CHAPTER IV.

NEW YORK UNDER JAMES IL

Accession of James II.—Governor Dongan—Episcopal Jurisdiction in America—Con¬
solidation of Provinces—Abdication of James II. and Accession of William III.—
Excitement in New York—The Leisler Rebellion—Governor Sloughter—Charter of
Liberties—Rev. John Miller, and his Scheme for the Establishment of an Episcopate
in tbe Province—Steps toward the Full Recognition of the Church of England—
Attempt to Pass a Bill for Settling the Ministry in the Province—Arrival of Gov¬
ernor Fletcher.

UPON the death of Charles II., James, Duke of York,
his brother, ascended the throne ; the Lord Pro¬
prietor now became monarch, and the colony of New
York a royal province governed directly by the Crown.
As might have been expected the colonial policy remained
the same, and the scheme of consolidation was pushed
with energy. Colonel Sir Edmund Andros, the former
Governor of New York, was appointed Captain-General
and Governor-in-Chief over the Territory and Dominion
of New England in America ; he arrived in New England
December 19, i586, and at once took command. At the
same time Dongan was appointed Captain-General and
Governor-in-Chief over the province of New York, his
n^w commission dating from the 14th of September of
that year. Acting under instructions from the Crown,
he proceeded to dissolve the General Assembly. The
royal assent to the charter of liberties had been refused,
and for a time the popular branch of the colonial gov¬
ernment might have been regarded as extinct.    Dongan