[Frederic Shonnard & W.W. Spooner (1900)] after he became acting governor. In February, 1690, the settlement of Schenectady was burned and its inhabitants were massacred by the Indians at the instigation of the French. Leisler at once sum-moned a general assembly for the purpose of providing means and supplies for retributive measures. In that body Thomas Browne was the delegate from Westchester County. The influence of Leisler as a plain citizen, before by the stress of events placed in the control of affairs, was uniformly on the side of the public welfare, of intelligence, and progress; and the history of his personal career is that of a vigorous, successful, and honest man, who eminently deserved the position he won. He came to New York in 1660, while the city was still known as New Amsterdam, GENERAL HISTORICAL REVIEW TO 1700 209 being one of a company of fifteen soldiers for the re-enforcement of the garrison. Afterward he traded with the Indians and acquired considerable means. He served under Dongan as one of the com-missioners of the Admiralty Court. In 1GGT he was one of the jurors in a case of witchcraft tried at Brookhaven, Long Island, against Ralph Hall and his Avife, which resulted in acquittal. As one of the captains of the training bands he enjoyed the unusual confidence of the citizen soldiers — a confidence which, because of his reputation