tormed on the island of Manhattan (the name then given to New York), but no attempt was made to colonize. In 1613, they were visited by Argall, the adventurous English captain, who compelled them to own the dominion of his country; but as no steps were taken to follow up this advantage, they continued as before to trade with the natives, and consider the land their own. In 1614,

a grant of exclusive commerce was made to a company of merchants, who thereupon erected a rude fort, and pushed their operations as high as Albany. They appear at the same time to have formed a station at the mouth of the Connecti

cut.

In 1620, an American settlement was attempted on a grander scale, by the formation of the Dutch West India Company, incorporated for twenty-four years. Their privileges included the whole western coast of Africa, as far as the Cape, with all the eastern shores of America, from Newfoundland to the Straits of Magellan. Over this vast extent they had the exclusive right to conclude treaties, carry on war, and exercise all the functions of government. No notice was taken in the grant, that the whole of this territory was claimed, and many parts occupied, by other European nations; nor did the government, in making this vast donation of what was not their own, promise the means of placing it in the company's hands. Their possessions, accordingly, were fiercely disputed, and most precariously held. The weakness of the Portuguese crown enabled them. to grasp large portions of its territory in Brazil and on the African coast. North America, they did not venture to measure their strength with the English but were content silently to enlarge their stations on the Hudson, which the latter showed no disposition to occupy. The country was called New Netherlands; and an increasing cluster of cottages, where New York now stands, was named New Amsterdam.

In

As yet there was nothing that could be denominated a colony; but in 1629, government interposed to establish one on a considerable scale. It was planned on quite an aristocratic basis; for though lands were granted to detached settlers, the chief dependance was on opulent individuals, who were expected to carry out bodies of tenants at their own expense; and those who should transport fifty became lords of manors, holding the absolute property of the lands thus colonized. They might even possess tracts sixteen miles long, and be furnished with negroes, if they could profitably do so. Several of them began to found these manors; two, Godyn and De Vries, led out thirty settlers to the head of the Delaware, laying the first foundation of that state; but the latter having vis ited home, found on his return that it had been attacked by the Indians, and totally destroyed. The whole colony was unprosperous, and very hard pressed on different sides. The New England settlement in Connecticut soon surrounded their little station, obliged them to give way, and even to abandon part of Long Island. At the same time, the Swedes, then in the height of their power, under Gustavus Adolphus, planned a settlement, which was zealously supported by that great monarch, who subscribed 400,000 dollars in its favor. They fixed on the bay of Delaware; and though Kieft, the governor sent from Holland, entered a protest, he did not venture to employ force against the conqueror of Lutzen. Moreover, Lord Baltimore, having just obtained his patent extending northward to the latitude of forty degrees, intimated his claim to nearly the whole of the Dutch territory. All these annoyances, however, were small com pared to the Indian war, in which the atrocious violence of Kieft involved the colony. Attacking by surprise a party who had shown some hostile dispositions, he commenced a general massacre, in which nearly a hundred perished. Hence raged during two years a contest, accompanied by the usual horrors and calamities, and which effectually checked the progress of New Netherlands. At length a treaty was negotiated, in which the five nations were included.

A few years after, in 1646, the governor was recalled, to the great satisfaction of the people, and was succeeded by Stuyvesant, a military officer of distinction, brave, honest, and with some tincture of letters. Adopting a wise and humane policy toward the Indians, he succeeded in obviating any disturbance from that. quarter. By negotiation with the company, he obtained a release from those trammels by which commerce had hitherto been fettered, substituting moderate duties on exports and imports. He suffered, however, much trouble from the English, who were continually extending their frontier on and beyond the Connecticut, and set scarcely any limit to their claims. The settlers discouraged greatly any idea of going to war with so powerful a neighbor, and exhorted him to gain the best terms he could by treaty. By large concessions he obtained a provisional compact, which was never indeed ratified in England, yet obtained for his people some security. Stuyvesant then turned his eyes on the other side to the Swedish colony, which had prospered and become a commercial rival. It was much inferior, however, to New Netherlands, while the death of Gustavus and of his great ministers and generals, succeeded by the fantastic sway of Christina, rendered her country no longer formidable. He, therefore, with the sanction of his employers, determined to reannex it, for which some violent proceedings on the part of Rising, the governor, afforded a fair pretext. Having assembled a force of 600 men, he marched into New Sweden, as it was termed, which, after a short resistance, renounced that name, and became incorporated with the Dutch dependency. A few of the settlers returned to their native country; the rest yielded to the mild sway of the conqueror. Stuyvesant was next annoyed by Lord Baltimore, who could boast that his charter entitled him to extend his borders to New England, leaving no room whatever for New Netherlands; but as his pretensions were not supported by any adequate force, they were easily evaded."

The company, though they did not grant any political franchises to the colonists, took great care to have them well governed, and to check those despotic practices in which Stuyvesant, from his military habits, was prone to indulge. They prohibited likewise all persecution, and studied to make the country a refuge for professors of every creed. From France, the Low Countries, the Rhine, Northern Germany, Bohemia, the mountains of Piedmont, the suffering protestants flocked to this transatlantic asylum. Even the New Englanders, allured by the fine climate and fertile soil, arrived in great numbers, and formed entire villages. It therefore became expedient to have a secretary of their nation, and to issue proclamations in French and English, as well as Dutch. To augment the variety, the company introduced as many negro slaves as they conveniently could. New York became, as Mr. Bancroft terms it, a city of the world; its inhabitants termed themselves a blended community of various lineage. Unluckily for the Dutch, the protestants of that age carried generally with them an ardent attachment to civil liberty, which was pushed to its utmost height by those of New England. Their views soon found favor in the eyes even of the Hollanders; for, though some of the more opulent were adverse to any very broad popular institutions, they could not forbear joining in the objection to be taxed without their own consent. Innovations of this nature, it appeared, were agreeable neither to the company nor the governor. The colonists, having sent over a deputation to the former, obtained a few municipal privileges, but none of the rights of a representative government. Such was their perseverance, however, that they erected one for themselves, by calling two deputies from each village; and the body thus assembled presented a remonstrance to Stuyvesant, claiming that their consent should be necessary to the enactment of new laws, and even to the appointment of officers. He received this address extremely ill, and bitterly reproached them with yielding to the visionary notions of the

New Englanders; stating that the laws were good, and would continue to be well executed, but could not be allowed to emanate from the wavering multitude He derived his authority only from God and the West India Company, who would never become responsible to their own subjects. The remonstrants were therefore commanded, under a severe penalty, immediately to disperse. In this the company firmly supported their governor, directing that the people should no longer indulge the visionary dream that taxes could be imposed only with their own consent. They, however, cherished a deep dissatisfaction, which, though it did not break out into open violence, indisposed them to make any exertions in support of a government under which they enjoyed no rights. This became of a serious consequence in the crisis that was now approaching.

Considering the long and embittered hostility of England against the Dutch, it may appear wonderful that she did not sooner attempt the conquest of a valuable nossession, to which she had so plausible a title. Cromwell, in fact, had projected

it, but was diverted by other objects. Charles II., always prejudiced against that people, soon adopted the same resolution; and even before any measure was taken for conquering the country, he included it in a grant made to his brother James, of the territory from the Kennebec to the St. Croix, and from the Connecticut to the Delaware. To make good this donation, Sir Robert Nichols was sent out with an expedition, to be reinforced by a detachment from another colony. The Dutch had for some time foreseen the crisis; but unwilling to ex pend their funds in sending troops, they urged the governor to seek means of defence within his own dominions. This, from circumstances already stated, was exceedingly difficult; and though Stuyvesant, in this emergency, granted their demand for a representative assembly, it was too late to inspire confidence, and the people declined making any sacrifices to repel a power from whom they hoped more liberal treatment. In August, 1664, Nichols cast anchor in face of New Amsterdam, having landed part of his troops on Long Island. He imme