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THE 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 ^ 
 
 ROViNCE OF New York. 
 
 HEI^BERT LIVINGSTON SATTERLEE, 
 
 A.M., LL.B. (cum Imide). Ph.D. [Columbia.] 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 J. F. PEARSON, PUBLISHER, 
 
 60 Barclay Street. 
 
 18S3. 
 
THE 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 Province of New York, 
 
 HERBERT LIVINGSTON SATTERLEE, 
 
 A.M., LL.B. i^cum laude), Ph.D. [Columbia.] 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 J. F. PEARSON, PUBLISHER, 
 
 60 Barclay Stkkf.t. 
 
 1883. 
 
t^.^\o\S^'2> 
 
Prefatory Note. 
 
 This ontliue of the Political History of the Province of 
 New York was originally presented to the Faculty of the 
 School of Political Science, Columbia College. It was written 
 in part fulfillment of the conditions necessary for the attain- 
 ment of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and having been 
 favorably received, I am led to issue a few copies of it for two 
 reasons. 
 
 First: because I have found no connected and condensed 
 statement of the events of constitutional importance during 
 that period. In the smaller histories of the State these facts 
 are generally ignored, and in the more voluminons works and 
 collections of historical documents they are so scattered and 
 wanting in sequence, that much time and labor are necessary 
 to establish their relation and significance. 
 
 Again: I am convinced that the important influence of the 
 colonial constitution on the political structure of our State has 
 been and is undervalued from want of familiarity. If this is 
 true, then every effort — however slight — that serves to call 
 attention to it is an act of justice to our history that needs no 
 apology. 
 
 51 West 19th Steeet. H. L. S. 
 
 June 1st, 1885. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. Yalidity of the Dutch Title, - 3 
 
 " II. The Institutions of the Netherlands, 11 
 
 " III. The "United New JSTetherland " and 
 
 "Dutch West India Companies," 18 
 
 " IV. The Charter of " Freedoms and Exemp- 
 tions," - - 27 
 " V. First Attempts of the People to gain 
 
 Representation, - 35 
 
 " VI. The Directorship of Petrus Stuyvesant, 42 
 
 " VII. English Rule. — The Proprietary Gov- 
 ernment under James, Duke of York — 
 The patent of 1664— Th* Hempstead 
 Meeting, 1665, - - 50 
 
 " VIII. "The Duke's Laws "—The Recapture by 
 the Dutch, and Final Cession to the 
 English— The Patent of 1674 - 57 
 
 " IX. The Duke's Instructions to Gov. Andros — 
 Popular Discontent — Attempts to gain 
 a Representative Assembly, 1674 — 
 1682, - - 63 
 
 " X. "The Charter of Libertys & Privileges," 70 
 
 " XI. New York becomes a Royal Province — It 
 is incorporated into " The Dominion of 
 New England" — The Revolution of 
 1688, - 79 
 
 " XII. Effect of the Revolution in New York— 
 Leisler's Rebellion — His Administra- 
 tion, - - 85 
 " XIII. The Governmental Institutions perma- 
 nently established by William III. — 
 Conclusion, - - 95 
 AUTHORITIES, - - - 106 
 
THE 
 
 POLITICAL HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PROVINCE OF NEW YORK. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Yaliditt of the Dutch Title. 
 
 In order to understand the true meaning and importance of 
 an institution it is prerequisite to gain a correct view of the traits 
 and customs of the people among whom it is found. Thus, in 
 the consideration of the constitution of New York State, the 
 student would be at fault who began with the first paper con- 
 stitution of 1777, without being familiar with the political 
 events and economic changes which preceded its adoption, and 
 the characteristics and motives of those who framed it. His- 
 torical research must pave the way for analysis and criticism, 
 and we therefore have to go back of the very foundation of 
 our first constitution, and consider the causes which made its 
 existence possible, and the factors that determined its form. 
 How far back, however, must we go ? To the day when New 
 York first became a royal English province — to its proprietary 
 
— 4 — 
 
 form of government, — or fifty years earlier, to the time when 
 a few Dutch traders raised their log huts by the side of " The 
 Great River of the Mountains " ? 
 
 It is true that the settlement which those traders started, 
 became in time a populous community, and the presence of the 
 Netherlanders in and around Manhattan Island destroyed the 
 ethnic unity of the Atlantic seaboard. It separated two large 
 colonies of "Anglo-Saxons — New England and Virginia — and 
 was the only serious break in the English occupation from New 
 France to Florida. But it was not so serious a break as is 
 generally supposed. The Dutch were extremely cosmopolitan, 
 more so than any other people at that day; they were tolerant, 
 energetic and thoroughly commercial. They demonstrated the 
 wealth and richness of the soil, and proved the great mercantile 
 value of the natural features of the country. They cleared the 
 way for the English dominion, which was inevitably to come to 
 pass, and left lasting traces on the political institutions, social 
 customs, life and language of the people. Traces which, far 
 from being hindrances and discordant elements in the develop- 
 ment of the State, have proved quickening and beneficial forces. 
 They bequeathed to their successors to the ownership of the 
 land, traditions of a more independent spirit and a more catho- 
 lic policy than the English in other parts of America had ever 
 known. I say " successors to the ownership," because I believe 
 that the Dutch, according to the accepted practice of the age, 
 were the rightful owners of the territory, and in no sense 
 "usurpers" or trespassers on English rights. I am aware 
 that the latter view has been held by scholars of learning and 
 ability, but I cannot accept it, and my opinion is based on the 
 requirements of the public law of the period and the circum- 
 stances of the Dutch occupation. A brief consideration of 
 these questions will prove the merits of the title of the Nether- 
 lands and the pretensions of England. It is unnecessary to 
 prove the right of European nations to civilize lands and hold 
 them adversely to the " natural title " of the savage tribes, as 
 that right is now generally unquestioned, so that I will confine . 
 my discuBsion to the opposing claims of the English and Dutch. 
 
— 5 — 
 The Dutch Tn'LE. 
 
 At the close of the Fifteenth Century the Pope was still 
 almost universally regarded as the representative of God upon 
 earth, and, as such, the application of the feudal idea to the 
 ecclesiastic system vested in him supreme jurisdiction over all 
 the world. It was on this authority that Alexander VI. issued 
 the Bull of 1493. The object of this Bull was to settle the dis- 
 pute between Spain and Portugal as to newly found countries. 
 Since Columbus had made his discoveries while in the service 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Pope granted to the Spanish 
 sovereigns " all the islands and lands which they had come 
 upon or might come upon," lying on the " west and south " of 
 a meridian of longitude drawn one hundred leagues west of the 
 Azore Islands. To Portugal he gave all to the " south and. 
 east " of the same line. What the Pope meant by lands lying 
 to the south of a meridian of longitude was not then undei-stood, 
 and it was always supposed that by the description " south and 
 west" his Holiness referred simply to lands lying to the west. 
 This point puzzled even Prescott, the historian, (a) and it is 
 only lately that these words have been correctly interpreted. 
 To the " west and south " meant to the west of a meridian of 
 longitude drawn through the Azores, and to the south of a 
 parallel of latitude through the same islands. (5) However, 
 this was not at all understood at that time, and it was thought 
 that Spain had rights over the whole Western World, north of 
 the parallel of the Azores (about forty degrees) as well as 
 south of it. 
 
 A few years later, the Cabots, commissioned by Henry VII. 
 of England, touched the North American continent at New- 
 foundland, and coasted as far south as the Carolinas. This 
 was at the beginning of that period when the sovereignties of 
 the Old World claimed enormous tracts of the earth's surface, 
 by virtue of voyages of discovery and exploration made by 
 their subjects, and England wished to claim as hers, all that. 
 
 (a) Ferdinand and Isabella, Vol. II. 174. 
 
 (t) Dr. Daniel de Leon's Lectures on South American Diplomacy.. 
 
— 6 — 
 
 territory along the shores of which the Cabots had sailed. 
 However, according to the erroneous reading of the Papal 
 Bull which then prevailed, it was thought that the previous 
 comprehensive title of Spain was in England's way, and it was 
 necessary to prove, if possible, its invalidity. The right by 
 papal investiture was therefore denied, and it was decided that 
 the " Donation of the Bishop of Rome " was not binding upon 
 a nation "which owed him no obedience or observance," and 
 which denied his prerogative and authority. Moreover, it was 
 held that the right, by prior exploration (which Spain also 
 claimed), was insufficient, and that simple discovery carried 
 with it no exclusive control. This principle, coined by En- 
 gland to suit her convenience, was announced by Queen Eliza- 
 beth in 1580, (a) in the maxim, "JV«5cr^fe'o sine posnessione 
 hand valeat." In other words, in order to confer a valid right, 
 possession or occupation must follow discovery. This is un- 
 doubtedly an entirely just principle, and is simply another 
 application of the doctrine that no State shall make unreason- 
 able or unnecessary claims, which it is powerless to enforce. 
 It suited England's policy to declare this principle in 1580, and 
 she found it expedient to reiterate it in 1621, when the House 
 of Commons maintained that "occupancy confers a good title 
 by the law of nations and nature." (b) And again, in 1790, 
 when the Spaniards had seized British ships at Nootka Sound, 
 and the ministry proposed to resort to arms for redress, Mr. 
 Fox, in support of the proposed measure, said : " In the present 
 enlightened age, the absolute claim of territory by a grant 
 from the Pope is done away with, as is the right of territory 
 by discovery without absolute settlements. The taking posses- 
 sion by fixing up a cross, or any such mark of ceremony, is by 
 good sense of the present time not admitted, and the only 
 ground of right is absolute occupancy." (c) 
 
 Since this is the standard which England voluntarily adopted 
 as the measure of the rights of rival claimants, we must apply 
 
 (o) Camden, Eliz. Annales. 
 (6) Chalmers' Polit. Ann. 1. 10. 
 (c) Wood's Long Island, 5. 
 
— 7 — 
 
 it in every instance to her own pretensions, although it be to 
 her disadvantage. Granting, tlierefore, that Spain acquired no 
 title from the landing of Columbus, not followed iy occupation, 
 it must be admitted, on the same grounds, that the shores along 
 which the Cahots coasted {unless subsequently occupied) did not 
 become subject to the dominion of England. In refusing to 
 recognize Spain's title, founded on the voyage of Columbus, 
 England renounced her own claim of title founded on the 
 Cabots' expedition. 
 
 The subsequent voyages of Verazzano and Gomez, to the 
 southern coasts, did not lead to colonization, and therefore En- 
 gland deemed them still open to her, but she promptly acknowl- 
 edged the title of France to Canada and Acadia, in the North, 
 since these countries were occupied, at least in part. 
 
 When James I. in 1606 granted a charter (a) for the coloni- 
 zation of " that part of America commonly called Virginia, and 
 other parts of territories in America appertaining to us," he 
 very properly restricted his provisions to lands " which are not 
 now actually possessed by any Christian prince or people," lying 
 between the degrees of thirty-five and forty, north latitude. 
 No English adventurers had taken advantage of this charter, 
 and the coast between the Chesapeake and Buzzard's Bay was 
 still unsearched when, three years later, on September 4th, 
 1609, the "Great Kiver of the Mountains" was thoroughly 
 explored by Henry Hudson, in the employ of the " Dutch East 
 India Company." (b) This furnished the Dutch with the first 
 factor of their title — discovery, and they soon supplied the 
 second and most important — occupation. 
 
 On May 11th, 1614, when « The States General of the Unit- 
 ed Netherlands " granted a trading license, they recognized the 
 validity of the titles of England and France to the territories 
 which they occupied, by defining that their franchise applied 
 only to " certain new lar^ds, situated in America, between New 
 
 (a) Poore's Constitutions, II. 1888. 
 
 (b) Bancroft, II. 29. 
 
France and Virginia, being the seacoasts between forty and 
 forty-five degrees of latitude." (a) 
 
 In 1620, James I. granted to the Duke of Lenox and asso- 
 ciates (who constituted the famous " Council of Plymouth ") a 
 patent (5) for " New England in America," which included aU 
 the region between forty and forty-eight degrees of latitude, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific ; but expressly provided that 
 the premises intended to be granted " be not actually possessed 
 or inhabited by any other Christian prince or estate." This 
 proviso follows very closely the language of his charter of 1606, 
 and excepts New France. That it also excepts New Netherland 
 is indisputable, since that territory had been " actually pos- 
 sessed and inhabited " by the agents of " The United New 
 Netherland Company " for fully six years. What justice then 
 was there in the claim of the envious Puritans in after years, 
 that the Dutch occupants of New Netherlands were " in- 
 truders int9 New England," when their title was recognized in 
 a proviso of the very charter under which the Puritans them- 
 selves claimed title from James ? If the patent was construed 
 as giving them a valid right to New England, the proviso which 
 it contained ought to have been construed as endorsing the 
 valid right of the Dutch who " actually inhabited " the coveted 
 territory to the south of them. The Puritans, as Brodhead 
 says, " with inconsistent logic but characteristic assurance," 
 wished to maintain that part which was to their interest and 
 deny that which was to their disadvantage. 
 
 At this stage the Atlantic seacoast might have been mapped 
 out as follows: The Virginia patent of 1606 exteiided from 
 thirty-five degrees latitude, northward to forty degrees; the 
 Dutch patent of 1614, from Virginia, forty degrees, northward 
 to New France, forty-five degrees; the New England patent of 
 1620, from forty degrees, northward to forty-eight degrees. It 
 will thus be seen that the claims of the Dutch and English by 
 discovery, overlapped one another as to the territory lying be- 
 tween forty degrees and forty-five degrees north latitude. How- 
 
 (a) O'Callaghan, I. 70. 
 
 (6) Poore's Constitutions, 1. 920. 
 
— 9 — 
 
 ever, the Dutch only had a valid title by occupation to the 
 southern part of their claim, and the English to the northern 
 part of theirs. Their absolute rights of ownership (according 
 to the Enghsh definition) did not therefore interfere ; and the 
 question only remains as to where the boundary line shoidd be 
 drawn between them. This is a matter of secondary import- 
 ance and was not settled for many years. 
 
 In 1665 the question of the title to New Netherland was 
 raised when Louis of France, on behalf of the United Provinces, 
 proposed to Charles II. that he should exchange the Island of 
 Poleron for the Dutch possessions in North America. The 
 English king haughtily replied that he was " greatly surprised 
 at the proposition which had been made to him that he should 
 cede his right to Fouleron in compensation for a country al- 
 ready his own." In regard to "New Netherland," he says, 
 "that the affectation and ..usurpation of the Dutch had so 
 named it, * * * inasmuch as the English have possessed 
 it for a long series' of years, by whose permission and conniv- 
 ance only have the Dutch settled there as private persons." (a) 
 In the light of our knowledge of the settlement of New Nether- 
 land, these claims appear to be unnecessarily positive and 
 hardly in accordance with the facts of the case. The English 
 Chancellor, in writing to Lonia the decision of his master, said 
 that the Hollanders had been suffered to remain in New 
 Netherland, just as they might have been had they settled in 
 England itself or els where, and they had not on this account 
 acquired any right of sovereignity for their republic. King 
 Louis had an excellent opportunity to judge the merits of the 
 case, as they were fully laid before him by both parties, and 
 he remarked in a letter to d'Estrades, his ambassador at the 
 Hague : " I will say to you that, having examined what the En- 
 glish and the Hollanders have written upon the subject of New 
 Netherland, it appears to me that the right of the Hollanders 
 is the best founded, for it is a species of mockery to make 
 believe that those who have built and peopled a city without 
 
 (a) Holl. Doc. II. 355. 
 
— 10 — 
 
 any one saying a word to hinder them would have been toler- 
 ated as strangers in France or in England ; and habitation, 
 joined to a long possession, are, in my judgment, two sufficient- 
 ly good titles to destroy all the reasons of the English." (a) 
 This was Louis' mature determination, expressed in a private 
 letter to his ambassador, and, under those circumstances, we 
 have every right to suppose that it was not influenced by any 
 diplomatic policy or dictated by a spirit of partiality to the 
 Dutch. 
 
 According to the definition of an absolute right of owner- 
 ship which England had laid down as including disco veiy and 
 occupation, the Dutch possession was justly acquired, and it 
 undoubledly was more conducive to the future prosperity of 
 the province than if the English had first obtained it. Had the 
 Puritans found Manhattan Island unoccupied, and landed 
 there, instead of on New Plymouth Beach, they would prob- 
 ably have contented themselves with building a church in 
 which they could worship freely in their own way, and a fort 
 which should successfully keep at a distance every one who 
 wished to worship in any other way. It was the fortune of the 
 great commercial nation of the age, the nation of shrewd 
 merchants and liberty-loving patriots, the broad-minded, tolerant 
 Dutch, to open up the vast resources of one of the principal 
 waterways of this country, and to lay the foundation of a State 
 which has ever been noted for its cosmopolitan population and 
 mercantile supremacy. 
 
 (a) Letties de M. le Comte d'Estrades, III. 330 et seq. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 The iNSTrruTioNS of the Netheblaudb. 
 
 As the Dutch introduced into their American settlements 
 the social organization and municipal administration of the 
 Netherlands, it is not only interesting but extremely valuable 
 for us to consider the institutions of the United Provinces at the 
 time of Hudson's discovery. 
 
 The reception of the Roman Law had been slower in the 
 Netherlands than in the neighboring States, but its theoretic 
 adoption in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries was fol- 
 lowed by an actual reception in the Fifteenth Century, anala- 
 gous to that in Germany, {a) The modified judicial institutions 
 of the Roman Law had grown up beside the social institutions 
 of the Feudal System, and although the two had become accom- 
 modated to one another, the characteristics of both were still 
 prominent. Political franchises were exercised by the aristoc- 
 racy, the hierarchy, and also by the corporate municipalities. 
 
 The distinctions of the Feudal System were observed in all 
 the provinces of the Netherlands with more or less rigor. In 
 the free cities and communes there was a marked difference be- 
 tween the classes of nobles or well bom, the burghers and 
 other freemen, and the peasants. In the rural districts this 
 was still more apparent, and the relation of lord and vassal un- 
 mistakably existed, but, according to Grotius, there were no 
 serfs. However, the feudalism of the Netherlands was much 
 less burdensome in its nature than that of the other European 
 States at the same period, because there was not such an impass- 
 able gulf between the high and low bom. Common danger 
 and common ambition are powerful agents in the assimilation 
 of humanity, and the Dutch were influenced by both. The 
 geographic position of their low-lying, dike-defended country 
 made it necessary for all classes to work in case of emergency. 
 
 (o) Dr. Munroe Smith's Lectures, § 79. 
 
— 12 — 
 
 They were accustomed from early youth to bear the spade and 
 pike, in order to protect their homes from their chief enemies — 
 the greedy ocean and the merciless Spaniard. The common 
 danger had thus made nobles and peasants alike self-reliant 
 and industrious. Their common ambition was distinctively, 
 commercial. They loved business and trade, and displayed 
 great shrewdness and judgment in their bargains. These 
 national traits were bonds of union between all Dutchmen, and 
 they werc'the characteristics of every class in society. 
 
 The towns engaged in large manufacturing and commercial 
 enterprises, and soon became strong enough to extort from the 
 nobles, by payment of money or dint of force, franchises and 
 privileges. Once free, they governed themselves according to 
 their charters, and formed so many places of refuge, easy of 
 access for the oppressed peasantry to fly to for protection and 
 employment. The municipal officers were appointed by the 
 sovereign or elected by the industrious citizens from among 
 their own number, and thus had common interests with them. 
 The hereditary owners of the soil, menaced by the growing 
 strength of the towns, were forced to become careful landlords. 
 Unlike the idle and licentious nobles of the neighboring States, 
 who wrung the uttermost farthing from their tenants, they 
 lived with thrift and frugality, often investing in commerce 
 and manufacture the revenue drawn from their rent-rolls. 
 
 In the country districts, the landed proprietors were called 
 jpatroona, and the peasant laborers, hoors. The latter were in 
 a less happy social condition than were their brethren in the 
 towns, since, although they possessed a large shai'e of populai- 
 freedom and enjoyed complete religious liberty., they had no 
 political rights whatsoever. 
 
 The municipal liberties did not rest upon any idea of inherent, 
 inalienable right, but upon the strictly construed text of the 
 charters in which the feudal lord conceded them. These 
 charters defined the relations of the count and the poorters or 
 townsmen, and were the measure of the privileges of the latter. 
 In order to protect his interests, the coimt had the power of 
 appointing the schcmt or baljuw, who was the chief officer of 
 
— la- 
 the town. In the Fifteenth or Sixteenth Century, however, 
 some of the cities purchased the right of appointment from the 
 coimts. (a) This oiEcer was sometimes called the Schout Fiscaal, 
 and his duties were equivalent to those performed at present 
 by a sheriff and an attorney-general. He assisted in the enact- 
 ment of the city ordinances, was the public prosecutor on its 
 behalf, executed the sentences of the court of achepens, and 
 all constables and deputy-sheriffs were under his superintend- 
 ence. As in most early systems of government, one oflScer 
 performed many duties, so in the case of the schout there was 
 a unification of judicial and administrative functions which 
 were gradually separated. In the administration of justice, he 
 was advised by a bench of schepens. These schepena were 
 relics of the Roman law, scaMni orjudices. (Afterwards called 
 schoffen.) They gradually acquired the schout^s judicial attri- 
 butes and became the court or vierschaar of the town. Their 
 number became limited by custom to five, seven or nine. Even 
 the small villages had five, while for the larger cities nine was 
 the usual number. The schepens, who formerly had shared 
 some of the administrative power of the schout, gradually relin- 
 quished that function, which was assumed by a board of four 
 raaden, or aldermen, one from each of the four quarters of 
 the town. These raaden represented the burghers and acquired 
 by degrees all administrative authority, and were commonly 
 ca]AeA poortmeesters, afterwards hurgemeesters. (b) 
 
 In the middle of the Fourteenth Century, the supervision of 
 the welfare of the town, which had formerly been intrusted 
 to a general assembly, was in the hands of the burghers of most 
 importance. From among these, a committee consisting of the 
 ex-magistrates was formed, and this body took the name of 
 vroedschaapy or town-council. This council became invested 
 with the power of legislating on municipal affairs, and its juris- 
 diction grew in scope. It sometimes elected the schepens, but 
 in many cases the favorite Dutch method of selecting officers — 
 
 (a) O'Callaghan, n. 211. 
 
 (6) Mag. Am. Hist. Vol. VHI. 315. 
 
— 14 — 
 
 that of " double nominations " — was followed. A list of tmee 
 as many names as there were schepens to be chosen was pre- 
 rented by the vroedachaap to the count, who designated on it 
 the actual, number required. These town-councils soon became 
 self-perpetuating, and as they selected their successors from 
 among the notables, the result was the establishment of an 
 aristocratic governing class. 
 
 In each town, the board of wethovders provided for the 
 public safety, supervised the police system, attended to the 
 finances, and assessed the taxes to be paid by each citizen. 
 They also mustered the burgher-guard in times of danger. In 
 general, the term of oflBce was annual. 
 
 The schout, shorn of his former administrative and judicial 
 functions, became simply the executive officer of the other 
 branches of the municipal government. 
 
 The office of schepen was next in antiquity to that of 
 schout, and dates from about 1270. At the beginning of the 
 Seventeenth Century the method of selection was as follows : 
 The town-council assembled on the 28th of January in each 
 year and nominated fourteen citizens. From these names the 
 hurgemeesters designated such as they deemed best fitted for the 
 office and the final list, nine in number, was forwarded to the 
 Stadtholder ior (ioxArmaMon. The selected scAe^ews began their 
 terms of office on the second day of February. Their civil jur- 
 isdiction was unbounded, and their criminal jurisdiction only 
 limited by the consent of the hurgemeesters, which was neces- 
 sary for the infliction of capital punishment. Certain instru- 
 ments, such as bail-bonds, mortgages and conveyances, were 
 only valid when executed in their presence, and they had 
 certain powers (e. g. the appointing" of curators for vacant es- 
 tates, and authorization of sale of minor's property), which in 
 the English system would have been attributes of a Court of 
 Chancery. 
 
 The most highly esteemed and reputable office was that of 
 hurgemeester or burgomaster. It dated from the Fourteenth 
 Century. The town-council assembled on the 31st of January 
 of each year, and named three new officers, .who elected a 
 
— 15 — 
 
 fourth to complete their board. They were termed " The 
 Fathers of the Burghery," as they had anciently been elected 
 by the burghers themselves. They were the preservers of the 
 public peace, the guardians of widows, orphans and poor people, 
 and no widow or minor could execute any legal instrument 
 without their consent. Originally they had been placed beside 
 the schepens as tribunes of the people, to watch and protect their 
 interests, and although they had become an aristocratic body, 
 they still preserved their former functions. They were the 
 trustees and managers of all city property, and collected or 
 farmed the city excise taxes. Their actual presence was neces- 
 sary for the legal exaction of the death penalty or the levying 
 of distress oij the property of a burgher. The city seal was in 
 their keeping and their signatures were necessary to all public 
 instruments. For three months in the year, each burgomaster 
 attended daily in rotation at the City Hall for the transaction 
 of any business concerning the municipal organization or its 
 citizens. In short, as the schepens were the judicial, they were 
 the administrative officers and the schout executed the will of 
 both bodies, as their ministerial agent. 
 
 Another relic of Roman institutions was the policy of con- 
 ferring certain privileges on the citizens of commercial cities. 
 This system was in vogue in the Netherlands, and only those 
 possessing the privileges of the hurger-recht, were entitled to 
 all political franchises. This entire institution was artificial 
 and its distinctions purely arbitrary. The burgher-right could 
 be acquired by a vote of the city, by birth, purchase, or inter- 
 marriage with one possessed of the right. Native citizens ob- 
 tained the privilege upon reaching majority and registering 
 their names on the roll of burghers. Foreigners could also be- 
 come burghers after one year's residence in the town on proba- 
 tion and the payment of a sum of money. The right was con- 
 ferred on females as well as males, but with these limitations: 
 it was suspended by marriage with one who was not hinself a 
 burgher, but on the husband's decease, the widow became rein- 
 stated in her municipal privileges. Children could inherit the 
 burghership from their father but not from their mother, with 
 
— 16 — 
 
 the exception that the children of a Jewish burgher did not 
 acquire the right by heredity. Although burghership might 
 thus be obtained in one of several ways, it conferred the same 
 privileges upon aU its holders. Its privileges and exemptions 
 were commercial, legal and political in nature. A burgher 
 had perfect freedom of trade and was exempt from all tolls. 
 If convicted of a capital offence the limit of his punishment 
 was forfeiture of his life and one hundred guilders ; his proper- 
 ty was exempt from confiscation and his blood saved from 
 attaint. The period during which a burgher could be indicted 
 for an offence was reduced to one year, and after that all rights 
 of action were cut off. His rights were jealously protected 
 and vigorously enforced, and he was not liable to arrest or im- 
 prisonment in any event, if he could procure bail. It opened 
 to him all municipal offices, and if arrested in the service of the 
 people, his city was compelled to bear the expenses of his 
 redress. Its advantages were so material and numerous that 
 the ranks of the burghery grew with great rapidity. 
 
 In 1652, it was deemed advisable to alter the institution of 
 the hurger-recht, so as to form two classes, the lower of which 
 should possess only the commercial privileges, and the upper, 
 the political and legal privileges as well. This distinction was 
 started in the city of Amsterdam, but did not prove popular and 
 only lasted sixteen years; however, it is worthy of note, as it 
 was introduced in New Netherland. The price of the " Great " 
 burghership was five hundred guilders, and those who enjoyed 
 it were alone eligible to office and exempt from attainder in 
 case of conviction for capital offences. The " Small" burgher- 
 ship conveyed only freedom of trade and the right of belonging 
 to a guild. These guilds were principally formed of the- work- 
 men of the different trades who banded together for mutual 
 protection. Each guild had a set of regulations governing the 
 admission and practices of workmen and apprentices. Each 
 had its dehken or dean as a presiding officer, its standard, 
 under which it fought, and each inhabited a separate quarter of 
 the town. 
 
 The deans of the guilds had the important duty of selecting 
 
— 17 — 
 
 from the list of all the inhabitants twenty-four names, which 
 were presented to the count. From this number, he chose eight 
 men, whose right it was to sit in the schepens court. However, 
 they had no voice in the decisions of the schepens, and could 
 only vote in the election of the burgemeesters, in cases in which 
 those officers were elected and not chosen by the out-going 
 functionaries. " The Good People of the Eight" was the name 
 applied to these popular representatives. 
 
 In studying the institutions of the Netherlands one cannot 
 help being struck by the manner in which their commercial 
 spirit pervaded every phase of political and social life. Every 
 privilege, every office, was the subject matter of bargain and 
 sale. They did not seem to comprehend the idea of inherent 
 rights; all their rights were negotiable. The right of self- 
 government was gradually bought from the counts by various 
 cities, and the next step was the purchase of the nomination of 
 certain officers, a privilege which the counts had at first 
 reserved to themselves. The only right which the Dutch 
 burghers seem to have maintained through every vicissitude 
 was the right of self-taxation, and to this principle they were 
 ever faithful. It was first granted to them in the " Great 
 Charter" which they had wrung from Mary, daughter of 
 Charles the Bold, in 1477, and the levying of the tenth penny 
 by the Duke of Alva in 1572, caused a reiteration by force of 
 arms of their maxim of " no taxation without representation." 
 
 Such were the national characteristics and social and politi- 
 cal institutions of the inhabitants of the United Provinces, and 
 understanding them, we will be better able to appreciate the 
 institutions of the colony which copied them, (a) 
 
 (a) Mag. Am. Hist. Vol. Vni. 315 ; Brodhead, Vol. I. and O'Callaghan, 
 Vol. n. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The " United New Netheeland " and " Dutch West India 
 
 Companies." 
 
 Henet Hudson's glowing descriptions of the land which he 
 had explored and constructively occupied for the Netherlands 
 spurred the States General of the United Provinces to encour- 
 age its colonization, and thus complete their title. With this 
 end in view their High Mightinesses, on March 27th, 1614, 
 about five years after the voyage of the "Half-Moon," passed 
 an ordinance declaring that all those inhabitants of the United 
 Netherlands who should discover any new " courses, havens, 
 countries, or places," that " they alone should resort to the same 
 or cause them to be frequented for four voyages." No one 
 else was to have the right of sailing to or frequenting such 
 newly-found places, before the first discoverer had completed 
 his four voyages, on pain of confiscation of his ships and goods, 
 and the imposal of a fine of fifty thousand Netherlands ducats, 
 which should go to the profit of the discoverer whose right he 
 had infringed upon. Provision was also made that the discov- 
 erer, on completion of the first voyage, should deliver to the 
 States General, within fourteen days after his return, a report 
 of his discoveries, so that the limit of time should be set, within 
 which the four voyages were to be completed, (a) 
 
 Since Hudson's visit various merchants and trading com- 
 panies had been bartering with the natives in the newly dis- 
 covered Great River, and during that time houses had been 
 erected on Manhattan Island. The enterprise was so lucrative 
 that already there was rivalry between the traders, and the offer 
 of the States General was intended to settle all disputes. It 
 especially provided that " in case any differences or questions 
 should arise concerning these, or happen otherwise to spring, 
 or proceed from these, Our Concessions, such shall be decided 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. I. 5. 
 
— 19 — 
 
 by Us, according to which each shall be bound to regulate liim- 
 self." By thus granting exclusive privileges and constituting 
 itself the arbitrating authority between disputants, the States 
 General intended to encourage the investment of capital in 
 adventures which would tend to the settlement of the wilder- 
 ness. 
 
 In 1613, Capt. Samuel Argall, of Virginia, on his return 
 from an expedition against the French in Nova Scotia, stopped 
 at Manhattan Island and demanded of the Dutch traders and 
 their opperkoajyman, or superintendent, recognition of the 
 dominion of His Majesty of England. Argall declared that 
 they were unlicensed and were trading on territory which 
 was covered by the Virginia patents, but the defect in his claim 
 was evident, as the charter of Virginia only extended to the 
 fortieth degree of north latitude, while Hudson had located the 
 southern boundary of his Dutch claim at forty degrees and 
 three minutes. However, it appears that the Dutch pioneers 
 were frightened into paying liim some small tribute. 
 
 In the same year that the trading privileges were published, 
 Capt. Adrian Block, Hendrick Corstiansen, and ComeHs Jacob- 
 sen Mey returned from a voyage of trade and exploration up the 
 Hudson River. Under the ordinance of the States General, the 
 company which had fitted out this expedition immediately sent 
 representatives to the Hague, who laid before the Lords 
 Majors the results of their adventure, together with a map of 
 the explored region on the coast of the North American con- 
 tinent, from forty to forty-five degrees north, which they called 
 New Netherland. Having complied with all the provisions of 
 the ordinance of March 27th, they asked for a special grant in 
 their favor under its terms. This was conceded and issued 
 imder date of October 11th, 1614, to take effect on the first 
 day of the following January, {a) The grantees were Gerrit 
 Jacob Witsen, of Amsterdam, Jonas Witsen, Simon Morissen, 
 et als., as a company, and they were permitted exclusively to 
 visit and settle the lands " situate in America, between New 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. I. 11. 
 
— 20 — 
 
 France and Yirginia, the seacoasts of which lie between the 
 fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, and which are now 
 known as New Netherland," for four voyages within the period 
 of three years. 
 
 It will be seen that this charter was simply a qualified license 
 to trade, and did not grant any governmental powers at all. 
 The coropration to which it was given assumed the name and 
 title of "The United New Netherland Company," and for 
 the allotted thi-ee years, until January 1st, 1618, they alone 
 bartered with the Indians in the tract specified. On the expir- 
 ation of their license, being fully satisfied of the value of their 
 privileges, they applied for its renewal, but the request was 
 refused, as other explorers presented rival claims, and for over 
 two years trade with the Indian tribes on the banks of the 
 Hudson (or Eiver Mauritius, as they had begun to call it) was 
 open. 
 
 The year 1621 marked the expiration of the twelve years 
 truce which the Netherlands had entered into with Spain, and 
 the States General having refused to acknowledge allegiance 
 and subjection to tlie Spanish Crown, began to make active pre- 
 parations for a renewal of the war. It was then seen that the 
 Netherlands would be unable to guard their possessions in the 
 New World during the continuance of the strife, and that the 
 only way to retain them was to create an organized military 
 association, sanctioned by the government, but equipped by 
 private enterprise and wealth, to which could be entrusted the 
 preservation and development of the trading posts in America. 
 
 This idea was carried out, and on June 3d, 1623 , a charter 
 was granted to the " The Dutch West India Company." This 
 charter was modelled after that of the famous " East India 
 Company," which had been incorporated in the beginning of 
 the same century. A translation of the " Charter given by the 
 High and Mighty Lords, the States General, to the West India 
 Company," may be found in C>'0allaghan'8 History of New 
 Netherlands Yol. I., Appendix A. As far as its grants relate to 
 the North American continent we will discuss them under 
 separate heads, as follows : 
 
— 21—' 
 
 I- — As to the Territorial Grant. 
 
 1. Its situation and extent. 
 
 Sec. I. of Charter. The territory granted is described as " the 
 countries of America," from the Straits of Magellan to the 
 extreme north. The period for which trade in those places 
 was restricted to the company was four and twenty years; this 
 term, however, was afterwards lengthened by the addition of 
 twelve years. 
 
 2. The tenure on which it was held. 
 
 Sec. III. and VI. The governor-in-chief was to receive his 
 commission directly from the States General, and all the princi- 
 pal ofiicers of government were " held to take an oath of allegi- 
 ance to Us and also to the company." The same oath was 
 imposed on all the troops in the pay of the company, and they 
 were also bound to endeavor to promote its interest " to the 
 utmost of their ability." The -company was not to pay any 
 sum of money to the States General for its franchise, but was to 
 fulfil its general duties in the advancement of commerce and 
 suppression of piracy. 
 
 II. — The Grant of Governmental Powers. 
 
 Sec. I. The general governmental powers which the com- 
 pany was permitted to exercise were such as were necessary for 
 the successful attainment of its objects. They are set forth in 
 Sec. II., but for part of this, I take the translation of Mr. J. 
 F. Jameson, {a) in preference to that of Dr. O'CaUaghan. 
 
 Sec. II. " Moreover, the said Company may, in Our name 
 and authority, within the limits hereinbefore prescribed, make 
 contracts, engagements and alliances, with the princes and 
 natives of the countries comprehended therein, and also build 
 any forts and fortifications there, to appoint, transfer and dis- 
 charge governors, people for war, and officers of justice, and 
 other public officers, for the preservation of the places, keep- 
 ing good order, police and justice, and in like manner for the 
 promoting of trade ; and again, others in their place to put, as 
 
 (o) Mag. Am. Hiat. Vol. VIII. p. 321. 
 
— 22 — 
 
 they, from the situation of their affairs, shall see fit : moreover, 
 they'may advance the peopling of frmtful and unsettled parts, 
 and do all that the service of these lands and the profit and in- 
 crease of trade shall require: and the company shall succes- 
 sively communicate and transmit to Us such contracts and alli- 
 ances as they shall have made with the aforesaid princes and 
 nations, and likewise the situations of the fortresses, fortifica- 
 tions and settlements by them taken." 
 
 Sec. III. " Saving, that they having chosen a governor-in- 
 chief, and prepared instructions for him, they shall be approved, 
 and a commission given by Us." And in Sec. XIX., " in case 
 of resolving upon a war, Our approbation shall be asked." 
 
 The States General thus reserved the right of approval in 
 case the company should enter upon friendly or unfriendly 
 relations with other potentates or people. 
 
 III. — The Assurance of Civil Liberty. 
 
 In Sees. IX and X. it was declared that the members of 
 the company might use their liberty "in the same manner as 
 the free inhabitants of the cities of this country enjoy their 
 freedom, notwithstanding any person who is not free may be a 
 member of this company," and that for the eight years, next 
 ensuing, the goods of the company should be exempt from 
 outward and home convoys, and that during the whole time 
 of the charter, convoys and licenses should not be rated higher 
 than formerly. 
 
 IV. — The Administrative Organization. 
 
 The government of the company was to be vested 
 (Sec. XI.) in " five chambers of managers ; one at Amster- 
 dam, — this shall have the management of four-ninth parts ; 
 one chamber in Zeeland, for two-ninth parts ; one chamber on 
 the Maze, for one-ninth part; one chamber in the North 
 Quarter [of Holland], for one-ninth part; and the fifth 
 chamber in Friesland, with the city and country [of Gronin- 
 gen] for one-ninth part." 
 
 Sec. X^III. "That so often as it shall be necessary to 
 have a general meeting of the aforesaid chambers, it shall be 
 
— 23 — 
 
 by nineteen persons, of whom eight shall come from the 
 chamber of Amsterdam ; from Zeeland, four ; from the Maze, 
 two ; from North Holland, two ; from Friesland and the city 
 and country [of Groningen], two;" and one, deputed by the 
 States General. 
 
 The provisions of the charter go into minute details as to 
 the business affairs of the company, its clerks, times for meet- 
 ing, etc., etc. 
 
 The States General furthermore stipulated (Sec. XXXIX.) 
 that they would become stockholders in the company to the 
 amount of one mUlion guilders, and that they would defend it 
 against every person in free navigation and traffic. 
 
 The characteristic of this charter which is most notable 
 is that its provisions are framed throughout with the intent 
 of furthering and protecting commerce ; it makes no mention 
 of any political rights to be enjoyed by the settlers in the com- 
 pany's plantations, and it leaves all local authority in the hands 
 of the resident govemor-in-chief. Colonization was not the 
 main object of the company, nor was it bound to colonize the 
 teiritories granted. On the otlier hand, the States General did 
 not guarantee the possession of a single foot of land. 
 
 On the first of July, 1621, this charter went into effect, and 
 two years later, New Netherland was erected into a province 
 and invested with the armorial bearings of an earl, (a) How- 
 ever, owing to the delays consequent upon the organization of 
 so extensive a corporation, it was not until 1624 that the first 
 Director of New Netherland, Cornells Jacobsen Mey, was sent 
 out. In the meanwhile, the jealousy of the English was thor- 
 oughly aroused at the energetic policy of the Netherlanders. 
 The Privy Council of the King listened to the complaints of 
 Arundel, Gorges and Mason, of the Plymouth Compa:iy, and 
 Governor Argall, of Virginia, against the " Dutch intruders." 
 By the king's direction, Sir Dudley Carleton, the British 
 Minister at the Hague, in February, 1622, claimed the country 
 as part of New England and required the States General to 
 
 (o) O'Callaghan, I. 99; Hoi. Doc. IV. 39. 
 
— 24 — 
 
 stay any further prosecution of their plantation, and he stub- 
 bornly asserted that his Britannic Majesty had "good and 
 sufficient titlfe to those parts, jure primae occupaiionis." No 
 answer to this remonstrance can be found, and it is very prob- 
 able that the phlegmatic Dutch deemed the assertions of the 
 English diplomat too extravagant to be worthy of a reply. 
 
 Mey's directorship lasted but one year, and the only notable 
 incidents during his term were the completion of Forts Orange 
 and Nassau, on the North and South (Delaware) Rivers re- 
 spectively, and the systematic and vigorous extension of the 
 fur trade. 
 
 In 1625, William V^erhulst succeeded Mey, and held the 
 office of Director of the Colony for one year, being in turn 
 superseded by Peter Minuit. Already the liberal policy of the 
 Dutch had exhibited itself, for m 1623, the fugitive Walloons, 
 who came from the Belgian provinces, had been welcomed by 
 the settlers at Manhattan. Later, English Puritans, Hugue- 
 nots from E,ochelle,Walden8es from Piedmont, German Luther- 
 ans and Ana-Baptists, as well as Swedes — all were allowed to 
 settle among them. Thus early did the settlement acquire its 
 cosmopolitan character. 
 
 Under Minuit the settlers purchased large tracts of land 
 from the Indians. As the company's charter allowed contracts 
 to be made with the natives, these purchases gave the colonists 
 the right of possession as well as actual possession, and secured 
 their occupation of the soil. By doing this they avoided the 
 just criticism of even the Puritans who claimed that such a 
 step was absolutely necessary to valid ownership, as the Indians 
 had a good title to the land as descendants from Noah I (a) An 
 eminently proper theory for men who made the Bible their 
 constitution, and church-membership a prerequisite to citizen- 
 ship in their settlements. 
 
 By the organization of the West India Company, its will, 
 as expressed by its executive committee, (the Board of XIX.) 
 was to be the supreme law of New Netherland, and its instrue- 
 
 (a) Bancroft, II. 72. 
 
— 25 — 
 
 tions and ordinances were to be implicitly obeyed. In all 
 cases unprovided for, the Roman Law (as in vogue in the 
 TTnited Provinces), the Imperial Statutes of Charles V., and 
 the edicts, resolutions and customs of the fatherland, were to be 
 authoritative. 
 
 The Director and his council wore invested with all powers — 
 judicial, legislative and executive, (a) The members of the 
 council, as well as all other colonial officers, were appointed by 
 the Director, subject to the approval of The XIX. Later in the 
 company's history, however, the Board of XIX. transferred the 
 especial supervision and control of the aifairs of New Nether- 
 land to the Amsterdam Chamber of Managers, (i) To them, 
 therefore, fell this power of approval and the appellate juris- 
 diction over the decisions of the Director and council. The 
 council administered criminal jurisdiction, but could impose no 
 punishment more severe than fine and imprisonment. If any 
 one was convicted of a capital crime and condemned to death, 
 he was forwarded with his sentence to Holland, there to be 
 executed or respited, as the Amsterdam Chamber might deter- 
 mine. 
 
 The municipal institutions were modelled on those of the 
 Netherlands, and being familiar with that system, they are 
 easily understood by us. (c) However, they were necessarily 
 modified to conform with the commercial aims. of the company, 
 and the heterogeneous character of the small population. The 
 book-keeping and correspondence of the company's colony was 
 attended to by an opperkoqpman or chief-secretary, and as 
 these were matters of no slight importance, this personage was 
 an officer next in rank to a conntdlor. There was also a 
 gerechts-bode or court messenger who was a ministerial officer 
 of small consequence. 
 
 The office of schout-fiscaal had its prototype in New 
 Netherland, but the colonial schout, of necessity, possessed 
 certain other functions and powers. He had no votejn .^e 
 
 (a) Brodhead, I. 163; O'CaUaghan, I. 90; Asher, XXVII. 
 (6) We infer thia from Col. Doc. 1. 69, 71; III. 159, 164, 165. 
 (c) Valentine (1851), 421. 
 
— 26 — 
 
 Director's council, but it was his privilege to sit with that 
 body and give advice, when asked, upon questions of justice, 
 finance and police. He was not a salaried oflScer, but received 
 as renumeration, the civil fines adjudged to him, and that pro- 
 portion of the criminal fines and confiscated wages of servants 
 of the company, which the Director and council might allow 
 him. He was, however, to have no part of captured prizes or 
 confiscated goods. In his capacity as Sheriff, he was bound to 
 enforce the laws and ordinances of the States General, and to 
 protect the rights and domains of the company. He instituted 
 all prosecutions and suits in the company's name, at the in- 
 stance of the council, and could arrest any person on a criminal 
 charge upon previous information, or if he apprehended him in 
 flagrante delictu. The functions of a harbormaster were also 
 performed by him, as well as those of commissary. He had 
 charge of all supplies arriving from out-posts of the company, 
 and inspected the papers of out-going and incoming vessels. 
 It was his duty to suppress smuggling, and all cargoes were 
 loaded and discharged under his supervision. In the exercise 
 of his numerous duties he was especially charged to be im- 
 partial and expeditious. For instance, in informations, which 
 he was to forward to Amsterdam with the greatest promptness, 
 all mitigating circumstances and points in favor of the accused 
 were to be duly noted, and he was not to keep any person long 
 in prison, without a trial before the Director and his council. 
 His general attribute was to see that in every case, as far as 
 possible, justice was done, (a) The Rev. Father Isaac Jogues, 
 writing about the New Ifetherland settlements in 1643, spoke 
 of the Schout-Fiscaal when he said there was a bailiff, " quHls 
 appellant Senechal qui a soin de la justice." (5) 
 
 (a) Valentine (1851), ilO, 411. 
 (6) Nov. Belg. 17. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Chaktek of " Feeedoms and Exemptions." 
 
 During the first eight years of the existence of the West 
 India Company several forts were built in New Netherland for 
 the protection of its agents, and the peltry-trade was largely 
 extended. This increase in trade, however, does not seem to 
 have brought a corresponding influx of settlers, and in the year 
 1629 the small hamlets surrounding the forts were almost the 
 only settlements in the province. Vast tracts of fertile land 
 lay uncultivated and idle, and no advantage had been taken of 
 the company's privilege of " peopling those fruitful and un- 
 settled parts." The cause of this backwardness it is not diflScult 
 to determine. We have seen that the condition of the lower 
 classes in the Netherlands was comparatively independent and 
 happy, and they were not so rash as to leave their comfortable 
 homes and exchange the protection of their fatheriand for the 
 uncertain advantages and evident perils of life in a savage 
 country. Some extraordinary inducement must be held out to 
 them before they would run the risks of the enterprise. The 
 upper classes, also, were too secure in their rights to withdraw 
 their money from their lucrative manufacturing establishments 
 and venture it in planting farms that might at any moment be 
 laid waste by the Indians. As yet, moreover, no provision had 
 been made for the establishment of private ownership of pro- 
 perty within the company's domains, and the corporation was 
 the proprietary of the whole province, deriving title from the 
 States (reneral of the Netherlands. Security of property must 
 therefor be established and material concessions granted before 
 the wealthy merchants of the Netherlands would turn colonial 
 patroons. Realizing these facts, the Assembly of the XIX. 
 resolved to offer terras so advantageous that the highest classes 
 would be tempted to accept tliem ; and on June 7th, 1629, they 
 adopted a series of articles entitled : " Freedoms and Exemp- 
 
— 28 — 
 
 tions granted by the Assembly of the XIX. of the Privileged 
 "West India Company, to all such as shall plant any Colonies in. 
 New Netherland." 
 
 The concessions which this charter granted were as fol- 
 lows : (a) AU such were to be acknowledged patroons of New 
 Netherland who should, within four years, plant a "colonic" 
 or manor of fifty souls. They should, from the time they 
 made known the situation of the places where they proposed to 
 settle colonies, have the preference over all others in the 
 absolute property of the lands chosen. These lands they 
 should forever possess and enjoy, " together with the fruits, 
 rights, minerals, rivers, and fountains thereof ; as also the 
 chief command and lower jurisdictions, fishing, fowling, and 
 grinding, to the exclusion of all others, to be holden from the 
 company as a perpetual inheritance," and to any patroons who 
 desired it, " venia testandi, or liberty to dispose of their afore- 
 said heritage by testament," would be granted. In case any 
 one in time should prosper so much as to found one or more 
 cities, he was to have the power to establish officers and 
 magistrates there. Those who intended to settle colonies were 
 required to furnish them with proper instructions, in order 
 that they might be governed conrforjliaBly to the political and 
 judicial management of the Assembly of the XIX. Such 
 rules were first to be laid Ijefore the directors of the different 
 chambers of the Company for approval. Colonies were limited 
 in extent to sixteen miles of river-bank, on one side, or eight, 
 on each side, and could run as far back into the country as the 
 situation of the different occupiers might permit. If a greater 
 number than fifty emigrants were settled, the limits of the 
 colonie might be proportionately enlarged. Manhattan Island, 
 however, was not open to colonization by patroons, and this 
 commanding situation, the Company reserved for its own pecu- 
 liar property. 
 
 The Company specifically required patroons to pay the 
 Indians for the land on which they settled, and assured them 
 
 (d) OCallaghan, I. 112. 
 
— 29 — 
 
 that all colonists should be free from " cuBtoms, taxes, excise, 
 imposts, or any other contributions, for the space of ten years," 
 and at the end of that tiiue only such customs should be im- 
 posed as were assessed in the Netherlands. Another specifica- 
 tion was, that in all eases in which a judgment was rendered 
 by the court of a patroon for upwards of fifty guilders ($20) 
 there might be an appeal to the Company's commander and 
 council at New Amsterdam. The Company, moreover, pro- 
 hibited the colonists from manufacturing any woolen, linen, or 
 cotton cloth, or from weaving any other stuffs, on pain of 
 banishment and punishment as perjurers, thus reserving for 
 itself a monopoly in all fabrics. Although it gave \hepatroon8 
 permission to barter with the natives of Nova Scotia and 
 other places on the coast, they were not to deal in furs, as that 
 trade was also monopolized by the Company. 
 
 In regard to such private persons as were unable to plant 
 colonies and become patroons, but who nevertheless wished to 
 go to New Netherland and settle, they were at liberty (with the 
 approbation of the Director and council) to take up as much 
 land as they were able properly to improve, and might hold 
 the same absolutely for their own enjoyment. 
 
 This charter had some provisions excellently calculated to 
 further the growth of the colony, but in the main it looked only 
 to the pecuniary advantage of the commercial organization 
 which granted it. It offered the only terms which could induce 
 the investment of capital, but in so doing it deprived itself of 
 many important rights, and granted powers to the patroons 
 which were soon to become a menace to its dominion. By this 
 charter the feudal institution of patroon and hoor, with its 
 attendant relations, was not only planted in New Netherland, 
 but planted there in a more objectionable and despotic form 
 than it existed in the parent country. In order to tempt capi- 
 talists the Company offered important concessions and baronial 
 immunities only to its owndeprit^ation, and in the charter it im- 
 posed unusual burdens on the peasant and lowered the standard 
 of eivil liberty to the material disadvantage of the colony, a dis- 
 adv^tage which it surmounted only after a prolonged struggle. 
 
— 30 — 
 
 The freedom of the ioors was restricted on every side. 
 They were bound for a certain period to the patroon, and at 
 the end of that time, if they would not continue in his service, 
 they could be sent back to Holland. They had no ownership 
 in the land which they tilled, and could not go beyond the 
 limits of the "colonic" in which they were settled. If they 
 trangressed those bounds they could be arrested by any of the 
 company's servants and returned. The usual rules which 
 governed the relation of patroon and hoor in the manors of 
 the Netherlands, were also enforced in the colonies on the 
 Hudson. The peasants were obliged to offer to the commissary 
 of the patroon all their surplus farm products and cattle before 
 they could sell them to any one else. They could not htmt or 
 fish within the limits of the colonic without a license from the 
 patroon, and they were forced to bring all their grain to his 
 mill to be ground. The right which the hoor had in the land 
 was simply that of occupancy and tillage. "WTien properly 
 acquired his title was good against all the world except his 
 patroon. His right was heritable, but in cases of intestacy, it 
 reverted to the patroon, who also succeeded to his personal 
 property. His right could be sold, but subject to the rules 
 governing the servitude of " emphyteusis," which had been 
 introduced by the Roman law into the Netherlands and was in 
 vogue in the colonies. By this institution, if the emphyteutea 
 (in this case the ioor) wished to sell, he was bound to notify 
 the owner, his patroon, who had the right of pre-emption 
 within two months. If tlie patroon waived his pre-emptive 
 right and declined to resume the land, he was entitled to a cer- 
 tain percentage (generally two per cent.) of the purchase money. 
 This insured to the landlord the right of delectus peraonae, 
 which aided in perpetuating tlie power of the patroonships 
 until the present century. 
 
 The charter of " Freedoms and Exemptions " was published 
 in 1630. One of the first persons to take advantage of its 
 terms was a wealtliy pearl merchant, Killaen Van Rennselaer, 
 who was a manager in tlie Amsterdam Chamber of the CaEi- 
 pany. He bought from the Indians a tract of. land surround- 
 
— Sl- 
 ing Fort Orange (Albany), and began the settlement of tbe 
 colonic of Rennselaerwjck. His manor is estimated to have 
 included over 700,000 acres of land, and comprised territory 
 now laid down on the map as Albany County, Rennselaer 
 County, and a part of Columbia County. From north to south 
 it was twenty-four miles long, and from east to west twenty- 
 eight miles wide. The trading-post of the Company, however, 
 called Fort Orange, was excepted from the patroon^s domain. 
 Although other great manors were established under the char- 
 ter of 1629, Van Rennselaer's was the only one which was 
 wholly within that part of the province which is now the State 
 of Kew York, the others lying on iTew Jersey and Delaware 
 soil. 
 
 The practical working of the system which the charter insti- 
 tuted was not as successful as the Company had anticipated. 
 As in the beginning of the Feudal System, the over-lord, to 
 serve a temporary purpose, permitted the growth of a class 
 which gradually sapped its strength, and even imperilled its 
 existence. The patroons soon became powerful enough to 
 question the authority of the Directors at Manhattan, and even 
 to defy their jurisdiction within the limits of the colonies. The 
 quarrels which resulted impeded colonization and injured trade 
 to the serious inconvenience of the Company. 
 
 Peter Minuit, the third Director, was recalled in 1631, and 
 returned to Holland early in the following year. More than 
 twelve months passed before Wouter Van Twiller^-Minuit's 
 successor, arrived at New Amsterdam, and in the mean- 
 time, the province was governed by the schout and the 
 council. Van Twiller, who was an arbitrary, vacillating man 
 in character, directed affairs with a council of four members. 
 His policy was purely a mercantile one, and his administration 
 was so weak, short-sighted, and incompetent, that much dissatis- 
 faction was caused among the colonists. Complaints poured 
 in upon the managers of the company, and so general was the 
 remonstrance against his acts that, in 1637, it was deemed 
 advisable to displace him. The only event worthy of note 
 during the four years of his administration was the granting of 
 
— 32 — 
 
 the " Staple Right " to the town of New Amsterdam. This 
 was a privilege allowed to some of the cities in the Nether- 
 lands and tended greatly to increase the commercial importance 
 of the place hy which it was enjoyed. By this right, all coast- 
 ing vessels or those bound either up or down the rivers, were 
 compelled to pay a certain duty to the town if they did not 
 discharge their cargoes there for sale or transportation inland. 
 This was a very valuable privilege, as it gave New Amsterdam 
 complete commercial monopoly of the province. 
 
 Van Tvnller having been called back to Holland, on 
 March 28th, 1638, William Kieft, the new Director-general, 
 arrived at Fort Amsterdam and assumed command. He im- 
 mediately re-organized the governmental machinery which had 
 fallen into confusion under his predecessor. The idea, how- 
 ever, of having an advisory council which might prove a check 
 on the exercise of his power, was not at all to his mind. He 
 resolved, therefore (as he could not dispense with it alto- 
 gether), to so constitute it as to keep the entire control in his 
 own hands, and to this end appointed only one councilor. 
 This councilor was allowed only one vote, while he reserved 
 two votes for himself, which was a simple and effective method 
 of preserving the freedom of his official action. 
 
 The grant of " Freedoms and Exemptions " of 1629, had 
 not promoted colonization as much as was expected, as but 
 four of the members of the Company had taken advantage of 
 its privileges. There were certain provisions in it which were 
 a hindrance rather than an aid to the accomplishment of its 
 purpose, and the Chamber of the XIX. resolved to amend it. 
 In 1638, therefore, a new and improved charter was issued, (a) 
 Its privileges, unlike the first, were not reserved for the stock- 
 holders of the Company only, but were offered to " all good in- 
 habitants of the Netherlands " who would plant colonies in the 
 New World. The size of the colonies, however, was reduced in 
 length from eight to four miles of water-front, ^xvii patroons 
 were forbidden to occupy the banks of a river opposite one 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. I. 119. 
 
— 33 — 
 
 another. A limit of two miles back into the country was also 
 set for the width of a colonie. Patroons were still to enjoy the 
 high, middle and lower jurisdictions; the exclnsive right of 
 hunting, fishing, fowling and grinding corn, and (saving the 
 Company's rights) the privilege of erecting towns and appoints 
 ing tovTn-officers wdthin their jurisdiction. All these immunities 
 were continued as an estate of inheritance with descent to the 
 female as well as male line. Every change of ownership was 
 to be accompanied by a renewal of fealty and homage to the 
 Company, and the payment of a pair of iron gauntlets or 
 twenty guilders within a year and six weeks. 
 
 Whoever should move to New Netherland with five persons 
 over fifteen years old should be entitled to receive from the 
 Director two hundred acres of land, wherever they chose to 
 select it, and should be styled " Masters or Colonists." If the 
 dwelling places of these private colonists should become so nu- 
 merous as to be accounted towns, villages or cities, the Company 
 was to give orders respecting the subaltern government, magis- 
 trates and ministers of justice. These magistrates were to be 
 selected by the Director and council from " triple nomina- 
 tions " by the towns and villages, and were to determine all 
 questions and suits within their district. From all final judg- 
 ments pronounced by the courts of the patroons or colonists, 
 for an amount exceeding one hundred guilders,, or from such as 
 entailed infamy, also from all sentences ia criminal suits, con- 
 formable to the customs of the fatherland, an appeal should lie 
 to the Director and council at New Amsterdam. The same 
 privilege of trading on the coasts that was offered by the 
 original charter was renewed, and the exclusive permission to 
 hunt and fish in the woods and waters of the colonies was con- 
 firmed to the patroons. Each adult male emigrant was re- 
 quired to provide himself, before he left the Netherlands, with 
 a proper musket, or hanger and side-arms, but the Company 
 guaranteed protection to all, in case of war. The observance 
 of no other religion was allowed in New Netherland than that 
 of the Reformed Church, as at the time preached and practiced 
 by public authority in the United Provinces, and for this pur- 
 
— 34 — 
 
 pose the company declared that they would maintain " good 
 and suitable preachers, schoolmasters, and comforters of the 
 sick." 
 
 Two clauses of the charter are worth quoting in full ; one, 
 because it defines the rights which the company especially 
 withheld to itself, and the other, because it proposes a certain 
 representative system for some of the colonies. (1) " The 
 Company reserves unto itself all large and small tythes, all 
 waifs, the right of mintage, laying out highways, erecting 
 forts, making war and peace, together with all wildernesses, 
 founding of cities, towns, and churches, retaining the supreme 
 authority, sovereignty and supremacy, the interpretation of all 
 obscurity which may arise out of this grant, with such under- 
 standing, however, that nothing herein contained shall alter or 
 diminish what has been granted heretofore to the jjafroons in 
 regard to high, middle, and lower jurisdiction." (2) " The 
 particular colonies which happen to be on the respective rivers, 
 bays, or islands, shall have the privilege (to wit, each river or 
 island for itself) of designating a deputy who shall give the 
 Governor and council of the country, information respecting 
 his colonie, and promote its interests with the council; one of 
 which deputies shall be changed every two years, and all the 
 colonies shall be obliged to communicate to the Governor 
 and council a pertinent report, at least every twelve months, 
 of their condition and of the lands in their vicinity." 
 
 This grant abolished the objectional clause in the previous 
 one whicli prohibited the manufacture of woolen, linen, and 
 cotton cloth, and all other stuffs, by the colonists. 
 
 The effect of these amendments seems to have been bene- 
 ficial, as the provisions of the new charter were taken advantage 
 of by many persons of all classes. 
 
OHAPTEE Y. 
 
 FlBST ATTBaiPTS OF THE PeOPLB TO GaIN REPRESENTATION. 
 
 DiTBiNQ the first twenty years the colonists had not express- 
 ed any dissatisfaction with the form of the provincial govern- 
 ment, although on more than one occasion they had complained 
 of the individuals in oflBce. They seem to have recognized 
 that the institutions of their Fatherland could not be bodily 
 transplanted to a wild and unsettled country, and they made 
 the best of the abitrary administration of the Directors, and 
 busied themselves in building their houses and cultivating their 
 lands. By the year 1640, however, they had begun to feel 
 quite at home amid their new surroundings, and they became 
 aware of the lack of the political franchises which they had 
 enjoyed in the Netherlands. The Director and his council 
 were still the sole authority in the province, and managed all 
 its affairs. There were no representative offices, and (except 
 the regulation of the colonies by their respective patroona) 
 there was no government of a local character. The people 
 themselves did not in any manner participate in the legislation. 
 The Director declared his will, the council approved and pro- 
 claimed it, and the people were forced to obey. 
 
 It is true there was a i-ight of appeal from the Director and 
 council to the Board of XIX., but this procedure was not 
 only restricted to certain cases, but was very tedious and ex- 
 pensive — in fact of no practical importance. 
 
 The first attempt to gain representation was made by the 
 people in 1641, under the following circumstances : Claes 
 Smits, a settler on Manhattan Island, had been murdered by 
 a member of the Weckquaesgeek tribe of Indians, and Director 
 Kieft peremptorily demanded the surrender of the murderer. 
 The sachem of the tribe, however, refused to deliver the crimi- 
 nal up to justice, because he had done no wrong according to 
 the ideas of the Indians, as he had slain Smits in order to 
 
— 36 — 
 
 avenge the murder of a kinsman, whom the Dutch had killed 
 some twenty years previous. Kieft attempted to enforce his 
 demand, but the assassin was aided to escape by his brethren, 
 and it was impossible to capture him. The temper of the 
 baffled Director was roused, and he determined to indulge 
 the wrath born of his disappointment by exterminating with fire 
 and sword the entire tribe. He feared, though, that the colon- 
 ists, witli whom he was already very unpopular, would not 
 sanction this revengeful course. Unwilling to bear alone the 
 responsibility of his acts, he resolved to shift the burden 
 from his shoulders to those of the community. 
 
 In accordance with this plan on August 23d, 1641, he sum- 
 moned all the "masters and heads of families" to meet him 
 at Fort Amsterdam, " to resolve there on something of the 
 first necessity." On the appointed date, the meeting was 
 held and Kieft proposed the following questions : " Is it not 
 just that the murder lately committed by a savage upon Claes 
 Smits be avenged and punished ; and in case the Indians will 
 not surrender the murderer at our requisition, is it not just to 
 destroy the whole village to which he belongs? In what 
 manner and when ought this to be executed ? By whom can 
 this be effected ? (a) 
 
 The Assembly promptly chose " Twelve Select Men " to 
 consider the propositions by the Director. These popular 
 representatives were all emigrants from the Netherlands. They 
 did not long defer their answer to Kieft's questions, and they 
 did not hesitate to express their difference of opinion with him. 
 That the murder of Smits should be avenged, they did not 
 deny, but they could not approve of such wholesale and profit- 
 less slaughter as Kieft proposed, and they thought that " God 
 and the opportunity" should be considered, and no hasty 
 action taken. They afforded the Director no chance of using 
 them as a cloak for his sinister purposes, and he was forced to 
 postpone his plans in deference to the will of the people. 
 Meanwhile he waited for " the opportunity." It was not long 
 
 (o) Valentine's Manual, 1863, 537. 
 
— 37 — 
 
 before this arrived, as the Indian warriors had set off on their 
 hunting expeditions with the advent of winter and only the old 
 men and squaws were left at home. Accordingly, he again 
 summoned the Twelve Men for a conference, (a) 
 
 The Twelve listened to his arguments and propositions- 
 They were loath to enter into a general war with the natives, 
 and they were anxious to set before the Director the discontent 
 of the people at not being allowed some representation in the 
 government. In order to make an opportunity for urging the 
 latter point, they at last gave a reluctant consent to Kieft's pro- 
 posal, and at the same time remonstrated concerning their 
 limited powers. 
 
 They felt that the time had come when the people should 
 be allowed to take some active part in the administration. It 
 was but just, that they should enjoy the same right of electing 
 their magistrates that they had possessed in their Fatherland. 
 They had been patient in their submission to the dictatorial 
 rule of the agents of the great commercial monopoly, and 
 they knew from previous experience the value of the political 
 franchises which were denied to them. A most important step 
 was under consideration — the declaration of war against a 
 powerful tribe that surrounded their settlements, and knew well 
 their mode of warfare and most vulnerable points of attack. 
 The Twelve Men deemed that more than the mere question of 
 ratifying the Director's decision should have been submitted to 
 them ; and that it was their right, as delegates of the people, 
 to take the initiative in an affair of .such grave consequences. 
 It was, moreover, especially aggravating to them that the 
 council of the Director should consist of only one man, who 
 was powerless to put any check on the wishes of his superior, 
 when the council of even the smallest village in the Nether- 
 lands consisted of at least five schepens. If the Director ever 
 needed any additional assistance, it was his habit to call in one 
 of the Company's servants or " common people " who were 
 dependent on him, and to disregard the persons of quality in 
 the town, who would have been glad to serve. 
 
 (o) Brodhead, I. 325. 
 
— 38 — 
 
 Moved by a sense of these arbitrary acts, and backed by the 
 popular feeling of the citizens, the Twelve Men reminded the 
 Director, that whereas Minuit had a council of five members, 
 and Van Tmller a council of four, he contented himself vnth 
 a nominal council of one. They demanded that its number 
 should be increased, and " to save the land from oppression," 
 four persons elected by the commonalty should act as coun- 
 cilors. Two of these four should annually be replaced by two 
 others, to be chosen from the Twelve Men selected by the 
 people. They demanded, further, that the Company's " com- 
 mon men " should not be allowed to sit in the council, and 
 that certain reforms should be made in regard to the militia, 
 the harbor regulations, and various commercial affairs. 
 
 Although abitrary and cruel, Kieft was exceedingly shrewd, 
 and he at once saw how fatal to his interests it would be to 
 utterly disregard their wishes. He was greatly alarmed at the 
 independent and liberal spirit which was shown by the de- 
 mands of the Twelve Men, and he was politic enough to simu- 
 late acquiescence to their proposals. In his reply to them he 
 admitted that the council was small, but mendaciously ex- 
 plained that he had already written to the authorities in the 
 Netherlands and expected by the very next ship " some per- 
 sons of quality " and " a complete council." The " common 
 men," he said, by way of excuse, had only been called upon in 
 emergencies, and he approved of the suggestion that four per- 
 sons should be elected by the commonalty to help in maintain- 
 ing justice for them. According to the plan proposed, two of 
 these persons should be changed yearly, and they shoiild be 
 called into the council " when need required." At certain 
 stated times, moreover, they should meet together to advise 
 "upon public affairs." "Thus far," added the crafty Direc- 
 tor, " shall their authority extend." But as for the Twelve 
 Men, he added, " I am not aware that they have received from 
 the commonalty larger powers than simply to give their advice 
 respecting the murder of Claes Smils." 
 
 Kieft, therefore, issued the following proclamation : 
 " Whereas the commonalty hath, at our request, commissioned 
 
— 39 — 
 
 and charged the Twelve Men to comumnicate their good coun- 
 sel and advice concerning the murder of Claes Cornellissen 
 Smits, committed by the Indians, which now being done : We 
 thank them for the trouble they have taken, and shall make 
 use of their written advice, with God's help and fitting time ; 
 and as we propose no more meetings, as such tend to danger- 
 ous consequences, and to the great injury both of the country, 
 and of our authority ; we, therefore, do hereby forbid the call- 
 ing of any assemblies or meetings, of whatsoever sort, without 
 our express order, on pain of being punished for disobedience. 
 Done in Fort Amsterdam, 18th Feb., 1642, in New Nether- 
 land." (a) 
 
 This failure on the part of the people to gain a share in the 
 government was for the time complete. However, the spirit that 
 prompted the effort was not crushed by Kieft's opposition, and 
 they waited for a favorable chance to again assert the principle 
 of representation. All that they asked for was that the same 
 riglit which was acknowledged in the Netherlands should be 
 recognized in New Netherland. 
 
 The following year was one of great hardship for New 
 Amsterdam. The war with the Indians, into which Kieft had 
 plunged the colonists, had drawn heavily on their resources. 
 The inhuman massacre of defenceless savages at Pavonia, and 
 the slaughter at Corlaer's Hoeck, had not only aroused the un- 
 dying hatred of all the surrounding tribes, but had disgusted 
 the people themselves. They began to criticise this useless 
 butchery, and murmurings arose against the cruel Director. 
 Kieft saw that he had gone too far and he again became 
 apprehensive, and attempted to avoid the consequences of his 
 barbarity. Once more, he sought to make the people bear a 
 part of the responsibility, by summoning their representatives 
 to his aid. In the same manner as before, in August, 1643, he 
 called upon the commonalty " to elect five or six persons from 
 among themselves," who should consider such propositions as 
 the Director and council should lay before them. The people 
 
 (a) O'Callaghan, I. 249. 
 
— 40 — 
 
 refused to do this, but signified their willingness to ratify such 
 nominations as he should make, saving their right to object to 
 any nominees not to their taste. Eight Men were chosen in 
 this way, and they met two days after their election to consider 
 " the critical circumstances of the country." 
 
 The Eight Men agreed to Kieft's proposal to conquer the 
 Kiver Indians, " either by force or stratagem," hut recom- 
 mended the encouragement of peace with the Long Island 
 tribes. They also resolved to meet on every Saturday even- 
 ing to consider public affairs, a resolution, however, which they 
 were never able to carry out. Various reforms which they pro- 
 posed were all thwarted by Kief t ; and, although they remained 
 in oflBce about one year, they were never successful in accom- 
 plishing anything against the Director's wishes. 
 
 It will be remembered that in the charter of " Freedoms 
 and Exemptions," the Company had promised to protect and 
 defend the colonists, and for that purpose to maintain an armed 
 force in New Netherland. The protracted war, however, had 
 exhausted the provincial funds, and there was no money where- 
 with to pay the hired English and Dutch soldiers, or furnish 
 clothing for them. Kieft, therefore, resorted to an excise tax, 
 which was not only extremely unpopular, but even burdensome. 
 To the levying of this rate he compelled the Eight Men to 
 assent, much against their principles. 
 
 Powerless to resist the Director's strength, the popular 
 representatives sought aid from the home authorities. They 
 wrote numerous remonstrances to the Assembly of the XIX. 
 and to the States General at Amsterdam, protesting against 
 the maladministration of the Director-general. So graphic a 
 description did they give of the sufferings of the oppressed 
 colonists, and the faithlessness and domineering spirit of Kieft, 
 that they at last effected his recall to the Netherlands. 
 
 In 1645 changes in the system of administration were put in 
 force. A new office was created, that of the Vice-director, 
 and this official, together with the schout Jiscaal, was to con- 
 stitute the council of the Director-general. 
 
 When the schout, however, acted in his capacity as public 
 
— 41 — 
 
 prosecutor, the commandant of the soldiery was to sit as a coun 
 cilor in his place ; and in all criminal cases two capable residents 
 of the district in which the ofEence was committed were to be 
 adjoined to these members of the council. None of these provi- 
 sions were of much practical importance, save the last, which 
 insured the fairness of the trial of an accused colonist, and 
 thus materially increased his personal security. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 The Dieeotoeship op Petbus STtnrvESAifT. 
 
 Kieft's successor was Petnis Stuyresant, to whom a com- 
 mission was issued on July 28tli, 1646, imder the seal of the 
 States General. Early in the Spring of 1647, he arrived in 
 New Amsterdam, and the province welcomed the last and 
 most celebrated of her Dutch governors. 
 
 This veteran soldier saw at a glance the wretched condition 
 of the Company's affairs. The discontent of the colonists, the 
 boldness of the Indians, the lack of funds and material were all 
 at once apparent to him. He immediately organized a council 
 consisting of six members, including the Vice-director, schout 
 and commissary, and laid before them a plain statement of the 
 prompt measures which were necessary to preserve the Com- 
 pany's possessions and the safety of the inhabitants. Kiiined 
 fortifications must be rebuilt, ammunition and supplies ob- 
 tained, and the Indians appeased with presents — but where was 
 the money with which to pay for all these things ? 
 
 The council already knew the exigencies of the situation, 
 and vnsely advised him to give the commonalty a voice in the 
 government of the province, and then to call on them for sup- 
 port. In acquiescence, Stuyvesant issued a proclamation to 
 the inhabitants of Manhattan Island, of Pavonia (on the other 
 side of the Hudson), and of Breuckelen and Amersfoort, on 
 Long Island, to choose in all eighteen persons from among the 
 most " notable, reasonable, honest, and respectable " of the 
 colonists. Out of this number, the Director and his council 
 were to select nine men, " as is customary in the Fatherland," 
 and these were to assist in their deliberations to the end of 
 promoting the common welfare. 
 
 These Nine Men were called by Stuyvesant the "Tribunes" 
 of the people. Three of them represented the merchants, 
 three, the citizens, and thi-ee, the farmers. A charter setting 
 
— 43 — 
 
 forth their privileges, and manner of meeting, etc., was soon 
 issued. They were only to convene pursuant to an order of 
 the Director and council, and were then to consider and report 
 only upon such proposals as had been submitted to them. More- 
 over, it always remained in the power of the Director to assist 
 at their meetings in person, or to appoint one of the council to 
 act as president of such meeting, to second and support the 
 proposals of the administration, collect the votes, and make a 
 report of the result to the council, (a) 
 
 Three out of the nine (one of each calling) were to be ad- 
 mitted to the council when it sat as a court, on Thursday (the 
 usual day of session), as long as civil cases were under consid- 
 eration, and this right was to circulate among them in rotation 
 every month. Moreover, when parties were referred by the 
 Director to them as arbitrators, their decision was binding. 
 There was, however, a right of appeal to the council 0:1 pay- 
 ment of " one pound Flemish." 
 
 The last section of this charter provided that " the number 
 of nine chosen men shall continue until lawfully repealed, pro- 
 vided that annually six leave their seats, and from the most 
 notable citizens, again twelve be nominated, who, with the 
 nine assembled, shall be communicated to us, without our be- 
 ing required to call in future the whole commonalty to- 
 gether. (5) 
 
 It will be noticed that this clause robbed the Nine Men 
 of their representative feature, and made them a close corpora- 
 tion with the power of nominating their successors. The com- 
 monalty was to express its choice but once, and after that the 
 personnel of the board was to be as fully in the control of the 
 Director as was that of his own council. Its privileges wei-e 
 meagre and its jurisdiction limited, yet it was an advance, how- 
 ever slight, in the right direction. 
 
 In a few years, Stuyvesant found the Nine Men a restraint 
 on the freedom of his action, and he evidently determined to do 
 away vrith them. In 1650, we find that they complained to the 
 
 (o) Brodhead, I. 466. 
 (J) O'CaUaghan, 11. 39. 
 
— in- 
 states General that, although there were vacancies in their num- 
 ber and they had nominated persons capable of filling them, the 
 Director had refused to make the necessary appointments, 
 therefore their body was in danger of dissolution. As no men- 
 tion is made of them after 1652, it is very probable that the 
 Director was successful in his purpose and that the " Tribunes 
 of the People " passed out of existence. 
 
 In 1653 Kew Amsterdam was iucorporated in compliance 
 with the urgent requests for municipal privileges with which 
 the townsmen had plied the Company during the preceding 
 five or SIX years. The Amsterdam Chamber, in its instructions 
 on this subject to Stuy vesant, said : " We presume that it 
 will be suflScient at first to choose one schout, two burgomasters, 
 and five schepens, from all of whose judgments an appeal shall 
 be to the supreme council. * * * In the election of the 
 aforesaid persons, every attention must be paid to honest and 
 respectable individuals, who, we hope, can be found among the 
 burghers." 
 
 The imperious and self-willed Director complied with these 
 instructions only in part, as he withheld from the people the 
 right of election, and appointed the burgomaster, and schepens 
 himself, nor did he allow the inhabitants to select a schout of 
 their own choice, but delegated the Company's provincial schout 
 to act also for the city. Thus, although New Amsterdam had 
 gained a charter, it was not allowed to exercise the privilege 
 of self-government which that charter conveyed, and therefore 
 this concession was nullified by Stuyvesant. The Board of 
 Magistrates remonstrated with the Director concerning his 
 denial of the right of election, and his commission of the 
 ordinance-making power of the city to his council. In 1654 
 Stuyvesant filled all vacancies by appointment, but in 1656, as 
 the financial affairs of the province were in an embarrassing 
 condition, he was forced to make a pompromise. Two years 
 later the burghers gained their point, and a double list of 
 names was nominated by the magistrates, from which the 
 Director and council filled the vacant seats. The right to 
 elect their own schout was not won until 1660. 
 
— 45 — 
 
 The first convention that represented any considerable 
 number of towns in the province was held in New Amsterdam, 
 on the tenth day of December, 1653. This popular assembly 
 included delegates from eight towns, namely : the Dutch vil- 
 lages of New Amsterdam, Breukelen, Midwout, and Amers- 
 foort, and the English settlements of Flushing, Newtown, 
 Hemstede and Gravesend. All of these places were more 
 or less harassed by maurauding bands of Indians and free- 
 booters. Stuyvesant had represented that the Company was 
 unable to protect them, but, nevertheless, demanded the pay- 
 ment of the usual excise and dues. The assembly addressed a 
 remonstrance to the Director and council, and also to the States 
 General, which was draughted by an Englishman, Ensign 
 George Baxter, of Gravesend. This complaint opens with an 
 acknowledgment, framed in rather grandiloquent but obsequi- 
 ous terms, of the divine source of the supremacy of the States 
 General. The grievances from which relief was sought were 
 grouped under six heads, and set forth at length. The petitioners 
 said : " It is our humble opinion that it is one of our privileges 
 that, in making new laws, our explicit consent, or that of our 
 representatives, is unavoidably required for their adoption." 
 Thus respectfully stating their right of participating in legisla- 
 tion. 
 
 They complained — " That officers and magistrates * * * 
 are appointed, contrary to the laws of the Netherlands, to many 
 offices without consent or nomination of the people, which 
 nevertheless are the most concerned in the choice." And that 
 " many orders and proclamations made before * * * re- 
 main obligatory, although we are ignorant of their force, and 
 become transgressors from ignorance without knowing it, by 
 which we are exposed to many dangers and troubles," The 
 meeting then adjourned, having practically accomplished but 
 little more than arousing Stuyvesant's wrath and enmity. 
 
 Shortly afterwards an attempt was made to establish in New 
 Netherland the institution of the hurger-recht, as we have seen 
 it existed in the Fatherland, (a) The Director and council 
 
 (o) Paulding's New Amst. 55. 
 
— 46 — 
 
 issued a proclamation qualifying and favoring " all such of the 
 inhabitants with the ' great ' citizenship as — 
 
 " First. — Those who have been members of the supreme 
 government, or who are at present, with their descendants m 
 
 the male line. 
 
 " Second. — Those who have been or are yet burgomasters 
 and schepens in this city, with their descendants in the male 
 line. 
 
 " Third. — The ministers of the gospel who have been or are 
 yet in oflBce, with their descendants in the male line. 
 
 " Fourth. — The officers of the militia, from the staff to the 
 ensigns included, with their descendants in the male line." 
 
 Hereditary membership in the " great citizenship " could 
 also be obtained by the payment of fifty guilders of Nether- 
 lands coinage or its equivalent. 
 
 "Small citizenship " was conferred on — 
 
 " First. — Such as have resided within this city during a year 
 and six weeks, and have kept fire and hght. 
 
 " Second. — All born within the city. 
 
 " Third. — All who have married daughters of citizens, who 
 have been born in this city. All who may marry such in fu- 
 ture, and will look that the aforesaid citizenship shall not be 
 lost by absence from the city or not keeping fire and light." 
 
 This citizenship could also be obtained by store-keepers or 
 those following trades, and by payment of twenty guilders, 
 Netherlands coinage. 
 
 Two hundred and twenty burghers immediately enrolled 
 themselves in both classes, but the system fortunately fell into 
 disfavor and soon after was discontinued for lack of support. 
 The whole institution was a relic of mediaevalism which was 
 injurious to the public welfare, and would have proved detri- 
 mental in the extreme to the province had it ever taken firm 
 root. 
 
 The next attempt at a popular assembly was made in 1664. 
 In this year the Dutch were assailed on every side. They had been 
 forced to relinquish theii* settlements on the Connecticut River 
 to New England. Westchester had also been surrendered, and 
 
— 47 — 
 
 on Long Island, the towns of Flushing, Gemeco, Newtown, 
 Hemsteed, and Gravesend had also been given up. The pecu- 
 liar purpose of the meeting was to consider the unhappy situa- 
 tion of affairs and the menaces of the hostile Indians. It was 
 convoked by the Director and council, pursuant to a request of 
 the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam, and met 
 at the City Hall, on the 10th of April. Twenty-four dele- 
 gates were present, representing twelve towns and villages. 
 Nothing, however, came of this convention, owing to the confu- 
 sion into which the province was thrown at the prospect of 
 English invasion, and the members finally restricted their dis- 
 cussion to the problem of resisting the foe. 
 
 The fear of invasion was soon confirmed, for within four 
 months the English fieet under Colonel Richard NicoUs ap- 
 peared before New Amsterdam, and on September 8th, of the 
 same year, Stuyvesant hauled down the fiag of the West India 
 Company, and New Amsterdam became New York. At the 
 time of the surrender, the population of the town was scarcely 
 more than 1,500, and that of the province 10,000. 
 
 According to the " Articles of Capitulation " {a) agreed to 
 by the commanders on either side, the Dutch were permitted 
 to enjoy " the liberty of their consciences in divine worship 
 and church discipline." The personal freedom of all the 
 inhabitants, and the immunity of their estates from confisca- 
 tion, was also secured, and the Dutch were allowed to retain 
 and enjoy " their own customs concerning their inheritances." 
 Freedom of trade with England and the Indian tribes was, 
 moreover, granted to the citizens, in the same manner that they 
 had before enjoyed it. The articles provide that " all inferior 
 civil oificers and magistrates shall be continued as they now 
 are, till the customary time of new elections, and then new 
 ones to be chosen by themselves, provided that such new 
 chosen magistrates shall take the oath of allegiance to his 
 Majesty of England before they enter upon their office." No 
 Dutch persons or ships were to be impressed for military 
 
 (a) Hist, of New Netherland, n. 532. 
 
— 48 — 
 
 service, and no executorj' or executed contracts were to be any- 
 wise disturbed. 
 
 Also (§ XXI.), " That the town of Manhattans (New York) 
 shall choose deputyes, and those deputyes shall have free 
 voyces in all publique affairs, as much as any other deputyes." 
 This last section would seem to import that there was an 
 assembly of popular representatives, but the articles nowhere 
 specifically accord that privilege. 
 
 It was not strange that Stuyvesant should have surrendered 
 to the English fleet without a determined struggle. He was 
 not only taken by surprise, biit was without arms, ammunition, 
 or supplies, and his treasury was empty. Nor was it strange 
 that the people refused to come to his support and assist in 
 defending their homes from the invader. The settlements 
 were far apart, and there was a lack of centralization. Some 
 of the most populous towns were within the colonies of the 
 jpatroons, and beyond the control of the Director. " The 
 province had no political franchises, and therefore no political 
 unity," says Bancroft. It had no popular freedom, and there- 
 fore there was no public spirit. The English in New Nether- 
 land were glad to welcome English rule. The French, 
 Germans, and Swedes, would have preferred ta live under 
 Dutch governors, but the existing regime was oppressive and 
 they were glad to have a change, believing that it could not be 
 for the worse. As for the Dutch settlers, the despotism of 
 the great commercial Company, under which they lived, had 
 well nigh killed their patriotism. They would not fight to 
 fill its coffers. They refused to throw away their lives to keep 
 the land of their adoption under burdens from which they 
 saw their English neighbors were free. Thus New Netherland 
 passed into the control of England. 
 
 The Dutch race had laid the foundation for a great State, 
 they had gathered together the people of many nations and 
 imbued them with their characteristic liberty and industry. 
 They had impressed all classes with their spirit of independ- 
 ence, and they had kept alive their inherited principle of 
 SELF-TAXATION — their work was done. 
 
— 49 — 
 
 The material was now ready for the labor of England. 
 Her work was to reduce all the American colonies from Maine 
 to Florida to a common system. To fuse the Atlantic sea- 
 board settlements to an ethnic unity, and to render them one 
 Anglo-Saxon people; and then, as history proves, England's 
 work was done, and her supremacy, like that of the Nether- 
 lands, became but a tradition in the memory of the nation that 
 has since grown to manhood. 
 
CHAPTER YII. 
 
 English Rule. 
 
 The Peopbietakt Goteknment of James, Ddke of Yoek — 
 
 The Patent of 1664 — The Hempstead 
 
 Meeting, 1665. 
 
 At the time of the capture of New Amsterdam by the 
 English fleet, the United Provinces of the Netherlands were at 
 peace with Great Britain. There was no cause for a rupture 
 between the two nations, but it was the commercial prosperity 
 of the Dutch that excited the envy of their maritime rivals. 
 The New England colonists, jealous of their thrifty neighbors, 
 had been continually importuning the English government to 
 remove for them this "thorn in the side" — to expel these law- 
 less " intruders " on the rights of England. Their stories of 
 attempts on the part of the New N etherlanders to incite the 
 Indians to an uprising, their incorrect statements as to the 
 occupation and title of the Dutch, all tended to incense the 
 people of England, and to pervert their understanding of the 
 true situation of affairs. Moreover, the Province of New 
 Netherland was financially successful, and it was apparent that 
 under English dominion and the application of the Navigation 
 Act, it could be made a source of substantial revenue. Influ- 
 ence had been brought to beai- on Oliver Cromwell to add this 
 territory to the English colonial possessions, but he had refused, 
 and indirectly acknowledged the Dutch occupation in the treaty 
 of 1654. (a) Richard Cromwell, in turn, had declined to coun- 
 tenance the enterprise, but when Charles II. came to the throne 
 he consented to the commission of this warlike and treacher- 
 ous act against a nation with which he was avowedly on friend- 
 ly terms. Ignoring the title of those who had occupied the 
 country for half a century, and whose right thereto was valid 
 
 (a) Smith, I. 7, 387 ; Broilhead, H. 8. 
 
— 51 — 
 
 (as we have seen) by England's own definition and standard, 
 Charles granted the territory to his brother, James, Duke of 
 York. This patent was dated March 12th, 1664. Its princi- 
 pal provisions are as follows : (a) 
 
 I. — The Territorial Orant. 
 
 1. Its situation and extent : 
 
 The territory is described in the words of the charter as " all 
 that part of the maine land of New England beginning at a 
 certaine place called or knowne by the name of St. Croix next 
 adjoyning to New Scotland in America " (here follows a 
 description of the tract which is now substantially the State of 
 Maine),*^ and also all that Island or Islands commonly called by 
 the severall name or names of Matowacks or Long Island scitu- 
 ate lying and being towards the west of Cape Codd and ye 
 narrow Higansetts abutting upon the maine land between the 
 two Rivers there called or knowne by the severall names of 
 Conecticutt and Hudsons River, together also with the said 
 river called Hudson's River and all the land from the west side 
 of Conecticutt to ye east side of Delaware Bay " and also the 
 islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. All the right, 
 title and interest of the King in these regions was granted, 
 together with all royalties and revenues arising from them. 
 
 2. The tenure on which this territory was held : 
 
 The patent designates the character of the tenure as that 
 " of our mannor of East Greenwich in our county of Kent in 
 ffree and common soccage and not in capite nor by Knight 
 service," and the Duke of York covenanted on his part to pay 
 to the grantor and his heirs a yearly rent of forty beaver skins. 
 These were to be given whenever demanded or within ninety 
 days. 
 
 II. — The Orant of Governmental Powers. 
 
 " We do further," runs the Patent (the surplus legal ver- 
 biage of which is here omitted for the sake of brevity), " grant 
 unto our said dearest brother, James, Duke of Yorke or his 
 representatives full and absolute power to correct, punish, par- 
 
 (a) Poore's Constitutions, I. 783. 
 
— 52 — 
 
 don, goveme and rule all such subjects of us our heires and 
 successors, who from time to time adventure themselves into 
 any of the places aforesaid, according to such lawes and instru- 
 ments as by our said dearest brother or his assignes shall be 
 established, and in defect thereof, in cases of necessity, accord- 
 ing to the good directions of his deputyes, etc., as well in all 
 causes and matters capitall and criminall as civUl both marine 
 and others, soe always as the said statutes and ordinances be 
 not contrary to but as neare as conveniently may be agreeable 
 to the lawes and government of this our realme of England, 
 and saving and reserving to us our heires and successors ye 
 hearing and determining of the appeal of any person belonging 
 to ye territoryes or islands aforesaid, in or touching any judg- 
 ments or sentences to be there made or given." 
 
 Power was also granted to appoint and discharge any gov- 
 ernors and other officers necessary for the administration of 
 provincial affairs, and also to " make ordaine and establish all 
 manner of orders, formes and ceremonyes of government and 
 magistracy fitt and necessarj for and concerning the government 
 of the territoryes and islands aforesaid." However, Charles 
 again directed that these be conformable to the laws of 
 England, and extended the jurisdiction of the grantee or his 
 assigns to those upon " the seas in going and coming to and 
 from " the lands granted. The charter also authorized the 
 exercise of martial law in needful cases, the repelling of 
 invaders, and peopling of the country. 
 
 In short, plenary governmental powers were conferred upon 
 the Duke by his royal brother. But no clause assures the colon- 
 ist of his civil liberty, and no provision is made whereby the 
 people could express their wishes or enforce their rights. Sav- 
 ing the stipulation that laws should be " as neare as conveniently 
 may be agreeable " to the laws of England, personal protection, 
 the protection of private property, liberty of conscience and 
 freedom of speech are all left to the tender mercies of the 
 Duke. The absolutism of his power was only modified by the 
 right of appeal to the Crown. 
 
 This patent entirely disregarded the Connecticut charter, and 
 
— 53 — 
 
 also covered the eastern end of Long Island, wbich for some 
 years had been in possession of Lord Stirling, (a) His interest 
 was purchased by the Dnke for three thousand five hundred 
 pounds, and he then considered his parchment title complete. He 
 immediately assigned to Lord Berkely and Sir George Carteret 
 that part of the territory granted to him which is now known 
 as New Jersey, and enforced possession of the remainder by 
 means of the armed body under Colonel NicoUs. 
 
 NicoUs, as the Deputy-governor of the Duke, did not delay 
 in organizing the government of the province. He appointed 
 five councilors who, with the Provincial Secretary (one of their 
 number), should assist him in the management of affairs. 
 
 For the first time the whole of Long Island came under the 
 jurisdiction of the authorities on Manhattan Island, as under 
 the Dutch rule the English settlers east of Oyster Bay had 
 attached themselves to the Connecticut organization. Fort 
 Orange soon surrendered to the English, and the Province of 
 New York began to assume the outlines that it now has as a 
 State. 
 
 The policy of the Duke was not to treat the New Nether- 
 landers harshly, but to win their good-will and coax them to 
 declare allegiance to the Crown of England, since his patent 
 specified that his governmental powers should only extend to 
 British subjects and made no provision for domiciled aliens. (5) 
 Therefore he deemed it advisable not to change the character 
 of their institutions too suddenly, but to alter them so gradually 
 that the Dutch would not realize the transformation to English 
 forms. To this end the new administration was modelled very 
 much in conformity to the one to which the colonists were 
 accustomed. The Deputy-governor of the proprietor with his 
 council took the place of the Director-general and council of 
 the "West India Company. The judicial powers which previ- 
 ously had been exercised by the Director's council, when it sat 
 as a court of law, were entrusted to a " Court of Assizes." 
 NicoUs made this body the supreme tribunal of the province. 
 
 (a) Thompson, I. 117, 118. 
 
 (6) See ante, p. 52, "such subjects of us," etc. 
 
— 54: — 
 
 It had common law and equity as well as original and appellate 
 jurisdiction. Long Island, Westchester and Staten Island were 
 incorporated into a shire or county, and, after the English cus- 
 tom, this was divided into three districts or " ridings." A high- 
 sheriff was annually appointed over this whole shire by the 
 Govei-nor and council. A justice of the peace was also com- 
 missioned in each riding to hold office subject to the Governor's 
 pleasure. These justices sat as a " Court of Sessions " in every 
 riding three times a year, and the Governor had a right to pre- 
 side over these courts or to appoint one of his councilors to take 
 his place. The " Court of Assizes " held an annual session on 
 the last Thursday of September, in New York. A fall bench 
 included the Governor, his council of five, the high-sheriff, 
 and the three justices of the peace. 
 
 This Court of Assizes, as a law-making body, was in no sense 
 a provincial assembly or legislature. Although the justices, 
 gathered from all parts of the province, gave it that appear- 
 ance, they in no way voiced the popular feeling. If the various 
 sections from which they came had elected them, then they 
 would have been true representatives, but as it whs, they were 
 wholly dependent on the Governor's will. By him they were 
 created, and by him dismissed. NicoUs invested this court 
 with the " supreme power of making, altering, and abolishing 
 any laws" in the government of New York, but its function 
 was practically narrowed down to the registry of his edicts. 
 Like the Parliament of Paris it was a " lit de justice," and 
 nothing more. Its apparently representative organization was, 
 therefore, very deceptive. The Governor's council was really 
 the law-making and law-interpretiag body of the province. 
 The autocratic NicoUs thus kept his own vast authority undi- 
 minished, by allowing his official dependents to apparently 
 share with him the responsibility of legislation. 
 
 NicoUs next set about introducing in the province in gen- 
 eral, such forms of the English method of government as he 
 thought were practicable at that time. The inhabitants of the 
 eastern part of Long Island were accustomed to the political 
 franchises granted by the charter of Connecticut and they nat- 
 
— 55 — 
 
 nrally desired to continue in the enjoyment of them. Ab for 
 the Dutch, they had continually attacked the prerogative of 
 the Director, and after a long and tedious contest, had at last 
 gained" the Assembly or Landt-dag under Stuyvesant. They 
 hoped that this would be continued by their British proprietor, 
 and joined the English settlers in the general clamor for a con- 
 vention. Nicolls vrell knew the Duke's disapproval of popu- 
 lar assemblies, but he considered it expedient, under the cir- 
 cumstances, to comply at least in appearance, with the senti- 
 ment of the inhabitants. He therefore ordered that delegates 
 should be chosen by the several townships, and these, having 
 met together, should give him their advice and information " in 
 the settlement of Good and Known laws within this govern- 
 ment." The delegates were also required to bring with them 
 " a Draught of each Town Limitts." {a) 
 
 This convention met at the village of Hempstead, Long 
 Island, on the last day of February, 1665. The circular letter 
 which called for the election of delegates was sent to all the 
 towns on the Island, likewise to Westchester, but no notice 
 was given to New York, Esopus, Bergen, or any other Dutch 
 town out of Long Island. Seventeen townships responded, 
 each sending two delegates. This convention was not at all 
 what the freeholders were led to expect it would be ; it was 
 not a law-making assembly, much less an assembly of the 
 Province of New York. Nicolls, obedient to his instructions, 
 did not allow it to exercise any legislative functions, but con- 
 fined its action to the ratification of the measures which he 
 himself proposed. 
 
 The first act of the delegates (in anticipation of the conces- 
 sions which they expected to receive), was to frame an address 
 to the Duke of York. Instead of being merely respectful 
 and loyal in sentiment, the tone of this document was servile 
 and cringing in the extreme, (b) The delegates say : " Wee 
 doe most humbly and thankfully acknowledge to your Koyal 
 
 (a) Thompson's Long Island, I. 131. 
 (6) Col. Doe. III. 91. 
 
— 56 — 
 
 Highness, the great honour and satisfaction wee receive in our 
 dependence upon your Royal Highness according to the tenor 
 of his sacred Majesties Patent granted the 12th day of March, 
 1664. * * * And wee doe publikely and unanimously de- 
 clare our cheerful submission to all such Lawes, Statutes, and 
 Ordinances, which are or shall be inade by virtue of Authority 
 from Yr. R. Hs. your heires and successors forever," and much 
 more to the same effect. 
 
 We are led to believe that NicoUs must have controlled the 
 election of the twenty-eight deputies who signed this address, 
 or have procured their signatures by liberal promises, for its 
 language is not like that of the independent townsmen of Long 
 Island, and it raised the popular ire to an alarming degree. So 
 exasperated were the people against the signers of the declara- 
 tion that they threatened them with personal violence. To 
 save them from all abuse the Court of Assizes, in October, 
 1666, thought it expedient to declare that " whosoever hereaf- 
 ter shall any wayes detract or speake against any of the depu- 
 ties signing the address to his Royal Highness, at the general 
 meeting in Hempstead, they shall be presented to the next 
 Court of Sessions, and if the justices shall see cause, they shall 
 from thence bee bound over, to the Assizes, there to answer for 
 the slander upon plaint or information." (a) 
 
 Township limits were defined and many matters of local in- 
 terest settled, but the act for which the Hempstead meeting is 
 especially celebrated is the passing of " The Duke's Laws." 
 This code contains some very curious provisions which show 
 the class of subjects to which legislation at that day devoted 
 its attention, and it incidentally gives us an excellent picture of 
 the manners of the people. 
 
 To its constitutional importance, therefore, is added its great 
 historical interest, and it is well worthy of consideration. For, 
 as Montesquieu has said : "II faut Sclairer Vhistoire par lea 
 lois et les loispar Vhistoire." 
 
 (a) Thompson, I. 136, 137; Funnan, 420. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 "The Duke's Laws" — The Reoaptttkk by the Dutch and 
 THE Final Cession to England — ^The Patent of lt>74. 
 
 The Code which is commonly known as " The Duke's Laws " 
 was for the most part compiled from the collections then in 
 force in the other English- American colonies ; however, it con- 
 tains many provisions which are evidently new. It was issued 
 only in manuscript form, and the few copies of it which were 
 written were distributed for reference — one, in the office of the 
 Provincial Secretary, and others in the record offices on Long 
 Island. It was printed for the first time by the Eew York 
 Historical Society, in 1809. (a) 
 
 Its promulgation in 1665 was left to the deputies, and 
 Nicolls (under whose supervision it was prepared) intended to 
 gradually introduce it for the government of all the people — 
 both English and Dutch — in the province. It made no provi- 
 sion for a general assembly, nor did it in auywise curtail the 
 power of the Governor. However, it established an organized 
 system of judicial administration for the whole of Kew York. 
 This system included Town Courts, Courts of Sessions (to be 
 held as we have noted, thrice a year in each riding), and a 
 Court of Assizes, which should meet annually in New York. It 
 also authorized the election of town officers, and gave instruc- 
 tions in detail as to their jurisdiction, duties, etc. It assumed 
 that religion and trade were subjects of legislation, and devoted 
 a great deal of space to the method and style of branding cattle, 
 also, the punishment of Sabbath-breakers and blasphemers, but 
 makes no mention of the right of the people to assist in the 
 draughting or ordination of laws, or the imposal of taxes. For 
 the most part, in fact, it consists of rules of police administra- 
 tion, and its penal regulations are characterized by a severity 
 
 (a) X. Y. H. S. Collections, I. 307. 
 
— 58 — 
 
 borrowed from the puritanical codes of the New England 
 colonies. 
 
 Some of them are well worth quoting — for instance, that one 
 which relates to slavery within the province : " No christian shall 
 be kept in Bond-slavery villenage or Captivity, Except Such 
 who shall be Judged thereunto by authority, or such as willingly 
 have sonld or shall sell themselves. In which case a Record of 
 such Servitude shall be entered in the Court of Sessions held 
 for that jurisdiction where Such Matters shall Inhabit, provided 
 that nothing in the law contained shall be to the prejudice of 
 Master or Dame who have or shall by any indenture or cove- 
 nant take apprentices for terms of Years, or other servants for 
 terms of Years or Life." The West India Company had sanc- 
 tioned slavery and engaged in the African slave-trade, but no 
 mention is found of the bondage of Christians, under any cir- 
 cumstances, during the Dutch occupation, and this regulation 
 in the Duke's Laws is a retrograde step from a humanitarian 
 point of view. 
 
 How severe were the penalties ordained, may be seen from 
 the following excerpts from the " Capitall Lawes." 
 
 (I.) " If any person vnthin this Goveinment shall by direct 
 exprest, impious or presumptuous ways, deny the true God and 
 his attributes, he shall be put to death." 
 
 (XI.) " If any Child or Children, above sixteen years of age, 
 and of Suificient understanding, shall smite their Natural 
 Father or Mother, unless thereunto provoked and forct for 
 their selfe preservation from Death or Mayming, at the Com- 
 plaint of the said Father and Mother, and not otherwise, they 
 being Sufficient witnesses thereof, that Child or those Children 
 so offending shall be put to death." 
 
 Quiet enjoyment of church worship was provided for by 
 declaring that " Sundays are not to be prophaned by Travellers 
 Labourers or vicious Persons." 
 
 The various topics treated of are arranged in alphabetical 
 order, and under the title " Indians," we find that no purchase of 
 land from the natives was esteemed to give a good title unless 
 permission was first obtained from the Governor, and the sale was 
 
— 59 — 
 
 acknowledged in his presence by the sachem of tlie tribe, and 
 duly recorded, and purchasers were exempted from assess- 
 ments for the first five years. Moreover, no one should trade 
 with the Indians or sell them liquor without the Governor's 
 license. The Indians themselves were not burdened with regu- 
 lations, they were merely forbidden " to performe outward 
 worship to the Devil in any Towne within this Government." 
 These laws were altered and amended at the General As- 
 sizes held in 1665, 1666, 1672 and 1676. Although many pro- 
 visions were plainly applicable to Long Island, alone, the code 
 was ultimately intended for the government of the whole pro- 
 vince, and a part of it was soon put in general operation. A 
 large proportion of the Dutch inhabitants, however, could not 
 understand the English language, and soEicolls very prudently 
 refrained from enforcing its application in New York, Esopus, 
 Albany, and Schenectady. 
 
 The Governor's next act was to appoint Capt. John Manning, 
 the commander of the garrison at Albany, schout of the tovra, 
 with duties similar to those of the schout of New York. The 
 municipal affairs of Albany, however, were managed, as under 
 the Dutch, by commissaries chosen by the townsmen and com- 
 missioned by the Governor. 
 
 In accordance with the Articles of Capitulation, the New 
 York City magistracy had renewed itself on February 2d, 
 1665, as was the custom before the surrender, but in the fol- 
 lowing spring, NicoUs turned his attention to the reformation 
 of the municipal government, and on June 12th made it con- 
 form to the English system. By proclamation, he revoked 
 " the Forme and Ceremony of Government of this hia Maties 
 Towne of New Yorke, under the name or names, style or styles 
 of Schout, Burgomasters and ScJiepens" and instituted the 
 offices of " Mayor, Aldermen, and Sherifie, according to the 
 Custome of England in other his Maties Corporacone." {a) 
 He then appointed five aldermen to hold office for one year. 
 Any three of these, with the Mayor or his representative, had 
 
 (o) Val. Man. 1851, 412. 
 
— 60 — 
 
 full power to govern the city and apply the provisions of the 
 Duke's Laws and all " such peculiar laws as are or shall be 
 thought convenient and necessary." 
 
 This was NicoUs' last official act of importance, although 
 he occupied the Governorship until 1668. The remainder of 
 his term was occupied in the examination and comfirmation of 
 ancient Dutch land grants, and the adjustment of boundaries. 
 He continued to levy taxes in his discretion and to collect them 
 through his officers, without asking the assent of the people, or 
 allowing them to express their opinion. This was the griev- 
 ance that had so aggravated the people under the "West India 
 Company, and they were loud in their complaints against it. 
 The English considered it contrary to the spirit of their institu- 
 tions and as not customary or usual, while the Dutch stoutly 
 insisted that it was, moreover, a breach of the terms on which 
 they capitulated. Notwithstanding this, the Governor showed no 
 disposition to change his mode of filling the provincial treasury. 
 
 At this time, the political position of New York was un- 
 like that of any other American province. It was not a char- 
 tered colony like that of New Plymouth or Massachusetts Bay. 
 Although it was a proprietary government, and in that respect 
 was not unlike Maryland, the Duke of York's patent conferred 
 far more power upon him than was bestowed upon Lord 
 Baltimore. 
 
 On August 17th, 1668, Nicolls left New York in response 
 to a letter of recall, and soon afterwards his successor, Francis 
 Lovelace, assumed the management of provincial affairs. 
 
 The administration of Governor Lovelace was uneventful 
 from a constitutional point of view ; he was even less disposed 
 than his predecessor to make concessions to the people. He 
 was extremely mercenary, and his idea of the proper treatment 
 of the commonalty can be gained from his advice to Sir Robert 
 Carr, Governor of Delaware. To keep them in order, he 
 wrote, " lay such taxes upon them as may not give tliem liberty 
 to entertain any other thought, but how to discharge them."(a) 
 
 (o) Dunlap, 1. 120. 
 
— 61 — 
 
 On the 9th of November, 1669, the inhabitants complained to 
 the Court of Assizes and submitted a petition signed by repre- 
 sentatives of all the principal towns in Long Islund and West- 
 chester. Their grievance was, that at the surrender of the 
 province they had been promised all the privileges of his 
 Majesty's other English subjects in America, and they con- 
 tended that participation in legislation was one of those privi- 
 leges. The court referred the papers to the Governor and his 
 council, who ordered them to be burned by the public hang- 
 man, as an evidence of their " seditious " nature. 
 
 Although the government was as arbitrary as that of the 
 Dutch directors, the inhabitants could no longer complain of 
 the lack of a council. The fact that in 1671 Lovelace had eight 
 councilors, including the Mayor and Secretary, shows that this 
 body was a real and not fictitious one, even though its influence 
 was of little avail. 
 
 England and the Netherlands were again at war, when, in 
 August of the year 1673, Lovelace went up into Connecticut 
 for a short visit, and left Capt. John Manning in command of 
 Fort James, New York City. During the Governor's absence, 
 on the seventh of the month, a Dutch fleet suddenly made its 
 appearance in the lower bay and demanded the surrender of the 
 city and province. The scenes of nine years before were 
 re-enacted, but the tables were turned. There were twenty- 
 three vessels in the Dutch fleet, commanded by Cornells 
 Evertsen and Jacob Binckes, and they carried on board sixteen 
 hundred men under Captain Anthony Colve. It was a force 
 that the little garrison of New York could not possibly with- 
 stand, and so, two days later, when the ships anchored within 
 gun-shot of the fort. Manning surrendered after a brief attempt 
 at resistance. The Dutch companies of foot landed and took 
 possession of the town, and once more the tri-color of the 
 Netherlands floated over Manhattan Island. 
 
 The surrender is recorded by an entry in the Secretary's 
 Office of the Corporation of New York, under date of August 
 9th, which says that the Dutch immediately re-christened the 
 city, " New Orange," and the fort " William Henry." 
 
— 62 — 
 
 The commanders of the fleet placed Captain Anthony Colve 
 in charge of the province and he continued as its Director, with 
 a revival of the Dutch customs until October, ] 674, when it 
 was again and for the last time transferred to the English, 
 under terms of the Treaty of Westminister. This peace was 
 concluded by Great Britain and the United Netherlands, on 
 the 19th of February, 1674. In it, the two high-contracting 
 parties agreed to a reciprocal restitution of all captured terri- 
 tory and thus New Netherland, which in July, 1667, had been 
 ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Breda, on the principle 
 of "wfe" possidetis," was added to the English- American pos- 
 sessions, inexchange for Surinam. 
 
 According to the Treaty of "Westminster, the province was 
 surrendered directly to the King of England. As the Dutch 
 capture had extinguished the title of the Duke, and he derived, 
 by this transfer, no right to his former possession, he was com- 
 pelled to seek a new patent from the Crown. This was granted 
 him in very much the same terms as the first, with a further 
 extension of his absolute powers of government. Formerly 
 these powers had only applied to Sritish suhjecis within his 
 jurisdiction, but the new charter included " any other person or 
 persons " inhabiting his province, (a) This relieved the Duke 
 from the necessity of winning the inhabitants to British alleg- 
 iance, but he did not on this account govern New York with 
 more severity than before. 
 
 (a) Poore's Constitutions, I. 786. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Duke's Instettotions to Goveenoe Andeos — Populab 
 Discontent — Attempts to Gain a Repeesentative 
 Assembly— 1674-1682. 
 
 On November 1st, 1674, Edmund Andros, commissioned as 
 Governor of New York, landed and assumed command of the 
 provincial government. He soon issued a manifesto to the in- 
 habitants in which he declared that " all former grants or con- 
 cessions and all estates legally possessed by any under his 
 EoyaU Highnesse before the late Dutch government, as also all 
 legall proceedings during that government are hereby con- 
 firmed. * * * It is hereby further declared that the known 
 Book of Laws formerly established, and in force under his 
 royall highnesse government, is now again confirmed by his 
 Royall Highnesse the which are to be observed and practised 
 together with the manner and time of holding Courts therein 
 menconed as heretofore. And all Magistrates and Civill Ofli- 
 cers belonging thereunto to be chosen and establisht accord- 
 ingly." {a) 
 
 The constitution under which the province was now gov- 
 erned by Andros is set forth in the instructions given him by 
 the Duke of York, under date of July 1st, 1674. (b) 
 
 The Duke declared it to be his pleasuie that the Governor 
 should administer justice " with all possible equallity without 
 regard to Dutch or English in their private concernes," and to 
 so act, that " wi'^out ye least appearance of partiallity, they 
 may see their just rights preserved to y™ inviolably." As to 
 the forms of justice, he says : " I think it best for you to put in 
 execution such lawes rules and ord" as you find have been 
 established by Coll. Nicholls and Coll. Lovelace, and not to 
 vary from them but upon emergent necessities, and y" advice 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. m. 227. 
 (6) Col. Doc. III. 216. 
 
— 64 — 
 
 of yo'' Councell and the gravest and experienced persons there ; 
 and if any such alteracon be made, that it be only temporary 
 for a yeare, and if it be not confirmed by me within that 
 time, then to be utterly voyd at y* end of that yeare and of 
 noe force at all, as if such alteracon or new law never had been 
 permitted. And as to y® choice of Magistrates and OflBcers of 
 Justice, I must referr y* to yo*^ prudence, w"" when you shalbe 
 upon y® place, will best direct yon to those persons w"** have 
 most reputacon both for their abilities and integrity, and for 
 those reasons most acceptable to y® Inhabitants. But you are 
 "not to make any officer for above one yeare or otherwise y° 
 during pleasure." 
 
 Andros was directed to choose from among the most 
 prudent persons in the province, an advisory council, not to ex- 
 ceed ten in number. This council was to be consulted on all 
 questions relating to the public good or the service of the 
 Duke. The councilors were to hold office during pleasure or 
 unless proved guilty of some crime. All officers and " persons 
 in places of benefit," on entering upon the execution of their 
 duties were to take the oath of allegiance to his Majesty, 
 and fidelity to the proprietor, as well as that peculiar to the 
 office. 
 
 The Duke especially charged the Governor to permit all 
 persons, of whatsoever religion, to worship in peace according 
 to their respective creeds, and no persons were to be disturbed 
 by reason of their differing belief, unless they broke the public 
 peace or molested others. 
 
 Heavy export and import duties were at the same time 
 established with differences in favor of England, and lastly, all 
 warrants, writs, executions, etc., were to run in the King's 
 name, as before. 
 
 On the 13th of March, 1675, Andros published a proclamation 
 admonishing " all such persons as doe intend to continue under 
 His Majesty's obedience within His Royal Highness's govern- 
 ment, that they appear at such times and places as the magis- 
 trates within the respective towns and places where they live 
 shall appoint, to take the usual oaths of allegiance and fidelity." 
 
— 65 — 
 
 Many inhabitants appeared at the advertised places in response 
 and were sworn in as English subjects. 
 
 At this time the question of a general assembly, which had 
 been agitated under both NicoUs and Lovelace, again became 
 prominent. The people wanted a voice in the legislation ; they 
 were not content to have the laws made for them by the Gov- 
 ernor and his council. But Andros would not listen to their 
 suggestions, and firmly suppressed any attempts at a conven- 
 tion. What the Duke's sentiments were on this subject may 
 be gathered from his letter to Andros, written on April 6th, 
 1675. (a) He says : " First y°, touching Generall Assemblyes 
 w°*' y® people there seeme desirous of in imitacon of their 
 neighbour colonies, I thinke you have done well to discourage 
 any mocon of y' kind, both as being not at all comprehended 
 in yo'' Instructions nor indeed consistent wi"* y'^ forme of gov- 
 ernm' already established, nor necessary for y» ease or redresse 
 of any grievance y* may happen, since y' may be as easily ob- 
 tained, by any peticon or other addresse to you at their Gener- 
 all Assizes (w*" is once a yeare) where the same persons (as 
 Justices) are usually present, who in all probability would be 
 theire Representatives if another constitucon were allowed." 
 The people who were " desirous " of assemblies, were princi- 
 pally the English on the easterly end of Long Island, and the 
 Duke was greatly mistaken in thinking that the persons who 
 represented their ridings as Justices (appointed by the Gov- 
 ernor), would have been returned as their freely chosen repre- 
 sentatives to a general assembly. Moreover, the right of peti- 
 tion which he says they might exercise to redress the grievances 
 was denied by Andros. The Governor, in this matter, fol- 
 lowed tlie course of his predecessor, Lovelace, and considered 
 all utterances of popular opinion as " seditious " and savoring 
 of rebellion. 
 
 The Duke again expressed his disapprobation of popular 
 conventions on January 28th, 1676, when he says in a letter to 
 his Governor of New York : " I have formerly writt to you 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. ni. 230. 
 
— 66 — 
 
 touching assemblyes in those countreys and have since observed 
 what several of your lattest letters hint about that matter. But 
 unless jo\i had offered what qualificacons are usuall and proper 
 to such assemblyes, I cannot but suspect they would be of 
 dangerous consequence, nothing being more knowne then the 
 aptness of such bodyes to assume to themselves many privi- 
 leges w""^ prove destructive to, or very oft disturbe, the peace 
 of y* governm' wherein they are allowed. Neither doe I see 
 any use of them w"" is not as well provided for, whilest you 
 and your Councill goveme according to y" laws established 
 (thereby preserving every man's property inviolate) and whilest 
 all things that need redresse may be sure of finding it, either at 
 y® Quarter Sessions or by other legall and ordinary wayes, or 
 lastly by appeale to myselfe. But howsoever, if you continue 
 of y® same opinion, I shall be ready to consider of any propo- 
 salls you shaU send to y' purpose." (a) 
 
 From this it would seem that Andros had suggested to his 
 superior that it might be expedient to make some concessions 
 to the popular demands. He was on the spot, and had a bet- 
 ter chance than the Duke of seeing how firmly the Dutch ad- 
 hered to their cherished principle of " No taxation without re- 
 presentation," and how deeply this had taken root in the minds 
 of their fellow-colonists, the English. Meanwhile the impa- 
 tience of the commonalty continued to increase, and now ex- 
 tended throughout the entire province. (5) 
 
 By this time, New York had become more generally settled 
 and its population grew apace. Its boundaries included about 
 twenty-four towns, villages or parishes, in six ridings or 
 Courts of Sessions. The militia numbered almost two thousand, 
 and the population of New York City over thirty-four 
 hundred, (c) 
 
 In 1678, the popular discontent which had been smoulder- 
 ing, notwithstanding Andros's repressive measures, again broke 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. m. 235. 
 
 (6) Bancroft, II. 138; N. Y. H. S. CoU. n., 2d Series, 32. 
 
 (c) Gov. Andros's letter to the Duke, Col. Doc. m. 260. 
 
— 67 — 
 
 out. The people of New York learned that according to the 
 charter of Pennsylvania, which had just been established, the 
 freemen were allowed to meet in an assembly and participate 
 in legislation and taxation. This was the right which the New 
 Yorkers had been so long struggling to gain, and their neigh- 
 bors' happy fortune spurred them to fresh efforts. When the 
 Court of Assizes met in New York, its members listened to the 
 general complaints concerning this " grievance " and instructed 
 John Younge, the High Sheriff of Long Island, to draw up a 
 petition to the Duke of York. His work was faivorably re- 
 ceived, and the address was presented in the name of " the 
 council of the province, the aldermen of New York, and of 
 the justices assembled at a special Court of Assizes, held on 
 June 29th, 1681." (a) Thus, representatives of all classes joined 
 in entreating for the people a share m legislation. 
 
 The petitioners said that they found themselves obliged to 
 "represent the miserable and deplorable condition of the 
 inhabitants of this your royal highness colony, who for many 
 years past have groaned under inexpressible burdens by having 
 an arbitrary and absolute power used and exercised over us, by 
 which a yearly revenue is exacted from us against our wills, 
 and trade grievously burdened with undue and unusual 
 customs imposed on the merchandize without our consent — our 
 • liberty and freedom inthraled, and the inhabitants wholly shut 
 out and deprived of any share, vote, or interest, in the govern- 
 ment, to their great discouragement, and contrary to the laws, 
 rights, libertif-B, and privileges of the subject ; so that we are 
 esteemed as nothing, and have become a reproach to the neigh- 
 bors in other his majesty's colonies, who flourish under the 
 fruition and protection of his majesty's unparalleled form and 
 " method of government in his realm of England, the undoubted 
 birthright of all his subjects. We * * * pray and beseech 
 your royal highness, that for the redressing and the removal 
 of the said grievances, the government of this your colony may, 
 for the future, be settled and established, ruled and governed, 
 
 (a) Wood's Long Island, 178 and 179; Brodhead, 11. 353 and 658; Thomp- 
 Bon's Long Island, I. 160; Bancroft, II. 145; Butler, 34. 
 
— 68 — 
 
 by a governor, council, and assembly ; which assembly to be 
 duly elected and chosen by the freeholders, of this your royal 
 highness' colony, as is usual and practicable within the realm 
 of England, and other his majesty's plantations." 
 
 The Duke realized the threatened crisis, and when he 
 learned from Andros (whom he called to London for the pur- 
 pose), tlie true state of affairs, he determined to make conces- 
 sions to the people rather than hazard his power in New York. 
 Under date of September 30th, 1682, he commissioned Colonel 
 Thomas Dongan, a personal friend and brother Roman-Catho- 
 lic, as Governor of the province. 
 
 As many and important changes were made in the consti- 
 tution of New York during Dongan's term of office, it is well 
 to consider its condition previous to his arrival. 
 
 The Duke, as grantee of his royal brother, had absolute 
 governmental powers — administrative, legislative and judicial. 
 The Governor, as his deputy and executive officer, exercised his 
 prerogative in the province. It was the Governor who ap- 
 pointed the councilors, sheriff and justices, subject to the ap- 
 proval of the Duke, and it was the Govemer and council who 
 initiated, confirmed and promulgated the laws, with the Duke's 
 assent. 
 
 The field of civil liberty of the subject was extremely lim- 
 ited, the " Habeas Corpus Act " did not extend to any of the 
 English colonies, and consequently was not in force in New 
 York, (a) In the same manner, however, the province was 
 exempt from the provisions of the " Test Act," of 1673. (5) 
 Liberty of conscience was assured by the letter of instruc- 
 tions which the Duke gave to Andros and private property was 
 protected by virtue of the same document, but freedom of 
 speech was not tolerated, and those who indulged in it were on 
 various occasions severely punished, (c) 
 
 The province enjoyed none of the privileges of assembly 
 
 (o) Brodhead, n. 338. 
 (6) Col. Doo. m. 357. 
 (c) Brodhead, n. 277. 
 
— 69 — 
 
 which were granted by charter to Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
 Maryland, Virginia, and Connecticut. It had long been fight- 
 ing to gain them and upon several occasions had almost won 
 its point, only to be again defeated, but with the recall of An- 
 dres it was on the eve of victory. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 " The Chaeteb of Libeetts and Privileges." 
 
 Although the Duke of York issued a commission on Sep- 
 tember 30th, 1682, to Colonel Thomas Dongan, as his "Lieu- 
 tenant and Governor," (a) it was not until January 27th, 1683, 
 that he gave him his letter of instructions. With character- 
 istic painstaking, the Duke made these instructions most com- 
 plete and specific, and entered into every detail. 
 
 He directed Governor Dongan (6) immediately on his arrival 
 in America, to call together " Fredericke PhiUipps, Stephen 
 Courtland " (the only actual councilors), and " soe many more 
 of the most eminent inhabitants of New Yorke, not exceeding 
 tenn, to be my ConnciU." The same instructions which he 
 had given to Andros in regard to oaths, which all officers 
 should take, their tenure and privileges were repeated. Further- 
 more, he gave Dongan the power to suspend any councilor, and 
 deprive him of all official rights, pending the Duke's investi- 
 gation of the cause of suspension. 
 
 The Governor upon his arrival was to hold a consultation 
 with his council, and having secured their consent, he was 
 speedily to issue in the name of the Duke, " writts or warrants 
 of Summons to ye severall Sheriffes or other proper Office" in 
 every part of yo"^ said government, wherein you shall expresse 
 that'l have thought fitt that there shall be a Gen'^ Assembly 
 of all the Freeholders, by the persons who they shall choose to 
 represent y™ in ord' to consult w'^ yo"^ selfe and the said 
 Council what laws are fitt and necessary to be made and es- 
 tabhshed for the good weale and government of the said Colony 
 and its Dependencyes, and of all the inhabitants thereof." 
 
 Thus, the Duke, who six years before had written to An- 
 dros that assemblies " would be of dangerous consequence," 
 
 (o) Col. Doe. lU. 328. 
 (b) Col. Doc. m. 331. 
 
— 71 — 
 
 and he did not " see any use of them," (a) yielded to the gen- 
 eral demand, and the people gained the point for which they 
 had so long been striving. Dongan was to issue these writs 
 (not exceeding eighteen in number), for the election of dele- 
 gates, " at least thirty dayes before the time appointed for y" 
 meeting of the said assembly, w<"» time and also the place of 
 their meeting (w"'' I intend shalbe in New Yorke) shall alsoe 
 be menconed and expressed in the said "Writt or Summons."(5) 
 
 When the delegates bad met together at the time and place 
 directed, the "Governor was to " let y™ know that for the future 
 it is my resolution that y" said Gen" Assembly shall have free 
 liberty to consult and debate among themselves all matt" as 
 shall be apprehended proper to be established for laws for the 
 good government of the said Colony of New Yorke and its De- 
 pendencyes, and y* if such laws shalbe propounded as shall 
 appeare to mee to be for the manifest good of the Countiy in 
 generall and not p^'judiciall to me, I will assent unto and con- 
 firme y™." 
 
 If the Governor considered the proposed laws beneficial, he 
 was to indorse them, but if not, he was to pass his veto upon 
 them. Immediately on the proposal of a law, he was to 
 transmit it to the Duke for ratification, and until the Duke's 
 answer was obtained, the law was to be good and binding. 
 However, upon his refusal to confirm any statute, it should be 
 null and void. Furthermore, the Duke wrote, " I doe aisoe 
 give you power from time to time to cause y" said Gen" As- 
 sembly to be summoned w*''' I also authorize you to adjourne 
 or dissolve as you shall see reason and cause." 
 
 "And 1 do hereby require and command you," he con- 
 tinued, " y' noe man's life, member, freehold or goods, be taken 
 away or harmed in any of the places und"^ yo"^ government but 
 by established and knowne laws not repugnant to but as nigh 
 as may be agreeable to the laws of the kingdome of England," 
 thus providing for the civil liberty of the inhabitants as far as 
 personal security and the inviolability of private property were 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. m. 235. 
 (6) Col. Doo. in. 331. 
 
— 72 — 
 
 concerned. In addition, " you are, for the better administracon 
 of justice to endeavour to gett a law passed in the assembly 
 wherein shalbe sett the value of the mens estates either in 
 goods or lands und'' V* they shall not be capable of serving as 
 jurors." 
 
 Tlie Governor was instructed, with the advice of the coun- 
 cil, to establish courts of justice, with civil and criminal juris- 
 diction similar to those in existence in England. He was also 
 authorized " to pardon and remitt any fine or fines w'^" by any 
 of the said courts shall be sett or imposed," and to pardon " all 
 manner of crimes before or after conviction (unless the heyn- 
 ous crimes of high Treason and wilfuU mnrther)," in which 
 events if there was any reason for clemency, the papers of the 
 case were to be transmitted to the Duke. Custom houses were 
 to be built, the mihtia organized and forts erected, but the 
 Governor was especially admonished not to declare war " by 
 colour of any power or authority," without his master's knowl- 
 edge and particular commands. 
 
 The laws in use at that time were to be continued until they 
 should be abrogated or changed, and (one of the most important 
 of all the provisions) the Governor was not " upon any pre- 
 tence or colour of law or other establishment to raise or take or 
 suffer any person to demand, leavy, raise or take any money or 
 other things for or by way of Custome or impost, for any goods 
 wares or merchandizes imported or exported by any merchant 
 or other person whatsoever, nntill the same shalbe enacted and 
 established by law to be made " by the general representative 
 assembly of the province. 
 
 The right of self-taxation was thus guaranteed to the people 
 of New York. For the first time, and forever, it was estab- 
 lished on the soil coloni^ied by the descendants of those Nether- 
 landers who had laid down their lives to maintain it, two 
 hundred years before. 
 
 The eighteen writs addressed to the various officers in the 
 province presumably authorized each to superintend the elec- 
 tion of one delegate, since there were eighteen delegates re- 
 turned. The mode in which these were chosen is nowhere 
 
— 73 — 
 
 specified, but they were to be elected by the " freeholders," 
 and a majority of the first assembly were Dutchmen. Long 
 Island sent six representatives, two from each of its three rid- 
 ings; Staten Island, one; New York with Haerlem, four; 
 Esopus, two ; Albany and Rensselaerwyck, two ; Schenectady, 
 one ; Pemaquid, one, and Martha's Vineyard with Nantucket, 
 one — total, eighteen, (a) 
 
 On the seventeenth day of October, 1683, the representa- 
 tives of the freeholders of New York met together in Fort 
 James, only one of those elected being absent. Mathias 
 Nicolls was chosen Speaker, and the Duke's instructions were 
 read, {b) During the three weeks that the assembly was in 
 session it passed fifteen acts, and each of these was considered 
 three times before it was finally assented to by the Governor 
 and council and forwarded to England for the Duke's ap- 
 proval, (c) 
 
 The first act which was passed at this session and the one for 
 which it is celebrated is, " The Charter of Libertys and Privi- 
 leges," enacted on October 30th. (d) 
 
 This document begins : " For the better establishing the 
 Government of this province of New York, and thatt Justice 
 and Right may be equally done to all persons within the same : 
 
 " Bee it enacted by the Governor, Couucell, and Representa- 
 tives now in gen'*" assembly mett and assembled and by the 
 authority of the same, 
 
 " That the Supreme Legislative Authority under his Majesty 
 and Royall Highnesse James, Duke of York, Albany, etc.. 
 Lord proprietor of the said province, shall forever bee and re- 
 side in a Govemour, Councell and the people, mett in a General 
 Assembly." 
 
 It vests the exercise of the administration of the provincial 
 government in a Governor and council, with whose advice and 
 consent, or with at least the advice and consent of four of them, 
 he is to govern according to the laws. 
 
 (o) Brodhead, II. 382. 
 
 (6) Thompson's Long Island, I. 161. 
 
 (c) Col. Doc. m. 355. 
 
 (d) Laws of New York, Bevlsion of 1813, Vol. II. App. No; 2. 
 
— u^ 
 
 As to meetings : " Thatt, according to the usage, costome, 
 and practice of the Realm of England, a session of a generall 
 assembly bee held in this province once in three y ear es att least. 
 
 " That every ffreeholder within this province, and ffreeman in 
 any coporacon, shall have his free choice and vote in the Electing 
 of the representatives, without any manner of constraint or im- 
 position, and that in all Elections the majority of Voices shall 
 carry itt, and by ffreeholders is understood every one who is so 
 understood according to the laws of England." 
 
 The Charter then established the proportion and number 
 of delegates to the assembly, as follows : For the City and 
 County of New York, four j for Queen's County, two ; for 
 Suffolk County, two ; for King's County, two ; for Richmond 
 one ; Westchester, one ; Ulster two ; Albany, two ; and for 
 Schenectady (within said County) one ; for Duke's one ; and 
 the County of Cornwall, one. (a) The representatives were to 
 appoint their own times of session and adjournment, and they 
 were to be '' the sole judges of the qualifieacons of their own 
 members, and likewise of all undue elections, and may from 
 time to time purge their house as they shall see occasion dur- 
 ing the said sessions." 
 
 No member of the assembly or his servants (exemption 
 limited to three) could be arrested, sued or otherwise molested, 
 while going to or returning from the assembly, saving in 
 cases of high treason and felony. 
 
 As to the enactment of laws : " All bills agreed upon by 
 the said Representatives, or the Major part of them, shall bee 
 presented unto the Governour and his councell for their appro- 
 bacon and consent, all and every which said bills so approved 
 of and consented to by the Governor and his councell, shall bee 
 esteemed the lawes of the province which said lawes shall con- 
 tinue and remaine in force until they shall be repealed by the 
 authority aforesaid," that is to say, the Duke. 
 
 Full civil liberty was guaranteed the subject, since it was 
 enacted — 
 
 (o) Duke's and Cornwall Counties do not appear eyer to have sent delegates 
 to the General Assembly. 
 
— 75 — 
 
 " That no ffreeman shall be taken and imprisoned, or bee dis- 
 seized of his ffreehold or liberty, or free customes, or bee out- 
 lawed or exiled, or any otherwayes destroyed, nor shall be 
 passed upon, adjudged or condemned, butt by the lawful judg- 
 ment of his peers, and by the law of this province, justice nor 
 right shall be neither sold, denyed, or deferred to any man 
 within this province. 
 
 " Thatt no aid, tax, tallage, assessment, custom, loane, bene- 
 volence, or imposition whatever, shall bee layed, assessed, im- 
 posed, or levyed on any of his majesties subjects within this prov- 
 ince, or their Estates uppon any manner of colour or pretence, 
 butt by act and consent of the Governor, councill and represent- 
 atives of the people in general assembly mett and assembled." 
 
 In addition, no man was to be put out of his lands, impris- 
 oned, banished "nor any wayes destroyed" without being 
 brought to answer by " due course of law." Eines were to be 
 in proportion to the gravity of the misdemeanors for which 
 they were imposed, and no penalty should deprive a man of 
 the tools or implements necessary for the earning of his liveli- 
 hood. Verdicts were to be rendered only on the finding of 
 " twelve lionest and lawful men of the vicinage," and in crim- 
 inal cases the offender should first be indicted by a " Grand 
 Inquest." 
 
 Bail was to be received in all cases except, treason or felony. 
 The quartering of soldiers on the people was forbidden, for 
 " no ffreeman shall be compelled to receive any mariners or 
 souldiers into his house, and there suffere them to sojourne 
 against their wills," except in time of actual war. Moreover, 
 martial law should only be applied to oflicers and men in pay 
 of the government. 
 
 Al l feudal taxes and fines were abolished, and also escheat 
 and forfeiture, " cases of High Treason only excepted." 
 
 Finally, " no person or persons, which prof esse ffaith in God 
 by Jesus Christ, shall at any time, be any wayes molested, 
 punished, or disquieted, or called in question for any difference 
 in opinion or matter of religious concernment, who do not 
 actually disturb the civill peace of the province." 
 
— 76 — 
 
 A comparison of this charter with the Petition of Right, 
 of 1628, {a) shows that it follows the latter verj closely in the 
 clauses relating to the civil liberty of the subject, arid also 
 reiterates the undying principles of Magna Carta almost 
 verhatim. 
 
 To the charter was appended a " Continued Bill," which 
 granted certain duties on liquors, merchandises, etc., to the 
 Governor, for the support of the government. As the bill 
 passed its third reading and was assented to by the Governor 
 and council, it went into effect as soonas published, and no time 
 was lost in making it known. (S) 
 
 This charter of Liberties and Privileges is undoubtedly the 
 most important document in the constitutional history of the 
 province. It adopted for New York the same standard of 
 civil liberty and political rights that was at that time in 
 existence in England. It ignored the distinctions which the 
 British crown had drawn between the rights of its subjects at 
 home and those in the colonies, and established a system of 
 legislation very similar to that in vogue in Great Britain. The 
 Governor of New York exercised in the province a perogative 
 which can be compared to that of the King, in England. His 
 council, holding office by his favor and selected from among the 
 " most eminent inhabitants," in its constitution was not unlike 
 the House of Lords ; while the assembly, representing the free- 
 holders of the country (with the exclusive power of originating 
 money bills), v&t-^ much resembled the House of Commons. 
 
 This charter, however, was never confirmed by the pro- 
 prietor, and as soon as his veto was received in the province it 
 was, ipso facto, repealed. Nevertheless, New York's first as- 
 sembly, of which a majority were Dutchmen, had uttered the 
 most distinct and broad declaration of popular liberties that 
 had been announced in America, and its infiuence was of more 
 than a temporary character. 
 Before adjourning, the General Assembly passed a law divid- 
 
 (o) Stubb's Select Charters, 515. 
 (6) Brodhead, II. 384. 
 
— 77 — 
 
 ing the province and its dependencies into shires and counties. 
 This act was enrolled on November 2d, 1683, and established 
 twelve counties in all, with the provision that annually a high 
 sheriff should be commissioned for each county, and that each 
 high sheriff might have his undersheriff, deputy or deputies. 
 Two of these counties which included the Duke's eastern pos- 
 sessions (territory really situated in New England) were after- 
 wards surrendered to Massachusetts in 1693. (a) 
 
 An act was also passed to " settle Courts of Justice." This 
 established four classes of courts. (J) 
 
 1. Town Courts, to be held in each town on the first 
 Wednesday of every month. This was for the "hearing and 
 determining of small causes and cases of debt and trespasse to 
 the value of forty shillings or under, which causes and cases 
 sliall be heard, tryed and determined, by three persons to be 
 commissionated for thatt purpose without a jury." 
 
 2. County Courts or Courts of Sessions, to be held in cer- 
 tain county towns, at stated times ; either quarterly or half- 
 yearly. These courts had civil and criminal jurisdiction, and 
 causes were tried before a jury of twelve men of the county. 
 The judges were the Justices of the Peace. 
 
 3. A " Court of Oyer and Terminer or General Gaol De- 
 livei7 " which had jurisdiction, original and appellate, as well 
 civil as criminal. This court was to sit in each county twice 
 every year. Its members were a judge, assisted by four jus- 
 tices of the peace of the county, commissioned for that pur- 
 pose, and a jury of twelve men of the neighborhood. 
 
 4. A Court of Chancery which had power " to hear and 
 determine all matters of equity," and was " esteemed the Su- 
 preme Court of the Province." The Governor and council 
 composed this Court, but the Governor might depute a chan- 
 cellor to act in his stead. 
 
 It will be remembered, however, that in this patent to his 
 brother, King Charles inserted the clause, " Reserving to Us 
 our heirs and successors the receiving hearing and determining 
 
 (a) N. Y. Laws of 1813, Vol. H. 46. 
 
 (6) N. Y. Laws of 1813. VoLU. App, IV. 
 
— 78 — 
 
 of the appeal and appeals of all or any person or persons of in 
 or belonging to the Territorys or Islands aforesaid, etc." (a) and 
 tinder this provision the determination of any court in the 
 province might be reviewed by appeal to his Majesty. 
 
 At the same session, also, an act was passed for " Naturalizing 
 Strangers," and all these laws were proclaimed in front of the 
 City Hall, Nov. 7th, 1683, and forwarded to the Duke. 
 
 At the second convention of the General Assembly, held on 
 October 21st, 1684, the Court of Assizes was abolished and the 
 Court of Oyer and Terminer altered to take its place. (5) 
 
 The " Charter of Franchises (or Libertys) and Privileges " 
 was in time received by the Duke, and after due consideration 
 and the amendment of certain portions, he " actually signed " 
 the patent, " which required only some trivial solemnity to 
 render it complete and irrevocable." (c) 
 
 This fact is proved by the following memorandum, which is 
 found in the State Paper OflBce in London. " M"*- That this 
 day the 4tb October, 1684, His Royal Highness signed and 
 sealed the Charter of Franchises and Priviledges to New Torke 
 in America ; which was countersigned by Sir John Werden in 
 the usuall forme, and sent the same evening to the Auditor (Mr. 
 Aldworth) to be Registered by him, and then to be delivered 
 to Capt. Talbott, to carry to New Yorke." (d) 
 
 However, before it was returned to Dongan and made " com- 
 plete and irrevocable," while yet it was not too late for the 
 Duke to recall it, an event happened which resulted in its sup- 
 pression, and materially affected the growth and prosperity of 
 New York. 
 
 (o) Patent of 1674, Poore's Const. I. 786. 
 (6) Col. Doc. in. 389. 
 
 (c) Chalmer's Political Annals, I. 588. 
 
 (d) Hist. Mag., VoL VI. 233. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 New Yoek Becomes a Royal Peovinoe — It is Inoor- 
 
 POEATED mTO " The Domxnion OF New Englajtd " 
 
 — The Revolution of 1688. 
 
 Bt the death of Charles II., on February 6th, 1685, his 
 brother became King James the Second of England, and tbe 
 Seventh of Scotland. By his accession to the throne, the 
 character of his title to New York was changed. He no longer 
 held it as a subject or governed it as a proprietor, but these 
 rights were merged in his superior right as monarch, and New 
 York became a royal province, the government of , which was 
 entrusted to the " Committee of Trade and Plantations." 
 
 Before this committee, then, came for confirmation the laws 
 which had been passed at the first session of the New York 
 General Assembly, although some of them had already been 
 confirmed by the Duke. All the books and papers relating to 
 the province were transferred to the keeping of this council, 
 and among tliem " The Charter of Francliises and Privileges, 
 not yet perfected," according to an entry in the journal of the 
 committee, February 17th, 1684. (a) It was not yet perfected, 
 as we have seen, only because although signed it had not been 
 returned. James, the I>uke, had not hesitated in making con- 
 cessions, which tended to restrict in America the royal preroga- 
 tive of his brother, but now that he was in his brother's place, 
 he saw that their application would be disadvantageous to him. 
 Fortunately for himself, the charter was not yet " irrevocable," 
 it was still within his control, and was read before the Planta- 
 tions Committee, in his presence on March 3d, 1684. (h) 
 
 In it were frequently used the phrases " Lord Proprietor," 
 and "His Royal Highnesse," and these in themselves having 
 become technically incorrect, were a sufficient ground- to war- 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. in. 354. 
 (6) Col. Doc. m. 357. 
 
— 80 — 
 
 rant a veto. Moreover, it is recorded that " the several powers 
 and privileges " granted in the charter " heing considered, His 
 Majesty doth not think fitt to confirm the same. And as to 
 the government of New York His Majesty is pleased to direct 
 that it be assimilated to the Constitution that shall be agreed 
 on for New England, to which it is adjoining. And in the 
 meantime His Majesty orders a letter to be prepared for his 
 Koyal Signature directing CoU. Dongan Governor of New York 
 to pursue such powers and Instructions as hee shall receive 
 under His Majesties signet and sign manual, or by Order in 
 Council until further Order." Meanwhile, the charter had 
 been enforced and was " good and binding" in New York until 
 the information was received that it had failed to obtain con- 
 firmation. 
 
 At the time that the Charter was read before the King and 
 Committee on March 3d, various " observacons " were made 
 upon it, which show the grounds of the opposition of 
 the Crown. The principal criticisms were, that the Charter 
 granted privileges and exemptions greater than were allowed 
 to any other of his Majesty's plantations. The term " The 
 People " was unusual and smacked too strongly of democracy, 
 and the power of the Governor was unduly restricted. 
 
 Shortly afterwards. King James wrote Governor Dongan 
 saying : " We hace been pleased, by Our Royal Proclamation 
 to direct that all men being in office of Government shall soe 
 continue therein until further Order, eoe we doe hereby charge 
 and require you to pursue such Powers and Instructions as wee 
 have formerly given you and such further Powers, Authority 
 and Instructions as you shall at any time hereafter receive." 
 
 As for the future government of the province, since the 
 " Constitution " of New England to which it was to be assimi- 
 lated, had not been determined on, it remained unchanged for 
 the time, (a) In New York, the question arose in 1685, as to 
 whether the Jews ought to be tolerated, under the provision of 
 the Charter of Privileges, which guaranteed freedom of wor- 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. in. 357. 
 
— 81 — 
 
 ship only to all such as professed " faitli in God by Jesus 
 Chi-ist." The Metropolitan authorities decided that worship 
 after the Jewish manner should be prohibited, but this was con- 
 trary to the policy of the Duke, as expressed in his instruc- 
 tions to Gov. Andros. (a) The decision does not seem ever to 
 have been enforced. 
 
 In the same year, the General Assembly was dissolved on 
 the death of the King, and a new one called. This new assem- 
 bly convened on October 20th, 1685, and during the session 
 the practical working of the legislative system was amply 
 demonstrated. Some bills which passed the House, were not 
 approved by the Governor and council, and others, endorsed by 
 the council, failed to receive a majority vote of the delegates. 
 
 At the end of this, the second session, the General Assem- 
 bly adjourned to September 25th, 1686, but when the time 
 came for it to re-assemble, Dongan determined " for weighty 
 and important reasons" to prorogue it until the 25th of 
 March, 1687. There was therefore no session at all during 
 1686. It was in this year that the city of New York received 
 the charter for which its Mayor and Common Council had 
 petitioned James three years before. (5) This is generally 
 known by the name of " The Dongan Charter," and it has 
 been said that it " constitutes to this day, the basis of the mu- 
 nicipal laws, rights, privileges, public property, and franchises 
 of the city." (c) Albany was also incorporated about the 
 same time, {d) 
 
 The prorogued assembly never met again, for on January 
 20th, 1687, Dongan received his royal commission and instruc- 
 tions in which James abolished all representative assemblies, 
 and a month later the Governor declared the assenibly forever 
 " dissolved." (e) In sending his instructions to Dongan James 
 again took the occasion to indulge his fondness for detail, and 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. vn. 218. 
 (6) Col. Doc. in. 337. 
 
 (c) Mag. Am. Hist. VHI. 109. 
 
 (d) Eastman, 107. 
 
 (e) Brodhead, II. 458. 
 
— 82 — 
 
 entered into the most elaborate specifications for the conduct of 
 the government. He declared that the legislative power of the 
 province should thenceforth be in the hands of the Governor and 
 council, (a) All " Lawes, Statutes and Ordinances of what nature 
 or duration soever " should be as nearly as possible agreeable to 
 the laws of England, and should be transmitted for the King's 
 approbation or disallowance within three months after their 
 enactment. The Governor's council was to consist of at least 
 seven members, and all taxes and imposts then in force were to 
 be continued by their authority. The presence of five coun- 
 cilors was necessary for the transaction of business, except in 
 cases of emergency, when three would be sufficient. In the 
 enacting of laws, the style to be used was " by the Governor 
 and council," and none other, and the people were to have no 
 voice in the legislation whatever. Service of God according to 
 the rites of the Church of England was established, and abso- 
 lute freedom of conscience (not limited to Christians, as in the 
 Charter of Privileges) was declared in favor of all who exer- 
 cised their religion quietly. 
 
 One of the first legislative acts of the Governor and coimcil 
 was to continue the taxes which the General Assembly had 
 voted, anticipating the confirmation of their Charter. A sorry 
 ending to the attempted reforms of the people, (b) 
 
 This order of affairs lasted only about eleven months, during 
 which time Dongan with his council governed the province 
 according to his instructions. His administration, throughout, 
 was characterized by a successful opposition to French intru- 
 sion and a policy of fair-dealing with the Indian tribes. In this 
 manner, he kept the natural northern boundary of the province 
 intact, and promoted the peace and security of the lands and 
 property of the settlers. 
 
 In the early part of 1688, James decided to incorporate New 
 York in his " Dominion of New England." (c) He thereupon 
 commissioned Sir Edmund Andros, (the same who had for- 
 
 (a) Col. Doe. III. 378. 
 
 (b) Brodhead, n. 459. 
 
 (c) Col. Doc. III. 537. 
 
— 83 — 
 
 merly governed New York), to be the. " Captain, Generall and 
 Governor in Chief, in and over our Colonies of the Massachu- 
 setts Bay and New Plymouth, our Provinces of New Hamp- 
 shire and Main, the Narragansett Country or King's Province, 
 our colonys of Koad Island, and Connecticutt, our Province of 
 New York, and East and West Jersey, and of 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 Equinoctiall Line to the River of St. Croix Eastward, and 
 from thence directly Northward to the River of Canada." In 
 breadth the tract extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
 (excepting Pennsylvania and Delaware), and the whole was to 
 be called " New England in America." This commission was 
 dated April 7th, 1688. 
 
 It was in contemplation of this union of the various colonies 
 of the Crown, which James thought was " necessrry for (his) 
 service and for the better protection and security of (the) sub- 
 jects in those parts," that he had ordered the government of New 
 York to be " assimilated " to the " Constitution " of New En- 
 gland. Now that this assimilation had taken place,the incorpo- 
 ration of the colonies under one head was, for the first time, 
 practicable, although it was unadvisable. 
 
 The letter of instructions which accompanied Andros's 
 commission, contained very much the same provisions as the 
 letter of instructions to Dongan two years previous, (a) Laws 
 were to be made and taxes assessed by the Governor and coun- 
 cil, and (as before) all ordinances were to be transmitted to 
 Whitehall for approval within three months of their enact- 
 ment. The council was to consist of forty-two members whom 
 the K.ing appointed by name. Seven formed a quorum for the 
 transaction of business, and the Governor had power to sus- 
 pend and appoint councilors temporarily. In cases of emer- 
 gency, five councilors could transact ordinary business, but 
 for the passage of laws or assessment of taxes, a majority vote 
 of the whole body was necessary. In order to procure ad- 
 ministrative agents whose sentiments were in harmony with 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. m. 378 and 543. 
 
— 84 — 
 
 those of the Crown, James said to Andros': " In the nomination 
 of any members of our said Conucil unto Us upon any vacancy, 
 and also in the choice of the Chief OflEicers, Judges, Assistants, 
 Justices, and Sheriffs, you are always to take especial care, 
 that they be men of estate and abilities, and not necessitous 
 people or much in debt, and that they be persons well affected 
 to the government." 
 
 General freedom of worship was conceded, and no mention 
 was made of the establishment of the English Church. The seal 
 of New York, grantedin 1687, was ordered to be destroyed, and 
 the new seal of New England to be thenceforth used for all the 
 " Territory and Dominion in its largest extent and boundaries 
 mentioned." The seat of government was not to be fixed perma- 
 nently at Boston, New York, or any other place, but was to be 
 always where the Governor had his residence for the time. 
 
 These were the most important of the instructions given un- 
 der date of April 16th, 1688, and a week later Governor Don- 
 gan received an official order requesting him to resign in favor 
 of the new appointee, (a) 
 
 What the future history of the united colonies under this con- 
 stitution would have been it is difficult to determine, as James 
 abdicated the throne on the eleventh day of the following 
 December, and when the news of the great English Revolution 
 reached New England confusion followed. 
 
 The policy of the government of New York had changed 
 when its proprietor changed its title. Under James, as King, it 
 had been more orderly and frugal than before, but it had like- 
 wise been much more despotic. The privileges which he had 
 conceded as Duke, he swept away with one stroke of his royal 
 pen, and he denied the popular liberties of England which the 
 colonists had appropriated. Ruling without a parliament he 
 had united in himself all the functions of government ; his was 
 the sovereign will, his the power to make and interpret the law, 
 his the right to declare a war or confirm a peace, to appoint and 
 dismissj to command — but never obey — in fact, he had become 
 The State. However, his time had run, and a new era was 
 about to begin. 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. III. 550. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Effect of the Revolution in New Yoek. — Leislee's Rebel- 
 lion. — His Adminibteation. 
 
 On February 13th, 1689, William and Mary were pro- 
 claimed King and Queen of England, and of " all the dominions 
 and territories thereunto belonging." (a) Three days later the 
 King, in council, issued an order organizing a " Committee for 
 Trade and Plantations." This decree also directed the com- 
 mittee " to prepare the Drafts of Proclamations for proclaim- 
 ing their majesties in the several plantations and for continu- 
 ing all persons in their employments and offices till further 
 order." (5) 
 
 In obedience to his Majesty's command a circular letter was 
 issued to the Governors of all the plantations, on February the 
 19th. (c) After formerly announcing the action of the parlia- 
 ment at "Westminster, and the political changes in England, 
 the letter runs : " "We have thought lit hereby to signify the 
 same unto you with directions that with the council and other 
 principal officers and inhabitants * * * you proclaim their 
 Majesty's pleasure that all men being in offices of government 
 shall so continue until their Majesty's further pleasure be 
 known." 
 
 No change at all was to be made in the government of the 
 colonies until affairs at home had received due attention, and 
 the provincial authorities and subjects were merely to transfer 
 their allegiance from the abdicated to the elected British Sover- 
 eigns. The oath which was to be administered did not include 
 the clause abjuring the " Jurisdiction, Power, Superiority, Pre- 
 heminence or Authority " of the Pope, as did the oath given 
 
 (a) Kapin, Ed. of 1781, Vol. XV, p. 285. 
 
 (6) Col. Doc. in. 572. 
 
 (c) Chalmer's Annals, II.; N. Y. H. S. Coll. (1868) 37. 
 
— 86 — 
 
 to those within the realm itself, (a) and a copy of it was trans- 
 mitted for the information of the subjects in America, (b) 
 
 If this despatch from the Plantation's Committee had been 
 duly forwarded to ^ew York, all would have gone quietly, but 
 unfortunately it was delayed in England, and the officials at 
 Fort James did not therefore receive any authentic information 
 of the Revolution. 
 
 At this time Francis Nicholson, Lieutenant Governor of the 
 " Dominion of New England in America," was in command of 
 the Province of New York, during the absence of Governor 
 Andros in Maine. He had as yet received no orders from his 
 superior as to the change of allegiance, and still supposed that 
 James II. was on the throne. In fact the last despatch that 
 had come to his hands was the proclamation of the Governor, 
 issued from Fort Charles, at Pemaquid, on January 10th, 
 1689. (c) In this Andros recited the probability of the in- 
 vasion of England and the English plantations by the Dutch, 
 and conjured the people "to lay aside all manner of Ani- 
 mosities, Jealousies and Prejudices, and heartily and cheerfully 
 to unite together in defence of His Majesty and their native 
 country." 
 
 " I do therefore," he continued, in obedience to the King's 
 requirements, " Charge and Command all Officers Civil and 
 Military, and all other His Majesty's loving subjects within 
 this His Territory and Dominion aforesaid, to be Vigilant and 
 Careful in their respective places and stations, and that, upon 
 the Approach of any Fleet or Foreign Force, they be in Readi- 
 ness, and use their utmost Endeavor to hinder any Landing 
 or Invasion that may be intended to be made within the same." 
 
 It waswhile Nicholson, in pursuance of these orders, was 
 completing the fortification of New York that he accidentally 
 learned by way of Virginia of the landing of "William and 
 Mary. A coasting vessel having arriving from the latter 
 
 (o) Kennett, HI. 514. 
 
 (fc) Col. Doo. III. 605. 
 
 (c) Hist. Mag., X. Supp. 144. 
 
— 87 — 
 
 place on the 5th, of February, her master, Andries Greveraet 
 forwith "addressed himself to Nicholson" to pay respects 
 " according to custome " and in the course of conversation 
 told him the news that was current at the Capes, {a) This 
 news was kept private, " to hinder any tumult by divulgiug 
 the same so suddenly," and messengers were immediately dis- 
 patched to Andros to acquaint him of its purport. (5) Kichol. 
 son then waited for further information. 
 
 Six or seven days later, the same tidings were received by 
 Captain Jacob Leisler, via Maryland, (c) Lcisler was a 
 German merchant who had lived in New York some thirty 
 years. Being greatly discontented with the system of taxation 
 (as he was one of the largest importers and custom payers in 
 the city), and in sympathy, Dutch rather than English, he 
 spread the news of the deposition of James and the reception 
 of William in England. On the 31st of May, he called on the 
 loyalty of the Dutch inhabitants to the House of Orange, and 
 with a band of mutinous soldiers seized the fort for King 
 William and Queen Mary, and assumed the reins of govern, 
 ment. The under-current of provincial opinion was in sym- 
 pathy with the English Revolution and the action of the parlia- 
 mentary conv.ention at Westminster. The inhabitants were 
 thrown into a state of panic by vague rumors that James was 
 abont to sell the government of New York to the papists, and 
 they were relieved at the overthrow of his Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor. The rebellion was luckily not accompanied with blood- 
 shed, and Nicholson passively submitted, as he was without 
 orders from Andros, who was then in confinement in Massa- 
 chusetts, by order of the " Gentlemen of Boston." {d) 
 
 All letters which now arrived, directed to the New York 
 provincial authorities, were opened by Leisler, who deemed him- 
 self the rightful Lieutenant-Governor of the province. He pro- 
 Co) Col. Doc. ni. 660. 
 (ft) Col. Doc. III. 591. 
 
 (c) Col. Doc. in. 660. Col. Doc. HI. 614, says "from Couecticot." 
 
 (d) Col. Doc. III. 590; Thompson's Long Island, I. 163; N. Y. H. S. Coll. 
 (1849) 37; Rrodhead, II. 566; Doc. Hist. U.; Bancroft, II. 227. 
 
— 88 — 
 
 claimed WiUiam and Mary, King and Queen, but did not 
 publish Williams' proclamation of the 14tli of February, a copy 
 of which had at last reached New York. This was the order 
 which confirmed all crown oflBcials in their places, and if he 
 had pubhshed it, he would have announced the ratification of 
 the commissions of the very men that he and the members of the 
 insnhordinate train-band had deposed, and would have clearly 
 shown his own lack of right and title to the office which he 
 held. The ground on which Leisler and his companions affirmed 
 that they assumed control, was that they considered Nicholson as 
 a treacherous papist, and so took means to secure themselves 
 and their country for the benefit of their Majesties, and as their 
 trustees, (a) Bancroft says that the declaration of Leisler's fol- 
 lowers avows their purpose : " As soon as the bearer of orders 
 from the Prince of Orange shall have let us see his power, then, 
 without delay, we do intend to obey, not the orders only, but 
 also the bearer 1 hereof." (b) Meanwhile they would take no 
 orders from Nicholson or the resident members of Andros's 
 council. 
 
 Leisler has been severely criticised and ably defended by 
 different historians, and extreme views of his action have been 
 taken on both sides. As an example of the difference of opin- 
 ion as to his character, Butler (c) glorifies him and says he was 
 a " burgher conspicuous for Ids patriotism and his courage," 
 while Brodhead (d) regards him as an ignorant and narrow- 
 minded leader of the mob. The accounts of his admini- 
 stration are so conflicting in their tenor that it is a difficult 
 matter to form a true estimate of the man, bat whether he 
 acted from sincere conviction, or simply used illegitimate and 
 arbitrary means of gratifying his ambition, he paid for his short 
 reign with his life and made his name one of the most promi- 
 nent in the history of New York. 
 
 During the month of June the government of the province 
 
 (o) Col. Doc. ni. 584. 
 
 (6) Vol. II. 227. Abridged from Doc. Hist. II. 3. 
 
 (c) N. Y. H. S. Coll. (1849) 37. 
 
 (d) II. 564 et seq. 
 
— 89 — 
 
 ■was in the utmost disorder. The municipal autliorities, having 
 received a copy of Williams' decree continuing all office-holders 
 in their positions, claimed the right of regnlating the affairs of 
 the city, while Leisler denied their authority, and compelled 
 thom to submit to him or fly to avoid imprisonment. Rumors . 
 of invasion and " popish plots " were constantly circulated and 
 everything was in confusion. In order to aid him in the admini- 
 stration, Leisler now called a convention. In answer, delegates 
 were chosen by Brooklyn, Flatbush, Flushing, Newtown, Staten 
 Island, Esopus, Westchester, Kew York and Essex (in New 
 Jersey), each of which sent two men. According to Coun- 
 cilor Stephen Van Cortlandt («) the remaining towns in New 
 Jersey, Queen's County, Suffolk, Ulster and Albany, would 
 not " meddle themselves." 
 
 On June 26th, the assembly met at Fort James. Two 
 of the delegates being disgusted withdrew, and the remaining 
 sixteen formed themselves into a " Committee of Safety." (J) 
 This committee elected Leisler " Captain of the Fort at New 
 York," until their Majesties should be heard from. With this 
 authority he exercised his powers in a very despotic manner, 
 judging from the letters that were at the time written from 
 New York by Van Cortlandt and Bayard. The former says : 
 " All is in confusion, the magistrates threatened and hindered to 
 do their duty, * * * and those promoting the bringing of the 
 people to peace and quietness are called papists and suspected 
 .persons." Leisler and his faction " imprison whom they please, 
 and take out of prison those that are there for debt, they take 
 people's goods out of their houses and if hindered by Justices 
 of the peace, they come with great numbers and fetch it out of 
 the Justices house by force." (c) These accounts of the Cap- 
 tain's action, however, may Lave been rather highly colored by 
 the writers, since those worthy magistrates were in constant 
 fear of being "hauled by the leggs from the Town Hall." 
 
 In order to make liis position more secure and gain his reeog- 
 
 (a) See bis letter to Andros, C!ol. Doc. III. 597. 
 
 (b) Doc. Hist. II. 245 ; Thompson's Long Island, I. 164. 
 
 (c) Col. Doc. 596, 608 -610 el seq. 
 
— 90 — 
 
 nition by the Governors of the neighboring StateSjLeisler induced 
 the Committee of Safety to commission him as " Commander- 
 in-Chief" of the province, with power to administer "such 
 Oaths to the People, to issue out such Warrants, and order such 
 Matters as shall be necessary and requisite for the preservation 
 and protection of the peace of the inhabitants, taking all ways> 
 seasonable advice with Militia and Civil Authority a£ Occasion 
 shall require. Dated y« 16th day Aug' 1689." (a) As " Cap. 
 tain of the Fort at ^ew York," he had only assumed jurisdic. 
 tion over Manhattan Island and the neighboring towns on Staten 
 Island, New Jersey and Long Island, but now, as Commander- 
 in-Chief of the province, he demanded the submission of 
 Esopus and Albany and the other settlements on the upper 
 Hudson and Mohawk. The inhabitants of these places how- 
 ever, were " inclined to peace and quietness and to maintaine 
 their Civill Government," until orders came from their Majes- 
 ties. (5) At Albany the magistrates upon all occasions mani- 
 fested the " utmost Zeal for the Interest of King William and 
 Queen Mary and for the preservation of the peace, * * * * 
 but were of the opinion as they several times declared that 
 they were not in any wise Subordinate to the City of Hew 
 York (nor the power then exercised therein), but the govern- 
 ment of that County (Albany) was only lodged within them- 
 selves, untill their Ma*'"" pleasure should be known pursuant to 
 their Ma"®^ gracious Proclamation of the 14th of February." (c) 
 An entry in the Mortgage Book in the County Clerk's Office 
 at Albany chronicles the holding of a " Convention of y° May', 
 Alderman Commonalty Justices of y" Peace and Military offi- 
 cers of y= Citty and County of Albany on ye first day of August, 
 1689," at which fifteen persons were present, (d) At this meet- 
 ing the following resolution was passed : " Resolved that all 
 public affares for the Preservation of there Maj"^ Intrest in this 
 Citty be managed by y" May' Aldermen, Justices of y® Peace 
 
 (a) Doc. Hist. II. 14. 
 (6) Col. Doc. in. 604. 
 (c) Doc. Hist. II. 37 and 38. 
 Id) Doc. Hist. n. 46. 
 
— 91 — 
 
 Commission officers and assistants of this Citty and County, 
 nntill sncli time as orders shall come from there most Sacred 
 Maj^ "William and Mary," etc. The convention, also, in view 
 of an expected invasion by the French and Indians, sent a mes- 
 senger down the river to Leisler, in order to acquaint him of 
 their peril. From this messenger, Leisler learned of the above 
 resolution, and although he sent some powder and guns in 
 answer to their appeal for assistance, he refused to recognize 
 the Albany convention or its determinations. He, however, 
 asked the magistrates "to induce the common people to send 
 two men to assist them in their committee," in order " to con- 
 sult with them, for the public good." (a) 
 
 As Albany would not acknowledge in any way Leisler's com- 
 mand, there were two rival governments in the province. The 
 German captain at New York determined to subdue the towns 
 above the Catskills, and because the inhabitants would not sub- 
 mit themselves to his authority, he denounced them all as 
 " Papists and Jacobites." The Albany Convention, which had 
 been holding frequent sessions throughout the summer, on 
 October 25th resolved to prove the falsity of his charges. In 
 the minutes of the convention, an entry is found by Robert 
 Livingston, as follows: "Whereas we are informed that diverse 
 persons envying y® Peace etc., of this City and County have 
 endeavoured to Raise diverse false aspersions and jealousies as 
 if some inhabitants here should have greater affection to y° late 
 Popish King James Stuart than to our endeared Souvraign Lord 
 and Lady king William and Queen Mary, * * * * to avoid 
 all jealousies, etc., it is therefore thought convenient by y° 
 s"* Convention thogh for y® present there be no Commission 
 from there Maj** to administer y« s"* oath that y. Inhabitants of 
 y» Citty and County of Albany, and souldiers of there Maj'* 
 fort doe aU take y® oath of Allegiance to there Maj" king Wil- 
 liam and Queen Mary on or before the last day of October next 
 ensuing." Subsequent entries show that this was done as pro- 
 posed. The aldermen and other municipal authorities had been 
 
 (a) Dunlap, I. 158. 
 
— . 92- — 
 
 elected and installed on the days appointed by the city charter, 
 and tliese magistrates testified their loyalty in the same man- 
 ner. In answer to a request for assistance, three out of the four 
 military companies at Esopns signified their willingness to send 
 up men upon emergency, and the town was thus able to defy 
 Leisler and his authority, (a) On various occasions during the 
 next five months, he sent commissioners to Albany command- 
 ing its magistrates to surrender, but they held out until March 
 17th, 1690, when they finally gave up Fort Orange, on written 
 conditions of capitulation. To this action they were forced, by 
 the inroads of the French. They were disheartened by the 
 atrocities of the Schenectady massacre, and were almost without 
 ammunition and supplies, so that they were unable to withstand 
 the foreign foe, while harassed by the government of New York. 
 Leisler's agent, however, did not keep his part of the agree- 
 ment under which the surrender was made, and turned all the 
 Albany authorities out of ofiice, putting new ones of his own 
 choosing in their places. (5) 
 
 The northern frontier of the province was in great danger, 
 and there was but little money wherewith to raise troops, as the 
 custom duties had not been regularly collected. Liesler there- 
 fore determined to call an assembly in the manner prescribed 
 by the revoked ""Charter of Privileges" of 1683. He, accord- 
 ingly, issued writs to the several counties directing each to 
 elect two representatives, who should repair forwith to the city. 
 These writs were dated February 20th, 1690. (c) As the 
 people did not comply, others again were issued on April 8th. 
 Elections were thereupon held in Albany, New York, Queens, 
 Ulster, Kings, and Westchester Counties. The towns in Suf- 
 folk refused to return any delegates ; one of the four elected 
 in New York as well as one elected in Queens declined to 
 serve. Thus the assembly numbered only ten, and these, Van 
 Cortlandt says, in one of his letters, were all chosen by 
 members of Liesler's faction, and were " very weak men." In 
 
 (a) Doc. Hist. II. 56, 57. 
 
 (b) Col. Doc. III., 705, 708, 709, 710, 716 and 727. 
 
 (c) Doc. Hist. II. 42. 
 
— 93 — 
 
 the same dispatch he gives an entertaining account of their 
 proceedings to Sir Edmund Andros. " These men," he writes, 
 " sat at the house of said Walters (Liesler's son-in-law), where 
 the inhabitants delivered several petitions, for the prisoners to 
 be set at liberty, and that their grievances might be redressed, 
 but nothing was done in it, and after a few days sitting, an act 
 was passed to raise throughout the whole government, three 
 pence in every pound (both real and personal property), to be 
 paid the 1st of June, and that all towns and places should 
 have equal freedom to bolt and bake and transport where they 
 please, directly to what comitry or place they think fit, any- 
 thing their places afford — this is all that this wise assembly 
 did." (a) The law that he mentions abolished the monopoly 
 in breadstuffs whicli Nevf York had enjoyed under the Deputy- 
 Governors of the King. John Spratt acted as Speaker of the 
 House during this session, which lasted but a short time, as 
 Lif.sler prorogued the assembly uatil the following autumn. (J) 
 When the first of September came, however, he postponed 
 the meeting until the 15th of the month, when the delegates 
 were summoned to attend at New York, (c) At this session, 
 the assembly passed a law requiring all persons who had left 
 the province to return (within the space of three weeks after 
 its publication), or be "deemed and esteemed as persons dis- 
 obedient to the government." (d) Other laws may be quoted 
 as examples of its despotic legislative actions : for instance, one 
 which declared that any person refusing a civil or military 
 commission from Liesler should be fined seventy-five pounds, 
 current money. The same bill declared that any one leaving 
 the County of Ulster or the City and County of Albany with- 
 out the Lieutenant-Governor's permission, should be fined one 
 hundred pounds, and no one, under penalty of confiscation, 
 should bring any wares or merchandise from those places down 
 the river, unless he had a special license, (e) 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. III. 717 and 702. 
 
 (6) Doc. Hist. 151, 158, 159 ; Thompson, I. 165. 
 
 (c) Doc. Hist. II. 163. 
 
 (d) Doc. Hist. n. 200. 
 
 (e) Doo. Hist. II. 201. 
 
— 94 — 
 
 Leisler's tyranny had now reached its height. All New En- 
 gland was displeased with him for his unwarranted harshness 
 t^th General Winthrop on the failure ot the Canada expedi- 
 tion, and he was heartily hated by the people of New York. 
 The townsmen of Eastern Long Island openly rebelled at his 
 arbitrary measures, and said that they " distrusted the purity " 
 of his motives, and wanted to return to their old allegiance 
 to Connecticut. Although he fell into such general disfavor, 
 Leisler did not relax an atom of his despotic authority : on the 
 contrary he made it more rigid than before. 
 
 At this juncture, in March, 1691, Colonel Henry Sloughter 
 arrived with a commission from their Majesties William and 
 Mary, and put an end to the Rebellion. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Thb Goveenmental Instttutions Peemakentlt Established 
 BY William III. — Conclusion. 
 
 As soon as "WiUiam learned from Nicholson (who had fled to 
 England) the real condition of affairs in New York, he deter- 
 mined to appoint a Governor-in-Chief who should supplant 
 Leisler, quiet the people, restore the regular governmental forms 
 and customs duties, and drive the French out of the northern 
 part of the province. In pursuance of this plan, the Commit- 
 tee of Trade and Plantations draughted a commission for Col- 
 onel Henry Sloughter, which was adopted by the King in 
 Council on November 14th, 1689. (a) 
 
 This commission bears a close resemblance to those which 
 James had given to Dongan and Andros, which we have al- 
 ready considered, and was probably modelled after one or both 
 of them. There was in it, however, one provision which is not 
 found in either of the others, and which made the government 
 of the province a popular one, and that was the authority (with 
 the advice of the council, and as occasion required), to sum- 
 mon general assemblies of the freeholders, according to the 
 usage of the other plantations in America. (5) The Governor 
 with the consent of the council and a majority of the assembly 
 was given full power to make laws for New Tork, which were 
 to be as near as might be conformable to the laws and statutes 
 of England. 
 
 As under the regulations of 1686, all statutes so enacted 
 were to be sent to the King within three months, and he was 
 to approve or disallow them as he might see fit. When dis- 
 allowed, they became absolutely null and void from thencefor- 
 ward. Whenever the Governor should " judge it necessary," 
 he could adjourn, prorogue, or dissolve the general assembly, 
 
 (a) Col. Boc. in. 629. 
 (tj Col. Coc. ni. 624. 
 
— 96 — 
 
 and lie had an absolute veto power over the determinations of 
 that body. 
 
 The council was to consist of not less than seven persons, 
 five of whom were to constitute a quorum, except in cases of 
 necessity, when three would be sufficient. The oaths which 
 were to be administered to all office-holders in the province 
 were the usual oaths of office as well as those prescribed by 
 parliament which took the place of the oath of " Allegiance 
 and Supremacy," and also " The Test " of '73. 
 
 Sloughter, like Dongau, was given power to establish com 
 mon law and equity courts, appoint judges, justices of the peace 
 and other necessary officers, to pardon offenders and remit fines, 
 fill empty pulpits and benefices, command all land and sea 
 forces, build forts, etc., and on proper occasions to put martial 
 law into practice. Finally, in case of his death, and the absence 
 of any commander-in-chief, the council were to execute these 
 royal instnictions with the first councilor acting as Presi- 
 dent, (a) 
 
 The office of attorney general of the province was also cre- 
 ated, and Sloughter was empowered to fill the same. Appeals 
 from any of the provincial courts were to be made to the Gov- 
 ernor and council, if the matter in dispute exceeded one hun- 
 dred pounds, and from thence to the King's privy council, if 
 over three hundred poimds was involved. 
 
 No minister was to be preferred to an ecclesiastical benefice 
 " without a certificate from the Right Reverend the Bishop of 
 London," thus establishing the English Church, and all school- 
 masters were to be recommended in the same manner. Liberty 
 of conscience was granted all persons " except Papists," but 
 liberty of printing was denied, and no one could keep a press 
 without a special license. (5) 
 
 Immediately on Sloughter's arrival he commenced the work 
 of evolving order from the political chaos that reigned. Hav- 
 ing sworn in the twelve councilors named in his letter of 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. III. 623 et seg. 
 
 [b) Col. Doc. III. 085 et seq. 
 
— 97 — 
 
 instructions, he brouglit Leisler to account for his proceedings. 
 The latter would undoubtedly have been acquitted if his only 
 offence had been the assumption of the authority of a Lieu- 
 tenant Governor under a commission from the people, but the 
 most serious charge against him was that of refusing to surren- 
 der the fort to Capt. Ingolsby (Sloughter's representative), and 
 on this he was convicted and sentenced to death. His son-in- 
 law Milborne was also condemned and both were executed soon 
 afterwards. 
 
 Sloughter now called an assembly for the 9th of April (a), 
 and proceeded to appoint officers to the various positions within 
 his gift. Thomas Newton, of Boston, he commissioned as 
 Attorney-General of the province (5) ; John Lavsrence was 
 appointed Mayor of New York, and Thomas Pinhorne, Re- 
 corder, (c) 
 
 On the day set, the Assembly convened. It represented the 
 Counties of New York, Albany, Ulster and Dutchess, Westches- 
 ter, Richmond, Suffolk, Queens, Kings, and Rensselaerswyck. 
 All the delegates took the required oaths except the two 
 Quakers who were returned by Queens, and who had religious 
 scruples against so doing, two others were therefore elected to 
 fill their places, and James Graham, of New York, was unani- 
 mously called to the chair by the seventeen deputies 
 present, (d) 
 
 This assembly evinced the reaction of the popular sentiment, 
 which, under Liesler, had been tinged by democratic ideas, but 
 now seems to have been decidedly loyal. The first act which 
 it passed was one which recognized the sovereignty of 
 the English Crown in the province, and was deemed 
 necessary in order to remove the " mistake with which the 
 people had been poisoned" by New England. This "mis- 
 take" seems to have been that the colonies were in a 
 manner independent of the King's provincial officials, an 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. III. 756 and 768. 
 (6) Co]. Doc. in. 721. 
 
 (c) Col. Doc. in. 767. 
 
 (d) Journal of the Assembly, I. 1, 2, et seg. ; Smith, I. 112, 113. 
 
— 98 — 
 
 opinion which certainly was dangerous to the royal prerogative. 
 {a) To dispel such ideas the delegates declared in unequivo- 
 cal terms that " there are none, that can or ought to have, 
 right to rule and govern their Majesties subjects here, but 
 by their Majesties authority." (5) , 
 
 It was also declared " That whatsoever person or persons 
 shall by any manner of way, or upon any pretence whatsoever, 
 endeavour by force of arms or otherways, to disturb the peace, 
 good and quiet of this their Majesty's government as it is now 
 established, shall be esteemed as rebels and traitors unto their 
 Majesties, and incur the pains, penalties and forfeitures as the 
 laws of England have for such offences made and provided." (c) 
 This last clause, however, was repealed in order to favor a par- 
 ticular case, on June 27tb, 1704. {d) 
 
 As the Assemblymen were aware that the " Continued 
 Bill " (attached to the " Charter of Libertys and Privileges "), 
 which granted a perpetual revenue to the Crown was still in 
 force, on April 24:th, they passed the following resolution, 
 neinine contradicente : " That all the Laws consented to by 
 the General Assembly, under James Duke of York, * * * * 
 being observed, and not ratified and approved by his Royal 
 Highness, nor the late King, are null, void and of none Effect. 
 And also the several Ordinances made by the late Governors 
 and Councils being contrary to the Constitution of England, 
 and the Practice of the Government of their Majesties' other 
 Plantations in America, are likewise null, void and of none 
 Effect nor Force within this Province." (e) It seems however, 
 that this declaration was never assented to by the Governor and 
 council, and therefore the laws enacted under James remained 
 unrepealed and in full force. (_/) 
 
 In this sweeping resolution that stupidly attempted to deny 
 
 (a) Col. Doc. III. 790 and 795. 
 
 (6) Journal of Assemblj', I. 6 ; Smith, I. 114, 115. 
 
 (c) Smith, I. 164, 165. 
 
 (d) Col. Doc. IV. 1114, 1115 ; Journal of Assembly, I. 191. 
 [f) Journal of Assembly, I. 9. 
 
 (/) Smith, I. 114, 115 ; Brodhead, 11. 643 ; Butler, 41. . 
 
— 99 — 
 
 the validity of the revenue bill, the Assembly necessarily includ- 
 ed the " Charter of Libertys," and they immediately set about 
 remedying this by an " act declaring what are the rights and 
 privileges of their Majesties' subjects inhabitating within this 
 Province of New York." This, it seems substantially re-enacted 
 all the clauses of the former charter, which related to political 
 privileges. However, it only extended the right of free relig- 
 ious worship to Protestants, and expressly subjected " Papists " 
 to the disabilities dictated by the English Parliament, (a) This 
 law was disallowed by King William in 1697, because he deemed 
 it incongruous for a subordinate legislature to declare " what ■ 
 are its own privileges." (5) 
 
 Sloughter recommended to the Assembly the passage of a 
 bill establishing Courts of Justice, and advised them, in this 
 connection to consider the system instituted by Governor Don- 
 gan, as being a " Form found, very agreeable to the Constitu- 
 tion of this Government." (c) A committee of seven was 
 thereupon appointed to carry out the Governor's suggestion. 
 
 The report of this committee was incorporated as a bill and 
 was duly passed by the Assembly and confirmed by the Gover- 
 nor and council. It provided for town courts to be held by the 
 Justices of the Peace, with jurisdiction over cases where the 
 amount involved was not above forty shillings. 
 
 It also established Sessions of the Peace, which should sit in 
 every county, two, three or four times a year, and a Court of 
 . Common Pleas to consist of four justices and to sit in each 
 county immediately after the Sessions of the Peace. Above all 
 a Supreme Court, comprising a Chief-justice and six associates 
 appointed by the Governor, was to be held semi-annually in 
 New York City, (d) This act was temporary, but was after- 
 wards renewed from time to time, (e) 
 
 The assembly also consented to " A revenue for defraying 
 
 (a) .Journal of Assembly, I. 9, 12, 13, 14 ; Smith, I. 117 ; Butler, 40. 41. 
 (6) Chalmer's Annals, U. 72, 113 ; Smith, I. 117. 
 
 (c) Journal of Assembly, I. 4. 
 
 (d) Journal of Assembly, I. 5 ; Smith I. 116. 
 
 (e) Butler, 44. 
 
— 100 — 
 
 the public expense of the province." As one of the heaviest 
 burdens wliich the people had previously born had been the 
 perpetual revenue, on this occasion the Assembly boldly limited 
 their grant to two years, thus setting up a precedent which 
 proved a source of great inconvenience to subsequent Gover- 
 nors, (a) It was also specified that the sums raised by the pro- 
 vince should be put in the hands of the Receiver General, and 
 paid out only under warrants from the Governor. Many other 
 acts of minor importance were passed at this session which was 
 terminated on May 18th, 1691. 
 
 This constitution, established by William, remained prac- 
 tically unchanged until the revolution of New York and her 
 sister colonies in 1776. During that period, the people were 
 almost continually " at logger-heads " with the Governors. The 
 granting of revenue was the principle bone of contention. The 
 struggle for a representative assembly had been along one, but 
 the people had proved the victors in that contest, and at their 
 first meeting the county -delegates had flatly refused to grant 
 the Crown more than a provisional revenue. 
 
 The authority of the Governor to dispose of the public 
 funds was also a source of great oppression. He had the 
 right of appointing ofiicers and fixing their salaries, and cou- 
 pled with his access to the provincial treasury, this gave him 
 absolute control of the civil list. As some of the Governors 
 were unscrupulous and dishonest — known profligates, to whom 
 New York was an asylum from their creditors^-extravagance 
 and embezzlement was the result. In 1706, the Assembly com- 
 plained against this grievance and petitioned Queen Anne that 
 their officers, and not those of the Crown, should handle all 
 moneys that they should raise for " extraordinary purposes." 
 This being granted, they gave it a liberal construction, and 
 three years later assumed the disposition of the entire revenue 
 by making specific appropriations of it. (5) 
 
 Gaining boldness, in 1711^ they resolved " that the people 
 
 (a) Smith I. 115; Butler, 43; Journal of Assembly, I. 6, 7, 13, 14. 
 (6) Journal of Assembly, I. 206, 207, 212, 213, 214, 239 et seq ; Bancroft, U. 
 235 and 517. 
 
— 101 — 
 
 could not be divested of their money without their consent," and 
 therefore disallowed the alteration or amendment of revenue 
 bills by the Q-overnor and council, nor would they recede from 
 the position taken by these resohitions, although various Gov- 
 ernors tried, in turn, to force them to enact a perpetual 
 revenue bill ; for in 1737 they said " we will not raise sums 
 unfit to be raised, nor put what we shall raise into the power of a 
 Governor to missapply, * * * qj. continue the revenue 
 for any longer Time than one year." (a) 
 
 Again they declared this as their sentiment in 1741, in reply 
 to Governor Clarke. From year to year, this struggle contin- 
 ued, until, on September 24th, 1756, Governor Charles Hardy, 
 acknowledged the defeat of the Crown. On that date he an- 
 nounced to the assembly that lie had received instructions allow- 
 ing him to assent to bills for the temporary support of the gov- 
 ernment. Thus, once more the people of New York had 
 won. (5) 
 
 King William's form of government consisted, theoreticallly, 
 of three distinct branches: The Governor, the council, and tlie 
 general assembly. In reality, however, there were but two, 
 as the Governor sat and voted -with the counpil in their legisla- 
 tive proceedings. As their presiding officer, also, he cast the 
 decisive ballot in case of a tie. He therefore controlled the 
 action of that body completely and the assembiy could hardly 
 prove a check upon him, as he held the power of vetoing its 
 determinations. In 1733, the attention of the home govern 
 ment was called to this state of affairs, and the enemies of Gov- 
 ernor Cosby procured a definition of the Governor's rights from 
 the Attorney and Solicitor Generals of the Realm.' In their 
 opinion, they held that the council had a double capacity — 
 
 " First — As an advisory body to confer with his Excellency, 
 and in this respect he could consult with them and direct their 
 debates. 
 
 ^^ Secondly — As the third branch of the provincial legislature, 
 
 (a) Journal of Assembly, I. 708 ; Bancroft, II. 239 ; AVood, 112. 
 (6) Journal of Assembly, I. 797, 799 tt seq. ; Wood, 113. 
 
— 102 — 
 
 and in this capacity be was neither to sit or vote with them." {a) 
 This decision effected a correction of the abuse, and was. thence- 
 forward observed. 
 
 The term of oflBce of the delegates to the general assembly 
 was not fixed, although their number was regulated by law. 
 However, in 1743 a definite period of service (seven years) was 
 established. The members of the council always held their 
 positions indefinitely, by royal appointment, from the nomi- 
 nations of the Governor. Membership in the assembly was 
 qualified in 1769, by a resolution of that body that no judge of 
 the Supreme Court could sit as one of its members. (5) And 
 again in 1772, when the delegates resolved that a person must 
 have been a resident for six months previous to election in the 
 county he was chosen to represent, (c) Suffrage was the right 
 of all freeholders until 1738, when Jews were disfranchised by 
 statute, {d) 
 
 Probably the authority of the Governor was never exercised 
 in a more unwarrantable manner than by Lord Cornbury. We 
 find in the Journal of the Assembly, under date of Sept. 11th, 
 1708, a very able report from the " Committee on Grievances," 
 which sets forth the evils most worthy of immediate attention. 
 The committee reported that in their opinion, the appointing of 
 coroners in the colony, without their being chosen by the 
 people was contrary to law. That the levying of money upon 
 the inhabitants under any pretence whatsoever, without consent 
 of the General Assembly, violated the rights of the people's prop- 
 erty. That the exaction of heavy fees by oflicers, erection of a 
 court of equity, without assent of the Assembly, and laying of 
 customs duties and port charges, were all grievances needing 
 speedy redress. This report was accepted and incorporated 
 into a bill, but, of course, was never sanctioned by the Gover- 
 nor and council against whom it was directed. 
 
 During the period of royal government the mass of the 
 
 (a) Leg. Assemblies in N. Y., 38. 
 (6) Dunlap II. cxcix. 
 
 (c) Dunlap, II. ccv. 
 
 (d) Dunlap, I. 318. 
 
— 103 — 
 
 people were, in religious opinion, either members of the Dutch, 
 Episcopalian or Presbyterian Church. The Church of Rome, 
 which had been encouraged under James II., decreased in in- 
 fluence, and its followers were few. Episcopalianism was 
 chiefly confined to the town of New York, while in the coun- 
 try, Presbyterians and Reformed Dutch Churchmen were 
 about equal in number. One sect or another predominated in 
 any particular place, in accordance with the ratio of Dutch or 
 English inhabitants. 
 
 The Dutch professed the doctrines of the Synod of Dort, 
 which were promulgated in Holland in 1618, and recognized 
 the ecclestiastical supremacy of the Classis of Amsterdam, 
 until 1772. In that year an independent classis and separate 
 synods were established in this country, on the plan of those 
 in the ^Netherlands, (a) 
 
 Religion in the province may be dismissed with a notice of 
 the attempts on the part of the royal governors to procure the 
 passage of laws establishing and maintaining at public expense 
 the ministry of the English Church. Such a law was passed 
 by the Assembly in 1693, limited to New York, Westchester 
 and Queens Counties, and was (although frequently amended) 
 in force until 1776. (5) 
 
 The great question of the freedom of the press was decided 
 by the trial and acquittal of John Peter Zenger. Zenger, who 
 printed The New York Weekly Journal, criticised the Gov- 
 ernor and was arrested for seditious libel, thrown into prison 
 because he could not procure extraordinary bail, and tried 
 before a struck jury. Although the judge charged the jury to 
 convict him, and two of New York's most famous lawyers were 
 disbarred for daring to uphold his cause, lie was promptly 
 acquitted, (c) 
 
 In conclusion, let us briefly review the triumphs that the 
 province of New York achieved. Not governed under a char- 
 ter as were her sisterprovinces, she could not mould for herself 
 
 (a) Wood's Long Island, 28 el seq. 
 
 (b) Thompson I. 171 ; Butler, -15 ; Am. Hist. Mag. Vol. Journal of Assem- 
 bly, I. 33. 
 
 (c) Thompson, I. 180 ; Butler, 47 ; Bancroft, II. 525 ; Dunlap, I. 299. 
 
— 104 — 
 
 her own institations, but had tliem established for her by the 
 English Crown. These institutions were prescribed in the 
 commissions and instructions of her governors, and were all 
 directed to the end of enriching the home government at the 
 expense of the colony. A less independent, a less courageous 
 people would have been coerced into submission, but generation 
 after generation of the people of New York rebelled against 
 this tyranny. They demanded that the rights which had been 
 theirs in the Netherlands and in Enghmd should be theirs in 
 America, and when they were answered in the negative, they 
 began to gradually wrest those rights from an unwilling royal 
 prerogative. Each step they gained during the century that this 
 contest lasted, was won by sheer force — vi et armis — and never 
 acquired by concession. 
 
 A charter, transferring the sovereignty of the English King 
 to the people of^the province, they never obtained, until having 
 had recourse to that last resort — revolution, they established 
 a self-made charter, the Constitution of 1777. Previous to 
 that, the constitution of their liberties had been but one of 
 precedents. This precious collection of established rights had 
 been begun in 1683, when the right of a representative assem- 
 bly and its attendant right of self-taxation had been won. 
 The subsequent assemblies, beginning with 1691, added the 
 right to limit the term of revenue bills and prescribed the cus- 
 tody and disbursement of the public moneys. The right of 
 frequent meetings, and definite periods of session, were 
 slowly extorted from the Crown, and the Zenger trial enun- 
 ciated the principle of the liberty of the press, not for New 
 Tork alone, but for all the colonies on the North American 
 Continent. 
 
 It is only by a study of the documentary history of provincial 
 New York, by a consideration of the characteristic elements of 
 its population and the disadvantages against which its first 
 settlers had to contend, that we can understand the state of 
 affairs immediately preceding the Revolution. It also enables 
 us to form a true estimate of the achievements of the founders 
 of our State, and of their profound political philosophy. We 
 
— 105 — 
 
 have traced their labors in preparing the way for the Constitu- 
 tion which they have left to us as a splendid heritage. Its 
 value in our eyes must be enhanced a hundred fold when we 
 realize that its existence was only possible, when the constitu- 
 tional battle which had been slowly fought out in the political 
 history of the province, resulted in a glorious victory. 
 
Authorities. 
 
 The literature of the political history of provincial New 
 York is chiefly found in the " Colonial Documents of the Hist. 
 State of N. r.," Vols. I., II., III. and IV., 1853, and the 
 "Documentary Hist, of the State of N. Y.," Vols. I., II., III. 
 and IV., 1856. Much valuable information is also contained 
 in the files of the " Magazine of American History," " The 
 Historical Magazine," the "Collections of the N. Y. Hist- 
 Society," the " Journal of the General Assembly," and Val' 
 entine's "Manual of the Common Council." Keference has 
 also been made, among other works and articles, to the follow- 
 ing : 
 
 ASHEK, New Netherland. 1855. 
 
 BANCEOFT, Hist, of U. S. Vols. I. and II. 1876. 
 
 BOOTH, Hist, of N. Y. 2 vols. 1867. 
 
 BRADFORD, Laws of N. Y. 1694. 
 
 BRODHEAD, Anniversary New Netherland Oration. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. 
 
 1864. 
 
 , Hist, of State of N. Y. 3 vols. 
 
 CALENDAR of N. Y. Historical Manuscripts. 1866. 
 CAMDEN, History of Elizabeth. London. 1675. 
 CHALMERS, Political Annals. 3 vols. 
 
 , Colonial Opinions. 
 
 DAVIS, Hist, of New Amsterdam. 1854. 
 
 DE PEYSTER, Early Political Hist, of N. Y. 1865. 
 
 D'ESTKADES, Lettres de M. le Comte d'Estrades. 1743. 
 
 DE VRIES, Voyages from Holland to America. 1853. 
 
 DENTON, New York in 1670. 1845. 
 
 DUNLAP, Hist, of N. York. 2 vols. 1889. 
 
 EASTMAN, Hist, of N. Y. 1831. 
 
 FURMAN, Notes on the Town of Brooklyn. 1865. 
 
 , Antiquities of Long Island. 
 
 GERARD, Old Streets of N. Y. 1874. 
 
 JAMESON, Origin and Development of Municipal Government in N. Y. 
 
 (Mag. Am. Hist., VIII., 315, 598.) 
 J06UES, Novum Belgium. 1863. 
 
— 107 — 
 
 KENNET, Hist, of England. 1706. 
 
 KENT, City Charters. 1851. 
 
 LAMB, Hist, of the City of New York. 3 vols. 1877. 
 
 LAWS of New York. Revision of 1813. 
 
 LODGE, Short Hist, of the English Colonies in America. 1882. 
 
 LUCAS, Charters of the Old English Colonies. 
 
 MARSHALL, The N. Y. Charter. (Mag. Am. Hist., VIII. 24.) 
 
 MACAULAY, Hist, of England. 1856. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS Historical Collections. 
 
 MOULTON, Hist, of N. Y. 
 
 MUNSELL, Hist, of Albany. 4 vols. 1865. 
 
 NEW YORK Civil List. 1885. 
 
 NORTH, Const. Development of Colony of N. Y. (Mag. Am. Hist., III., 
 
 161.) 
 O'CALLAGHAN, Hist, of New Netherlands. 1855. 
 
 , Origin of Legislative Assemblies in N. Y. 
 
 PALFREY, Hist, of New England. 1865. 
 
 PAULDING, New Amsterdam. 
 
 PEARSON, Records of City and County of Albany. 1869. 
 
 POORE, Constitutions and Charters. 
 
 POWNALL, The Administration of the British Colonies. 
 
 PRESCOTT, Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 RAPIN, Hist, of England. 1728. 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON, Book of Town Records. 1877. 
 
 SMITH, Hist, of N. Y. 2 vols. 1830. 
 
 STRONG, Hist, of Flatbush. 1842. 
 
 STUBBS, Sslect Charters. 
 
 TAYLOR, Development of Constitutional Government in the American 
 
 Colonies. (Mag. Am. Hist., II., 705.) 
 THOMPSON, Hist, of Long Island. 1843. 
 WOOD, Hist, of Long Island.