In the spirit of the Revolution of 1688, Fletcher was a zealot for the establishment of the episcopal church, and, under the plea of introducing uniformity in the language and literature as well as the religion of the colony, the inhabitants of which were a mixture of Dutch and English, he introduced into the assembly a bill for the settlement of episcopalian ministers of his own selection throughout the province. This bill gave rise to a great deal of party spirit; and finally it was agreed that ministers should be settled in certain parishes, but that the choice should be left to the people. “New York is the most northern colony which admitted by enactment the partial establishment of the Anglican Church.” The dissenters kept strict watch henceforth that the episcopacy, favoured by England, made no further inroad on their rights. The peace of Ryswick terminated for the present the war with the French; and the Earl of Bellamont, a man of integrity, and with warm sympathies for popular freedom, arriving as governor in April, 1698, the dawn of a calmer day seemed at hand. The commission of Bellamont embraced the whole of the British northern territory from the confines of Canada to Connecticut and Rhode Island. His kinsman, John Nanfan, who accompanied him, was appointed lieutenant-governor of New York. Bellamont having served on the parliamentary committee which had inquired into the trials of Leisler and Milborne, viewed the aggressions of the opposite party with great disapprobation; and under his administration it was that the stigma was removed from the memory of those injured men, and justice done to their families. Fletcher, “who was accused of winking at violations of the Acts of Trade, and favouring the pirates who frequented the American harbours,” was removed from his post on this ground, and the Earl of Bellamont was strictly enjoined to their vigilant suppression. The buccaneers, at the remonstrance of Spain, being no longer supported by France and England, had now become sugar-planters, holding large possessions of slaves in Jamaica, Hayti, and St. Domingo, which were now thriving islands through their means. Piracy, however, still remained to a vast and increasing extent, every sea from China to America being infested with these profligate robbers, who were often welcomed to the colonial harbours on account of the wealth they brought and the freedom of their expenditure. Before Bellamont left England, a company was formed for the suppression of piracy; and it being supposed that great wealth would accrue from the re-capture of the pirate vessels, the king himself, the Earl of Bellamont, the Lord Chancellor Somers, the Earls of Shrewsbury, Romney, and Oxford, all held shares. By the advice of Robert Livingstone, a merchant of New York, then in England, and himself a partner, the command of a vessel fitted out for this purpose was given to Captain Kidd, a ship-builder of New York.