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COLONISATION OF NEW YORK.

a million of souls. The influence which they exercised on the subsequent destinies of the whole country was commensurate with these important advantages of character and ability.

CHAPTER XIV.

COLONISATION OF NEW YORK.

THE territory, now occupied by the middle states of the American Union, was originally settled by the Dutch and Swedes. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an Englishman, in the service of the East India company of Holland, set sail from the Texel for the discovery of a north-west passage to India. On his voyage he touched at Long Island, and sailed a considerable distance up the river to which his own name was afterwards given. The right of discovery, supposed to be thus acquired, and the favourable reports of subsequent voyagers, induced a company of Dutch merchants to establish a trading settlement; and the States-general promoted the enterprise by granting them a patent for the exclusive trade of the Ĥudson river. They built a fort near Albany, which they called Fort Orange, and a few trading houses on Manhattan island, which is now called the island of New York. These events took place in 1613.

The claim, thus established by the Dutch, was regarded by them as valid; but in the same year the English, who considered themselves entitled to all North America, because the continent was first discovered by Cabot, sent Captain Argall from Virginia to dispossess all intruders on the coast. Having taken possession of Port Royal, St. Saviour, and St. Croix, French settlements in Acadia, Argall paid a visit to the Dutch at Manhattan, and ordered them to surrender the place. The Dutch governor having no means of defence submitted himself and his colony to the British authority, and consented to pay tribute.

In the year following, however, a new governor having arrived at the fort, with a reinforcement of settlers, the claim of the English to dependence, was forthwith defied, and the payment of tribute, imposed by Argall, resisted. For the

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better protection of their claim to the country, they erected a fort at the south-west point of the island. Here they were left undisturbed by the English for many years; maturing their settlements, increasing their numbers, and establishing a prosperous and 'quiet little colony.'

In 1621, the attention of the government of Holland being directed to the importance of this settlement in America, they granted a patent to the Dutch West India Company, embracing the territory from the Connecticut river to the Delaware, under the title of the New Netherlands. Under this company, the colony was considerably extended. The city of New Amsterdam, afterwards called New York, was built on Manhattan island; and in 1623, at the distance of 150 miles higher up the Hudson river, the foundations were laid of the city of Albany. Their first fort in this place was called Fort Aurania, a name which was afterwards changed to Fort Orange. The same year they built a fort on the east side of the Delaware, which they named Fort Nassau. Ten years afterwards, they erected a fort on the Connecticut river near Hartford, and called it Fort Good Hope. Their possessions were thus extended, or rather scattered, from the Connecticut to the Dela

ware.

The Swedes were already settled on the Delaware; and the claims of the two nations were afterwards the subject of controversy, until the final subjugation of the whole territory by the Dutch. The English extended their settlements to the Connecticut, and after disputes, which lasted many years, finally ejected the Dutch from their fort on that river.

During their occupancy of this post, however, the Dutch received frequent assistance from their English neighbours, in their wars with the Indians. So little accustomed were the Dutch to this species of warfare, that, on one occasion, their governor, Kieft, was obliged to engage the services of Captain Underhill, who had been banished from Boston, for his eccentricities in religion. This commander, with one hundred and fifty men, succeeded in making good the defence of the Dutch settlements. In 1646, a great battle was fought on Strickland's Plain, in which the Dutch gained the victory.

In 1650, Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New Netherlands, went to Hartford, and demanded from the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England a full surrender of the lands on Connecticut river. Several days were spent in controversy on the subject, and articles of agreement

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GOVERNOR STUYVESANT.

were finally signed, by which Long Island was divided between the parties; and the Dutch were permitted to retain only those lands on the Connecticut which they held in actual possession.

On the Delaware, Stuyvesant defended the claims of his country against both the English and the Swedes. In 1651, he built Fort Casimir, on the river, near New Castle. The Swedes, claiming the country, protested against this invasion of their rights; and Risingh, their governor, treacherously surprised it, and taking possession, compelled the garrison to swear allegiance to Christiana, queen of Sweden. Stuyvesant taking fire at this outrage, determined to invade and subdue the whole Swedish settlement. He accordingly proceeded to execute his purpose, and easily succeeded in so far intimidating the Swedes, that they quietly surrendered the whole of their establishments, and soon became incorporated with the conquerors.

During the next ten years, Stuyvesant was occupied in strengthening and extending the colony of New Netherlands. But he was only rendering it a more valuable acquisition for his powerful neighbours. Charles II. was now (1664,) king of England, and forgetting the friends who had afforded him shelter during his long exile, he sought every pretext for a quarrel with Holland. Among others he asserted his claim to the province of New Netherlands; and, without regarding the claims of the actual occupants, he executed a charter conveying to his brother, the Duke of York, the whole territory lying between the Connecticut and the Delaware. No sooner did the Duke of York obtain this grant, than he conveyed to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, all that portion now constituting the state of New Jersey.

To carry the king's grant into effect, Colonel Nichols was sent out with a fleet and army. After touching at Boston he sailed for New Amsterdam, and, anchoring before the place, demanded its surrender from the governor. Stuyvesant was for making the best defence he could, but being overruled by the fears of the people, who dreaded the storming and sacking of their city, he was induced to sign a treaty of capitulation of the most favourable character. Private property was respected, and Dutch vessels were still permitted to come to the colony for the purpose of trading or bringing settlers. The inhabitants retained their estates, and became incorporated with the new comers. Stuyvesant himself remained in the colony to the end of his life.

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Out of compliment to the patentee, New Amsterdam was thenceforward called New York; and this name was extended to the whole province. Fort Orange was soon after surrendered, and received the name of Albany. Carteret, who had been despatched to reduce Fort Orange, effected a treaty with the Indians of the Five Nations, which was productive of lasting benefits to the colonists. Sir Robert Car received the surrender of the garrison on the Delaware, on the first of October, and the entire subjugation of New Netherlands to the English was thus completed.

Colonel Nichols was the first English governor of New York. His government was absolute, but paternal. On the judicial institutions of the Dutch, he ingrafted the trial by jury; and having caused the laws to be revised, improved, and formed into one code, he transmitted them to England; where they received the confirmation of the Duke of York. On the 12th of June, 1665, New York became an incorporated city.

During Colonel Nichols's administration (1666), a war with Holland having broken out, apprehensions were entertained of an attempt to recover New York by the Dutch. Heavy taxes were laid for the purpose of defence, and the people complaining, Nichols nobly sacrificed his private property for the public service. No attack took place, however; and at peace of Breda, the colony was ceded to England in exchange for Surinam.

the

Next year Colonel Nichols found himself compelled, by the sacrifices of property he had made, to resign his appointment. He was succeeded by Colonel Lovelace, during whose administration of six years, the colony was happy and prosperous. Towards the close of his term of office, war with Holland having again broken out, a small squadron was despatched to destroy the commerce of the English colonies. After having accomplished this purpose to a considerable extent, the commander made a sudden descent on New York, and Lovelace being absent, Colonel Manning, who had been left in command, sent down a messenger, and treacherously surrendered the place without the least opposition. It remained in the hands of the Dutch but a few months, being restored to the English again at the treaty of Westminster, in 1674.

The Duke of York now took out a new patent. It empowered him to govern the inhabitants by such ordinances as he or his assigns should establish, and to administer justice

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NEW YORK ACQUIRES CIVIL FREEDOM.

according to the laws of England, allowing an appeal to the king in council. It prohibited trade without his permission, and imposed the usual duties on exports and imports. Under the authority of this charter, the Duke of York retained the government of New York until his accession to the throne of England as James II. He first commissioned Andros, who was afterwards the oppressor of New England, to be governor, under his authority, of all his territories, from the Connecticut to the Delaware. In October the Dutch resigned their authority to Andros, who forthwith entered upon the duties of his administration. During its continuance he exhibited much of that harshness, severity, and rapacity which afterwards rendered him so odious in the eastern colonies. In 1682, Colonel Thomas Dongan was appointed governor. His administration is memorable as the era of the commencement of representative government in the colony. The royal proprietary having perceived in the people pretty unequivocal symptoms of discontent with the arbitrary system which prevailed in Andros's time, and being solicited by the council, court of assizes, and corporation, consented to grant New York the same form of government which hitherto was enjoyed in the colonies, and accordingly transferred the legislative power to an assembly of the representatives of the people. The assembly was to consist of a council of ten members, and a house of representatives chosen by the people, composed of eighteen members; but its laws were to be ratified by the proprietary before they could take effect. This free constitution was received by the people at the very period when the colonists of New England were deprived of their charters. As an admission of the principle of representative government it was important; but the people, having gained their point, seem to have settled down into that happy and contented state, which required very little attention either to the framing or executing of laws, since they only had two sessions of the legislature for the next six years.

Although we are not fond of statistical details, we cannot refrain from presenting an extract from Graham's history, exhibiting the condition of the province at this period. It is particularly interesting when we contrast these small beginnings with the present extent and resources of that powerful

state.

'The city of New York, in 1678, appears to have contained three thousand four hundred and thirty inhabitants,