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 Gift of Seymour B. Durst Old York Library 
 
Plate XIV 
 
THE 
 
 CIVIC ANCESTRY 
 
 OF 
 
 New York -City and State 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD SEYMOUR WILDE, A.M. 
 
 " Time brings the truth to light." — Prov. 
 
 Published by the Author 
 
 at the Irving Press, 121 East 31st Street 
 
 New York 
 
CP 
 
 Copyright 1913 
 
 by 
 
 Edward Seymour Wilde 
 
The Author certifies that this publication is 
 limited to an issue of two hundred and ten 
 copies ; of these ten are specially color blazoned. 
 
TO THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
 FROM WHOSE ARCHIVES MUCH OF THE MATERIAL 
 
 HEREIN HAS BEEN DRAWN 
 
 AND WITH PLEASANT RECOLLECTION OF THE 
 
 COURTESY SHOWN HIM 
 
 THIS WORK IS INSCRIBED BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS AND CONTENTS 
 
 Plate XIV, p. 53. 
 
 [FRONTISPIECE] 
 
 Color blazon Escutcheon Clinton Kamilv. 
 
 "Clinton (Duke of Newcastle under-Lime). Argent, six 
 crosses crosslet Jitch/e sable, three, two, and one ; on a chiej 
 azure, two mullets or, pierced gules. '^ — Burke's General 
 Armory. 
 
 Much time and labor has been employed by the 
 writer in the discovery of these Arms as shown in 
 Seal, Plate XIII, p. 54. It is doubtful if another 
 impression exists. Used in 1777 by George Clin- 
 ton, Governor of the State of New York, in lieu 
 of a Great Seal of the State, not yet legislatively 
 provided. This honorable use seems to entitle it 
 to more than passing notice. Indeed, this Seal, at 
 least quasi, was the first Great Seal of the State 
 of New York, and was thus used by authority. 
 
 Consult: New York Genealogical and Biographical 
 Record, Vol. 12, No. 4, p. 195; Vol. 13, No. i, 
 p. 5, and foot of p. 10. The Book of Family 
 Crests, 345. Enc. Brit., nth Ed., under Clinton. 
 America Heraldica, Ed. by Vermont, p.p. 26, 161 
 (N. Y. Pub. Lib.). Gov. Clinton did not assume 
 the crest, doubtless he did not consider that he 
 was entitled to such use. 
 
 Arms, Seals and Medals; Dutch, English and American 
 periods, N. Y. City and State, — Page 15. Painted Arms, 
 Seal and Signet, "Amsterdam in New Netherland " ; 
 Dutch Period, 1609- 1664, — 16. Dutch Declaration of 
 Independence, July 26, 1581; William, Count of Nassau, 
 titular Prince of Orange, surnamed the Silent; Parting of the 
 ways, — 17. Charles V, Luther, Leo X, — 18. Three arch 
 bishoprics; Egmont, — 19. Council of Trent; Calvin, 
 Egmont and Horn, — 21. Voltaire; Prince of Orange, — 
 22. "The Silent," — 23. "I will maintain "; Assassins; 
 The Dutch Republic, — 25. City of Amsterdam; Treaty 
 of Arras, — 26. Zuider Zee; Medals and Medal-coin of 
 the Netherlands; Bizot; Le Clerc; van Loon, — 27. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Plate I, p. 27. 
 
 Plate II, p. 30. 
 
 Medal by Pieter van Abeele, seventeenth century. 
 The Medal shows upon the obverse, Count 
 William of Henegouwen and Holland, bestowing 
 upon Amsterdam the shield still borne by that 
 City. Above a door-way appears a rudderless 
 vessel, the former Arms. Upon the reverse the 
 Emperor Maximilian I, authorizes the use of the 
 Imperial Crow'n as a Crest. There is some con- 
 fusion in the dates. (See Note, p. 79.) 
 
 Extracts relating to this medal, — 28-30. 
 
 Medal-coin, Obverse as of Plate I. Reverse, Arms 
 of Amsterdam, complete, gules, on a pale sable 
 three crosses argent. Crest, Imperial Crown. 
 
 Plate III, p. 30. Color-blazon, as Arms, of last above. 
 
 Spain loses Amsterdam in the year 1578, — 31. William 
 Bardez ; The United Netherlands, — 32. Dutch West 
 India Company, incorporated June 3, 1621 — June 21, 
 1623; Province of New Netherland, — 33. 
 
 Plate IV, p. 33. Seal of the Province of New Netherland. 
 
 Granted by States-General in 1623. 
 
 A gtiy repast was given to Governor Stuyvesant at the City 
 Hall, December 8, 1654, when "he delivered to burgo- 
 master Martin Kregier the painted Coat of Arms, the Seal, 
 and Silver Signet of AVw Amsterdam," — 34— 3 5- 
 
 Plate V, p. 36. Copy of Deed, Abraham Verplanck to The Reverend 
 
 Johannes Megapolensis, dated January 21, 1656, 
 certified under Seal of the City of "Amsterdam 
 in New Netherland." [Unlike the English form, 
 the Conveyance was signed by the grantor in the "protocol" 
 and a certified copy thereof, as in this plate, became the grantee's 
 muniment of title.] 
 
 Plate VI, p. -^d. The Seal, in Plate V, enlarged. 
 
 Plate VII, p. 37. Color blazon Arms as in Seal Plate VI. 
 
 See pp. 36-7-8. The insignia g.W.c. on the over- 
 shield, initial the words Geoctroyeerde West Indische Com- 
 pagnie. Privileged, or Chartered, West India Company. 
 
 —39- 
 
Illustrations and Contejits 9 
 
 Plate VIII, p. 39. Silver Signet of December 8, 1654. 
 
 Oloft' Stcvensen van Cortlandt and his daughter Maria, 
 widow of Jeremias van Rensselaer, — 39. 
 
 Plate IX, p. 40. Seal ok Amsterdam in "New" Netherland, 
 
 used by Burgomaster Martin Cregier in 1659. 
 
 Plate X, p. 41. Seal as it appears on Dutch Resolutions. See p. 37. 
 
 Plate XI, p. 41. Title page to the Description of New Nether- 
 land, by Adriaen van der Donck, LL.D. 
 There exists grave doubt that Dr. van der Donck 
 composed this title-page. The designer of the 
 vignette had probably seen the metal die sent 
 over in the ship Peartree in 1654. He got the 
 shield right but blundered on the crest, turning 
 the beaver the wrong way but just as it appeared 
 upon the die itself. 
 
 Plate XII, p. 44. "Whereas 1 have thought fit to appoint two 
 
 Scales," p. 43. At this time James, Duke of 
 York and Albany, was, by patent from his brother 
 Charles II, Proprietor of the territory in America 
 formerly known as New Netherland. By com- 
 mand of the Duke the Seals to be made use of, 
 the one by the Province and the other by the Cor- 
 poration of New York, were sent over in 1669. 
 The Provincial Seal bore the Ducal arms with 
 the label, the ribbon bearing the legend Sigill- 
 Provinc-Novi-Eborac being added. This was 
 sixteen years before James became King. The 
 force that this Seal should have now can be 
 gathered from the foregoing statement. At any 
 rate it does not seem appropriate to place it prom- 
 inently upon a public building in this country, 
 especially when the subsequent career of James 
 as King is considered. The Crown in the insignia 
 of New York was " defaced "in 1778 and 1 784. 
 
lo The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Plate XIII, p. 54. George Clinton Seal, exact size and enlarged. 
 
 Plate XIV. Frontispiece. 
 
 Plate XV, p. 55, Arms of the State of New York, enlarged and 
 
 disentangled from the letter " T," in the Com- 
 mission of Andries Wilson, Gentleman, Plate 
 XVI. This Commission, dated April 2, 1778, 
 was signed by the Governor about two weeks 
 subsequent to the passage of the Act of March 
 16. Compare with Plates XIX, XX, XXI and 
 XXII. 
 
 Plate XVI, p. 55. Commission of Andries Wilson, showing also 
 
 Privy Seal. 
 
 Plate XVII, p. 56. The Great Seal of the State of New York, 
 
 "1777," and its origin. 
 
 Plate XVIII, p. 56. " Frustra." 
 
 Plate XIX, p. 57. As to supporters in Plate XV. 
 
 Plate XX, p. 57. As to featured Sun, water and rocks in Plate XV, 
 
 and attempted assassination of the Prince of 
 Orange in 1582. 
 
 Plate XXI, p. 58. As to origin of Crest in Plate XV. 
 
 Plate XXII, p. 58. This Plate is taken from "Beschryving Der 
 
 Nederlandsche Historipenningen." — Gerard 
 
 van Loon. [The close resemblance to Plate XV,— the 
 meadow, water, the two ships and the featured Sun, — renders 
 identification complete.] 
 
 Plate XXIII, p. 59. The Great Seal of the State of New York 
 
 of 1798. [This is the Seal that should have appeared upon 
 the mantel under the portrait of Governor George Clinton in the 
 Governors Room, New York City Hall; instead, they have 
 placed there the Great Seal of 1882, Plate XXV, now in use.] 
 
Illustrations and Contents ii 
 
 Plate XXIV, p. 62, The Great Seal of the State of New York 
 
 of 1809. 
 
 Passed without comment. 
 
 Plate XXV, p. 62. The Great Seal of the State of New York 
 
 of 1882. 
 
 Let the reader judge. 
 
 Plate XXVI, p. 63. Paulding Seals. 
 
 This very interesting collection, contributed by 
 Mr. Paulding, is in the possession of the New 
 York Historical Society. These impressions, 
 made with the several metal dies in question, are 
 cut from the documents they authenticated, and 
 are pasted upon a sheet of paper. The writer has 
 been unable to determine the date of this valu- 
 able contribution to the archives of the Society. 
 Nos. 3 and 6 are undoubtedly by the same 
 engraver — Mr. Billings, p. 64. 
 
 Plate XXVII, p 66. New York City Seal, "Sunk in Steel," 
 
 IN 1814. 
 
 Plate XXVIII, p. 67. Seal of New York City now in use. 
 
 Plate XXIX, p. 67. See Appendix B, wherein No. 5, Paulding 
 
 Seal, Plate XXVI, is discussed. 
 
THE CIVIC ANCESTRY OF 
 NEW YORK 
 
 To answer you, says Philander, in the language of a medallist, you 
 are not to look upon a cabinet of medals as a treasure of money, but of 
 knowledge; nor must you fancy any charms in gold, but in the figures and 
 inscriptions that adorn it. The intrinsic value of an old coin does not 
 consist in its metal, but its erudition. It is the device that has raised the 
 species, so that at present an as or an obolus may carry a higher price than 
 a denarius or a drachma ; a piece of money that was not worth a penny 
 15 hundred years ago, may now be rated at 50 crowns or perhaps lOO 
 gmneas. Dialogues upon the Usefulness of Ancient Medals. — Addison. 
 
 Numismatology is defined as the science of coins and medals, in their 
 relation to history. — Webster. 
 
 -T is not proposed that this narration should take the 
 [form of an historical essay but rather that of a lawyer's 
 brief of the facts and principles relating to the science 
 'of Arms, Seals and Medals in their relation to history, 
 in this case particularizing the various insignia arising in the Dutch 
 period, the English period, and our own unfinished period of the history 
 of the City and State of New York. 
 
 In thus specializing a very interesting subject, this attempt to add, 
 however little, to the general stock of knowledge and cultivation, does not, 
 therefore, involve a history of the arbitrary rule of the Dutch West India 
 Company, 1 623-1 664, covering the greater part of the Dutch period. 
 
 I. Initial letter taken from Emanuel van Meteren's History of the Netherlands, in which 
 appeared the first account in print of Hudson's discovery of i6og. Motley, in his United Nether- 
 lands, Conclusion, refers to this writer " as a plain Protestant merchant of Antwerp and Amsterdam, 
 who wrote an admirable history of the war and of his own times, full of precious details, especially 
 rich in statistics, a branch of science which he almost invented, which still remains as one of the 
 leading authorities, not only for scholars, but for the general reader." 
 
i6 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Neither does it involve the proprietary government of James, Duke of 
 York, nor his subsequent short but changeful career as King, which at 
 that time went far to put the taste of rebellion in the mouths of most 
 of his American Colonial subjects, as well as of his subjects at home. 
 Neither does it involve the momentary and but partial relief in the reign 
 of Dutch William III, with scant thanks to William; nor of the fantastic 
 insolence of the English Cornburv; nor of the nearer events that ripened 
 into the Declaration of 1776 which resulted in the final overthrow of 
 an almost unbroken misrule of more than 160 years. But our subject 
 does necessarily cover the numismatology relating to the complete term 
 of these several periods down to the present time, and in addition thereto 
 takes us back to the year 1275 in the somewhat clouded accounts of the 
 origin of the seals and arms of the parent Amsterdam. This review will 
 enable us to determine the heraldic origin of the " painted arms and 
 the seal together with the signet cut in silver " of "Amsterdam in New 
 Netherland " which were received by the Stuyvesant personally con- 
 ducted city government in 1654 from the West India Company, then 
 the owner in fee of Manhattan. 
 
 New York was horn Dutch, and from 1609 to 1664 remained Dutch. 
 Following the discovery of 1609, under the auspices of the Dutch East 
 India Company — chartered March 20, 1602 — and up to 1621, no serious 
 attempt had been made to utilize the new possession beyond the main- 
 tenance of possessory rights and the granting by the States-General of a 
 trading license, for a limited period, to an association of Dutch merchants. 
 This instrument bore date October ii, 16 14, and conferred an exclusive 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork ij 
 
 right to trade with " New Netherland," now for the first time so desig- 
 nated.' This privilege expired January i, 1618. 
 
 The Half Moon had sailed from Amsterdam April 4, 1609.' On the . 
 ninth of the same month a truce for twelve years had been signed at 
 the Town Hall at Antwerp between the States-General of Holland and 
 Spain. At this time the Northern Provinces of the Netherlands, which 
 had declared independence of Spain July 26, 1581/were just merging 
 into a world power as the Dutch Republic. Charles I of Spain and V 
 of the Empire had abdicated in 1555-6, and was succeeded in Spain by 
 his son, Philip II. The father, whose fruitless endeavor and unsated 
 ambition led to his retirement, released to the son, not only the kingdom 
 and the inheritance of the seventeen provinces of the Netherlands, 
 together with the balance of the vast territories then subject to Spain, but 
 also his own greed of empire, intensified in Philip by a religious bigotry 
 that led to the intervention in the Netherlands, of William, Count of 
 Nassau, titular Prince of Orange, surnamed the Silent, who became, as 
 the champion of religious freedom and of the maintenance of the ancient 
 charters, the Washington of that day. A long and bloody conflict 
 ensued, resulting in the territorial division about as comprised within 
 the United Netherlands of Queen Wilhelmina and the Belgium of today. 
 
 This parting of the ways is thus epitomized by a well-known recent 
 
 writer : 
 
 By the Treaty of Arras (January, 1579) the Southern Provinces bound themselves "to 
 maintain the Roman Catholic religion," and practically to submit to Philip. And in the same 
 
 2. Brodhead, Hist. State of N. Y., I. 62. 
 
 3. Ibid., I. 24. 
 
 4. Ibid., I. 21; Harrison, William the Silent, 2r3. 
 
•i8 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 month the Northern Provinces — Guelderland, Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, and its districts — 
 formed the Union of Utrecht, which bound them to promote the Protestant creed, and prac- 
 ■ tically to abjure allegiance to the King. Here were shattered the Pacification of Ghent, the 
 Perpetual Edict, and the Union of Brussels, and all the other laborious efforts to unite Catholic 
 and Protestant in a national league. The Catholics of the South pledged themselves to the old 
 Church; the Reformers of the North pledged themselves to the Protestant cause; and both to 
 the exclusion of the other. Yet here too, in the dissolution of the larger confederation, lay the 
 germs of the future history of the Netherlands, that contrast of race, religion, language, and 
 institutions which to-day we see in Belgium and Holland. 
 
 (Frederic Harrison, William the Silent, Macmillan & Co., 1907, p. 202.) 
 
 Charles V, grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, was born at Ghent, 
 A.D. 1500.5 At the age of sixteen he became King of Spain, and three 
 years later, at the death of Maximilian I, he was elected to the Imperial 
 Crown as Charles V. 
 
 During the early part of his reign the seventeen provinces of the 
 Pays-Bas, then comprising the Netherlands, were, in large measure, self- 
 governing — the old charters of this loose confederacy arose in the nature 
 of common law or usage, and for a time were so respected by the new 
 over-lord. Henry VIII of England, 1509, and Francis I of France, 
 15 I 5, were at this time just beginnning to take a conspicuous part in the 
 history of the Sixteenth Century, Luther was thirty-three, and had just 
 bid defiance to the Pope at the gates of the Castle Church at Wittenberg, 
 a movement which Leo X affected to despise and neglect, he being 
 abnormally exhilarated by his elevation to the pontifical throne and 
 absorbed in his endeavors to verify the profane expression of Pope 
 Boniface VIII, made two hundred years before, that "the Christian 
 Religion was a lucrative fable."* Respect for his birthplace and affection 
 
 5. Motley, Rise Dutch Republic, I. 49; Singleton, The World's Great Events, III. 1230. 
 
 6. William Cook Taylor, LL.D., etc.. Students' Manual Modern Hist., London, 1858, 7th ed., 156. 
 
 Motley, R. D. R., I. 67; Adrian VI., Tope, denounces the crimes of the Church. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 19 
 
 for his early companions led Charles to govern with a preference that 
 gave umbrage to his Spanish and German subjects, and it was not until 
 some time afterward, when swayed by the exigencies of a varying policy, 
 that he issued the edict against heresy in the Netherlands in 1550.' He 
 then claimed an uncompromising purpose to suppress religious reform, 
 but his acts fell short of his decrees, and it was not until the son held the 
 reins that the edict was renewed, and when Philip departed for Spain, in 
 1559, he showed his contempt for the feelings of his Belgian subjects in 
 the appointment of his half-sister, Margaret of Parma, natural daughter 
 of the Emperor Charles V, as Regent. 
 
 Up to this time there were only four bishoprics in the Nether- 
 lands — Arras, Cambray, Tourney and Utrecht — but now, 1559-60, 
 Philip obtained a bull from Paul IV creating three arch bishoprics, 
 at Mechlin, Cambray and Utrecht, and fifteen bishoprics were divided 
 between them.^ Granville, soon created a Cardinal, was designated 
 to be Archbishop of Mechlin and Primate of the Netherlands. This 
 created dissatisfaction with both Protestant and Catholic. The Prin- 
 cipal Council of State, with the Regent, was composed of Perronet, 
 Bishop of Arras, a brother of the Cardinal ; Berlaymont, a noble, 
 and Viglius, a lawyer, agents of Philip, with Orange and Egmont, as 
 titular members.^ Orange and Egmont were not admitted to the inner 
 conclave, but for a time their influence met with real success. The 
 Spanish troops were withdrawn, the Cardinal went into retirement 
 
 7. Ibid., R. D. R., I. 129. 
 
 S. Ibid., I. 218. 
 
 9. Ibid., I. 173; Harrison, William the Silent, 26. 
 
20 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 and the secret Consulta was adjourned. But this was a retreat to give 
 space for a more deadly spring, and the way was prepared. 
 
 The Council of Trent, which met in 1545, so codified that ingenious 
 system as to render easy reference to many texts which justified any 
 method of diffusing the true belief or exterminating the false. "Accord- 
 ingly, a short time after the close of the Council, an interview took place 
 between two personages, of very sinister augury for the Protestant cause. 
 Catherine de Medicis, mother of the Oueen of Spain, and the Duke of 
 Alva met at Bayonne in 1565. In this consultation great things were 
 discussed, and it was decided by the wickedest woman and the harshest 
 man in Europe that government could not be safe nor religion honored 
 unless by the introduction of the Inquisition and the general massacre 
 of heretics in every land."'" But it was not until seven years later that 
 the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place. 
 
 " In December of the following year, Alva received his commission 
 from Philip. He entered Brussels in state August 22, 1567, with an 
 army of some twenty-four thousand men, consisting of about nine thou- 
 sand Spanish veterans, twelve hundred troopers from Italy, and a force of 
 German mercenaries, with artillery, engineers and six thousand horses — 
 altogether the best soldiers and equipment in Europe. He had left 
 Genoa in April, and in three months achieved the long and difficult 
 march from the Mediterranean to Brabant."" The chief was a consummate 
 and experienced soldier in his sixtieth year, an arrogant Spanish Duke. 
 
 10. White, i8 Christian Centuries, 441. 
 
 11. Harrison, W. the S., 80; Motley, R. D. R., I. 537. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 21 
 
 The Regent had been informed of his coming and the utmost consterna- 
 tion prevailed. The Duke, as his master's Viceroy, became practically 
 master of the land, and the Reign of Terror began — the Council of Blood 
 was instituted. Under Luther, and the other Protestants, the Reforma- 
 tion had formed into two great divisions — the Lutheran and the Calvinist 
 — who hated each other to a degree inversely to the smallness of their 
 difference. "^ This divergence was a bar to concert of action. The Cal- 
 vinists were probably most actively partisan, although indeed there was 
 little to choose; while the Roman Catholic Hierarchy insisted upon a 
 Universal Church, for this brought with it a complete revenue. In 
 Germany, Luther had given a fatal blow to this insistment, while the 
 Netherlands were divided; the Southern portion was undoubtedly Roman 
 Catholic, as the sequel proved, and has so remained. While the Luth- 
 eran departure had made great headway in the North, the followers of 
 Calvin seem to have been most belligerent in what is now Belgium. The 
 Calvinists were offensive, the Lutherans defensive. Of these differences 
 Alva made little account. His path had been marked out. His business 
 was to extirpate heresy. It is said that he boasted, on his resignation, 
 that he had put to death eighteen thousand six hundred persons, not 
 counting all who perished in fight, storm, siege and massacre. '^ Count 
 Egmond and Admiral Horn, whom the warnings of William the Silent 
 had failed to convince of their danger, were among the first victims. 
 
 This partial enforcement of the edicts under the Regent was 
 due to the exertions of the Prince of Orange, who lost fortune, 
 
 12. White, 18 C. C, 460. 
 
 13. Motley, R. D. R., II. 146; Ibid., I. 696. 
 
22 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 many friends and finally life itself in the cause, but gained an imperish- 
 able name. 
 
 We have already quoted from William the Silent by Frederic Harri- 
 son. We now quote the first words of this prose epic: 
 
 "When we study the foundation of the United Provinces," says a great French writer, 
 " we learn how a State, from an origin almost unnoticed, rapidly rose into greatness, was formed 
 without design, and in the end belied all human forecast. Those large and wealthy provinces 
 of the mainland which began the revolution — Brabant, Flanders and Hainault — failed to achieve 
 their freedom. In the meantime, a small corner of Europe, which had been won from the sea 
 by infinite labor, and had maintained itself by its herring-fishery, rose suddenly to be a formidable 
 power, held its own against Philip II., despoiled his successors of almost all their possessions in 
 the East Indies, and ended by taking under its protection the monarchy of Spain." 
 
 (Voltaire, Essai sur les Merurs, Cap. 164.) 
 
 "The man who inspired, founded, and made possible this marvellous development was 
 William, Count of Nassau, titular Prince of Orange, surnamed the Silent. The eloquent 
 epigram of Voltaire records the result of his achievement. His career, like his nature and his 
 circumstances, was made -up of anomalies and filled with complex elements. The man who 
 organized the national rebellion of Holland, by birch a German count, became by inheritance a 
 Flemish magnate and a sovereign prince. A Lutheran by family, he was brought up a Catholic, 
 and died a Calvinist. His early years were passed as a soldier and minister of the Empire, as 
 ambassador and lieutenant of the King of Spain, and as a grandee of boundless magnificence. 
 Himself the mainspring of a national and religious insurrection, his best energies were spent in 
 moderating the political and religious passions which were at once the cause and the result of the 
 struggle. Personally a devout man, he professed in succession all the three great forms of 
 Christian belief, whilst steadily opposing all that was extreme and all that was violent in each. 
 His memory is still passionately cherished in his adopted fatherland: first as the founder of an 
 illustrious Commonwealth, then as the father of a long line of able statesmen and ruling princes, 
 and finally as a martyr to the cause of national independence and liberty of conscience. 
 
 William, the eldest son of William, Count of Nassau, and of Juliana of Stolberg, was 
 born in the hereditary castle of Dillenburg, in Nassau, on the 25th of April, 1533, the eldest 
 of five sons and seven daughters. By birth he was, through many generations, of pure German 
 race, the heir of one of the smaller ruling houses of the Empire, a House which had produced 
 many chiefs illustrious in war and in council, and which by a series of splendid alliances had 
 amassed titles, offices, and vast possessions in Germany, in the Netherlands, and in France. 
 By a singular fortune the boy William, then aged eleven, was named by the will of his cousin 
 Rene, dying on the field young and childless, as heir to the immense fiefs of the Nassau race in 
 the Netherlands, together with the puny State of Orange on the Rhone, and the barren title of 
 
The Civic Aticestry of Neiv Tork 23 
 
 sovereign Prince of Orange. From his twelfth year William of Nassau bore the style of the 
 petty princedom which he never visited, and he transmitted the titular sovereignty to his 
 descendants down to our own times. At the age of twenty-six, William became, by the death 
 of his father, head of the House of Nassau-Dillenburg, the possession and revenues of which 
 he transferred to his brother John. Thus, whilst his birth was as noble as any in Europe, 
 fortune concentrated on him a singular array of honors and of estates. By his four marriages 
 with princely and royal houses, Flemish, German, or French, he left a family of twelve children, 
 whose descendants filled an even larger part in the annals of Europe than did the ancestors of 
 William himself." 
 
 The Treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, between Henry H of France and 
 
 Philip II of Spain, after a three years' war, was concluded April 3d, 
 
 1559, and the Prince was selected as one of the State hostages to reside 
 
 with Henry, in order to guarantee the execution of the treaty. William 
 
 went to Paris in June, 1559, and it was there that took place the famous 
 
 incident which won him the name of The Silent. Mr. Harrison quotes 
 
 the story from the Catholic historian Pontus Payen, as follows : 
 
 " One day, during a stag-hunt in the Bois de Vincennes, Henry, finding himself alone with 
 the Prince, began to speak of the great number of Protestant sectaries who, during the late war, 
 had increased so much in his Kingdom to his great sorrow. His conscience, said the King, 
 would not be easy nor his realm secure until he could see it purged of the 'accursed vermin,' 
 who would one day overthrow his government, under pretence of religion, if they were allowed 
 to get the upper hand. This was the more to be feared since some of the chief men in the 
 Kingdom, and even some princes of the blood, were on their side. But he hoped by the grace 
 of God and the good understanding that he had with his new son, the King of Spain, that he 
 would soon master them. The King talked on thus to Orange in the full conviction that he was 
 cognisant of the secret agreement recently made with the Duke of Alva for the extirpation of 
 heresy. But the Prince, subtle and adroit as he was, answered the good King in such a way as 
 to leave him still under the impression that he, the Prince, was in full possession of the scheme 
 propounded by Alva; and under this belief the King revealed all the details of the plan arranged 
 between the King of Spain and himself for the rooting out and rigorous punishment of the 
 heretics, from the lowest to the highest rank, and in this service the Spanish troops were to be 
 mainly employed." 
 
 Mr. Harrison adds : 
 
 "All this the Prince heard without a word and without moving a muscle. This incident 
 not only gave the eloquent Prince his paradoxical name, but it proved a great epoch in his life, — 
 
24 The Civic Ancestry of Neiv York 
 
 it is hardly too much to say an epoch in the history of his age." Writing more than twenty 
 years afterwards in his Apology,^^ he says : — 
 
 " I confess that I was deeply moved with pity for all the worthy people who were thus 
 devoted to slaughter, and for the country, to which I owed so much, wherein they designed to 
 introduce an Inquisition worse and more cruel than that of Spain. I saw, as it were, nets 
 spread to entrap the lords of the land as well as the people, so that those whom the Spaniards 
 and their creatures could not supplant in any other way, might by this device fall into their 
 hands. It was enough for a man to look askance at an image to be condemned to the stake. 
 Seeing all this (he continues in his impetuous way) I confess that from that hour I resolved with 
 my whole soul to do my best to drive this Spanish vermin from the land ; and of this resolve 1 
 have never repented, but believe that 1, my comrades, and all who have stood with us, have 
 done a worthy deed, fit to be held in perpetual honor." 
 
 With the remark that Pontus Payen tells the story almost exactly as 
 did Orange himself, this further quotation is made: 
 
 The Prince, having thus wrung his secret from the King, maintained his composure for 
 two or three days, and then obtained leave to make a journey to the Netherlands on private 
 business of importance. No sooner had he reached Brussels than he explained to his intimate 
 friends what he had heard in the Bois dc Vincennes, giving a sinister meaning to the excellent 
 purposes of the two Kings, who (he said) designed to exterminate the great chiefs so as to fill 
 their own treasuries by confiscations, and ultimately to set up an absolute tyranny under pretence 
 of extirpating heresy. And when he left the city, he counselled them to make the withdrawal 
 of the Spanish troops a formal demand in the States-General about to be held at Ghent. 
 
 William was now twenty-six. He was too powerful a noble for 
 Philip to antagonize, yet not powerful enough to defy the King. Thus, 
 for a time, a state of equilibrium was established. Philip understood 
 perfectly well how the Prince stood,'* but he temporized, appointed him 
 Governor of Holland, Zealand and Utrecht, and took his departure for 
 Spain, appointing his half-sister Margaret, Regent; and William became 
 nominally a member of her Council, as has already been stated. Orange 
 was a Catholic, he held to the faith in which he had been brought up at 
 
 14. Harrison, W. the S., 2oS-2og. 
 
 15. Motley, R. D. R., I. 1S2. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 25 
 
 the Court of Charles V, but his whole soul revolted at the injustice and 
 barbarity of the Inquisition. He was possessed of an enormous fortune 
 and lived becoming his rank. Yet all this he put in jeopardy for the 
 sake of the poor people "who allowed themselves to be burned." It was 
 impossible that the Prince should retain the religion of his youth — the 
 religion of the Court. His sympathies, after the revelation of Henry II, 
 soon became Protestant, and this determined his subsequent career. He 
 was not disheartened by defeat, nor did he ever take council of fear. 
 He was never conquered. His motto " I will maintain," was supported 
 to the end. He himself wrote, " I have no other articles to propose 
 save that religion, reformed according to the Word of God, should be 
 permitted ; that the Commonwealth should be restored to its ancient 
 liberty; and, to that end, that the Spaniards and other soldiery should be 
 compelled to retire."'* All attempts to bribe or cajole'^ were met with 
 the same answer, the three conditions — free life for the Netherlands, with 
 liberty of worship, their old charters, and no Spanish or foreign soldiery. 
 Assassins,'^ instigated by Philip and the Pope, dogged his steps. Seven 
 attempts were made upon his life — the seventh was successful. On the 
 loth of July, 1584, he was murdered in his house at Delph.'^ The 
 mighty struggle of his life was ended ; but, unconsciously, he had 
 founded a great world-power — the Dutch Republic. 
 
 Having quoted the first words of Mr. Harrison's book, we close 
 this brief sketch with the last words : 
 
 16. Ibid.y II. 127. 
 
 17. Ibid., 11.356; Ibid., 11.620-621; Ibid.. II. 375. 
 
 iS. Ibid., II. 58; Ibid., II. 706: Harrison, \V. the S., 157-15S, 222, 232. 
 
 19. Ibid., 233; Motley, II. 716. 
 
26 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 And to-day the nation which William founded by his sweat and blood, three centuries 
 ago, is flourishing and honoured ; his granddaughter in the eleventh degree sits on the throne 
 of Holland ; the blood of the greatest of the Nassaus runs in the veins of almost every royal 
 house in Europe ; and amongst his descendants may be counted for three cen|nries some of the 
 most valiant soldiers and some ot the ablest chiefs whose deeds adorn the history of Europe. ^° 
 
 The bloody career of Alva terminated upon his disgraceful retire- 
 ment from Amsterdam early in November, 1573;" his appointed suc- 
 cessor, Don Luis de Requesens y Cuiiiga, assumed command at Brussels 
 on the 29th of the same month." In turn the death of Requesens in 
 March, 1576, gave place to Don John of Austria,'^ a natural son of the 
 Emperor Charles V, who, dying miserably in October, 1578,'^ appointed 
 his nephew, Alexander Farnese of Parma, son of the Duchess Margaret 
 of Parma, a natural daughter of Charles V, and first Regent of the 
 Netherlands. 
 
 Attention is now directed to the fortunes of the City of Amsterdam 
 in Holland during and prior to this period. In the early stages of the 
 movement that led eventually to Dutch independence, the City of 
 Amsterdam had remained under the control of the Spaniards, but during 
 the term of Don John, in 1578, this city, perforce, joined the revolu- 
 tionists, from which time her rapid growth gave proof of an advantageous 
 change/^ 
 
 In the following year came about the Treaty of Arras and the 
 Union of Utrecht, already mentioned, the former, covering eventually 
 
 20. Harrison. W. the S., 243 Appendix, 245. 
 
 21. Motley, R. D. R., II. 145. 
 
 22. Ibid., Ibid. 
 
 23. Ibid., II. 256, 330. 
 
 24. Ibid., II. 510. 
 
 25. Ibid., United Netherlands, chap. xxii. 
 
I 
 
 I— ( 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 27 
 
 the ten Southern provinces, Roman Catholic and obedient ; the latter, 
 the seven Northern provinces, Protestant — independent — the Dutch 
 Republic. 
 
 Up to the time of the great inroad of the North Sea in the latter 
 part of the thirteenth century,'^ by which the Zuider Zee was formed, 
 Amsterdam was in an infant state, but this great transformation placed 
 her at an advantage through the outlet by way of the Texel, and thence 
 sailed the Half-Moon on her voyage of discovery in 1609, 
 
 The medals and medal-coin productions of the United Netherlands 
 rival in scope, variety and execution those of any other nation, ancient or 
 modern. From their continuity history could be written. Reproduc- 
 tions by the engravers' art alone and, as shown in the works thereon or 
 the 17th and i8th centuries, fall far short. The art of photography has 
 since then come to the aid of the illustrator. Take for instance the 
 Abeele medal as given by Bizot, Le Clerc and van Loon, admirable as 
 they are, cannot compare with the reproduction we have had the good 
 fortune to get from the medal itself through the kindness of a friend 
 who is the owner of one. This medal deserves to be the first of the 
 series relating to the periods we have designated at the beginning of 
 this treatise. 
 
 Plate I. 
 
 Abeele Pieter van [Dutch]. Engraver of great merit who lived principally at 
 
 Amsterdam, where he also died, circa 1677 His works date from 1622-1677, s""! 
 
 are usually signed PVA when not in full. His most famous production is the medal which 
 commemorates the Granting of Arms to the City of Amsterdam in 1342 and 1488; like his 
 
 26. Ibid., R. D. R., I. 33. 
 
28 The Civic Ancestry of New York' 
 
 other medals . . . . it is of repousse work and chased, the two sides being united by a rim. 
 — Biographical Dictionary of Medallists, compiled by L. Forrer, igo2. 
 
 The following extracts, relating to this medal, are made from Dutch 
 and French works, with translations into English : 
 
 I. MEDALISCHE HISTOIRE DER REPUBLYK VAN HOLLAND, Etc. 
 t' Amsterdam. By Pieter Mortier, Boekverkooper, op de Vygen-dam, m.dc.xc. 
 
 History of Medals of the Republic of Holland, described in French by Mr. Bizot, 
 and translated from that tongue into Dutch,'" not inconsiderably enlarged; besides all the medals 
 relating to the removal of His Highness to England, his coronation, etc., up to now, placed in 
 their proper order — with an Appendix of the Countships created in honor of the brave heroes — 
 Amsterdam, Peter Mortier, Bookseller, Vygen-dam, 1690. 
 
 [/>• 35 ^"f"-^ 
 
 This medal is made in order clearly to show to later generations the origin of the 
 
 New Arms of Amsterdam and the Imperial Crown above t. It shows on one side Count William 
 of Henegouwe sitting on his count's throne, who is making a present to the regents of 
 Amsterdam of the new arms of Amsterdam, consisting of a red field with a black pale in the 
 center upon which are laid three crosses of silver. Above a doorway the old arms are seen — 
 a mastless ship.'* Underneath appear the following words: "Comes Wilhelmus has 
 
 PRESENTED THESE ARMS TO THE CiTV OF AMSTERDAM IN THE YEAR I 342." 
 
 On these arms the following poem has been written : "Since William Count of Hene- 
 gouwen and Holland in order to rebuild in Holland the devastated City of Amsterdam had 
 given her many liberties in order to retrieve her fallen powers and furnish her everywhere with 
 walls, gates and canals in greater degree than ever, he has made a present to the Amsterdammers 
 of three cross on the field of the cities' arms : A sign that he has freed her of much misery 
 and cross. Then the restored city whose glory was waning saw its liberty shine with golden 
 rays as the sun." — P. Dubbels. 
 
 On the other side there is seen the Emperor Maximilian, who presents to the Amster- 
 dammers the Imperial Crown above the arms of their city in recognition of their good services 
 which they had rendered to him, some say, without, however, being certain, that this Emperor 
 was short thousands of florins and that the Regents of Amsterdam lent him the amount he 
 needed, getting, instead of payment, this Imperial Crown upon their arms. Underneath the 
 following words are found: " C/Iisar Maximilianus Coronam Imperialem Donavit Amstelo- 
 DAMO 1488." 
 
 Relating to the Crown, one has the following verses by the same poet: " Here is seen 
 Amsterdam receiving out of the hands of the Emperor Maximilian the Imperial Crown in 
 
 27. There is a copy in Dutch, Rutgers Col. Lib. 
 
 28. Mastless, seems to have been an error. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York ii^ 
 
 reward of her services rendered in these parts to his Majesty, because the city exerted itself 
 to force at the point of the sword the towns of Woerden and Rotterdam to go over to his 
 side. So the faithfulness of the subjects was proven to their Count and Country, sealed with 
 their blood and tears gilded by their own hands. Thus Amsterdam, whose lions never sleep, 
 obtained the Imperial Crown upon the Count's Arms." — P. Dubbeh. 
 
 II. HISTOIRE METALLIQUE DES XVII PROVINCES DES PAYS-BAS, 
 Depuis l' abdication de Charles-Quint, jusqu' a La Paix de Bade en mdccxvi. 
 Traduite du Hollandois de Monsieur Gerard van Loon.'^ Tome Premier \p. 250.] 
 A la Have mdccxxxii. 
 
 Metallic History of the i 7 Provinces of the Netherlands. From the abdication of 
 Charles V until the Peace of Baden in 1716. Translated from the Dutch of Mr. Gerard van 
 
 Loon. First Volume. The Hague '732. 
 
 . . . . This City, which is mentioned for the first time in a Privilege of the Count Florent, 
 dated the fifth day of the year 1275, this city, I say, formerly had as Arms a Vessel without a 
 rudder, and was then subject to the Lords of Amstel. 
 
 In the year 1342 she fell under the power of William, Count of Holland, who honored 
 her with several Prerogatives, and gave her new Arms, to wit, gules, on a pale sable three 
 crosses argent. Although this city, in her beginnings, was but a settlement of some poor fisher- 
 men, her advantageous situation soon attracted to her a large trade which, in a short time, caused 
 her to grow in wealth and power. From time to time she was the recipient of marked favors 
 from the Sovereigns of the Country because of the support she was in a position to lend to 
 their affairs. 
 
 In return for the services which she had rendered to the Emperor Maximilian in the 
 reduction of Rotterdam of Woerden and of the Castle of the latter place, she received from 
 him, on the 10th of February, 1481, (8) letters patent, according her the privilege of assuming 
 the Imperial Crown as a Crest; a lasting mark of the good will of this Prince. 
 
 The gift of these new Arms and the privilege of using the Imperial Crown as a Crest 
 are eternized by the following Medal 
 
 In the distance there appears above a vaulted archway the ancient Arms of the City. In 
 the foreground the Count William seated on a throne gives to the Magistrates of Amsterdam, 
 at the hands of the Herald-at-Arms of the Province, the new Shield of which we have spoken. 
 
 The Count William has made cift of these Arms to Amsterdam in the year i ^42. 
 
 The reverse, which, like the obverse, is surrounded by a Civic wreath, represents the 
 Emperor Maximilian L, surrounded by his guards and holding the Imperial Crown above the 
 Shield of Amsterdam which is being held before him by the Magistrates of the City 
 
 The Emperor Maximilian has given to Amsterdam the Imperial Crown in the 
 YEAR 1488. 
 
 29. B. Leyde (16S3) lived in eighteenth century. Die. Biog. Ref., Phillips. 
 
30 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 III. HISTOIRE DES PROVINCES-UNIES DES PAYS-BAS, Par Mr. Le 
 Clerc, Depuis la Naissance de la Republique jusqu' a la Paix d' Utrecht & le Traite de la 
 Barriere conclu en 1716. Avec Les Principales Medailles et Leur Explication. Tome 
 Premier, Qui contient ce qui s' y est passe depuis 1' An mdlx, jusqu' a 1' An mocxviii. A. 
 Amsterdam, Chez Z. Chatelain, Libraire. 
 
 MDCCXXVIII. 
 
 History of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. By Mr. LeClcrc. From 
 the Birth of the Republic until the Peace of Utrecht and the Treaty of La Barriere concluded 
 in 1 7 16. With the Principal Medals and their Description. Volume I. Which contains 
 that which has passed from the year 1560 to the year 1618. Amsterdam. Z. Chatelain, 
 Bookseller, 1728. 
 
 Plate II. Color blazon, Plate III. 
 Extract and translation, from Vol. 4, 43. 
 
 Fortune, however, was not so contrary to the Confederates that she did not sometimes 
 declare herself in their favor. One of the most advantageous events that happened to them 
 in the year 1578 was that they made themselves masters of the city of Amsterdam, which had 
 always been on the side of the Spaniards. The arms of this city, which are gold^ a red pale, 
 charged v/ith three silver crosses, and crested with an Imperial Crown, as is seen here on 
 
 plate LXVII Mark the consideration in which the city was held, as appears by that 
 
 act of concession; as narrated by Isaac Pontanus and Pierre Berthius, it seems that an error 
 was made in placing on the Medal 1488.* 
 
 30. Maximilian I. Born March 22, I45q; died at NVels, upper Austria, January 12, 1 519. Emperor 
 of the Holy Rom. Emp., 1493-1519. Son of Frederick IIL Married Mary, daughter of 
 Charles the Bold, of Burgundy, in 1477. Was elected King of the liomans in 14S6. 
 
 New Intnl. Encv. and Ency. Brit., nth Ed. 
 
 While Mr. Le Clerc has, with propriety, criticised the placing of the figures 1488 upon the medal, 
 he has himself fallen into an error in describing the colors in the reverse; which, fortunately, 
 has been corrected by the engraver. This is a medal, not a seal, and it is therefore proper 
 to indicate the colors. 
 
 We will venture a technical explanation why the engraver was right. In order to do this it 
 becomes necessary to define some of the rudiments of the science of Heraldry. 
 
 Hugh Clark, in his Introduction to Heraldry — any one of the many editions, London, gives two 
 Tables, among others, which will answer this purpose. See Appendix A. 
 
 In Table II, " or -gold" and "argent-silver" indicate the two metals used in Heraldry; the rest 
 are colors. It is a law of Heraldry that when the escutcheon. Table I., is a metal, a first 
 charge upon it must be a color; and, if this again is charged, a metal should be used. In 
 other words, a metal cannot be placed directly upon a metal, or color upon color. 
 
 In correspondence with Mr. Veder, Archivist of Amsterdam, this question was discussed; the 
 writer observing that in the Arms of the City of Amsterdam, a black pale comes directly upon 
 
Plate n 
 
 EXPLICATION HISTORIQIIE DES MEDAILLES 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 31 
 
 THIS MEDAL, the obverse of which is divided into two parts, represents, in the first 
 part, the grant which was made to the city of these arms, in the year 1342, by William, Count 
 of Hainaut and of Holland, in these words: 
 
 Comes Wilhelmus Hoc Insione Amstelodamo Dedit 1342; and, in the second part, 
 the ceremony of the gift by the Emperor of the Imperial Crown: 
 
 CitsAR Maximilianus Coronam Impositam Donavit Amstelodamo. 
 
 The number xl, which is in the inscription of the reverse, marks the value of this coin 
 at the time of the siege of Amsterdam [i 576-1 578]. Don John died in the month of October 
 of the same year [1578] and had as successor Alexander Farnese, Prince of Parma, son of 
 Ottavio Farnese and Margaret of Austria, who had been Regent^' of the Netherlands. 
 
 Return to II, p. 29, Histoire Medallique Des XVII Provences, 
 etc. Gerard van Loon, and read translation from Vol. I., 248. 
 
 This victory of Don John [at Gemblours] caused to fall into the hands of the Spaniards 
 the Cities of Louvain,''- Tirlemont, Diest, Gemblours, Aerschot, Judoigne, and several other ' 
 places of less importance. But this loss was offset, in a way, by the Accord concluded on 
 February 8th, by the States of Holland, through the mediation of the States of Utrecht, with 
 the States of Amsterdam, the latter having until then been 'on the Spanish side. In order to 
 reduce this city under the Government of the Prince of Orange,''' it had not only been 
 subjected to a blockade from a distance for a long time, but in the beginning of that year 
 [1578] she had been so closely beleaguered that it was impossible to carry any provisions to the 
 
 a red shield, adding that he supposed time had given sanction to this error. With this Mr. 
 Veder agreed. 
 
 In Table I, the points of the escutcheon are given. In Table IV, the Pale is an honorable 
 ordinary, consisting of two perpendicular lines drawn from the top to the base of the shield, 
 and contains the third middle part of the field. Saltire. This is an ordinary which is 
 formed by the bend dexter and the bend sinister crossing each other in the centre in acute 
 angles, which, uncharged, contains the fifth, and charged the third part of the field. 
 
 — Dictionary of Terms. 
 
 In note to 21, Saltire is similarly given, but is defined as crossing at right angles. Upon a 
 square shield this would be possible, but as shields are generally greater in size perpendicu- 
 larly than in width, the ac/z/c' angles would obtain. .\ Cross is formed by perpendicular and 
 horizontal lines crossing at right angles, and may or may not extend to the limits of the 
 shield. Not so in a Saltire, which, by its definition, must extend to the limits of the shield, 
 unless otherwise described. The otherwise would obtain when not extending to the limits of 
 the shield, and would then be defined as couped, that is, cut off at the ends, no matter what 
 the angles, and would then be termed a cross Saltire. .\s a general distinction a cross is 
 shown thus +, and a cross Saltire thus X. 
 
 Referring to the XL upon the reverse as indicating the value of this coin, forty sols, see foot 
 note 34. 
 
 31. Motley, R. D. R., I. 172; 419, gueux. 
 
 32. Ibid.. II. 479. 
 
 33. Ibid., II. 480. 
 
32 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 besieged without the permission of the besiegers. In this way the city had soon been reduced 
 to the last extremity and finally compelled to submit to the Accord just mentioned by me. In 
 order to cover the necessary expenditures during the blockade the people of Amsterdam had, by 
 special letters written in the name of the King, obtained permission to borrow money upon 
 interest. But these sums proved insufficient for their needs, which, by the length of the siege, 
 were from day to day rendered greater and more pressing. In this urgent necessity the Magis- 
 trate had, on the 6th day of December of the previous year, caused a silver Image of St. 
 Nicholas, honored as a patron saint of the City, to be melted. This piece weighed fifty-three 
 marks and had cost two hundred francs to make, which, altogether, constituted a rather consid- 
 erable amount according to the rate of exchange of silver at that time, when a gold ducat, 
 which at present is worth more than one hundred sols, was worth only forty-eight sols. 
 
 Of this melted silver, in the month of August of the following year, four different kinds 
 of necessity coins were struck of five, ten, twenty and forty sols'** respectively. On the third 
 of February the value of these pieces was raised by a fifth, so that those which had been worth 
 only forty sols then passed for fifty sols, and the other pieces in proportion. Moreover, in order 
 to insure their being received at that rate by commerce, the Magistrate promised to exchange 
 them at the same price within the space of one year. 
 
 On p. 249 these coins are given in order. 
 
 The " Accord " of February 8th gave the Patriots nominal posses- 
 sion of Amsterdam, yet the magistracy remained Roman Catholic, and 
 fears were entertained that this would lead to treachery on their part. 
 Arrangement was consequently made to depose these city fathers, which 
 was successfully brought about under the leadership of William Bardez.^^ 
 Thus the tables were " turned forever in the capital of Holland, and the 
 Reformation was an established fact throughout that little province."^* 
 
 In conformity with this change of government and religion, the 
 seven Northern Provinces attained a " marvellous development," — so 
 
 34. See conclusion of foot note 30, referring to this coin at the time of the siege of Amsterdam; 
 
 showing, on the reverse, the Arms of Amsterdam correctly engraved. 
 
 35. Motley, II. 481; 487, 4S8. See interesting picture of the Expulsion from Amsterdam, Vol. II., 
 
 Commelin, 1072. Trans. Inscrip., The picture shows how the magistrates and churchmen 
 of the City of Amsterdam were conducted on the ship on the 26 of May, 1578. 
 
 36. Motley, R. D. R., II. 489. 
 
Plate IV 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 /* 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 33 
 
 characterized by Frederic Harrison upon quoting from the brilliant 
 Essay of Voltaire. 
 
 The Dutch East India Company was chartered March 20, 1602, by 
 the States-General of the United Provinces, and at the expiration of the 
 twelve year truce-' with Spain in 1621 the West India Company was 
 likewise incorporated, June 3, 1621 — June 21, 1623. It was in this 
 latter year that "New Netherland," comprising the territory in America 
 of the Dutch claim under the discovery of 1609, ^^s erected into a 
 Province and granted a seal, by the States-General.^^ 
 
 Plate IV. 
 
 A photograph of this seal was made in the State Library prior to 
 March 29, 191 1, when the original was destroyed in the State House fire 
 of that date, of which the foregoing is a reproduction : 
 
 This Seal can be described only as a Seal, in some such way as this : 
 
 On a Shield a beaver in bend, with a border charged with fifteen 
 line-connected things, possibly pieces of Indian wampum, all partly 
 surrounded by a narrow twisted cord terminating at the crest, and by the 
 motto SiGiLLUM Novi Belgii. 
 
 Crest, a Count's Coronet between single stars. The whole fully 
 inclosed by a foliated rim defining the seal. 
 
 37. Ibid., United Neth., chap, lii; April 9, i6og. 
 3S. Brodhead, H. S. N. Y., I. 14S. 
 
34 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 By removing the outer rim, the motto and the twisted cord, the 
 remainder would constitute the Arms of the Province, 
 
 A Seal is used only to make an impression upon wax or paper and 
 of course has no colors. Arms, upon the other hand, are expressed in 
 metals and colors.^' There is, at this late day, no means of determining 
 what colors should be used in blazoning the New Netherland Arms. 
 The only course to pursue is to refrain from the use of color or metal in 
 this instance. 
 
 The steps taken in the settlement of "Amsterdam in New Nether- 
 land " by the Dutch cannot be traced here, we are concerned only with 
 the insignia. 
 
 In the History of the State of New York, by John Romeyn 
 Brodhead, First Ed., Harper & Bros., N. Y., 1859, vol. I, 148, reference 
 is made to the Seal of the Province of New Netherland, and on page 
 596 it is stated that upon a proposed visit by Governor Stuyvesant to 
 the West Indies for the purpose of establishing a trade with those islands, 
 "A gay repast was given to him at the City Hall, where he delivered to 
 the presiding burgomaster, Martin Kregier,*° the painted Coat of Arms, 
 
 39. See foot note 30. 
 
 40. In this connection Mr. van Laer, under date of June I, 1909, kindly furnished the writer 
 
 with the following, which may be of interest to a Dutch reader: 
 
 There is a reference to these Arms in a paragraph which appears between two statements regard- 
 ing the election of new magistrates for the city. The translation of the entry is in 7:an der 
 Kemp, 9:298; but I shall here quote the original and then append my own translation: 
 
 "Vorder is door den H'- C'- aen de presideerende burgerm'- martin Crigier overgelevert het 
 geschilderde en het segel wapen deser steede N: amsterdam, neffens 't singnet gcsneden In 
 silver, door de E. Heeren bewinthebberen met het schip de peereboom gesonden, aldus 
 gedaen Jnt fort amsterdam Jn nieu Nederlant adij S decemb. @. . 1634:-' 
 
The Civic Ancestry of Neiv York 35 
 
 the Seal, and the Silver Signet of New Amsterdam, which had just 
 been received from the directors in Holland." This was on Decem- 
 ber 8, 1654. The Coat of Arms has been lost, and with it all certain 
 knowledge of the color blazon. The writer has had the great good 
 fortune to find wax impressions of the Seal and of the Silver Signet. 
 
 Translation — Further, the Hon. Cleneral delivered to the presiding burgomaster, Martin Crigier, 
 the painted arms and the seal of this city of Xew Amsterdam, together with the signet cut 
 in silver, sent by the Hon. Directors in the ship the Peartree. Thus done in Fort .\mster- 
 dam, in New Netherland, this day the 8th of December, 1654. 
 
 The other references to van der Kemp. 4.:I36; S:gS; and 4:151, correspond to N. Y. Col. Mss., 
 12:3, 6, and 9, for the originals. The items to which O'Callaghan has reference read as 
 follows: 
 
 12:3 — "Ten vierden, is by ons goet gevonden, dat voorde Stat Xieu Amsterdam een Zegel sal 
 werden beraemt ende ouergesonden." 
 
 Translation — Fourth, we have decided that a Seal for the City of New Amsterdam shall be pre- 
 pared and sent over. 
 
 12:6 — Extracts from letter of Burgomaster and Schepens of New Amsterdam to Directors of the 
 West India Company, with reply. May iS, 1654. Pray for authority to acknowledge deeds, 
 etc., and request: 
 
 "dat dien volgens hun toegesonden magh worden, een Stadts Zegel, verscheijde van landts 
 Zegel." 
 
 Translation — That therefore a city seal may be sent to them, different from the seal of the 
 province. 
 
 Answer: "Tot het maecken van een Stadts Zegel is ordre gegeven." — Order has been given for 
 making a city seal. 
 
 12:9 — Letter from the Directors to Stuyvesant, July 30, 1654: 
 
 " Onse laeste missive (mettet schip de peereboom ouer 11 a 12 dagen Zee genomen). . . ." 
 — Our last letter (sent by the ship Peartree, which put to sea more than 11 or 12 days ago). 
 
 As to the original impression of the city seal, mentioned by O'Callaghan in Doc. Hist. 3:397, 
 I have again e.xamined our volumes of correspondence, from 1654 to 1664, for any letter 
 from the Burgomaster and Schepens bearing this seal. I have not found any such impres- 
 sion. It is quite possible that O'Callaghan found the impression among other papers than 
 those which are at present in this office, or else that the particular document has disappeared, 
 as several papers in the Secretary of State's office have done. 
 
 It may, perhaps, be of interest to you to know that Van der Donck's Beschryvinge van Nieuw- 
 Nederlant, printed in 1656, shows on the title-page the arms of the city of New Amsterdam. 
 The design is in a general way like that in the Documentary History: but the beaver faces 
 the other way, the mantling varies and the inscription is omitted. O'Callaghan is undoubt- 
 edly wrong in his blazon of the shield. 
 
36 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 The document upon which the seal was found by the writer 
 appears in 
 
 Plate V. An enlargement of the Seal in Plate VI. 
 
 Dr. W. R. Veder, Archivist of Amsterdam, Holland, at the writer's 
 request, made a translation of this very interesting document, and at Mr. 
 Veder's suggestion his translation was submitted to Mr. A. J. F. van 
 Laer, State Archivist, Albany, New York, who very kindly undertook a 
 
 revision, and as thus perfected is given as follows : 
 
 We, the underwritten, Schepens of the city of Amsterdam in New Netherland, 
 declare hereby that before us came and appeared Abraham verplanck, citizen and inhabitant of this 
 city, who declared that he conveyed and made over to and for the behoof of the Reverend 
 Johannes Megapolensis, minister ot the Holy Gospel here, a certain lot lying within this afore- 
 said city, on the north side of Fort Amsterdam and on the west side of the public highway, 
 bounded on the south side by the lot sold and transferred by the said grantor to Dirck bensich 
 and by the latter to the aforesaid Domine Johannes Megapolensis, on the east side by the common 
 highway, on the north side by the lot of Jannetin sabyns, and on the west side by the river; 
 being in width, in front along the road, four rods, three feet and one and one-half inches, and 
 in the rear, on the west side, four rods and ten and one-half feet; in length, on the north side, 
 twelve rods and four feet, and on the south side, nine rods and five feet, according to the 
 measurement taken by the court messenger on the 21st. ot August last past, and this by virtue of 
 a deed of conveyance from Jacob jacobsz Rooy to the aforesaid Abraham verplanck, under date 
 of the 13th. of August 1649, according to the patent granted on the 3d. of July 1643; which 
 aforesaid lot, he, Abraham verplanck, declared that he conveyed and transferred to the said 
 Domine Johannes Megapolensis in true and lawful ownership, with all such claims, right and 
 title as he, the grantor, has exercised, enjoyed and possessed over and to the same, and desisting 
 therefore from all claims, rights and pretence of ownership which by him, the grantor, or by 
 any one in his name, might be asserted to or upon the said lot, as he acknowledges that he has 
 been fully compensated and paid therefor, promising also that he will free the said lot from all 
 opposition and claims which might be brought for!h against it by any one (except however the 
 lord's right), declaring furthermore that he will keep, hold as binding and irrevocable, fulfil and 
 execute this, his deed and conveyance, under the pledges provided by law. In testimony 
 whereof, the original hereof, entered in the protocol at the office of the secretary of this city, 
 has been signed by the grantor Abraham verplanck together with the Honorable Schepens Jacob 
 Strijckcr and jan vingc, this 21st. of January 1656, at Amsterdam in New Netherland, and the 
 present instrument is confirmed by the city's seal hereto affixed. 
 
 ( ) Agrees with the protocol aforesaid. 
 
 I S Jacob Kip, Secretary. 
 
 Inscription : — Sigillum Amstelodamensis in Novo Belgio. 
 [Actual size of the above seal i ^ inches diameter.] 
 

 
 M 
 
 l5^^>' 
 
 
 J 
 
 <i 
 
 •^ y > ^jw > c y 
 
 cA2 
 
 
 5^ 
 
 
 
 5^ 
 
 ■^1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^r^ 
 
 
 
 
 . * ^^^ 
 
 \j 
 
 1 
 
 ^ 
 
Plate VI 
 
 .H^^'^ 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 37 
 
 Plate VTT. 
 
 The writer offers the accompanying color blazon of the Arms 
 of this seal, giving such reasons for it as may or may not be satis- 
 factory to whoever should be better versed. 
 
 It will be seen that the name of the city was " Amsterdam in New 
 Netherland." By inspection it is settled that these Arms did not have 
 Supporters ; it also appears that, as to the shield, it differed only from that 
 of the parent ^Amsterdam by the addition of a line on each side of the pale. 
 The question then arises, What do these lines mean? There are many 
 examples in the books where the engraver, prior to 1654, has added 
 these lines in the shield of old Amsterdam, filling in the space between 
 the lines and the pale with dots to indicate a medal — gold. This was 
 done without warrant, but evidently in an attempt to correct the false 
 Heraldry. In preparing the above seal the engraver, in Holland, 
 probably sought to correct and did correct the error of three centuries 
 and so avoided placing color upon color. As the lines of the shield of 
 old Amsterdam were so closely followed why then not the principal 
 colors as well ! Indeed, there has been no change in the colors in the 
 shield of Amsterdam (Holland), they still remain as shown in Plate III, 
 a black pale charged with three silver crosses, upon a red field. A change 
 has been made in the shape of the crown forming the Crest, but with this 
 we have nothing to do. 
 
 There is another mistake that should be mentioned. It came about 
 in a very singular wav. Some time prior to the accidental discovery by the 
 
38 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 writer of the Verplanck paper in the Archives of the New York Historical 
 Society fruitless inquiry had been made, especially of Mr. Veder and 
 Mr. van Laer. In a letter to Mr. Veder his attention was drawn to the 
 engraving upon the title page of van der Donck's New Netherland as the 
 only known representation of the seal in this country, Mr. Veder knew of 
 no other. Mr. van Laer could afford no additional information. And so 
 it happened that the beautifully engrossed copy of the Resolutions of the 
 Dutch Committee of the Hudson-Fulton Tercentenary celebration in 
 New York, shows the Arms of Amsterdam in New Netherland with 
 supporters and the beaver Crest turned the wrong way. In Amsterdam 
 they knew only the erroneous van der Donck cut and proceeded to 
 amplify it, as shown in the " Resolutions," now exhibited in the rooms 
 of the New York Historical Society. This incident is mentioned, not to 
 criticise the work of the Amsterdam Committee, only to correct an 
 inadvertent mistake. 
 
 As to the crosses upon the pale : 
 
 There can be no doubt they were silver, quite properly laid upon 
 the black pale. The question of their description is discussed in 
 foot note 30. 
 
 Following what has been said, a reading of the color blazon may be 
 framed thus : 
 
 Paly, one-quarter dexter and one-quarter sinister, ^«/<?j, the remaining 
 half, or, on a pale sable three crosses saltire couped argent. 
 
Plate Vni 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 39 
 
 Over Shield, Distinct 
 
 A Shield, bearing the insignia of the West India Company with the 
 flag" of the Netherland Republic, consisting of three horizontal stripes, 
 the uppermost, orange, then white and blue, dependent from either side. 
 
 Plate VIII. 
 
 The Silver Signet of December 8, 1654 
 
 Mr. van Laer found, among the Rensselaerswyck Manuscripts in 
 the State Library, a letter of Oloff Stevensen van Cortlant to his 
 daughter Maria, widow of Jeremias van Rensselaer, dated N. Yorck, 
 Jan. 16, 1678, and sealed with the Signet of Amsterdam, in New 
 Netherland. The wax impression was imperfect. The Signet may 
 have measured about three quarters of an inch in diameter — say half 
 the size of the Seal. At the time of the English occupation in 1664 the 
 Signet probably remained in the possession of burgomaster van Cort- 
 lant. In the fire of March 29, 191 1, the impression was destroyed 
 and the letter badly damaged. Up to this time neither the Signet nor 
 
 41. Replying to a letter of inquiry, Jonkheer Dr. Th. H. F. van Riemsdijk, Keeper of the State 
 Archives, The Hague, writes: 
 " That the question of the colours of our national flag, in various epochs of our history, is carefully 
 discussed by Mr. C. deWaard, in his excellent book, " De Xederlandsche Vlag." (Groningen, 
 I. B. Wolters, 1900.) From de Waard's researches it would follow that between 1572 and 
 1630, the colours of the flag were orange, white, blue; between 1630 and 1664, either 
 orange, white, blue, or red, white, blue; after 1664, always red, white, blue." 
 A very interesting account is given by Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic, II. 25 ; of the 
 capture of Brill, April i, 1572, by the redoubtable Treslong and De la Marck, when "the 
 
 foundation of the Dutch Republic was laid The Admiral, in the name of the 
 
 Prince of Orange, as lawful stadholder of Philip, took formal possession." The words "of 
 Philip" were even at that time ironic. It is only necessary to add that the colors of the 
 Prince of Orange were orange, white, blue. It is a thousand pities that the orange was ever 
 changed to red. 
 
40 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 other impression of it has been found. Fortunately, in contemplation 
 of this work, the writer secured photographs of the Signet impression 
 and of the pendent Great Seals of the State of 1777 and 1798, which 
 are reproduced here. All of these were destroyed in the fire. 
 
 Plate IX. 
 
 Seal of Amsterdam in New Netherland 
 Used by Burgomaster Martin Cregier in 1659 
 
 Translation 
 
 [By Mr. Dingman Versteeg and Mr. L. P. de Boer] 
 
 CoRNELis jANSEN VAN HooRN has obtained the Small Citizenship and the benefits of it according 
 to privilege, and taken the citizens oath. 
 
 In witness of which this has been confirmed with the city seal impressed underneath. 
 
 Done in Amsterdam in New Netherland the 20th of Dec. A° 1659. 
 
 / <— ^— < , Martin Cregier 
 
 ] Seal t 
 
 This was found, by the writer, quite recently, in the possession of 
 the Title Guarantee and Trust Company, of New York. Permission 
 was kindly given to photograph. 
 
 No doubt of the authenticity of the document, or of the seal 
 impression, can possibly exist. Martin Cregier^' was, in 1659, a burgo- 
 
 42. Hist. State of N. V., by John Romeyn Brodhead, First Period, Harper & Bros., 1S53, p. 548, 
 Stuyvesant appoints Arendt van Hattem iv: Martin Kregier burgomasters, and Jacob Kip 
 Secretary, February 2, 1653, etc, 
 
 Holland Documents, Vol. I. 549; 
 
 Captain Martin Krygier and others to the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, Done at New Amster- 
 dam in New Netherland, this 30 December, A° 1653. 
 
 Docs. Rel. to the Colonial Hist, of the State of N. Y., by John Romeyn Brodhead, Harper & 
 Bros., 1856, vol. I. 646: The Burgomasters and Regents of the City of Amstelredamme 
 (Holland) appoint Martyn Kryger Captain of a Company of soldiers to be sent to their 
 Colonic in New Netherland, Dec. 5, 1656. Impression of City Seal in green wax. 
 
Plate IX 
 
 //^^^ ym J^^rn^^ 
 
 ^^I ^V-'^S -'~t-^?>^^ >>^-N*-^ f-U^rV^ S^ty^-i^ 
 
 — \ ir-v" 
 
 fiw'^v 
 
 •'/ 
 
Plate X 
 
Plate XI 
 
 P 
 
 Beschryvinge / 
 
 Van., ^,vl::ri:^ 
 
 NIEUVV- nederlant> 
 
 ( (I5ljclijf It i)tt tegrntooo2Diglj in ^tact is ) 
 
 Begrijpendc dc Namre, Acre, gclcgcnthcyt en vmchc- 
 baerhcy t van hct felvc Lane ; micfgadcrs dc proffijtclijckc cn- 
 de gcwcnllc tocvallen, die aldaer tot ondcrhout dcr Menfchcn , (foo 
 uychacr Iclven aJs van buytca ingcbrjchc ) gevondcnworden. 
 
 A L s M E D E 
 
 Dcuianlere en onsfjemernt epgenfcljappeu 
 
 UnnDc nullum oftc iJ5aturcilniUnnDni2nnDc. 
 
 Ecn byfonder verhacl vandcn wonderlijckcn Aert 
 
 ende hct Wecfcn dcr B E V E R S , 
 
 Daer Noch Rr Gevoeght Is 
 
 €m «Difcour£( oUrr Dc ge Itgcntfjcpt ban Nieuw Nedcrlandc , 
 
 UllTffKn ttn Nedcrlandts Falriot , CIUJC CCn_ 
 Nicuw Ncdcrlander. 
 
 "Befchrtven dotr 
 
 AD R I A E N vander 
 
 Bcyder Rcchtcn Doftoor, die ti^gt^^nwoor- 
 digh noch in Nieuw Nederlant ] 
 
 itU^^'^^ 
 
 «: 
 
 ^^ 
 
 M S T E L D 
 
 ^p Evert Nicuwenhof, 23ofcb-berfeooper/ tooomtitttop't 
 
 Huflondt In 't i^tfci^f-boctfe / Anno I 6 f f , 
 
2' he Civic Ancestry of Neiu Tork 41 
 
 master of Amsterdam in New Netherland, and possessed, as such, 
 authority to use the city seal. The fact that the insignia of the West 
 India Company was suppressed cannot be attributed to accident. 
 
 This document came into the possession ot the company by gift. 
 It had come down with a land title. In all probability the seal impression 
 is the only one now in existence. It is needless to add — this was a verv 
 fortunate discovery. 
 
 Plate X. 
 
 Seal as it appears on the Dutch Resolutions now in the Library 
 of the New York Historical Society, as already mentioned, p. 38. 
 
 Plate XI. 
 
 This title page of the Description of New Netherland, by 
 Adriaen van der Donck, LL.D.,^' is given in reference to the preced- 
 ing plate. There were two editions of this work. The first in 1655, 
 in which year the author died ; the second, containing the so highly 
 prized " View of Nieuw Amsterdam," etc., appeared the next year. 
 
 This completes the Dutch period. 
 
 Contributions for the Genealogies of the first settlers of the Ancient County of Albany, From 
 
 1630 to 1800 by Prof. Jonathan Pierson, 1S72, p. 35: 
 Cregier (Kregier) Capt. Martyn, First burgomaster of New Amsterdam; a fearless and skillful 
 
 military leader and an exemplary magistrate. 
 Valentine, Hist. City of N. Y.. 1853, p. 98: 
 Martin Crigier, one of the earliest emigrants of this city and the original grantee of the property 
 
 ne.Kt to Mrs. Kocks who owned property cor. Broadway & Battery place. West side, which was 
 
 patented to him in 1643, but had not been built upon until 1659, after which he resided on 
 
 this spot. 
 43. Hist. State of N. V., Brodhead, vol. I. pp. 341-541, etc. .See Pepys' Diary, (Sep. 29, 1664,) 
 Note 2. Wheatley Edition. Ibid., (Oct. iS, 1664) Ibid., (April S, 1665.) 
 
42 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 English Period 
 
 The Seals of the Province and City of New York of the EngHsh 
 Period are represented by engravings in the various Editions of the New 
 York State Civil List, of easv reference in the New York Historical 
 Society or the New York Public Library. In the latter, consult also the 
 Emmet Collection. 
 
 James Duke of York derived his title to the territory which included 
 the Province of New Netherland, by grant from his brother Charles II, 
 in 1664. 
 
 Vol. VI, Records New Amsterdam, Edited by Berthold Fernow, pp. 196—200. 
 
 Att a Mayors Court held at New Yorke Octobr the 5th A° 1669. Present Mr Corn : 
 Steenwyck, Mayor ; Mr Ralph Whitefield, M' Matthyas Nicolls, Mr Isaacq Bedloo, 
 Mf Johannes de peist'', Mf Nicol: d meyer, Alderm: Capt" Jno. Manning, Sheril' .... 
 Capt? Louelave appearing in Court, and declared that he Was Commanded by his honnr the Govern^ 
 to Present to the Worshipp" May! & Aldermen of this Corporation, a Letter from his honnour, 
 with a Seal for the Corporation, with a Silver Mace, and Seven Gownes for the Mayor Alderman & 
 Sherif, sent from his Roy all Highnesse to his honnf the GovT for to be presented to this Court; 
 W"^."" said Letter from his honn^ being opened and Read in open Court, jnthimatingas folio weth; — 
 
 Mr Mayor, and You the rest of the Aldermen — As a Perticular Testimony of his 
 R. Highnesse grace and fauour to this his Citty of New Yorke, I am Commanded to present 
 you from him, this Present Viz: a Publicq Scale for the Corporation, a Silver Mace, and (sueve») 
 Gownes both for the Mayor & Aldermen, and although he esteemes somme of these, but as the 
 Gayety and Circumstantial part of Government, Yet you may be assured, as to What is more 
 essential and Substantial!, itt shall receaue all encouragement and hartey assistance from him, and 
 I must further add, that haveing the honn' to be his Govern^ General in these parts, I doe 
 assure You that Wherein 1 may, any Way be Servicable to You, I shal Cheirefully apply my 
 mind to it, who professe no higher Cogitations than what shal tend to My Royal Masters 
 Intrest, and the Publicq Welfare of those Comitted to my Charge; Iff therefore You Will 
 Consider of Somme Methode for the better regulation of Yf Corporation and present it to me. 
 What I find reasonable and practicable I shall Willingly allow of, and What appeares above my 
 Strength I shal with the best Convenience transmit ouer to Receive his R: H: assent, from Whome 
 I doubte not, but you will have such Satisfaction, as is agreable to Yo' Necessetiesa nddesires, I haue 
 no more, but to Wish You all happinesse and an assurance that I am Yor afectionate friend and Servant 
 
 (:Signed) Fran : Louelace. 
 roRT James the 6th ot Octobf 1669. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 43 
 
 (:The Superscription) To the Maior & Aldermen of the Citty of New Yorclc 
 
 The aboues'! Letter of his honnr the Goucrnr being Read, the Worshipp'.' Mayor 
 Delivered to the Court a Lettf Received from his Royal Highnessc, and directed to the Mayor 
 Aldfmen and Inhabitants of New Yorke, Inthimating, Viz: 
 
 Gentlemen, I have received Yor Lettl" and addresse of 17th of August A" 1668 by the 
 hands of Collonel Richard Nicolls, Yof former Gouernr from whom I have also received a full 
 account of such Particulars as you referr to in Yol" Lettf In W''.'" as well as in all other things 
 you may rest assured that I will endeavour to promote Yof Welfare and prosperity, by W''.'' only 
 I can expect to find the advancement of my Interest With you I: am 
 
 Your Louing friend 
 St; James lothof July 1669. (Signed) James. 
 
 Superscription; To the Mayor Aldermen and Inhabitants of New York. 
 
 Which aboves'f Letter Likewise being Read in open Court, the Worshipp" Mayor ordered 
 that Proclamation should be made for the Withdrawing of the People out of the Court ; W";*" 
 being done the following order from his Royal Highnesse sent to his honn"" the Govern"'. Was 
 Presented to the Court by Capt" Nicolls and is Recorded by the Govern? order, Videllez' 
 
 I Seal j. 
 
 James Duke of Yorke and Albany, Earl of Ulster, Lord high Admirall of England and 
 Ireland, Constable of Douer Castle, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and Gouern' of 
 Pourtsmouth & ca. 
 
 Whereas I have thought fit to appoint two Scales" to be made, the one for the Province 
 and the other for the Corporation of New Yorke (: which I haue sent unto you bv Mr. 
 Thomas de Lauall) and to Direct that they shall be made use of uppon all Publicq Concern- 
 ments, both of the Province & Corporation afores? : 
 
 These are to authorize & require You, that from and after Yof receipts the said Scales, 
 you Cause the same and no others to be made use of uppon all occasions, for Sealing of 
 Warrants, Writs, Executions, Pattents, Graunts, and all other Publicq Acts and Instruments, 
 W"^!' any Waves Concerne either the Province or Corporation of New Yorke respectively. For 
 W"^? this shal be Yo'' Warrant : 
 
 Given under my hand and Scale at St : James this 4th of July 1669. 
 
 To ColIoneU Francis Louelace ^^'2""'^) ^'"^"• 
 
 my Govern' of New Yorke. j r u- d it- , 
 
 By Command of his Roy : Highnesse 
 
 This is a true Coppy transcribed by mee (Signed) M : Wren. 
 
 N : Bayard. Sec. 
 
 44. See Nos. 4 and 5, Paulding Seals, Plate XXVI, post. See also Illustration, "Duke of York, after- 
 ward James II, From a Rare Old Print," vol. 4. p. 280 Pepys' Diary (Dec. 5, 1664,) Wheatley 
 Edition. The arms of the Duke appear in the margin, Sigill • Prcvi.xc • Novi • Eborac, being 
 added as in Plate .\II. See also 4 and 5, Plate XXVI. and Appendix B. 
 
44 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Plate XII. 
 Seal to Dongan Charter (April 27. 1686). 
 
 Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York vol. I. [MS. MinutesJ, 
 1 67 5- 1 696. pp. 179-184. Petition presented to y* Governor in y'name of y" Mayof Aldermen 
 & Comonalty of y* Citty ffor a Charter. To the Right Honourable Coll Thomas Dongan Esb' 
 Liutenant & Governo' & vice admirall vnd' his Royall Highness James Duke of yorke & Albany 
 &c of Newyorke and dependencyes in America. The Humble petition of y" Mayo'' Aldermen and 
 Comonalty of y* Citty of Newyork. Sheweth That this Citty hath had and enjoyed several] 
 ancient Customes priviledges & Immunityes w'.'' were Confirmed & granted to them by Coll 
 Rich"! Nicholls late Governo' of this Province by .Authority vnd' his Royall Highness Anno 1665 
 who Incorparated y*" Inhabitants thereof New Harlem & all others Inhabiting on y*" Island man- 
 hattan whereon this Citty standeth as one body pollitique and Corporate vnder y'' Governm! of a 
 Mayo^ Aldermen & sherifFe in w"? manner it hath Continued in practice euer since and hath had 
 vsed and Injoyed y" Customes libertyes and priuiledges ffollowing, uiz'.. 
 
 1° That all y*' Inhabitants on y'' Island Manhatans was vnder y* Gouermn' of y' Citty or 
 Newyorke . . . . p. i8i. 12. That y" s'| Citty had a Common seale*^ to serue ffor y* 
 dealing of all & singular their affaires matters & buisenes touching y' s"? Corporation .... 
 
 Newyorke 9^" (November) y" g'.*" 1683. 
 
 The Charter, — granted pursuant to the foregoing petition, among 
 other things for a corporate seal, and known as the Dongan charter, — 
 was signed by Governor Dongan April 27, 1686, — and contained the 
 following provision: (Vol. I, p. 296, Printed Minutes.) 
 
 And that y« Said Mayor Aldermen & Commonality of y« Said City of New Yorke and 
 their Successors Shall and may for ever hereafter have one Common Seal to Serve for the Seal- 
 ing of all and singular their Affairs & Businesses touching or Concerning the said Corporation. 
 And itt Shall and may be Lawfull to and for the Said Mayor Aldermen & Commonality of the 
 Said Citty of New Yorke and their Successors as they Shall See Cause to breake, Change, Alter 
 and New Make their Said Common Seal when and as often as to them itt Shall Seem 
 Convenient 
 
 45. It appears that the seal here referred to is the same as impression No. 5 — Paulding Seals — post. 
 See Deed, The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the Citty of New Vorke to Anna Maria 
 van Home, 1692, Appendix B. 
 
Plate Xn 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 45 
 
 In Witness 1 have Caused these Presents to be Entered in y" Secretaries office, And y" 
 Scale of y': Said Province"' to be hitherto affixed this scaven and twentieth day of April In the 
 Second year of y'] Reign of his most Sacred Majesty Aforesaid And in the year of our Lord one 
 
 thousand Six hundred and Eighty six 
 
 (Signed) Thomas Dongan. 
 
 p. 179. Att a Comon Councell held in the Citty of Newyorke the 24th day of Jully 
 
 1686 The Mayo' Presented the new'" Scale of this Citty with this inscription, SiGiLLUM 
 
 CiviTAT : Novi : [Eborac] Which is agreed upon and ordered to be the Comon Scale of this 
 Citty .... 
 
 Revolutionary and State Period 
 Clinton Great Seal of the State of New York 
 
 Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of 
 Safety and Council of Safety of the State of New York, 1775-1776-1777. 
 Albany : 1842. 
 y , J City of New York, ) 
 
 ■' ■ April 20th 1775 f 
 
 The Deputies hereinafter named, from the following counties, assembled at the Exchange 
 in this city, for the purpose of forming a Provincial Convention, vizt : 
 
 Philip Livingston, Esquire, John Alsop, Esquire, James Duane, Esquire, John Jay, Esquire, 
 Colo. Leonard Lispenard, Mr. Francis Lewis, Mr. Abraham Walton, Mr. Isaac Roosevelt, Mr. 
 Alexander McDougall, and Mr. Abraham Brasicr — For the City and County of New Tork. 
 
 46. Documents relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York, ed. by E. B. O'Callaghan, 
 
 1854; vol. IV., pp. S11-S12. Extract of a letter from the Earl of Bellomont (then Colonial 
 Governor) to Secretary Popple, dated 2gth November, 1700 — Sir: . . . Besides all that, 
 it appears plainly the Charter of New Yorke is not a legal charter, for the Original I have 
 lately seen; 'tis sealed with the Duke of Yorke's seal, and neither the Great Seal of England 
 nor Seal of the Province, yet it bears date the 2d year of King James, so that the whole 
 foundation is wrong. In strickness this is no City, and all the judgments that have been 
 pass'd in their Mayor's Court are void; yet Colonel Dongan, I am told, and Mr. Graham 
 got a good sum of money for this Charter. 
 The learned Earl did not observe that the Seal was the Provincial Seal of 1669. — Brodhead, 
 Hist. State of N. Y.; Vol. II., p. 43S: "The Corporation of New York had for some time 
 desired a new charter from the King, confirming their old privileges, and granting to them 
 all the vacant land in and about the city. As Bayard, its mayor, was one of the Council, 
 and Graham its recorder and attorney-general of the province, a draft of the desired patent 
 was quickly submitted to the municipal authorities, who agreed to give Dongan ^^^300, and 
 Secretary Spragg ;^24, as their oflicial fees. The engrossed charter, having been read and 
 allowed in Council, was accordingly signed by the governor, who caused it to be sealed 
 with the Old Provincial Seal which the Duke of York had sent out to Lovelace in 1669, and 
 which was yet the only one that could be used." See Col. Docs., quoted above, vol. III., 
 p. 427; New Seal Prov. of N. Y., Aug. 14, 1687. See N. Y. S. Civil List. 
 
 47. No. I, Paulding Seals. Plate XXV^I, p. 63. 
 
46 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Colo. Philip Schuyler, Colo. Abraham Ten Broeck and Abraham Yates, Junr., Esquire — 
 For the City and County of Albany. 
 
 Charles D. Witt, George Clinton and Levy Pawling, Esqrs. — For Ulster County. 
 
 Colo. A. Hawkes Hay, Henry Wisner, Esquire, John Herring, Esquire, Mr. Peter 
 Clowes and Mr. Israel Seely — For Orange County. 
 
 Colo. Lewis Morris, John Thomas, Junr., Esquire, Robert Graham, Esquire, Major 
 Philip Van Cortlandt, Samuel Drake, Esquire and Mr. Stephen Ward — For West Chester 
 County. 
 
 Colo. Morris Graham, Major Robert R. Livingston, Junr. and Egbert Benson, Esquire — 
 For Dutches County. 
 
 Simon Boerum, Esquire, Capt. Richard Stillwell, Mr. Theodorus Polhemus, Mr. Denice 
 Denice and Mr. John Vander Bilt — For Kings County. 
 
 Colo. William Floyd, Colo. Nathaniel WoodhuU, Colo. Phineas Fanning, Thomas 
 Tredwell, Esquire, and John Sloss Hubbard [Hobart] Esquire — For Suffolk County. 
 
 Colo. Jacob Blackwell and Mr. John Talman — From Nezv Town and Flushing, in 
 Queens County. 
 
 The Convention unanimously chose Philip Livingston, Esquire, to be their President. 
 .... The Convention then unanimously elected John McKesson, Esquire, to be their Secre- 
 tary The credentials ot the several members were approved 
 
 DIE SABATTI, [11 hora, a.m.] 
 [Vol. I., 4] April 22nd. 1775. 
 
 The Convention assembled at the Exchange in New-York, pursuant to adjournment. 
 Present — Philip Livingston, Esquire, President. John Alsop Esquire, etc. etc. 
 
 Philip Livingston Esquire, James Duane, John Alsop, John Jay, Simon Boerum, William 
 Floyd, Henry Wisner, Philip Schuyler, George Clinton, Lewis Morris, Francis Lewis, and 
 Robert R. Livingston, Junr. Esquires, were unanimously elected Delegates to represent this 
 Colony in the next Continental Congress at Philadelphia on the tenth day of May next, 
 
 JOURNAL 
 
 of the 
 Provincial Congress 
 
 [Vol. I., 7] City of New-York ) 
 
 May 22nd. 1775 [ 
 
 A number of gentlemen. Deputies from several counties in this Colony, assembled at 
 the Exchange in the city of New-York, for the purpose of forming a Provincial Congress; but 
 as they conceived there were not a sufficient number of members, they agreed to meet here at 
 the Exchange to-morrow, at ten o'clock A.M. 
 
 At a meeting of a Provincial Congress for the Colonv ot New-York, at the Exchange 
 in the city of New-York, on Tuesday, the twenty-third day of May, 1775 — 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 47 
 
 The Deputies of a majority of the counties appearing, they proceeded to the choice of 
 the following officers, who were unanimously elected, vizt : 
 Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Esqr. President. 
 Volkert P. Douw, Esquire, l^ice-PresiJent. 
 John McKesson, Esqr, and ) „ ^ . 
 Mr. Robert Benson ) 
 
 Thomas Pcttit, Doorkeeper. 
 
 [The credentials of the Deputies were approved as follows:] 
 
 Isaac Low, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Alexander McDougall, Leonard Lispenard, 
 Joseph Hallett, Abraham Walton, Abraham Brasier, Isaac Roosevelt, John De Lancey, James 
 Beekman, Samuel Ver Planck, Richard Yates, David Clarkson, Thomas Smith, Benjamin 
 Kissam, John Morin Scott, John \'an Cortlandt, Jacobus Van Zandt, John Marston, George 
 Folliot, and Walter Franklin — C/Vy untl County of New York. 
 
 Robert Yates, Abraham Yates, Volkert P. Douw, Jacob Cuyler, Peter Silvester, Dirck 
 Swart, Walter Livingston, Robert Van Ranselacr, Henry Glenn, Abraham Ten Broeck, and 
 Francis Nicoll — City and County of Albany. 
 
 Dirck Brinckerhoff, Anthony Hoffman, Zephaniah Piatt, Richard Montgomerie, Ephraim 
 Paine, Gilbert Livingston, Jonathan Landon, Gysbert Schenck, Melancton Smith, Nathaniel 
 Sackett — Dutches County. 
 
 Colo. Johannes Hardenbergh, Colo. James Clinton, Egbert Dumond, Esqr. Charles 
 Clinton, Christopher Tappen, John Nicholson and Jacob Hoornbeek — Ulster County. 
 
 John Coe and David Pye — In Orange, Haverstraiv. 
 »Michael Jackson, Benjamin Tusteen, Peter Clowes and William Allison — Goshen. 
 
 Colo. Nathaniel Woodhull, John Sloss Hobart, Thomas Tredwell, John Foster, Ezra 
 L'hommedieu, Thomas Wickham, James Havens and Selah Strong — Suffolk County. 
 
 Governeur Morris, Lewis Graham, James Van Cortlandt, Stephen Ward, Joseph 
 Drake, Philip Van Cortlandt, James Holmes, David Dayton, John Thomas," Junr., Robert 
 Graham and William Paulding — West Chester county. 
 
 Henry Williams, Esqr., Jeremiah Remsen, Esqr. — Brooklyn in Kings county. 
 
 Paul Micheau, John Journey, Aaron Cortelyou, Richard Conner, Richard Lawrence — 
 
 Richmond County The following rules are agreed to, and resolved to be the rules of 
 
 this Congress vizt .... The Congress then adjourned till five o'clock p.m. 
 
 5 ho. P.M. May 23d. 
 The Congress met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Present — Peter V. Brugh Livingston, Esquire, President. 
 . . . . The Deputies for Orange Town produced a certificate .... whereby it appears 
 that Colo. Abraham Lent and John Herring, Esquire, were unanimously chosen Deputies to 
 represent them in this Provincial Congress, to be held at the city of New- York. 
 
 Ordered, That Colo. Abraham Lent, and John Herring, Esquire, take their seats. 
 
48 The Civic Ancestry of Neiv York 
 
 Mr. Isaac Low moved, (and was seconded by Mr. Morris,) that this Congress enter into 
 a resolution in the words following, vizt: 
 
 Resolved, As the opmion of this Congress, that implicit obedience ought to be paid to 
 every recommendation of the Continental Congress, for the general regulation of the associated 
 colonies; but that this Congress is competent to and ought freely to deliberate and determine on, 
 all matters relative to the internal police of this Colony. And debates arising thereon, Mr. 
 Scott (seconded by Mr. Clarkson) moved for the previous question, to wit: Whether the 
 question on Mr. Low's motion shall be now put? and the said previous question being put, was 
 determined in the following manner, vizt: 
 
 For the previous question . . . . 19. jigainst the previous question .... 2. 
 . . . . The Congress then adjourned to this place, at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. 
 
 At subsequent meetings of the Provincial Congress many additional 
 Deputies were admitted to seats. Each of these bodies — the Provincial 
 Convention and the Provincial Congress — made adjournments, from time 
 to time, during the continuance of which Committees of Safety were 
 appointed to act ; neither were they continuous organizations, new Depu- 
 ties succeeded in accordance with timely appointments by the people. 
 
 At a meeting of the Provincial Convention, at White Plains, July 
 
 10, 1776, General Nathaniel Woodhull, President — p. 5/9, Printed 
 
 Journals — the following Resolution was passed : 
 
 Resolved and Ordered, That the style or title of this House be changed from that of 
 "the Provincial Congress of the COLONY of New- York " to that of " the Convention of 
 THE Representatives of the STATE of New-York." 
 
 At a meeting of a Provincial Convention, 
 
 r,j , T 00 1 DIE MARTIS, 9 HO a.m. i 
 
 [Vol. I., 882] ... '• ^ \ 
 
 L J April 1 5. 1777. j 
 
 Pierre Van Cortlandt Presiding, the following resolution was adopted : 
 On motion of Mr Morris, 
 
 Resolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare and report a proper device for a great 
 seal of this State; and that Mr. Morris, Mr. Jay and Mr. Hobart be a committee for that purpose. 
 
 It does not appear that the committee ever made a report. 
 
 Vol. I., 891. A Constitution for the State of New York was 
 
 adopted April 20. 1777. At the same time Robert R. Livingston, 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 49 
 
 General Scott, Mr. Morris, Abraham Yates, Mr. Jay and Mr. Hobart, 
 
 were appointed a committee to prepare and report a plan for organizing 
 
 and establishing the government agreed to by the Convention, over 
 
 which Leonard Gansevoort had presided. 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE PROVINCIAL CONVENTION. 
 [Vol. I., 915-916] Die Jovis, p.m. 
 
 May 8. 1777. 
 
 The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Present — Genl. Ten Broeck, President 
 
 The plan for organizing government being finished, was read and agreed to, and is as 
 follows, to wit : 
 
 Whereas, until such time as the constitution and government of this State shall be fully 
 organized, it is necessary that some persons be vested with power to provide for the safety of the' 
 same. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That John Morin Scott, Robert R. Livingston, Christopher Tappen, Abraham 
 Yates, Junr., Governeur Morris, Zephaniah Piatt, John Jay, Charles De Witt, Robert Harper, 
 Jacob Cuyler, Thomas Tredwell, Pierre Van Cortlandt, Matthew Cantine, John Sloss Hobart 
 and Jonathan Tompkins, or the major part of them, be, and they hereby are, appointed a Coun- 
 cil of Safety, and invested with all the powers necessary for the safety and preservation of the 
 State, until a meeting of the Legislature: Provided, That the executive powers of the State 
 shall be vested in the Governor, as soon as he shall be chosen and admitted into office ; previous 
 to which admission, such Governor shall appear before the said Council, and take the oath of 
 allegiance ; and also the following oath of office, to be taken by the Governors and Lieutenant- 
 Governors of this State, to wit : . . . . 
 
 And Whereas many of the said officers are necessary, not only for the immediate execu- 
 tion of the laws of this State, and the distribution of justice, but also for the holding of such 
 elections as aforesaid. Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, That the following persons be, and they hereby are appointed within this State, 
 by authority of the same, to wit: That Robert R. Livingston be chancellor; John Jay, chief 
 justice; Robert Yates and John Sloss Hobart, puisne judges; and Egbert Benson, attorney- 
 general of this State. . . . 
 
 Tuesday Afternoon, May 13, 1777. 
 [Vol. I., 929.] 
 
 The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Present — Brigr. Genl. Ten Broeck, President. 
 
 . . . . Resolved and Ordered, That the Counsel of Safety do assemble at this place 
 to-morrow morning at nine o'clock. 
 
 The Convention then dissolved. 
 
50 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 
 [Vol. L, 933.] DIE MERCURII, to ho. a. m. 
 
 May 14, 1777. 
 The members of the Council of Safety met : 
 
 For want of another member to make a quorum, adjourned till four o'clock this after- 
 noon. 
 
 DIE MERCURII, 4 ho. pm., May 14. 1777. 
 . . . . Pierre \'an Cortlandt, Esquire, was unanimously elected President of the 
 Council. 
 
 [Vol. I., 990.] DIE MERCURII, 4 ho P M. July 9. 1777. 
 
 The Council met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Prayers as usual. 
 
 Present — Pierre Van Cortlandt Esqr. President. 
 
 .... This Council do therefore declare that George Clinton, Esquire, is duly elected 
 Governor of this State. And the said Council do further declare, that the said George Clinton 
 is also duly elected to be the Lieutenant-Governor of this State 
 
 General Clinton declined the latter office and Pierre Van Cortlandt 
 received the appointment. 
 
 DIE MERCURII 4 ho. P.M. July 16. 1777. 
 [Vol. I.. 997.] 
 
 The Council met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Present — Pierre Van Cortlandt. Esqr. President. 
 
 . . . . Resolved, That the Legislature of this State be convened to meet at Kingston, 
 
 in Ulster county, on the first day of August next 
 
 DIE MERCURII 10 ho a.m. 
 [Vol. I., 1021] July 30. 1777- 
 
 The Council met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Prayers as usual. 
 
 Present — Pierre \ an Cortlandt, Esqr. President. 
 . . . . His Excellency George Clinton, duly elected Governor of this State, appeared in 
 Council of Safety and took the oath of allegiance to the State, and also the oath of office of 
 Governor, as prescribed by the ordinance of the Convention of the Representatives of the said 
 State, made and passed the eighth of May last, for organizing and establishing the government 
 agreed to by the said Convention. The said oaths were administered by the President in 
 Council, and are subscribed on the roll by the Governor in Council. Thereupon the Council 
 of safety agreed and ordered a proclamation for declaring and proclaiming the Governor of this 
 State, in the words following, vizt : 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 51 
 
 In Council of Safety for thk State of New-York, \ 
 
 July 30. 1777 
 
 A PROCLAMATION 
 
 "Whereas His Excellency George Clinton, has been duly elected Governor of this State 
 of New- York, and hath this day qualified himself for the execution of his office, by taking in 
 this Council the oaths required by the constitution of this State, to enable him to exercise his 
 said office : 
 
 This Council doth, therefore, hereby, in the name and by the authority of the good 
 people of this State, proclaim and declare the said George Clinton, Esqr. Governor, General 
 and Commander-in-Chief of all the militia, and Admiral of the navy of this State, to whom 
 the good people of this State arc to pay all due obedience, according to the laws and constitution 
 
 thereof. 
 
 By order of the Council of Safety 
 
 PIERRE VAN CORTLANDT," President. 
 " God save the people " 
 
 [Vol. I., 1027.] DIE MARTIS 3 ho. P.M. Augt. 5, 1777. 
 
 The Council met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 Present — Pierre \'an Cortlandt, Esqr. President. 
 . . . . A message from His Excellency Governor Clinton, was read, and follows, in these 
 words, to wit : 
 
 " Gentlemen — .As the public emergencies render the meeting of the Legislature of the 
 State at this time extremely inexpedient, as will appear in some measure by the papers herewith 
 delivered you, I think it advisable to prorogue the Senate and Assembly until the 20th instant; 
 but as this can not be done in the accustomed form, for want of a great seal, I wish to have the 
 sentiments and advice of your Honorable Board, on the propriety under those circumstances, of 
 proroguing the Senate and Assembly by proclamation, under my hand and seal at arms. 
 
 " George Clinton. 
 
 Kingston, ^t/i August 1777. 
 
 . , . . His Excellency's said message was again read, and taken into consideration. 
 
 Thereupon, 
 
 Resolved, That though this Council cannot presume to intermeddle with the prorogation 
 itself, yet with respect to the form in which the same should be made, it is their sentiments and 
 advice, that considering the necessity of the case. His Excellency may safely make the prorogation 
 aforesaid, under his hand and seal at arms, without the danger of establishing any evil precedent. 
 . . . . Mr. McKesson, one of the Secretaries, brought into Council, His Excellency the 
 Governor's Proclamation, proroguing the Legislature of this State, under his hand and seal at 
 arms, which was so issued from the necessity of the case and for want of a great seal of the 
 
52 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 State. And the said secretary informed the Council that he received the said Proclamation from 
 his Excellency, who requested that it may be filed among the records and papers of this Council; 
 the same being read, is in the words following, vizt : 
 
 — .- — " By His Excellency George Clinton, Esqr. Governorof the State of New-York, 
 
 L S >■ General and Commander-in-Chief of all the Militia, and Admiral of the Navy 
 
 of the same. 
 
 A Proclamation. 
 
 Whereas the public emergencies do at this time render a meeting of the Legislature of 
 this State inexpedient, I do therefore by virtue of the authority reposed in me by the constitu- 
 tion thereof, prorogue the Senate and Assembly of this State, until the twentieth day of thb 
 instant, August, and the said Senate and Assembly are hereby prorogued until that day, of which 
 the people of this State are required to take notice and govern themselves accordingly. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal at arms at Kingston, in the county of 
 Ulster, this fifth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand 
 seven hundred and seventy-seven. 
 
 " Geo. Clinton. 
 " By His Excellency's command, 
 Stephen Lush, Secry. 
 
 " God save the People." 
 
 This draft of the Proclamation remained with the archives of the 
 Council of Safety in the State Library, Albany, until the time of the State 
 House fire, when it was destroyed. No photograph had been made, 
 as time had so far obliterated the impression of the small seal that a copy 
 was impossible. 
 
 Nor was this the onlv occasion upon which Governor Clinton used 
 his " seal at arms " as and for a great seal of the State. The menace of 
 the Burgoyne campaign induced the Governor to again issue a Proclama- 
 tion, under date of August i8, 1777, still further proroguing the Legisla- 
 ture to meet at Kingston on the ist proximo, when he again used his 
 " seal at arms." Another Proclamation, dated at Poughkeepsie, Decem- 
 ber 15, 1777, requiring the Legislature to meet at Poughkeepsie in 
 Duchess County on Monday, the fifth day of January, 1778, was 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 53 
 
 attested in the same way. When the Council of Safety was contem- 
 plating a final adjournment, at a session held on the loth of September, 
 1777, a confirmatory resolution was adopted as follows: 
 
 DIE MERCURU 10 ho am. 
 [v. i, 1059.] September 10. 1777 
 
 The Council met pursuant to adjournment. 
 Prayers as usual. 
 
 Present — Pierre Van Cortlandt Esqr. President. 
 . . . Resolved, That His Excellency the Governor, and Chancellor of this State, be 
 requested to devise and order to be made, a great seal for this State, and that in the mean time 
 the seal of the Governor be the great seal ot this State. 
 
 The Provincial Conventions and the Council of Safety were not 
 legislative bodies, they were temporary expedients. At the same time 
 they emanated directly from the people as did all acts of quasi legislation 
 prior to the first session of the Legislature on September 10, 1777. It 
 will, however, be observed that the Governor's Proclamation of Decem- 
 ber 15, 1777, like those issued before the organization of the Legislature, 
 was also attested under his hand and seal at arms. 
 
 Investigation has not extended so far as to determine what further 
 use, if any, the Governor made of his seal in that capacity prior to 
 March 16, 1778, when Arms and a Great Seal were adopted by the 
 Legislature. 
 
 Indefatigable search was, for a long time, made for the Governor's 
 seal, or an impression of it, but to no purpose until recently, when 
 a chance reference enabled the writer to find the long sought prize in 
 Albany."^ 
 
 48. The writer is indebted to Mr. Robert H. Kelby, Librarian of the N. Y. Hist. Soc. for this 
 reference. 
 
54 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Plate XIII. 
 
 Is a reproduction of the impression of the Governor's seal, actual 
 size, and enlarged. A color blazon, Plate XIV, appears as Frontispiece. 
 The impression, in wax, was made in 1766 when the Governor was 
 about 27 years of age and when he was practicing law in his native 
 County of Ulster, then of the Province of New York. 
 
 It has already been said that the Arms and the Great Seal of the State 
 of New York were legislatively provided under the Act of March 16, 1778: 
 
 Journal of the Assembly of the State of New-York. A.D. 1778. 
 
 George Clinton, Esq; Governor [Printed minutes: N. Y. Hist. Soc. p. 47] 
 
 Tuesday, 9 o'clock, a.m. February 10. 1778. 
 
 .... Mr. Benson, moved for Leave to bring in a Bill further to organize the 
 Government of this State. 
 
 Ordered, That Leave be given accordingly. 
 
 Mr. Benson according to Leave, brought in a Bill, entitled, " An Act further to organize 
 the Government of this State,'' which was read the first Time and ordered a second Reading. 
 
 Journal of the Senate of the State of New York, A. D. 1778. 
 
 George Clinton Esq; Governor. 
 
 Saturday Morning, February 14, 1778. [p. 59] 
 
 . . . . A Message from the Honorable the House of Assembly, by Mr. Ja\ and Mr. 
 IVilliams, with a Bill, entitled, "y/// Act further to organize the Government of this State"; 
 desiring the Coocurrencc of the Senate thereto; which was read the first Time, and ordered a 
 second Reading. 
 
 Laws of the State of New York, Passed in the first Session of the Senate and Assembly 
 of the said State, beginning the tenth day of September, 1777, and continued by Adjournments, 
 and ending with the last day of June, 1778. 
 
 Chap. XJL An Act further to organize the Government of this State. Passed the i6th 
 of March, 1778. 
 
 L . . . And Whereas, Arms have been devised for this State, and two several Seals 
 have been devised and made, one of the said Seals, as and for the Great Seal, and the other, as 
 and for the Privy Seal of this State, (and which said Seals arc now in the Custody and Posses- 
 sion of his Excellency the present Governor;) 
 
 IL Be it therefore further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That the said Arms and 
 Seals, shall severally be, and they are hereby respectively declared to be the Arms, the Great 
 
Plate Xin 
 
Plate XV 
 
.^ 
 
 SJ 
 
 ^^ 
 
 .i 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 -#^f^^ N\' 
 
 ^^•:T 
 
 
 I— I 
 
 V 
 
 ^, 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 55 
 
 Seal, and the Privy Seal of this State, That the Person administering the Government of this 
 State, for the Time being, shall have the Custody and Possession of the said Seals. That the 
 said Seal, hereby declared to be the Privy Seal, shall be the Seal for military Commissions ; 
 and all such Matters and Things as heretofore, while this State, as the Colony of New- Tork, 
 was subject to the Crown of Gmit-Britnin, were issued, under the Seal at Arms of the Governor 
 or Commander in Chief, of the Colony for the Time being, shall issue under the said Seal, 
 hereby declared to be the Privy Seal of this State. And that all such Matters and Things, as 
 heretofore, while this State, as the Colony of New- Tork, was subject to the Crown of Great- 
 Britain, were issued under the Cireat Seal of the Colony, shall in future, (the Proceedings in 
 the Court of Chancery hereinafter mentioned excepted) issued under the said Seal, hereby 
 declared to be the Great Seal of this State ; and shall be made out and entered of Record, in the 
 Office of the Secretary of the State, in the same Manner, as when this State, as the Colony of 
 New-Tork, was subject to the Crown of Great-Britain, the same were made out and entered 
 of Record, in the Office of the Secretary of the Colony. , . . 
 
 Plate XV. 
 The enlarged Arms disentangled from the letter T, is taken from 
 the print on the Commission of Andries Wilson, Gent", Plate XVI, 
 which also bears the Privy Seal, and is dated April 2, 1778. The Great 
 Seal, Plate XVII, although dated " 1777," was not used until after the 
 passage of the Act of March 1 6, 1 778, by which it was authorized together 
 with the Arms and Privy Seal. 
 
 The formation of the State of New York led to the adoption of new 
 insignia. We have seen here the names of many Hollanders who took 
 conspicuous part in the hazard of that day, some of these, doubtless, 
 possessed copies of Dutch works that were then, relatively, of recent 
 date — such as we have quoted — Pierre Bizot, Jean Le Clerc, Gerard van 
 Loon and others. The Rise of the Dutch Republic was the archetype 
 of our own Revolution, and, naturally enough, the rich pictorial records 
 of the Netherlands found renewed expression ; as the following examples 
 serve to exemplify: Plates XVIII, XIX. XX, XXI and XXII. 
 
1— ' 
 
Plate XVin 
 
Plate XIX 
 
 H I s r O I R E 
 
 ^Syyir Emunc )our du faiiicux Sac ci'Anvcrs, Doui 
 —— I Jean ci'Audrichc tils nature! de Charles Qumt, 
 J— 'ctoitarrivda laVilledc Luxembourg pour <::rc 
 GouvcrncurdesPays bas: Cc Prince nyanticmnigne' 
 qu'il defiroit lapaix, fcs Deputez &ccux dcs Ellats 
 s'afTcmblcrciit a Marchc en Famine Villc du Luxem- 
 bourg: Onytitlciz. Fcvrier i JTT- leTraitcapf'c!- 
 Ic PEdit perpetucl,quc Ic Prmce d'Orangc & les Elhis 
 d'HulIandc & dc Zelandc retufcrcnt dc figncr. Sui- 
 vantcc nouvcauTraitcqui confirmoit laPacification 
 dcGand, Ics TronpcsF.rpagnoles & Etrangercsfor- 
 tircnt dc Flandre , & Dom Jean tit (on cntrc a Bruxcl- 
 Ics le premier jour dc iMay. 
 
 Ch T TE Medaillc tut faitc en mil cinq ccns foixante & 
 
 dix-fept,cn mcmoirc dc la Paix deMarchc en Famine. 
 
 Lajulliccfur unTr6nc, ayanta fadroitelaPaixqui 
 
 tient un flanibeau , dont elle brulc des x^rmcs , 
 
 & a fa gauche I'abondancc. 
 
 JUSTITIA PaCEM , COPIAM PaX ATTULIT. 
 
 La Jujltce a produit 'a Paix , ^ la Faix l^abcndance. 
 REFERS. 
 La libcrtc tenant d'unc main une palmc avcc une dp^e 
 proche de laquclle il y a des chaincs & des fers brife?, , 
 elle tient de I'aHtre un chapeau,dont ellc couvre deux 
 rameauxd'olivier fonansd'unecouronnc, laquclle 
 ell foutcnuc d'un coeur,qui ell au dclfus de deux mains 
 jointcs enfcmblc , & au deflbus eii un Lion en repos- 
 
 VlNDlCATA LI BERT AS CONCORDIA. 
 
 La liberty ajjlirc'e par l\nicn. 
 
 ritfUMi 
 
 'mmmk 
 
Plate XX 
 
Plate XXI 
 
 CATION HiSlURICl 
 
 CLXVU 
 
Plate XXII 
 
 % 
 
 I. De eerfte voert op de voorayde Anjous borfteeld verfierd met den Hertoglyken mantel en 
 muts} in den rand Icelt men dccze nieuwc tytds: 
 
 FRANciscus, FiLius FRANciiE, FRAter UNICcs REGis, 
 DBf Gratia DUX BRAsANTiiE. 
 
 FRANCOIS, ZOON VAN FRANKRVK^ EEIflGE BROEDER DES 
 
 KONINGS, DOOR GODS GENJDE HERtOG 
 
 VAN BRABANT. 
 
 Op de achterzydc (laat zyn blazoen of zinnebeeld , zynde eenc Zon, die, naa 't verdry\'en der 
 wolken, het aardiyk met haare flraalen koeftertj onder decze byfpreuk: 
 
 /. "Deel. 
 
 FOVET ET DISCUTIT. 15-82. 
 
 ZY KOESTERT EN VERJAAGt, ifSz. 
 
 iiii 
 
 11. De 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 57 
 
 Plate XIX. 
 
 Mr, Edgar A. Harner, in a Note, p. 190, New York Civil List, 
 I 889-1 891, makes the following observation: 
 
 In the original Arms, 1778, the supporters are draped in short gown and petticoat accord- 
 ing to the Dutch fashion. On the supporters of the second Seal, 1798, the drapery is classic. 
 
 This statement is authenticated by the full page illustration from 
 p. 34, HisToiRE Metallique de La Hollande Par M' Bizot, already 
 quoted I, p. 28 herein. 
 
 Plate XX. 
 
 Plate XX is from Vol. IV., p. 46, Histoire Des Provinces-Unies 
 Des Pays-Bas, Par M!* Le Clerc, etc. See III, p. 30 herein. 
 
 Negotiations with the Duke of Anjou began as early as 1 573 and 
 had now resulted in his election as Governor of the Netherlands. Trans- 
 lated, the narrative of Le Clerc reads as follows: 
 
 The Duke of Anjou had gone to England in order to confirm with Queen Elizabeth the 
 treaty which she had made with the Provinces. Upon his return he took possession, at 
 Antwerp, of his new dignity on the condition of maintaining the People in their Privileges. It 
 was on this subject that the Medal LXXVI was struck : . . . . Francis son of 
 France and only brother of the King, By the Grace of God Duke of Brabant, &c. 
 Coi;nt of Flanders. On the other side, a Sun which dissipates the clouds with these words 
 It warms and it dissipates, and it was intended to express the hope that he 
 (the Duke) would maintain peace and allay their fears. But the joy which the People exhibited 
 at this ceremony was soon troubled by the accident which befel the Prince of Orange. The 
 Spaniards could not forgive him the Revolution which he had incited in the Pays-Bas : They 
 hired an assassin by the name of Jean Jauregui, a native of Biscay, who, on the I 8th. of March 
 1582"'" fired at him a pistol shot which, however, wounded the Prince but slightly in the head. 
 This is the subject of the Medal LXXVI I, on which, on one side, the action is represented 
 with the following words which perfectly express the disposition which the Spaniards entertained 
 
 52. Motley, R. D. R., II. 65S, Plate XX. 
 
58 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 against him . . . . It is by foul-play and not in fair field that one can attack 
 HIM. And on the other side one sees a King who stamps his foot as if he desired to express his 
 anger at the failure of the assassin in missing his aim ; one of the Councilors of the King ; and 
 one of his guards, with the following Legend: The treacherous will finally receive punish- 
 ment 
 
 Plate XXI is from p. 96, same Vol., last above. See post. 
 
 Plate XXII is from p. 309, Beschryving Der Nederlandsche 
 HisTORiPENNiNGEN : . . . . DooR Mf Gerard van Loon, E E Rste 
 Deel, In's Graavenhaage MDCCXXIII. 
 
 [N. Y. Pub. Lib. Stuart 1161, Vol. I, pp. 247, 254, 309, 311, 322, 332.] 
 
 It seems to be quite unnecessary to enter upon an extended explana- 
 tion of Plates XVIII, XIX, XX, XXI, and XXII. A comparison 
 with Plates XV, XVI, XVII, and XXV, cannot fail to convince the 
 reader that, so far as the present Arms and Great Seal of the State of 
 New York are concerned, their origin is Dutch. As to the Crest of the 
 State, as well as that of the City Arms, the little tell-tale tuft" on the head 
 of the Phoenix in Plate XXI, was reproduced by the engraver in Plates 
 XV and XVI, which also gives ground for placing the so-called Eagle 
 upon a semi-terrestrial globe. Suggestions for the Rock, upon the 
 reverse in Plate XVII, are numerous, especially on p. 247 of Mr. Van 
 Loon's work. 
 
 The reader will find, used as a vignette, on the title page hereof, the 
 second, counting from left to right upper row in Plate XXII; which 
 again compare with Plate XV — the meadow, waves, the two ships, 
 featured sun, etc. 
 
 53. See reference, p. 55, Nos. 3 and 6, Plate XXVI. 
 
X 
 
 ® 
 -p 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 59 
 
 In 1582 the Dutch vainly hoped for Hberty and peace, hence the 
 sun appeared dispelHng the clouds. 
 
 In our case the sun had not, in 1778, nor has it up to this time 
 now three centuries later than the Dutch sun, hurst in full splendor. 
 Our sun has yet to shine, like the proverbial gentle dew from heaven, 
 upon all alike. Even at the present day, see plate XXV^, the rays are 
 partly obscured by the mountain top. 
 
 Plate XXIII. 
 
 This Great Seal of the State of New York was authorized by 
 Act of January 26, 1798. [Pam. Laws N. Y. 179B.] Like the Great 
 Seal, 1777, it was a pendent seal, and was recorded January 22, 1799. 
 This seal and the preceding one bearing the figures 1777, were the 
 onlv pendent seals. All the others are surface seals, that is they 
 have no reverse. Here the supporters have exchanged sides. Justice 
 appears on the dexter and Liberty on the sinister side. The drapery of 
 the figures is changed — the petticoat and short-gown disappear. The 
 Crest is correctly given — the head of the eagle turning toward the dexter 
 side. The reverse follows the reverse of the preceding seal. The word 
 Frustra is retained and the inscriptions, with the new date. 
 
 The originals, reproduced in Plates XVII and XXIII, together 
 with all the others less perfect, were destroyed in the State House fire. 
 Photographs were made for the writer just before this unfortunate 
 occurrence, and these are all that now remain of that celebrated collection. 
 At the time the photographs were taken the writer also made copies of 
 
6o The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 the documents to which these seals were attached. The document 
 authenticated by the "1777" seal, in its entirety, read as follows; in 
 writing at the top : 
 
 " The People of the State of New York, By the Grace of God free and Independent. 
 To all to whom these presents shall come Greeting. Know Ye that we having Inspected the 
 Records remaining in our Secretary's Office do find there Recorded in Book of Military 
 Patents N? 5 page 378 certain Letters patent in the words and figures following vis!" 
 
 Then follows in the printed form: 
 
 "The People of the State of New York, By the Grace of God, Free and Inde- 
 pendent : To All to whom these Presents shall come. Greeting : Know Ye, that, in pursuance 
 of an act of our legislature, passed the 6th day of April, one thousand seven hundred and 
 ninety; entitled, "an act to carry into effect the concurrent resolutions, and acts of the legislature 
 for granting certain lands, promised to be given as bounty lands, and for other purposes therein 
 mentioned," We Have Given, Granted, and Confirmed, and bv these Presents, Do Give, 
 Grant, and Confirm unto Hugh McCalley, All that certain tract or lot of land situate, lying 
 and being in the County of Montgomery and in the Township of Aurelius known and 
 distinguished on a map of the said Township (filed by our Surveyor General, in our Secretary's 
 Office, agreeable to law) by lot number Ninety Eight Containing Six hundred acres Toc;ether 
 with all and singular the rights, hereditaments and appurtenances to the same belonging, or in 
 any way appurtaining ; Excepting and Reserving to ourselves all gold and silver mines and also 
 five acres of every hundred acres of the said tract or lot of land for highways : To Have and 
 to Hold the above described and granted premises, unto the said Hugh McCalley his heirs and 
 assigns, as a good and indefeasible estate of inheritance, for ever. On Condition ne\erless, that 
 within the term ot seven years, to be computed from the first day ot January, next ensuing the 
 date hereof, there shall be one actual settlement made on the said tract or lot of land, hereby 
 granted, otherwise these our Letters Patent, and the estate hereby granted, shall cease, determine, 
 and become void. 
 
 In Testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent, and the Great 
 Seal of our said State to be hereunto affixed. Witness our trusty and well beloved George Clinton, 
 Esquire, Governor of our said State, General and Commander-in-Chief of all the Militia, and 
 Admiral of the Navy of the same, at our City of New York, this Seventh day of July in the year 
 of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety and in the fifteenth year of our Independence. 
 
 Approved by the Commissioners of the 
 
 Land Office, and passed the Secretary's Geo: Clinton. 
 
 Office the l8th day of December 1790 
 
 Robt Harpur D Seer? 
 Examined and compared with the 
 original By me Robt Harpur D Seer?" 
 
The Civic Alice stry of New Tork 6i 
 
 All of which Wc have exemplified by these presents. 
 
 In Testimony whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made patent, and the Great 
 Seal of our said State to be hereunto affixed : 
 
 Witness our trusty and well beloved John Jay Esquire Governor and Commander-in- . 
 Chief of all the Militia and Admiral of the Navy of the same, at our City of New York this 
 twenty sixth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety six 
 and in the twentieth Year of our Independence. 
 
 John Jay. 
 
 There appears on the back the following : 
 
 " Passed the Secretary's Office 
 the 26th day of August 1796. 
 Jasper Hopper 
 
 D Secrr" 
 
 Also : 
 
 "Secretary's Office of the State of New York, August 29th 1796 — I do hereby certify 
 that on the Ninth day of December one thousand seven hundred and ninety application was 
 made for the within recited Letters patent by Stephen N. Bayard and that the same was there- 
 upon made out and delivered to him accordingly as appears by a memorandum of Delivery of 
 Military patents in this office. 
 
 Jasper Hopper 
 
 D Secrr" 
 
 The foregoing transcript was sealed with the pendent Seal of " 1 777." 
 Another Patent, by " The People of the State of New York. " 
 To Philip Kelch, for Lot No. 56, Township of Sterling in the Military 
 Tract, " Beginning," etc. The description is by metes and bounds, the 
 number of acres not given. Signed by Daniel D. Tompkins Esquire, 
 Governor, etc., at Albany. Dated March 31, 1809, Thirty-third of 
 Independence. 
 
 This was sealed with the pendent Seal of" 1798." 
 
62 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 Plate XXIV. 
 
 This Great Seal is from the photograph of an engraving of the 
 seal in the New York Civil List, and is passed without comment. 
 The seal was authorized by Act of March 27, 1809. 
 
 Plate XXV. 
 The Arms of the State of New York as now (1913) in use 
 
 In the year 1879 an attempt was made to ascertain what were the 
 'Correct Arms of the State of New York,' resulting as shown in 
 Plate XXV. A history of this attempt may be found in either the 
 library of the New York Historical Society or in the New York Public 
 Library, and consists of the following publications : 
 
 (i) The Correct Arms of the State of New York as established by 
 law since March 16, 1778. A Historical Essay read before the Albany 
 Institute, Dec. 2, 1879, by Henry A. Holmes, LL.D., of the State 
 Library, Albany, 1880. 
 
 (2) Report of the Commissioners of the Correct Arms of the State 
 of New York, with Appendix: Letter of H. A. Holmes to the Com- 
 missioners, Transmitted to the Senate April 13, 1881, Albany, 1881. 
 
 (3) Second Paper on the Correct Arms of the State of New York 
 as established by law since March 16, 1778. Read before the Albany 
 Institute, May 24, 1881, by Henry A. Holmes, LL.D., Librarian of the 
 State Library, Albany, 1882. 
 
Plate XXIV 
 
Plate XXV 
 
Plate XXVI 
 
 
 '-'/^.Sl,.:/^^ay' 's Seal. i^^J: £/. c\iy ) ^^ //OJ. 
 
 ji. ^ - .-s^jg^ .. '.-^ -^ .xsm^-^. 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 63 
 
 (4) By Act of May 20, 1882, Chap. 190, the Legislature of the 
 State of New York passed the above Act, entitled, " An Act to reestablish 
 the original arms of the State of New Tork and to provide for the use thereof 
 on the public seals'' How far the engraver is responsible for the result 
 the reader may judge. 
 
 Pl.ate XXVI. 
 
 Paulding Seals 
 
 No. I has already been alluded to in connection with the Dongan 
 Charter, p. 44 herein. " No. 2, Seal of the Corporation of Trinity 
 Church, 1697, still in use." It is a tradition in the office of the cor- 
 poration that the steel die now used to give impression of the seal is 
 the very same piece of metal into which the design was sunk in 1697. 
 There is a very strong likelihood that the tradition is well founded, as 
 attendant circumstances clothe it with every probability of truth. "No. 
 3,5'*Seal of N. Y. Comm. Council, struck immediately after Revolution." 
 "No. 4, Territorial Seal of Governor Dongan (about 1685)." This was 
 the Provincial Seal of 1669, same as impressed on Dongan Charter, 
 Plate XII. "No. 5, Mayor's Seal (N. Y. City)-i70i," This was the 
 Seal of " the Corporation of New Yorke," which accompanied the 
 Provincial Seal in 1669, see p. 43 herein, and Appendix B. "No. 6, 
 Mayor's Seal, 1795."^^ New York was evacuated by the British Nov. 
 25. 1783- 
 
 54. In 1784. 
 
 55, Also 1784, "Seal of Mayoralty." 
 
64 The Civic Ancestry of New Tork 
 
 The following extracts are from the Minutes of the Common 
 Council, then engaged in formulizing the new city government. 
 [Manuscript Minutes, Library, City Hall.] 
 
 City of ) ^ At a Common Council held at the House of John Simmons Inn 
 
 New York \ holder in the City of New York on Tuesday the i6'!- Day of March 
 
 178+. 
 [Vol VIII p. 31] Present — ^James Duane Esq!^ Mayor, 
 
 Richard Varick Esqr Recorder, 
 
 The following Laws & ordinances were passed and published and ordered to be printed 
 in one of the public News Papers, viz! .... 
 
 A law for altering and directing the uses of the public Seals of this City .... 
 
 Bound Volume, The New York Packet and the American Advertiser, 
 Thursday April 8. 1784 [N. Y. His! Soc] 
 
 City of New York. ss. 
 
 At a Common Council held in the said City, on Tuesday the 16th 
 day of March, 1784. 
 
 Present, James Duane, Esquire. Mayor. 
 
 Richard Varick Esquire Recorder, .... 
 
 The following Laws and Ordinances for the good rule and government of the inhabitants 
 and residents within the said city, were ordained made, established and published, and ordered to 
 be printed in one of the public News Papers, viz: 
 
 A Law for altering and directing the Uses of the public Seals of this City. 
 
 Be it ordained by the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city of New York, 
 in Common Council convened, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same. That the 
 Seal, commonly called the City Seal, the Seal, commonly called the Seal of the Mayor's Court, 
 and the Seal commonly called the Seal of Mayoralty, be respectively altered in the following 
 manner: That is to say. That the device, on the said seals respectively, in representation of an 
 Imperial crown be defaced, and that instead thereof, the crest of the arms of the State of New 
 York, that is to say, a representation of a semi globe, with a soaring eagle thereon, be inserted, 
 and that the Mayor be authorized to cause the said seals respectively to be altered accordingly. 
 
 And be it further ordained by the authority aforesaid. That the said first above 
 mentioned Seal, be, and remain in the custody and keeping of the Clerk of this city, and that 
 the same be put and affixed to all grants, leases, freedoms, warrants and other instruments and 
 writings which shall, from time to time be made granted or issued, by order of the Common 
 Council or otherwise, provided for by the charter cf this city, and to freedoms granted by order 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 65 
 
 of the Mayor's Court, and that the said seal shall be not put or used to any other purpose 
 whatsoever. 
 
 That the said small seal commonly called the Seal of Mayor's Court, also be and 
 remain in the custody and keeping of the said Clerk, and be put and affixed to all proces? 
 issuing out of the said Court, and the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, and to no other 
 purposes whatsoever. 
 
 And the said Seal, commonly called the Seal of Mayoralty, be and remain in the 
 custody and keeping of the Mayor of the said city for the time being, and that the same may, 
 by the said Mayor, or by the said Mayor, or Court of Aldermen of the said city for the time 
 being, be put and affixed to all such writings and instruments, depositions, affidavits, exemplifica- 
 tions, testimonials, protests, and other matters and things as are useful and customary to be 
 certified under the public seal of any Mayoralty, for the better attesting of the truth of the 
 matters and things thereby certified. 
 
 City of I At a Common Council held at the City Hall of the said City on 
 
 New York (" ' Wednesday the i" day of September 1784 
 
 Present — James Duane Esqr Mavor 
 
 Ordered the like to pay Andrew Billings the Sum of fifteen Pounds ten shillings in full 
 of his acct. for making new Corporation Mayoralty & Mayors Court Seals — 
 audited by the Committee and allowed by the Board jr^\'^,,\o. — 
 
 .... Mr Mayor pursuant to the ordinance of this Corporation in that case made and 
 provided [ That of March 16. 1784] produced to the Board the Corporation, the Mayoralty 
 and the Mayors Court Seals altered agreeable to the Directions of the said ordinance ; which 
 said Seals being respectively examined & approved of by the Board, it was thereupon Ordained 
 determined & declared that the said Seals respectively be adopted as the public Seals of this 
 City & that the old Seals be broken by the Clerk in presence of Mr. Mayor, and the said 
 old Seals were respectively broken accordingly. 
 
 It will be observed that the ordinance of March 16, 1784, provided 
 that the representation of an Imperial crown as a crest should be defaced 
 in the old seals and that the crest of the State Arms, being a semi globe 
 with a soaring eagle thereon, should be substituted. The engraver, as is 
 usually the case, substituted, in good part, his own incorrect designs 
 shown in Nos. 3 and 6. 
 
 In this connection it is interesting to note that an English Seal 
 of Mayoralty was authorized in 1735. See Appendix C. 
 
66 The Civic Ancestry of New York 
 
 Plate XXVII 
 City of New York Seal of Mayoralty 
 
 In Common Council 
 
 Vol. 28, minutes April i8th, 18 14 
 
 Common Council, 157. 
 
 Hon. De Witt Clinton, Mayor 
 
 .... His Honor the Mayor informed the Board that the Seal of the Mayoralty having 
 become so much worn as to be no longer legible he had directed a new one of steel to be made 
 which he presented. Whereupon 
 
 Resolved, that the seal sunk in steel, now presented be hereafter considered as the Seal of 
 Mayoralty of the City of New York, and be affixed as such in attestation of all papers and 
 Documents wherein the said seal is by law and custom to be used 
 
 ]ls[ 
 
 It having been also represented, that the City Seal and the Seal of the Mayor's Court 
 had by long usage become much worn, it was refered to the following committee to take order, 
 on causing new Seals to be sunk. 
 
 The Committee were Mr. King 
 
 " Brackett 
 Aid" Smith. 
 
 It was also ordered that the comptroller audit the account and report a Warrant, for 
 executing the Mayoralty Seal, & cause the old seal to be broken up and destroyed. 
 
 On page 187, Warrant reported by comptroller as having been 
 paid — May 2, 18 14: 
 
 Mr. Fourtz on acct Mayty Seal (or Bal) gioo. 
 
 On page 311, July 18, 1884: 
 
 M. Fourot. May''' Com Coun' & Mayors Court Seals, $260.00. 
 
 In the New York City Directory for 18 14, the following entry 
 appears : 
 
 L. Fourniquet, g &' s smith, 2/ Ann. 
 
Plate XXVn 
 
 .cc^ij at^t^<.«: 
 
 t. e^c.<>^ I trw'CrTi, /^ C4^> 
 
 
 Jth 
 
 I OC^ ' CA^ t/ ^-t^**- cXiQ* O ^J L^t^^ 
 
 ■1 
 
 '/ 
 
 cAytJtLcL I uixcL L f^t.<. C'^cXiy r/^ict^ iJt^-<4 
 
 CC-J t-x4f it^n.cc^ 
 
 yti^ C4^cnyv<^'^ c^ L<JC4^^ i.c-je^*.LcC L o l**.C L 
 
 CrLL K^t^C^L t C 
 
 7 
 
 (zO-J t I X^^ €jt<~t.j€^ lZ t^CH^ /L-4L C X^rZc-^. <?-». C £ «rC-«. c t> < t^ CV I CCCt (L7 cc-^^^/b 
 
 
 fitu^ &-0 1 «^ *«. t CttZx^ i^4 
 
 / 
 
 ^U^^'^j^t,!^fti 
 
 y 
 
 CAJ> 
 
 £)L^ (n^C^ c /y%c/u. ce-^Z^ tJ^i. ciCZ:. '/4t,<Lj C:ci V *.f^it^<* C£x.,^.^c3t^*.<^£^Ajt^ 
 
 tixi. 
 
 v.t^ <at^^ c-^ £. «-c.^^-t- t^-cc 
 
 ttZc, my'lL Oca./ ^^t ct^ TU^f J^^cA^ , 9- CCC c c J <2U 'TTZk^' ^^^-t e/t^:tX^»7d <^/<l^. 
 
Plate XXVni 
 
The Civic Ancestry of New York 67 
 
 Here the Engraver again asserts himself. The Eagle, head twisted 
 to the sinster side, replaces the Phoenix. The "semi globe" is enriched 
 with curved diagonal lines, as in Plate XXVIII, and the Cupid bow 
 moderates the ferocity of the Indian. See No. i, Plate XXVI. 
 
 Plate XXVIII 
 
 Seal of New York City 
 From an impression of the seal at present in use. This Seal, — 
 now in the keeping of Mr. Scully, City Clerk, — follows closely the 
 design in the preceding seal, the inscription, however, conforms to that 
 in the Paulding Seal No. i. 
 
 'LATE 
 
 XXIX 
 
 See Appendix B, wherein No. 5, Paulding Seals, Plate XXVI 
 is discussed. 
 
APPENDICES 
 
APPENDIX A 
 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 
 p 
 
 The dexter 
 
 uints of the Escutcheon. 
 
 ABC 
 
 The sinister 
 
 or 
 
 D 
 
 or 
 
 right hand 
 
 E 
 
 left hand 
 
 side of the 
 
 F 
 
 side of the 
 
 escutcheon. 
 
 ^--Z-^ 
 
 escutcheon. 
 
 
 A Dexter chief. 
 B Middle chief. 
 C Sinister chief. 
 D Honour point. 
 E Fess point. 
 F Nombril point. 
 G Dexter base. 
 H Middle base. 
 1 Sinister base. 
 
 Note, The 
 escutcheon, ni 
 part of the CSC 
 
 chief is the top or chief part of the 
 aiked A, B, C , the base is the lower 
 utcbeon, marked Or H, I. 
 
 THE ESCUTCHEON 
 
 Escutcheon, or Shield, in arms, means the original 
 shield used in war, and on which arms were originally 
 borne; the surface of the escutcheon is termed the yf^A?, 
 because it contains such honorable marks as anciently 
 were acquired in the field. 
 
 Points of the Escutcheon mean certain points or 
 locations, in which the figures or charges of the field 
 happen to be particularly placed ; the shield is said to 
 represent the body of a man, and has its parts taken 
 therefrom, as by the example, Table I. 
 
 A signifies that part to be the dexter, or right hand 
 chief; B, the precise middle chief; C, the sinister or 
 left hand chief; D, the collar, or honor point; in regard 
 that eminent men, as knights of the garter, thistle, 
 &c. wear their badges of honour about their necks ; in 
 like manner is E called the heart or fess point, as being 
 the exact middle of the shield; F, the nombril, or navel 
 point; G, H, I, the dexter, middle, and sinister base 
 points ; whence particular care ought to be paid thereto, 
 for the more plainly describing the position or seat of 
 the things borne ; for the same figure, in the very same 
 tinctures, borne in different points of the escutcheon, 
 renders those bearings so many different arms. There- 
 fore these points, or locations, ought to be well 
 observed ; for an arms with a lion in chief differs 
 essentially from one with a lion in base. 
 
 Table II 
 COLOURS AND FURS 
 The colours used in the science of heraldy are gene- 
 rally red, blue, black, green, purple; termed in this 
 science gules, azure, sable, vert, and purpure. Yellow 
 and white, termed or and argent, are metals: 
 
 Table, ii 
 
 Argent 
 
 GULE6' 
 
 AZITRE 
 
 /3^ 
 
 Sable 
 
 Purpure 
 
 7^^ 
 
 Names. 
 
 Colours 
 
 Or, - - - 
 
 Yellow. 
 
 Argent, 
 
 - White. 
 
 Gules, 
 
 Red. 
 
 Azure, 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Sable. 
 
 Black. 
 
 Vert, 
 
 Green. 
 
 Purpure, - 
 
 Purple. 
 
 Colours and metals, when engraved, are known by 
 points and hatched lines; as or, the metal gold, is known 
 in engraving by small dots or points; argent, a metal 
 which is white, and signifies silver, is always left plain; 
 GULES, this colour is expressed by lines perpendicular 
 from top to bottom; azure, a color known by hori- 
 zontal lines from side to side; sable, a colour expressed 
 by horizontal and perpendicular lines crossing each 
 other ; vert, a colour described by hatched lines from 
 right to left diagonally; purpure, a colour known by 
 hatched lines from the sinister chief to the dexter base, 
 diagonally. See the examples T 2. S. Petrasancta, 
 an Italian herald, about two centuries ago, is said to 
 have been the first who thought of expressing the 
 tinctures by lines and points. 
 
 71 
 
APPENDIX B 
 
 To All Xian People to whom this present Writeing Shall Come, The Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty of the Citty of New Yorke, Send greeting Know Yee that for and in consid- 
 eration of the sume of five and thirty pounds, twelve shillings and six pence curr' money to the 
 said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty in hand paid at and before the ensealing and delivery 
 hereof by Anna Maria Van Home, widdow, the receipt whereof the said Mayor, Aldermen 
 and Commonalty doe hereby acknowledge and thereof and of every part and parcell thereof, 
 doe for themselves and their successors fully and absolutely acquite, exonerate & discharge, the 
 said Anna Maria van horn, her heires and assignes forever by these presents, they the said 
 Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the Citty of New Yorke aforesaid Have granted, 
 bargained, sold released and confirmed, and by these presents doe for them and their successors 
 grant, bargaine and sell release and confirme unto the said Anna Maria Vanhorne All that Lott 
 or Toft of ground, situate, lyeing and being within the Citty of New Yorke aforesaid in or 
 neare the Dock, bounded on the West by the Lott of Hendrick phillips, on the North to the 
 reare of the lott's formerly bought of the Citty, on the East by the lott of Capt. John de 
 Browne, on the South by the Dock or Rivver containing in length five and twenty foot and in 
 bredth, eight and twenty foot and a halfe all English measure, as the same is surveyed and 
 staked out by the sworne surveyors of the said Citty, Together with all proffitts, commodities 
 and appurtenances whatsoever to the same belonging or in any wise appertaining, and all the 
 estate, right, title, interest, reversion, remainder, claime and demand whatsoever, of them the 
 said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, of into or out of the same, or any part thereof. To 
 Have And To Hold the said lott or toft of ground and premises with its appurtenances unto 
 the said Anna Maria Van home her heirs and assignes for Ever, Yielding and paying therefore 
 yearly and every year unto the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, and their successors 
 on every five and twentieth day of. March, the rent of one pe per corne, if the same be lawfully 
 demanded, and the said Anna Maria van home doth covenant and agree with the said Mayor, 
 Aldermen and Commonaltv, that whensoever she shall erect any buildings upon the said lott, she 
 shall build in manner and forme following (that is to say) all her buildings on said lott shall be 
 two whole stories high and the gabell end to be of brick or stone, and if otherwise built it shall 
 and may be lawfull for the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonality to demolish and pull downe the 
 same. And further it is covenanted and agreed upon, that the said Anna Maria van home 
 shall at her propper cost and charge, build a good and substantial! street, twenty-five foot broad, 
 the wall to bee of stone three foot and one-halfe broad at the bottome to batter one foot inward 
 on the outside and to defend the same from rubbing of Boats by driving of piles or stockadoes 
 five foot distance one from the other of seaven inches diameter, and bound together with a plate 
 at the top which being once so built and finished to the likeing and approbation of the surveyor 
 from that time forwards it shall be kept and maintained in repair att the sole cost and charge of 
 
 72 
 
Plate XXIX 
 
Appendix B 
 
 the Citty the same being to remaine for the use of the Citty and the said Anna Maria van home 
 not to claime any profitt or benefitt thereby or right thereunto, and the said Anna Maria van Home 
 doth covenant and agree to use the Dock mudd twenty foot into the said docic for filling up the 
 said lott, and that the said wharfe and street and wall shall be finished and compleated by the 
 twenty-eighth day of January next ensueing the date hereof, and the said Anna Maria van hoorne 
 in building and filling up the said wall and street is hereby oblidged to follow the directions of 
 the sworne surveyors, and the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, in consideration of the 
 afore recited covenants in bchalfe of themselves and their successors, doth further covenant and 
 agree to and with the said Anna Maria van home, her heires and assignes that in front of the said 
 lott or toft of ground sold and conveyed, as aforesaid, no buildings whatsoever shall at any time 
 hereafter be built or erected by them, the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty, and their 
 successors, or any other prson by. from or under them. 
 
 In Wittnesse whereof the said Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the Citty of New 
 York have caused the Common Seale of the said Citty to be hereunto affixed, and these presents 
 to be signed by the Mayor of the said Citty this 21st day of Aprill in the fourth yeare of tjie 
 Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord and Lady William and Mary by the Grace of God, King and 
 Queen over England &c and in the yeare of our lord. One thousand Six hundred ninty & two. 
 
 A. D. Peyster 
 
 , — ' — Mayor 
 
 J LS 
 
 \ 
 
 Recorded in the Records for the Citty and County 
 of New York the 21st day of Aprill A.D. 1692 
 H. J. Nicholls 
 
 The above ] ^ ^ p ^ocus sigi/Ii, indicates the place of the Seal 
 impression shown in Plate XXIX, which seems, with scarcely a doubt, 
 to have been made by the same die as impression No. 5, Paulding Seals, 
 Plate XXVI, p. 63. 
 
 The original deed, from which the foregoing copy was taken, is also 
 in the possession of The Title Guarantee and Trust Company. 
 
 73 
 
APPENDIX C 
 
 Att a Common Council held at the City Hail of the said City on 
 Tuesday the 22"! day of July Anno Dom 1735 
 [Vol. IV. 359 MSS. Minutes] Present — Paul Richard Esq'' Mayor 
 
 Daniel Horsmanden Esq' Recorder 
 
 M'' Mayor having Consented to deliver the seal of this Corporation to the Common 
 Clerk of this Corporation for the use of the Said Corporation, it is Ordered that A Seal be 
 forthwith made and delivered to M"' Mayor ; which Seal is to be Called the Seal of the Office 
 of Mayorality of the City of New York, that the Said Seal be Round something larger than a 
 Dollar, the City Arms to be Engraved thereon, and that the Motto be (City of New York 
 Seal of Mayorality) and that M'' Le Roux make the same with all Expedition, 
 
 Att a Common Council held at the City Hall of the said City on 
 Tuesday the sixteenth day of September Anno Dom 1735. 
 [Vol. IV. 362] Present — Paul Richard Esq' Mayor 
 
 Gerrardus Stuyvesant Esq' Deputy Mayor 
 Daniel Horsmanden Esq' Recorder. 
 
 Ordered the Mayor Issue his Warrant to the Treasurer to pay to M' Charles Le Roux 
 Goldsmith or Order the sum of five pounds Nine shillings and three pence Current Money of 
 this Colony in full of his Ace' for Plate and making the seal of the Mayoralty of this Corporation 
 as appears by his Ace' which is Audited and allowed. 
 
 Att a Common Council held at the City Hall of the Said City on 
 Tuesday the fourth day of November Anno Dom 1735 
 [p. 376.] Present — Paul Richard ESq' Mayor. 
 
 Daniel Horsmanden ESq' Recorder. 
 
 A Law declaring, to what Uses the Seal of this Corporation, the Seal of 
 the Mayor's Court and the Seal of the Mayoralty of this City shall be put unto. 
 
 Be it Ordained by the Mayor, Recorder Aldermen and Assistants of the City of 
 New York, convened in Common Council and it is hereby Ordained by the Authority of the 
 Same. That the Common Seal of this Corporation, commonly Called the City Seal (now in 
 the Custody and Keeping of the Common Clerk of this Corporation); shall not be put, and 
 affixed to any Writing or Instrument whatsoever. Except unto such Grants, Leases, Freedoms 
 Warrants, Lycences, or Other Instruments, as shall Concern this Corporation in Point of 
 
 74 
 
Appendix C 
 
 Interest, or Otherwise, and that by Order of the Common Council of the said City, in 
 Common Council, convened or unto Freedoms, by Order of the Mayor's Court of the said 
 City; any Usage heretofore to the Contrary Notwithstanding. 
 
 And it is Further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid That the small Seal, (also in 
 the Custody and Keeping of the Common Clerk of this Corporation), commonly called the 
 Seal of the Mayor's Court, be put unto all Process, issuing out of the Mayor's Court of the 
 said City, and Court of General Sessions of the Peace for the City and County of New York, 
 Warrants and Testimonials ; and that all Lycenscs, granted to Carmen, Alehouse Keepers, 
 Tavern Keepers or Victuallers, within this City, be Sealed with the same Seal ; and that the 
 said Seal be used to no Other Intents or purposes whatsoever. 
 
 And be it further Ordained by the Authority aforesaid That the Seal belonging to this 
 Corporation, (now in the Custody and Keeping of the Mayor of this Corporation) called the 
 Seal of Mayoralty, may, by the said Mayor, or the Mayor of this City, for the time being, or 
 by the Mayor, and Court of Aldermen of the same City, for the time being, be put and affixed 
 to all such Writings And Instruments, Depositions, Affidavits, Exemplifications, Testimonials 
 Protests and other Matters and Things, as are usual and Customary to be Certified, under the 
 publick Seal of any Mayoralty, for the better Attesting of the Truth of the Matters and Things, 
 thereby Certified ; and that the said Seal be always in the Keeping and Custody of the Mayor 
 of this Corporation, for the time being. 
 
 75 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 John Romeyn Brodhead, History of the State of New York. Harper & Bros. 2 vols. (N. Y. 
 Hist. Soc, or N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Emmet Collection. (N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Henrv A. Holmes, The Correct Arms of the State of New York. 1879-82. (N. Y. Hist. 
 Soc, or N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Edgar A. Harner, Civil List New York. 1889-91. (N. Y. Hist. Soc, or N. Y. Pub. 
 Lib.) 
 
 Casparus Commelin, Beschryvinge van Amsterdam, t' Amsterdam. '693. 2 vols. (N. Y. 
 Hist. Soc.) 
 
 Francois Halma, Toneel der Vreenigde Nederlandett. 1/2^. 2 vols. (N. Y. Hist. Soc. Lib.) 
 
 Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. Ed. used herein, Thomas Y. Crovvell & Co., N. Y. 
 1 90 1. 
 
 Frederic Harrison, William the Silent. Ed. used herein, Macmillan & Co. 1907. 
 
 E. B. O'Callaghan, Edited by. The Documentary History of the State of New York. 
 
 jean Le Clerc, Histoire des Provinces-Unies Des Pays-Bas. 4 vols. Amsterdam. 1728. 
 (N. Y. Pub. Lib. Shelf mark 5^.) 
 
 Pierre Bizot, Medalische Histoire Der Republyk van Holland, t^ Amsterdam. 1690. (Rutgers 
 
 Col. Lib.) 
 Pierre Bizot. Same in French. 1688. (N. Y. Pub. Lib.) Shelf mark MHV. 
 
 Gerard van Loon, Histoire Metallique des XVII Provinces des Pays-Bas. 5 vols. A La 
 Haye. (N. Y. Pub. Lib. Shelf mark »^.) 
 
 L. Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists. 1902. 
 
 The New International Encyclopaedia. \. 483. 
 
 Henrv A. Holmes, The Correct Arms of the State of New York. (N. Y. Hist. Soc, or 
 N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Berthold Fernovv, The Records of New Amsterdam. New York. Knickerbocker Press. 1897. 
 
 Journals of the Provincial Congress, Provincial Convention, Committee of Safety, and Council 
 of Safety of the State of New York. 1775-1776-1777. 2 vols. Albanv. 1842. 
 (N. Y. Hist. Soc, or N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Documents Relating to the Colonial Histors of the State of New York. John Romeyn Brodhead. 
 1856-61. (N. Y. Hist. Soc, or N. Y. Pub. Lib.) 
 
 Gerard van Loon, Beschryving Der Nederlandsche Historipenningen. In's Graavenhaage. 
 1723-1731. 4 vols. (N. Y. Pub. Lib., Stuart 1161.) 
 
 Ludovic Lalanne. Dictionnaire Historique De La France. 
 
 76 
 
NOTE 
 
 In order to furnish the best evidence regarding Plates I to IX 
 
 inclusive, the following correspondence is transcribed. This will serve 
 
 to set at rest the various conjectures of some American writers upon 
 
 this subject. 
 
 "Amsterdam, Aug" 13th, 1909. 
 Mr. Edw. S. Wilde, 
 
 Dover, New Jersey, 
 
 U. S. A. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 In reply to your letter of July 30th, I beg to inform you that I have sent this letter to 
 the Archivist of the State, at the Hague, Jhr. Mr. Th. H. F. van Riemsdijk, because the 
 questions vou proposed are almost all relative to the archives ot the VV. I. Company and of the 
 Kingdom. Only with regard to the arms of Amsterdam I can give you some information. 
 
 Enclosed I send you a copy of the arms as they now are borne by our city after the 
 
 revision of 1898 Indeed, on February i ith, 1489, Maximilian, the Roman King, has 
 
 given to Amsterdam a crown. The charter says:"de crone van onsen rvcke," i.e., "the 
 crown of our realm." This is always so understood, that after that Maximilian, on Febr. 4th, 
 1508, had assumed the title of an elected Roman Emperor with the insignia imperialia, it was 
 also allowed to the city of Amsterdam to bear the crown of his realm, i.e., the crown of the 
 Empire. Always since, the crown has been considered as an imperial one. That which now 
 is used, is the Rudoiphinian — type of 1602. 
 
 You are right — the black pale on the red shield does not conform to the rule that it is 
 inadmissible to place color upon color. But it is just as you observed: " time has given sanctity 
 to the use." 
 
 Some more information about the arms of Amsterdam you may find in : Mr. W. R. Veder, 
 " De herziene officieele voorstelling van het wapen van Amsterdam." — Amsterdam, S, L. van 
 Looy, 1900. 
 
 Mr. W. R. Veder, the archivist, being on leave, 
 
 I am truly yours 
 
 JoH. C. Breen, 
 
 Adj. Archivist." 
 
 77 
 
"The Hague, September z, 1909. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 A few weeks ago Dr. W. R. Veder, the city-archmst of Amsterdam, requested me to 
 let you know : 
 
 I ° what the colours were of the coat of arms granted to the province of New Nether- 
 land by the States General ; 
 
 2? what the colours were of the coat of arms granted to New Amsterdam by the 
 Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company in 1654 ; 
 
 3? if the colours of the coat of arms of Prince William the Silent as given in Ter Gouw, 
 Studien over Wapen- en Zegelkunde, are correct ; 
 
 4? what the colours of our national flag were during the period of 1623-1664. 
 
 In answer to these questions I beg to reply : 
 
 I ° that I have been unable to find the resolution by which the States General granted the 
 coat of arms to New Netherland. In the " Naerdere aenwijsinghe ende observation op het 
 request aen de Doorluchtige Hooge ende Mogende Heeren Staten-Generael der Vereenigde 
 Nederlanden onse Hoochloffelijcke Souverainen, geschreven 26 Julij deses jaers onses Heeren 
 Jesu Christi 1649 in Nieu Amsterdam" it is stated that New Netherland is called a province 
 because the High and Mighty Lords the States General have given it a count's coat of arms 
 (" Het wert een provincie genoemt omdat het van Haer Ho. Mo. met een graefflijck wapen 
 is vereert " ) ; 
 
 2" that the minutes, or Notulen, of the Amsterdam Chamber of the W. I. Company 
 of the year 1654 ^""^ \o&\., so that it is impossible to know exactly what seal was granted by it ; 
 
 3 ? that the best book on the armorial bearings of the House of Nassau, so far as I am 
 aware, was written by H. von Goeckingk: " Geschichte des Nassauischen Wappens" (Gorlitz, 
 Verlag von C. A. Starke, 1880). Goeckingk gives a picture of the coat of arms of William 
 the Silent considerably diifering from the one given in Ter Gouw's book ; 
 
 4° that the question of the colours of our national flag in various epochs of our history is 
 carefullv discussed by Mr. C. de Waard in his excellent book " De Nederlandsche Vlag" 
 (Groningen, J. B. Wolters, 1900). From De Waard's researches it would follow that between 
 1572 and 1630 the colours of the flag were orange, white, blue; between 1630 and 1664 
 either orange, white, blue or red, white, blue; after 1664 always red, white, blue. 
 
 Believe me, my Dear Sir, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Th. H. F. van RlEMSDlJK, 
 
 Edward Seymour Wilde, Esq., Keeper of the State Archives. 
 
 Dover, New Jersey, 
 
 United States of America, 
 
 78 
 
Amsterdam Archives, 
 
 April ig-'io. 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 You will find enclosed a translation of the transport-act, of which you sent me a photo- 
 graphical reproduction. 
 
 I tried to translate it literally, word by word, as you will see, but I am not beyond doubt 
 that there will not be any failure in it. 
 
 Perhaps Mr. van Laer, archivist in Albany, will be so kind to make the corrections. 
 
 As to your request concerning Pieter van Abeele, who lived in the midst of the 1 7th 
 century, I can tell you that there is uncertainty about the occasion relating to his medal represent- 
 ing " the privilege of 1342 and that of the crown in 1488." There are different conjectures 
 without sufficient grounds. " The peace treaty of Munster in 1648 or the inauguration of the 
 new City Hall in 1655." Also there is an opinion which will fix the origin to a simple private 
 affair, viz.: the wedlock-celebration of Adriaen van Loon and Cornelia Hunthum in 1656. 
 
 I never saw before that seal with the beaver: very interesting! 
 
 Believe me. Dear Sir, 
 
 faithfully yours, 
 
 W. R. Veder, 
 
 Archivist. 
 Edward S. Wilde, Esq., 
 
 Dover, 
 
 New Jersey, 
 
 U. S. America. 
 
 79 
 
^ I '^HE purpose of this work has been to 
 -^ place in the hands of the reader, with the 
 least possible detail, a recital of the facts and 
 principles as indicated in the opening paragraph. 
 In whatever respect he may have fallen short 
 of this purpose, the writer begs indulgence.