126 HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

Thus, in the words of our latest State historian,1 “The flag of England was at length triumphantly displayed, where for half a century that of Holland had rightfully waved, and from Virginia to Canada, the King of Great Britain was acknowledged as sovereign. 'Viewed in all its aspects, the event which gave to the whole of that country a unity in allegiance, and to which a misgoverned people complacently submitted, was as inevitable as it was momentous. But, whatever may have been its ultimate consequences, this treacherous and violent seizure of the territory and possessions of an unsuspecting ally, was no less a breach of private justice than of public faith. It may, indeed, be affirmed that, among all the acts of selfish perfidy which royal ingratitude conceived and executed, there have been few more characteristic, and none more base.”

1 Brodhead, i. 745.