De la Barre was mortified and enraged at this bold reply; but, submitting to necessity, he concluded a treaty of peace, and returned to Montreal. His successor, De Nonville, led a larger army against the confederates; but fell into an ambuscade, and was defeated. These wars within the limits of the colony served to perpetuate the enmity of the Indians against the French, and their attachment to the English.
When James II. ascended the throne, it was determined to superadd New York and the Jerseys to the jurisdiction of the four colonies of New England; and a new commission was issued, appointing Sir Edmund Andros captain-general and vice-admiral over the whole. His authority, however, was a brief one. In the following year, intelligence was received of the accession of William and Mary to the British throne; and while the principal officers and magistrates were assembled to consult for the general good, Jacob Leisler, a captain of militia, seized the fort and held it for the prince of Orange. The province was for some time subsequently ruled by a committee of safety, with Leisler at their head. In a few months, a letter arrived from the ministry in England, directed ‘to such as, for the time being, take care of administering the laws of the province,’ and conferring authority to perform all the duties of lieutenant governor. This letter Leisler understood as addressed to himself, and assumed the authority conferred by it, without ceremony.
The people of Albany acknowledged king William, but refused to submit to Leisler. Force was resorted to, with the view of compelling obedience; and the estates of the rebellious were confiscated. In this disturbed state, the colonists of New York remained nearly two years; when the miseries of foreign aggression were added to those of internal discord.
War had been declared between France and England; and De Nonville had been replaced in the governorship of Canada by count Frontignac, a veteran officer, whose skilful and energetic measures, aided by a large reinforcement, soon raised the affairs of the French from the brink of ruin,and enabled them to act on the offensive. Frontignac was indefatigable in his efforts to gain over the Five Nations, who had made two attacks upon Montreal, and murdered a great number of inhabitants. He held a great council with them at Onondaga; and, as they seemed to be somewhat inclined to peace, he resolved to give their favorable disposition no time for change, and, at the same time, to inspirit his own drooping countrymen, by finding them immediate employment against the English colonies. On the 19th of January, a party of about two hundred French, and some Cahnuaga Indians, set out, in a deep snow, for Schenectady; they arrived on the 8th of February, at eleven o’clock at night; and the first intimation the inhabitants had of their design, was conveyed in the noise of their own bursting doors. The village was burnt, sixty persons were butchered, twenty-seven suffered the worse fate of captivity, the rest made their way naked through the snow towards Albany, where some arrived in extreme distress, while many perished in the attempt. A party of young men, and some Mohawk Indians, set out from the latter place, pursued the enemy, and killed or captured twenty-five.
To avenge these barbarities, and others perpetrated in New England, a combined expedition against Canada was projected. An army, raised in New York and Connecticut, proceeded as far as the head of lake Champlain, whence, finding no boats prepared, they were obliged to return. Sir William Phipps, with a fleet of more than thirty vessels, sailed from Boston into the St. Lawrence, and, landing a body of troops, made an attack by land and water upon Quebec; but the return of the army to New York allowing the whole force of the enemy to repair to the assistance of the garrison, he was obliged to abandon the enterprise. Leisler, transported with rage when he was informed of the retreat, caused Winthrop, who commanded the New England forces, to be arrested, but was instantly compelled, by universal indignation, to release him. It was to the misconduct or incapacity of Leisler and Milborne, (the latter of whom, as commissary-general, had made no adequate provision for the enterprise,) that the failure of this expedition was attributed.
Leisler was afterwards superseded by colonel Sloughter, and, together with Milborne, was executed for refusing to surrender his authority to the officer legally appointed to receive it. Sloughter’s administration was inefficient and turbulent. He was succeeded by colonel Fletcher, a man of great energy of character, but violent in his disposition and mean. His administration was signalized by no occurrence worthy of particular record. The war between the French and the Five Indian Nations raged with great fury, and both parties seemed inspired with a mutual emulation of cruelty in victory, no less than of prowess in battle. Prisoners were tortured, and put to death, without the least regard to the rights of humanity, or the laws of war.
In 1697, the peace of Ryswick, which was concluded between Great Britain and France, gave security and repose to the colonies. The next year, the earl of Bellamont was appointed governor. He was particularly desirous of clearing the American seas of the pirates with which they had for some time been grievously infested. The government, however, declining to furnish an adequate naval force, the earl engaged with others in a private undertaking against them. Among the associates were lord chancellor Summers and the duke of Shrewsbury; the king himself, too,held a tenth share. The company, having procured a vessel of war, gave the command to captain Kid, and despatched him on a cruise against the pirates. He had been but a short time at sea, when he made a new contract with his crew, and, on the Atlantic and Indian oceans, became himself a daring and successful pirate. Three years afterwards he returned, burned his ship, and, with a strange infatuation, appeared in public at Boston.
The earl of Bellamont wrote to the secretary of state, desiring that Kid might be sent for, and a man-of-war was despatched upon this service; but being driven back by a storm, a general suspicion prevailed in England, that there was collusion between the ministry and the adventurers, who were thought unwilling to produce Kid, lest he might discover that the chancellor and the other associates were confederates in the piracy. So powerful was this feeling, that a motion was made in the house of commons, that all who were concerned in the adventure might be deprived of their employments; but it was rejected by a great majority, and all subsequent attempts to implicate the unfortunate shareholders, only proved more satisfactorily their entire innocence of any participation either in the designs or the profits of captain Kid; although their imprudence in selecting a person whose previous character was very indifferent, was evident and undeniable. Ultimately Kid was conveyed to England, where he was tried and executed.
Lord Bellamont found affairs in great confusion, and the colony divided into two bitter factions, contending with increased animosity. His administration was prudent, and promised to be highly beneficial; but was early terminated by his death, in March, 1701. Lord Cornbury was appointed his successor, a man eminent only for his meanness and profligacy: dismissed by his friends to place him out of the reach of his creditors. His rule was oppressive and extravagant; and the infamy of his private character exposed him to universal odium. He was finally removed, and was succeeded by lord Lovelace. His lordship died soon after his arrival, and general Hunter was appointed to the vacant chair. He brought with him nearly three thousand Germans, who were dispersed through New York and Pennsylvania.
In the year 1709, extensive preparations were made for an attack on the French settlements in Canada; the plan was afterwards abandoned, but in 1711 resumed. It was unsuccessful, and nothing was accomplished by it. To defray its expenses, the newly-elected assembly passed several bills, which the council persisted in amending. A contest ensued between these two bodies, in which the governor took side with the council, and finally dissolved the assembly. At the ensuing election, most of the members chosen were opposed to the governor. This assembly was dissolved by the death of the queen. The next met a similar fate from the governor soon after it met, a majority being known to be unfriendly to his views. At length, however, the people became weary of contending, and sent representatives who were not disposed to differ from the governor.