HISTORY OF BROOKLYN. 325

imprisoned in the Provost for carrying Hessian deserters over to the Jersey shore.1

At length, after protracted negotiations, a definitive treaty of peace was signed at Paris, between the American and British commissioners, on the 3d of September, 1783. And on the 25th of November following, Brooklyn and the city of New York were formally evacuated by the British troops and refugees,2 whose requiem was sung by ballad-singers in strains like these:

“When Lord Cornwallis first came o’er
The cannon roared like thunder;
If he should return once more,
It will surely be a wonder.
The refugees and Tories all,
Asking mercy at our hands,
Upon their bending knees do fall,
To let them stay and enjoy their lands,’ etc.

As soon as the armies of Britain had left these shores, and Liberty dawned again upon the land, so long deprived of hope and peace, numerous exiles returned to look after their property and interests. Brooklyn, which, during the war, had been wholly military ground, presented a sadder scene of desolation than any other town in Kings County. In 1776, after its occupation by the British, free range had been given to the pillaging propensities of the soldiery. Farms had been laid waste, and those belonging to exiled Whigs given to the Tory favorites of Governor. Tryon. Woodlands were ruthlessly cut down for fuel, buildings were injured, fences removed, and boundaries effaced. Farmers were despoiled of their cattle, horses, swine, poultry, vegetables, and of almost every necessary article of subsistence, except their grain, which fortunately had been housed before the invasion. Their houses were also plundered of every article which the cupidity of a lawless soldiery deemed worthy of possession, and much furniture was wantonly destroyed.3 At the

1 Rivington, Aug. 1, ’83.

2 On this memorable occasion the American flag was displayed from the same flag staff, on the Pierrepont mansion, from which signals had been made during the battle of Long Island, in 1776.

3 More serious outrages by the British soldiery were not infrequent, but redress was not easily obtained by the sufferers. “A Mrs. Lott, of Flatlands, was wantonly shot by