There was a definite relationship among all the bodies growing out of the revolution. The Continental Congress stood at the head; then came the Provincial Congress or Convention, then the general committee on tories, then the county committees, and at the base, the district committees." 3 These various bodies varied in size, authority, procedure and effectiveness. With the erection of constitutional government in the State, toryism was more clearly defined and handled in more summary fashion. "The inquisitorial methods and machinery developed previous to the Declaration of Independence were continued by the Constitutional Convention and by the new state government." 4

Van Tyne (Claude H.) The Loyalists in the American Revolution. New York and London, 1902. ' Flick. Loyalism in New York during the American Revolution. New York, 1901 (Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, vol xiv, no. 1). In this work the whole system of the inquisitorial bodies of New York is given in admirable detail. * Ibid, p. 79. • Ibid, p. 1 7.

Introduction

The Provincial Congress had appointed a committee in May, 1776, to deal with " intestine enemies." As the trial of persons accused as tories consumed much time, a standing committee of five was appointed, on May 27, 1776, to hear all cases of those arrested by the Congress or by the committee of safety. But this committee was so deluged with arduous duties, that a new committee consisting of nine members was constituted and given enlarged powers. This last-mentioned general committee was appointed to execute the resolves of June 5, 1776, and lasted until dissolved by the Convention, which "itself took cognizance of all urgent cases." 7 he invasion of New York by the British army at the south and the threatened invasion from the north, coupled with the difficulties imminent from a dangerous toryism, determined the Convention to constitute a new inquisitorial committee of seven members, on September 21, 1776, which was given a perfected organization, and to which the county committees became subordinate.