days of New Netherland were numbered.
The English claim, such as it was, to the territory occupied by the Dutch, it will be remembered, had never been given up; it was now determined to enforce that claim by something more cogent than words.[1] The Duke of York had bought up the claims of Lord Stirling, under grants which he had received from the extinct Council of New England; and in March, 1664, he had received from his brother, Charles II., a charter for a large and valuable tract between the Connecticut and the Delaware principally, and swallowing up entirely New Netherland. New York was the name bestowed upon this new province.
Prompt measures were adopted. Three ships, with six hundred soldiers, having on board Colonel Richard Nichols, Colonel George Cartwright, Sir Robert Carr, and Samuel Maverick as commissioners, were dispatched in August, 1664, to seize upon New Netherland for the Duke of York. Rumors of their design had indeed reached that city, but no effectual defence had been, or indeed could be, attempted by the Dutch. Stuyvesant endeavored to awaken the spirit of the inhabitants to a gallant defence, by recalling to them the recent heroic struggle of the fatherland against the Spaniards, but he met but with a feeble response. Determined at least to put a bold front upon the matter, he sent, in concert with the deputies, to request of the English commanded the reason of his hostile appearance. Nichols replied by asserting the claims of England, and demanding an immediate surrender of New Amsterdam on condition that the lives, liberties, and property of the inhabitants should be respected. Stuyvesant retorted by a spirited protest, detailing the manner in which the Dutch had obtained a lawful possession of the country, affecting to doubt whether, "if his Majesty of Great Britain were well informed of such passages, he would not be too judicious to grant such an order" as that by which he was summoned, especially in a time of profound peace; and reminding the commissioners, that it was "a very considerable thing to affront so mighty a state as Holland, although it were not against an ally and confederate." Neither argument nor threats produced, however, any effect upon the English commander, who refused to protract the negotiation, and threatened an immediate attack upon the city. Mortifying as it was to an old soldier to surrender without a struggle, Stuyvesant was compelled to submit to circumstances; the majority of the inhabitants were unwilling to run the risk of an assault to which they could not hope to offer any effectual opposition, in defence of a government with which they were discontented, and against another which many among them were secretly disposed to welcome. A liberal capitulation was arranged; the rights and privileges of the inhabitants were guaranteed; and New Amsterdam quietly passed into
- ↑ Chalmers, who writes with strong English feeling and prejudices, goes so far as to state that the settlement of New Netherland was in violation of the law of nations! See his "Introduction to the Revolt of the American Colonies," vol. i., p. 116.
