frequent, and when found unequal to the effort, were killed at once by blows on the head.

The colonists were doubly perplexed and dismayed by these disasters. Imbued with a belief, beyond what the usual course of Providence justifies, that every calamity was a judgment for some great iniquity, they anxiously sought why" the Lord no longer went forth with their armies." Mather quotes a letter from a leading man in the camp, imputing it to the luxury which wealth had produced among the citizens of Boston-" their intolerable pride in clothes and hair," and the multiplication of taverns. The neglect of religion and of its ministers was of course blamed; unfortunately, too, the increase of schism and even the slender toleration which had begun to be granted. Days of fasting were appointed; but they were astounded when one of the most solemn was followed by the catastrophe of Lothrop, from which they drew the salutary inference that "praying without reforming would not do." These views did not prevent them from using regular means of warfare, of which the attack of the fortified villages was found the most effective. In the midst of winter, one thousand men marched against the mainhold of the Narragansets. They rushed to the onset; and after a dreadful conflict it was carried, and reduced to ashes-the Indians perishing in vast numbers. But the colonists, appalled by their own loss of three hundred killed and wounded, including their six bravest leaders, retreated in great confusion: the enemy, however, were overwhelmed by their disaster, which they never fully recovered. In spring, indeed, they resumed their wonted warfare, but with diminished means and spirit; and in May, another of their principal settlements was destroyed. Driven from their cultivated spots, and finding shelter only in woods and marshes, they suffered increasing hardships and privations. Discontent and disunion were the consequence; several of the tribes began to make their submission, when pardon was granted. Two hundred laid down their arms at Plymouth; and Sagamore John came in with one hundred and eighty, bringing also Matoonas, accused as the author of this dreadful war. In the course of it had been formed skilful officers, particularly Captain Church, who displayed singular talents in this desultory contest. In August he came up with Philip himself, who was completely routed, and fled almost alone. Hunted from place to place, he was traced to the centre of a morass, where he was betrayed and shot by one of his own people. The spirit of the Indians then entirely sunk; and all who survived either emigrated to a distance, or submitted without reserve to the English power.

XI. Notwithstanding the paramount importance to which New York has attained, its early settlement was not accompanied by such striking circumstances as marked those of some other colonies.

About the year 1600, the attention of the English and Dutch had been directed to the discovery of a northern passage to India, which they hoped might at once be shorter, and enable them to escape the still formidable hostility of Spain. After this object had been vainly pursued by Frobisher, Davis, Barentz, and other navigators, it was resumed by Henry Hudson. Though a native of Holland, he was first employed by a company of English merchants, when he made the daring effort to cross the pole itself, and penetrated farther in that direction than any of his predecessors; but the icy barriers compelled him to return. He next attempted an eastern passage, between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, but again failed. His patrons in London then lost courage; but he, animated by the same ardor, solicited and obtained from the Dutch East India Company a small vessel named the Crescent, to renew his researches. After another abortive endeavor at an eastern passage, he appears to have finally renounced that object: and steering toward the west, began to explore the American coast, from Newfoundland southward. It had, indeed, been to a great extent both discovered

and settled, yet not in such continuity as to preclude the hope of finding a deep bay leading to the Pacific, and through it to the East Indies. In the beginning of July, he reached the Great bank, and continued his course cautiously along the shores of Acadia. In forty-four degrees he touched at the mouth of a spacious river, which appears to have been the Penobscot, where the French were found carrying on a very active trade. In passing Cape Cod, his people landed at several points, and held intercourse with the natives. They then pursued their course through the open sea, till, on the 17th of August, they came in sight of a low land, and soon afterward found themselves off the bar of James river, where they understood that the English had formed a settlement. No opening having yet occurred, it seemed expedient to return northward, keeping closer to the coast. They found it running northwest, and entered a great bay with rivers evidently that of Delaware. The water was so shoally, however, as to prevent its exploration, unless in pinnaces drawing only four or five feet. They proceeded therefore to the coast now called New Jersey, and were involved in the range of islands running parallel to it. The navigation was very difficult on account of storms and frequent shallows. At length Hudson came to a continuous land, good and pleasant, rising boldly from the sea, and bounded by high hills. He appeared to discover the mouths of three great rivers, which, however, could only be different channels, separated by islands, of the great stream now bearing his name. Boats were sent to sound the most northern of them, which was found to afford a good depth of water. They entered it, and were soon visited by large parties of natives in canoes, when a friendly exchange took place, of tobacco and maize for knives and beads. Unfortunately, a boat being sent to examine one of the other channels, was assailed by twenty of the savages in two skiffs, one of the seamen killed, and two wounded. This unhappy event poisoned the future intercourse with the Indians, whose friendly professions were henceforth considered as made only with a view to betray them. At one place, twenty-eight canoes, full of men, women, and children, approached and made overtures for trade; but their intentions being considered evil, they were not allowed to come on board. In ascending, the Hudson was found to be a noble stream, a mile broad, and bordered by lofty mountains. Seventeen days after entering it, the vessel, being embarrassed by shoals, stopped at a point where a small city has since been built, bearing the name of the discoverer. A boat sailed eight or nine leagues higher, somewhat above the site of Albany, where it was clear that the ship could not proceed farther. In this upper tract, the intercourse with the natives was very friendly, and even the suspicions of the crew were lulled. One party came on board, who, being freely treated with wine and aquavitæ, became all merry, and one completely tipsy, the effects of which caused to his companions the greatest surprise. On the way down, they were repeatedly attacked by the large body which in ascending had excited their jealousy. On each occasion, a discharge of musketry, killing two or three, caused all the rest to take flight. On leaving the river, Hudson made directly for Europe, and arrived at Dartmouth on the 7th November, 1609.

He transmitted to the Dutch company a flattering report of the country which he had discovered, strongly recommending a settlement. It has even been said, that he sold his rights to them, which seems quite erroneous, as in fact he could not be said to possess any. He was not even allowed to follow up this important discovery, but was obliged again to seek employment from the English merchants. By them, in 1610, he was sent out on that remarkable voyage, during which he explored the great bay to which his name is attached, but unhappily fell a sacrifice to the mutiny of a turbulent crew.

The Dutch, however, in virtue of this discovery, claimed the country, and in 1610, a few individuals fitted out a vessel for traffic. Several stations were

tormed on the island of Manhattan (the name then given to New York), but no attempt was made to colonize. In 1613, they were visited by Argall, the adventurous English captain, who compelled them to own the dominion of his country; but as no steps were taken to follow up this advantage, they continued as before to trade with the natives, and consider the land their own. In 1614, a grant of exclusive commerce was made to a company of merchants, who thereupon erected a rude fort, and pushed their operations as high as Albany. They appear at the same time to have formed a station at the mouth of the Connecti

cut.

In 1620, an American settlement was attempted on a grander scale, by the formation of the Dutch West India Company, incorporated for twenty-four years. Their privileges included the whole western coast of Africa, as far as the Cape, with all the eastern shores of America, from Newfoundland to the Straits of Magellan. Over this vast extent they had the exclusive right to conclude treaties, carry on war, and exercise all the functions of government. No notice was taken in the grant, that the whole of this territory was claimed, and many parts occupied, by other European nations; nor did the government, in making this vast donation of what was not their own, promise the means of placing it in the company's hands. Their possessions, accordingly, were fiercely disputed, and most precariously held. The weakness of the Portuguese crown enabled them to grasp large portions of its territory in Brazil and on the African coast. North America, they did not venture to measure their strength with the English but were content silently to enlarge their stations on the Hudson, which the latter showed no disposition to occupy. The country was called New Netherlands; and an increasing cluster of cottages, where New York now stands, was named New Amsterdam.

In

As yet there was nothing that could be denominated a colony; but in 1629, government interposed to establish one on a considerable scale. It was planned on quite an aristocratic basis; for though lands were granted to detached settlers, the chief dependance was on opulent individuals, who were expected to carry out bodies of tenants at their own expense; and those who should transport fifty became lords of manors, holding the absolute property of the lands thus colonized. They might even possess tracts sixteen miles long, and be furnished with negroes, if they could profitably do so. Several of them began to found these manors; two, Godyn and De Vries, led out thirty settlers to the head of the Delaware, laying the first foundation of that state; but the latter having vis ited home, found on his return that it had been attacked by the Indians, and totally destroyed. The whole colony was unprosperous, and very hard pressed on different sides. The New England settlement in Connecticut soon surrounded their little station, obliged them to give way, and even to abandon part of Long Island. At the same time, the Swedes, then in the height of their power, under Gustavus Adolphus, planned a settlement, which was zealously supported by that great monarch, who subscribed 400,000 dollars in its favor. They fixed on the bay of Delaware; and though Kieft, the governor sent from Holland, entered a protest, he did not venture to employ force against the conqueror of Lutzen. Moreover, Lord Baltimore, having just obtained his patent extending northward to the latitude of forty degrees, intimated his claim to nearly the whole of the Dutch territory. All these annoyances, however, were small com pared to the Indian war, in which the atrocious violence of Kieft involved the colony. Attacking by surprise a party who had shown some hostile dispositions, he commenced a general massacre, in which nearly a hundred perished. Hence raged during two years a contest, accompanied by the usual horrors and calamities, and which effectually checked the progress of New Netherlands. At length a treaty was negotiated, in which the five nations were included.