Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam Part 18

In reply to this pet.i.tion, Scott with two others, was appointed a committee to prepare

"a statement of the English t.i.tle to those lands; with an account of the Dutch intrusion, their deportment since and management of that possession, their strength, trade and government there, and of the means to make them acknowledge and submit to his Majesty's government or by force to expulse them."

Armed with this authority, Scott came to America, where he was very cordially received by the authorities in New Haven. Connecticut invested him with the powers of a magistrate throughout the whole of Long Island, and Governor John Winthrop administered to him the oath of office. Scott entered vigorously upon his work of wresting western Long Island from the dominion of the Dutch, whom he denounced as "cruel and rapacious neighbors who were enslaving the English settlers."

He visited most of the villages, where large numbers of the English resided, but found that there was strong opposition to being annexed to Connecticut. Many of them, particularly the Baptists and the Quakers, were very unwilling to come under the rule of the Puritan government.

Consequently, six of the towns, Hempstead, Gravesend, Flushing, Middlebury, Jamaica and Oyster Bay, formed a combination to govern themselves independently of Connecticut, and empowered Scott to act as their President, until the king of England should establish a permanent government among them. Scott in his pride now unfurled an almost imperial banner. Placing himself at the head of one hundred and seventy armed men, horse and foot, he set out to compel the neighboring Dutch villages to renounce their allegiance to Holland and to subject themselves to his sway.

He first marched upon Brooklyn. Summoning the citizens, he told them that the soil they occupied belonged to the king of England, and that he now claimed it as his own, and that they were consequently absolved from all further allegiance to the Dutch government and were required to take the oath of submission to the new government, now about to be established over them.

Scott was accompanied by so powerful an armed force that the magistrates could not arrest him. One of them, however, Secretary Van Ruyven, invited him to cross the river to New Amsterdam and confer with the governor there. Scott replied, "Let Stuyvesant come here with a hundred men; I will wait for him and run my sword through his body."

There was no disposition manifested whatever, on the part of the people, to renounce the government of their fathers and accept of that of Scott in its stead. There was a little boy standing by, whose proud and defiant bearing arrested the attention of Scott. He was a son of the heroic Crygier, of whom we have before spoken. Scott ordered him to take off his hat and bow to the flag of England. The boy refused.

Scott struck him. A bystander scornfully said, "If you have blows to give, you should strike men, not boys."

Four of Scott's soldiers fiercely a.s.sailed the man, and though for a moment he defended himself with an axe, he was soon compelled to fly.

Scott demanded his surrender and threatened to lay the town in ashes unless he were given up. He was not surrendered, and Scott did not venture to execute his barbarous threat.

From Brooklyn Scott went to Flatbush. He there unfurled the flag of England in front of the house of the sheriff. Curiosity a.s.sembled a large concourse to witness what was transpiring. Scott addressed them at much length. "He jabbered away," writes a Dutch historian, "in English, like a mountebank."

"This land," said he,

"which you now occupy, belongs to his Majesty, king Charles.

He is the right and lawful lord of all America, from Virginia to Boston. Under his government you will enjoy more freedom than you ever before possessed.

"Hereafter you shall pay no more taxes to the Dutch government, neither shall you obey Peter Stuyvesant. He is no longer your governor, and you are not to acknowledge his authority. If you refuse to submit to the king of England, you know what to expect."

His harangue produced no effect. The Dutch remained unshaken in their loyalty. Some of the magistrates ventured to tell him that these were matters which he ought to settle with Governor Stuyvesant. He replied,

"Stuyvesant is governor no longer. I will soon go to New Amsterdam, with a hundred men, and proclaim the supremacy of his Majesty, king Charles, beneath the very walls of the fort."

The next day he went to Flatbush, where there was a renewal of the scenes which we have above described. Though the people could present no resistance, he found no voice to cheer him. The want of success exasperated Scott. He went to New Utrecht. There was a block fort there, armed with cannon, and over which floated the Dutch flag. He hauled down that banner and raised in its stead the flag of England.

Then, with Dutch cannon and Dutch powder, he fired a salute in honor of his victory. All pa.s.sers-by were ordered to uncover their heads and bow in submission to the English flag. Those who refused to do so were pursued by his soldiers and cruelly beaten.

Governor Stuyvesant, upon being informed of these transactions, immediately sent three of his princ.i.p.al men to Long Island, to seek some arrangement with Scott for the termination of such disorders.

They met him at Jamaica. After much discussion they entered into a partial agreement, which was to be submitted to the approval of Governor Stuyvesant. As the Dutch deputies took their leave, Scott said to them,

"This whole island belongs to the king of England. He has made a grant of it to his brother, the duke of York. He knows that it will yield him an annual revenue of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He is soon coming with an ample force, to take possession of his property. If it is not surrendered peaceably he is determined to take, not only the whole island, but also the whole province of New Netherland."

With these alarming tidings, the Dutch envoys returned to New Amsterdam. Disorders were now rapidly multiplying. Scott rallied around him all the most turbulent of the English population, and the Dutch towns were menaced with violence. The Dutch families in the English villages, were many of them compelled to abandon their houses, and repair to the Dutch villages for protection. Frequent collisions occurred. There was no longer any happiness or peace to be found in these dwellings agitated by the approaching tempests of revolution.

The inhabitants of New Amsterdam became greatly alarmed from fear that their rich and beautiful city would be attacked or plundered by the English. The burgomasters and princ.i.p.al men drew up a pet.i.tion to the authorities urging additional fortifications for the city and the enlistment of an increased armed force.

In this pet.i.tion they said,

"this capital is adorned with so many n.o.ble buildings, at the expense of so many good and faithful inhabitants, princ.i.p.ally Netherlanders, that it nearly excels any other place in North America. Were it duly fortified it would instil fear into any envious neighbors. It would protect both the East and the North rivers, the surrounding villages and farms, as well as full ten thousand inhabitants who would soon flock to this province, where thousands of acres of land remain wild and uncultivated. It would become the granary of fatherland. Yes, if permitted to abide in peace this land will become an emporium to fatherland by its growing plantations."

In accordance with this memorial, heavy taxes were imposed and large contributions subscribed to enlarge and strengthen the fortifications.

A militia of two hundred men was organized, and one hundred and sixty were enlisted as regular soldiers.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOSTILE MEASURES COMMENCED.

John Scott and his Movements.--Losses of the Dutch.--The First General a.s.sembly.--Action of the Home Government.--Peace with the Indians.--Arrest of John Scott.--Governor Winthrop's visit to Long Island.--Sailing of the Fleet.--Preparations for War.--The False Dispatches.--Arrival of the Fleet.--The Summons to Surrender.

Governor Stuyvesant, with much anxiety of mind, kept a vigilant eye upon the proceedings of John Scott, on Long Island. Some praised the governor for the forbearance he had exhibited under the provoking circ.u.mstances. Others severely blamed him for his course, which they p.r.o.nounced to be cowardly and disgraceful to the nation.

By the terms of the Convention, concluded between the Dutch delegates and John Scott, it was agreed that the English villages, on the western part of Long Island, should remain unmolested under English rule, for the s.p.a.ce of one year, until the king of England and the States-General of Holland should have time to settle the question in dispute. In the meantime the English were to have free access to all the Dutch towns on the island, and on the mainland, for purposes of trade; and the Dutch were to enjoy the same privilege in visiting the English towns.

These terms were to be presented to Governor Stuyvesant for his rejection or approval. Deciding to ratify them he took with him an escort of ten men, and proceeded to Hempstead, on the third day of March, 1664. Here he met the President, John Scott, with delegates from the English towns, and the agreement was ratified.

The Dutch had now lost, one after another, every portion of territory which the English had a.s.sailed. The whole valley of the Connecticut river had been surrendered to the English. Westchester was entirely in their possession. And now the important towns of Flushing, Jamaica, Hempstead and Gravesend were yielded up to them. The whole of Long Island was also peremptorily claimed by the English, with the declaration that if any resistance were made to their taking possession of it, they would seize the valley of the Hudson and the whole of New Netherland.

The conjuncture was gloomy indeed. Governor Stuyvesant was conscious that he was utterly powerless. He then decided it to be necessary to call to his aid popular representation. A General a.s.sembly of delegates from all the towns was convoked to take into consideration the state of the province. This important meeting was held in the City Hall of New Amsterdam, on the 10th of April, 1664. Twenty-four delegates were present from twelve towns.

Immediately there arose an unfriendly controversy between the governor and the a.s.sembly which was fatal to any harmonious or efficient action. The a.s.sembly refused to grant the governor the supplies, in money or in men, which he called for, and adjourned for a week. In the meantime Governor Stuyvesant had received dispatches from Holland. The West India Company had acted energetically upon the subject urged in his memorial. They had presented to the States-General a very earnest pet.i.tion.

In this memorial they laid before that August body, a detailed account of the aggressions committed by the English, and of the repulse with which the Dutch overtures for an amicable settlement had been met at Boston and Hartford.

"Out of respect," said they,

"to the alliance recently entered into with England, they had hitherto abstained from hostilities. But, as it now seemed absolutely necessary to repel aggression by force, they implored such military and pecuniary aid as the occasion required. They also urged that, in conformity with Governor Stuyvesant's request, an act should be pa.s.sed under the great seal, confirming their original charter; and that letters might be sent to the revolted towns on Long Island, requiring them, under the severest penalties, to return to their allegiance. In conclusion they asked that the whole of the aggressions of which they complained might be communicated to the king of England, with the request that he would order his English subjects to restore, on the instant, the places they had seized, and to abstain from all further innovations, pending the negotiations for a boundary line."

These requests were complied with by the States-General. They sent sixty soldiers to New Amsterdam, with orders to Governor Stuyvesant to resist any further encroachments of the English, and to reduce the revolted villages to allegiance. It was easy for the States-General to issue such an order, but it was not so easy for Governor Stuyvesant to execute it. The a.s.sembly was immediately called together again, and the doc.u.ments from Holland presented to them. After much deliberation it was decided to be impossible, with the force at the governor's command, to subdue the English villages. In those villages it was said that the Dutch were outnumbered six to one; and that upon the outbreak of hostilities, the flourishing settlements on the Connecticut would immediately send such a force to Long Island, as would enable them to overcome and take possession of all the other villages.

It will be remembered that the Esopus Indians had been completely humbled, and almost annihilated. The tribe living in the immediate vicinity of the village of Esopus, had been slaughtered or driven from their lands. The survivors had taken refuge with other neighboring tribes, who were more or less in sympathy with them. Thus while there was a cessation of actual war, hostility continued. No terms of peace had been agreed to, and there could be no friendly intercourse.

News reached Governor Stuyvesant that the Connecticut people, in their intrigues to get possession of New Netherland, were tampering with these river Indians, endeavoring to enter into a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive with them. It was consequently deemed desirable immediately to secure a general peace with these Indians.

The sachems of several tribes were invited to a.s.semble in the Council Chamber at fort Amsterdam. The governor with nine of his council, met them. It is worthy of special notice that, the preliminaries being settled, one of the Indian chiefs offered an earnest prayer. First he called several times, with a loud voice, upon the Great Spirit to hear him In his language Bachtamo was the name for G.o.d.

"Oh Bachtamo," he said,

"help us to make a good treaty with the Dutch. And may the treaty we are about to negotiate be like the stick I hold in my hand. Like this stick may it be firmly united, the one end to the other."

Then turning to the governor, he said, "We all desire peace. I have come with my brother sachems, in behalf of the Esopus Indians, to conclude a peace as firm and compact as my arms, which I now fold together."

Then presenting his hand to Governor Stuyvesant he added, "What I now say is from the fullness of my heart. Such is my desire, and that of all my people."