since yt may be as easily obtained by any peticõn or other addresse to you at their Generall Assizes (wch is once a yeare) where the same persons (as Justices) are usually present, who in all probability would be theire Representatives if another constitucõn were allowed." 1

But apparently in the course of that year the views of Governor Andros underwent some change, for in January, 1676, the duke thus advises him:

"I have formerly writt to you touching Assemblyes in those countreys and have since observed what severall of your lattest letters hint about that matter. But unless you had offered what qualificacõns are usuall and proper to such Assemblyes, I cannot but suspect they would be of dangerous consequence, nothing being more knowne then [i. e. than] the aptnesse of such bodyes to assume to themselves many priviledges wch prove destructive to, or very oft disturbe, the peace of ye governm wherein they are allowed. Neither doe I see any use of them wch is not as well provided for, whilest you and your Councell governe according to ye laws established (thereby preserving evary man's property inviolate) and whilest all things that need redresse may be sure of finding it, either at ye Quarter Sessions or by other legall and ordinary wayes, or lastly by appeale to myselfe. But howsoever if you continue of ye same opinion, I shall be ready to consider of any proposalls you shall send to y' purpose." 2

The last sentence, which I have italicized, indi1 Colonial Documents, iii. 230.

2 Id. iii. 235.

cates that the governor had suggested the feasiblebleness and prudence of yielding to the popular demand for a legislature. It seems, moreover, to show the duke in one of his gracious moods. Nothing, however, came of the discussion, and the rule of Andros continued without constitutional check. There can be no question as to his faithfulness to his master, or as to his unflagging zeal for the interests of the city and province which had been committed to his care. In municipal reforms he was most energetic, and he found an able ally in the wealthy and accomplished Stephanus van Cortlandt,1 the first mayor of New York who was born in the city. Van Cortlandt's beautiful wife, Gertrude Schuyler, was an especial favourite with Mrs. Andros, and there was warm friendship between the husbands, so that mayor supported governor with more than ordinary alacrity. Van Cortlandt laid out and graded Broadway for some distance beyond the city wall; and seven wells were sunk, which proved useful in cases of fire, though the water was too brackish for drinking. Andros was a stickler for cleanliness and obliged every householder on certain stated days to set out by the wayside his litter and garbage in barrels or tubs, for the city's carts to take away. Andros also built a market-house on Broad Street, and a wharf on the East River, he had decrepit houses thoroughly repaired, or if not worth repairing and liable to become dangerous, he had them pulled down. Tidy housekeep

Municipal improvements.

1 His name is commemorated in Cortlandt Street, leading from Broadway down to the Pennsylvania Railroad's ferry.

Currency.

ing was a hobby to which he was always ready to give personal supervision. When building was going on he would stand by and give orders to the workmen, or would even in his zeal pick up a foot-rule and measure a board to see if it would fit. It goes without saying that trade and currency would engage the attention of such a man. He fostered trades and tradesmen with rules and regulations until it was a wonder that New York had any trade left. Even the quantity of brine in which the farmer might immerse his blocks of fat pork was minutely prescribed. As for prices, they were of course fixed by ordinance. The currency of the province was in that unfathomable chaos which has always had so many admirers in the New World, - specie, beaver skins, white and black wampum, with relative values perpetually shifting, - and in the attempt to introduce something like order and stability Andros struggled manfully but in vain. Another crying evil was intemperance. It was said, perhaps with some exaggeration, that one quarter of all the houses in the city were places for retailing beer and spirits, and it could not be denied that the streets were too noisy with tipplers. The vehement mood in which Andros approached such matters is shown by his ordinance that if any man were to be seen drunk on the street, and the magistrates should be unable to discover where he had got his liquor, they were empowered forthwith to clap a fine upon every house in that street! How far this superlative edict was enforced we do not know.

Dram-shops.

Andros

necticut

In spite of his zeal and diligence the prosperity of New York did not come up to its governor's wishes and expectations, and although inducements were held out to immigrants, yet the population did not increase so rapidly as was desired. It seemed to Andros necessary for the general welfare that the thriving towns and teeming fields of Connecticut should be added to his covets Con- province; or, as he himself would have honestly said, to assert the duke's rightful authority over this eastern portion of his province. At the same time both Andros and the duke knew that some discretion was needful in proceeding against a colony chartered by the king, to say nothing of the facts that Connecticut singlehanded was stronger than New York, and that she was loosely confederated with Massachusetts and Plymouth, upon whose aid in certain emergencies she could count.

In the spring of 1675 Andros sent a message to Hartford, requesting the General Court to make arrangements for turning over that town and all the country west of the Connecticut River to the Duke of York. The court replied by alleging the award of the royal commissioners of 1664, which gave to Connecticut a boundary twenty miles east of the Hudson River. Andros rejoined claim to it. that the alleged award had never been confirmed by the king, and was now quite superseded by the new royal grant to the duke. The men of Connecticut refused to admit this claim, and their contumacy was declared by Andros and his council to be tantamount to rebellion. In June

and lays

"hee sent home Capt. Salisbury for England to let his Royal Highness know how impossible it was for this Government to subsist without the addition of Connecticut." 1

In the answer to Salisbury's message, which did not come for nearly a year, the duke's secretary wrote to Andros: "Upon the whole you will see that His Roy" Hss is willing things should rest as they are at present, but he is not sorry you have revived this clayme because possibly some good use may be hereafter made of it." 2

Breaking out of King

War.

But the ship that carried Captain Salisbury had scarcely sailed (July 2, 1675) when a courier from Hartford came spurring down the Bowery Lane (July 4) with the shocking news of the Indian massacre at Swanzey. The long- Philip's drawn chapter of horrors known as King Philip's War had begun. Andros at once wrote to Winthrop: "I am very much troubled at the Christians' misfortunes and hard disasters in those parts, being so overpowered by such heathen. Hereupon I have hastened my coming to your parts, and added a force to be ready to take such resolutions as may be fit for me upon this extraordinary occasion, with which I intend, God willing, to set out this evening, and to make the best of

1 Governor Dongan's report of 1687 to the Lords of Trade, in O'Callaghan's Documentary History of New York, i. 187. Dongan goes on to say, "Much less can it subsist now without it, being at more expense than in the time of Sir Edmond, having lost Delaware, etc. I hope his Maty will bee graciously pleased to add that Colony to this which is the Centre of all His Dominions in America."

2 Colonial Documents, iii. 236.