1614. Provisions Netherland charter. The special charter thus granted by the States General CHAP. II. licensed the memorialists "exclusively, to visit and navigate to the aforesaid newly-discovered lands lying in America, between New France and Virginia, the sea-coasts where- of the New of extend from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of latitude, now named NEW NETHERLAND (as is to be seen on the Figurative Map prepared by them), for four voyages within the period of three years, commencing on the first day of January, 1615, next ensuing, or sooner;" and it expressly interdicted all other persons, directly or indirectly, from sailing out of the United Provinces to those newlydiscovered regions, and from frequenting the same within the three years reserved, under pain of confiscation of vessels and cargoes, and a fine of fifty thousand Netherland ducats to the benefit of the grantees of the charter.* the States granting ter. At the time the Dutch government perfected the New Views of Netherland charter, the discovery and possession of Canada General in and Acadia by the French was notorious; and the patent the charwhich James I. had granted to the London and Plymouth Companies had likewise, for eight years, been known to the world. British colonists had already partially occupied Virginia, the title of England to which the Dutch never questioned. The States General themselves had officially recognized it, in permitting Gates and Dale to leave their service to go thither, and in making overtures to join with England in that colony. Upon the Figurative Map of New Netherland, referred to in the charter of 1614, New France was represented as extending northward of the forty-fifth degree, and Virginia southward of the fortieth degree. The Dutch discoveries were defined * The charter sets forth the names of the grantees, and of their vessels and captains, as follows: "Gerrit Jacobsen Witsen, former burgomaster of the city of Amsterdam; Jonas Witsen, and Simon Monisen, owners of the ship the 'Little Fox,' Captain Jan de Witt; Hans Hongers, Paulus Pelgrom, and Lambrecht van Tweenhuysen, owners of the two ships named the 'Tiger' and the Fortune,' whose captains are Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christiaensen; Arnoudt van Lybergen, Wessel Schenck, Hans Claessen, and Barent Sweetsen, owners of the ship named the 'Nightingale,' whose captain is Thys Volckertsen, merchants of the aforesaid city of Amsterdam; and Pieter Clementsen Brouwer, Jan Clementsen Kies, and Cornelis Volckertsen, merchants of the city of Hoorn, owners of the ship named the 'Fortune,' whose captain is Cornelis Jacobsen May."-Hol. Doc., i., 47. See also Address before N. Y. Historical Society, 1844, Appendix, p. 53; and O'Callaghan's New Netherland, i., 75. 1614. CHAP. II. in that charter, as lying between New France and Virginia, and the sea-coasts of New Netherland were declared to extend from the fortieth to the forty-fifth degree of latitude. This intermediate region, which Block and his comrades had described as inhabited only by aboriginal savage tribes, was yet unoccupied by any Christian prince or state." The Plymouth Company, by the patent of 1606, were merely authorized to begin a colony at any convenient place between the thirty-eighth and fortyfifth degrees of latitude; were promised all the land extending along the sea-coast, fifty miles on each side of "the first seat of their plantation," and one hundred miles into the interior; and were assured that they should not be molested by any British subjects. After the return of their dispirited colonists from the Sagadahoc, in 1608, that company had seemed to relinquish any further attempts to settle emigrants within the limits assigned to them by the patent; under which, in fact, no subsequent English colonization ever took place. Though British fishing vessels continued to resort to that neighborhood, the country New En- itself was esteemed as "a cold, barren, mountainous, rocky teemed a desart," and was declared to be "not habitable" by Englishmen.* In the same summer that Block was exploring Long Island Sound and the regions to the north and east, Smith was visiting the bays and coasts of Maine and Massachusetts; and the Crown Prince of Great Britain was confirming the name of "New England," which Smith had given to the territories north of Cape Cod, about the very time that the States General were passing their first charter of trading privileges to the "Directors of New Netherland." But New England, though it had a nominal existence, was yet uncolonized in any part. Its recent name had not even reached the ears of the Dutch statesmen at the Hague. They might justly have conNew Neth-sidered the territory which they now formally named "New Netherland" as a "vacuum domicilium," fairly um" open open to Dutch enterprise and occupation. In granting gland es "desart." erland a vacuum domicili to the Dutch. * Hazard, i., 50-58; Smith, Gen. Hist., ii., 174; Mass. Hist. Coll., xxvi., 56. 1614. the charter of 1614, the States General certainly exer- CHAP. II. cised a distinct act of sovereignty over that territory by giving it the name of New Netherland. But while they specifically defined the boundaries of their grant as including the regions "between New France and Virginia,' they only assured to the associated merchants, whose enterprise had been rewarded by important discoveries, a monopoly of the trade of that country against the competition of other Dutch subjects, without for the present asserting the right to exclude the rest of the world. to the Arc After the procurement of the New Netherland charter, Block's connection with American discovery ceased. Van Tweenhuysen, who had been one of the joint owners of "the Tiger," was anxious to secure the services of his enterprising captain for the newly-organized "Northern Company," and offered him the command of some vessels to be employed in the whale-fishery near Spitzbergen. Block accepted his patron's proposition, and sailed for the Arctic Block sails Ocean early in 1615.* He does not appear to have ever tic Ocean. revisited the scenes of his successful adventures on the coasts of America. Of all the early followers of Hudson in the exploration of New Netherland, the honored names of only two are now commemorated by Block Island and Cape May; yet the annalist of commercial New York will ever gratefully record the "Restless" as the pioneer vessel launched by white men upon her waters, and as her first ship-builder, Adriaen Block. * Wassenaar, viii., 95. E CHAP. III. 1615. Company. CHAPTER III. 1615-1620. THE Holland merchants, who had obtained from the States General the exclusive right of trading for three The New years to New Netherland, though united together in one Netherland company to secure the grant of their charter, were not strictly a corporation, but rather "participants" in a specific, limited, and temporary monopoly, which they were to enjoy in common. No Dutch vessels might visit the coasts of America, between Barnegat and Nova Scotia, except those belonging to the grantees of the charter, who resided at Amsterdam and Hoorn, in North Holland. But these grantees were intrusted with no political powers for the government of New Netherland. The objects they had chiefly in view were traffic and discovery; and to promote these objects the States General had sealed their charter. Agricultural colonization was not their present purpose; and their few men in garrison at Castle Island were rather armed traders, holding formal possession of an unoccupied territory, than ernigrants to subdue a wilder Murder of sen. ness. Not long after Christiaensen had completed Fort NasChristiaen- sau, the first murder recorded after Hudson's voyage occurred in New Netherland. The two young savages, Orson and Valentine, who had been carried to Holland, were soon afterward safely restored to their native country. They were described as "very stupid, yet adepts enough in knavery." Of the two, Orson seems to have been the most mischievous: "an exceedingly malignant wretch, who was the cause of Hendrick Christiaensen's death," is Wassenaar's quaint record. No motive is assigned for the CHAP. III. murder, which, however, the Hollanders speedily avenged; and the treacherous Orson "was repaid with a bullet as his reward."* 1615. prosecutes trade. Meanwhile, Jacob Eelkens continued actively employed Eelkens in prosecuting a quiet traffic with the Mohawk and Mahi- the Incan can Indians about Castle Island, and in collecting valuable cargoes of furs, which, from time to time, were sent in shallops down the river to Manhattan, for shipment to Holland. Scouting parties were, at the same time, constantly engaged in exploring all the neighboring country, and in becoming better acquainted with the savage tribes which surrounded them; with all of whom it was the constant policy of the Dutch to cultivate the most friendly relations. on Lakes and Onon While the sober spirit of commercial Holland was thus The French quietly searching out new avenues for trade along the Ontario coasts of Long Island Sound, and on the borders of the daga. Mauritius River, the more impetuous spirit of chivalrous France was intrepidly exploring the waters of Lake Ontario, and invading the territories of the "Konoshioni,” or Iroquois,† near the valley of Onondaga. After discovering the lovely inland waters which perpetuate his name, Champlain thrice revisited France; and having engaged some wealthy merchants of Saint Malo, Rouen, and Rochelle, 1614. to form an association for the colonization of Canada, he obtained, through the influence of the viceroy, Prince de Condé, a ratification of the contract by the king. Setting sail from Honfleur early in the spring of 1615, he soon 1615. reached Tadoussac, accompanied by four Recollet missionaries, who were the first ministers of Christianity settled in Canada.‡ On his arrival at Montreal, Champlain found * Wassenaar, viii., 85; ix., 44; Doc. Hist., N. Y., iii., 38, 41. + The Five Confederated Nations of New York Indians. "Le nom d'IROQUOIS est purement François, et a été formé du terme Hiro, ou Hero, que signifie j'ai dit; et par lequel ces sauvages finissent tous leurs discours, comme les Latins faisoient autrefois, par leur dixi; et de Koué, qui est un cri, tantôt de tristesse, lorsqu'on le prononce en traînant, et tantôt de joie, lorsqu'on le prononce plus court. Leur nom propre est Agonnonsionni, qui veut dire Faiseurs de Cabannes.”—Charlevoix, i., p. 271. According to Clinton and Schoolcraft, their name was Kenunctioni, or Konoshioni. + Champlain, 181-240. Jesuit missionaries, as we have seen (ante, p. 52), were set 25 May. |