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In Unfriendly to Liberty , Christopher F. Minty explores the origins of loyalism in New York City between 1768 and 1776, and revises our understanding of the coming of the American Revolution. Through detailed analyses of those who became loyalists, Minty argues that would-be loyalists came together long before Lexington and Concord to form an organized, politically motivated, and inclusive political group that was centered around the DeLancey faction. Following the DeLanceys' election to the New York Assembly in 1768, these men, elite and nonelite, championed an inclusive political economy that advanced the public good, and they strongly protested Parliament's reorientation of the British Empire. For New York loyalists, it was local politics, factions, institutions, and behaviors that governed their political activities in the build up to the American Revolution. By focusing on political culture, organization, and patterns of allegiance, Unfriendly to Liberty shows how the contending allegiances of loyalists and patriots were all but locked in place by 1775 when British troops marched out of Boston to seize caches of weapons in neighboring villages. Indeed, local political alignments that were formed in the imperial crises of the 1760s and 1770s provided a critical platform for the divide between loyalists and patriots in New York City. Political and social disputes coming out of the Seven Years' War, more than republican radicalization in the 1770s, forged the united force that would make New York City a center of loyalism throughout the American Revolution.

Surviving are three sons, Edward Ted Muno and wife Michelle of Mundelien, IL, [Thomas J. Muno, Jr.], Sr. and wife Sally of Wilmington, NC, Michael Kitt Muno, Sr. and wife Debbie of Wilmington, NC; one stepson, Rene John Pelletier and wife [Linda Cook] of Vernon Hills, IL; ten grandchildren; seventeen great grandchildren; and one great-great- grandchild. She is survived by her son, Alan Lanier and his wife Paula of Wilmington and their children, Dariean and [Humphrey Lee Wells]; her son, Gary and his wife Rachel of Castle Hayne and their children, Ryan, Wesley, Kayla and Sarah; sisters, Hildreth Gallagher of Willard, Nettie Daub of Wallace, and Joyce Arnett of Atkinson; brother, Merrel Wells of Watha, and many nieces and nephews. Memorial gifts may be given to Lower Cape Fear Hospice and LifeCareCenter, 725-A Wellington Ave., Wilmington, NC 28401; St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church, 612 S. College Rd., Wilmington, NC 28403; or to the charity of one's choice.

When the corrupt Gov. William Cosby deposed Chief Justice Lewis Morris and replaced him with James DeLancey, son of a rich merchant friend, Cosby outraged the town's other lawyers as well as the citizenry, who hated him and his tyrannical rule. Choosing to fight back, Morris's friends founded and financed [John Peter Zenger]'s Weekly Journal for the sole purpose of assailing the Governor and arguing Morris's case in open forum. In fact, truth as a defense in a libel action was not recognized until after 1804, when another Hamilton, Alexander, argued in Albany as brilliantly as Andrew that another convicted editor, Harry Croswell, should have a new trial for his libel case. A divided New York Supreme Court upheld the conviction, but before its verdict was handed down, the State Legislature enacted a statute establishing truth as a defense if the publication was made with good motives. This ''Hamiltonian doctrine'' became a part of most state constitutions later on.

Mrs. Pelgrift was graduated from the Loomis Chaffee School and from Connecticut College, having studied at Harvard College her junior year. She is a great-granddaughter of [James Parton], the 19th-century biographer. Her father, now retired, was founder of the American Heritage Publishing Company and its president from 1954 to 1970.

Mr. Pelgrift, who is a corporate finance analyst at Morgan Stanley & Company, was graduated from Loomis Chaffee and cum laude from Harvard. His father is an assistant attorney general of Connecticut.

The furious Governor asked the Assembly to endorse a public burning of the paper, but it refused. He asked a grand jury to indict the upstart printer, but it refused. So [William Cosby] had [John Peter Zenger] jailed on his own information. The charge was printing ''false, scandalous, malicious and seditious'' articles that had accused the Governor of horrendous misrule, threatening nothing less than ''slavery.'' Judges may understand the words differently, Hamilton argued, but citizens have a ''natural'' right to complain, and duty to protect every citizen's privilege of truthful complaint. ''Of what use is this mighty privilege if every man that suffers is [kept] silent? And if a man must be taken up as a libeler for telling his sufferings to his neighbor?'' The jury ''in small time'' ruled not guilty, and while ''a mixture of amazement, terror and wrath appeared in the bench'' the ''jubilant crowd then adjourned to the Black Horse Tavern to celebrate.''

  Over several days in recent weeks, editorial writer Krys Fluker visited the Homeless Assistance Center in Daytona Beach. Her diary account of one of those visits, last Tuesday, is representative of the array of activities at the center. 8:15 a.m. Already, the center is busy, though so far things have been uneventful. Outside the front door, volunteer Lisa Pennington has plenty of takers for the pastries and coffee she's handing out. Inside, volunteers are laying out trays of bread for the noon meal, and Delancey Starkes \"Mr. Dee\" to all and sundry is circulating, chatting with the center regulars and checking to make sure everything is moving smoothly. Starkes coordinates the flow of people in and out of the center and calls people in for meals. He's the first staff member most homeless people see when they approach the center.8:43 a.m. A few dozen people have congregated in the fenced-off, mulched area where several picnic tables have been placed. Some men lie back on benches, sleeping. At one of the tables, Lucy Pero watches as her 4- year-old daughter, Haley, draws on a piece of paper. Lucy is anxious to get Haley back into day care, but the center's clients are clearly happy to have her there. \"We're staying with a friend right now,\" Lucy says.8:50 a.m. One of the center's most-used amenities is showers. But Pamela Hannan, another part-time staff member, has sets of towels and bags of toiletries stacked and ready for clients. There are always exceptions. A slender woman with wet hair smiles and drops her used towels into a box. From the stock of mismatched towels and washcloths, Hannan selects another set, making sure the colors coordinate.9:04 a.m. Bess Dufoe surveys her domain the kitchen. Dufoe works for Halifax Urban Ministries, which provides the hot meals at the shelter. Her volunteers today are from Jan Murray Ministries, a group that worked to feed the homeless long before this center existed. This group is normally more rambunctious, she says. They work together with the ease of old friends.9:10 a.m. Bruce Gibson, the center's case manager, has his first challenge of the day. Clinton Ewig has been on the streets since he was booted from his hotel room during Speed Weeks. \"I stayed in that place for four months. I was never late on my rent,\" Ewig says. \"Then they upped the rent to $150 a night. I'm a homeless person because of that.\" Ewig hopes Gibson can find him a bed at a local detox center and promises to come back later to find out what might be available.9:15 a.m. After Ewig leaves, Gibson sits down at his desk something he never does when clients are in the room, for fear they might be intimidated. The challenge is to find a facility, he says. He wants help. I want to help. (Treatment centers) want to help. But they dont have the room. Today, there is one spot in Stewart-Marchmans detox center. But Ewig is not the only client Gibson has to consider. He made no promises. 9:30 a.m. Alphonso Jacksons plight has been bothering Gibson for days. The man who looks to be about 20 years older than Ewig was badly beaten about a week ago. All his possessions were stolen; his nose is broken, and his eye is swollen. This is the client Gibson thinks really needs detox services. And now that Jackson is here moving in obvious pain its not hard to understand Gibsons logic. As the client slowly lowers himself into the chair in Gibsons office, the case manager asks Whats your situation with clothes? I have no clothes, Jackson replies. When I was robbed they took everything. Tuesdays not the usual day for clothes, but Gibson sends Jackson back to the area where clothes are stored anyway. The deal: Hell help Rich Weaver sort donated garments in exchange for more shirts, pants and underwear.9:42 a.m. Weaver, a volunteer who comes to the center almost every day, has the clothing sorted on tables in two tents one for men, one for women. Hes constantly amazed at the variety of donations he gets. Snow ski goggles, he says, holding up three pair. He laughs. Its something he does a lot.10:00 a.m. A slight woman hovers outside Gibsons door until he calls her in. Her story is both horrifying and commonplace: The week before, shed been threatened with a knife, beaten and raped. She pulls her jeans leg up to show that the marks from the attack are fading, but its clear that shes deeply uneasy. Though shes found a place to stay, Gibson still wants to make sure she gets counseling. This happened on my birthday, the woman says. Some birthday. . .

There is a soupcon of plot, of course. The hero, Delancey, a journalist for the East Hampton Star, travels to Washington to cover (and proselytize for) environmental issues while his lover, Phil, is away in Europe. In our fair city he encounters various old and new friends, several familiar to readers of [James] McCourt's highly praised earlier books (Time Remaining, Kaye Wayfaring in \"Avenged\", Mawrdew Czgowchwz). All of these \"characters\" are, practically speaking, gay archetypes: the read-everything writer O'Maurigan; the transvestite Odette O'Doyle (who becomes Maud MacGown); lesbian diva Vana Sprezza; roman-a-clef millionaire Max Harrington and his wife, Anastasia; Sen. John Galt (named after the Ayn Rand hero); a compliant Hill page called Rain with a deep interest in congress (sexual and legislative); and the outrageously subversive Ornette, educated at Boston Latin School and the University of Virginia, now a master of Ebonics, classical learning and tent-revival, place-your-hands-on- the radio oratory. His declamatory riffs on black stereotypes and white prejudices deliberately alternate shock with shuck: In fact, most of Delancey's Way grab-bags together party talk, monologues and playlets about government, D.C. life, opera, gay mores, Bill Clinton (referred to as POTUS -- President of The United States), money, sex, race, Key West, television and political conspiracy. One possible subtitle for this romp, we learn, could be an \"Investigation into the Allegorical Nature of the American Republic\" -- though Delancey himself says the book resembles \"a big crowded crosstown bus -- in which he can't get anybody to move to the back.\" Throughout, the novel moves from one razzle-dazzle set piece to the next, starting with Ornette's 15-page rant at the Cosmos Club about black and white sexual politics: Yowza. Periodically, we hear from various walk-ons that Christo may wrap the Washington Monument in a giant condom. At one especially surrealist moment, Delancey recruits the Simple City Crew to dress up as gondoliers -- rowing crews -- for a Venetian-style festival on the Potomac. Freshman congressmen are imagined wearing propeller beanies. Delancey himself ends up starring in his own TV program, \"The Delancey Retort\" -- commedia dell'arte meets the McLaughlin Group.

Bill Goldstein reviews the book 'Delancey's Way\" by James McCourt.