any aggrieved citi- zen might appeal to the king.
This charter was quite an advance on that of 1664, and is interesting as a landmark in the long-continued struggle of the people for their rights. We must not forget to mention, too, among the laws of this Assembly, a naturalization act, by which all persons, except slaves, residing in the colony, of whatever race or tongue, were accounted citizens, provided they professed Christianity and took the oath of allegiance to the king. In the same manner, others seeking the city in time to come might also be made citizens. This act was intended largely to benefit the Huguenots, whom the merciless persecution of King Louis XIV. of France was driving from that country by tens of thousands. But before the Charter of Liberties and Privileges could be ratified by James, and forwarded to New York, an event occurred in England which prevented it from ever being trans- ferred. This event was the death-February 3,
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1684-of Charles II., and the elevation of James to the throne. James Rex, the colonists soon found, was quite a different person from James the Duke. Religious bigotry was his bane. He was also nar- row and illiberal, and sadly lacking in tact and judg- ment. The first time the affairs of New York came before him as king, he discovered that the Charter of Liberties and Privileges, which had never been sent to the colony, was too liberal, and he declined to confirm it, but allowed it to continue in force until he should otherwise direct, so that the colo- nists still continued to enjoy its privileges. He also at this meeting broached the project of uniting New York and New England under one government. A letter was also written and despatched to New York, having the royal signature, providing that all men then in office should be continued in power until further orders. The cry, " The king is dead-Long live the king," caused little commotion in New York. As nothing was said in the letter about an Assembly, one was called by Governor Dougan in October, 1684, the appointed time. It was the last held, how- ever, during the reign of James II. That reign was brief and inglorious. James was a Catholic, and at- tempted to re-establish the Catholic religion in his realm. But his Protestant subjects rose in revolt, and called the Dutch prince, William of Orange, who was a Protestant, and who had married Mary, the daughter of James, to lead them and be their king. William consented and, as we know, landed at Tor- bay, November 5, 1688, and was greeted with so popular an uprising that James hastened to abdicate
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in favor of his son and daughter. Some things he had done before this, which have special interest for us, since they refer to New York. The most inter- esting of these was the grant in 1686 of a charter to the city. This should not be confounded with the Charter of Liberties and Privileges, which was granted the province. It was a broad and liberal instru- ment, and the wonder is that James, who was at this moment plotting to deprive the American colonies of their charters, should ever have granted it. The influence of Governor Dougan at court, and the high character of such citizens as Mayor Nicholas Bayard, Recorder James Graham, and others, was no doubt largely responsible for it. It was the great charter, the foundation on which the subsequent charters of 1708 and 1730 were laid. It confirmed all previous " rights and privileges " granted the city, and gave it in addition, by name, the City Hall, the great dock and bridge, the ferry, the two market-houses, and the waste, vacant, unpatented lands on the island above low - water mark, with the coves, rivulets, creeks, ponds, etc., not before granted. Some of these granted rights yield the city a large revenue to- day, while others have been appropriated to the use of the people.
Soon after a new city seal was presented. The bea- ver of the old Dutch seal was retained, and a flour barrel and the arms of a windmill were added, the whole being significant of the trade in beaver and other furs, and the bolting of flour, the two lead- ing industries of the city at this time. By the spring of 1688, James' great plot against the char-
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tered rights of the American colonies was fully matured, and he issued a decree uniting all the colo- nies north of the fortieth degree of latitude into one great province, to be called New England. Pennsylvania alone was excepted. New Jersey, New York, and New England were merged into one ; and the charters they had so long and jealously guard- ed were swept away in an instant. New York was especially unfortunate ; she lost not only her Provin- cial Assembly and her Charter of Rights and Privi- leges, but her name and identity even.
Sir Edmond Andros, who has been introduced to us as Governor of New York, was made Governor of the United Province, with head-quarters at Boston. Andros came to New York in August, 1688, to re- ceive the submission of the people. The occasion is described as being a brilliant event. A large and. imposing retinue accompanied him. The City Guard -a regiment of foot and a troop of horse in showy, shining regimentals-received him and conducted him to Fort James, where his commission was read to the assembled people; later it was read in the City Hall; the seal of New York was brought into his presence, broken and defaced by order of the king, and the Great Seal of New England adopted in its place. Andros' rule, however, was of short duration. In the spring of 1689 news reached Bos- ton of the abdication of James and the accession of William and Mary, and the people very quickly dis- posed of the hated Governor by seizing him and sending him to prison.
VII.
REBELLION.
AN exciting and instructive chapter in the city's history follows this act of New England in deposing her Governor." New York, too, was deprived of a ruler, and indeed of any government that all parties would recognize. A chaotic condition of affairs fol- lowed and continued for two years. Two factions at once arose : composed as to race, of the English ·against the Dutch; as to class, of the aristocrats against the common people; as to religion, of the Church of England against the Dutch Reformed Church.
The strife was as to who should rule the city. The English party held that the officers appointed by James should continue in power until their suc- cessors should appear armed with authority from William and Mary ; in other words, that the former government should stand. The Dutch party held that with the flight of James his authority ceased as much in the colonies as in England, and that there- fore the people should appoint officers to enforce the laws and maintain the peace until the pleasure of William should be known. There was a precedent for this view in the case of the New England colo-
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nies, which had set up their former governments on the overthrow of James. Both parties made out plausible cases, but neither would be convinced by the arguments of the other.
The leaders of the English party were Lieutenant- Governor Nicholson and the three members of the deposed Governor's council, Frederick Phillipse, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and Nicholas Bayard. The councillors were men of the highest repute in the city. Frederick Phillipse was known as the richest man in New York. He was a native of Friesland, of high birth, who had come to the city in youth poor and friendless, and had attained his present position largely through his address and ability as a merchant. He had an immense estate between the Spuyten Duyvil and the Croton River, which had been erected into a manor in 1693, under the title of Phillipse- borough. The old manor-house you may still see in the heart of the city of Yonkers, transformed into the City Hall. Van Cortlandt was Mayor, and had been Judge of the Admiralty ; a man of wealth and education. Bayard was a nephew of Governor Stuyvesant. He had been Surveyor and Secretary of the Province, Alderman, and Mayor of the city, and was now Colonel of the regiment of City Militia. All were learned, courtly, patriotic men, whose counsels in ordinary times would have been treated with the greatest respect and deference. The leaders of the democratic party were Jacob Leisler and his friend Jacob Milborne. Leisler was a German, born at Frankfort-on-the-Main, and had been a resident of New York about thirty years. He was a prosperous
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merchant, a deacon in the Dutch Reformed Church, but had never held public office, nor was he well versed in public affairs. He was at this time captain of one of the six train bands which comprised Colonel Bayard's regiment of militia. He was a man of great energy and force, and of much native quickness and sagacity, but entirely uneducated, coarse and violent in speech and manner, self-willed, arrogant, passion- ate, and of unbalanced judgment ; a fanatic on the subject of popery, a stern hater of the English, their church, and institutions. Milborne was Leisler's son-in-law ; a man of better education, but of far less principle.
The struggle for power began April 29, 1689, by Leisler's refusing to pay the duties on a cargo of wine he had imported, on the plea that the Collector, Ploughman, was a Catholic, and therefore not quali- fied to perform his duties under the Protestant sover- eigns. There was a heated discussion over it in the City Hall, between the councillors and the merchant, which was ended by Leisler's falling into a passion and declaring he would never pay a penny to Plough- man. From this moment strange stories and whis- perings were put into circulation, and were caught up and eagerly retailed by the ignorant peasantry, who being without schools, books, or newspapers, and most of them unable to read, were quite at the mercy of the demagogues. Lieutenant-Governor Nicholson, it was whispered, was plotting to betray the city into the hands of the French. The woods on Staten Island were said to be filled with Papist emissaries, whom Nicholson was in the habit of meet-
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ing to concert plots against the city. Another rumor was, that King James, who had fled to France, was on the seas with a powerful French fleet, intending to reduce the city. Others told how the leading Dutch citizens were fast being won over to popery. Again, ex-Governor Dougan, who was still a resident of the city, was said to have concocted a plot to murder the Protestants and deliver the town to the Catholics. Some even came to Colonel Bayard and asked him to dismiss the Catholics on the militia force lest they should turn their arms on the citizens. " Dismiss the Catholics!" said the colonel ; " why, there are not above twenty on the force, and they are old cripples"; and he had to send for Captain Leisler to reassure them.
We must take into consideration this condition of the public mind in order to understand how the usurpation we are about to describe could have been effected. A very little thing at last precipitated rev- olution. Governor Nicholson lived in considerable state at his house in the fort, which at this moment was defended only by a sergeant's guard of regular troops, most of the garrison being employed on de- tached duty in Maine. To reinforce the sergeant's squad, a company of the city militia was detailed each night to mount guard at the fort. One night Nicholson coming home late found a militiaman stationed as sentinel in a sally-port and sharply repri- manded the sergeant in command, as only the regu- lars were detailed for sentinels. The man said it was by order of Lieutenant Cuyler, of the militia com- pany. Nicholson ordered the offending officer before
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him, and put the question "Who commands this fort, you or I?" Cuyler laid the responsibility on his superior officer, Captain De Peyster. Nicholson, who seems to have felt that he was being watched by the militia captains, in a gust of passion drove them from the room, saying that he would rather see the town on fire than be commanded by them.
The soldiers and gossips tortured this expression into a threat to burn the town : and they said the Governor had laid a plot to murder all the Dutch inhabitants the next Sunday as they went to church in the fort. Towards noon of that day, May 31st, a single drum-beat was heard. At once, as if by concerted signal, laborers dropped their implements, mechanics their tools, and rushed into the streets. The city stood affrighted. Shopkeepers put up their shut- ters : householders barred doors and windows. Cap- tain Leisler's company was observed to muster before his house in the strand. Gathered there, they were harangued by Sergeant Joost Stoll, who at last ex- claimed, " We are sold, we are betrayed, we are going to be murdered," and led his company to the fort, attended by the mob. Probably there was not one of the commonalty from Leisler down, who did not honestly believe that his life and property were in jeopardy. Lieutenant Cuyler was at the fort and admitted the soldiers, and in a few moments Leisler appeared and took command. Soon after Colonel Bayard, by command of the council, went to the fort and ordered the soldiers to disperse, but Stoll coolly told him that they disowned all authority of the government. A little inquiry convinced Bayard
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that the entire City Guard was in open rebellion. When this fact was reported to Governor Nicholson, he called a meeting of the council at the City Hall : but while they were deliberating there came a sound of marching men, and Captain Loedwyck at the head of his company appeared in the chamber and demanded the keys of the fort. To prevent bloodshed, and being without soldiers to defend his authority, Nicholson yielded them up under protest. And so the popular party, or Leislerites, came into possession of the city. For a time Leisler governed with some show of moderation. He wrote an address to Wil- liam and Mary in behalf of the " militia and inhab- itants of New York," in which he described at length, the revolution and the causes which had led to it, and promised most loyal submission for himself and those acting with him. In June, however, Governor Nicholson sailed for England, intending to lay his case before the king, leaving affairs in charge of three councillors, and from this time on Leisler grew more and more arrogant and dictatorial. He compared himself to Cromwell, and spoke often of his patriotism and address in saving the city from pillage and massacre. He declared that the sword must now rule in New York, and behaved with great insolence, and after a time with great cruelty, toward those opposed to him ; in fact, he behaved quite like a man whose head was turned by rank egotism, and the possession of unlimited power.
Soon news came that William and Mary had been proclaimed in Barbadoes, and, soon after, in Boston. They were proclaimed in Hartford on the 13th of
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June, and two envoys, Major Gold and Captain Fitch, were despatched to New York with the orders for proclaiming them there. They also bore a royal proclamation confirming all Potestant officers in the colonies in their places. Leisler managed to secure both proclamations in advance of Mayor Van Cortlandt-although the latter rode far out into Westchester to intercept the envoys; and, on the 22d, read the former in the fort. Afterward it was given to Mayor Van Cortlandt to be read in the City Hall, and was so read, after many angry words had passed between Leisler and Van Cortlandt over the former's unwarranted act. Two days later Van Cortlandt obtained a copy of the proclamation con- firming all Protestant officers in their places. We can imagine his elation; it ratified all he and his party had done; it constituted himself and his col- leagues, Phillips and Bayard, the only legal govern- ment for the province, since they had received their commission from the crown. Leisler and his party, on the other hand, were filled with rage and dismay. Perhaps they feared for their lives if such bitter ene- mies as the councillors came into authority ; perhaps they were simply intoxicated with the lust of power : at any rate they determined to resist. Of course such an act would be high treason and punishable with death ; but they do not seem to have thought of that. Mayor Van Cortlandt had the proclamation read to the aldermen and the citizens in the City Hall the same day it was received. The next morning, June 25th, he invited the other councillors and the Common Council to his house, and the two bodies
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