Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam. John S. C. Abbott

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СКАЧАТЬ decided to seek a new home upon the continent of North America. They first directed their attention towards Virginia, but various obstacles were thrown in their way by the British Government, and at length Mr. Robinson addressed a letter to the Dutch Company, intimating the disposition felt by certain members of his flock, to take up their residence at New Netherland.

      The proposition was very cordially received. The intelligent gentlemen of that Company at once saw that there was thus presented to them an opportunity to establish a colony, at their trading post, which it would be wise to embrace. They therefore addressed a memorial upon the subject to the States-General, and to the Prince of Orange, in which they urged the importance of accepting the proposition which they had received from Mr. Robinson, and of thus commencing an agricultural colony upon the island of Manhattan. In this memorial they write under date of February, 1620:

      "It now happens that there resides at Leyden an English

       clergyman, well versed in the Dutch language, who is

       favorably inclined to go and dwell there. Your petitioners

       are assured that he knows more than four hundred families,

       who, provided they were defended and secured there by your

       Royal Highness, and that of the High and Mighty Lords

       States-General, from all violence on the part of other

       potentates, would depart thither, with him, from this

       country and from England, to plant, forthwith, everywhere

       the true and pure Christian religion; to instruct the

       Indians of those countries in the true doctrine; to bring

       them to the Christian belief; and likewise, through the

       grace of the Lord, and for the greater honor of the rulers

       of this land to people all that region under a new

       dispensation; all under the order and command of your

       princely Highness and of the High and Mighty Lords

       States-General.

       "Your petitioners have also learned that His Britannic

       Majesty is inclined to people the aforesaid lands with

       Englishmen; to destroy your petitioners' possessions and

       discoveries, and also to deprive this State of its right to

       these lands, while the ships belonging to this country,

       which are there during the whole of the present year, will

       apparently and probably be surprised by the English."

      The petitioners therefore prayed that the request of Mr. Robinson might be favorably regarded; that the contemplated colony should be taken under the protection of the Dutch government, and that two ships of war should be sent out for the defence of the infant settlements.

      The Dutch government was then upon the eve of a war with Spain, and all its energies were demanded in preparation for the conflict. They therefore quite peremptorily refused to entertain the petition of the New Netherland Company. Thus the destination of the Puritans was changed. Though they were not encouraged to commence their colonial life at New Netherland, still it was their intention when they sailed from England, to find a home somewhere in that vicinity, as England, as well as Holland, claimed the whole coast. A note, in the History of New Netherland, by E.B. O'Callaghan, contains the following interesting statement upon this subject:

      "Some historians represent that the Pilgrims were taken

       against their will to New Plymouth, by the treachery of the

       captain of the Mayflower, who, they assert, was bribed by

       the Dutch to land them at a distance from the Hudson river.

       This has been shown, over and over again, to have been a

       calumny; and, if any farther evidence were requisite, it is

       now furnished, of a most conclusive nature, by the petition

       in behalf of the Rev. Mr. Robinson's congregation, of Feb.

       1620, and the rejection of its prayer by their High

       Mightinesses.

       "That the Dutch were anxious to secure the settlement of the

       Pilgrims under them, is freely admitted by the latter.

       Governor Bradford, in his History of the Plymouth Colony,

       acknowledges it, and adds that the Dutch for that end made

       them large offers.

       "Winslow corroborates this in his 'Brief Narrative,' and

       adds that the Dutch would have freely transported us to the

       Hudson river, and furnished every family with cattle. The

       whole of this evidence satisfactorily establishes the good

       will of the Dutch people towards the English; while the

       determination of the States-General proves that there was no

       encouragement held out by the Dutch government to induce

       them to settle in their American possessions. On the

       contrary, having formally rejected their petition, they

       thereby secured themselves against all suspicion of dealing

       unfairly by those who afterwards landed at Cape Cod. It is

       to be hoped, therefore, that even for the credit of the

       Pilgrims, the idle tale will not be repeated."

      There were many indications that a conflict would ere long arise between the Dutch and the English. The English repudiated entirely the Dutch claim to any right of possession on the Atlantic coast. They maintained their right to the whole American coast, from the Spanish possessions in Florida, to the French posts in Canada. The English government founded its claim upon the ground of first discovery, occupation and possession. Various companies, in England, had, by charters and letters patent from their sovereigns, been entrusted with these vast territories. It was quite evident that these conflicting claims between England and Holland must eventually lead to collision.

      The Dutch merchants continued to push their commercial enterprises in New Netherland with great energy. They were preparing to send quite a large fleet of merchant vessels to the extensive line of coast which they claimed, when the British merchants composing what was called the Plymouth Company, took the alarm, and presented a petition to James I., remonstrating against such proceedings. The British government promptly sent an ambassador to Holland to urge the States-General to prohibit the departure of the fleet, and to forbid the establishment of a Dutch colony in those regions. The diplomacy which ensued led to no decisive results.

      In the year 1623, the Dutch СКАЧАТЬ