successfully, to eradicate them by fines, imprisonment, and banishment. Their numbers increased with their persecution.

In 1659, Lord Baltimore protested against the settlements on the Delaware, as being within the bounds of his patent. To this protest, Stuyvesant replied on the 6th of October, setting forth the claims of the Dutch to the South, or Delaware river, and its coasts.

In 1663, a body of Indians attacked Fort Esopus, now Kingston, and killed sixty-five persons. Suspecting that several tribes were leagued together in these hostilities against the colonists, Stuyvesant assembled the magistrates of the adjacent towns, to confer on the measures necessary for the defence of the colony. Having recommended such measures as they thought advisable, the magistrates turned their attention to the civil condition of the colony, and urged in forcible language, upon the governor, and the West India Company, the right of the people to a share, in the administration of the government.

In 1653, a convention of delegates from the different towns had met in New Amsterdam, and in similar terms had remonstrated with the Governor and Company, against the abridgement of their rights, as citizens of Holland. But Stuyvesant, true to his military education, regarded such remonstrances, or petitions, with little favor.

On the 30th of March, 1664, Charles II., King of England, regardless of the rights of Holland, granted to his brother James, Duke of Albany and York, the whole of the New Netherlands. The Duke forthwith despatched Colonel Nicolls, with three ships of war, and a sufficient force, to conquer his province.

Governor Stuyvesant hearing of their approach, attempted to put the fort and town in a state of defence, but the sturdy burghers, tired of an arbitrary and despotic government, refused to second his exertions. When, therefore, the fleet appeared before the city, and offered favorable terms, they insisted upon a capitulation. Governor Stuyvesant, angry at their want of spirit, tore the letter of Colonel Nicolls in pieces before them; nor could he be induced to sign the articles of capitulation, till the 6th of September, (1664,) two days after they were prepared.

These terms were, perhaps, the most favorable ever offered to a captured city. The inhabitants were permitted to remain in the colony, if they chose, upon taking the oath of allegiance to the English crown; to retain or dispose of their property; to elect their own local magistrates; and to enjoy their own forms of religious worship. The name of the colony and city was changed to New York.

Governor Stuyvesant, soon after the capitulation, went to Holland, but returned to New York in a few years, and spent the remainder of his life there.

THE ENGLISH COLONIAL GOVERNMENT.

COLONEL NICOLLS having thus acquired the peaceable possession of the New Netherlands, was appointed by the Duke, Governor of the province, in the autumn of 1664.

He appears to have been a man of prudence, moderation, and justice; and though vested with almost absolute authority, used it in promoting the good of the province. During his administration, an effort was made, but unsuccessfully, to determine the boundary between New York and Connecticut.

In January, 1665, a law was passed, requiring the approval and signature of the Governor, to all deeds of lands purchased from the Indians, in order to render the titles valid. This was necessary, as the Indians frequently sold the same tract of land to different individuals.

On the 12th of June, 1666, Governor Nicolls granted a charter to the city of New York.

In 1667, he gave place to Colonel Francis Lovelace, who held the reins of government till 1673, when it was recaptured by the Dutch.

Though somewhat arbitrary, and disposed to burden the people with heavy taxes, the urbanity of his manners, and his desire for the welfare of the colony, caused Col. Lovelace to be regarded as a good governor. In 1670, on the petition of the Dutch inhabitants of the colony, he granted them permission to send to Holland for a minister, and guarantied his support from the public treasury.

On the 7th of August (New Style) Captains Evertsen and Binckes, the commanders of a Dutch squadron, which had been cruising off the American coast, entered the harbor of New York. Governor Lovelace was absent in New England; and the fort and city were under the command of Captain Manning. The fort appears to have been much dilapidated, and scantily supplied with ammunition.

The Dutch squadron demanded its immediate surrender. Captain Manning asked for delay; but the invaders replied that he should have but half an hour. At the end of that period they opened their fire upon the fort, which Captain Manning returned, as well as he was able, until his ammunition was exhausted. The Dutch, meantime, had succeeded in effecting a landing upon the island, in the rear of the fort; and perceiving that further resistance was useless, Captain Manning surrendered, without formal terms of capitulation.*

The above account of the capture of New York differs materially from that of Smith, which has been copied by all succeeding historians; but is fully substantiated by the documents obtained in England, by J. R. Brodhead, Esq. Captain Manning was not, perhaps, a very efficient officer, but he certainly did not merit the epithets of coward and traitor, which have been so freely bestowcd upon him. The affidavits of the witnesses in his trial, prove that his punishment (the breaking of his sword over his head, and incapacitation to hold office] was sufficiently severe for his offence.

Fortunately for the city, the Dutch commanders were men of liberal feelings; and mindful of the courteous treatment their countrymen had received in 1664, they granted every privilege of citizens, to the inhabitants.

The name of New York, they changed to New Orange, that of Albany to Williamstadt, and the fort previously called Fort James, to William Hendrick. Captain Anthony Colve was appointed Governor. Connecticut protested against this invasion, but with as little success, as Governors Stuyvesant and Kieft had formerly done, to her usurpations. By the treaty of February 9th, 1674, New York was restored to the English. It was not, however, given up by the Dutch, till the following

autumn.

Some doubts existing, relative to the validity of the Duke of York's patent, both on account of the Dutch occupation, and the fact, that it was wrested from that nation in time of peace, he deemed it advisable to obtain a new patent, from his brother, in 1674.

In the autumn of this year, Major Edmond Andross, afterwards so well known as the tyrant of New England, arrived in New York, and assumed the office of governor.

events.

His administration in New York seems to have been marked by few striking He won neither the love nor the hatred of the citizens; and being absent a part of the time, attending to the more refractory New England colonies, he did not manifest, in his own state, the tyranny, which subsequently rendered him so odious.

In 1675, Nicolaus Van Rensselaer, a younger son of the first Patroon-came over to New York, with a recommendation from the Duke of York, whose favor he had obtained, and wished to settle as minister in Albany. Niewenhyt, who was, at the time, pastor of the Reformed Dutch church, in that city, refused to recognize him, on the ground that he had received Episcopal ordination. In the difficulty resulting from this refusal, Andross took sides, though unsuccessfully, with Van Rensselaer.

During Governor Andross' frequent absences, Mr. Brockholst, the Lieutenant Governor, officiated.

In August, 1683, Colonel Dongan succeeded Andross in the government of the colony; and among his first acts, was one, granting permission to the people to elect an assembly, consisting of a council of ten persons, named by the proprietor or his deputy, and a house of representatives, eighteen in number, elected by the freeholders, to aid in the administration of government.

In this year, the ten original counties were organized.

In February, 1685, the Duke of York, on the death of his brother Charles II., ascended the throne, under the title of James II. Among the first acts of this bigoted and short sighted monarch, were his instructions to Dongan, to allow no printing press to be established in the colony.

Colonel Dongan, mindful of the necessity of keeping up friendly relations with the powerful confederation of the Iroquois, visited them in person, and by pres

ents and addresses, won their friendship and alliance. The Jesuit priests, sent by the French among the Indians, were, however, a formidable obstacle to his complete success, in his negotiations with the savage tribes; for, residing among them, and conforming to their habits, they exerted a powerful influence in favor of the French, who had been the hereditary enemies of the confederated tribes.

Colonel Dongan, though himself a Roman Catholic, was too shrewd a statesman not to perceive the injurious influence exerted by the priests upon these Indians, and accordingly attempted to prevent their continuing among the tribes. But James, infatuated by his zeal for Catholicism, forbade him to molest them, and ordered that he should rather aid them, in their efforts, to convert the indians to the Catholic faith.

In vain, Dongan remonstrated; he only irritated his royal master, and in 1688 was recalled.

Andross, who had preceded him, was designated as his successor, and New England was added to his jurisdiction.

Preferring to locate himself, where he could more easily inspect the conduct of his New England subjects, Governor Andross made Boston his residence, committing the care of the colony of New York, to his Lieutenant Governor, Colonel Nicholson. The latter seems to have been much more mild in his administration than his chief, whose enormities so exasperated the people of Massachusetts, that, on the arrival of the news, at Boston, of the accession of William, Prince of Orange, to the throne, they immediately imprisoned Andross, and sent him to England for trial.

In New York, the intelligence of the accession of the Prince of Orange did not, at first, produce a civil commotion. After a short time, however, a portion of the populace selected Jacob Leisler, a merchant of New York, of Dutch extraction, and the senior captain of the militia, as their leader, and proclaimed William and Mary. This movement, though popular with the masses, was discountenanced by most of the prominent citizens, who were unwilling to acknowledge Leisler, as a leader. Colonel Nicholson, apprehending popular violence, escaped on board a vessel in the harbor, and sailed for England.

On the 3d of June, 1689, finding himself surrounded by a large number of adherents, Leisler assumed the reins of government, associating with himself in the cares of state, his son-in-law, Jacob Milborne.

In the spring of 1690, Milborne, at the head of a considerable force, went to Albany, to reduce that town [which had hitherto remained refractory], to allegiance to the government of his father-in-law. At his first visit he was unsuccessful, but, at a subsequent period their fears of an Indian invasion, led them to submit to his jurisdiction. His confiscation of the estates of some of those who opposed him, excited prejudices which terminated in the ruin of both Milborne and Leisler.

During Milborne's absence at Albany, a letter from the English ministry arrived, addressed to "Francis Nicholson, Esq.: or, in his absence, to such as, for the time being, take care for the preserving of the peace, and administering the laws, in his majesty's province of New York, in America." This letter em

powered the person addressed, to take charge of the government, calling in the aid of such of the inhabitants, as he should think proper, until farther orders.

Leisler, being by popular election acting governor, very properly assumed, that this letter was addressed to himself; and consequently, by advice of the citizens, who constituted a committee of safety, selected a council from each of the counties, except Ulster and Albany, which had not yet submitted to his authority.

He also summoned a convention of deputies, from those portions of the province over which his influence extended. This convention laid some taxes, and adopted other measures, for the temporary government of the colony; and thus, for the first time in its existence, was the colony of New York under a free government. The strong prejudices, however, which had been awakened by Leisler's measures, soon produced in the minds of his adversaries, a rancor and bitterness, which was perhaps never surpassed in the annals of any political controversy.

This condition of things existed for nearly two years. To the horrors of civil commotion, were added the miseries of foreign war, and hostile invasion. The French Court, being at war with England, had placed over its colonies in Canada, the aged but enterprising Count de Frontenac, the ablest and most formidable governor of their American possessions.

This wily veteran at once determined to annoy his English neighbors, and accordingly despatched a force against Schenectady, in mid winter, which, after enduring extreme hardships, reached that place in the dead of night, and with the utmost barbarity, butchered its sleeping inhabitants, in cold blood.

Attempts were made to revenge this barbarous invasion, by an expedition against Quebec, of which Sir William Phipps and Fitz-John Winthrop, afterward governor of Connecticut, were the commanders; but through mismanagement, and the sickness of the troops, the expedition was unsuccessful,

Colonel Henry Sloughter, who had been appointed governor of New York, by King William, in 1689, arrived in 1691. His coming had been heralded, a few weeks before, by one Ingoldsby, a captain of foot, who, without credentials of any kind, demanded that the fort should be surrendered to him.

This demand, Leisler, with propriety, refused to obey; and when Colonel Sloughter, on his arrival, sent this same Ingoldsby, to demand the surrender of the fort, Leisler asked a personal interview with him. His enemies, who had determined upon his ruin, seized upon this imprudent hesitation, as evidence of treason, and filling the ears of the weak-minded Sloughter with charges against him, they demanded his arrest. The next day he surrendered the fort, and was immediately arrested, and with his son-in-law, after a mock trial, condemned to death for high treason.

Sloughter, however, hesitated to execute the sentence, and