Chapter X: The English in New York, 1664-1689 (2)

Conscious of the integrity of his service, Andros obeyed the summons with alacrity, proclaimed the agent’s commission, called Brockholls down from Albany to take charge of the government, and took ship for England. The absence of his firm hand was soon felt. The term for the levy of the customs rates under the Duke’s authority had expired just before his sailing, and had not been renewed. Immediately after his departure the merchants refused to pay duties, and the collector who attempted the levy was held for high treason in the exercise of regal authority without warrant. He pleaded his commission from the Duke, and the case was referred to England. The resistance of the merchants was stimulated by the free condition of the charter just granted to Pennsylvania, which required that all laws should be assented to by the freemen of the province, and that no taxes should be laid or revenue raised except by provincial assembly. The Grand Jury of New York presented the want of a provincial assembly as a grievance; a petition was drafted to the Duke praying for a change in the form of government, and calling for a governor, council, and assembly, the last to be elected by the freeholders of the colony. On the arrival of the Duke’s agent in London with his report upon the late administration, Andros was examined by the Duke’s commissioners, whereupon he was fully exonerated, his administration was complimented, and he was made a gentleman of the King’s Privy Chamber. The Duke’s collector, after waiting in vain for his prosecutors to appear, was discharged from his bond, and soon after appointed surveyor-general of customs in the American Plantations.

Notwithstanding his dislike to popular assemblies, the Duke of York saw the need of some concession, and gave notice of his intention to Brockholls. Thus by the accident of the non-renewal of the customs’ term, the people of New York were enabled, in the absence of the governor, to assert the doctrine of no taxation without representation, to which the Duke in his necessity was compelled to submit.

Great changes had taken place in the neighboring territory of New Jersey, which the Duke had alienated from his original magnificent domain, to its mutilation and lasting injury. Pennsylvania was formally organized as a province, and Philadelphia was planned. East New Jersey passed into the hands of twelve proprietors, who increased their number by sale to twenty-four, selected a governor, summoned a legislature, and organized the State.

While the English race, true to its instincts and traditions, was thus organizing its settlements, bringing its population into homogeneity, and preparing for a gradual but sure extension of its colonization from a firm, well-ordered base, the more adventurous French were pushing their voyages and posts along the lakes and down the Western streams, until the discovery of the mouth of the Mississippi by La Salle completed the chain and added to the nominal domain of the sovereign of France the vast territory from the Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, to which he gave the name of Louisiana.

* * * * *

The governor selected by the Duke of York to succeed Andros and to inaugurate the new order of government in his province was Colonel Thomas Dongan, an Irish officer who had commanded a regiment in the French service. Though a Roman Catholic, an Irishman, and a soldier, he proved himself an excellent and prudent magistrate. The instructions of the Duke required the appointment of a council of ten eminent citizens and the issue of writs for a general assembly, not to exceed eighteen, to consult with the Governor and Council with regard to the laws to be established, such laws to be subject to his approval,—the general tenor of laws as to life and property to be in conformity with the common law of England. No duties were to be levied except by the Assembly. No allusion was made to religion. No more democratic form of government existed in America, or was possible under kingly authority.

Dongan reached the city of New York, Aug. 28, 1683, and assumed the government. Installing his secretary and providing occupation for Brockholls, he summoned an assembly, and then hastened to Albany to check the attempt of Penn to extend the bounds of the territory of Pennsylvania by a purchase of the valley of the Upper Susquehanna from the Iroquois, who claimed the country by right of conquest from the Andastes. In this Dongan was successful; the Cayugas settling the question by a formal conveyance of the coveted territory to the New York Government, a cession which was later confirmed by the Mohawks. At the same time this tribe was instructed as to their behavior toward the French. The claim of New York to all the land on the south side of the lake was again renewed and assented to by the Mohawks. The astute Iroquois already recognized that only through the friendship of the English could their independence be maintained.

The New York Assembly met in October. Its first act bore the title of “The Charter of Liberties and Privileges granted by his Royal Highness to the Inhabitants of New York and its dependencies.” The supreme legislative authority, under the King and the Duke, was vested in a governor, council, and “the people met in general assembly;” the sessions, triennial as in England; franchise, free to every freeholder; the law, that of England in its most liberal provisions; freedom of conscience and religion to all peaceable persons “which profess faith in God by Jesus Christ.” In the words of the petition of right of 1628, no tax or imposition was to be laid except by act of Assembly,—in consideration of which privileges the Assembly was to grant the Duke or his heirs certain specified impost duties. The province was divided into twelve counties. Four tribunals of justice were established; namely, town courts with monthly sessions for the trial of petty cases; county or courts of sessions; a general court of oyer and terminer, to meet twice in each year; and a court of chancery or supreme court of the province, composed of the Governor and Council. An appeal to the King was reserved in every case. In addition to these there was a clause unusual in American statutes, naturalizing the foreign born residents and those who should come to reside within the limits of the province, which had already assumed the cosmopolitan character which has never since ceased to mark the city of New York. The liberal provisions of the statute gave security to all, and invited immigration from Europe, where religious intoleration was again unsettling the bases of society. It was not until the 4th of October, 1684, that the Duke signed and sealed the amended instrument, “The Charter of Franchises and Privileges to New Yorke in America,” and ordered it to be registered and sent across sea.

Connecticut making complaint of the extension of New York law over the territory within the contested boundary lines, Dongan brought the long dispute to a summary close by giving notice to the Hartford authorities that unless they withdrew their claims to territory within twenty miles of the Hudson he should renew the old New York claim to the Connecticut River as the eastern limit of the Duke’s patent, and refer the subject directly to his Highness. In reply to an invitation from Dongan, commissioners proceeded from Hartford to New York, who abandoned the pretensions set up, and accepted the line proposed by Dongan, thus finally closing the controversy.

The city of New York was now divided into six wards, certain jurisdiction conferred upon its officers, and a recorder was appointed.

Dongan with the vision of a statesman recognized the value of the friendship of the Indians. The Iroquois tribes he described as the bulwark of New York against Canada. The policy of the Duke’s governors from the time of Nicolls was unchanged. It consisted in a claim to all the territory south and southwest of the Lake of Canada (Ontario), and the confining of the French to the territory to the northward by the help of Indian allies. The French officers by negotiation and threat endeavored first to impose their authority on the several tribes of the Iroquois confederacy, and failing in this to divide them. But Dongan, carefully observing their manœuvres, obtained from a council of chiefs a written submission to the King of England, which was recorded on two white dressed deer-skins. The presence on the occasion at Albany of Lord Howard of Effingham, the Governor of Virginia, added greatly in the eyes of the Indians to this solemn engagement. Four nations bound themselves to the covenant, and asked that the arms of the Duke of York should be put upon their castles; and Dongan gave notice of the same to the Canadian Government, in witness that they were within his jurisdiction and under his protection. But in this submission the Indians recognized no subjection. The Iroquois still claimed his perfect freedom.

The claim of Massachusetts to territory westward of the Hudson was another perplexing element in the Indian question. In answer to a renewal of this demand, Dongan set up his claim as the Duke’s governor to jurisdiction over the towns which Massachusetts had organized on land covered by the Duke’s patent on the west side of the Connecticut River; but the matter being soon disposed of by the cancelling, for various offences, of the Massachusetts patent by the King, through the operation of a writ of _quo warranto_, the Duke had no further contestant to his claims. The New Jersey boundary was also matter of dispute, but Dongan, at first of his own motion, and later by specific instruction from the Duke, took care to prevent Penn from acquiring any part of New Jersey or from interfering with the Indian trade.

The controversy with Canada as to the country south of the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario now drew to a head. Dongan clung persistently to the claim asserted by Andros in 1677. Against this the Canadians set up the sovereignty of France, acquired by war and treaties and the planting of missionaries among the tribes. The question turned upon the independence of the Iroquois, parts of which tribes had never made submission, or had repudiated the interpretation set upon their engagements. The new French governor, De la Barre, made ineffectual menace, but not supporting his threat with arms, lost the respect of the savages. The prestige of the English was increased, and the coveted trade passed into their hands to such an extent that in 1684 the Senecas alone brought into Albany more than ten thousand beaver skins. Nor was Denonville, who succeeded De la Barre in the government of Canada, more fortunate in enforcing his policy. His wily effort to engage the sympathies of his co-religionist Dongan in a support of the French missionaries among the tribes, was foiled by the New York governor, who at the same time secured the approbation of his Roman Catholic master by proposing to replace them with English priests.

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The death of Charles II., early in the year 1685, and the accession to the throne of the Duke of York as James II., were of momentous influence upon European politics. They at once changed the political position of New York. The condition of proprietorship or nominal duchy altered with that of its master and proprietor. The Duke became a King; the duchy a royal province. The change involved a change in the New York charter, and afforded opportunity for a reconsideration and rejection of the entire instrument. The words “the people” were particularly objected to by the new King as unusual. The revocation of the Massachusetts charter by the late King, the government of which colony had not yet been settled, presented a favorable occasion for an assimilation of all the constitutions of the American colonies as preliminary to that consolidation of government and power at which James aimed as his ideal of government. Nevertheless the existing New York charter remained,—not confirmed, not repealed, but continued. The Scotch risings and the Monmouth rebellion interfered with any immediate action by the Government in American affairs. Yet the New York province hailed with joy the accession of their Duke and Lord proprietor to the throne. His rule had been just and temperate; his agents prudent and discreet. The immediate Governor, Dongan, was thoroughly identified with the interests of the province confided to his care, and aimed to make of its capital the centre of English influence in America. In 1686 the city received a new charter, with a grant of all the vacant land in and about the city. Albany, also, under an arrangement with the landed proprietors, was incorporated and intrusted with the management of the Indian trade. The suppression of the Monmouth rebellion enabling James to turn his attention to America, he directed proceedings to be instituted in the English courts to cancel the charters of the Connecticut, Rhode Island, West Jersey, and Delaware colonies. In the interim a temporary government was established for Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, and New Hampshire, in accordance with the order of Charles made in 1684. A board of councillors was appointed, of whom Joseph Dudley was named president.

Weary of the trouble and expense of maintaining authority in distant Pemaquid, Dongan urged the King to annex this dependency to Massachusetts, and to add Connecticut to New York. Dudley pleaded the claim of Massachusetts with the Connecticut authorities. They held an even balance between the two demands, however, and resolved to maintain the autonomy of the colony, if possible, against either the machinations of her neighbors or the warrant of the King.

It has been seen that as Duke of York the policy of James in the government of his American province was, with the exception of the weakness shown in the case of Carteret and New Jersey, the consolidation of power. His accession to the throne enabled him to carry out this policy on a broader field. He determined to put an end to the temporary charge by commissioners of the New England colonies, and to unite them all under one government, the better to defend themselves against invasion. The assigned reason was the policy of aggression of the French on the frontiers. The person selected for the delicate duty of harmonizing the colonies into one province was Sir Edmund Andros, who, as the Duke’s deputy, had first suggested that a strong royal government should be established in New England, and of whose character and administrative abilities there was no question. He was accordingly commissioned by the King “Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief over his territory and dominions of New England in America.” By the terms of his instructions, liberty of conscience was granted to all, countenance promised to the Church of England, and power conferred on the Assembly to make laws and levy taxes. Pemaquid was annexed to the new government.

To assimilate the New York government to that of the new dominion a new commission was issued to Dongan as King’s captain-general and governor-in-chief over the province of New York. The charter of liberties and privileges recently signed was repealed; the existing laws, however, were to continue in force until others should be framed and promulgated by the Governor and Council. The liberty of conscience granted in 1674 and limited in 1683 to Christians, was now extended to all persons without restriction. A censorship of the press was established. The trade of the Hudson River was to be kept free from intrusion by any.

While the King was thus strengthening his power and gathering into one grasp the entire force of the colonies, his ministers allowed themselves to be outwitted by the French in negotiation. A treaty of neutrality inspired by France engaged non-interference by either Government in the wars of the other against the savage tribes in America, and struck a severe blow at the policy of the New York governors. The announcement of the treaty was accompanied by the arrival of reinforcements in Canada and the organization of an expedition against the Iroquois. The treacherous seizure and despatch to France of a number of chiefs, who had been invited to a conference at Quebec, opened the campaign, at once ended the French missions among the Five Nations, and consolidated their alliance with the English. The expedition of Denonville was partially successful. The Seneca country was occupied, sovereignty proclaimed, and a fort built on the old site of La Salle’s Fort de Conty. But the power of the Iroquois was not touched. Hampered by his instructions, Dongan could only lay the situation before the King and suggest a comprehensive plan for the fortification of the country and assistance of the friendly tribes. Alarmed at the news from the frontier, he resolved to winter in Albany, and ordered the Five Nations to send their old women and children to Catskill, where they could be protected and cared for. A draft was also made of every tenth militia man to strengthen the Albany post. Denonville, despairing of conquering the fierce Iroquois, though they were supported only by the tacit aid of the English, now urged upon Louis XIV. the acquisition of the coveted territory by exchange or by purchase, even of the entire province of New York, with the harbor of the city.

Dongan’s messenger to James easily satisfied the King that the treaty of neutrality was not for the interest of England, and that if the independence of the Five Nations were not maintained, the sovereignty over them must be English. Orders were sent to Dongan to defend and protect them, and to Andros and the other governors to give them aid. To the complaints of Louis, James opposed the submission made at Albany in 1684 by the chiefs in the presence of the Governor of Virginia. As a compromise between the Governments it was agreed by treaty that until January, 1689, no act of hostility should be committed or either territory invaded. The warlike defensive operations against the French put the New York Government to extraordinary charges, amounting to more than £8,000, to which the neighboring colonies were invited to contribute under authority of the King’s letter of November, 1687. The occasion to urge the importance of New York as the bulwark of the colonies, and of strengthening her by the annexation of Connecticut and New Jersey, was not forgotten by the sagacious Dongan. Now that the Dutch pretension to rule in America was definitively set at rest, it was evident to statesmen that a struggle for the American continent would sooner or later arise between the powers of France and England,—indeed the rivalry had already begun. To James, who thoroughly understood the practice as well as the theory of administration, and was as diligent in his cabinet as any of his ministers, it was equally evident that the consolidated power of New France in the single hand of a viceroy was more serviceable than the discordant action of provinces so much at variance with each other in principle and feeling as the American colonies. To the viceregal government of New France he resolved to oppose a viceregal government of British America. To New England he now determined to annex New York. Dongan was recalled, gratified with military promotion and personal honor, and Sir Edmund Andros was commissioned governor-general of the entire territory. His commission gave him authority over

“All that tract of land, circuit, continent, precincts, and limits in America lying and being in breadth from forty degrees of northern latitude from the equinoctial line to the River St. Croix eastward, and from thence directly northward to the River of Canada, and in length and longitude by all the breadth aforesaid throughout the main land, from the Atlantic or Western Sea or Ocean on the east part to the South Sea on the west part, with all the islands, seas, rivers, waters, rights, members, and appurtenances thereunto belonging (our province of Pennsylvania and country of Delaware only excepted), to be called and known, as formerly, by the name and title of our territory and dominion of New England in America.”

On the 11th of August, 1688, Andros assumed his viceregal authority at Fort James in New York. A few days later the news arrived of the birth of a son to King James. A proclamation of the viceroy ordered a day of thanksgiving to be observed within the city of New York and dependencies. Thus New York was formally recognized as the metropolis and the seat of government in the Dominion of New England. By the King’s instructions the seal of New York was broken in council, and the great seal of New England thereafter used.

The Governor of Canada was notified that the Five Nations were the subjects of the King of England, and would be protected as such. The new governor visited Albany, and held a conference with the delegates from the Five Nations, and renewed the old covenant of Corlaer. The Indians showing signs of restlessness all along the frontier as far as Casco Bay, the viceroy endeavored to settle the difficulties between Canada and the New York tribes, and engaged his good offices to secure the return of the prisoners from France. On his return to Boston Andros left the affairs of the New York government in the charge of Nicholson. Dongan retired to his farm at Hempstead on Long Island. Though peaceful, the new dominion was not at rest. The liberty of conscience declared by the King was not precisely that which each dissenting denomination desired. Gradually men of each grew to believe that James was indifferent to all religions that were not of the true faith; and regarding the simple manner in which by legal form he had stripped them of their chartered rights, began to fear that by an act as legal he might strip them of their liberty of worship. The test Act which he had refused to obey, to the loss of his dignities and honors as Duke, might be altered to the ruin of its authors. A Roman Catholic test might take the place of the Protestant form. The King reigned, and a son was born to him, who doubtless would be educated in the papist faith of the Stuarts. William of Orange was only near the throne.

[See authorities in _Memorial History of Boston_, ii. 9.—ED.]]

While the colonies were thus agitated, a spirit of quiet resistance was spreading in England, where alarm was great at the arbitrary manner in which charters were stricken down. Property was threatened. In the American colonies the agitation was chiefly religious. Among their inhabitants were Huguenot families whom the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 had ruthlessly driven from their homes to a shelter on the distant continent. The crisis was at hand. Strangely enough, it was precipitated by the declaration of liberty of conscience and the abrogation of the test oath against Dissenters which King James had commissioned Andros to proclaim in America. This liberty of conscience included liberty to Catholics, which the Protestants would have none of. The abrogation of the test oath opened the way to preferment and honor to Catholics, which the Protestants were equally averse to. Ordered to read the proclamation in the churches, seven bishops, headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, refused to obey the command. The prelates were committed, tried, and acquitted. Encouraged by this victory, the great Whig houses of England now addressed an invitation to William of Orange, who was already, with naval and military force, secretly prepared to cross the sea. On the 5th of November the great Stadtholder landed on the shores of Devon, and proclaimed himself the maintainer of English liberties. Thus a declaration of liberty of conscience brought about the fall of a Catholic king. The news caused great excitement in the colonies.

Andros, who had but lately returned to Boston from an expedition to the northeastern frontier of Maine, where he had established posts for protection against the tribes who were threatening a second Indian war, was seized and imprisoned by a popular uprising. In New York the agitation was as intense. Nicholson, the lieutenant-governor, unequal to the emergency, let slip the grasp of power from his hand; and on the open revolt of Leisler, one of the militia captains, who seized the fort, he determined to sail for England, and the control of the province passed to a committee of safety. The revolt of Leisler forms the opening of a new chapter in the story of the New York province.

CRITICAL ESSAY ON THE SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

THERE are several comprehensive general histories of what is now the State of New York. The first edition[697] of Smith’s History was dedicated to the Earl of Halifax, First Lord Commissioner of Trade and Plantations. The dedication bears date New York, June 15, 1756. It is illustrated with a folding frontispiece plate, entitled “The South View of Oswego on Lake Ontario.” In his Preface the author states that his researches while engaged under appointment of the New York Assembly in a review and digest of the laws of the province, a work in which he was associated with William Livingston, induced the preparation of this the first History of the colony. He excuses himself from an attention to details, which he considered would not interest the British public, and declares his purpose to confine himself to a “summary account of the first rise and present state” of the colony. He presents it as a “narrative or thread of simple facts,” rather than as a history.

A second edition of this work appeared at London in 1776, from the press of J. Almon. It is a reprint in an octavo volume of three hundred and thirty-four pages. The troubles with the colonies and the important position of New York as the headquarters of the British army no doubt prompted this venture.

An American edition next appeared, in April, 1792, from the press of Mathew Carey, at Philadelphia, in an octavo volume of two hundred and seventy-six pages. It was announced “to the citizens of the United States as the first part of a plan undertaken at the desire of several gentlemen of taste, who wish to supply their libraries with histories of their native country.” The titlepage describes it as “The Second Edition,” Almon’s reprint having been ignored by Carey. The copy in the Library of the New York Historical Society is illustrated with a “Frontispiece View of Columbia College, in the City of New York,” from the plate originally engraved for the _New York Magazine_ of 1790.

Another edition appeared at Albany, from the press of Ryer Schermerhorn, in 1814, an octavo volume of five hundred and twelve pages. The anonymous editor, supposed to have been Mr. J. V. N. Yates, states in his Advertisement, that in “copying Smith’s History few deviations from his mode of spelling the names of places, particularly such as are derived from the aboriginal tongues, have been made. It is believed that he [Smith] adopted the mode of spelling which conveyed most clearly the sound of Indian words.” Mr. Yates intended to add a “Continuation from the year 1732 to the commencement of the year 1814,” but these additions stopped at 1747.

A French translation of Smith’s History, by M. Eidous, appeared in Paris in 1767, and bears the imprint “Londres.” It is a duodecimo of four hundred and fifteen pages.

Smith, the historian, who died Chief-Justice of Canada, left behind him a continuation of his _History of New York_, written by his own hand. It covers the period from 1732 to 1762. This interesting manuscript was communicated to the New York Historical Society in 1824 by William Smith, son of the author, then a distinguished member of the King’s Council in Canada, and also well known as the author of the History of that province. In his note to the Society, Mr. Smith states that “the Continuation of the History is as it was left by the author, with only a few verbal alterations and corrections.” The manuscript appeared in print for the first time in 1826, as the fourth volume of the _Collections_ of the New York Historical Society, an octavo of three hundred and eight pages. Copies of Smith’s original volume having become rare, the Society determined to reprint it from the author’s corrected and revised copy in a form similar to that in which they had published the Continuation, and in 1829 the work appeared complete for the first time. It was accompanied by a memoir of the author, written by his son. In making up sets of the Society’s _Collections_, the complete work is generally bound as vols. iv. and v. of the first series.

The next year, 1830, the Society issued a second edition of the complete work: also an octavo in two volumes, but printed in larger type and on better paper. This edition bears the press-mark of “Gratton, Printer.” Interesting sketches of the historian, with notices of his family, prepared by Mr. Maturin L. Delafield, appeared in the _Magazine of American History_, April and June, 1881. A small edition was struck off for Mr. Delafield for private distribution, illustrated with portraits.

Several criticisms on Smith’s History have appeared in print: “Remarks on Smith’s History of New York, London Edition, 1757, in Letters to John Pintard, Secretary of the New York Historical Society, by Judge Samuel Jones,” written in 1817 and 1818, were printed in the _Collections_ of the New York Historical Society, vol. iii., 1821; “Correspondence between Lieutenant-Governor Cadwallader Colden and William Smith, Jr., the Historian, respecting certain alleged Errors and Misstatements contained in the _History of New York_, with sundry other Papers relating to that Controversy,” printed in the _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._ (second series, vol. ii., 1849); “Letters on Smith’s History of New York, by Cadwallader Colden,” printed in the _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._ (Fund series), in 1868; “Letter of Cadwallader Colden on Smith’s History, July 5th, 1759,” _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._ (Fund series), 1869.

The late Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, of New York, in an able discourse before the Albany Institute, April, 1830, gives a fair and impartial estimate of the value of Smith’s History. He notices the incomplete and summary manner in which the earlier period was disposed of and ascribes it to the insufficient information within the reach of the author and his want of acquaintance with the Dutch language, in which the ancient records of the colony were written.[698] The posthumous work he condemns as “written in the spirit of a partisan,” and therefore to be received with caution, if not distrust. Yet he freely acknowledges the deep indebtedness of the State and of the friends of learning for the mass of authentic information discovered by him. With this judgment scholars generally concur. In reading the pages of this the first of the historians of New York, it must be borne in mind that Smith was one of the leaders of the Dissenting element in the New York colony, and at a time when religious partisanship was at its height.[699]

The second general history of New York was that of Macauley.[700] Its first volume treats “of the extent of the State, its mountains, hills, champaigns, plains, vales, valleys, marshes, rivers, creeks, lakes, seas, bays, springs, cataracts, and canals; its climate, winds, zoology,” etc. The second, “of the counties, cities, towns, and villages; antiquities of the west; origin of the Agoneaseah, their manners, customs, laws, and other matters; discovery of America; voyages of Cabot and Hudson; settlements of the New Netherlands by the Dutch in 1614; location of the Indian tribes; controversies between the Dutch and English; surrender in 1664, and thence to 1750.” The third volume covers “the war between England and France for the conquest of Canada, the war of the Revolution, and other matters which occurred, etc.” The leaning of the author is, as these words imply, essentially towards the physical features of the State. He himself calls it a compendium, or abridged history. The reader will find little original matter of an historical nature.[701]

The author of the next general history of the State[702] is well known as the historian of the American Theatre and of the Arts of Design in America, both commendable works. With the taste of an antiquary, Mr. Dunlap has gathered some curious details; but _The History of the New Netherlands_, etc., has little merit as historical authority. The first volume passed through the press during the fatal illness of the author; the second was supervised by a friend who apologized for his want of “intimacy with the subject.” It appeared after the author’s death. The main value of the work consists in the abstracts published as an appendix to the second volume.[703]

A much more thorough work followed, a dozen years later, when Mr. Brodhead began his History.[704] Its two volumes comprise all the known information concerning the period they cover, up to the time of publication. Mr. Brodhead by birth and education was eminently qualified for his ponderous task. He united in his blood the English and Dutch strains; on the father’s side being descended from one of the English officers, who came out with Nicolls at the time of the conquest. A lawyer by profession, he was attached to the legation at the Hague, and was commissioned by the State of New York to procure original materials relating to its early history. In this labor he spent three years in the archives of England, Holland, and France. At his death he left manuscript material for a third volume, which it is the hope of students may yet be made accessible. He divides his work into four marked periods: The first, from the discovery, in 1609, to its conquest by the English in 1664; the second carries the story down to 1691. The treatment is of the most exhaustive character, and the work is a monument of literary industry and careful execution. The authorities are in all cases given in foot-notes. The sympathies of the author are plainly with Holland in the original struggle, and later with New York in her occasional antagonism to the influence of New England. While the reader may sometimes smile at his enthusiasm and differ from his opinions, he will find no occasion to quarrel with his candor. The tendency of his mind will be found legal rather than judicial. His chief merit is his admirable co-ordination of an immense mass of material, covering a vast circuit of investigation.[705]

EDITORIAL NOTES.

=A.= SPECIFIC AUTHORITIES.—More particular mention of such sources as pertain jointly to the Dutch and English rule in New York is made in Mr. Fernow’s chapter on “New Netherland,” in Vol. IV.

Chalmers’ _Political Annals of the Present United Provinces_ reviews the English rule; but Brodhead (i. 62) considers that Chalmers’s treatment is biased, and grossly misrepresents the facts.

The documents in Hazard’s _Historical Collections of State Papers_ which relate to New York were reprinted in 1811 in the _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._, i. 189-303, and in the printed series published by the State under the editing of Dr. O’Callaghan, an account of which can better be made, unbroken between the Dutch and English portions, in connection with Mr. Fernow’s chapter. Various papers of importance, however, have appeared in the _Collections_ and _Proceedings_ of the New York Historical Society, and others are in the _Manual of the City of New York_, edited for thirty years, since 1841, successively by Valentine and Shannon. The journals of the Council and Assembly of the Colony of New York are rich in material.

Some original documents have appeared in connection with inquiries into the history of the boundaries of the State: _Report to ascertain and settle the Boundary Line between New York and Connecticut_, Feb. 8, 1861; _Report on the Boundaries of New York_, Albany, 1874; papers of Dawson, Whitehead, etc., in _Historical Magazine_, xviii. 25, 82, 146, 211, 267, 321. Cf. also C. W. Bowen’s _Boundary Disputes of Connecticut_, Boston, 1882, part iv.

At a commemoration of the English conquest of 1664, held by the New York Historical Society in 1864, the oration was fitly made by Mr. Brodhead. _Historical Magazine_, viii. 375. The first printed Dutch report of the capture is given in the _Kort en bondigh Verhael_, Amsterdam, 1667, p. 27; cf. Asher’s _Essay_, no. 354. The list of those in New York city who took the oath, October, 1664, is given in Valentine’s _Manual_, 1854. The patent of March 12, 1664, granted the Duke of York, under whose authority the conquest was made, is given in Brodhead’s _New York_, ii. 651; cf. also Learning and Spicer’s _Grants, etc. of New Jersey_, p. 3, and _New York Colonial Documents_, ii. 295. Charles E. Anthon, in the _Magazine of American History_, September, 1882, urges that a commemorative sculpture be placed in Central Park, to preserve the memory of the royal Duke whose twin titles of York and Albany are borne by the two chief cities of the State.

The Clarendon Papers, 1662-67, covering this early period of the English rule, are in the _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._ (Fund series), vol. ii. The important code known as the Duke’s Laws are also in the same Society’s _Collections_. Mr. O. H. Marshall examines the charters of 1664 and 1674 in the _Magazine of American History_, viii. 24.

A few of the letters of Nicolls and Lovelace to the Secretary of State, dated prior to 1674, are in the London State-Paper Office, but not till that year does the regular record seem to begin. Brodhead, ii. 261.

Of Thomas Willett, the first English mayor of the town, Brodhead gives the best account, in his _History of New York_, ii. 76, which may be supplemented by the account of his family given in the _N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg._, ii. 376; xvii. 244. Cf. also Dr. John F. Jameson on the origin and development of municipal government in New York city, in _Magazine of American History_, 1882. The _Manual_ published successively by Valentine and Shannon preserves much information regarding the city’s history. Cf. General De Peyster on “New York and its History,” in _International Review_, April, 1878, and Mrs. Lamb’s _History of New York City_, and other local monographs, of which further mention is made in the notes to Mr. Fernow’s chapter, in Vol. IV.

The English occupation of New York was confirmed by the Treaty of Breda, July 31, 1667. The original Latin and Dutch of its text appeared at the Hague in 1667. (Muller, _Books on America_, 1872, p. 119; Stevens, _Historical Collections_, vol. i. no. 31.) A contemporary engraving of the signing is in the _Kort en bondigh Verhael_, Amsterdam, 1667. (Stevens, no. 1079; Muller, _Books on America_, 1877, nos. 1697, 2268.) There was a French edition published at Amsterdam in 1668. (_Recueil van de Tractaten_, Hague, 1684).

The Dutch bibliographies refer to scores of pamphlets launched against Sir George Downing, the English diplomat who is charged with instigating the war with England (1663-67), and not infrequently assigning his animosity towards the Dutch to feelings engendered in his early New England home, Downing being a nephew of Governor Winthrop, and a graduate of Harvard College. (Sibley’s _Harvard Graduates_, i. 28, with a list of authorities, p. 51, and the _Carter-Brown Catalogue_, ii. 959, 975. Cf. on Downing’s agency, O’Callaghan’s _New Netherland_, ii. 515; Palfrey’s _New England_; Brodhead’s _New York_ and his _Colonial Documents of New York_; and R. C. Winthrop’s paper in 5 _Mass. Hist. Coll._ vol. i.)

On the Dutch side, Aitzema’s _Historie van Saken van Staet en Oorlogh_, 1621-1668, Hague, 1657-1671, is a vast repository of documentary evidence, vol. iv. covering Downing’s period, and vol. vi. giving the negotiations of Breda. The best edition, with a supplement by Sylvius, was published in eleven volumes in 1669-1699. (Muller, _Books on America_, 1877, no. 47.) Sabin, _Dictionary_, v. 20,783, etc., gives various titles of Downingiana, and a full list of Downing’s works is given by Sibley, _Harvard Graduates_, i. 48. The Dutch also charged upon Downing the initiative in “curbing the progress and reducing the power” of their State through the Navigation Acts of 1651 and 1660; cf. Upham, in _Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine_, iv. 407.

The relations of the new English province with the French and Indians are particularly illustrated in the papers relating to De Courcelles and De Tracy’s expedition against the Mohawks (1665), published in the _Documentary History of New York_, vol. i., where will also be found the documents concerning Denonville’s expedition against the Senecas and into the Genesee country in 1687. Cf. also the narrative of Denonville with O. H. Marshall’s notes, in 2 _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll._, ii. 149. For the expedition against Schenectady, 1689-90, see _N. Y. Hist. Soc. Proc._, 1846, p. 137; cf. _Historical Magazine_, xiii. 263, by J. G. Shea. A further treatment of the French and Indian wars is made in Vol. IV.

The Hon. Henry C. Murphy found in Holland the _Relation de sa Captivité parmi les Onneiouts en 1690-91_, by Father Millet, the Jesuit, and it was edited by Mr. Shea in New York in 1864. Field, _Indian Bibliography_, no. 1063, says that with the narrative of Jogues it gives us nearly all we know from personal observation of the Five Nations at this time. Further references to the literature of the aboriginal occupation will be given in Mr. Fernow’s chapter.

Regarding the seals of the province, see _Documentary History of New York_, vol. iv., for various engravings. (Cf. _Historical Magazine_, ix. 177, and Valentine’s _Manual_, 1851.) Reports on the Province, 1668-1678, are in the _Documentary History of New York_, vol. i.; and in vol. iii. the papers on Manning’s surrender in 1673, and the subsequent restoration.

Of the Catholic Governor Dongan there are special treatments by R. H. Clarke in the _Catholic World_, ix. 767, and by P. F. Dealy, S. J., in _Magazine of American History_, February, 1882, p. 106. Dongan’s report on the state of the province, 1687, is in the _Documentary History of New York_, vol. i. A view of his house is given in Lamb’s _New York_, i. 326.

Upon Andros’s rule, compare the general historians, and _Memorial History of Boston_, vol. ii. chap. 1.

Something will be said of the more specific local histories, covering both the Dutch and English periods, in connection with Mr. Fernow’s chapter in Vol. IV.

The news of the movements in the province, both under the Dutch and English rule, as it reached Europe, is recorded in _De Hollandsche Mercurius_, 1650-1690, a periodical. Cf. Asher’s _Essay_, p. 220; Muller’s _Catalogue_ (1872), p. 104 (1877), no. 2,100; Sabin’s _Dictionary_, viii. p. 378.

=B.= VIEWS, MAPS, AND DESCRIPTIONS OF NEW YORK AND THE PROVINCE UNDER ENGLISH RULE.—_Views._ The earliest views of New Amsterdam date back to the Dutch period, the first being that in the _Beschrijvinghe van Virginia_, etc., 1651, of which a fac-simile is given on the title of Asher’s _List of Maps_, Amsterdam, 1851, and in the _Popular History of the United States_. The next appeared on the several maps issued by N. J. Visscher, Van der Donck, Allard (first map), Nicolas Visscher (first map), and Danckers. It is seen in the heliotype of Van der Donck’s map given in Vol. IV., and in the engraving of the Visscher map, in Asher’s _List_.[706] A view very like this is that given on p. 124 of Arnoldus Montanus’s _De Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld of Beschryving van America_, a sumptuous folio printed at Amsterdam, 1671, and at present variously priced from $5 to $20. Cf. _Carter-Brown Catalogue_, ii. 1,066, with fac-simile of title.

The same picture is reproduced in the later, 1673, edition of Montanus, p. 143, and in Ogilby’s _America_, 1671, p. 171, where the description also follows Montanus, with aid from Denton. (_Carter-Brown Catalogue_, ii. 1,067, 1,092.) Montanus’s account is translated in the _Documentary History of New York_, iv. 75, 116, with a fac-simile of the view in question. Cf. also Gay’s _Popular History of the United States_, iii. 1, and the fac-simile issued, with descriptive notes, by J. W. Moulton in 1825 as _New York One Hundred and Seventy Years Ago_; and Watson’s _Olden Times in New York_, 1832.

The picture is also given in fac-simile in Mr. Lenox’s edition of Jogues’s _Novum Belgium_, edited by J. G. Shea, and in _N. E. Hist. and Geneal. Reg._, July, 1882, with a paper by J. R. Stanwood on the settlement of New Netherland. Muller, of Amsterdam in one of his catalogues, of recent years, offered for 250 marks a water-color drawing made in 1650, which he claimed as the original sketch upon which the engraver in Montanus worked. Muller, _Catalogue of American Portraits_, etc., no. 305. This view is now in the New York Historical Society’s Library. It is inscribed “In ‘t schip Lydia door Laurens Harmen Z^n Block, A^o 1650.” There is no record of any ship of such name arriving at New Amsterdam, and this together with certain changes in the picture, as compared with Montanus, have led good judges to suspect that it is a copy of that view, by one who was never in New Amsterdam, rather than its original. The paper and frame are old, at all events.

A view purporting to represent the town in 1667 is given in Valentine’s _New York City Manual_, 1851, p. 131, and in his _History of New York City_, p. 71.

The view of which an engraving is herewith given is from a map entitled _Totius Neobelgii nova et accuratissima tabula, ... Typis Caroli Allard, Amstelodami_.

The reference-key to the view is as follows:—

A. Fort Orangiensche oft N. Albanische Jachten.
B. Vlagge-spil, daer de Vlag wordt opgehaelt, alsercomen
schepen in dese Haven.
C. Fort Amsterdam, genaemt Jeams-fort bij de Engelsche.
D. Gevangen-huijs.
E. Gereformeede Kerck.
F. Gouverneurs-Huijs.
G. ’t magazijn.
H. De Waeg.
I. Heeren-gracht.
K. Stadt huijs.
L. Luthersche Kerck.
M. Waterpoort.
N. Smidts-vallij.
O. Landtpoort.
P. Weg na ’tversche Water.
Q. Wint-molen.
R. Ronduijten.
S. Stuijvesants Huijs.
T. Oost-Rivier, lopende tusschen ’t Eijlandt Manhatans,
en Jorckshire, oft ‘t lange Eijlandt.

The view is inscribed: “Nieuw-Amsterdam, onlangs Nieuw jorck genamt, ende hernomen bij de Nederlanders op den 24 Aug., 1673, eindelijk aan de Engelse weder afgestaan.” It took the place of the engraved view, already mentioned as appearing in the first edition of Allard’s map, and was probably etched by Romeyn de Hooghe, a distinguished artist of the day, when Hugo Allard retouched his old plate to produce an engraved map to meet the interest raised by the recapture of the town. It also did service in the later issues of the same plate by Carolus Allard and the Ottens, and was reproduced in an inferior way by Lotter on his map. See Asher’s _List of Maps and Views_, p. 20. A view of 1679 is given on a later page, with its history.

The annexed cut of the Strand follows a view in _The Manual of the City of New York_, 1869, p. 738. The Central House, with three windows in the roof, was the earliest brick house built in the town, and was at one time the dwelling of Jacob Leisler, and had been built by his father-in-law, Vanderveen; cf. the narrative in the _Manual_. It is also engraved in Gay’s _Popular History of the United States_, iii. 14. Other houses of this period are shown in the _Manual_, 1847, p. 371, 1858, p. 526, and 1862, p. 522; in Valentine’s _History of New York City_, pp. 177, 214, 319; in Riker’s _Harlem_, p. 454 (Dutch Church of 1686), etc.

_Maps._ An account of the maps of the Dutch period is given in Vol. IV. For the English period, the earliest of the town of New York was probably that supposed to have been sent home by Nicoll (1664-68) after his occupation, and of which a portion is herewith given.

Of about the same date is the original of the Hudson River Map (1666), which will be found in the next volume. Then came the map of the province by Nicolas Visscher, issued in the first edition of his _Atlas Minor_ about 1670.[707] Not far from the same time (1671) appeared the map which is common to Montanus’s _Nieuwe en Onbekende Weereld_ and to Ogilby’s great folio _America_, which shows the coast from the Penobscot to the Chesapeake, and is entitled “Novi Belgii, etc., delineatio.” It closely resembles Jansson’s earlier map. The Allard map of 1673, from which our engraved view is taken, was the second by that cartographer of New Netherland, who retouched the plate of the earlier one, which had been mainly a reproduction of N. J. Visscher’s, as the later one of Schenk and Valch (1690) was. Asher says (nos. 13, 15, 16) that Allard in this second map confined his additions to new names in the Dutch regions. The same plate was later used by Carolus Allard, and as late as 1740-50 by Ottens.

About 1680, in Danckers’ Atlas, published at Amsterdam, is found a map, “Novi Belgii, etc., tabula, multis in locis emendata a J. Danckers,” which, however, in Asher’s opinion was but a revamping of the earlier Visscher plate.[708] The map which N. J. Visscher published about 1640 was reissued about 1690 by Nicolas Visscher, “Novi Belgii, etc., tabula, multis in locis emendata,” making use of the work of Montanus and Allard, of which there were also later issues. (Asher’s _List_, no. 14; Muller, no. 2,276.) An eclectic map, showing the province at this period, was made up from Montanus, Roggeveen, and others, by J. P. Bourjé, and appeared in Lambrechtsen’s _Korte Beschryving_, Middelburg, 1818. The maps of Nicolas Visscher in Sanson’s _Atlas Nouveau_ (1700), and of Henry Hondius and Homan, belong to a later period.

This is a reduced reproduction of the fac-simile in Valentine’s _New York City Manual_, 1863, of one of the sheets of Nicoll’s map of Manhattan Island, preserved in the British Museum. It bears an attestation of correct correspondence with the original, from Richard Simms, of the Museum, who transmitted in 1862 the copy to George H. Moore, then of the Historical Society. Cf. also another representation in Valentine’s _Manual_, 1859, P. 548, and in his _History_, p. 226.]

Of the charts of the coast about New York, there were two standard atlases of this period, the _Zee-Atlas_ of Pieter Goos, of which there were editions in 1666, 1668, 1673, 1675, 1676,—some of them with French text. (Asher’s _List_, no. 22-24; Muller’s _Catalogue_, 1877, no. 1254.) Better executed are the charts in the special American collection issued at Amsterdam by Arent Roggeveen under the title of _Het Eerste Deel van het Brandende Veen_, 1675, and known in the English edition as _The Burning Fen_. Asher also adds the charts of Van Keulen, remarking, however, upon their inaccurate coast-lines.

_Descriptions._ Edward Melton was in New York in 1668, and in his _Zee-en Landreizen_, Amsterdam, 1681, and again 1702, he gives a detailed description of the place, borrowing somewhat from Montanus. (Asher’s _Essay_, no. 17; and _Carter-Brown Catalogue_, ii. 1,221, which says the later editions were issued in 1704-1705.) Though an Englishman, his account was not published in the original, and we owe the earliest one in English to Daniel Denton, whose _Brief Descriptions of New York_ appeared in London in 1670. It is now very rare. (Sabin’s _Dictionary_, v. 350.) It is a small quarto, and Rich priced it in 1832 at £1 12_s._ There are copies in Harvard College Library; in the State Library, Albany; besides two copies in the Carter-Brown Library, with different imprints. (_Catalogue_, ii. 1,038.) Sabin, in the _Menzies Catalogue_, says he had sold a copy for $275, and at that sale it brought $220. (Cf. _Brinley Catalogue_, no. 2,778.) It was reprinted by the Pennsylvania Historical Society in 1845, 16 pp., and by Wm. Gowan in New York the same year, with an Introduction by Gabriel Furman, 57 pp.