HISTORY   OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
 

CHAPTER   XXII.
 

COLONEL  WILLIAM  SMITH.

Colonel "William Smith. — Conflict in the Council. — Lieutenant-Governor Nan¬
fan. — Illegal Voting. — Robert Livingston in Disgrace. — Mrs. Gertrude Van
Cortlandt. — The City Elections. — Extraordinary Confusion. — Mayor Noell.
— Chief Justice Atwood. —Makoe-House of Caleb Heathcote. -—Trial of Nich¬
olas Bayard for Treason.—Death of William III. — Lord Cornbury. — Bay¬
ard's Sentence reversed. — The Yellow Fever. — The Church Quarrel. — Lady
Bellomont.—The Leisler Bill. — Death of Frederick Philipse.—Philipse
Manor. — Philipse Will. — The French Church. — Trinity Church. — Queen
Anne. — Excitements. — The Treasurer of the Province. — Death of Lady
Cornbury. — Lord Cornbury and the two Presbyterian Ministers.—The As¬
sembly of 1708. — Spirited Resolutions. — Loed Lovelace, — First Paper Money
IN New York. — Five Indian Chiefs at Queen Anne's Court. — The Silver Vase
D Schuyler by Queen Anne.
 

1701.
 

THE sadness which fell like a pall over New York upon the death
of Lord Bellomont was quickly pierced by a clash in the political
arena. Lieutenant-Governor Nanfan was in Barbadoes, and the
_ govemment was without a head. Colonel William Smith has-
' tened to New York, but, owing to recent storms and swollen
streams, he did not arrive untU the 11th. The ice was just breaking
in the Hudson Eiver, which prevented Peter Schuyler and
Eobert Livingston from reaching the city until the 21st of the
month.

Without waiting for the two latter, the council met to consider what
steps to take in the emergency. Colonel Smith claimed the chair
by virtue of being the oldest member. The four other gentlemen
present — Abraham De Peyster, Dr. Staats, Eobert Walters, and Thomas
Weaver — thought a vote should be taken and the majority decide the
question. Smith said it was " an odd and doubtful way of proceeding,"
and since New York had never been so circumstanced before they must
look to other of the king's plantations for a precedent in the matter. The
discussion grew interesting and considerable heat was manffested.    Smith