the successful exertion of his influence to prevent Andros being brought to trial when sent home from Boston in 1689, but by lavishing upon him, nearly to the end of his life, the highest honors in the gift of royalty. Personally, his character was of the purest; and his ideas upon education, and on political and domestic economy, were far in advance of his age. His associations from early life with royalty, and his long training in the army, giving him, perhaps, an exaggerated sense of duty in carrying out the orders of his superiors-all contributed to force him into official acts which necessarily made him most unpopular. For these reasons his position in New-York was uncomfortable in the highest degree; while his former profession of arms, in which he had always been accustomed to command and be unhesitatingly obeyed, ill fitted him to brook the rebuffs and the bitter and malignant opposition of the Dutch faction. But one will look in vain for proofs of that personal tyranny of which he has been unjustly accused.

Regarding the character given him by New England historians, it is certain, as Cadwallader Colden writes to his son, "that at the time Sir Edmund Andros governed the people of New England, they were zealous Republicans, bigoted Independents, having banished all others of different religious principles from among them and persecuted some of them to death. They were enthusiastic to a degree, as appears from their public proceedings in witchcraft. To all which is to be added a stiff, formal behaviour different from the rest of mankind. Among such a people it must have been difficult for a gentleman of Sir Edmund's education, and of his principles, both as to religion and politics, to conduct himself so as to please them; for moderation often gives the greatest offense to bigots. If it be considered, likewise, that as Sir Edmund was appointed their Governor in consequence of their having had their charter vacated in the Court of Chancery in England, he, by his coming among them at that time, must be received with great disgust. He must be a very extraordinary man indeed who, in his circumstances, could at all times master his temper among such a people. The Revolution opened a wide door for the citizens of New England to make their complaints and to expose Sir Edmund's character in the strongest colors; yet, notwithstanding this, King William and his ministers soon afterward appointed him Governor of Virginia, a more lucrative government than New-York and Massachusetts Bay together." In marked contrast to this persecuting spirit of the New Englanders, thus lucidly presented by Colden, was Andros's treatment of Presbyterians, Independents, Anabaptists, and Dissenters a treatment which, considering the age, was unusually liberal. Indeed, in one of his letters to the duke, he expressly says that in the colony of New-York "many of the Churches of Independents and Presbyterians are vacant and suffering for lack of pastors "; but, he

continues, "if good ministers could be had [i. e., persuaded] to go thither, they [the churches] might doe well."

The charges of tyranny which the Dutch and the dishonest English traders whose peculations he had exposed and circumvented zealously circulated even to the foot of the throne itself, will not compare either for harshness or intolerance with the acts of persecution previously practised by Director Stuyvesant against the Quakers and members of the Church of England both upon Manhattan and Long Islands;1 and yet, from the peculiar position in which Andros was placed, the least malignant of the epithets bestowed upon him was, most unjustly, that of "the arbitrary and sycophantic tool of a despotic King"!

The administration of Governor Andros, moreover, forms not only a distinct but a memorable epoch in the colonial history of the city of New-York. It is true that he failed in his efforts to place the currency of the colony on a healthier basis than it was under Dutch rule; but in nearly every other measure of reform he was entirely successful. He effected a complete reorganization of the militia; repaired the fort, and strengthened the defenses of the harbor; increased the trade of the province; beautified the city; largely augmented the revenue from the excise; and by a personal supervision of municipal affairs, and an untiring industry, gave such a tone to the political and social condition of the people that its effects were apparent for fully a century after the period of his incumbency.

In the case of the Indians he was indefatigable; and the able manner in which he controlled them, and his personal visits to the "Long House" undertaken under circumstances of great hardship incident to travel in a primeval wilderness-are the more remarkable when it is considered that to assist him by counsel and advice he had no such able lieutenant as Sir William Johnson, as was the case with the governors of New-York a century later. Indeed, it may safely be asserted that had it not been for his untiring efforts the Five Nations, under the insidious influence of Canada's astutest colonial Governor, Denonville - aided by the Jesuit fathers would have

1 In 1656, Stuyvesant, who bears the character of a comparatively wise and liberal governor, imprisoned some Lutherans; and, in 1658, banished a clergyman of that church. "Against the Quakers the temper of the Government [Stuyvesant's] was violent and revengeful. Orders in writing or placards were issued to the authorities of the Town of Midwout (Flatbush) not to entertain members of this odious sect; and it was expressly ordered that no conventicles should be holden in houses, barns, ships, woods, or fields, under penalty of fifty guilders for each person, man, woman, or child, attending, for the first offense, double for the second, quadruple for the third and arbitrary correction for every other. Under

this order, John Bowne and his father Thomas (among the earliest and most venerable of the inhabitants of Flushing) were arrested, September 1, 1662, charged with harboring Quakers and permitting them to hold their meetings in their house; and, after remaining in prison for some time, for non-payment of his fine, was offered his liberty on condition of leaving the Province, which, upon his refusing to do, the elder Bowne was transported to Holland"-Gordon's Gazetteer, p. 14. Many more instances of a similar, though of a much harsher nature, might be cited. See, for further proofs of the statements in the text, Thompson's "History of Long Island," p. 494.

been completely won over by the French, and the tomahawk and the firebrand carried down to the very gates of New-York!

Edmund Andros, whether compared with those who preceded or those who came after him, may justly be considered the most able and enlightened of New-York's colonial governors.'

CHAPTER XI

THOMAS DONGAN AND THE GRANTING OF THE NEW-YORK CHARTER

1682-1688

UBSEQUENT to the return of Sir Edmund Andros to England in 1681, Colonel Thomas Dongan was commissioned Governor of the Duke of York's Province of NewYork. He was a descendant of an ancient Irish Catholic family, and was the youngest of the three sons of Sir John Dongan, Baronet, of Castletown, County Kildare. His mother was a sister of Richard Talbot, who became Earl of Tyrconnel and later Lieutenant-Governor of Ireland. He was born at the family home in Ireland in 1634, and was early trained to the profession of arms. The Dongans favored the Stuarts, and when Charles I. was beheaded in 1649, the family removed to France. Young Dongan entered the French army and received a commission from Louis XIV. in an Irish regiment which was composed chiefly of adherents of the unfortunate king. He rose through all the commissioned ranks until 1674, when he was made colonel. Meanwhile he had served for some time in Nancy and had taken part in the campaigns against Holland. After the treaty of Nimeguen in 1678, an order was issued for the return of all English subjects then serving under the French crown to their homes. Concerning this recall Colonel Dongan wrote that he was obliged to relinquish "that honorable and advantageous post, and resisted the temptations of

Aho Fongan

1 This vignette is copied from the supposed portrait among the Caleb Lyons collection, now in the possession of the New-York Historical Society.-EDITOR.

greater preferment then offered him if he would remain there; for which reason the French king commanded him to leave France in forty-eight hours and refused to pay him a debt of sixty-five thousand livres then due to him for remits and arrears upon an assessment rendered him by the intendant of Nancy."

The Duke of York was evidently familiar with his career, for he interested himself in his behalf and urged him to enter the English military establishment. It appears that he was appointed to high rank in the army then designated for service in Flanders, and an annual pension of £500 was conferred on him for life in consideration of his losses in France. He did not, however, enter active service, for in the same year (1678) he was sent to Tangier, Africa, under Lord Inchiquin, as LieutenTHE DONGAN ARMS. ant-Governor of that place. Two years later he was recalled. Then, after a short visit to Ireland, he came to London at the invitation of his patron, the Duke of York. For a time he was a regular frequenter of the court and a man of society.'

Dongan had now arrived at the mature age of forty eight. He was familiar with military affairs and was experienced in the administration of government. His foreign career had given him a knowledge of men of different types, and being of the same religious faith as the Duke of York, he naturally shared with him any ambitions that he might have in extending the Catholic religion in the New World. He was therefore chosen by his royal patron to be "Governor of the Duke of York's Province of New-York." The appointment was considered a good one, not only on account of Dongan's personal qualities, but also because of the necessity of selecting a governor who was familiar with the French character and therefore competent to manage with skill the English interests, then in a precarious condition owing to the delicate relations between New-York and Canada. Moreover, it was believed that his acquaintance with the Dutch, gained by his services in Holland, would make him considerate of their interests and therefore acceptable to them.

His commission, which bore the date of September 30, 1682, made him Governor of "all that part of ye Maine land of New England beginning at a certaine place called or knowne by the name of St. Croix next adjoyneing to New Scotland in America and from thence extending

1 In "The Story of Nell Gwynn; and the Sayings of Charles the Second," related and collected by Peter Cunningham, he says: "Nell was indebted, there is reason to believe, for her introduction to the stage, or at least to another condition in life, to a person whose name is variously written Duncan or Dungan." Subsequently, in following her

career at that period, Cunningham adds, "A Colonel Dongan was Governor of New-York in the reign of James II." The fact that Nell became the mistress of Charles II. in 1669 renders it exceedingly doubtful whether she was indebted to Thomas Dongan for her advancement to the stage, especially as he was at that time probably in France.