The new Assembly met in October, 1768, and at once proclaimed its independence and its contempt for royal dictation by opening a correspondence with the Assembly of Massachusetts. This was a direct and open violation of the commands which had been issued by his Majesty the King, which was that the colony should hold no correspondence with other provinces. A circular had been sent to the Assembly in New York from Massachusetts, in which the aid and assistance of New York was earnestly besought for coöperation in securing the removal of grievances which were common to all the colonies. In the next Assembly the tone was so different as to excite the resentment of the patriots. Shortly afterward the soldiery and the people came into collision in trifling but significant ways. The so-called battle of Golden Hill was prophetic of the approaching revolution. When Dunmore apprised the English government of the events which had taken place, he was careful to attribute them to party violence, encouraged by factious opposition to the Crown and the Established Church of England. He endeavored to make it appear that the contentions arose from the objections of the popular leaders to the enforcement of the laws passed by Parliament. Judging from the tenor of his report, one would be led to suppose that the soldiers were actuated solely by a desire to maintain and uphold the dignity of the government. They were specially commended for their exertions in subduing the rebellion. Lord Dunmore, after a brief term in office, was succeeded in the office of Governor by William Tryon. The "tea party" of April 23, 1774, illustrated the temper of the people. Other incidents of a less picturesque kind indicated not less clearly the determination to shake off the yoke of foreign control. [Illustration: FIRST FIRE ENGINE USED IN BROOKLYN _Built in 1785_] The General Assembly of New York, having at the time of its adjournment refused to comply with the recommendation of the Colonial Congress to elect delegates to attend another meeting of that body, to be held in the city of Philadelphia, May 10, 1775, a call was issued by the Committee of Sixty, in March, addressed to the several counties throughout the colony, directing them to elect deputies to a provincial convention, to be held in the city of New York, on the 20th of April, for the purpose of choosing delegates to represent the colony in the Continental Congress. This convention, on the day appointed, met at the Exchange, in New York. Philip Livingston, one of the Committee of Sixty, was chosen president. Livingston, at this time, owned a very large tract of land in the neighborhood of Hicks and Joralemon streets, on which he had erected a handsome residence. In that body Kings County was represented by Simon Boerum, Denys Denice, Theodorus Polhemus, Richard Stillwell, and J. Vanderbilt. All of these men were well known, and enjoyed the confidence of their constituents.