thousand. A few houses were clustered about Fort Orange, or Beaverswýk, as the present town of Albany was then called. The island of Manhattan was still mostly forest land, many of the cleared plantations having been abandoned during the prevalence of the Indian war, and only some five or six of them, on the arrival of Stuyvesant, continued to be successfully worked. New Amsterdam, the seat of government, was nothing but a mere village of huts, roughly constructed, protected by palisades, and by the fort of the same name, itself hardly in a defensible condition.

One of the first duties which devolved upon Governor Stuyvesant was the arrangement of the long-pending territorial dispute with New England. This, however, was found to be a difficulty by no means easy to be settled harmoniously. The Puritan colonies were already powerful, both in numbers and unity of action; and they were but little disposed to regard the protests of a weaker neighbour, whose title to any territory at all they had always questioned. To war, the Dutch West India Company were decidedly averse, both from the expense attendant upon its prosecution, and from the consciousness that a successful prosecution of it was altogether hopeless.

Finding that negotiation from a distance made but slow progress, Stuyvesant bent his pride to the occasion, and visited Hartford in person. At

1651.]

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this place, on the 11th of November, 1650, Łe succeeded in concluding a provisional treaty, by which the New England commissioners consented to the partition of Long Island between themselves and the Dutch, the boundary between the two colonies being settled to begin in the vicinity of Greenwich on the main, and to extend to Oyster Bay. The treaty received the consent of the Dutch West India Company, and was accepted by the States General; but it failed of being ratified in England.

When the war broke out between England and Holland in 1651, it was at first supposed that it would involve the English and Dutch colonies in a similar struggle; but Massachusetts restrained the ardour of the western settlements, who were anxious for the reduction of New Amsterdam, and urged it upon the colonies, as the safest and most prudent policy, "to forbear the use of the sword, but to be in a posture of defence."

Deeply apprehensive of such an attack, the Dutch West India Company had authorized Governor Stuyvesant to purchase the aid of the Narragansetts; but the latter firmly refused to render any assistance. When pressed by the offers of the Dutch, Mixam, one of the chiefs, nobly replied: "I am poor, but no presents of goods, or of guns, or of powder and shot, shall draw me into a conspiracy against my friends the English."

Fortunately, the peace of 1653 put an end to all apprehension of an invasion from New England, and also effectually prevented the sailing of an expedition against New Amsterdam, which had been authorized by Cromwell.

In addition to his difficulties with the New England colonies in relation to boundaries, and the subsequent danger of hostilities, Stuyvesant became uneasy at the growth of the Swedish settlements on the Delaware. At first, harassed by the prospect of a more imposing peril, and acting in obedience to the pacific policy of his superiors, he restricted himself merely to protecting the Dutch commerce in that quarter, by building Fort Cassimer, near the mouth of the Brandywine.

As Fort Christiana was not more than five miles distant, the proximity of the rival garrisons speedily led to annoyances and contentions. These petty quarrels were kept up until 1654, when Risingh, the Swedish governor, drove out the Dutch troops, and took possession of their fort. The news of this high-handed measure was no sooner made known to the West India Company, than Stuyvesant was ordered to drive the Swedes from the river, or compel their submission. Such great preparations were accordingly made for this undertaking, that it was not until September, 1655, that the expedition was completely organized. Sailing from New Amsterdam

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with a force of six hundred men, Stuyvesant entered the Delaware, and reduced fort after fort, without meeting with any resistance. Risingh capitulated on honourable terms, and the whole Swedish colony, amounting to seven hundred persons, acknowledged the jurisdiction of the States General, and were confirmed in the possession of their lands and personal property.

From this period the province of New Netherland steadily advanced in numbers and prosperity. The Dutch themselves began to appreciate its value; and immigration to the banks of the Hudson was encouraged by wise and liberal regulations.

The religious tolerance extended to all comers influenced persons from all parts of Europe to take up their residence in the favoured land. Bohemia, Germany, England, France, Switzerland, and Italy aided to increase the population of New Netherland; and the little village of thatched huts on the island of Manhattan speedily exchanged its rude and primitive dwellings for structures of a more imposing character. Fugitives from persecution in other lands found welcome and a home at New Amsterdam. Mechanics, "farmers and labourers, foreigners and exiles, men inured to toil and penury," were invited to assist in building up the colony, by the offer of a free passage from the old world to the new; and the directors of the company had soon

the satisfaction of perceiving that their liberal policy was productive of the most beneficial results.

The province of New Netherland, previously retarded in its growth by restrictions and monopolies, now began to assume an importance which justified the most sanguine predictions of its future greatness. Agriculture flourished, timber was exported, mechanical labourers were in steady demand, and peace and plenty rewarded the toils of all.

Among other commercial enterprises in which the West India Company were engaged at this period, was a traffic in slaves. A portion of these soon found a market at New Amsterdam. Others continued the property of the company, and these latter, after a certain period of service, were settled upon small farms, upon the condition of paying annually a stipulated amount of produce.

But in the midst of all this tolerance of opinion, the people of New Netherland were far from enjoying the same political privileges which were exercised by the neighbouring English colonies. In this respect, the directors of the company still continued arbitrary and unwise. The delegates elected to advise with the governor during the dangerous period of the Indian war had been tolerated no longer than their services were actually necessary; and although several attempts