Leisler having been the one selected, he took possession not alone of the fort, but of all the prerogatives of the administration. He changed the name of the fort to that of William, which it retained for the period of two years. During his administration, a half-moon fortification was made on the west side of the fort; upon which seven guns were placed to defend the landings of both rivers.

Leisler, having had a taste of power, desired to retain it, and refused to surrender possession of the fort when required to do so. He was in consequence immured in the very prison he once commanded, and was finally executed as a rebel.

The fort now had the name Henry added to it. The old Dutch church was demolished and an English one was erected on its site.

In 1702 the name was again changed to that of Anne, which it bore until the Georges ascended the throne. It never had another.

In 1741 the mansion was burned down and the fire was attributed to the slave population, the famous “Negro Plot” having originated in this year. The mansion was rebuilt and an additional battery added to the fort; but in 1773, while Governor Tryon was the incumbent, the building again took fire and was entirely consumed in two hours' time.

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the entire fortification was removed, to make room for the presidential mansion, which was planned to face Bowling Green. At that time the exterior appearance of the fort was that of a green sloping bank, about fourteen feet high; and above it arose the walls to an additional height of twenty feet. A portion of the materials was used in building the mansion.

In the early days of the colony the houses were mostly built of bricks brought from Holland. These were of different colors and set in patterns and glazed,

the prevailing colors being red and black. The ends of the houses always faced the streets; the gables, rising by successive steps to a point, were always surmounted by a weathercock. Under the projecting eaves was a "stoep," on either side of which were seats adapted to social intercourse. The lower windows of the houses were made quite small, as a precaution against the incursions of the Indians.

The interiors of the houses were kept scrupulously clean; the planed floors were well scrubbed and sanded, and traced with delicate designs; the oaken rafters were polished and carved in devices and mottoes; and the doors were perforated with bull's-eyes and well scrubbed with sand.

Furniture, in those days, was more for use than comfort or ornament. Chairs were high-backed and rush-bottomed, and made of red walnut or mahogany. Tables were round, and turned by means of a pivot to a fan shape and were usually placed against the wall when not in use. Couches were covered with worsted damask, and clocks extended from floor to ceiling. In the corner of the best room there usually stood a buffet with glass doors, containing, as well as displaying, the family plate and china; conspicuous amongst which was a huge punch-bowl, also tiny cups and saucers, and tea and coffee pots with silver handles and spouts. Sideboards were not introduced until after the Revolution, and were very small.

Stoves were unknown; but open fireplaces, with shining fire-dogs, gave a cheerful appearance to the rooms. Small bits of carpet, usually imported by the family, were sparingly laid in the "best room." Coaches were rare, there being for some time only four or five in the entire settlement.

As time wore on and means of communication with Europe became less difficult, the wealthier settlers were enabled to import their furniture; and carpets began

to make their appearance in most of the better class of dwellings, which soon began to assume a degree of luxury hitherto unknown.

A certain John Miller, chaplain to the fort, seems to have kept the statistics of the colony. He computed the number of families in New York, in the year 1692, to have been three thousand. Of these, one half, he says, were Dutch and rich, but sparing; the other half was composed of English and French, of whom the former outranked the latter in numbers, and were neither rich nor economical, and the last mentioned were poor and necessarily penurious.1

This worthy dominie depicts things from a rather dismal standpoint. He calls the inhabitants an ungodly people, who have no care for heavenly things; but instead turn everything to drink or money to buy it with. "Even the crops," he says, are usually such as will yield some kind of liquor, cider, perry,

etc."

A more cheerful writer of the gentler sex, on a visit from Boston, describes the same city as "a delightful place; where the inhabitants are courteous and hospitable; where families interchange invitations to dinners and suppers, at which times the tables are crowded with provisions; where the families mostly dine at one o'clock, and never later than two in the day; and games of cards engross the post-prandial hours of the more leisurely part of the community."

There were no theatres, to be sure, as in Boston; but concerts were given by amateurs, and there were assemblies for dancing which met in a large hall, the entrance being by subscription. As unanimous consent from all the members was necessary to secure a membership, the affair was very select. At these assemblies the stately minuet and sprightly cotillion were

1 The West India Company incorporated Nieu Amsterdam as a city in 1653, and modelled its government after that of Amsterdam.

the order of the evening, the latter dance having been introduced by the French.

Marriages and funerals were public; but notes of invitation to them were issued. The funerals were followed by long processions on foot, as no public conveyances were used prior to the year 1789, and very few families owned a "leathern conveniency" as Robert Murray styled his carriage.

Without a doubt the French refugees bore a prominent part in the great change in the colony, and they undoubtedly infused new life into its veins.

As we have said, the Dutch were a slow people. They were noted for the slowness, perseverance, and the plodding tenor of their lives; they had got into a groove and they steadily persevered in it. Their social life had always been simple, domestic, and unostentatious.

The English were formal, and held strict ideas of caste, which consisted of a lower, middle, and upper class; the barriers separating each were impregnable and insurmountable. Some of the wealthier Dutch families held aloof from strangers, and formed a distinct class by themselves; but the majority met the British officers and attachés at public entertainments; and after a time adopted their idea of caste.

The Huguenots were naturally romantic, vivacious, and chivalric; and, freed somewhat from the overshadowing vigilance of their founder's spirit, and having no party feeling like the others, they formed, as it were, a bond of union between them.

The original settlers, finding no reason for alarm at the inroad upon their hospitality, and shaken out of the narrow groove in which the course of their existence had formerly run, could not but acknowledge the beneficial effect of the leaven from France. Immediately upon their arrival, the Huguenots had commenced to ply their industries, and very soon that

portion of the city which, through force of circumstances, they had been compelled to accept - the vicinity of Bucther's Pen, it having, in all probability, moved away with the city's limits gave evidence of their thrift and consequent prosperity.

Moreover, the first destitute refugees had been followed in course of time by others; who had been more fortunate in bringing with them some of their patrimony. Nearly every ship of those that arrived once a month from England brought over families of wealthy, and even noble ancestry.

The refugees of the better class had mostly engaged in mercantile or commercial pursuits. They had erected comfortable and even handsome dwellings, and the elegance and refinement of their private life caused the aristocracy amongst the Dutch and English to welcome them to their entertainments, and to take pleasure in being entertained by them.

The style of architecture likewise had greatly improved. Pearl Street, at that time the first one west of Broadway, and which between State and Whitehall streets was extremely narrow, contained some handsome dwellings.

At Coenties Slip stood the municipal buildings, up to the time of their removal to Wall Street, in the early part of the eighteenth century. There, also, stood a celebrated inn for the reception of visitors to the city, this spot having been chosen on account of the exceeding beauty of its prospect, and its aristocratic. surroundings.

At the slip, Pearl Street curved to the north, widening considerably at Hanover Square; it also changed its name at different stages in its course, assuming first that of Dock Street, then Hanover Square, Queen and finally Magazine Street.

On this street the gable ends ceased to face the street, and "stoeps and benches yielded to roof