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1628.

value of which exceeded sixty-one thousand guilders.* CHAP. VI. Strengthened by the addition of the settlers who had formerly resided near Fort Orange, and by the garrison of the deserted Fort Nassau, on the South River, the colony at Manhattan now numbered two hundred and seventy souls, Population including men, women, and children. Fearless of the In- tan. dians, with whom they now lived in happy peace, these families all continued to reside outside the walls of Fort Fort AmAmsterdam, which was now completed, with four bastions, completed. and a facing of stone.

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of Manhat

sterdam

Fort Or

At Fort Orange there were now no families;" they Affairs at had all been brought down to Manhattan. That post it- ange. self was occupied by only twenty-five or twenty-six traders, under the vice-director, Sebastian Jansen Krol, who had succeeded to the command two years before, when Barentsen returned to Holland. In the spring of 1628, hostilities broke out between the Mahicans, near Fort Orange, and the Mohawks; but the latter killed and cap- The Motured most of the Mahicans, and expelled the remnant, drive the who settled themselves toward the north, near the "Fresh," off to the or Connecticut River, where they began to cultivate the the Conground; " and thus there was now an end of war in that region."

66

hawks

Mahicans

valley of

necticut.

the South

By order of the West India Company, "all those who were at the South River," at Verhulsten Island, and Fort Nassau, were likewise removed to Manhattan. A small Trade on vessel only was retained there, to keep up the fur trade. River. That trade, however, was less profitable than the traffic on the North River. The factors found that the inland savages, who came down to tide-water, would not barter the "lion skins with which they were clothed," because they were much warmer than other furs."

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The colonists at Manhattan subsisted chiefly by their farming, the deficiency in their crops being made up by supplies from the West India Company. Their winter Prosperity corn had turned out very well; while the summer grain, nists at being prematurely ripened by the excessive heats, was

* Wassenaar, xvi., 13; De Laet, App., 29.

of the colo

Manhattan.

CHAP. VI. very meagre.

But the cattle and beasts, which had been

sent from Holland three years before, had thriven; and ev1628. ery thing wore an air of progress and improvement.* Naval suc- While the ships which brought these flattering accounts the Dutch. from Manhattan were yet at sea, an event occurred which

cesses of

20 May.

5 Sept.

materially influenced the fortunes of the growing colony. The renewal of hostilities with Spain had enabled the Dutch to gain the most brilliant successes at sea, and bring ruin and dishonor upon their enemy. Swift ministers of retributive justice, the fleets of the West India Company swept the ocean, and wrested from the Spaniard the rich spoil he had wrung from the unoffending princes of Mexico and Peru. In 1627, Peter Petersen Heyn, a native of Delft-Haven, who, by reason of his courage and abilities, had been raised from a low station to the rank of admiral, distinguished himself in the conquest of Saint Salvador, and the destruction of twenty-six ships of the enemy. Heyn now received orders to intercept and capture the Spanish "Silver Fleet," on its annual return from the West Indies. Sailing to Cuba, he fell in with ten of their galleons off Havanna, and captured them in a few hours. The next day the remainder of the fleet was perceived about three leagues off. Chase was made at once; but the Spaniards, carrying a press of sail, took refuge in the Bay of Matanzas, where nearly Heyn cap- all ran aground. Heyn instantly following them in, took nine more prizes; and brought all the captured vessels, except two, safely to Holland. The booty was immense. Including nearly one hundred and forty thousand pounds of pure silver, it was valued at twelve millions of guilders.† The enthusiasm of the people was unbounded on Heyn's triumphant return. He was introduced into the Assembly of the States General, and received the public thanks of the nation. As modest as he was brave, he asked for nothing of the enormous treasure he had won. Soon afterward, the vacant office of Lieutenant Admiral was forced

tures the

Spanish

Silver
Fleet.

December.

* Wassenaar, xvi., 13; Doc. Hist. N. Y., iii., 47, 4 48.

+ De Laet, 147; Aitzema, i., 720.

1629.

upon him in spite of his humble protestations that it CHAP. VI. was too high a dignity for one of his mean birth and unpolished manners.* The next year, Heyn dying glo- 17 June. riously on the deck of his ship, which he had boldly laid between two Dunkirk pirates, his body was interred in princely state, near that of William of Orange, in the old mausolean church at Delft, where his grateful government erected a magnificent marble monument to his memory.†

effect upon

India Com

Successful war thus poured infatuating wealth into the treasury of the West India Company. In one year they divided fifty per cent. In two years they had captured one hundred and four prizes. What Barneveldt had feared soon came to pass. To the lust of lucre was now added the pride of conquest. The nation shared the glory, while the company secured the spoil of the war. Infatuating It is not surprising, therefore, that when the negotiation, the West which the King of Spain opened, in 1629, to renew the late pany. truce, became public, it should have met with general and determined opposition. The West India Company, covetous of gain, presented a strong remonstrance to the States 23 October. General against the proposition, and warmly urged the advantages of a longer war; the clergy, suspicious of Philip's sincerity, opposed the truce, as detrimental both to Church and State; and a large majority of the people themselves, encouraged by the late naval successes, were disposed to continue a contest, now become not only glorious, but profitable. The opposition to the proposed treaty became so universal and so strong, that the negotiations were necessarily abandoned. The West India Company, continuing "a prince-like, instead of a merchant-like war," soon added Brazil to their possessions; and the maritime 1630. superiority of Holland no longer remained a problem.§

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* Aitzema, i., 720.

The States General, on the occasion of Heyn's death, sent a message of condolence to his mother, an honest peasant, who, notwithstanding her son's elevation, had been content to remain in her original station. When she received the message, she replied, "Ay, I thought what would be the end of him. He was always a vagabond--but I did my best to correct him. He has got no more than he deserved."-Céresier, Tableau des Prov. Unies, vi., 40; Davies, ii., 571-573, 657.

Wagenaar, Vad. Hist., ix., 70; Moulton, 368.

Hol. Doc., i., 161, 167; De Witt; Aitzema, i., 900, 996.

1629.

Cost of

erland.

CHAP. VI. Yet the preservation of the Dutch territories in America was enormously expensive; and thus far, the colonists who were settled in New Netherland, had been "not a New Neth-profit, but a loss to the company." The peltry trade, however, continued to be "right advantageous;" but it could "at the utmost return, one year with another, only fifty thousand guilders."* Duly appreciating the importance of the island of Manhattan as a permanent commercial emporium, the company had purchased it for their own private property, and had concentrated in its neighborhood nearly the whole European population of the province. To a contemporary English observer, the Dutch colony appeared "to subsist in a comfortable manner, and to promise fairly both to the state and undertakers." The cause of its prosperity was evident. The emigrants under the West India Company, "though they be not many, are well chosen, and known to be useful and serviceable; and they second them with seasonable and fit supplies, cherishing them as carefully as their own families." The trading post at Fort Orange was garrisoned by military factors alone. On the South River, a single vessel, with a small crew, sufficed to keep up the trade and possession of the Dutch. Still, notwithstanding their apparent prosperity, the families clustered round Fort Amsterdam hardly supported themselves; and the annual returns from New Netherland did not satisfy the directors of a victorious. company, flushed with the easy spoil of Spanish fleets. Plans for This state of things they desired to improve; and plans for the systematic and extended colonization of the whole province were earnestly considered.

its coloni

zation.

De Rasieres, who had fallen into disgrace with Minuit, had now returned to Holland. Though deprived of "his things and notes," he still was able, from recollection, to draw up a statement of affairs in New Netherland, for his patron, Samuel Blommaert, one of the leading directors of

* Hol. Doc., i., 165; Lambrechtsen, 34, 35.

† "The Planter's Plea," London, 1630. This interesting pamphlet, the authorship of which is ascribed to the Rev. John White, of Dorchester, England, was printed soon after the sailing of Winthrop's fleet, 8th of June, 1630-Young, Chron. Mass., 16.

1629.

The com

lonial poli

the Amsterdam Chamber. After much deliberation, it CHAP. VI. was determined that the manifold resources of its large territory could be best developed by the establishment of distinct and independent Colonies, at various points on the pany's coNorth and South Rivers. These colonies were to be, in cy changed. some respects, analogous to the lordships and seigneuries of Europe, yet all in general subordination to the West India Company; and it was thought that their success could be better secured by private enterprise, than by the company itself, whose attention was now almost entirely engrossed by the affairs of the Spanish war. The fostering of its own colony on the island of Manhattan, and the advancement of the fur trade, of which it proposed to retain the monopoly, were quite sufficient to occupy all the time. and capital which the Amsterdam Chamber could at present devote to the subject.

privileges

proposed.

28 March.

With the view of inducing private capitalists to engage Charter of in the proposed plan, the College of XIX. accordingly pre- for patroons pared the draft of a charter conferring certain special privileges upon such members of the company as should, at their own expense and risk, plant colonies in any part of New Netherland, excepting the island of Manhattan. More 1628. than a year was spent in considering the details; and in the summer of 1629, the plan, as revised and amended, in 1629. thirty-one articles, was finally adopted by the College of Adopted. XIX., and was approved and confirmed by the States General. In the following autumn, their High Mightinesses established several articles for the government of the Dutch 13 October. transatlantic possessions, and published a decree, authorizing the different Chambers of the West India Company

7 June.

ries.

to appoint a council of nine persons, to whom the general commissadirection of colonial affairs should be assigned.*

Progress of

While the West India Company was thus maturing its selfish commercial scheme for the introduction of the feudal system into its American province, English emigrants colonizawere gradually occupying the territory on the north and England.

* Hol. Doc., ii., 95-99; Groot Placaatbook, ii., 1235; Notules of S. G., 1629, 683; Lambrechtsen, 29; Moulton, 387, 399; O'Call., i., 112; D. D. Barnard's Sketch, 105; De Vries, .162.

tion in New

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