CHAPTER XVIII.
 

PUr.LIC   AFFAIRS   FROM   1700   TO   1728.
 

The divisions which had so greatly perturbed the com¬
munity during the exciting administration of Leisler, had
left their stamp upon the public mind so deeply that their
influence can be distinctly traced during many subsequent
years.

During the administration of the Earl of Bellamont,
the adherents of Leisler had been favored by the counte¬
nance of the government, and the rival party had conse¬
quently been powerless. By the death of that governor,
however, a prospect of brighter fortunes was opened to
the latter faction; and at the election for the city, in the
fall of 1701, a severe contest took place for the supremacy
in the city government.

The common council was, at that time, composed of the
mayor, recorder, six aldermen and six assistants. If the
vote in the common council were equal, the mayor had a
casting vote. Mr. Noell, the mayor elect, was an " anti-
Leislerian," while the recorder, Mr. Abraham Gouverneur,
was a " Leislerian." The strife to gain a majority of the
common council was severe, and the votes, in some of the
wards, very close. There were six wards, and as the
aldermen made the returns of the election, every alderman