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COMMEMORATION 
 
 CONQUEST OF NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 ^EW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 "V- 
 
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 iSG7 
 
 
 ^'''yof 
 
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 NEW YORK: 
 PUBLISH Kl) BY THE SOCIETY. 
 
 M DCCC LXIV. 
 
C. A. ALVoJlli, I'KINTKB. 
 
 
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS 
 
 FOR 
 
 THE COMMEMORATION. 
 
 1864. 
 
 GULIAN C. VERPLANCK, 
 GEORGE BANCROFT, 
 HAMILTON FISH, 
 JAMES W. BEEKIMAN, 
 EVERT A. DUYCKINCK, 
 FREDERIC PE PEYSTER, 
 AUGUSTUS SCHELL, 
 GEORGE FOLSOM, 
 CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 GEORGE H. MOORE. 
 
eP7^ ,2^^ 
 
 
OR AT I (3N 
 
 CONQUEST OF NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 riEI.IVERED BEF(jnE THE 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 On Wednesday, the Twelfth of October, 1864. 
 
 JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD. 
 
 NEAV YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY THK SOCIETY. 
 
 JI DC'CC LXIV. 
 
At a Meeting of the New York Historical Socictj-, lield at the Hall of the 
 Union, Cooper Institute, on Wednesday Evening, October 12th, 1864, to com- 
 memorate the Two Hnndredth Anniversary of the Conquest of New Nether- 
 land, 
 
 " GvLiAN C. Verplanck, LL.D., submitted the following Resolution, which 
 was seconded by George Bakcroft, LL.D., and adopted unanimously: 
 
 " Resolved, That the thanks of tliis Society are eminently due and are hereby 
 tendered to Joint Romeyn Brodhead, LL.D., for his eloquent Oration, delivered 
 this evening, in commemoration of the Conquest of New Netherland, and that a 
 copy be requested for the Archives of the Society, and for publication." 
 
 Extract from the Minutes : 
 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
 Knterert ncporiling to Act of ('on^rt'SS, iu thi^ y<*ar 18(U. by 
 
 JoiiN Romeyn Brophead, 
 
 In tlic Clerk's Offlcu of the Dietriet Court of the United St.ites for the Southern District 
 
 of New York. 
 
COMMEMORATIVE ORATION. 
 
 Brothers of the New Yojik Histokkal Society : 
 
 Two hundred years ago, an Englisli squadron, iilled 
 with armed men, came up our Bay, and anchored near 
 what is now our Battery. Its presence foreboded and 
 produced resiilts of momentous interest to our city, our 
 State, and our nation. You liave directed tJiat tlie anni- 
 versary of this event should be fitly observed ; and, in 
 obedience to your call, I venture to review the circum- 
 stances and consider tlie consequences of the transaction 
 Avhich we are this day assembled to commemorate. 
 
 In the summer of the year sixteen hundred and sixty- 
 four, the eastern coast of North America Avas occupied by 
 various separate Colonies, whicli had been founded by 
 several European nations. For nearly half a century, 
 England, France, and the United Netherlands liad each 
 been endeavoring to appropriate territory there, and rear 
 dependent Plantations. France, the pioneer in successful 
 colonization, liad tirst pushed her adventurous way 
 through the valley of the Saint Lawrence, and set up tlie 
 cross of her faitli with the lilies of her king, among tlie 
 savages who dwelt on its borders. Thus began her do- 
 minion over NeAV France, or Canada and Acadia. Farther 
 south, England had kept closer to the sea-coast, the clear 
 waters of which abounded with lisli, and where safe har- 
 
8 COMMKMOnATIVE RATI OX. 
 
 bors invited the emigrant to linger neai* those crystal 
 waves which covild roll unhroken to Land's End. Yet 
 England had not occupied the whole of that more southern 
 coast. Midway between Virginia and New England, colo- 
 nists from Holland, following their countrymen who had 
 exploited the unknown wild, planted themselves quietly 
 among the natives from Avhom they bought the soil, and 
 sought to add a New Netherland to the Batavian 
 R('j)ublic.* 
 
 All these various colonies Avere settled under the author- 
 ity of the respective countries in Europe whence they 
 came. In the earlier period of adventure, those countries 
 had adopted the pinciple that the savage territories which 
 each might discover should become the absolute property 
 of the explorer. As Columbus had discovered the New 
 Woi'ld — which ought to have borne his illustrious name 
 — in the service of Spain, Pope Alexander the Sixth 
 decreed that the Spanish sovereign should hold forever 
 nearly the whole of that vast region which the Atlan- 
 tic washed on the west.f A few years afterwards, the 
 Cabots, under commissions from Henry the Seventh of 
 England, discovered Newfoundland, and sailed, at a 
 distance along the coast, as far south as Albemarle Sound. 
 By virtue of these discoveries, the successors of Henry 
 claimed- sovereignty over all that part of the North Ameri- 
 can continent along the shores of which the Cabots had 
 sailed.:): But, as the previous sweeping title of Spain 
 
 * Tacitus describes tlie Batavians, who dwelt at the mouths of the Rhine, as 
 "the bravest" of all the Germanic tribes — '' I'irhite pr<rcipvi Batiwi ;" Dc Mor. Ger., 
 'iO. Tliese Batavians were the forel'atliers of the founders of that Republic, the 
 early history of which Mr. Motley has so worthily written. I use the word "Bata- 
 vian" as synonymous with "Dutch." In its proper English sense the term 
 " Dutch" is exclusively applied to the people of Holland, or tlie Netherlands, or 
 T.ow Limds. It is a common l)lnnder to call the people of Germany " Dutchmen," 
 instead of " Germans," which is tlieir correct national name iu English. 
 
 t Chalmers's Political Annals, (i, 10; Hazard's Collections, I. 3-6; In'ing's Colum- 
 bus, I. 18,5-200; Holmes's Annals, I, 7, .5.511; Brodhead's History of New York, I. 2. 
 
 : Ch.ilmcrs, 4, 8,9; Bancroft, I. 10-14; Brodhead, I. 3; Palfrey's New Eng- 
 land, I. 62. IK, 
 
COMMEMOHA I'l VE OUA TION. 9 
 
 cut oft' ail}!' English claim, Queen Elizabeth declared that 
 '■'• 'prescripiloii without jjossessioii is of no anail ;'''' or, 
 in other words, that actual occupation must follow dis- 
 covery, iu order to confer a valid right to savage terri- 
 tory.* This princi])le, whicli echoed the old Roman 
 law, was first asserted by the Queen of England in 1580, 
 because it Avas convenient for her to assert it against 
 Spain ; and it was deliberately conlirmed by Parliament 
 in 1621. t It established a most important rule in regard 
 to European colonization iu America. 
 
 Accordingly, France, with the cjuiet assent of Sjiain 
 and England, ex])lored the Saint Lawrence and occupied 
 Canada and Acadia. A Florentine mariner in her service 
 had, as early as 1524, discovered the Bay of New York, 
 and praised its lake-like beauty. But as the voyage of 
 Verazzano did not lead to colonization, France claimed no 
 title to these regions which he had visited. Neither did 
 the explorations of Gomez, in the following year, induce 
 the Spaniards to occupy our coast. J 
 
 * Tlic doctrine maintained Ijy Queen Elizabetli was, ^^ Fnescrlpiio sine paixeisionc 
 hand valent ;^'' Camden, Annales Eliz., 1.^80 ( Kd. Hearne), 3(K); Brodliead I. 4, note. 
 The translation of Camden in Kcnnett's England, II. 4S1 (Lond., ITOU), renders 
 the passage as follows : " Moreover, she understood not why her or any other Prince's 
 subjects should be debarred from the Indiex, which she could not persuade herself 
 the Spaniard had any just title to by the Bishop of lioim^s Donation (in whom she 
 acknowledji'ed no Prerogative, much less authority, in sucli caics, so as to lay any 
 tie upon Princes which owed him no obedience or observance, or, as it wei*e, to 
 infeotfe the Spaniard in that New World, and invest him witii the possession thereof), 
 nor yet by any other claim than as they had touched here and there upon the 
 coasts, built cottages, and given names to a River or a Cape ; which things cannot 
 entitle them to a Propriety. So that this donation of that which is another man's, 
 ■which is of no validity iu law, and this imaginary propriety, cannot hinder other 
 princes from trading into those counti'ies, and, without bi-eacli of the Law of Na- 
 tions, from transporting colonies into those parts thereof where the Spaniards in- 
 habit not, forasmuch as Prescription ■nithout Possession is little worth." This 
 very sound doctrine annihilates the English claim by " Prescription," derived from 
 the voyages of the Cabotjs, who, unlike the Spaniards, do not appear to have 
 "touched here and there upon the coasts, built cottages, and given names to a 
 River or a Cape; which things cannot entitle them to a Projiriety." 
 
 t Commons' Debates, I. iiO, 2.51; Chalmers, fi; Grotius, II. 2; Brodhead, I. 143; 
 New York Colonial Documents, IX. 20.5, .378, 913. 
 
 t Holmes, I. M, .5(5; Bancroft, I. 17, 38; Brodhead, I. 2, 3; Palfrey, I. (ii, G.5; New 
 York Historical Societv's Collections, (II.) I. 37-07. 
 
 2' 
 
10 C'flMiiEiioiiATivE Oration. 
 
 In tlie reign of Elizabeth, tlie lirst English colonists 
 were sent to Virginia. But the adventure failed ; and the 
 name which Raleigh gave to the savage lands he had 
 attempted to occupy alone survived. A feAv j'ears after- 
 Avards, the enterprising English mariners, Gosnold, Pring, 
 and Weymouth, visited the rivers of Maine, and explored 
 the coast as far south as Buzzard' s Bay. No P^uropean emi- 
 grants, however, came to take possession of one acre of the 
 Avild territory between Acadia and Virginia. To promote 
 such occupation, by which alone, according to the English 
 rule, a valid title could be secured, King James the First, 
 in April, 16(J0, granted to two diiierent comj^anies the 
 privilege of j)lanting and governing two distinct and sepa- 
 rate colonies in that part of North America lying between 
 the thirty-fourth and the forty-fifth degrees of latitude, 
 or between Cape Fear and Acadia, not "actually pos- 
 sessed by any Christian prince or people." Two English 
 settlements were accordingly begun in the following year. 
 The first of these, within the Chesapeake Bay, became the 
 prosperous colony of Virginia. The second, at the mouth 
 of the Sagadahoc, or Kennebec, Avas abandoned in 1608. 
 But no attempt was made to occupy any part of the inter- 
 mediate region, nor had any English mariner yet searched 
 the shore between Buzzard's Bay and the Chesapeake.* 
 
 In this situation of affairs, another Englishman, Henry 
 Hudson, t sailing from Amsterdam in the service of the 
 Dutch East India Company, explored, in the autumn of 
 1609, "The Great River of the Moutsttaunts," the 
 
 * Hazard, I. 50-58; Smith's Virginia ; Pinkerton, XHI. 211; Brodhead, I. .5-15. 
 
 + It is a vulgar error to substitute "Hendriek" Hudson for "Henry" Hudson. 
 De Laot probably originated it, by writing, in Dntcli, Hendrielv for Henry, in liis 
 " New World," eap. VII. p. S.% Ed. 16i5. Van der Donck does the same, although 
 he speaks of Hudson as an Englishman. Lambreehtsen names him eorrcetly. 
 Purchas of eourse calls liim "Henry;" see N. Y. Historical Society's Collections, I. 
 61, 81, 103, 14(5, 173. Mr. H. C. Mnrpliy, in his recent interesting monogi-ajjli on 
 Hudson, p. 30, gives a copy of tlie contract of the 8th of Jaiiuaiy, IBOit, to which 
 the name signed is "Henrt Hidson." 
 
Commemorative Oration. 11 
 
 mouth of which Verazzano had discovered and Gomez had 
 revisited nearly a century before. This memorable event 
 was duly commemorated by our predecessors and asso- 
 ciates fifty-live years ago, wlien the Reverend Doctor 
 Miller delivered the first anniversary discourse before the 
 New York Historical Society.* The track of the yacht 
 Half-Moon Avas soon followed by emigrants from Hol- 
 land ; and, in 1613, Dutch trading establishments were 
 fonned at Manhattan, and at the present city of Albany. 
 The islands, coasts, and rivers between Sandy Hook and 
 Buzzard's Bay were now for the first time explored by 
 Adriaen Block, wlio sailed in the "Restless," or "Un- 
 rest," through Hell-Gate ; and other Holland mariners 
 pushed their examinations eastward, as far as Acadia. 
 In October, 1614, the General Government of the Dutch 
 Republic granted a Charter to the owners of the vessels 
 wliich had thus been employed in American adventure, 
 authorizing them exclusively for three years from January, 
 1615, to visit the " neAvly discovered lands" tliey had 
 explored between New France and Virginia, extend- 
 ing from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of latitude, 
 which region was now formally named " Neav Nether- 
 land, "f 
 
 The title which Holland thus acquired to New Nether- 
 land — as far east, at any rate, as Buzzard's Bay — was as 
 just and valid as any of which the history of the world 
 contains a record. According to the English rule, it un- 
 doubtedly belonged to the Dutch. Unquestionable dis- 
 covery had been followed by the actiial occupation of 
 
 * See New York Historical Society's Collections, 1. 17-60. 
 
 t See Appendix, Note A; N. T. Colonial Documents, I. 10, 11; Brodlicad, I. 
 2.5-65. Another vulgar error whicli must be noticed, is the absurd use of the term 
 " Ihc New Net/ie)-la7nlx," instead of " New Netherlanu." In this respect, tlic transla- 
 tions of Lambrechtsen,Van dcr Donek, De Vries, and De Laet, in N. T. Hist. See. 
 Coll. (II.) I. 79, 129, 250, 291, arc gratuitously fiiulty. The origiual Dutch in every 
 ease is "Nieuw Nederlandt," and not " de Nieuw Nederlanden.'" Even Smith, in 
 his History of New York, I. 5, gives the name correctly, as "Nova Belgia, or New 
 Nethcrland." 
 
12 COMMEMnKATfYE OraTION. 
 
 savage tenitory by a Cliristiaii people.* Still farther to 
 maintain tlieir rights, the Dntch Government, in June, 
 1621, aftoi' the ex])ii-ation of the original NeAV Netherlanrl 
 ( 'liarter, incorporated a West India Company, Avith power 
 to eolonizc and govern the "fruitfid and unsettled" re- 
 gions in Africa and America which it niiglit occupj'.f 
 
 Under tliis charter NeAV Netherland grew into a Prov- 
 ince, invested by the States-General witli the arms of a 
 Count, and deriving its laws, its habits, and its religion 
 from its Batavian Fatlierland. Manliattan Island was 
 honestly purcliased from the aborigines, and made tlie 
 emporium of the fur-trade, which produced the chief pro- 
 vincial revenue. Fort Amsterdam was buiU on its south- 
 ern point, as a refuge in case of an attaclv by tlie savages. 
 Posts were also established at Fort Orange, now Albany, 
 on the North River ; at Fort Nassau, near Pliiladelphia, 
 on the South, or Behuvare ; and at Good Hope, now Hart- 
 ford, on the Fresh, or Connecticut. Agricultui'al colonies, 
 subordinate to the general Provincial Government, were 
 likewise settled, under Patroons, at several points on the 
 North and South Rivers. + 
 
 Six years after the Dutch Federal Government had fixed 
 the name of New Netherland on the map of the world. 
 King James the First, adopting the term originally jiro- 
 posed by John Smith, sealed a patent in November, 1020, 
 for the colonization of "New England in America." In 
 tliis he included all the territory between tlie fortietli and 
 the forty-eighth degrees of latitude, and from the Atlantic 
 to the Pacific. But the patent candidly provided that no 
 territory was intended to be granted which was "actually 
 
 * Sfu Note B, in the Appendix. 
 
 + Ilazurd, I. 1:20-1^1 ; Brotlliuad, I. VU-lSi. 
 
 X N. Y. Col. Due, I. 37, 139, 181, 262, 38:i-290; Brodliead, I. 148, 151, 1.53, 164, 
 200-203, 235. An eniiravins; of the Provineial Seal of New Netherland embellishes 
 the t.itle-pa;.;e of this publieation. 
 
Commemorative Ouatiok'. 13 
 
 possessed or inhabited by any other Christian prince or 
 estate." This proviso elearly excepted New France and 
 New Netherland.* 
 
 The same j^ear, a second and more successful experi- 
 ment was made in colonizing a part of titular New Eng- 
 land. This adventure was undertaken, however, before 
 the patent of King James was sealed. The emigrants were 
 English Puritans, most of whom had enjoyed an asylum 
 for several j'ears in Holland, and were so well satisfied 
 with its liberal government, that tliey desired to settle 
 themselves in America under its Hag. Their minister at 
 Leyden, John Robinson, who was versed in the Dutch 
 language, accordingly offered to accompany four hundred 
 families from Holland and England to New Netherland, and 
 plant there a new commonwealth, under the jurisdiction of 
 the Prince of Orange and the States- General. But the au- 
 thorities of the Republic, preferring tliat their American 
 Province should be first colonized by their own citizens, 
 and unwilling to excite the jealousy of the King of England, 
 by transplanting and protecting there his refractory sub- 
 jects, who wished to emigrate, declined to encourage 
 Robinson's proi^osition.f The Puritan refugees, having 
 obtained a large patent from the English Virginia Com- 
 pany, which authorized them to settle themselves south 
 of the fortieth degree of latitude — in what now forms 
 part of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland — therefore 
 set sail in the Mayflower, intending to make their first 
 land at Sandy Hook, which was the best known point. J 
 
 * Hazard, I. 103-118; Trumbuirs Connecticut, I. .'54«-S67; Smith's Virginia; 
 Pinlierton, XIII. 208; Clialmers, 81, 83; Brodliead, I. 90-96, 2.52. It is to be re- 
 marlvfd that while the tir-t Patent of April, 1006, only readied to the forty-flfth 
 degree {ante, p. 10), thi.s second Patent, of November, 1020, grasped three degrees 
 farther north. At the time of its grant, the French occupation of Canada was 
 notorious, and the Dutch possession of New Netherland must liave been icnown to 
 the English authorities; Brodhead, I. 95, 96, 144; Note B, Appendi.x. 
 
 t N. Y. Col. Doe., I. 22-24; Brodhead, I. 115-128; Bradford's Plymouth, 43, 43. 
 
 X The northern boundary of Virginia, according to its second Charter of 1609, 
 was two hundred miles north of Point Comfoit, or about the fortieth parallel of 
 
J 4 COMMEMOHA Tl V K < ) R A TIOiV. 
 
 But, after a boisterous voyage, tliey Avere driveu north- 
 ward to Cape Cod ; and, having vainly attempted to sail 
 around the shoals of Cape Malebarre, they at length, in 
 December, 1620, accidentally landed on the sandy beach 
 of New Plj'moutli.* 
 
 This first Puritan colony in New England was followed, 
 after a few years, by a larger emigi'ation to Massachusetts 
 Bay. Before long, other English settlements were begun 
 on the Fresh or Connecticut River, and at New Haven, 
 which regions Adriaen Block had discovered, and from 
 which it was thought profitable to "crowd the Dutch 
 out."t Rhode Island was also founded, in a spirit of 
 catholic magnanimity, by fugitives from the sectarian des- 
 potism of Massachusetts. The eastern end of Long Island 
 (around- the whole of which Block had been the first to 
 sail, and which was first laid down on a Dutch map):}; was 
 soon afterwards adversely occupied by emigrants from 
 Massachusetts and Connecticut. All these settlements, 
 except the first one at New Plj-mouth, Avere made under 
 the general autliority of the New England Patent ; and, 
 in the case of Long Island, under special grants from the 
 Earl of Stilling, to whom it had been conveyed by the 
 Patentees of James the First. § 
 
 latitude, which intersects the iieighborUood of Barnegat and Philadelphia; 
 Chalmers, 25 ; Hazard, I. 58-73 ; Holmes, I. 133 ; Brodhead, I. 15, 1'33, 130, 2:yl It 
 has been stated (aiile, p. 12), that the New England Patent of Novcraljer, 1020, 
 extended from tlie fortieth degree (or the nortliern boundary of Virginia), north to 
 the forty-eighth. The Mayflower "Pilgrims," therefore, intended to settle them- 
 selves south of llii: fortieth Jer/ree of latitude, where only their Patent from the Vir- 
 ginia Company could advantage them. Mr. J. S. Barry, however, in his recent His- 
 tory of Massachusetts, I. 70, conjectures tliat If that Patent should ever be discov- 
 ered, it would " he found to cover territory now iiidmled in New }«*." 
 
 * Bradford's Plymouth, 44-SS; Brodhead, I. 12S-133. 
 
 t J. H. Trumbull's Colonial Records of Connecticut, I. .565. 
 
 X See the " Figurative Map," in N. Y. Col. Doe., T. 13, referred to in Note A, in 
 Appendix. I do not lind sulHeient evidence that Gomez sailed through Long Island 
 Sound, or that it is represented in Riliero's Planisphere of 1.52!); see Palfrey, I. 05, 
 CO; Asher's Introduction to " Henry Hudson, the Navigator," lxxxviii.,xci.— xciii., 
 cli. The curious copper globe which .Mr. Buckingham Smith recently deposited 
 ■with the New York Historical Society does not exhibit Long Island. 
 
 § BroJIiead, I, 183, 208, ZU, 240, 241, 259, 260, 293-300, 32t, 331, 332. 
 
COMMEilOTlATirE OuATION. li'l 
 
 While these colonies were thus growing on the north 
 and east of New Netherland, another English settlement 
 was established on her southern frontier. Lord Baltimore, 
 a Roman Catholic peer of Ireland, obtained from Charles 
 the First, in 1632, a patent for that part of the territory 
 of Virginia lying between the north bank of the Poto- 
 mac and the fortieth degree of latitude, which, in honor 
 of the Queen, was named Maryland. Emigrants, chiefly 
 of the Roman faith, soon came over to occupy the Prov- 
 ince, which was founded on more liberal principles than 
 any that British subjects had yet jilanted in America.* 
 
 In the mean time. New Netherland flourished apace. 
 Churches were built ; Dutch clergymen, educated and 
 ordained in Holland, were established ; schoolmasters 
 were employed, and schools opened ; and laws, based on 
 the jurisprudence of the Batavian Republic, were enacted. 
 Names familiar in the Fatherland replaced, with more 
 affection than good taste, the sonorous and descrij^tive 
 nomenclature of the aborigines. The young metropolis 
 on Manhattan became NeAV Amsterdam, and hope Avhis- 
 pered that the glory of the latter city might, in time, 
 eclipse the greatness of the old.f 
 
 The Provincial government of New Netherland was 
 vested in a Director and Council, and a Fiscal or Attorney- 
 General, appointed by the West India Company. The 
 supreme laws of the Province were the ordinances of the 
 Director and Council, the instructions of the Company, 
 and the statutes and customs of the Fatherland. To 
 administer this government and execute these laws, the 
 Company ai^pointed Cornells Jacobsen May to be the 
 first Director of New Netherland, in 1624. May was suc- 
 
 * Bancroft, I. ^il-lMS ; Biodliead, I. 2.51-2.53. 
 
 + Brodbead, I. ia3, 19(j, 223, 313, 337, 343, 374, 4fi7. The population of Amster- 
 dam, in 1857, was 259,873; that of New Yorl<, in 1860, was 813,609. 
 
16 Commemorative Ouation. 
 
 ceeded, the next year, by William Verluilst. In 1626, 
 Peter Minnit, a man of sagacity, was made Director ; and 
 in 1G33 he was r<>placed hy the more stolid \Youter van 
 Twiller. Prom 1638 until 1647, William Kieft, a person 
 of more activity but less prudence than any of his prede- 
 cessors, struggled through a turbulent administration. In 
 the su^mmer of 1647, Peter Stuyvesant began a service as 
 Director-General, •which lasted for seventeen years, and 
 ended only with the downfall of the Dutch dominion.* 
 
 Stuyvesant was one of those remarkable men who 
 stamp their names worthily on history. The son of a 
 Dutch clergyman in Friesland, he was educated at the 
 famous High School at Franeker, where he acquired that 
 familiarity with the Latin tongue, Avhich he was always 
 rather fond of displaying. Having entered the military 
 service of the West India Company, he was sent to Ciira- 
 coa as their Director. While in that office he lost a leg in 
 a venturesome attack on Saint Martin, and Avas obliged to 
 return to Holland. Before long he was promoted to the 
 Directorship of New Netherland, whither he sailed, after 
 having taken his oath in the presence of the States-Gen- 
 eral. f With man}' of the nobler characteristics, Stuyve- 
 sant oftentimes exhibited some of the weaker and more 
 frivolous qualities of mankind. He delighted in jiomp, 
 and the ostentation of desi^otic command. Imperious and 
 irascible, he was honest and faithful. Obeying the orders 
 of his superiors with scrupulous zeal, he insisted on the 
 implicit obedience of his subordinates. If he was arbi- 
 trary, he was generally just. He loved his Fatherland, 
 her laws, and her religion, with hearty devotion ; and 
 if, at times, his earnestness carried him beyond the bounds 
 of discretion, none can impeach the sincerity of his jiur- 
 
 * Brodhciui, I. 1.54, 150, 1(V3-104, 32;i, 2:i3, 275, 413, 414, 465. 
 
 + N. Y. H. S. Cull. (II.) III. 263, 2(>4 ; Col. Doc, I. 164, ITS, 175-17iS; Hrodlic-ad, 
 I. 413, 414, 432, 433. A traiishitioii tif Stiiyvesimt's Coniniibsioii is in tlie Appen- 
 dix, Note C. 
 
COMMEMORAriVF. OUATION. 17 
 
 poses, or fail to admire the energetic firmness with wliich 
 he enforced his own convictions. 
 
 Under such administration, in s])ite of much selfish mis- 
 managennMit on the part of the West India t'ompany, 
 New Netherland increased abundantly. Emigrants con- 
 stantly came over from Holhmd, while French and English 
 subjects flocked in from the neighboring colonies. From 
 Massachusetts, especially, several })ersecuted Protestants 
 were attracted by the freedom of conscience which was 
 the well-known characteristic of tlie Dutch Province. 
 Others came from afixr, to shai-e the substantial prosperity 
 which its comprehensive system, no less than its ph^ysical 
 advantages, insured. "Promote commerce," wrote the 
 West India Company to Stuyvesant. in the winter of 1652, 
 "whereby Manhattan must prosix-r, her population in- 
 crease, her trade and navigation ttouiish. For when these 
 once become pemianentlj- established— when the ships of 
 New Netherland ride on every part of the ocean — then 
 numbers, now looking to that coast with eager eyes, will 
 be allured to enil)ark for your island.'"* The ])rophecy 
 was splendidly fulfllled. NeAv Amsterdam rapidly grew 
 in importance, and Avas allowed a municipal magistracy 
 of her own, consisting of Schout. Burgomasters, and Hclie- 
 pens, in imitation of her imi)erial namt'sake on the Zuyder 
 Zee. Hei- foi-eign commerce soon began to rival her do- 
 mestic trade. The first vessel ever built by Europeans in 
 North America — after the " Virginia of Sagadahoc," in 
 1607 — was Block's significantly named "Restless of Man- 
 hattan," in 1614. One of the largest merchantmen in 
 Christt^ndom Avas launched by her shipwrights in 1631. 
 Strangers eagerly sought burghership in the rising me- 
 tropolis, and the tongues of man}' nations resounded 
 through her ancient winding streets.f Like her pro- 
 
 « Albany Records, IV. 91; Brodlicad. I. 547; Baueioft, II. 2iH. 
 
 + Col. Doc, I. SiW, III. 17; Brodlifud, I. 14, 55, 212, 215, 21H, .374,.548; .(«(<-, p. 11. 
 
 3 
 
18 L'OMMKMOUATIVK ORMIOX. 
 
 totyp*'. New Amsterdam Avas always a city of the 
 world. 
 
 Tlie Province of New Netherlaiid was, indeed, the 
 most advantageously situated region in Noith America. 
 Its original limits included all the Atlantic coast between 
 Cape Heulopen and Montauk Point, and even farther east 
 and north, and all the inland territory bounded by the 
 Connecticut Valley on the east, the Saint Lawrence and 
 Lake Ontario on the north, and the affluents of the Ohio, 
 the Susquelianna, and the Delaware, on the west and 
 south. Within those bounds is the only spot on the con- 
 tinent whence issue divergent streams wliich find their 
 outlets in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the Atlantic Ocean, 
 and the Grulf of Mexico.* Across the surface of the 
 Province runs a chain of the Alleglianies, through which, 
 in two remarkable chasms, the waters of the Delaware 
 and the Hudson flow soutliward to the sea. At the head 
 of its tides, the Hudson, Avhich its explorers appropriately 
 called "the Great River of the Mountains," receives the 
 current of the Mohawk, rushing in from the west: 
 Through the valleys of these rivers, and aci-oss the neigh- 
 boring lakes, the savage natives of the country tracked 
 those pathways of travel and commerce which ciA^ilized 
 science only ado])ted and improved. f Along their banks 
 soon grew up flourishing villages, contributing to the 
 prosperity of the chief town, which, with unerring judg- 
 ment, had been planted on the ocean-washed island of 
 Manhattan. In addition to these superb geographical 
 peculiarities, every variety of soil ; abundant mineral 
 wealth ; nature, grand, beautiful, and picturesque, and 
 teeming with vegetable and animal life ; and a climate as 
 healthful as it is delicious, made New Netherland the most 
 
 * The -n-ater-shcd of Central New York was the seat of the Iroquois Confedera- 
 tion, long hefurr European fliscovery. 
 + The Erie Canal and the Delaware and Hudson Canal follow the old Indian trails. 
 
Commemorative Ouatiox. 19 
 
 attractive of all the European colonies in America. Fioni 
 the first it was always the chosen seat of empire. 
 
 It was the wise decree of Providence that this magnifi- 
 cent region shoiild first be occupied by the Batavian race. 
 There was expanded the germ of a mighty cosmopolitan 
 State, destined to exert a moral influence as happy as the 
 pliysical peculiarities of its temperate territory were 
 alluring. Yet the growth and prosperity of the Dutch 
 Province were fatal to its political life. The envy of its 
 neighbors was aroused. Covetousness produced an irre- 
 pressible desire of possession, which could be appeased 
 only by its violent seizure by uuscrupidous foes. 
 
 If at this time Englishmen had any one national charac- 
 teristic more strongly developed than another, it Avas 
 jealousy of the Dutch. Strangely, too, this sentiment 
 seemed to have grown with tlie growth of Puritanism. It 
 was enough for the British islander that the continental 
 Hollander spoke a language different from his own. It 
 mattered not that Coster, of Haerlem, invented the art of 
 arts ; or that Grotius, Erasmus, Hooft, and Vondel, among 
 scholars, and Boerhaave and Huygens, among philoso- 
 phers, and Rembrandt, and Cuyp, and Wouverman, 
 among painters, were illustrious sons of the liberal Repub- 
 lic. Even William the Silent and Barneveldt were of little 
 account among insular Britons — •' divided from all the rest 
 of the world."* Coarse wit and flippant ridicule were 
 continually employed in educating the Englishman to un- 
 dervalue and dislike the Hollander. On the otlier hand, 
 Holland, at the zenith of her power, was not jealous of 
 England. The Dutch maxim was ''Live and let live.'". 
 Both nations were fairly matched in military and naval 
 
 *" Toto divisos orbe Britannos" Virg. Ec, I. 67. Drvden, in his transliition of 
 Virgil, dfscribes his early countrymen as — 
 
 " A race of men from nil the world disjoined. '^ 
 
20 <'<i.M.]/J:\vo/rmvK Oratiox. 
 
 strenotli. During tlie pt'riod of the English Conmion- 
 wcaltiu tlie onlj' oppoi'tunity had occurred of testing 
 against eacli other the skill of their admirals and tlie valor 
 of their seamen. If Blake and Ayscue maintained the 
 honor of their flag, De Ruyter Avon equal glory, and Tromp 
 placed a broom at his mast-head, in token that he had 
 swept the channel clear of English ships. Both nations 
 were Pi-otestant. and each had learned to respect the jjro- 
 verbial courage of the other. But the commerce of the 
 Dutch Republic was now the vastest in the world. 
 
 " The Sun but seemed tlie laliourer of the year : 
 Each waxiii!!: Moon supplied her watery store, 
 
 To swell those tides wliieli from the line did bear 
 Their brim-full vessels to the Belgian shore/'* 
 
 Such splendid prosperity of a rival, the selfishness of 
 England could not brook ; and Drvden took care to stimu- 
 late tlie envy of his countrymen when he wrote of the 
 Hollanders : 
 
 " As Cato fruits of Afiie did display, 
 Let us before our eyes theii- Indies lay: 
 All loyal English will like him conclude — 
 Let (Jifisar live, and (;arthai;e be subdued. "t 
 
 This sentiment of jealousy accompanied the English 
 colonists to America, and even burned more fiercely in 
 some parts of the wilderness. The motives to their emi- 
 gration were various. The communities which they 
 founded were dissimilar. Virginia Avas occupied by 
 Royalists, Avho admired the hierarchy ; NeAV England by 
 Puritans, who abhorred prelacy ; ^laryland by larger- 
 minded Roman Catholics. But all these were Britons — 
 naturally selfish, exclusiA'^e, and OA'erbearing — Avho, Avith 
 marked differences in creeds and fashions, Avere still the 
 subjects of a common sovereignty, and, as such, felt a 
 
 * Urydcn's Annus Mirabilis, 16(5(5. 
 t Satire on the Dutch, 1(5(52. 
 
COMMKilORATI VE ORATION. 21 
 
 common enmity against tiie colonists of that nation wiiicli 
 was the sucressfnl rival of their own. 
 
 Tliis antipathj', however, was not eqiiall}' strong in all 
 the Englisli colonies. It Avas slight in Virginia ; it waxed 
 hotter in Maryland ; while it blazed into malignant envy 
 in New England. Between Virginia and New Netherland, 
 the relations had almost always been friendly, because 
 neither had injured, while each had benetited tlie other. 
 With Maryland, embarrassing questions had aiisen re- 
 specting the occupation of the Delaware by the Dutch and 
 the Swedes. But from the time of the first intercourse 
 between Manhattan and New Plymouth, the Puritan 
 emigrants pertinacioush' insisted that the Dutch colonists 
 of New Netherland Avere "'intruders"' into Ncav England. 
 With inconsistent reasoning, but characteristic assiirance, 
 they maintained their own title under the patent of 1620, 
 while they denied that of the Hollanders, Avhich Avas re- 
 cognized in its proA'iso.* Gradually they croAvded on, 
 AA^estAvard of the Connecticut River, until, in 16.'i(), it Avas 
 agreed between StuyA^esant and the NeAV England authori- 
 ties that the eastern boundary of NeAV Netherland should 
 be Oyster Bay on Long Island, and a line running noitherly 
 from GreenAvich on the continent. Mainly through their 
 repi'esentations, CroniAvell directed an expedition to wrest 
 from the Dutch Republic its American Territory. But, by 
 the treaty of 1654, the Protector virtually conceded New 
 Netherland to Holland. The States-General, in 1656. 
 ratified the colonial boundarA' agreement of 1650 ; but the 
 British Government avoided any action on the subject, 
 and the Dutch Province continued, for a Avhile longer, to 
 be what New England Avriters have pertly called " a thorn 
 in the side."t 
 
 *8ee ante^ p. 13; Appendix, Note B. 
 
 tN. T. Col. Doc, I. 283-293, 3&t. 451, 458. 460, 404, 471, 475, 480, 487, 541, .548, 
 .5,5(i-575, filO-(il2: Brorihead, I. 519, 520, 544, .545, 58H, 001, 602; P;iltVey, II. 372. 
 
22 VuMMEMOHATI VE OHATluN. 
 
 Ill the history of States, might generally overbears right. 
 Of this fate New Netherlaud was a conspicuous example. 
 While Maryland threatened on the South, Connecticut, 
 which had constantly encroached westward along the 
 Sound, procured, in 1662, from the heedless King of 
 England, a patent which covered a large part of the Dutch 
 Province, the inhabitants of which she did not scruple to 
 describe as her ' ' noxious neighbours. ' " Under this patent, 
 Connecticut extended her jurisdiction as far as West- 
 (ihester on the mainland, and over nearly the whole of 
 Long Island. Attempts were even made, under the lead 
 of Captain John Scott, to reduce the suburban Dutch vil- 
 lages of Brooklyn, MidAVOut or Flatbush, Amersfoort, 
 New Utrecht, and Bushwick. To these bold encroach- 
 ments Stuyvesant could offer only a feeble resistance. 
 Justice and weight of argument were on his side, but his 
 adversaries had the decisive advantage of superior num- 
 bers. The most that could be done Avas to put the Dutch 
 capital in a condition of defence against any attack of a 
 colonial enemy. The danger wMcli menaced the Province 
 induced the Director to resort to the people, as he and his 
 predecessor had been obliged to call on them before. A 
 Landtdag, or Assembly of deputies from the several towns, 
 was accordingly convened at New Amsterdam, in the 
 spring of 1664. It was there determined that, without aid 
 from the home government, it would be impossible to 
 regain the towns on Long Island which the English, who 
 were six to one, had usurped from the Dutch. Ilepeated 
 appeals had been sent to the West India Company for 
 re-enforcements, by which alone could the rest of New 
 Netherlaud be preserved to Holland. Its population was 
 now full ten thousand, and that of New Amsterdam about 
 fifteen hundred. In spite of the clouds which lowered 
 around the narrowing horizon of the Province, Stuyvesant 
 hopefully looked forward to its becoming still more proti- 
 
Commemorative Oratiox. 23 
 
 table to the Fatherland, and urged upon the company 
 that its waste lands, which could feed a hundred thousand 
 inhabitants, shftuld be peopled at once by the oppressed 
 Protestants of France, Savoy, and Germany. * 
 
 Yet the perilous condition of New Netherland was not 
 rightly appreciated in Holland. It had been unwisely 
 intrusted to the government of a great commercial mo- 
 nopoly, which thought more of its tailing corporate in- 
 terests than of those of the nation, or of its colonists in 
 America. When, at length, the danger which threatened 
 the Province could not be disregarded, the States- General 
 took insufficient measures to contirm their power there. 
 In January, 1664, they desired the British Government to 
 order the restitution of all places which the King's sub- 
 jects had usurped from the Hollanders in NeAv Netherland, 
 and the cessation of further aggressions.f But Sir George 
 Downing, the English ambassador at the Hague, who 
 was one of the earliest, ablest, and most disreputable 
 graduates from Harvard College in Massachusetts, could 
 not forget the prejudices he had imbibed, and startled the 
 Grand Pensionary De Witt by claiming that the inhabit- 
 ants of the Dutch Province were " the incroachers " upon 
 New England. + 
 
 Downing' s words were full of ominous import. The 
 Restoration of King Cliarles the Second was the prognostic 
 of the fate of New Netherland. One of the first acts of 
 his reign was to appoint a Council for Foreign Planta- 
 tions, with orders to render "those dominions useful to 
 England, and England helpful to them." This was the 
 key to the British colonial policy. A new Navigation 
 Law was passed, more eflectually to cripple Dutch com- 
 
 * N. Y. Col. Doc, II. 2:M, 248, 368, 374, 389-409, 512; Valentine's Manual, ISBO, 
 592; Tnimluiirs Connecticut, I. 249, 252,26.5,513; Brotllicacl, I. 317, 325,474 475* 
 .559, 695, 702, 703, 719. 722, 723, 726, 728, 729, 733, 734; Appendix, note G. ' ' ' 
 
 t Col. Doc., II. 227; Brodhead, I. 730. 
 
 J Lister's Cliirendon, III. 276; Col. Doc, II. 416-418, »nU. 
 
24 CiiMM i-:mohativk Ohatiox. 
 
 merce by excliulinji all foreign vessels from trading with 
 any of the Englisli colonies in Asia, Africa, or America. 
 Soon afterwards. Lord Stirling complained that the Dutch 
 liad intruded into Long Island, which had been conveyed 
 to his grandfather, and ])rayed that they might be subdued 
 or expelled. While this subject Avas under the considera- 
 tion of the Plantation Council, it was found that the Navi- 
 gation Act Avas disregarded or evaded in the English- 
 American colonies. The trade carried on between New 
 Netherland and Virginia, Maryland, and New England, 
 was reported to be a loss to the King of many thousand 
 pounds a year. A nioi-e stringent Navigation Law Avas 
 therefore enacted. Still the forbidden intercolonial traffic 
 was continued. The statute could not be enforced as long 
 as New Netherland remained a Dutch Province. It was 
 necessary to the success of that most intensely selfish law 
 that NeAV Netherland should be under the gOA^ernment of 
 England, and it was determined that it should be I'educed 
 to subjection.* 
 
 The easiest Avay to sustain this characteristic logic Avas 
 to insist that the Butch Province Avas the true inheritance 
 of the English King. Under this pretence, the means to 
 obtain its possession could be mildly called a Resumption 
 rather than a I^surpation. The Dutch title to their ProA'- 
 ince, although, in the judgment of Louis the Fourteenth 
 himself, it was "the best founded, "f Avas as little regarded 
 by Charles the Second as tlte injunctions of thi^ Decalogue. 
 NotAvithstanding the rule asserted bA' Queen Elizabeth, 
 and conhrmed b}' Parliament ; the proviso in the Patent 
 of James the First, and the continuous occupation of NeAV 
 Netherland by Hollanders, Lord Chancellor Clarendon, 
 under the instigation of DoAvning, Avas not ashamed to 
 pronounce that they had "no colour of right" to its pos- 
 
 * Col. Doc, III. ;«, 40-50; BrocUic'nd, I. 080, 70:.>, 73.5, <:«. 
 + D'Estrades'b Letters, &c.. III. :;-tO. 
 
Co MMEil OR ATI VE Or A TI X 25 
 
 session.* Clarendon then purchased for his son-in-law, 
 James, Duke of York and Albany, Lord Stirling's claim 
 to Pemaquid and Long Island, and advised the King to 
 grant a new Patent to the Duke, including those regions, 
 together Avith all the Dutch territory on the mainland. f 
 
 Accordingly, on the Twelfth of March, 1664, Charles 
 granted, under the Gre-at Seal, to his brother James, a 
 part of Maine, the whole of Long Island, Martha's Vine- 
 yard and Nantucket, and the Hudson River, with all the 
 mainland from the west side of the Connecticut to the east 
 side of Delaware Bay. The Grant included all those ])or- 
 tions of the present States of Connecticut and Massachu- 
 setts lying west of the Connecticut River, as well as the 
 Avhole of Vermont and New Jersey. His Patent invested 
 the Duke with "full and absolute power" to govern all 
 English subjects, inhabiting this territory, according to 
 English law, and authorized him or his agents to expel by 
 force all jiersons who might dwell there without his special 
 license. It was the most impudent, as it Avas the most 
 despotic instrument ever recorded in the Colonial Archives 
 of Great Britain. J 
 
 This action of Charles the Second was not, hoAvever, 
 
 * Lister's Clarendon, III. 347. 
 
 t Col. Doc, III. ai5, 606, 607, V. 330, VIL 431; Duer's Life of Slirliiic. 37,38. 
 
 t Sec Patent at length in the State Library at Albany ; in Book of Patents in Secre- 
 tary's Office, I. 10i>-11.5; in Leaniini;: and Spieer's Grants and Concessions, 3-8; and 
 in N. Y. Colonial Documents, II, 29.5-21)8. See also Col. Doe., VII. 597, and A^IL 
 107, 436, for description of the territory i^n'anted. If this Patent was good as far as 
 it related to the territory in Maine, Long Island, Martha's A^ineyard, and Nantucket, 
 which the English already possessed, it was certainly invalid in regard to the Dutch 
 Province, of which tlie grantor never had possession. Even Chalmers, in his Politi- 
 cal Annals, p. 579, says, that "As the validity of the grant to the Duke of York, 
 while the Dutch were in quiet possession of the country, had been very justly ques- 
 tioned, he thought it prudent to obtain a ucw one, in June, 1674." See also Col. 
 Doc, V. .596, VII. 596, 597. It is woiUiy of remark that by his first Patent, of 12 
 March, 1664, the Duke was authorized to govern on!// Fnglis/i subjects inhabiting his 
 territory; and that in his second Patent, of 29 June, 1674, tlie words, "oc ««)/ oilier 
 person or persoits," were added; see Col. Doe., II. 296, and Learning and Spicer, 
 5 and 42. After obtaining possession of New Netherland, therefore, the Duke 
 could not govern its Dutch inhabitants unless as Briti.-^h subjects; but he could 
 expel them if they remained there without his permission. 
 
'2{j VOMMF.MOnATIVt: OllATIOtf. 
 
 iiiHueiiced by any sympathy with the likes or the dislikes 
 of his New England subjet^ts. They had received the 
 tidings of his Restoration witli distrnst, and had pro- 
 claimed him King witli peevish austerity. If he had 
 been induced to grant a part of New Netherlaud to Con- 
 necticut, he took pains to avoid his careless bounty by a 
 more unscrupulous appropi-iation to his own brother. 
 The age of Chartered Oligarchies had passed away. 
 Royal or Proprietary Governments were tlienceforth to 
 enforce the British Colonial i)olicy. New England was 
 now in disfavor at Wliitehall ; and the Duke of York 
 was desired by the Privy Council to name Commissioners, 
 whom the King determined to send thither, to see how 
 the several Colonies observed their Charters, and to settle 
 their differences about boundaries. James accordingly 
 selected four persons, whom history has honored with an 
 unequal notoriety. Tlie first was Colonel Richard Nicolls ; 
 a university scholar, a brave soldier, and a prudent officer, 
 who had been the Duke's companion in exile, and was 
 one of the Grooms of his bedchamber. The other three 
 W(n'e Sir Robert Cai-r and Colonel George Cartwright, of 
 the Royal Army, and Samuel Maverick, a former resident 
 in Massachusetts. These Commissioners were furnished 
 witli full instructions to guide their conduct in America. 
 One of tliese instructions Avas, to obtain the active assist- 
 ance of the New England Colonies in reducing the Dutch 
 in New Netherlaud to subjection.* 
 
 The Duke of York also commissioned Nicolls, on tlie 
 second of April, to be his Deputy-Governor in the terri- 
 tory which the King had given him, and execute all the 
 powers which his Patent authorized. f To gain posses- 
 sion, by force if necessary, was the next step. As Lord 
 
 * Col. Dof., III. 51-65; Mass. H. S. Coll., XXXII. 284; Notes and Queries (II.), 
 III. 214-216. 
 
 + A copy of the Duke of York's oonimission to Nicolls is in the Appendix, 
 Note I). 
 
Com MEM OH A Tl VE (J n A TIOX. 27 
 
 High Admiral of England, James assigned for the reduc- 
 tion of New Netherland the frigate Guinea, of thirty-six 
 guns, Captain Hugh Hyde ; the Ellas, of thirty, Cajjtain 
 William Hill ; the Martin, of sixteen, Captain Edward 
 Grove ; and a chartered transport, the William and Nicho- 
 las, of ten, Captain Thomas Morley. Early in Maj' the 
 Royal Commissioners embarked in these vessels, with 
 about four hundred and fifty veteran soldiers, forming 
 three full companies, commanded by Colonels NicoUs, 
 Carr, and Cartwright, under wliom were sevei-al other 
 commissioned officers in the British Araiy. Among these 
 were Captains Mathias NicoUs, Robert Needham, Harry 
 Norwood, and Daniel Brodhead, some of whom, intending 
 to settle themselves permanently in New Netherland, after 
 its acquisition, were accompanied by their families. The 
 expedition, which was well j^rovided with all necessaries 
 for war, set sail from Portsmouth in th(! middle of May, 
 with orders to make its first anchorage in Gardiner' s Bay, 
 at the eastern end of Long Island. * 
 
 These portentous movements did not escape the atten- 
 tion of the Dutch Government at the Hague. As early as 
 February, 1664, Stuyvesant had distinctly warned the 
 West India Company of the King' s intended grant to the 
 Duke of York, and that not only Long Island, but the 
 whole Province, would be lost to Holland unless speedy 
 re-enforcements should be sent. The Company, however, 
 now on the verge of bankruptcy, replied with marvellous 
 infatuation, in the following April, that the Royal Com- 
 missioners were only going to install Bishops in New 
 England, the inhabitants of which, who had gone there to 
 escape Prelacy, would rather live under Dutch authority, 
 with freedom of conscience, than risk that in order to fall 
 
 * Patents, III. 43; Col. Doc, II. 343, 44.5, 501, III. 70, 104, 117, 149; Smith's 
 New York. I. 16; Clarke's James the Second, I. 400; Hazard's .Annals of Penn., IV. 
 81; Coll. Ulster Hist. Sec, I. 51; Brodhead, I. 736, TAl, 744, note; Wood, 144. 
 
28 COMMEMOHATIVK ORATION. 
 
 under a government from wiiicli tliey liad foiTnerly fled. 
 This absurd letter had scarcely been dispatched before the 
 real object of Nicolls's expedition was better understood. 
 Downing bluntly told I)e Witt that New Netherland 
 existed "only in the maps."* Prompt orders to De Ruy- 
 ter, who was then on his waj' to the Mediterranean, might 
 have hurried his fleet to Manhattan in time to aid Stuyve- 
 sant in rejmlsing the treacherous force of England. But a 
 purblind confidence in the honor of Charles the Second, 
 and an unjust estimate of the importance to the Fatherland 
 of its American Province, clouded the Grand Pensionary's 
 judgment. The necessary orders were not sent to De 
 Ruyter, and New Nethei'land was abandoned to her fate. 
 
 A tedious voyage of ten weeks broiight the squadron of 
 Nicolls to Boston. The Royal Commissioners immedi- 
 ately demanded the assistance of the New England colo- 
 nies; which Massachusetts promised, with frugal reluc- 
 tance, while Connecticut showed more selfish zeal, be- 
 cause slie hoped to secure Long Island to herself. Piloted 
 by Boston mariners, tlie English ships then sailed for tlie 
 mouth of the Hudson ; and, on the sixteenth of August 
 (Old Style), the leading frigate Guinea, with Nicolls and his 
 colleagues on board, anchored just inside of Cone}' Island, 
 at Nyack, or New Utrecht Bay, where she was joined, 
 two days afterwards, by the other vessels. Here the 
 King's Commissioners Avere met by John AVinthrop, Sam- 
 uel Willys, and other Connecticut magistrates. Thomas 
 Willett, also, appeared on the part of New Plymouth. 
 John Scott was likewise at hand, with a force "jiressed" at 
 New Haven. The train-bands of Southold, and the other 
 English towns at the eastern end of Long Island, under 
 John Younge, soon increased the threatening array. 
 Northern Indians and French rovers were held as re- 
 
 * Col. Doc, II. a.34, 235, 236, 367, 408, 493; Lister's Clarendon, III. SOT, 320. 
 
/^^^ Ipyri- Z&t^ 
 
 GOW.RNtiR OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
Commemorative Oration. 29 
 
 serves. Thomas Clarke and John Pynchon hastened from 
 
 Massachusetts to the Royal Commissioners ; but as there 
 was already gathered an overpowering strength, the ser- 
 vices of the auxiliaries promised by that Colony were not 
 required. * '' 
 
 The harbor of New Amsterdam Avas at once blockaded, 
 and the Long Island farmers were forbidden to furnish 
 supplies to the City. A Proclamation was issued by the 
 Royal Commissioners, on the twentieth of August, pro- 
 mising that all persons, of any nation, who would submit 
 to the King's Government, should peaceably enjoy their 
 estates, "and all other privileges, with His Majesty's 
 English subjects." The inhabitants of Long Island were 
 specially summoned to meet the (Commissioners at Gi-aves- 
 end, a few days afterwards. Large numbers accordingly 
 attended, when Nicolls published the Duke of York's 
 Patent and his own Commission, and demanded their sub- 
 mission to his authority. Winthrop, as Governor of Con- 
 necticut, declared that, as the King's pleasure was now 
 made known, the claim of that Colony to the Island ceased. 
 Nicolls, on his part, promised to confirm all the then offi- 
 cers in their places, and call an Assembly, Avhere laws 
 should be enacted. This assurance quelled opposition. 
 Long Island, inhabited chiefly by English subjects, sub- 
 mitted at once to the Government of the Duke of York ; 
 and the militia from its eastern towns, under Younge, 
 joining with the New England auxiliaries, marched from 
 Amersfoort and Flatbush towards Brooklyn, to assist the 
 Royal expedition in reducing Ncav Amsterdam, f 
 
 Lulled into a false security by the unhappy letter of the 
 
 » Mass. Kec, IV. (II.) 117-138, 141, 149, 157-168; N. Y. General Entries, I. 3-7, 
 89; Col. Doc, II. 373, 410, 414, 43S, .501, III. 65, 66, 84; New Haven Rec., II. 550; 
 Thompson's Long Island, I. 137 ; TnimbuU's Conn., I. 267; Morton's Memorial, 
 311, note; Appendix, Note II. 
 
 t Col. Doc., II. 410, 414, 434, 438, 443, .501; Oyster Bay Kec., A. 19; N. Y. Gen. 
 Ent., I. 7, 8; Thompson, I. 134, II. 323, 338. 
 
30 Commemorative Oration. 
 
 West India Company and certain contradiotoiT statements 
 of Willett, Stiiyvesant liad nieainvhile suspended the 
 measures wliieli lie had begun to take for tlie defence of 
 the Capital, and had gone up to Fort Orange, to repress 
 some hostilities that had broken out among the savages in 
 its neighborhood. On learning the approach of the Eng- 
 lish forces, the Director hurried back to New Amsterdam, 
 which he reached on the fifteenth of August — or the 
 twenty-fifth, according to the New Style— only one day be- 
 fore the Guinea Frigate anchored at Nyack, in the lower 
 Bay. In concert with the Municipal authorities, every 
 possible measure was taken for the defence of the Metro- 
 polis. All the inhabitants, Avithout exception, were or- 
 dered to labor in strengthening the " old and rotten pali- 
 sades," which could hardlj^ be called fortifications ; a 
 constant guard was established ; the brewers were forbid- 
 den to malt any grain ; and heavy guns, furnished hy the 
 Director, were mounted on the indefensible works. 
 
 But the condition of the City was hopeless. No aid 
 could be obtained from Long Island. The regular garri- 
 son in Fort Amsterdam did not exceed one hundred and 
 fifty men, and its supply of powder was very short. Its 
 low earthen walls, originally built to resist an attack 
 of the savages, and overlooked, on the north, by the 
 "HeereAveg," or Broadway, might have been sufficient 
 against any Colonial force, but could not be held against 
 the ships and the veterans of Nicolls. The Director had, 
 long before, expressed his militarj- opinion, that "who- 
 ever by water is master of the river, will be, in a short 
 time, master by land of the feeble fortress." The antici- 
 pated contingency had now actually happcMied, and a 
 hostile English squadron was in full command of the port. 
 The burghers, of wliom ovl\j two hundred and lift}' were 
 able to bear arms, thought more of protecting their own 
 properly, and of obtaining favorable terms of capitula- 
 
Commemorative Oration. 31 
 
 tion, than of defending their open town against the over- 
 whelming superioi-ity of tlie invaders. The whole City 
 force, placed man hj man, four rods apart, could not 
 guard its hastily-built "little breastwork."* 
 
 Nevertheless, Stuyvesant determined to hold out to the 
 last. To the peremptory summons of Nicolls, he opposed 
 as able a vindication of the Butch title to New Netherland 
 as the most experienced publicist could have drawn. 
 This was conveyed to Grravesend on Tuesday, the twenty- 
 third of August — or the second of September, according 
 to the New Style — by four of the most trusted advisers of 
 the Provincial and the City Governments, who were in- 
 structed to "argue the matter" with the English Com- 
 mander. But reasoning was useless in the absence of 
 De Ruyter. Avoiding discussion, Nicolls answered that 
 the question of right did not concern liim ; — it must be 
 decided by tlie King of England and the States-General. 
 He was determined to take the place ; and if the reason- 
 able terms he had offered were not accepted, he would 
 attack the City, for wliich purpose, at the end of forty- 
 eight hours, he would bring his forces up nearer. ' ' On 
 Thursday, the fourth," he added, "I will speak with you 
 at the Manhattans." The Dutch deputies replied: 
 "Friends will be welcome if they come in a friendly 
 manner." "I shall come ^v\i\\ my ships and soldiers," 
 said Nicolls. "and he will be a bold messenger, indeed, 
 who shall then dare to come on board and solicit terms." 
 To the demand of Stuyvesant' s delegates: " What then is 
 to be done V ' he answered, ' ' Hoist the white flag of peace 
 at the Fort, and then I may take something into consider- 
 ation !"t 
 
 *Col. Doc, II. SJiS, 373, 410, 43:3, 4.34, 438, 439, 440, 441, 44:3, 44C, 475, 494, 50.5; 
 Val. Man., I860, 593, 1861, 00:3-605; New Amsterdam Re<'Ortls, V. .553-5.54, 567-570; 
 Albany Records, XVIII. :319; Letter of Domine Samuel Drisius, of 15 September, 
 1664; Appendix, Notes G. and H. 
 
 tCol. Doc, II. 411^14; Smith, I. 18-36; Hazard's Reg. Peun., IV. 31, 41, 43; 
 
1 
 
 32 COMMK.MOHATIVE ORATIOX. 
 
 Nicolls, indeed, had no wish to i^roceed to extremities. 
 His summons was imperious, but iiis policy was to obtain 
 a bloodless possession of the Dutch Province. He there- 
 fore authorized ^Vinthrop to assure Stujvesant that, if it 
 should be surrendered to the King, there should be free 
 intercourse with Holland in Dutch vessels, or a virtual 
 suspension of the English navigation laws. Tliis was 
 communicated to Stuyvesant at New Amsterdam, on the 
 same day that his messengers saw McoUs at Grravesend. 
 But all the persuasions of tlie Connecticut Governor coxdd 
 not move the patriotic Director. In vain did he tear in 
 pieces Winthrop's friendly letter. The people, who soon 
 learned the liberal offers of the Englisli, became mutinous ; 
 work on the fortifications ceased ; complaints against tlie 
 West India Company Avere freelv uttered ; and it was 
 pronounced impossible to defend the City, "seeing that 
 to resist so many was nothing else than to gape before an 
 oven."* 
 
 Perceiving tliat Stuyvesant was disposed to hold out, 
 Nicolls ordered the squadron to move up from their an- 
 chorage near Gravesend, and reduce the Diitch "under 
 His Majesty's obedience." Again messengers came down 
 from New Amsterdam, projiosing a cessation of hostilities, 
 and the appointment of Commissioners to treat about "a 
 good accommodation." The English commander replied 
 that he would willingly appoint Conmiissioners "to treat 
 upon Articles of Surrender." At the solicitiition of the 
 Dutch delegates, orders were given that the sliips shoiild 
 not precipitately lire on the city. But Nicolls declined 
 
 Val. Man., 1860, 592; Albany Records, XVIII. 31(1, 320, XXII. 317; Appendix, 
 Note G. 
 
 *Gen. Ent., I. 12; Mass. H. S. Coll., XXXVI. 537-.539; Col. Doc., II. 444, 445, 
 476. The orijfinal draft of Winthrop's letter to Stuyvesant, of 22 August (1 Sep- 
 tember), 1664, with the autograph approval of the Royal Commissioners, Nicolls, 
 Carr, and Cartwrif;ht, is in tlie possession of Mr. Benjamin Robert Wiuthrop, one 
 of the Vice-Presidents of the New York Historical Society, who is a lineal descend- 
 ant of both the New Netlierland and Connecticut Govuruore. 
 
Commemorative On.xTioN. 33 
 
 their request that his troops should not be brought up 
 nearer. "To-daj^ I shall arrive at the Perr3%" he added, 
 — "to-morrow Ave can agree with one anothei'."* 
 
 On Thursday, the twenty-lifth of August {ov the fourth 
 of September), the British infantrj^, consisting of three 
 companies of regular soldiers, eager for loot, were, ac- 
 cordingly landed at Graveseud, whence Nicolls marched 
 at their head to "the Ferry," at Biooklj-n, where the 
 New England and Long Island militia wei-e already 
 posted. Two of the frigates tlien sailed up the Bay, and 
 anchored near "Nutten," or Governor's Island. The 
 other two — coming on with full sail, and all their guns, of 
 one battery, ready to pour tlieir broadsides on the -'open 
 place," if any hostilities should be begun against tliem — 
 passed in front of Fort Amsterdam, and anchored above 
 the City. Watcliing their approach from a parapet of 
 the Fort, Stuj'vesant was about to order his gunner to 
 fire on the enejnj', when the two Poniines Megapolensis, 
 leading him away between them, persuaded liim not to 
 begin hostilities. Leaving fifty men in the Fortress, under 
 the command of the Fiscal De Sille, the Director, at the 
 head of one hundred of the garrison, marched out into 
 the City, in order to prevent the English from attempting 
 to land "here and there. "f 
 
 By tliis time the Dutch garrison in Foi-t Amsterdam had 
 become "demoralized." Tliey openly talked of "where 
 booty is to be got, and where the 3'oung women live Avho 
 wear chains of gold." Reports also came from Long- 
 Island, that the New England levies declared that "their 
 business was not onl}' Avith NeAV Netherland, but Avith the 
 booty and plunder." Their threats caiised the burghers 
 
 *Gen. Ent., I. 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 27, 38; Alb. Rec, XA'III. 321; Col. Doc, II. 
 414; Hazard's Rck. Penn., IV. 31, 42, 43; Smith, I. 27; S. Sinitli's New Jerst-y, 40, 
 41, 43: Biodhead, I. 740. 
 
 tCoI. Doc, II. 414, 423,444, 44.=), .501, .=j02, .503, 508, .509; A'al. Man., 1860, 592; 
 Lc-tter ol Drisius; Appendix, Notes (i. and H. 
 
34 CoMMKitORATlVE Oil ATI OS'. 
 
 of New Amsterdam to look upon them as " deadly ene- 
 mies, who exjjected notliing else than pillage, phuider, 
 and bloodshed." Moreover, it was understood tliat six 
 hundred Northern Indians, and one hundred and fifty 
 French privateersmeu, with English commissions, had 
 offered their services against the Dutch. Seeing that it 
 was impossible to defend tlie place, the whole population 
 of which was only fifteen hundred, against a powerful 
 squadron and more than a thousand well-armed foes, 
 the municipal authorities, the clergy, the officers of the 
 burgher-guard, and most of the leading citizens, joined in 
 a Remonstrance, drafted by the elder Domine Megapo- 
 lensis, urging the Dii'ector and Council to accept the terms 
 offered by the English commander. His threats, it stated, 
 " would not have been at all regarded, could your Honors, 
 or we your Petitioners, expect the smallest aid or succour. 
 But, God help us ! whether we turn for assistance to the 
 north or to the south, to the east or to the west, it is all vain ! 
 On all sides we are encompassed and hemmed in by our 
 enemies." Women and childi^en came in tears, beseech- 
 ing Stuyvesant to parley. To all their supplications he 
 replied : " I had much rather be carried out dead !"* 
 
 At length, almost solitary in his heroism, the Dutcli 
 Director Avas obliged to yield. Further opposition on 
 his part woixld have been unavailing, and might have 
 deprived the people of the advantages to be gained by a 
 capitulation. It Avas some solace that the English Com- 
 mander, now encamped at the Brooklyn Ferry, "before 
 the Manhatans," voluntarily offered to restore the Fort and 
 the City, in case the differences about boundaries in Amer- 
 ica should be arranged between the King and the States- 
 General. Moreover, Stuyvesant' s religion consoled him 
 Avith the text in Saint Lidve, that Avith ten thousand men 
 
 » Alb. Ren., XVIII. 320, 321 ; Cnl. nnc, 11. 248, 249, 3R», 42.3, 47(5, .503, .50S; Val. 
 Man., 18<50, .i92; Letter of Dri&ius; Appendix, notes G. and H. 
 
> Sw^-P^Wv^cfO 
 
Co MME MORATn 'E Or A Ti y. 35 
 
 he could not meet him that came against him Avith twent}- 
 thousand.* And if, in that bitter hour, the bi'ave old 
 chief could call to mind the classical learning which he 
 had acquired in his Fatherland, he might \ve\l have ap- 
 plied to himself the sad words which the shade of Hector 
 addressed to ^neas : 
 
 " Could any mortal hand prevent our fate, 
 This hand, and this alone, had saved tlie State."f 
 
 Six Commissioners were accordingly appointed on each 
 side, on Friday, the twenty-sixth of August, or fifth of 
 September, to settle tlie tenns of surrender. Those on the 
 part of the Dutch were John de Decker, Nicholas Varlett, 
 and Samuel Megapolensis, representing the Director and 
 Council, and Cornells Steenwyck, Oloft" Stevensen van 
 Cortlandt, and Jacques Cousseau, representing the City 
 authorities. Besides his two colleagues. Sir Robert Carr 
 and Colonel George Cartwright, Nicolls chose John Win- 
 throp and Samuel Willys, of Connecticut, and Thomas 
 Clarke and John Pynchon, of Massachusetts, in order to 
 engage those two colonies more firmly with the Royal 
 expedition, "if the Dutch had been over-confident of their 
 strength." The commissioners on both sides met at Stuy- 
 vesant's "Bouwery," or farm, on Saturday, the twenty- 
 seventh of August, or sixth of September, and arranged 
 the Articles of Capitulation. All the inhabitants of New 
 Netherland were to continue free denizens, and were 
 guaranteed their property ; while the Diitch were to 
 enjoy "their own customs concerning their inheritances," 
 and "the liberty of their consciences in divine worship 
 and church discipline." Free trade with Holland was 
 stipulated. The existing magistrates were to remain in 
 office until their terms expired. The Articles of Capitula- 
 
 * Gen. Ent., I. 30, 31; Col. Doc, II. 440; Saint Luke's Gospel, xiv. 31; Appen- 
 dix, note E. 
 + Pitt's translation of Virgil, vEneid, II. 
 
3(5 ('OMMKMOIIATIVE OliATlON. 
 
 tion worn to be I'ivtificd on both sides, and exchanged on 
 the next Monda3' morning, at tlie "Old Mill,"'* on the 
 East River, near what is now the foot of Roosevelt street, 
 wlien the Citj^ and the Fort wei-e to be surrendei'ed, and 
 the Dutch garrison were to march out, with arms shoul- 
 dered, drums beating, colors Hying, and matches lighted, f 
 
 These conc^iliatorj' and verj^ advantageous terms were 
 explained to the citizens at the Town Hall, on the follow- 
 ing Sunday, at the close of the second service in the 
 afternoon — the last which was expected to be celebrated 
 under the Dutch tiag — in Kieft's old church in Fort Am- 
 sterdam. It Avas also quietly agreed between Stuyvesant 
 and Nicolls that the Xew England and Long Island auxil- 
 iaries should be kept at the Ferry, on the Brooklyn 
 side of the East River; because the burghers "were 
 more apprehensive of being plundered by tliem tlian by 
 the others.":}: 
 
 On Monday morning, the twenty-ninth of August, or 
 eighth of September, Stuyvesant, having ratified the 
 Capitulation, placed himself at the head of his garrison, 
 and marched out of Fort Amsterdam with all the honors 
 of war. The Dutch soldiers, who saw no enemj^ moved 
 sullenly down Beaver street to the water-side, Avhence 
 they were quickly embarked on the ship Gideon for Hol- 
 land. Colonel Cartwright, with his company, now occu- 
 pied the City gates and the Town Hall. Accompanied by 
 the Burgomasters, who "gave him a Avelcome reception," 
 Nicolls, at the head of his own and Sir Robert Carr's com- 
 
 * This " old miU" is distinctly marlied on the map which forms one of the illus- 
 trations to Valentine's Manual for 1863. It was on the shore of the East River, at 
 tlic mouth of a brook running out of the "Kolek," or what is now vulgarly called 
 "the Collect," and it was the nearest point to "the Ferry," at Brooklyn. See 
 Valentine's Manuals, 1859, .5.51, and 1863, 621 ; Brodhead, I. 167, note. 
 
 + Alb. Rcc, XVIII. 325; Gen. Ent., I. 23-26, 30-33; Col. Doc, II. 250-253, 414, 
 III. 103; Brodhead, I. 742, 762, 763; Hazard's Keg. Penn., IV. 43, 44; Appendix, 
 note E. 
 
 X Alb. Roc, XVIII. 32:^, 324; Col. Doc, II. 44.5, 446. 
 
Com MEM OK ATI VE On ATI ox. ' 37 
 
 paiiies, marched into the Fort. Tlie English flag was run 
 up ; the name of the Port was changed from Amsterdam 
 to "James," and the City Avas ordered to he called "New 
 York." A few weeks afterwards Fort Orange was sur- 
 rendered, and became "Albany," in commemoration of 
 the Scotch title of the Proprietor. Tlie conquered Prov- 
 ince was named "New York." On Sunday, the second 
 or twelfth of October, sixteen hundred and sixty -four, the 
 Dutch Fort at Newcastle on the DelaArare was taken by 
 the English, and the entire rt>duction of New Netherland 
 was accomplished.* 
 
 Brothers of the New York Historical Society : 
 Thus ended, two hundred years ago, the dominion of 
 Holland over the fairest portion of our continent. Nine 
 years afterwards, that dominion was triumphantlj- recon- 
 quered by the Dutch. But they held it only for a short 
 period ; and its temporary repossession by them had no 
 important influence on Colonial affairs. The three-colored 
 ensign, t which for lialf a century had rightfully waved 
 over New Netherland, Avas replaced by the "meteor 
 flag;" and, from Virginia to New France, all European 
 colonists were obliged to acknowledge Charles the Second 
 as their King. His usurpation of New York decided the 
 fortunes of North America. It jirepared the way for our 
 national independence, and our federal Union. The his- 
 tory of our own State centres upon it, as the most im- 
 portant epoch in her colonial existence. Let us now 
 
 * Alb. Rec, XVIII. 326; Col. Doc, II. 272, 415, 445, 502, 509, III. 67-73, 346; 
 Thompson, II. 165; BrodUead, 1. 742-745; Val. Mau., 18B0, 593; Appeudix, Notes 
 F. and G. 
 
 t The Dutch national ensign was adopted about the year 1.583, just aftei- their 
 Declaration of Independence, at the suggestion of William the Silent, Prince of 
 Orange. It was composed of the Prince's colors — orange, white, and blue — 
 arranged in three equal horizontal stripes. After the death of William the Second 
 of Orange, in 16.50, the predominating influence of the Louvestein, or De Witt party 
 caused a red stripe to be substituted for tlie ancient orange ; and the Dutcli flag at 
 this day remains as it was thus modified two centuries ago: Brodhead, I. 19, note. 
 
38 Commemorative Ohation. 
 
 contemplate some of the jjeculiar features and direct 
 consequences of this momentous event. 
 
 The conquest of New Netherland by the British sover- 
 eign was an act of almost unparalleled national baseness. 
 It was planned in secret, and was carried out in deliberate 
 treachery towards a friendly government. Because Eng- 
 land coveted New Netherland, and not because she had 
 any just claim, she seized it as a prize. It was essential 
 to the success of her colonial policy to secure that prize. 
 The whole transaction was eminently characteristic of a 
 selfish, insolent, and overbearing nation. On no other 
 principli> than that which frequently afterwards stimu- 
 lated the predatory aggressions of Great Britain in India 
 and elsewhere, can her conquest of the Dutch- American 
 Province be defended. In the utterance of this judgment, 
 I trust that a descendant of one of the English conquerors 
 of New York has not been moved by any uncandid senti- 
 ments towards the birth-land of his ancestor. 
 
 Yet, outrageous as was the deed, the temptation to com- 
 mit it was irresistible. Its actual execution was only a 
 question of time. Unjustifiable as it was, the usuri3ation 
 of the English could not have been prevented, unless the 
 Dutch Government were prepared to revei'se their pre- 
 vious policy, and hold New Netherland at every hazard^ 
 against the might of all enemies. The Province of Hol- 
 land and the West India Company, alone, could not 
 successfully oppose England. The General Government 
 of tlie United Netherlands would not take the indispen- 
 sable action, because they never rightly estimated the 
 importance of their American colony, and felt no sufficient 
 interest in its preservation. It was not until the last 
 years of their rule, that they gave serious attention to the 
 necessity of measures for its security. Even then^ they 
 procrastinated when they should have acted. Tliis ap- 
 parent indifference encouraged the monopolizing purposes 
 
Co MM EM RA TI VE OrA TIOX. 39 
 
 of British colonial statesmanship ; and the Dutch trans- 
 atlantic Province became an easy prey to undeclared foes, 
 who skulked, like pirates in time of peace, into her chief 
 harbor. War followed between the Netherlands and 
 England ; but the captured prize Avas never restored. 
 And so, New York replaced New Netherland on the 
 map of the world. 
 
 But, even if its importance had been adequately esti- 
 mated in Holland, our State could not have remained 
 much longer a Dutch Province. Its existence as such 
 would soon have proved inconvenient to all parties. It 
 was not insular, nor easy of defence. Its territory adjoined 
 the colonial possessions of France, as well as of England ; 
 and its inland frontier was not defined by natural bounda- 
 ries. Sufficient measures for its protection against either 
 of these powers would have required larger expenditures, 
 on the part of the West India Company, than commercial 
 thrift might have considered expedient. The States- 
 General were less interested in its preservation than was 
 the impoverished Corporation, wliich thought more of 
 revenue than of patriotism. Moreover, the Federal Gov- 
 ernment would soon have found that another European 
 sovereign, besides Charles the Second, viewed with 
 jealousy the existence of a Dutch Province in North 
 America. If England liad not seized New Nethei'land 
 when she did, France Avould almost certainly have taken 
 and held it, not long afterwards, in the Second Dutch war 
 of 1672 ; and would tlius have accomplished her long- 
 cherished design of extending Canada, from Lake Cham- 
 plain southward, through the Valley of the Hudson, to 
 the ocean at Manhattan. And had Louis the Fourteenth 
 succeeded in obtaining its possession, the subserviency of 
 Charles and of James would doubtless have so confirmed 
 the French poAver on this continent, that neitlier the con- 
 quest of Canada by Great Britain, nor the American 
 
40 Commemohative OKArroN. 
 
 Revolution, could have lia2)peued. Both these events 
 depended on the fate of New Netherland. Even if the 
 Province, after its reconquest in 1673, instead of being 
 finally ceded to England by the Treaty of Westminster, in 
 1674, had remained subject to Holland for fifteen years 
 longer, until Englishmen called the Dutch Stadtholder to 
 their throne, the crisis would then have come ; and our 
 forefathers, following the fortunes of their chief, would 
 have spontaneously proclaimed William the Third as their 
 King, with acclamations as triumphant as when they first 
 welcomed his short-lived colonial autliority with shouts 
 of "OranjeBoven!"* 
 
 The terms of capitulation which Nicolls offered, and 
 Stuyvesant accepted, were, perhajis, the most favorable 
 ever granted by a conqueror. In theory, the King "re- 
 sumed his own." In fact, hi^ gained a foreign Province 
 by a conquest, tlie effect of which Avas limited only by the 
 Articles of Surrender. The clear policy of the Duke of 
 York, as Proprietor, was to obtain peaceful possession of 
 New Netlierland, and, at the same time, induce its Dutch 
 inhabitants to remain and become loyal British subjects. 
 His defective Patent, indeed, authorizi^d him to govern 
 such subjects only. The Articles of Capitulation accord- 
 \ng\y provided that tlie people of the Dutch Province 
 were to (!ontinue free denizens of England. The most 
 
 * The popular cry, " Ormije Boven," appears to have originated at Dordrcelit, in 
 Holland, in 1672. The partisans of the Prince, and soon chosen Stadtholder, 
 William the Third, who were the opponents of the Brothers De Witt, hoisted on 
 the tower of that city an orange flag above a white Hag. On tlie orange flag was 
 the inscription, in Dutch, 
 
 *' Orttnje hofen, tie Wlttejl omler ; 
 Die 7 aitdern meend. (lie slaat den Donder^ 
 Or, in English: 
 
 "Orange above, tlie Whites under; 
 
 Wlio thinks not so. he struck by thunder." 
 
 The Dutch word int means " white ;" hence (Ic Wittcn, or "the De Witts," signifies 
 "the Whites." Basnage, Ann. Prov. Un., II. 284; Wagenaar, Vad. Hist, XIV. 
 72, 16.5; Davies's Holland, III. 108. — New Netherland was reconquered by the 
 Dutch, just after " Omiijo Bnivn" came in vogue. 
 
( 'OMMEMOUA TI VE Oil A TIOX. 41 
 
 liberal offers, to coinMliate them, were made with ostenta- 
 tions benevolence. It is not surprising that the Dutch 
 colonists, chagrined at the seeming indifference of the 
 authorities of their Fatherland, and liaving many causes 
 of com})hiint against tlieir own Provincial Government, 
 should have generally accepted this change of their rulers 
 at least calmly and liopefully, if not with positive satis- 
 faction.* 
 
 Tliere was, at all events, one point on which there was 
 almost uniA'ersal acquiescence. As a choice of evils, the 
 Dutch inhabitants of New Netherland were far more con- 
 tent with becoming subject directly to the King of Eng- 
 land and the Duke of York, than they would have been 
 with the mastery of those Eastern neighbors, who had 
 so long, but so vainl_y, coveted the possession of their 
 Province. This feeling we have observed strongly ex- 
 hibited in the very agony of the surrender. It was a 
 natural feeling. The early colonists of our State had Init 
 little liking for most of the emigrants to Xew England, or 
 their characteristics. If they sympathized with imy of 
 them, it was chiefly with the ])eople of tolerant Rhode 
 Island. The genial English cavalier was much nearer the 
 Hollander's heart than was the ascetic English Puritan, 
 who wonld not be comforted in his exile by the calm 
 pleasures of a Leyden Sunday. Across the Atlantic, local 
 circumstances jjroduced deeper repugnance. New York 
 and Massachusetts — rivals and antagonists nearly from the 
 start — were colonized liy men not only of different races, 
 
 * In October, HJtU, a fuw weeks after the surrender, Governor NieoUe required all 
 the Dutch inhabitants to talcc au oath of allegiance to the King, and of obedience 
 to the Dulie of York and his officers, as long as they should live in any of his 
 Majesty's territories. Tlie leading burghers of New York, however — fearing that 
 the proposed oath might "nullify or render void" tlie Articles of Capitulation — 
 declined to swear it, until the Governor formally declared " that the Articles of Sur- 
 render arc not in the least broken, or intended to be broken, by any words or ex- 
 l>ressiona in the said oath." This removed every doubt, and allegiance was cordially 
 sworn.— Gen. Ent., I. 49, M; New Amst. Rec, V.614-B18; Val. Man. lS01,(;(l.5-ti07; 
 Col. Doc., III. 74-77. 
 
 6 
 
42 Commemorative Ouatiox. 
 
 but of essentially opposite ideas. The cardinal principle 
 of the one was comprehensive liberality ; the systematic 
 policy of the other was Procrustean rigor. There never 
 Avas a greater contrast in the civilized peoples of the earth. 
 Thus it happened that there was almost constant enmity 
 between the Dutch Province and her Pui'itan neighbors. 
 This early antipath^y was, doubtless, largely increased by 
 those territorial encroacliments which were so offensively 
 pushed on from the East. Yet the contrariety survived 
 long after the question of boundaiies was settled. It 
 continued to manifest itself most conspicuously, in wliat 
 frequently apjDeared to be a meddlesome and callous 
 obtrusiveness on the one side, which was met, on the 
 other, by the decorous reserve which the rules of good 
 society promote. In the end, it Avas well that such char- 
 acteristic differences existed. With more intimate associa- 
 tion, each rival race learned to respect and to value the 
 excellencies which distinguished the other. Narrow pro- 
 vincialism grew more magnanimous Avith larger observa- 
 tion ; and Avliile but feAV Avere found Avilling to abandon 
 the valleys of the Hudson and the Mohawk, croAvds 
 pressed from NeAV England, in later years, to irresistibly 
 attractive homes in NeAV York — none the less gladly be- 
 cause of the unjealous greeting Avhich welcomed their 
 approach. The acute ingenuity, anxious energj^, and 
 austere A'irtues, Avhich Avere thus conti'ibuted by its immi- 
 grants from the East, blended admirably Avith the steady 
 industry, quiet conservatism, and grand comprehensive- 
 ness, Avhich always marked the pioneers of our own 
 State ; and the combination has yielded results of magnifi- 
 cent prosperity, Avhicli God grant may be perpetual ! 
 
 It was for the true interest of America that Ncav York 
 was founded by the Batavian race. That founding pro- 
 duced our OAvn magnanimous and cosmopolitan State, the 
 influence of AA'hich on our nation has always been so happ}' 
 
Commemorative Oration. A'.\ 
 
 and so healthful. Pi'ovidence never meant our variegated 
 country to be the antitype of a single European sover- 
 eignty. There probably never was a population more 
 homogeneous than that of New England in its early days. 
 Of the twenty thousand persons who, at the end of twenty 
 years after the iirst settlement at New Plymouth, formed 
 its several colonies, nearly all were English emigrants, 
 and most of them were Puritans. For more than a 
 century their descendants lived and multiplied, a distinct 
 people, secluded from other communities in a very re- 
 markable degree. This seclusion generated or stimulated 
 vehemently dogmatic individualism. It helped, very 
 powerfully, to produce what is sometimes called the "in- 
 tense subjectivity" of the New England mind. The re- 
 sult was legitimate. The British Puritan loved true liberty 
 less than he loved dominion. He wished always to do 
 what pleased himself ; but he longed, still more, to com- 
 pel all others to do as he pleased. He was uneasy unless 
 he could domineer. This tyrannical and unscrupulous, 
 but thoroughly English spirit was not softened by its 
 transplantation in America. It seems, on the contrary, to 
 have grown more rank, and to have developed peculiar 
 social characteristics, in the secluded New England colo- 
 nies. Of these characteristics, none was more remarkable 
 than the system of "mutual inspection," which, pushed 
 to its extreme limits, would subject all to a discijjline as 
 galling as it is unwholesome and dwarfing. " The Inqui- 
 sition," writes one of Massachusetts' most honored sons, 
 " existed in substance, with a full share of its terrors and 
 its violence. " * It is obvious that liberality, magnanimity, 
 and comprehensiveness, could notHourish among a people 
 so isolated, and so incessantly occupied in brooding over, 
 and working out within itself, its own problems. Yet, I 
 would be tlie last to withhold an expression of sincere 
 
 * Story's Miscellanies, 66 ; Colt's Puritanism, 21S; Brodlicad, I, 20S. 3.S1. 
 
44 Commemorative Ouatiox 
 
 respect, justly due to the many ^^t(■l•lillg• qualities which 
 illustrate that renowned stock, tht^ descendants of which 
 have exerted so wide and so marked an iniluence through- 
 out our whole country. 
 
 When he emigrated, however, the New Englander did 
 not readily lay aside his native peculiarities. He yearned, 
 to pro])agate unnu)ditied his ingi-ained ])rovincialisni. But 
 tliis he co\dd not do in the cosmopolitan atmosphere of 
 New York. Tliat he could not, was happy for our 
 country. It was nf)t her cramped destin}^ to jierpetuate 
 or reproduce the id<"as or the j)olicy of only one of the 
 nationalities of the Old ^^'orld, or of but one of its planta- 
 tions in the New. The ai'rogant claim — so flattering to 
 British ])ride, so sycophantic in Americans who would 
 flatter Kngland — that the United States of America are of 
 wholly Anglo-Saxon origin, is as fallacious as it is vulgar. 
 " Time's noblest oftspring" was not the child of England 
 alone. There was a Fatherland, as fruitful as the Mother- 
 land. There were many parents of our multigenerous 
 people. The great modern Republic sprang from a union 
 of races as varioiis and contrasted as the climates from 
 which, and to which, they emigrated. SAveden, Holland, 
 Germany, Savoy, S2:)ain, France, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 all co-operated, no less mightily than England, in peopling 
 our territoiy, moulding our institutions, and creating our 
 vast and diversifled country, "one and indivisible." To 
 its heterogeneousness, and not to its supposed homogene- 
 ousness — to its collisions and its comminglings of races — 
 to its compromises and its concessions — does that country 
 owe its grandest moi'al, social, and political character- 
 istics. 
 
 .Vmong these various races, the Batavian founders of 
 New York marked their impress deep upon their State 
 and upon the confederated nation. Tiie motives to their 
 emigration were ditt'erent from those which led to the 
 
CoMMEMOriATIVE ORATION. 45 
 
 colonization of other American territories. They had 
 sutfered uo persecution in their tolerant Fatherland. They 
 left its shores not as refugees, but as volunteers— not to 
 seek "Freedom to Ayorship God" for themselves, and 
 deny it to others— not to establish inquisitorial dogmatism, 
 but to live, and let others live, in comfort. "Not as 
 the conqn(>ror comes," came the unaggressive forefathers 
 of our State. The plain-spoken and earnest, yet unpre- 
 sumptuous men who tirst explored and reclaimed New 
 Netlierland, and bore the flag of Holland to the cabins of 
 the Iroquois, crossed the ocean to better their condition, 
 and add another far-off Province to the Dutch RepubUc. 
 They remembered, Avith deep affection, the great history 
 of the little country they had left ; and with their house- 
 hold gods, they carried 
 
 " The wreaths anil reHcs of the immortal fire."* 
 
 They hoped, perhaps, that in time they might rear, among 
 the rocks, and the maples, and the pine-trees on the banks 
 of the River of the Mountains, "the Exchange of a 
 wealthier Amsterdam, and the schools of a more learned 
 Leyden."t They gave to their new abodes among the 
 red men of the forest, the names which they had loved in 
 their distant Belgian homes. Born in that "hollow land," 
 rescued from the sea, where the first lessons of childhood 
 taught them self-reliance and industry, they brought over 
 into the wilderness those thrifty national habits which 
 soon made it to bloom and blossom as the rose. Longer 
 lines of barges than ever crowded the Batavian canals, 
 are now drawn through those magnificent channels from 
 the lakes to the ocean, which the experience of Holland 
 suggested, and the enterprise of her sons helped to con- 
 stract. Distinguished by that modesty which generally 
 accompanies merit, the Dutch pioneers of New York 
 
 * Drydeii's ^neid, U. + Macanlay, I. 219. 
 
46 CuMMEMORATlVE Oj;ATI0S'. 
 
 made no loud- sounding pretensions to grandeur in pur- 
 pose, superiority in cliaracter, or eminence in holiness. 
 They were the very opposites of the Pharisees of ancient 
 or of modern times. They were more ready to do than 
 to boast ; and their descendants have never been am- 
 bitious to arrogate and approijriate excessive praise for 
 what their forefathers did in extending the limits of 
 Chiistendom, and in stamping on North America its re- 
 splendent features of freedom of religion and liberality in 
 political faith. With the magnanimous ideas, and honest 
 maxims, and homely virtues of their Fatherland, they 
 transplanted her national Church and her public Schools, 
 her accomplished "Domines" and her Avell-educated 
 Schoolmasters. The huge clasped Billies, issued from lier 
 proverbially elegant press, were preserved as venerable 
 heir-looms in their families. The system of free public 
 or common Scliools — in which New England takes no less 
 I^ride than New York — was borrowed, or imitated, from 
 the Dutch Rei^ublic, where the exiled Puritans saw it for 
 the first time in successful operation, through the influence 
 of her Calvinistic national Chiirch.* The holidays of the 
 Netherlands, observed by us here to this day, reneAV the 
 genial and hallowed anniversaries of "Paas" and " Saint 
 Nicholas ;" while, year by year, the people of New York 
 are invited to render thanks to God, as their forefathers 
 were invited to keep "Thanksgiving Day" in Holland, 
 long before Manhattan was known, and while New 
 England was yet "u rocky desart."t Those forefathers 
 fearlessly deposed the King of Spain, while they humbly 
 worshij^ped the King of kings. The children of such 
 ancestors added no weak ingredient to the blended masses 
 of our Union ! 
 
 Yet while Hollanders formed the chief element in iu-r 
 
 * Duvies's Holland, II. 303, 303; Bor., XX. 673; Brodhead, I. 403, 403. 
 
 + Smith's New England; Pinkerton, XIII. 306; Brodhead, I. 41, 04, 443, 747. 
 
COMMEMOIiA ri VE OliA TION. 47 
 
 population, New Nethei'land enjoj^ed the advantage of a 
 happy intermixture of other European races. Her first 
 settlers, imbued with the liberal sentiments of their ances- 
 tral land, viewed free navigation and free trade as the sol- 
 vent of national antipathies. Accordingly, without re- 
 garding diversities in doctrine or lineage, they made the 
 hearth-stone the test of citizenship, and residence and 
 loyalty the only obligations of the multifarious nationali- 
 ties Avhich soon came to nestle among them. Walloons 
 from Flanders, Huguenots and Waldenses from France 
 and Savoy, Swedes, German Lutherans, wandering Israel- 
 ites, Roman Catholics, Anabaptists, and English Quakers, 
 all planted themselves, more or less quietlJ^ beside the 
 natives of Calvinistic Holland. Marv ell's Lines on Old 
 Amsterdam might almost describe her trans-Atlantic child, 
 which with 
 
 "Christian, Pagan, Jew, 
 Staple of 6ects and mint of scliism grew; 
 That hank of conscience, where not one so strange 
 Opinion, but finds credit and exchange. 
 In vain for Catliolics ourselves we bear; 
 The universal churcli is only there." 
 
 As early as 1643, the Jesuit Father Jogues — that illus- 
 trious apostle who consecrated with his life the " Mission 
 of the Martyrs" among the Mohawks at Caghnawaga* — 
 found that eighteen ditferent languages Avere spoken in 
 New Amsterdam. There was always popular freedom 
 and public spiiit enough in tlie Dutch Province to attract 
 voluntary emigrants from tlie neigliboring British Colo- 
 nies. If the Fatherland gave asj'lum to self-exiled Eng- 
 lish Puritans, New Netherland as libei-ally sheltered refu- 
 gees from the intolerant governments on her eastern 
 
 * The Indian word " Caghnawaga" means " the Rapids," or "a carrying-place ;" 
 Col. Doc, III. 2.50, jio/p; General Index, 283; Shea's Catholic Missions, 304; N. Y. 
 H. S. Coll., III. (II.) 171; Brodhcad, I. -133, CoH. I cannot refrain from protesting 
 against tlie liideoiis want of taste whicli has belittled this sonorous, signilicant, and 
 historical name into " Fonda!" 
 
48 Co MM EM 1! A TJ V E Oil A TION. 
 
 frontier. Her magnificent destiny, foretold in Holland,* 
 began to be accomplished, when numbers, looking to her 
 with eager eyes, were allured to embark for her shore. 
 Far across the sea came crowded ships from Scotland, and 
 Finance, and Ireland ; while from the upper waters of the 
 Rhine flocked multitndes of a kindred race to those at its 
 mouth, who first chose Manhattan as their home. Here, 
 on our own rocky island — the Tyre of the New World — 
 where Dutch sagacity, integrity, liberality, and industry 
 laid the foundations — Saxon and Celt, Fi-enchman and 
 German, Jew and Grentile, Northerner and Soutlierner — 
 men of all races, and tongues, and climes, and creeds, 
 have worked together to bnild up the golden throne of 
 Commerce. New Amsterdam Avas but the miniature of 
 New Netherland, and the prototj'pe of cosmojiolitan New 
 York. And so, with large and comprehensivt^ spirit, our 
 Dutch forefathers established the grandeur of that imperial 
 State whose 
 
 "Far-off comiiiE; slioue."t 
 
 But if it was for the true interest of America that New 
 York shoiild be founded by Holland, it was equallj' for 
 the greatest good of the greatest number that she should 
 be acquired by England. She could not long have re- 
 mained an isolated dependency of the Diitcli Ecpublic. 
 The time Avas not yet at hand for her own State Indepen- 
 dence. Nor was it the purpose of Providence that New 
 Netherland should ever become a separate American Sov- 
 ereignty. Her central and commanding position, her pic- 
 turesqueneSs, variety, and universality, all foi-eshadowed 
 her grand destiny — forever to bind together the Noi-fh and 
 the South, and to unite with the Ocean the Lakes and the 
 Prairies of a future vast and undivided country. To 
 
 * Ante, page 17. 
 
 t The Arms of the State of New York, adopted in 1778, represent the Sun rising- 
 over distant mountain-tops, and her siguilleant motto is "Excelsior." 
 
CuMMEMORATlVE UHATIOX. 4!) 
 
 that wise end, lier foluuial allegiance was deter- 
 mined. If, instead of becoming the connecting link 
 between the British American Plantations, our State 
 had been annexed to Canada by Louis the Fourteenth, 
 the Iroquois would have been rapidl}^ extermina- 
 ted ; the dominion of France on this continent would have 
 grown impregnable; no Wolfe would have scaled the 
 heights of Abraham ; and no such Revolution could have 
 happened as that which produced our nation. New 
 France, including the Valleys of the Ohio and tlie Mis- 
 sissippi, might yet have possessed her "broad-anned 
 ports" at Quebec. Manhattan, and New Orleans ; and a 
 Bourbon miglit still have dated the instructions of his 
 Vice-Roy at Versailles. Instead of Canada and Nova 
 Scotia, New England and Virginia, deprived of the sym- 
 pathy of New York, might perhaps, at this moment, have 
 been receiving orders from Whitehall. But the con- 
 jirmation of British supremacy in New Netherland Avas 
 the augury of our national independence. The Father- 
 land had done all tliat tlie wisdom of the Almighty had 
 given her to do in the work of American colonization. 
 Thenceforward, her trans-Atlantic offspring was to become 
 the ward of a severer guardian, whose fate it was — like 
 that of Spain — to educate a new Republic of Fnited 
 States. This glorious consummation could not have be- 
 gun, nor have been so wisely accomplished, if NeAV York 
 had not suffered in common with other colonies under the 
 oppression which produced unanimous revolt ; and if she 
 hatl not tauglit her Confederates some of those exalting 
 principles of political and religious liberality, which, pre- 
 serving her through long generations untainted by fanati- 
 cism, have made her the majestic monument of her 
 Batavian founders. 
 
 With the supremacy of England came a necessary 
 change in the language, the laws, and the institutions of 
 7 
 
."id Com M KM (I I! ATI VI-: (Ihmiox. 
 
 NeAV York. Tliis cliaugc, however, was very gradual. 
 The Articles of Capitulation happily restrained what other- 
 wise might have been an insufferable exercise of the con- 
 queror's jjower. CTuaraiiteed their own religious worship 
 and church discipline, tlie Dutcli, in due time, cordially 
 welcomed the Service of the Church of England.* Free- 
 dom of conscience was foi-ever secured by the influence of 
 the ancient Reformed Dutch Church, which effectually 
 prevented the (>stablisliriient of any one denomination as 
 "The Church" of the Province. The Episcopal connnu- 
 nion, although fostered by the servants of the Crown, 
 never became her predominating sect.f This was owing, 
 in a great degree, to the high j)ersonal and scholarly 
 standing of the Dutch clergymen, of whom a regular suc- 
 cession, educated and ordained in Holland, continued to 
 be sent over until 1772, when the ecclesiastical authoT'ity 
 of the Classis of Amsterdam ceased.:): The cosmopolitan 
 character of New York was but made more permanent by 
 the bloodless revolution, which, preserving the old, in- 
 fused fresh elements among the original staples of her 
 greatness. Relieved from the anxiety that for some time 
 had been oppressing tliem, her people, as they grew in 
 
 * The Charter of Trinity Churcli could hardly have passed Fletcher's Council on 
 the tith of May, Ki'.lT, without tlic friendship of its Dntch nieniliers, Pliiilipse, Van 
 Cortlandt, and Bayard; Council Minutes, VII. 330; Doc. Hist. N. Y., III. 31il. 
 
 t Tlie Colonial act of 22 Septeniher, 1693, was passed by an Assembly in which 
 there was only one Episcopalian, and which never thought of cstablishins that 
 denomination as the Provineiiil Church. In poiut of fact tlie Episcopal Church 
 never was cstablislied, except in some of the Southern counties of the Pi-ovincc. 
 See Col. Doc., V. 321, 323; Doe. Hist., III. l.iO, 1.51; Smith's New York, I. 131, 
 134, 187, 337, 330, II. 234; Sedgwielc's Life of Livingston, 7f<, 88; Force's Tracts, 
 IV. (IV.) 3, 3.5, 40, .52. 
 
 \ See Verplanck. in N. Y. II. S. Collections, III. 89; Gunn's Memoirs of the 
 Reverend Jolm H. Livingston, D. D., 141, 143 (Ed. 1856.) Demarest, iuhis " History 
 and (.'haracteristies of tlic Reformed Protestant Dutch Church," p. 96, remarks tliat 
 "She, of all Churclies in the land, was least able to succeed without an educated 
 ministry, for she had been always taught to consider thi.s as essential. It was 
 re(iuired by the Articles of Union, that provision should be made for it. Moreover, 
 tlie Cluireh in Holland would not consent to tlie independeuee of the Amei-ican 
 Churches until this liad lieen guaranteed." 
 
COilMEMOUATIVF. OUATION. ol 
 
 prosperity, remembered with fading regret the event, 
 which, althougli it severed them politically from Holland, 
 conld never take from them tlie heritage of her virtues, 
 her teachings, and her histoi'ical renown. 
 
 By becoming British subjects, the inhabitants of New 
 Netherland did not, however, gain civil freedom. New 
 names, they found, did not secure new liberties. "Am- 
 sterdam" was changed to York, and "Orange" to Al- 
 bany. But these changes only commemorated the titles 
 of a conquert)r. Stuyvesant, and the AVest India Com- 
 pany, and a republi(\rn sovereignty, were exclianged for 
 NicoUs, and a Royal Proprietor, and an hereditary Kiiig. 
 The Province was not represented in Parliament ; nor 
 could her voice reach the chapel of Saint Stephen at West- 
 minster, as readily as it had penetrated tlie chambers of 
 the Binnenhof at the Hague. It was nearly tAventy years 
 before her Ducal Proprietor allowed, for a short time, to 
 the people of New York even that faint degree of repre- 
 sentative government which they had enjoyed when the 
 three-colored ensign of Holland was hauled down from the 
 flag-statf of Fort Amsterdam. Not until the authority of 
 the British Crown was shaken, did New York become 
 again as really free as New Nethei'land liad been. 
 
 Th(n'e was one remarkable feature in which our State 
 ditfered from every other British- American dependency. 
 A conquest from Holland, she became for twenty-one 
 years a Pi'oprietary Dukedom, and then, for nearlj- a cen- 
 tury, she remained a Royal Province. Witliovit a char- 
 ter, like those of Maryland or Pennsylvania, New York 
 resembled none of the New England colonies, except, per- 
 haps, New Hampsliire. It was not until after the acces- 
 sion of the Dutch Stadtholder to the English throne, that 
 she permanently obtained the i)rivilege of an Assembly 
 elected by her freeholdei's. Even then, her Governor and 
 her Counsellors were appointed directly by the King. 
 
52 Co MM EM or; ATI YE OEATiny. 
 
 'PI lis circiimstancc, in connection with othci's peculiar to 
 lier original colonization, fastened upon Ni>w York a dis- 
 tinctive quality of sociid aristocracy, which survived the 
 period of her Independence. It Avas perhaps owing to 
 these causes, that so few comparatively of her Puritan 
 neighbors came to add to her colonial jiopulation. New 
 England and the north of Ireland contributed, at one 
 time, considerable numbers. But her largest accessions of 
 emigrants, during tlie reigns of William, Anne, and the 
 Georges, besides Englishnu>n and Ilollandei's, wei'e French 
 Huguenots and German (Jalvinists and Lutherans. Most 
 of the latter were refugees from the Palatinate, Avho set- 
 tlt^d themselves on the Hudson and the MohaAvk Rivers. 
 West of Herkimer, th(> country was possessed by the Iro- 
 quois ; and it was not until long after our State Constitu- 
 tion was formed at Kingston, in 1777, that emigrants from 
 New England ventured to push beyond the German Flats, 
 and occvipy the rich pasturt^s of Onondaga and the Gen- 
 esee. North of the laorth line of Massachusetts, New 
 York remained for many years the true owner of the 
 region west of the Connecticut, and she thus became the 
 mother of the present State of Vermont. Her original 
 territory, as defined by the Dutch Government in 1614, 
 was so partitioned, in the progress of events, as to form the 
 several States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Little did the 
 quiet men who, in the Binnenhof at the Hague, first placed 
 the name of New Netiierland on the map of the world, 
 anticipate that it would become the parent of such a noble 
 
 es 
 
 progeny of sovereignti 
 
 To all the changes which followed its conquest, the 
 Dutch colonists of our State submitted with characteristic 
 good faith. A few, who could not bear the separation, 
 returned to end their days in their Fatherland. But 
 
COMMEMOHATIYE OliATIOX. 53 
 
 Stu_yvesant, with the Dutt-h clergy and most of the colo- 
 nial officers, honestly swore allegiance to the King and 
 to the Duke, and remained faithful as long as English 
 supremacy lasted.* No more loyal subjects tlian they 
 were ever brought under the British crown. Yet it was 
 no pleasant thing for them to watch the Red Cross of Eng- 
 land waving where the emblems of the Netherlands had 
 floated for fifty years. To Holland thej- felt a deep, unal- 
 terable, hereditary attachment. Nor has the whirligig of 
 time extinguished this sentiment in their descendants. 
 Two centuries have scarcely weakened tlie veneration 
 which citizens of New York of Dutch lineage proudly 
 cherish towards the birth-land of their ancestors. Year 
 by year, the glorious and the genial memories of Holland 
 are renewed by those whom long generations divide from 
 the country of their forefathers. But it is generally true, 
 that Colonists retain more affection towards their Father- 
 land than those who remain at home ever feel toward the 
 emigrants who leave its shores. As years roll on, the 
 contrast becomes more marked. Two centuries have 
 almost wiped out of the recollection of Holland the once 
 familiar name of New Netherland. A few of tlie more 
 curious of her scholars and her statesmen may now and 
 then, by careful search, discover the meagre paragraplis 
 in which her ponderous histories dismiss the story of her 
 ancient trans-Atlantic Province. The most complete 
 sejiarate sketch of it in the Dutch language is tlie work of 
 a Zealander,t which, though wiitteu not many years 
 ago, is already a literary rarity. But the people of the 
 Low Countries scarcely know that New York was once 
 their own New Netherland, or that they have any right 
 to the glory of having laid the foundations of the might- 
 iest State in the American Union, and the metropolis of the 
 Western world ! 
 
 * See ante, p. 41, rinte. + N. C. Lambivclitson, (if MicldL'lbure;. 
 
M COilMEMOnATJVK Oh'ATrON. 
 
 While it is thus to be regretted that th(! history of New 
 Netherland shoukl be so little known in HoUand, it is still 
 more discreditable that, until recently, it continued to be 
 as little understood, and perliaps even less appreciated, in 
 America. There is no State in our Union which has better 
 reason to be proiid of its annals than New York. Yet of 
 no State were the beginnings left for generations in gn^ater 
 obscurity. Official records and original accounts by con- 
 temj)orary writers have never, indeed, been wanting. But 
 these were generally like sealed books, written in the ver- 
 nacidar — almost uidvuown to Englishmen — of "William the 
 Silent, and Grotius, and Barne veldt. The only colonial 
 historian of New York, after its conquest, was a Royalist 
 of English descent.* His meagre outline of its first half- 
 century seems to have encoui'aged a former Chancellor of 
 our own State incautiously to tell us, thirty-six years ago, 
 that the annals of its Dutch period "are of a tame and 
 pacific character, and generally dry and uninteresting. "f 
 Tlit^ remark might have been someAvhat just, if it had been 
 applied — not to their quality, but — to tlie disgracefully 
 neglected condition in which our earliest archives were 
 formerly suffered to remain.:}: If tlie sources of history 
 were thus sealed, it is not surprising that History herself 
 should have been silent. Lil\^e the many brave men who 
 died before Agamemnon, the modest founders of New 
 York for a long time slept, 
 
 "Unwept, unknown: 
 No bard had they to make all time their own."§ 
 
 Tliis is doubtless owing, in some degree, to ignorance 
 
 * William Smith, who died in 1793, Clnef-Justiee of Canada. 
 
 tChaneellor Kent, in N. T. H. S. Coll., (U.) I. 13. 
 
 X I avail myself of this opportunity to express gratitieation that Dr. E. B. 
 O'CalUiLChan has been, of late years, in charge of tlie Historical Records of our 
 State at Albany. He is one of the very few who are fitted for the peculiar oHiec 
 of Archivist; and it would be a calamity if the public should be deprived of 
 the advantage of his services. 
 
 *; Francis's Translation of Horace's Odes, IV. 1*. 
 
COMMEMUliATJ V1-: (_>HATION. 55 
 
 of the Diitcli language, which few English or American 
 authors have ever attempted to master. But it is still more 
 owing to an inherited or inutative spirit -of supercilious 
 depreciation of every tiling Dutch, which, with some bril- 
 liant exceptions, seems to have infected so many Avriters 
 in our own country, especially those of New England.* It 
 is the good fortune of that section of our land to possess 
 abundant easily read records of the deeds and virtues of 
 her founders ; and it is greatly to her comfort that so many 
 of her children have done their best to extol her glory and 
 spread abroad her fame. Yet, while a monotonous repe- 
 tition of indiscriminating panegyric may gratify its sub- 
 jects, it does not always enlarge human knowledge. It 
 may well be questioned whether zeal has not run into 
 injustice, and whether, while incessantly magnifying the 
 praise of one portion of our Union, a candid acknowledg- 
 ment of the merits of others has not been systematically 
 slumned. The Tacitus of our country, in the grandeur of 
 his comprehensive genius, has not failed to do eloquent 
 justice to the honest memories of New York, his chosen 
 home. But too many of our approved authorities and 
 school-books, professing to teach American history, seem 
 as if they were carefully calculated for a provincial meri- 
 dian, and cunningly manufactured to inculcate only ac- 
 counts of New England. The beginnings of the Empire 
 State are passed ignorantly by ; or, if tliey are alluded to, 
 it is too often in niggard or reluctant words, unworthy of 
 any scholar who ventures to relate our country's story. 
 The patriotic calendar of America has pertinaciously can- 
 onized the little company which landed on Plj'mouth 
 beach ; while it has jealously suppressed a just reference to 
 
 * Everett and Bancroft are national jewels. Motley has done immortal honor 
 to New England and to himself hy his admirable Duteh histories. Not less 
 worthily has TucUerman, in his "Optimist," and his ''Biographieal Essays,'^ 
 shown that just appreciation of New York and her characteristics which a scholar 
 of his fine taste and eultivatiou could not help exhibiting. 
 
56 CtLMMF.MOUATIVK Oil ATI UX. 
 
 the })r()g(Miy of those who, long before tliey slielteied tliiit 
 Pilgrim band at Lej'den, had showed the world how to 
 depose a King and declare a People free and independent. 
 
 The retirement of Holland from an unequal strife, left 
 France and Spain to contend with England for colonial 
 supremacy in North America. ^listress of all the Atlantic 
 coast betwet^n Nova Scotia and Florida, the i^ower which 
 had conquered New York soon aspired to uncontrolled 
 dominion from sea to sea. The acquisition of New Nether- 
 land, which had formerly kept Virginia apart from New 
 England, gave to the British Crown the mastery of the 
 most advantageous position on our Continent, whence it 
 could at pleasure direct movements against any Colony 
 that might attemjit a premature independence. With 
 short-sighted triumpli, England rejoiced that her authority 
 was dotted on a new spot in the map of the wt>rld. But 
 her pride went before her destruction, and her haughty 
 spirit prepared the way for her terrible humiliation. The 
 American Republic was ftishioned in the first Congress of 
 1765, which met at NeAV York. It was a most significant, 
 but only a just decree of Providence, that the retribution 
 of England sliould begin with the very Province which 
 she had so iniquitously ravished from Holland, to set, as 
 her most splendid jewel, in the diadem of her colonial 
 sovereignty ! 
 
 Yet for a long time the Plantations which had thus be- 
 come geographically united were neither homogeneous nor 
 sympathetic ; and they never were actually consolidated. 
 While New England, Maryland, and A'irginia were radi- 
 cally Anglo-Saxon Colonies, the mass of the population of 
 New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, 
 which had formed the later territory of New Netherland, 
 was, as we have seen, made up of Hollanders, Huguenots, 
 Waldenses, Germans, Frenchmen, Swedes, Scotchnien. 
 
l'oMMh:M(-iir\rivE ()!!.\rioy. 57 
 
 and Irishriien. A siinilar want of liomogeneousness 
 characterized some of the more Soutliern Cok)nies. Among 
 these raanifokl nationalities, ideas and motives of action 
 Avere as various and discordant as the differing dialects 
 which were uttered. In the progress of years, a common 
 allegiance and common dangers produced a greater sym- 
 pathy among the English Plantations in North America. 
 
 Nevertheless, while she formed a part of the British 
 Colonial Empire, New York never lost her original social 
 identity nor her peculiar political influence. Her moral 
 power lasted throughout the whole succession of events 
 which culminated in the American Revolution. It is im- 
 possible for me now to attempt a fitting historical review 
 of this demonstrable truth. It is enough to say that, if 
 the legitimate influence of New York has not heretofore 
 been always Avorthily acknowledged, it has never been 
 openly denied. Nor has lier salutary moial ])ower ever 
 ceased. The history of her Fatherland — besides the 
 idea of toleration of opinion — furnished the example of 
 the Confederation of Free and Independent States, and 
 made familiar the most instructive lessons of Constitu- 
 ti(jnal administration. AVhile that history taught tiie 
 sacred right of revolt against the tyranny of an hereditary 
 King, it enforced the no less sacred duty of faithfulness 
 to deliberate obligations, and loj'alty to the General Gov- 
 ernment founded by the solemn compact of Sovereign but 
 United States. The patriots who deposed Philip the 
 Second were the great originals of those who in the next 
 century dethroned Charles the First, and in tlie century 
 following rejected George the Tliiid. From Holland came 
 William, "the Deliverer" of England from the tyrant 
 James. The Declaration of the Independence of the 
 United Provinces of the Netherlands was the glorious 
 model of the English Declaration of Right, and of the 
 grander Declaration of the Indc^pendence of tlie I'nited 
 
58 COMMEMOh'AT/VE ORATION. 
 
 (Joloiiii's of North Aineiit-a. The l^iiioii of Utrecht was 
 the nohle exemplar of the Phihidelpliia Articles of Con- 
 federation. Tlie Dutch motto, "Ekxdkagt maakt 
 magt" — Uii'dy iiiaJii'S ih'kjIiI — suggested our own "E 
 Pluribus Unum." 
 
 All these teachings of Dutch history are the peculiar 
 heritage of our o\s\\ Empire State. It was the proud des- 
 tiny of New York to temper the narrow and sometimes 
 fanatical characteristics of h(>r English sister Plantations 
 with the larger- and more conservative principles which 
 she had herself derived from Holland. It was her lot to 
 sustain more severe trials, and gain a more varied expe- 
 rience, than an}^ other American Colony. Midway be- 
 tween the Saint Lawrence and the Chesapeake, she stood, 
 for almost a century, guarding her long frontier against 
 the enuiit}' and might of New France. And Avhen at 
 last the Conquest of Canada tilled the measure of British 
 aggression, and pampered still more the British lust of 
 power, the augury of two hundred years ago was fulfilled, 
 and Nkw Youk — Avorthy to he distinguished as The 
 Netheklaxd of Ameuica — hecame the Pivot Province, 
 on Avhich hinged the most important movements of that 
 sublime revolt against the oppression of England, the 
 only i«irallel to which was the triumphant struggle that 
 the forefatheis of her first settlers maintained against the 
 gigantic despotism of Spain 1 
 
A P r E N D T X . 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 Translation of the first New Netheeland Charter, granted hj tlie 
 States General, on 11 October, 1614;— from Mr. Brodhead's 
 Address before tlie N. Y. llistorical Society, 20 November, 
 1844, p. 5:^ and from the New York Colonial Documents, volume 
 I. pages 10-1-'. 
 
 SATtRDAY, the Eleventh of October, IfiH. 
 
 Present — The President, Mr. Giuesskx. 
 
 Messrs. BiESMAX, Wksteriioi.t, Brienex, Oi.denBarsevei.t, Berckenrode, 
 
 DiiiEi., Teyi.ixuex, MA(ixrs, MoEsnERiiEN. .\yloa, Hegemans. 
 
 THE STATES-GENEKAL ok tmh UxrrEii Xktheri.anus to all to 
 whom these presents shall eonie. Greeting : Whereas Gerrit Jaoobz Witssen, 
 ancient Burgomaster ot the City of Amsterdam, .lonas Witssen aTid Simon 
 Monissen, owners of the ship named the Litt/c Fox, whereof Jan de With 
 was schipper ; Hans Hongers, Panhis Pelgroin, and Lambrecht van Tween- 
 huvsen, owners of the two ships named the Tiiji'i- and the Fortune, whereof 
 Adriaen Block and Henrick Corstiaenssen were schipi)ers; ArnoU van 
 Leybergen. Wessel Schenck, Hans Claessen. and Berent Sweertsen, owners 
 of the ship named tlie XiijhtitKjiih, \vhereof Tbys Volckertssen w.as schip- 
 per, merchants of the aforesaid t'ity Amsterdam ; and Pieter t'lementssen^ 
 Bronwer, .Jau Clementsseii Kics, and Cornclis Volckertssen, merchants of 
 the City of Iloorn, owners of the ship named the FortHijn, whereof Corne- 
 lls Jacobssen May was schipper. All now associated in one Company, Have 
 respectfully represented unto Us, that they the Petitioners, after heavy 
 expenses and great damages to themselves by loss of shi])S and other 
 dangers, had, during the present cnrrent year, discovered and f lund, with 
 the al)Ove-nanied five shii)S, certain New Lands, lying in America, between 
 Keir Frtntec and Vhyhiin, the .sea-coasts wherenf lie between Forty and 
 rorty-tive degrees of latitude, and now called Xew Netukulaxd: And 
 Whereas We did, in the month ot March last, for the promotion and increase 
 
60 < '<' .1/ .1/ KM (I li A TiVE Oj;a r/ o x. 
 
 of Commerce, cause to be piiblislieJ a certain General Consent and Cliarter, 
 setting fortli that wliosoever should tlioreafter discover new havens, lands, 
 places, or passages, might frequent, or cause to be frequented, for four 
 voyages, such newly-discovered and found places, passages, havens, or 
 lands, to the exclusion of all others from visiting or frequenting the same 
 from I lie United Netherlands, until the suid first discoverers and tinders, 
 shall themselves have completed tlie said four voyages, or caused the same 
 to be done within the time prescribed f )r that purpose, under tlie penalties 
 expressed in the said Charter,* <Scc., They pray that We would accord to 
 tliem a proper Act to be passed in form, in pursuance of the aforesaid 
 Charter; Which being considered, and WE having, in Our Assembly, heard 
 the pertinent Report of the Petitioners relative to the discovery and finding 
 of the said Xew Countries between the above-named limits and degrees, 
 and also of their adventures. Have Consented and Granted, and by these 
 presents Do consent and Grant, to the said petitioners, now united into 
 One Company, tiiat they shall be privileged exclusively to frequent or 
 cause to be visited the above Newly-discovered Lands, situate in America, 
 between yew France and Virginin. wliereof the sea-coasts lie between the 
 Fortieth and the Forty-fifth degrees of latitude, now named New Netiier- 
 LAND (as can be seen by a Figurative Map hereunto annexedt), and that 
 for four voyages within the term of Three Years, commencing tlie First of 
 January Sixteen Hundred and Fifteen, next ensuing or sooner; without it 
 being permitted to any other person from the United Netherlands to sail 
 to, navigate, or frequent the said newly-discovered lands, havens, or places, 
 either directly or indirectly, within the said three years, on pain of Confis- 
 cation of the vessel and cargo wherewith infraction hereof shall be at- 
 tempted, and a fine of Fifty Thousand Netherland Ducats, for the benefit of 
 the aforesaid discoverers or finders: — Provided, Nevertheless, that by these 
 presents We do not intend to prejudice or diminish any of Our former 
 Grants or Charters ; And it is also Our intention that if any dispute; or 
 difi'erences arise f'roio these Our Concessions, they shall be decided by Our- 
 selves:— We Therefore for this purpose expressly order and command all 
 Governors, Justices, Officers, Magistrates, and inhabitants of the aforesaid 
 United Lands, to allow the said Company peaceably and quietly to use and 
 enjoy the whole benefit of this our Grant and Consent, refraining from all 
 opposition and obstacles to the contrary : Inasmuch as we consider the 
 same to be for the service and advantage of the country. Given under our 
 Seal, and the Paraph and signature of our Secretary, at tlie Hague, the 
 eleventh day of October, IGl-t. 
 
 * A tiwisliitii.n of this Cli.artor i.s in N. Y. C'lil. Doc, I. 5, 6. 
 
 t For !i t'iic'siiiiilf of tills map, see N. Y. t'ol. Doc, I. 18. Sec iilsn the map eomjineil l.\ Mr. 
 Brudlieafl. for liisllistorj of New York, w hieh illnsti-ates tliis ptiblieatiori. 
 
Af/'KXI)J.V. 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 New England writei-s, in tlreir zeal to establish a paramount British title 
 to the whole of North America between Virijinia and Canada, appear to 
 have overlooked the doctrine announced by Queen Elizabeth in 1580, and 
 confirmed in the House of Commons in 1621, as stated ante, page 9. This 
 doctrine was, that ^^prescription wit/iout possession is of no avail ;'^ the 
 logical consequence of which is, that the " prescription" arising from the 
 voyages of the Cabots gave England no title except to such American ter- 
 ritory, discovered by her subjects, as she might actually occupy. Under 
 this rule, her title to Virginia was never questioned. But by King James's 
 second Patent of May, KiOi). the northern boundtiry of Virginia was fixed 
 at about the fortieth parallel of latitude. The country between Virginia 
 and Canada had been left a i-iieuiim ffomicilium, after the abandonment of 
 Maine by the Sagadahoc colonists in 1R08. The discoveries of the Dutch in 
 this intermediate and unknown region were followed by their permanent 
 occupation of the most of it ; and the only Englishman that seems to have 
 visited New Netherlaxd, after those in the Half Moon, was Dermer, in 
 161!). The New England Patent of November, 1020, by its express Pro- 
 viso that no territory was intended to be granted which was " actually 
 possessed or inhabited by any other Christian Prince or Estate," would 
 appear to liave clearly excepted New France and New Netherland, the 
 actual possession of which by the French and the Dutch was undenialjle. 
 Yet, with the coolest audacity, one of the preliminary recitals of that 
 Patent declared that there were " no other the subjects of any Christian 
 King or State, by any authority from their Sovereign Lords or Princes, 
 actually in pussession" of any of the territory between the fortieth and tlie 
 forty -eighth degrees of latitude I In the same spirit, the English Privy 
 Council, in December, 1621, pretended that the King had "good and suf- 
 ficient title" to the whole of that region, •'■ jure prima; occupationisy If 
 by this was meant the temporary and limited English " occupation" by the 
 colony at Sagadahoc, it was a palpable absurdity ; because that English 
 " occupation" of a part of Maine was abandoned before the Dutch discovery 
 of unknown New Netherland. To insi.st upon such a fallacy was simply to 
 substitute " prescription" for " possession" — a doctrine which both Queen 
 Elizabeth and Parliament had derided. Nevertheless, this transparent sub- 
 terfuge ciicoiistriictire, instead oi iicltial possession, was the strongest ground 
 upon which the English nuiintained their title as against the Dutch. See 
 further on this subject, Brodhead's New York, I. 4. 15, ii. 92-'.iri. ]:W-l-t+. 
 189. 252. (133. r,34.: H;izaid"s Collections. 1. Io:l-l]S: Trnmbnirs Connect!- 
 
Cy2 COMMKMOIiATIVE OnA'/'/ON. 
 
 cut, I. 547, 554; X. Y. Colonial DocuuKMits. I. 27. II. 287, 802, .32.5. 
 332, 379-382, 389, 412, III. 0-8, VJI. .iOfi ; Sir.itli's N". Y., I. 297; Dun- 
 lap's N. Y., II., A]jperi(lix, ccvi.— It could liMi-dly, |ici-liaji.s, liave been 
 expected that the Editor of the recent volume on " Henry Hudson the 
 Navigator," i)ublishcd by the Ilakhiyt Society of London, in 18(iii, should 
 have avoided tlie errors which deform his Introduction to that work. 
 
 N ( ) T E C . 
 
 Translation of the Ooinmissioii from the States-(tenera.l of the 
 United Netherlands to Peter Stl'yvesant, as Director- 
 General of New NETHERr.AND, dated 28 July, 1646 : — from the 
 New York Coloni.al Documents, vol. I. p. 178. 
 
 THE STATES-GENERAL ok tue rxiiKD NETnEni.AXD.s.— To all those 
 to whom these Presents sh.ill come, or who shall hear them read. Healtli ; Be 
 IT Knowx : Whereas we have deemed it advisable for the advancement of 
 the affairs of the General Incorporated West India Company not only to 
 maintain the trade and population on the coast of y^eio Netherland and the 
 places situate thereabout, also the islands Cura^oa. Bnenaire, Aru/m. .and 
 their dependencies, which have hitherto been encouraged thither from this 
 country, but also to make new treaties and alliances with foreign I'rinces, 
 and to intlict as nuieli injury as ])o.ssible on the enemy in his forts and 
 strongholds, as well by sea as by land; For which purposes it becomes 
 necessary to appoint a person Director: WE, Therefore, confiding in the 
 probity and experience of Petrus Stiiyvesant, formerly intrusted with 
 our affairs in, and the government of, the aforesaid Island of Curai;oa and 
 the places thereon depending, and We, being well pleased with his services 
 there. Have commissioned and appointed and by these presents Do corn- 
 mission and appoint the said Pktrus Sti'Yvesant Director in the aforesaid 
 countries of Xeir KetherldtiiJ and the places thereunto adjoining, together 
 witli the aforementioned Islands of Cnrnrim, Buenaii-e, Aniha, and their 
 dependencies; to administer, with the Council as well now as hereafter 
 ap]iointed with him, the said office of Director, both on water and on land, 
 and in said qu.ality to attend carefully to the advancement, iiromotion, and 
 (ireserv.itiou of friendship, alliances, trade, and commerce: to direct all 
 matters appertaining to tratHc and war, and to maintain in all things there, 
 good order for the service of the United Netherlands and the General West 
 India Company; to establish regularity for the safeguard of the places and 
 forts therein ; to administer law and justice as well civil as criminal: And 
 moreover to perform all that concerns his office and duties in accordance 
 with the Charter and the general and particular Instructions herewith 
 
Ai'PEXDix. 63 
 
 given, and to be liereafter piveii liini, as a jiood and taitliful Director is 
 bound and obliged by liis oatb in Our liands to do; Wbich done, WE, 
 therefore, order and command all other officers, common soldiers, together 
 with the inhabitants and natives residing in the aforesaid places as subjects, 
 and all whom it may concern, to acknowledge, respect, and obey the said 
 Petkus Stuyvesant fis our Director in the countries and places of New 
 Nethe7'land, and in the Islands of Curiifoa^ Biieiuiire, Aruha, and their 
 dependencies, and to ati'ord all Ijelp, countenance and assistance in the 
 performance of these things, as We have found the same to be for the 
 advantage of the Company. Done in onr Assembly at tlje Hague, on the 
 xxviii. Jidy, 1646. 
 
 NOTE D. 
 
 Copy of the Commission from the Duke of York to Colonel 
 Richard Nicolls, dated 2 April, 1664, Recorded in Book of 
 Patents, vol. I. pp. 116-118, in the Office of the Secretary of 
 State at Albany. 
 
 JAMES, Duke of Yoi:k and Albany, Earl of Ulster, Lord High Admiral 
 of ExciLAXD and Ihelano, &c.. Constable of Dover Castle, Lord Warden of 
 the Cinque Ports, and Governor of Portsmouth, iSic. Whereas it hath pleased 
 the King's most Excellent Majesty, my Sovereign Lord and Brother, by 
 His Majesty's Letters Patents, bearing date at Westminster the Twel/tJi day 
 of March in the Sixteenth year of His Majesty's Reign, to give and grant 
 unto me and to my Heirs and Assigns, All tliat part of the nuiinland of 
 New England, Beginning at a certain place called or known by the name 
 of Saint Croix, next adjoining to New Scotland in America, and from thence 
 extending along the sea-coast, unto a certain place called Petaquine or 
 Pemaqnid, and so up the River thereof to the furthest head of the same, as 
 it tendeth Northwards, and extending from thence to the River of Kine- 
 hequi, and so upwards by the shortest course to the River Canada north- 
 wards ; And Also all that Lsland or Islands commonly called by the several 
 name or names of Matowacl-ji or Long Island, situate, lying, and being 
 towards the west of Cape Cod and the Narrow-Higausets, abutting upon 
 the mainland, between the two rivers there, called or known by tlie several 
 names of Connei-ticul and Hudson's River; Together also with the said 
 River called Hudson's River and all the land from the West side of Con- 
 necticut River to the East side of HeUneare Bay; And Also all those several 
 Islands called or known by the name of Martin's Vineyards and NaiUukes 
 otherwise Nanfmhcf ; Together witli all tlie Lands. Islands, Soiles, River-', 
 Harbours, Mines, Minerals, Quarries, Wimds. Marshes, Waters, Lakes, Fish- 
 
(i4 CoMMKMOUAT I VI-: OUATIOX. 
 
 iiig, Hawking, Hunting, aiul Fowling, and all otliei' Royalties, Pi-otits, 
 Commodities, Hereditaments, to the said several Islands, Lands, and Pre- 
 mises belonging and appertaining, with their and every of their Appurte- 
 nances ; To Hold the same to my own proper use and behoof. With Power 
 to correct, punish, pardon, govern, and rule the Inhabitants thereof, by 
 Myself, or such Deputies, Commissioners, or Officers as I shall tliink tit to 
 appoint; as by His Majesty's said Letters Patents may more fully appear: 
 And Whereas I have conceived a good opinion of the Integrity, Prudence, 
 Ability and Fitness of Kiciiard Nkolls, Esquire, to be empU)yed as my 
 Deputy there, I have tlierefore thought fit to constitute and appoint, And 
 I do hereby constitute and ai)point him the said Richard Xicolh, Escpiire, 
 to be my Deputy-Governor within the Lands, Islands, and Places aforesaid, 
 To perform and execute all and every the Powers which are by the said 
 Letters Patents granted unto me, to be executed by my Deputy, Agent, or 
 Assign. To Have and to Hold the said place of Deputy-Governor unto 
 the said Richard Nicvlls, Esquire, during my will and pleasure only; 
 Hereby willing and requiring all and every the Inhabitants of the said 
 Lands, Islands, and Places to give obedience to him the said Richard 
 KicoUs in all things, according to the tenor of His Majesty's saiil Letters 
 Patents; And the said Richard J^icoUn, Esquire, to observe, follow and 
 execute such Orders and Instructions as he shall from time to time receive 
 from myself Given, under tuy hand and seal, at Whitehid/, this Second 
 day of April, in the Sixteenth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord 
 Charles the Second, by the Grace of God King of England, Scotland, 
 France, and Ireland, &c., Annoque Domini, KUU. 
 
 By Command of His Royal Highness, 
 
 W. Coventry. 
 
 JAMES. (L. S.) 
 
 NOTE E . 
 
 OFFICIxVL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE SURRENDER OF 
 NEW NETHERLAND, agj^ august, ^gg^ 
 
 ' 5-S SKPTE.MBEU, 
 
 Copy of Sliiyvesant's full ])ovver to his Commissioners, dated 
 s^^t^GTr, 1664;— from Albany Records, XVIII. y22, 323, and 
 General Entries, I. 30, 31. 
 
 Tme DuiECTOE-GENEiiAL and Council of New Netherland hereby 
 nmke known; — To ])revcnt the etfusion of blood, plundering, murders, and 
 for the good of the inhaliitnnts, We are moved by the summons made by 
 the honored Lord Riclianl NicoUs, General of his Maiestie of England. 
 
Appendix. 65 
 
 being come with his meu-nf-wur ami soldiers before the ])Oi't, promising 
 freely (by his own proposition madej to re-deliver the Fort and City of 
 Amsterdam in New Netherland, in case the difterenoe of the limits of this 
 Province be agreed upon betwixt His Majestic of England and the High 
 and Mighty States-General; likewise upon other eqnal and answerable 
 conditions, to surrender and deliver ; We have committed and do commit 
 by this, John de Decker. Couiisellur of State; Captain Nicholas Verlett, 
 Commissary concerning matters of trattic; Samnel Megapolensis, Doctor of 
 Physick ; Cornells Steenwyck, Burgomaster; Oloft' Stcvensen van Cort- 
 landt, old Burgomaster; and James Cousseau, old Schepen of this City, to 
 agree with the aforesaid Lord General Hiehard NicoUs or his deputies upon 
 furtlier articles ; by these open letters promising that we will faithfully 
 fulfill whatsoever shall hy our fore-named Cotnmissioners concerning these 
 businesses be promised and agreed upon. In testimony of this it is con- 
 firmed by our Scale, in the Fort of Amsterdam in New Netherhind, the 5th 
 day of September, New Style, 16(i4. 
 
 Copy of Nicolls's full power to his Coinmissioners, dated 
 26Auf.'Ui,t. 1664 ;_tVom General Entries, I. 32, 33. 
 
 t*) SeptenihtT, 
 
 I, Colonel RicUAiiU Niooll.s, Commander-in-Chief of all His Majesties 
 forces now beleaguering the town on the ManhataTis, I)o accept of the 
 proposal made by the Governor and his Council there residing, to treat of 
 an accommodation by Articles of Surrender of the said Town and Forts 
 thereunto belonging under His Majestie's obedience, to prevent the effusion 
 of blood and to improve the good of the inliabitants; And wliereis the 
 Governor and Council are pleased to nominate and appoint John de Decker, 
 Counsellor of State; Nicholas Varlett, Commissary concerning matters of 
 traffic; Samnel Megapolensis. Doctor of Physick; Cornells Steenwyck, 
 Burgomaster: Oloft' Stevensen van Kortlandt, old Burgomaster; aiul James 
 Cousseau, old Sberitfe of this City, to agree and conchule with me or my 
 Deputies, upon further Articles, promising they will faithfully fulfill what- 
 soever shall be by their fore-named Commissioners promised or agreed upon 
 in the Treaty on their partes, I Do Therefore, on ray p.art, nominate and 
 ai)point Sir Robert Carr, Knight; Colonel George Cartwright; Mr. John 
 Wiuthrop, Governor of Hi< Majestie's Colony of Connecticut ; Mr. Samuel 
 Willys, one of the Chief Councill of the said Colony ; Captain Thomas 
 Clarke, and Captain John Pincheon, Commissioners from the Court Gen- 
 erall of the Colony of the Massachusetts, To be my sufficient Deputys. to 
 treat and conclude upon the Articles of Surrender of the aforenamed place. 
 Promising that I will faithfully fulfill whatsoever they shall so treat and 
 conclude upon. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto sett my hand and 
 Seale, at the Camp before the Manhatans, this 26th day of August, Old 
 
 Style, lt)«-t. 
 
 Ricir.uji) NKOLI.S. 
 
 9 
 
6( ') Co M MKM 1.- A ri VJ-: On a no .v. 
 
 'Tis desired and agreed upon by tlie C'uiiiiiiissioiiers on both parts above 
 mentioned, that tlieir meeting upon the jiremises sliall he to-morrow morn- 
 ing, being tlie 27tli of tliis niontli of August, Old Style, precisely at 8 o'clock 
 in the morning, at a 2)lace called the Governor's Bowery, upon the Man- 
 hattans. 
 
 Copy of the Article-; oi" Capitulation, agreed u|)on at the Governor's 
 Bouwery, on Satiinlay, tlie -j~^J^^J^^ 1664, and confimied by 
 NicoUs ;— from N. Y. General Entries, I. 23-;i6, and from the 
 HoUandtse Mercuriiis for September, 1664, 158, 154. 
 
 " These articles following were consented to by the persons hereunder 
 sul)scribed, at the Governor's Iiouwery, August 27th, Old Style [September 
 6th], 1664. 
 
 " I. We consent tliat tlie States-General, or the "West India Company, 
 shall freely enjoy all farms and houses (except such as are in the forts), and 
 that within sis months they shall have free liberty to transport all sucli 
 arms and ammunition as now do belong to them, or else they shall be 
 paid for them. 
 
 " II. All publique houses shall continue for the uses which tliey are now 
 for. 
 
 "III. All people shall still continue free denizens, and shall enjoy their 
 lands, houses, goods, sliipps, wheresoever they are within tliis country, 
 and dispose of them as they please. 
 
 '• IV. If any inhabitant have a mind to remove himself, he shall have a 
 year and six weeks from this day to remove himself, wife, children, ser- 
 vants, goods, and to dispose of his lands here. 
 
 " V. If any officer of state, or publique minister of state, have a mind to 
 go for England, they shall be transported, freight free, in his majesty's fri- 
 gates, when these frigates shall return thither. 
 
 '■ VI. It is consented to, that any people may freely come from the 
 Netherlands, and plant in tliis country, and that Dutch vessels may freely 
 come hither, and any of the Dutch may freely return home, or send any 
 sort of merchandise home, in vessels of their own country. 
 
 "VII. All ships from the Netherlands, or any other place, and goods 
 therein, sliall be received here, and sent hence, after the manner which for- 
 merly they were before our coming hither, for six months next ensuing. 
 
 "VIII. The Dutch here shall enjoy the liberty of their consciences in 
 divine worship and church discipline. 
 
 "IX. No Dntchnum here, or Dutch ship here, shah, upon any occasion, 
 be pressed to serve in war, against any nation whatsoever. 
 
 " X. That the townsmen of the Manhatoes shall not have any soldiers 
 quartered upon tlieni without being satisfied and paid for them by their 
 
ApPKyni.v. fi7 
 
 officers, and that, at this present, if the fort he not eajialile of loilsriiifi: all 
 the soldiers, then the Burgomasters, hy their officers, shall appoint some 
 houses capable to receive them. 
 
 " XI. The Dutch here shall enjoy their own customs concerniuf; their 
 inheritances. 
 
 '■ XII. All publiiiue writina;s and records, which concern the inheri- 
 tances of any people, or the reglement of the church, or poor, or orphans, 
 shall be carefully kept by those in whose hands now they are, and such 
 writings as particularly concern the States-General may at any time be 
 sent to them. 
 
 "XIII. Xo judgment that has passed any judicature here shall be called 
 in question ; but if .uny conceive that he hath not had justice done him, if 
 he apply himself to the States-General, the other party shall be bound to 
 answer for the supposed injury. 
 
 "XIV. If any Dutch living here shall at anytime desire to travaile or 
 traffique into England, or any place or plantation iu obedience to his 
 Majesty of England, or with the Indians, he shall have (upon his request 
 to the Governor) a certificate that he is a free denizen of this place, and 
 liberty to do so. 
 
 " XV. If it do appeare that there is a pul)lique engagement of debt by the 
 town of the Manhatoes, and a way agreed on for the satisfying of that eu- 
 gagement, it is agreed that the same way proposed >hall go on, and that 
 the engagement shall be satisfied. 
 
 " XVI. All inferior civil officers and magistrates shall continue as now 
 they are (if they please) till the customary time of new election, and then 
 new ones to be chosen by tliemselvcs, provided that such new chosen 
 magistrates shall take the oath of allegiance to his Majesty of England, 
 before they enter upon their office. 
 
 " XVII. All differences of contracts and bargains made before this day, by 
 any in this country, shall be determined according to the mannerof tlie Dutch. 
 
 "XVII I. If it do appeare that the West India Company of Amsterdam 
 do really owe any sums of money to any persons here, it is agreed that 
 recognition, and other duties payable by ships going for the Netherlands, 
 be continued for six months longer. 
 
 " XIX. The officers military, and soldiers, shall march out witli their 
 arms, drums beating, and coulours flying, and lighted matches ; and if any 
 of them will plant, they shall have fifty acres of land set out for them ; if 
 any of them will serve as servants, they siiall continue with all safely, and 
 become free denizens afterwards. 
 
 " XX. If at any time hereafter the King of Great Britain and the States 
 of the United Netherlands do agree that this place and country be rede- 
 livered into the hands of the said States, whensoever his Majestie will send 
 his commands to redeliver it, it shall immediately be done. 
 
 " XXI. Th.at the town of Manhatans sh.all choose deputyes, and those 
 deputyes shall have free voyces in all publi(|ue afl^airs as much as any other 
 deputyes. 
 
68 C '0 AJ MEM /.' .1 T/VE On AT 10 X. 
 
 "XXII. Tho^e wlio have iiiiy property in any houses in the fort of 
 Oniiific shall fif they please) slight the fortilications there, and then enjoy 
 nil their houses as all people do wliere there is no fort. 
 
 •• XXIII. If there he any soldiers that will go into Holland, and if tlie 
 Company of West India in Amsterdam, or any private persons here, will 
 transport them into Ik)lhuKl, then tliey shall have a safe passport from 
 Colonel Kiohard Nioolls, Deputy-Governor under his Royal Highness, and 
 the other Commissioners, to defend the ships that shall transport such 
 soldiers, and all the goods in them, from any snrprizal or acts of hostility 
 to he done hy any of his Majestie's ships or subjects. 
 
 " XXIV. That the copy of the King's grant to his Royal Highness, and 
 the copy of his Royal Highness's commission to Colonel Richard Nioolls 
 (testified hy two Commissioners more and Mr. Winthrop, to be true copies), 
 shall be delivered to the Honourable Mr. Stuyvesant, the present Governor, 
 on Monday next, by eight of the clock in the morning, at the Old Mill,* and 
 also these articles coiisented to and signed by Colonel Richard Nioolls, 
 Deputy -Governor to his Royal Higlmess; and that within two hours after, 
 the fort and town called New Amsterdam, upon the island of Manhatoes, 
 shall be delivered into the hands of the said Colonel Richard Nicolls, by 
 the service of such as .shall be by him thereunto deputed by Ids hand and 
 seal. 
 
 "John de DErKER, Robert C.\rr, 
 
 Nicholas Vari.ett, George Cartwrioht, 
 
 Samuel Megapolensis, John Winthrop, 
 
 Oornelis Steenwyok, Samuel Willys, 
 
 Jacques Cousseau, Thomas Clarke, 
 
 Olofi- S. van Cortlandt, John Pinchon. 
 
 " I do consent to these articles, 
 
 " Richard Nicolls." 
 
 Copy of the Ratification of the Articles of Capitulation, by Stuyve- 
 sant and his Council, on Monday, the i^'seiit'fTnbe'r ^^^'^ ' — *'"""^ 
 Albany Records, XVIII. 326, and General Entries, I. 31, 32. 
 
 The Director-General and Coltncil of New Netherland, to all 
 who shall hear or see this. Greeting : Be it known that we hereby ratify 
 and contirm the Conditions agreed on and concluded, on the Sixth of this 
 month, between our Commissioners, the Honorable John de Decker, mem- 
 ber of our Council ; Captain Nicholas Varlett, Commissary of wares and 
 merchandises; the Reverend Samuel Megapolensis; the Honorable Corne- 
 lls Steenwyok, Burgomaster ; Oloti' Steven.sen van Cortlandt, old Burgo- 
 
 * For the sitiiutiuii of tbis "Old Mill," see ante^ p. 36, JioU. 
 
Appexdix. 69 
 
 master; and Jacques Cousseau, old Schepen of this city, with the Com- 
 missioners of the Honorable Governor Richai-d Nicolls, Commander of His 
 Britannic Majesty's frigates and land forces who besiesed this fortress and 
 city; namely, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright, John Winthrop, Samuel 
 "Willys, John Pincheon, and Thomas Clarke ; And We promise to exeente 
 the same. Done in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, on 8th Septem- 
 ber. 1604. 
 
 P. Stuvvesant. 
 
 N. DE SiLLE. Jacob Backer. 
 
 Martin Krygiee. Timotdeus Gabry. 
 
 Paulus Leendertsen tan deb Grist. Isaac Gretenraet. 
 
 PlETER TONNEMAN. NiCOLAAS DE MeYEE. 
 
 I certitie the same. 
 
 CORNELIS VAN RuYVEN, 
 
 Secretary. 
 
 NOTE F. 
 
 Translation of a letter from Corjjelis van Rutfen, late Secretary 
 of New Netherland, to the Dutch Villages on Long Island, 
 announcing the Surrender, dated, 8 September, 1664 ; — from the 
 Bushwick Records, and from Thompson's Long Island, II. 165 ; 
 — see also N. Y. Colonial Documents II. 415, 445, 502, 509. 
 
 September 8, 1664, K. S. 
 Beloved Friends : 
 
 It has happened that New Netherland is given up to the English, and 
 that Peter Stuyvesant, Governor for the West India Company, has marched 
 out of the Fort with his men, by Beaver street (Bevers Paed) to the Hol- 
 land shipping, which lay there at the time ; And that Governor Richard 
 Nicolls, in the name of the King of England, ordered a corporal's guard 
 to take possession of the Fort. Afterwards, the Governor, with two com- 
 panies of men, marched into the Fort, accompanied by the Burgomasters 
 of the City, wlio inducted the Governor, and gave him a welcome reception. 
 Governor Nicolls has altered the name of the City of New Amsterdam, and 
 named the same New York, and named the fort. Fort James. 
 From your friend, 
 
 COENBLIS VAN RtJTVEN. 
 
COMMKMOHA Tl VK (tKA TION. 
 
 NOTE G. 
 
 Translation of a letter from the Sciiout, BrEGOMASTEEs, ;Hid 
 ScHEPENS of the City of New Amsteedam, to the West India 
 Company, dated, IG September, 1664, N.S. ;• — from New Amster- 
 dam Records, V. 567-570, and ^'a!entine's Manual for 1860, 
 592, 593. 
 
 Right lIoxoiiABLE, Pkcdext Lords, the Lords Directors of the 
 JIoN'ORABi.E West India Company, at the Amsterdam Uiiambeu : 
 
 Right Honorable Lords : — 
 
 We, your Honors' loyal, sorrowful, and desolate subjects, cannot neglect 
 nor keep from relating the event, which, through God's pleasure, thus un- 
 expectedly happened to us in consequence of your Honors' neglect and 
 forgetfulness of your promise ; to Wit : The arrival here of late, of four 
 King's frigates from England, sent hither by His Majesty and his brother 
 the Duke of York, with oonniiission to reduce not only this place, but also 
 the whole of New Netherlund under His Majesty's authority ; whereunto 
 they brought with them a large body of soldiers, provided witli consider- 
 able ammunition. On board of one of the frigates were about four hun- 
 dred and fifty, as well soldiers as seamen ; and the others in proportion. 
 
 The frigates being come together in front of Najac in the Bay, Richard 
 Nicolls the Admiral, who is ruling here at present as Governor, sent a let- 
 ter to onr Lord Director-General, communicating therein the cause of his 
 coming, and his wish. 
 
 On this unexpected letter, the Heer General sent for us, to determine 
 what was to be done in the matter. Whereupon it was I'esolved and de- 
 cided to send some Commissioners thitlier, to argue the matter with the 
 General and his three Commissioners ; wlio were so sent for this purpose 
 twice. But no answer was received, except that they were not come here 
 to dispute about it, hut to execute their order and commission without fail, 
 either peaceably or by force ; and if they had any tiling to dispute aliout 
 it, it must be done with His Majesty of England, as we could do notliing 
 here in the premises. Three days' delay was demanded for consultation. 
 That was duly allowed; — but meanwhile they were not idle. They ap- 
 proaclied with their four frigates, two of which passed in front of the 
 Fort. The other anchored about Nooten Island, and with five companies 
 of soldiers encamped themselves at the Ferry oi)posite this place ; together 
 with a newly raised coni])auy of horse and a Jiarty of new soldiers, both 
 from the North and from Long Island, mostly all our deadly enemies —who 
 expected notliing else than pilhii;e, iilunder, and bloodshed — as men could 
 perceive by their cursing and talking wiieii iiientiun was made of a capitu- 
 lation. 
 
Appendix. 71 
 
 Finally, beiug then encircled rouiul about, we saw little means of deliver- 
 anee. We considered what ouglit to be done ; and after we bad well in- 
 quired into our strength, and Iiad found it to be full fifteen hundred souls 
 in this place, but of them not two hundred and fifty men capable of bearing 
 arms, exclusive of tlie soldiers, who were about one hundred and fifty 
 strong ; wholly unprovided with jiowder. botli in the city and in the Fort 
 — yea, not more than six hundred pounds were found in tlie Fort besides 
 seven hundred jiounds that is unserviceable; Also because the countrymen, 
 the third man of whom was called out, refused. We, with the greater por- 
 tion of the inhabitants, considered it necessary to remonstrate with our 
 Lord Director-General and Council, that their Honors might consent to a 
 capitulation. Whereunto we labored according to our duty, and had much 
 troul)le; Laid down and considered all the difficulties which should arise 
 therefrom, not being able to resist such an enemy, as they could also re- 
 ceive a much greater force than they then had under command. 
 
 The Director-General and Council at lengtli consented thereunto. 
 Whereupon Commissioners were sent to the Admiral, who notified him that 
 it was resolved to come to terms, in order to save the shedding of blood, 
 if a good Agreement could be concluded. 
 
 Six persons were commissioned on each side, for the purpose of treating 
 on tliis matter ; which they have done and concluded in manner as appears 
 liy the Articles annexed. How that will result, time will tell. 
 
 Meanwhile, since we have no longer to depend upon your Honors' prom- 
 ises or protection. We, with all the poor, sorrowing, and abandoned com- 
 monalty here, must tly for refuge to the Almighty God, not doubting but 
 He will stand by us in this sorely afflicting conjuncture, and no more de- 
 part from us. 
 
 And we remain your 
 
 Sorrowful and abandoned subjects, 
 
 PlETEl: TONNE.MAN, JaCOB BacKEE, 
 
 Paulus Leesdertsen van der Grist, Timotheus Gabby, 
 
 OoENELis Steenwyck, Isaac Greveneaet, 
 
 Nicolaas de Meyer. 
 
 Done in Jorck, heretofore named Amsterdam, in New Netherland, Anno 
 1664, the 16th of September. 
 
T2 COMMKMOUAnVE OUATIOX. 
 
 NOTE H, 
 
 Translation of a letter from the Rcvereml Samuei, Drisius, one of 
 the Collegiate Ministers of the Reformed Uiiteh Church at New 
 Amsterdam, to the Classis of Amsterdam, dated 15 September^ 
 1664, N. S. ; from the Origuidl ^Linuitcript in the possession of 
 the General Synod of the Reformed Protestant Dutch 
 Church in North America. 
 
 To THE Reverend, Leaejjed, an» Pious Brotueks of the Venerabi,e 
 Classis of Amsterdam. 
 
 I cannot neglect to acquaint your Reverences with our present condition, 
 namely that we arc now brought under the government of the King of 
 England. On the Twenty-sixth of August there arrived in the Bay of the 
 North River, near Staten Island, four great ships-of-war or frigates, well 
 equi])i)ed, manned with seamen and soldiers, having a Patent or Connnis- 
 sion from the King of Great Britain to demand and receive this Province 
 in the name of His Majesty, and, if the same should not be accomplished 
 by amicable arrangement, then to attack the place by force ; and that then 
 all should be given over to the pillage, robbery, and spoil of the English 
 soldiers. The people here were not a little amazed at the arrival of these 
 frigates. Our Lords, the Director and Council, together with the Regents 
 of the City, took this affair very much to heart ; and with all diligence, by 
 messages sent hack and forth to the General Richard Niculls, sought 
 to delay these matters, and that they might be referred to his Majesty of 
 England and the Lords States of Holland. But all was in vain! They 
 landed their soldiers about six miles olf, at (rravesend, and inarched them 
 on foot upon Long Island up to the Ferry, over against this [dace. And on 
 the Fourth of September, the frigates came with full sail, as far as here, 
 having their guns all ready on one side, charged and intending (in case any 
 hostilities should be used against them) to discharge their full broadsides on 
 this open place, and then to conquer this town by violence, and give over every 
 thing to rapine and massacre. Our Noble Lords and Regents, as well of the 
 Noble [West India] Company as of the City, were H-ell disposed to defend 
 the place. But tliey saw that it was impossible ; because the town was 
 not in a condition of defence, though it was now being fortified ; that even 
 then it could not be defended, seeing that each man would have to stand 
 foui' rods from tlie other in the ramparts of the I'ity ; that there was little 
 
Appendix. 73 
 
 provision of powder, as well in tlie fort as in the town ; and t!iat tliore was 
 no relief or assistance to be expected ; — but, on the other hand, that a i^reat 
 concourse of Englishmen, as well foot as horse, caitie hitherwards daily out 
 of New England, very ardent for the plundering of this place ; also that 
 six hundred Northern Savages, and one hundred and fifty French rovers, 
 with English commissions, had ofl'ered their services against us. So it was 
 that our authorities, under the strong urgency of the burghers and inhab- 
 itants, were compelled, in order to prevent plundering and bloodshed, to 
 resolve (however unwillingly) to come to an Agreement ; the T\-hich was 
 accordingly concluded on the Sixth of September. And so the English 
 marched into our City on the Eighth of September, according to the Con- 
 vention. 
 
 After the surrender of this place, several Englishmen, whom we have 
 long known, and who are well affectioned towards us, came to us, saying 
 that God had particularly ordered this atfair so that it was settled by a Con- 
 vention ; because otherwise nothing could have come out of it but plundei-- 
 ing, murdering, and total ruin. The which, also, several soldiers confirmed ; 
 who said that they had come here out of England in hope of booty, .and 
 now that it had fallen out otherwise, they wished that they might go back 
 again to England. 
 
 And whereas it was arranged in the Articles that the Church service and 
 doctrine, together with the Clergymen, should remain and continue as they 
 have been until now, we could not separate ourselves from our congregation 
 and hearers, but have felt ourselves obliged by our duty to abide, yet for a 
 time, with the s.ame, so that they should not, all at once, be scattered, and 
 dwindle away. 
 
 I have a moderate sum due to me from the Noble [West India] Company, 
 •which I hope and wish may be paid. And so I end, commending your 
 reverend persons and labors to the blessing of Giid, and remain. 
 Your Eeverences' obedient Brotljer, 
 
 Samuei. Drisius. 
 ManhattAns. 
 .4nno lliCt Sept, 15. 
 
 10 
 
PROCEEDS GS 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 
 
 IN RELATION' TO 
 
 THE COMMEMORATIOX 
 
 CONQUEST OF NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 TWO HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY. 
 
 M Dccc Lxrr. 
 
OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY. 
 1864. 
 
 President, 
 FREDERIC DE PEYSTER. 
 
 Fimt Yire-P resident, 
 THOMAS i.E WITT, D. D. 
 
 Second Vice-President, 
 BENJAMIN ROBERT WINTHROP. 
 
 Foreign Correspondinr/ Secretary, 
 GEORGE BANCROFT, LL. D. 
 
 Domestic Corres/iniidi/ii/ Secretary, 
 SAMUEL OSGOOD, D.D. 
 
 Recording Secretary, 
 ANDREW WARNER, 
 
 Tri-asfirer, 
 BENJAMIN H. FIELD. 
 
 Liihrarian, 
 GEORGE HENRY MOORE. 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 
 
 AUGUSTUS SCHELL, 
 ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, 
 BENJAMIN W. BONNEY, 
 JOHN ROMEYN BRODHEAD, 
 WILLIAM CHAUNCEY, 
 CHARLES P. KIRKLAND, 
 GEORGE FOLSOM, 
 GEORGE GIBBS, 
 ROBERT L. STUART. 
 
KEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 COMMEMOEATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CONQUEST OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 October 12, 1864. 
 
 The New Yoi-k Historical Society, at its meeting on the second 
 of Febriinry, 1864, taking into consideration the importance of the 
 event, resolved that it would commemorate, by suitable acts and 
 proceedings, the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Conquest of 
 New Netherland, in the autumn of the year 1664. 
 
 A Committee of Arrangements, including some of its most 
 distinguished members, was accordingly appointed, and John 
 RoMEYN Beodhead vvas selected to deliver the Commemorative 
 Oration. 
 
 The Committee, in executing their duty, addressed the f )llowing 
 letter of invitation to various Historical Societies and eminent 
 citizens in New York and other States : — 
 
 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Library, New York Vity, September loth, 1864. 
 
 Sir : — The New York Historical Society proposes to commemorate, by suit- 
 able Acts and Proceedings, tlie Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Conquest of 
 New Netherland, in the autumn of the year 1664. 
 
 Ne.xt to the discovery iu 1609, by the Dutch, of New Netlierland — the original 
 bounds of whicli included tlie present States of Maine, New Ilampsliire, Vermont, 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Yorli, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 
80 Proceedings oe tue Society. 
 
 and Delaware — its couq\iest by the English, in 16G4, is tlie most interesting event 
 in the Colonial Ilistor}' of New York. The consequences of this event were of 
 momentous import, not only to the City and the State of New York, but to the 
 American Union. It forms one of those great epochs in National existence which 
 it is the special office of Historical Societies fitly to observe. 
 
 The time appointed for the proposed commemoration is Wednesday, the 
 Twelfth of October next, l)eing just two centuries after tlie last Duteli Fort on 
 the Delaware was taken by the Englisli, and the conquest of New Xethcrlaud was 
 completed. 
 
 An Oration will be delivered on that day, before tlie Society and its guests, at 
 the Hall of the Union, Cooper Institute, in this City, by John Romevn Brod- 
 HE.4D, LL.D. ; and other proceedings will take place. 
 
 In behalf of the New York Historical Society, the undersigned request the 
 pleasure of your attendance on this occasion. 
 
 Awaiting your favorable reply, 
 
 We have the honor to be. Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 GtlLIAN C. VeRPI,.4NCK, FREDERIC DE PEY.STER, 
 
 George B.\xcroft, Augustl's Schell. 
 
 Ha.miliox Fish, George Folsom, 
 
 J.4MES W. UeEKMAS, CuaRI.es p. KlRKLAXD, 
 
 Evert A. Duyckinck, Andrew Warner, 
 
 George H. Moore, 
 
 Committee of Arrangements. 
 
 In ptirsuance of these nrrangements, a special meeting of the 
 Society wns held at the H.tll of the Union, Cooper Institute, at a 
 quarter past seven o'clock, on Wednesday evening, the twelfth of 
 October, 1864. 
 
 Notwithstanding the inclemency of tlie weather, the meeting 
 was largely attended by a very respectable audience. Among 
 those who occupied seats on the platform were many distinguished 
 citizens, representing various departments in the State and munici- 
 pal governments, the Army and Navy, and the learned professions. 
 Delegates from several Historical Societies were also present. The 
 New Hampshire Society was represented \>\ the Rev. Dr. N. Boa- 
 ton and Joseph B. Walker, Esq. ; Maine, by the Kev. William 
 Stevens Perry ; Rhode Island, by Dr. Usher Parsons ; Connecticut, 
 by J. Hammond Truinbitll, Esq. ; New Jersey, by William A. 
 Whitehead, Esq., and Solomon Alofsen, Esq.; Pennsylvania, by 
 Thomas II. Montgnmcry, Esq.; Dilawaie, by Bishop Lee, Dr. 
 Henrv F. Askew, and William D. i)owe, Esq. ; Long Island, by 
 
Froceedixgs of Tilt: Soi/ety. 81 
 
 the Rev. Dr. li. S. Storis, Ch.arles E. West, LL.U., Josliiia 31. 
 Van Cott, Esq., Dr. Henry II. Stiles, and Alden J. Spooner, Esq, ; 
 Buffalo, by William Dorsheiiner, Esq., Dr. James P. White, 
 George S. Hazard, Esq. 
 
 The meeting was called to oidor by Frkdeiuc Dk Pktster, 
 Esquire, the President of the Society, who addressed the audience 
 as follows : — 
 
 Members and Guests of the New Youk Historical .Society: 
 
 We are assembled this evening to commamorata tlie Two Hiindredtli Anniver- 
 sary of tlie Conquest of New Netlierland, in tlie autumn of tlio year 1G64. Tlio 
 circumstances and tlie consequences of this momentous event will be appropriately 
 set forth to you tiy the Orator selected by the Society. A century after her con- 
 quest, New York was foremost among her sister colonies in taking measures which 
 looked towards National Independence. Retributive justice, in 1183, followed 
 slowly, but surely, tho trespass of 16;U. In our own day. when another century 
 has passed away, our powerful and patriotic State is found putting forth gigantic 
 eflforts to maintain our National Union; assaulted as it is by domestic treason, 
 which is fostered by foreign machinations. The Commemorative Oration, on this 
 occasion, will be delivered by our fellow-member. Joiix Romeyx BRODnEAi), Doctor 
 of Laws, and well known as tlie historian of our State. The proceedings of this 
 evening will begin by a Prayer, to be offered by the Reverend Tho.mas De Witt, 
 Doctor of Divinit3% Senior iUinister of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch 
 Church in this city, and First Vice-President of this Society. 
 
 The Reverend Doctor De Witt then ofiered an appropriate 
 Prayer. 
 
 After whicli, the President introduced :\lr. J^rodiieau, who pro- 
 ceeded to deliver his Oration. 
 
 At the conclusion of Jlr. Brodhead's Or.iiioii, the Honorable 
 GuLiAN Crommelix Teui'lanck rose to move a resolution of 
 thanks. 
 
 Jlr. Yerplanck said, that in offering this Resolution, laboring as he was under 
 a severe cold, and a hoarseness which must render his voice scarcely audible to 
 most of tills assembly, yet he could not refram from expressing the high gratifica- 
 tion he had felt in listening to the discourse just concluded. It contained much 
 curious and instructive historical inlbnnatiou, most "f it not familiar even to tlie 
 Btudious historical inquirer, and the fruit of large and accurate research. It was 
 enriched tliroughout by a sagacious and clear-siyhted historical philosophy, 
 tracing out both the causes and the results of tho most striking and the noblest 
 peculiarities of the char.acter and fortunes of our State and Nation. Above all ho 
 ■could not but admire, as well as sympathize with, the glowing and grateful ances- 
 tral spirit which animated the Orator,— a worthy descendant of the compatriots of 
 William the Silent,— and which had enkindled congenial emotions among his 
 11 
 
iS2 PiincKEDixa^ OF Tin-: Society. 
 
 hearers. Jlr. Verplanck aildod, tliat iio was not able to expatiate on tbis 
 rich and abundant Iheme, but must have recourse to the better voice of tlio 
 Secretary, to malie his resolution audible to the Society. 
 
 The Resolution offered by Mr. Veri'lanck having been read, as 
 follows : — 
 
 . lit'soh-fd, Tliat the tlianks of this Society are eminently due, and are hereby 
 tendered, to John RO-METN Brodiieaii, LL. D., for his eloquent Oration, delivered 
 this evening, in Comnienioration of the Conquest of New Xetlicrland, and that a 
 copy be requested for the Archives of the Society, and for publication : — 
 
 The Honorable George Baxceoft said : — 
 
 I rise to second the vote of thanks wliieli has been proposed for the admi- 
 rable discourse to which we have just listened. It is marked by a thorough and 
 comprehensive knowledge of the subject, and by a careful style ; and it has 
 been delivered with an earnestness which has enchained the attention of all. 
 
 We remind ourselves, with just pride, that Mr. Brcdhead is one of the oldest 
 members of our Societj-, and not surpassed by any in diligence and efficiency. It 
 is to him that tliis State owes an invaluable collection of the Documents, gathered 
 from many sources, to illustrate its History. To him, also, it owes tlie commence- 
 ment of a work on its history, -which is so ful), so accurate, so marked by re- 
 search, and an honest love of liistoric truth, that we have onlj* to bid him go on. 
 and finish what he has so worthily begun. 
 
 We have all been pleased with the zeal with which he has, this evening, dwelt 
 on the virtues of the Republic of the United Netherlands; and there can be no 
 division of opinion as to the sulxstantial fidelitj' of his picture. Sucli was always 
 the opinion of New England. The founders of the first colony in Massachusetts, 
 when they (led from tlie persecutions of their mother country, knew that Holland 
 alone was the land where they could enjoy freedom of conscience ; and in our day 
 the liand that has portrayed, in the strongest and most lasting colors, the heroism 
 and tlie sufferings of the Batavians, v\'hen, in pursuit of their liberties, they went 
 uutlincliingly through the baptism of fire and of blood, was that of a New 
 Englander. 
 
 Our orator has set before our eyes a bright vision of tlie glory of New Nether- 
 land, when its territory, according to its claims, extended from some shadowy 
 boundary in the distant north, beyond the soutliern Capo of the Delaware ; and 
 has set before us the successive aggressions by which that vast territory was dis- 
 membered, and formed into separate communities and States. Yet, as I listened 
 to him, I seemed to think that the Providence which rules in human affairs, 
 manifested in this a benevolent design. Had New Nethcrland remained undi- 
 vided, it would have been so powerful, so opulent, and so self-relying, that it might 
 have spurned at the thought of an equal union with other Colonies. It was broken 
 into pieces, that New York, which by its position ought to be the eye of the country, 
 miglit learn to feel its high vocation, to rally the many States of our Republic into 
 superior union, to defend that union against all assailants, and to remain forever 
 its spear and its shield! 
 
PnOCEFDIXGS OF THE S Or IE TV. 83 
 
 The Resolution was uiiaiuinously adopteil. 
 
 The Benediction was then proiiouncad by the Reverend Doctor 
 De Witt. 
 
 Immediately afterwards, a Reception was held at the Library of 
 the Society, which was well attended. After some time spent in 
 examining the Museum and Galleries, an entertainment was served 
 in the Nineveh Room. At the call of the President, remarks were 
 made by several of the invited guests, among whom were — 
 
 Alben J. Spoonee, Esq., of the Long Island Historical Society. 
 William Dorsiieimee, Esq., of the Buffalo Historical Society. 
 Thomas H. Montgomery, Esq., of the Pennsylvania Historical 
 Society. » 
 
 Alfred B. Street, Esq., of Albany. 
 Attorney-General John Cochrane. 
 
S4 FnocEEDJXGs ui' Tin-: Society. 
 
 COKIIKSPONDEXCE, ETC. 
 
 1. From Brantz Mayer, datoil ]5altimorc, Si-iitonilior 24, I8G4. accepting 
 the invitation of tlie Committee. 
 
 2. From Jolin William Wallace, dated Philadelpliia, .So])toinber 25, 1S(U, 
 accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 3. From Henry R. krclioolci-aft, dated Washington, September 25, 1804, 
 accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 4. From John M. Harhonr, dated New York, September 20, 18fi4, accept- 
 ing the invitation of llie Committee. 
 
 5. From Millard Fillmore, President of the Bntl'alo Historical Society, 
 dated Buli'alo, September 26, 18(14, accepting the invit.ation of the Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 C. From Charles J. Ilo.idley, dated Hartford, September 26, 1864-, accept- 
 ing the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 7. From William H. I5ogart, dated Aurora, Caynga Lake, September 27, 
 1864, accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 8. From the Mayor of the City of New York, dated Kew York, Septem- 
 ber 27, 1864, accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 9. From James Moncrief, dated New York, 29th September, 1864, accept- 
 ing the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 10. From William H. Seward, dated Washington City, 29th September, 
 1804, acknowledging the invitation of the Connnittee: — 
 
 " I am profoundly gratified for the consideration which the New York Histor- 
 ical Society liavc m.nnifostod, by inviting me to attend their proposecl (.'elebration 
 ot the Two Iliiiidrodlli Anniversary of tlie Conquest of New Netlierland. The 
 cliangcs in the condition of tlie American Continent wliicli have followed, and in 
 eorae respects are due to, that great RevoUition, eontriljutc a theme upon which I 
 sliould lil%e to hear the distinguished seliolar you liave cliosen to be the Orator of 
 tlie occasion. But, just now, I am encxniibercd with the cares incident to the 
 effort of our country to save ah that she has liitherto gained, and to secure for 
 the continent a brighter and nol:)ler future than we have belbre contemplated ; 
 and so, my respected and esteemed friend. I must ask you to have me excused." 
 
 11. From N. Bouton, Corresponding Secretary of the New Hampshire 
 Historical Society, dated Concord, N. H.. September 29, 1804, communi- 
 cating the acceijtauce of the invitatinn of the Committee, and the aiijioiut- 
 
PliOCKEDIXGS OF THF. tioriETT. 85 
 
 iiient of the Rev. N. Bouton, D. 1)., nnd .Tosei)li U. Walker, Esq., as dele- 
 gates fi-om that Society. 
 
 12. From Gideon J. Tucker, Surrogate, &c., dated New York, September 
 30, 1864, accepting the invitation of the Coinniittee. 
 
 18. From D. T. Valentine, dated New York, October 1, 1804, accepting 
 the invitation of tlie Committee. 
 
 14. Frt>m Charles W. SMiidford, Major-General, Ac, dated New York, 
 October 1, 1804, accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 15. From Henry E. Davies, Judge of the Court of Appeals, dated Albany, 
 October 1, 1864, accepting the invitiition of the Committeo. 
 
 1 6. From Henry R. Selden, Judge of the Court of Appeals, dated Roches- 
 ter, October .3, 1864, acknowledging the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 17. From "William A. "Whiteliead, dated Newark, N. J., October 3, 1864, 
 accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 18. From William A. Whitehead, Corresponding Secretary of the New 
 Jersey Historical Society, dated Newark, N. J., October 3, 1864, commu- 
 nicating the acce])tance of the invitation of the Committee, and the ap- 
 pointment of the Hon. Richard S. Field, Solomon Aiofsen, Esq., and 
 William A. Whitehead, Esq., as delegates from that Society. 
 
 19. From Edward Ballard, Secretary of the Maine Historical Society, 
 dated Bninswick, Me., October 4, 1864, communicating the acceptance of 
 the invitation of tlie Committee, and the appointment of the Hon. Edward 
 E. Bourne, the Right Rev. George Burgess, D. I)., the Hon. William Willis, 
 the Hon. John A. Poor, and tlie Rev. Edward Ballard, as delegates from 
 that Society. 
 
 20. From Robert C. Winthrop, President of the Massachusetts Historical 
 Society, dated Boston, October 5, 1864, communicating the acceptance of 
 the invitation of the Committee, and the appointment of delegates from 
 that Society : — 
 
 "Your obliging communication, inviting the Massachusetts Historical Society to 
 send a delegation to your most interesting Commemoration on the 1 2th instant, 
 was gratefully received. As no meeting of our Society would take place until after 
 the occasion was over, our Standing Committee have appointed several of our 
 members to represent us on the occasion ; and I trust that they will be present 
 with you. 
 
 " I regret extremely that it will not be in my own power to attend this festival, 
 agreeably to yom- kind request. 1 have not forgotten the prominent part which 
 was played by Governor Winthrop, of Connecticut, in the events which you com- 
 memorate ; and it would be particularly pleasant to me to be permitted to repre- 
 sent him on the occasion. But if your worthy Yice-President shall have returned 
 from Europe in season for the celebration, you will have a representative of Win- 
 throp and Stnyvesant in the same person. My worthy cousin would also be able 
 to bring' with him the original draft of the letter of AVinthrop to Stnyvesant, 
 which was the occasion of so ranch violent indignation. It was m_v good fortune 
 to obtain possession of this letter, a few years since, and, after printing it in our 
 Massachusetts Historical Collection.'!, to transfer it to the ownership of one who 
 had a double claim to its possession." 
 
80 Proceedings of the Socjetv. 
 
 21. From Edwiird Everett, dated Boston, October 5, 1864, acknowledging 
 the invitation of the Committee ; — 
 
 "I have received your obliging invitation to attend the Celeljration, by the New 
 York Historical Society, of the Two Himdredth Anniversary of the Conquest of 
 New Netlierland by the Englisli. 
 
 ■' The historical importance of that event — deciding, as it did, the nationality of 
 North America — renders it a liighly proper subject for commemoration ; and your 
 fortunate selection of an Orator for the occasion, ray fiiend Mr. Brodliead, than 
 whom no one is better acquainted with the history of that period, gives assuranco 
 that the treatment of the topic will be worthy of its intrinsic interest. I much 
 regret that I must deny myself the pleasure of being present." 
 
 22. From Samuel Hazard, dated Gerniantown, October 5, 1864, acknowl- 
 edging the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 23. From John R. Bartlett, dated Providence, R. I., October 5, 1864, 
 acknowledging the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 24. From Henry 0. Murphy, dated Brooklyn, October 5. 1864, accepting 
 the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 25. From M. Romero, Mexican Minister, dated Washington City, D. C, 
 October 5, 1864, accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 20. From H. H. Van Dyck, Superintendent, &c., dated Alb.any, October 
 5, 1804, accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 27. From W. K. Scott, Corresponding Secretary of the Buffalo Historical 
 Society, dated October 5, 18ii4, communicating tlie acceptance of the invi- 
 t.ation of the Committee, and the apjiointmeut of Millard Fillmore, Rev. 
 Walter Clarke, G. R. Babcock, O. H. Marshall, Dr. J. P. White, H. W. 
 Rogers, 0. G Steele, N. K. Hall, George B. Hibbard, and .John Ganson, 
 as delegates from that Society. 
 
 28. From Hiland Hall, President of the Vermont Historical Society, 
 dated North Bennington, Vt., October 7, 1864, acknowledging the invita- 
 tion of the Committee. 
 
 29. From E. A. Dalrymplo, Corresponding Secretary of the Maryland 
 Historical Society, dated Baltimore, October 7, 1864, communicating the 
 acceptance of the invitation i>{ the Committee, and the appointment of the 
 Hon. John P. Kennedy, Philip T. Tyson, the Rev. Dr. John G. Morris, 
 John H. Alexander, and John H. B. Latrobe, as delegates from that So- 
 ciety. 
 
 30. From J. Wingate Thornton, dated Boston, October 8, 1864, acknowl- 
 edging the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 31. From Millard Fillmore, President of tlie Buffalo Historical Society, 
 dated Buffalo, October 8, 1864, appointing William Dorsheimer a delegate 
 from that Society. 
 
 32. From H. Denio, Jndgo of the Court of Appeals, dated Utica, October 
 8, 1864, acknowledging the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 33. From William Barnes, Superintendent, &c., dated Albany, October 
 8, 1864. aoceptiiig the invitation of the Committee. 
 
PnOCEEDlXGS OF THE SOCIETY. 87 
 
 34-. From Horatio Gates Jones, dated Pliiladelpliia, October 8, 18G-t, 
 acknowledging- tlie invitation of tlie Coinmitteo. 
 
 35. From William D. Dowe. Recording Secretary of the Historical Soci- 
 ety of Delaware, dated Wilmington, Del., October 8, 1864, communicating 
 the acceptance of the invitation of the Committee, and the appointment of 
 Henry F. Askew, M. D., Rev. Charles Breck, and William D. Dowe, Esq., 
 as delegates from that Society. 
 
 86. From the same, dated Wilmington, October 10, 1864, announcing the 
 appointment of the Rt. Rev. Alfred Lee, Bishop of Delaware, &c., in place 
 of the Rev. Charles Breck, as a delegate from that Society. 
 
 37. From Henry R. Stiles, M. D., Librarian of the Long Island Historical 
 Society, dated Brooklyn, October 8, 1864, communicating the acceptance 
 of the invitation of the Committee, and the ap])oiritment of the Rev. K. S. 
 Storrs, .Jr., D. D., the Hon. Henry 0. Mnrphy, Charles E. West, LL. D., 
 B. O. Silliman, Esq., Joshua M. Van Cott, Esq., AMen J. Spooner, Esq., 
 and the President and Librarian, ex-ajficio, as delegates from that Society. 
 
 38. From William W. Campbell, dated Cherry Valley, October 10, 1864, 
 acknowledging the invitation of tlie Committee. 
 
 39. From Andrew H. Green, Comptroller of the Central Park, dated 
 New York, October 10, 1864, in behalf of the Commissioners of the Park, 
 accepting the invitation of the Committee. 
 
 40. From J. Hammond Trumbull, dated Hartford, Conn., October 10, 
 1864, accepting tlie invitation of the Committee. 
 
 41. From George F. Houghton, Recording Secretary of the Vermont His- 
 torical Society, dated St. Albans, Vermont, October 10, 1804, communi- 
 cating the acceptance of the invitation of the Committee, and the appoint- 
 ment of Messrs. Henry Hall and George F. Houghton, as delegates from 
 that Society. 
 
 42. From Albert G. Greene, President of the Rhode Island Historical 
 Society, dated Providence, October 10, 1864, acknowledging the invitation 
 of the Committee. 
 
 43. From Cliarles J. Hoadley, Corresponding Secretary of the Connec- 
 ticut Historical Society, dated Ilartfoi'd, October 11, 1864, communicating 
 the acceptance of the invitation of the Committee, and the appointment of 
 the Hon. Henry C. Deming, and Messrs. Samuel II. Parsons and Erastus 
 Smith, as deleg.ates from that Society. 
 
 44. From John V. L. Pruyn, Chancellor of the University of the State of 
 New York, dated Albany, October, 11, 1864, acknowledging the invitation 
 of the Committee. 
 
 :).*# The Committfc desire to acknowledtfe their olili^ations to Messrs. Il.irper .ind Brotliers, 
 the Putdishers of Mr. Brodhe.id's History of New York, for the use of the M.ip prefixed to that 
 work, wliieh illustrates this publieation. Also to Messrs. Benjafnin K. "Wiiitlu-op and George 
 Folsoni, for the portrait of Stuy vesant : to Messrs. Georse Banrroft and Little. Brown Jc Co., for 
 that of Winthrop ; .nnd to Mr. David T. V.ilcntine, for that of Steenwyek. 
 

 
 
 
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