plant colonies in New Netherland," provided, that every person who should plant a "colonie" or manor of fifty souls, should be acknowledged as a Patroon. It gave to each Patroon the absolute title, in perpetuity, of the lands within the limits of his manor, which might extend four Dutch (equal to sixteen English) miles along the shore, on one side, or half that distance, on each side, of a river, and so far into the country as the situation of the different occupiers might permit. The Patroons were invested with the power of holding courts of justice, and with certain other Baronial immunities and rights; and, on founding a city, they were authorized to establish officers for its government. Besides having no title to the soil, the tenants were not to leave their "colonie" except when authorized by consent in writing; and the Company engaged to apprehend and deliver to the Patroons, those who should violate this rule. After the expiration of the period for which they had bound themselves, the Patroon might send to Holland any tenant who would not continue in his service.* In addition to the burdens specified in the Charter, the tenants, by virtue of the law of Holland applicable to the relations between them and their Patroons, were subject to various other exactions common to the system. They were obliged to offer to the Patroon or his commissary, their surplus grain and cattle before they could lawfully sell them to any other person; to grind their corn at the Patroon's mill; and to obtain his license before they could be allowed to fish or hunt within the limits of the manor. The Patroon, on the exchange or sale of land within his jurisdiction, was entitled to the right of pre-emption, and, if he declined to resume it, to a certain portion of the purchase money; and in cases of intestacy, he succeeded to the estate and property of the decedent.† That the burghers of Amsterdam and of other commercial towns, enjoying as they did, and valuing too, the privileges of freemen, should have been willing to plant, in the virgin soil of America, the seeds of the ancient feudalism, is but another illustration of the selfishness so common to See the Charter in Moulton's Hist. of New York, Part ii. p. 389. Dunlap's Hist. of N. Y. vol. ii, App. H. Coll. of N. Y. Hist. Soc. (2d series) vol. i. p. 369. O'Callaghan's Hist. of New Netherland, vol. i. p. 112. The English versions having been made by different hands, some verbal but unimportant differences exist in the copies now referred to. For the amendatory Charter of 1640, see O'Callaghan, vol. i. p. 219. + O'Callaghan, i. 325, 326 and App. i. Van Leeuwen's Roman Dutch Law, Book ii. chs. 14, 15, 16, 17. our race. In the pursuit of present gain to ourselves, we too often become careless of the interests of others; and we commonly forget the claims of posterity. History is full of such instances, and of the pernicious effects which are sure to flow from them. In the case before us, its usual lessons are not wanting. Killian Van Rensselaer, a pearl merchant of Amsterdam, and one of the directors of the West India Company, having purchased from the natives, through his agents in the colony, the lands on both sides of the North river, in the immediate neighborhood of Fort Orange, (now Albany,) founded, in 1630, the Colonie of Rensselaerwyck. As finally confirmed to him it embraced a tract of country extending twenty-four miles in length from north to south, and twentyeight in width from east to west, (the city of Albany being, however, excepted from its jurisdiction,) and now composing the counties of Albany and Rensselaer. This was the only manor, of any great extent, founded under the Charter of 1629, within that part of New Netherland which now forms the State of New York. Others were afterwards established on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, on the Delaware, and on Staten Island.* The system of patroonships was soon found, rather to hinder than to hasten the settlement of the province. Misunderstandings arose between the Patroons and the Directors, which, for a long time, disturbed the quiet, and retarded the progress of New Netherland, and gave much annoyance to the Company and the States General.† They were tem *The following persons, (also Directors of the West India Company) established, or attempted to establish, in 1630, "colonies" in New Netherland: Samuel Godyn and Samuel Blommaert, the colonie of Zwaenndal, at Cape Henlopen and Cape May, on both sides of the South [Delaware] river bay; and Michael Pauw, the colonie of Pavonia in New Jersey, on the North river, opposite to New Amsterdam. At a later day, Myndert Myndertsen planted a colonie on Newark bay in New Jersey; and Cornelius Melyn obtained a grant of Staten Island for the like purpose. O'Callaghan, i. 238. Adrian Van der Donck also established the colonie of Colon Donck, on the east bank of Hudson's river, at Spuytenduyval creek. Id. 382. Van Rensselaer, Melyn, and Van der Donck, were the only Patroons in what is now the State of New York. By agreement between Van Rensselaer, Godyn, and Blommaert, a copartnership in the colonie of Rensselaerwyck, was formed between them and some other associates. The common stock of the association was divided into five shares, of which Van Rensselaer held two. By the terms of the agreement he had the exclusive control of the colonie, and was acknowledged as Patroon paramount, by the other partners. O'Callaghan, i. 121, 125, 127. Some of the original partners of Van Rensselaer, or their heirs, continued to be interested in the colonie of Rensselaerwyck until 1685, when their interests were extinguished, and the whole title vested in the Van Rensselaer family. O'Callaghan, i. 127, note. + O'Callaghan, i. 129, 137, 147, 158, 160, 178, 197. porarily allayed by the amended Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions of 1640, which limited the extent of future colonies to one Dutch mile instead of four, on the banks of a navigable water, and to two miles in the interior; forbade the occupation of both banks of a river by Patroonships opposite to each other; and modified, in other respects, the conditions of the first charter.* New difficulties, however, afterwards sprang up between the Patroons and the local Government, which often required the interposition of the authorities in Holland, and which finally ended in the surrender, by amicable arrangement, of all the colonies, except those of Rensselaerwyck and Colon Donck, to the West India Company. The energy and paternal care of Van Rensselaer were conspicuous in the management of his colonie. By these qualities, and by the fidelity of his agents, it was preserved through the Indian wars, so fatal to other plantations, and its more important privileges were maintained until his death, in 1646. It then passed to his oldest son, to whose descendent it was afterwards with such of its manorial incidents as were compatible with the English law, confirmed, by the grant of the British Sovereign.† The existence and the success of this colonie awakened the desire, and its confirmation to the Patroon furnished a precedent, for obtaining from the English Government other grants of the like nature. In this way the system of manors-a system not well adapted to the best kind of colonization, and little suited to the wants and interests of a free State-was deeply fixed in several extensive districts, in some of which, though in forms greatly modified by the revolution of 1776, by subsequent laws, and by social changes, it still exists.‡ O'Callaghan, i. 219. + O'Callaghan, i. 345. Rensselaerwyck was confirmed to Van Rensselaer by two patents from the British Crown, one granted by James II. and the other by Queen Anne. Besides the colonie or manor of Rensselaerwyck above spoken of, another manor of less extent, lying in the now county of Columbia, was granted by the English Government to another member of the Van Rensselaer family. Being sometimes called the lower manor of Rensselaerwyck, it has been supposed by some writers, to have been a part of the original manor of Rensselaerwyck. Its common and appropriate name was the manor of Claverack. The other manors alluded to in the text, granted by the English Government, are the extensive manor of Livingston, in the county of Columbia; and the manors of St. George, in the county of Suffolk, of Foxhall, in the county of Ulster, and of Cortlandt, Pelham, Fordham, Phillipsburgh and Scarsdale, in the county of Westchester. Most if not all of the lands included in these several manors, except the first Fortunately for the Province, the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions of 1629, did not limit its benefits to those who aspired to the distinction or were equal to the charge, of a Patroonship. It embraced another and more desirable system copied from the better institutions of the fatherland. Any individual was allowed to settle personally, or by his servants, in such places, and on so much land, as the Director and Council might assign; and every such settler was to hold, in his own right, the land he should thus occupy.* Under this provision, and with various encouragements, from time to time, afforded by the West India Company, many farms were taken up, and several hamlets and villages established, in the western part of Long Island, and on the North and Mohawk rivers. A class of independent freeholders, many of them persons of substance, and some of them educated men, was thus drawn to New Netherland; especially during the latter part of the Dutch rule. Even after the surrender to the English, immigrants of this description from the low countries, continued to seek in this Province, homes for themselves and their posterity. Most of the flourishing villages now found in the older parts of the State, trace their origin to this solid and honorable stock.t The colonial government and laws closely conformed to those of Holland. The Director and his Council, in the exercise of their various powers, and especially in their judicial functions, were aided by a Schout-Fiscaal, or Sheriff, who also acted as public prosecutor or Attorney General. They had also a Secretary, and a gerechts-bode or court messenger, and various commissaries and other administrative officers. manor of Rensselaerwyck and the manor of Livingston, are now held in fee simple; as are also large portions of Rensselaerwyck and Livingston. After Queen Anne's time, no grants were issued with manorial privileges; but during her reign and between that time and the Revolution, many patents were granted for extensive tracts of land, especially in the counties composing the late third Senate district. These latter tracts having, in many instances, been settled under deeds reserving a perpetual rent, or under leases for three lives or for shorter terms, and being situated in the neighborhood of the manors of Rensselaerwyck and Livingston, their occupants have taken active part in the lawless proceedings commenced by the manor tenants in 1839, and which, for so long a time, disturbed the peace and dishonored the character of the district. * Charter of 1629, art. 21. By the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions, the colonists of every class were to be free from taxes, imposts and other contributions for ten years, and after that time were to pay such customs as then existed in Holland. In other respects, the spirit of monopoly, which then pervaded the commercial regulations of every European State, was conspicuous in these articles. Except in certain cases, few in number and strictly defined, the colonists were to be transported in the vessels of the Company, which were also to be employed in all shipments to Europe; they might traffic with the natives and others, but not in the fur trade, which the Company kept to itself; and all merchandise purchased by them was to be sent to the island of Manhattan, and there to pay a duty before it could be sent elsewhere. The colonists were also expressly prohibited making any woollen, linen, or cotton cloth, or weaving any other stuff, on pain of being banished, and of being punished as perjurors.* Regulations of internal police which had the force of law, were prescribed by the ordinances of the Director and Council, subordinate, however, to the will of the Amsterdam Chamber of the West India Company, expressed in its instructions or declared in its decrees. Laws of property, and other rules of jurisprudence, civil and criminal, emanated from the same local or foreign authorities. Cases governed by no special provisions, were controlled by the Roman civil law, as modified by the statutes of Charles V. and the edicts and usages of Holland.† Long before the founding of the colony, the inhabitants of the cities and of many communes or townships in the fatherland had acquired a good degree of independence, both municipal and personal, and had come into the settled enjoyment of various definite and important political rights. Among these was the privilege of choosing, annually, a certain number of persons from whom the central Government selected the local magistrates or Schepens. To these were added, by the Government, a Schout, a Secretary, and a gerechts-bode or court, messenger, answering very nearly, to the constable of the English law and of our own times. In Amsterdam and some other cities, Burgomasters, answering to our mayors and aldermen, were chosen by This prohibition was abolished by the amended Charter granted in 1640, which also modified, in several other respects, the provisions of the original Charter. It is recited, at length, by O'Callaghan, vol. i. pp. 219-222. + O'Callaghan, i. 90. |