CONTENTS

Peaceful transfer of New Netherland to English rule

Admirable character of Governor Nicolls

Carr’s shameful conduct at New Amstel

Fall of the Republic of New Haven

The Connecticut boundary

Yorkshire, Dukes County, and Cornwall

Cartwright sails for England, but lands in Spain

Pleasant Saturday evenings in Boston

Maverick moves to New York

Settlements west of the Hudson River

The grant to Berkeley and Carteret

Founding of Elizabethtown

The name New Jersey (Nova Cæsarea)

Unwillingness of New Haven leaders to be annexed to Connecticut

Exodus from New Haven to New Jersey

Robert Treat and Abraham Pierson

Constitutional troubles in New Jersey

Lord Berkeley sells out his interest to a party of Quakers

Nicolls returns to England, and is succeeded by Francis Lovelace

Abolition of the distinction between great and small burghers

The first mail on the American continent, monthly

between New York and Boston, starts on New Year’s Day, 1673

The postman’s route

The English towns on Long Island protest against arbitrary taxation

Charles IIabandons the Triple Alliance, and joins with Louis XIVin attacking Holland

Admiral Evertsen’s fleet in the West Indies

Evertsen captures the city of New York, and names it New Orange

Anthony Colve is appointed governor of New Netherland

The English towns on Long Island are refractory

Danger of an attack by the New England Confederacy

How Governor Colve pulled down houses to improve his fort

Lovelace’s purchases and debts

Schemes of Louis XIV.

Ingenious double-dealing of Charles II.

The treaty of Westminster restores New York to the English

Conflicting grants and claims

The duke sends Edmund Andros to govern New York

Character of Andros

His early life

Anthony Brockholls and William Dyer

Arrival of Andros in New York

The English towns on Long Island declare that they belong to Connecticut, but in vain

The oath of allegiance ; protest of leading burghers

Andros showed a want of tact in this affair

Demand for a representative assembly ; the duke’s letters

Andros’s zeal for municipal improvements

He tries in vain to reform the currency

And fulminates against excessive tippling

He lays claim to Connecticut for the duke

King Philip’s War breaks out

Connecticut prepares to resist Andros, and Captain Bull baffles him at Saybrook

Invasions of the Mohawk country by the French

Jesuit intrigues with the Long House

Mistaken policy of the Duke of York

Journey of Andros into the wilderness

Arendt van Corlear and his melancholy fate

Corlear’s village, Schenectady

Andros arrives in the Oneida country and holds a grand pow-wow with the Indians

He organizes a Board of Indian Commissioners

Robert Livingston

Andros’s relations with New England

King Philip in the Berkshire mountains

War with the Tarratines

Andros visits England, is knighted, and returns to New York

The great comet, and how it was regarded in New York

Approach to New York from the harbour ; Fort James

Pearl Street and Broad Street

The Water Gate and Maiden Lane

Shoemaker’s Land ; the Land Gate

Bowery Lane and the Common

The Collect, or Fresh Water ; Wolfert’s Marsh

The Kissing Bridge ; the Bowery Village

Kip’s Bay and Turtle Bay

Harlem

The Great Kill, and Lispenard’s Meadows

Origin of Canal Street

Sappokanican, or Greenwich ; Minetta Brook

Visit of the Labadist missionaries, Dankers and Sluyter

Their experience at the custom-house

They cross the East River and pass through Brooklyn

They are entertained at Gowanus by Simon de Hart

They proceed to Najack (Fort Hamilton)

Their description of an Algonquin household

They pass a hilarious night at Harlem, where they meet James Carteret

They are charged a high fare for crossing Spuyten Duyvil

They compliment the good beer at Greenwich

But are not pleased with the New York dominies

RevJames Wolley praises the climate of Manhattan

His Latin supper with the Calvinist and Lutheran parsons

Charges of heresy brought against Dominic Van Rensselaer

Estates and revenues of New York

Formation of an independent Classis

The flour monopoly

Affairs in New Jersey

Andros asserts sovereignty over East Jersey

Carteret resists, and Andros deposes him

Shameful arrest of Carteret

His trial, acquittal, and return to Elizabethtown

The duke relinquishes East Jersey to the Carterets

And West Jersey to Byllinge and his friends

Which brings William Penn upon the scene

Religious liberty in Pennsylvania and Delaware

Causes of intolerance in primitive society ; identity of civil and religious life

Military need for conformity

Illustration from the relations of the Antinomians to the Pequot War

The notion of corporate responsibility

Political and religious persecutions

Reasons for the prolonged vitality of the persecuting spirit

Evils of persecution; importance of preserving variations

From a religious point of view the innovator should be greeted with welcome

Sir Henry Vane’s “heavenly speech”

Cromwell’s tolerance

Quietists and Quakers

Career of George Fox

Origin of the epithet, “Quaker”

James Naylor and other crazy enthusiasts

Missionary zeal of the early Quakers

Their great service in breaking down the Massachusetts theocracy

Charles IIand the oath of allegiance

Early years of William Penn

His conversion to Quakerism

It makes trouble for him at home

Penn’s services to Quakerism

His steadfastness and courage

Some of his writings : “Innocency with her Open Face”

If you will not talk with me, says Penn, I must write

You call names at me instead of using argument

If you do not blame Luther for asserting the right of private judgment, why blame me ?

When you persecute others, you assume your own infallibility, as much as the Papists do

But you cannot hurt us, for if God is with us, who can be against us ?

“No Cross, no Crown”

Religion thrives not upon outward show

It is but a false cross that comports with self-indulgence

Religion is not a fetich, but a discipline

Better resist temptation than flee from it

The wholesomeness of solitude

The follies of fashion

“Thee” and “thou”

The use of “you” in place of “thou,” says Penn, is undemocratic

Memorable scene in the Lord Mayor’s court ; futile attempt to browbeat a jury

The recorder declares that England will never prosper until it has a Spanish Inquisition

Penn’s marriage, and charming home in Sussex

He goes on a missionary tour in Holland and Germany

Elizabeth, the Princess Palatine

Anna Maria, Countess of Hornes

Penn preaches to the servants in the palace

At the inn he meets a young merchant of Bremen

Penn tells the ladies of his conversion

At which a Frenchwoman of quality is deeply moved

A meeting on Sunday at the palace ; emotion of the princess

Penn takes leave, and goes to preach in Frankfort and neighbouring town

At Duysburg he gets a gruff greeting from Count von Falkenstein

At Leeuwarden he has a talk with an ancient maid,” Anna Maria Schurmann

He rebukes some fellow-travellers

Historic significance of the journey

How Penn became interested in West Jersey

The founding of Salem on the Delaware

Beginnings of a Quaker colony in West Jersey

Peremptory demeanour of Andros

Founding of Burlington

Thomas Hooton’s letter to his wife

Penn’s idea of a democratic constitution

High tariffs and “spoils of office” have introduced new phases of tyranny unforeseen by Penn

Andros claims West Jersey for the Duke of York

Penn’s ingenious though defective argument

Final release of the Jerseys

Penn’s claim against the Crown

How he conceived the “holy experiment”

Boundaries of Penn’s province ; seeds of contention

Name of the new commonwealth

The charter of Pennsylvania compared with that of Maryland

Significance of the contrast

Influence of the king’s experience with Massachusetts

Penn’s humane and reasonable policy

His letter to the colonists

A Quaker exodus

Penn comes to the New World

How Chester got its name

The founding of Philadelphia

Penn’s opinion of the country

The Shackamaxon treaty ; Penn’s skill in dealing with Indians

Some incorrect impressions regarding the purchase of Indian lands

Not only in Pennsylvania and New Netherland, but

in all the New England colonies, in Virginia, in Maryland, and in New Sweden, the colonists paid the Indians for their lands

The price paid to four Delaware chiefs for the tract between the Delaware and the Susquehanna

Increase Mather’s “confusion of title”

Unstinted credit is due to the Quakers for their methods of dealing with the red men ; nevertheless in the long peace enjoyed by Pennsylvania the controlling factor was not Quaker justice so much as Indian politics

Penn’s return to England

Andros returns to England, and in his absence the duke’s customs’ duties expire

And the collector, William Dyer, for insisting upon the payment of duties, is indicted for treason

The demand for a representative assembly is renewed

The duke grants the assembly, and sends out Thomas Dongan as governor

Meeting of the first assembly in Fort James

Death of Charles H. ; the duke becomes king

Dongan and the Marquis Denonville play a game of diplomacy with the Long House

Louis XIV. plans the conquest of New York

But the warriors of the Long House checkmate him by invading Canada

James II. undertakes to improve the military strength of the northern colonies by uniting them under a single government

And sends out Sir Edmund Andros as viceroy

New York is accordingly annexed to New England

Tyrannical rule of Andros in Boston

Dr. Mather detains King William’s letter

Overthrow and imprisonment of Andros

The old governments restored in New England

New York is disturbed by rumours of war

Causes of the anti-Catholic panic

Jacob Leisler refuses to pay duties

Character of Leisler

Popular discontent in New York

Fears of a French attack upon the city

Nicholson’s rash exclamation

Leisler takes command of Fort James, and issues a “Declaration”

Nicholson sails for England

Leisler proclaims William and Mary, and Fort James becomes Fort William

King William’s letter arrives in New York

A committee of safety appoints Leisler to be commander-in-chief

He assumes the title of lieutenant-governor

He needs revenue and revives the Colonial Act of 1683

His authority is defied

His friend Jacob Milborne returns from a visit to England

The French war parties

The situation at Schenectady

The massacre

Albany yields to Leisler

Election of an assembly ; Leisler calls together the first American Congress, May, 1690

Unsuccessful attempt to invade Canada

Frontenac attacks the Long House

The king sends Henry Sloughter to be governor of New York, with Richard Ingoldsby for lieutenant?governor

Leisler loses popularity

Two historical novels

The marriages of Leisler’s daughters

Arrival of Ingoldsby

Leisler refuses to surrender Fort William

Ingoldsby therefore waits

Leisler fires upon the king’s troops

Governor Sloughter arrives, and arrests Milborne and Leisler

Trial and sentence of the Leislerities

Execution of Leisler and Milborne

Leisler’s purpose was unquestionably honest

His motives

The execution was ill-advised

Commanding position of the Dutch and Quaker colonies

The war with France

Some effects of the accession of William and Mary

Sloughter’s representative assembly

Death of Sloughter ; Benjamin Fletcher comes to govern New York

Peter Schuyler, and his influence over the Mohawks

He defeats Frontenac

Party strife between “Leislerians” and “Aristocrats”

Fletcher rebukes the assembly

His experience in Philadelphia

And at Hartford

Causes leading toward the Stamp Act

Penn’s plan for a Federal Union

The golden age of piracy

The pirates’ lair on the island of Madagascar

Enormous profits of the voyages

Effects in the city of New York

William Kidd, and his commission for arresting pirates

Fletcher is accused of complicity with the pirates, and is superseded by Lord Bellomont

More party strife ; Bellomont’s levelling tendencies

The election of 1699

Strange rumours about Kidd ; Bellomont goes to Boston, where he receives a message from him

How Kidd turned pirate

The King’s proclamation ; Kidd’s desperate situation

He lands in Boston ; is arrested and sent to London

His trial and execution

Death of Bellomont

Violent proceedings of the Leislerians

The Aristocrats petition the Crown

Shameful trial of Bayard and Hutchings

The air is cleared by the arrival of Lord Cornbury

The question as to a treasurer for the Assembly

The governorship of New Jersey is united with that of New York

Disputes over salaries

Lord Cornbury’s debauchery and debts

A bootless expedition against Canada

Visit of four Iroquois chiefs to Queen Anne’s Court

Arrival of Robert Hunter as governor

Another abortive attempt against Canada

Difficulty of raising money for military purposes

Constitutional discussions

Hunter is succeeded by William Burnet

The Caughnawagas and their trade

Its dangers

Founding of Oswego, and closer relations with the Mohawk valley

William Cosby comes out as governor, and has a dispute with Rip van Dam

William Bradford and John Peter Zenger ; their newspapers

Persecution of Zenger

An information is filed against him for libel, and his counsel, William Smith and James Alexander, are disbarred for contempt of court

Whereupon the venerable Andrew Hamilton comes from Philadelphia to defend him

The words of Zenger’s alleged libel

Departing from the English law of that time, Hamilton contends that the truth of a so-called libel is admissible in evidence

Great importance of the step thus taken

Extract from Hamilton’s speech

His peroration

Triumphant acquittal of Zenger

The city of New York in 1735

The farm of Anneke Jans

Narrow limits of the province

Some causes of its slowness of growth

Comparative weakness of the Assembly

Whigs and Tories

Great value of New York at the present day as a “doubtful State “

The colonial aristocracy

The Connecticut type of democracy

Peasantry and populace of New York

The manors and their tenantry

Mrs. Grant’s description of the Schuyler manor

The mansion

The servants’ quarters

The bedrooms

The approaches

The spacious barn

Mrs. Grant’s description of Albany

A Flatbush country-house

The stoop

The dining-room

The cellar

The sideboard

Chests and secretaries

Beds

A specimen inventory

Dress

Cheerfulness of New York

Amusements and holidays

Clubs and inns

Reading and literature

William Smith and Cadwallader Colden

White servants

Negro slaves

The negro plot of 1712

The “Great Negro Plot” of 1741

Dread of Catholic priests

The war with Spain

Hughson’s Tavern, and the informer, Mary Burton

Alarms of fire

The alleged conspiracy ; wholesale executions

Revulsion of feeling

Friendship between William Penn and James II.

Macaulay’s hasty charges against Penn

The Maids of Taunton

Macaulay’s discreditable blunder

Penn was not awake to James’s treacherous traits

The affair of the Seven Bishops

Penn’s lack of sympathy with the popular feeling

Absurd stories about him

Suspected of complicity with Jacobite plots

Anecdote of Penn and Locke

William III. deprives Penn of his proprietary government

George Keith’s defection

The King restores Penn’s government

His return to Philadelphia

His home and habits

Some democratic questions

Disagreements between Delaware and Pennsylvania

The revised charter

Reasons why Penn could not fully sympathize with William III.

Could Quakers fight in self-defence?

Penn returns to England, leaving John Evans as deputy-governor

Evans’s folly

Powder money

Penn’s wretched son

Misdeeds of the Fords

Penn’s long illness and death

Character and accomplishments of James Logan

David Lloyd

How Benjamin Franklin sought and found a more liberal intellectual atmosphere in Philadelphia than that of Boston

Attitude of Quakers toward learning

The first schools in Pennsylvania

Printing, and the Bradfords

The first American drama

Beginnings of the theatre

Agriculture, commerce, and manufactures

Redemptioners

Negro slaves ; Quaker opposition to slavery

Crimes and punishments

Philanthropy

Andrew Hamilton’s tribute to Penn

Significance of Pennsylvania’s rapid growth

New York and Pennsylvania were the principal centres of distribution of the non-English population of the thirteen colonies

The Jews ; their fortunes in Spain

Their migration to the Netherlands

Arrivals of Jews in New Netherland and Rhode Island

The synagogue in New York

Jews in Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia

Huguenots ; causes of their failure in France

Effect of the extermination of the Albigenses

Defeat of Coligny’s schemes for a Huguenot colony in America

First arrivals of Huguenots in New Netherland

Arrivals of Waldenses and Walloons

Walloon settlements on the Hudson River

Decrees of Louis XIV. against Huguenots

The dragonnades

The Huguenot exodus, and its lamentable results for France

Huguenots in Massachusetts

Huguenots in New York ; beginnings of New Rochelle

The Jay family of Rochelle, and their migration to New York

Jay, Laurens, and Boudinot

Benjamin West’s picture of the Commissioners

Dimensions of the Quaker exodus from England

Migration of Mennonites and Dunkers to Pennsylvania

The Ephrata Community

Migration of Palatines to New York and Pennsylvania

Specimen of the Pennsylvania German dialect

The name “Scotch-Irish”

The Scotch planting of Ulster

Exodus of Ulster Presbyterians to America

Difference between Presbyterians in Scotland and in Ireland

Union of the Palatinate and Ulster streams of migration in the Appalachian region

Fruitfulness of Dutch ideas

A. Affidavits against Nicholson

B. Leisler’s Commission to be Captain of the Fort

C. Leisler’s Commission to be Commander-in-Chief

D. Schuyler’s Protest against Milborne

E. Leisler to the Officers of Westchester

F. Leisler to his Commissioners at Albany

G. Leisler to Governer Sloughter

H. Dying Speeches of Leisler and Milborne

Appendix II. Charter for the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681

Index

William Penn (photogravure)

Robert Livingston (photogravure)

The Duke’s plan, or a Map of New Amsterdam, in 1661

John Millers Map of New York in 1695

George Fox (photogravure)

From the original painting by Sir Peter Lely, by the kind permission of Friends’ Historical Library of Swarthmore College, Pa.

The Pennsylvania Charter of 1701

From the original in the State House, Harrisburg.

Part of Holme’s map of Pennsylvania, 1683

From Winsor’s America. The original was printed and published in London in 1683, and it has been republished in Philadelphia in 1846, and again in 1870.

Facsimile of First sheet of Dongan Charter of 1686.

The first charter of the City of New York. From the original, belonging to the city, temporarily deposited in the Lenox Library.

Peter Schuyler (photogravure)

From the original painted in London in 1710, now in possession of the Schuyler family, Albany, N. Y.

Richard Coote, Earl of Bellomont (photogravure)

After an engraving in the Library of Harvard University.

William Burnet (photogravure)

From the original painting in the State House, Boston.

James Lyne’s Plan of New York City: W. Bradford, 1731

From the original in the possession of William Loring Andrews. The so-called “Bradford Map of 1728” is merely an imitation, first published in 1834 and frequently reprinted. The original Bradford map is undated, but the year of its publication is indicated nearly by the inscription “Montgomerie’s Ward,” which was first created by the Charter of 1730.

James Logan (photogravure)

After the only known original, in the possession of the Philadelphia Library Co.