Richard Cromwell afterwards drew up instructions to his commanders for subduing the Dutch here, and wrote letters to the English American governments for their aid; copies of which are preserved in Thurloe's Collection, vol. I. p. 721, &c.

Peter Stuyvesant was the last Dutch governor, and though he had a commission in 1646, he did not begin his administration till May 27, 1647.— The inroads and claims upon his government, kept him constantly employed. New-England on the east, and Maryland on the west, alarmed his fears by their daily increase; and about the same time Capt. Forrester, a Scotchman, claimed Long-Island for the dowager of Stirling. The Swedes too were perpetually encroaching upon Delaware. Through the unskilfulness of the mate, one Deswyck, a Swedish captain and supercargo, arrived in Raritan river. The ship was seized, and himself made a prisoner at New-Amsterdam. Stuyvesant's reasons were these. In 1651, the Dutch built fort Casimir, now called Newcastle, on Delaware. The Swedes, indeed, claimed the country, and Printz, their governor, formally protested against the works. Risingh, his successor, under the disguise of friendship, came before the fortress, fired two salutes, and landed thirty men, who were entertained by the commandant as friends; but he had no sooner discovered the weakness of the garrison, than he made himself master of it, seizing also upon all the ammunition, houses, and other effects of the West-India Company, and compelling several of the people to swear allegiance to Christina, queen of Sweden. The Dutch, in 1655,

friendship, affinity, confederacy, and union, betwixt the republic of England and the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands. and the land, countries, cities, and towns, under the dominions of each, without distinction of places, together with their people and inhabitants of whatsoever degree." II. 66 That hereafter all enmity, hostility, discord, and contention, betwixt the said republics, and their people and subjects shall cease. and both parties shall henceforwards abstain from the committing all manner of mischief, plunder, and injuries, by land, by sea, and on the fresh waters, in all their lands, countries, dominions, places, and governments whatsoever."

prepared to retake fort Casimir. Stuyvesant commanded the forces in person, and arrived with them in Delaware the 9th of September. A few days after, he anchored before the garrison, and landed his troops. The fortress was immediately demanded as Dutch property: Suen Scutz, the commandant, desired leave to consult Risingh, which being refused, he surrendered the 16th of September on articles of capitulation. The whole strength of the place consisted of four cannon, fourteen pounders, five swivels, and a parcel of small arms, which were all delivered to the conquered. Fort Christini was commanded by Risingh. Stuyvesant came before it, and Risingh surrendered it upon terms the twenty-fifth of September. The county being thus subdued, the Dutch governor issued a proclamation in favor of such of the inhabitants as would submit to the new government, and about thirty Swedes swore Fidelity and obedience to the States General, the lords directors of the West-India Company, their subalterns of the province of New-Netherlands, and the director general then, or thereafter, to be established." Risingh and one Elswych, a trader of note, were ordered to France, or England, and the rest of the Swedish inhabitants to Holland, and from thence to Gottenberg. The Swedes being thus extirpated, the Dutch became possessed of the west side of Delaware bay, now called the three lower counties.

66

This country was afterwards under the command of lieutenant governors, subject to the control of, and commissioned by, the director general at NewAmsterdam. Johan Paul Jaquet was the first vicedirector, or lieutenant governor, of South River.His successors were Alricks, Hinojossa, and William Beekman. The posterity of the last remains amongst us to this day. These lieutenants had power to grant lands, and their patents make a part of the ancient titles of the present possessors. A!rick's commission, of the twelfth of April, 1657,

shows the extent of the Dutch claim on the west side of Delaware at that time. He was appointed "director-general of the colony of the South River of New-Netherlands, and the fortress of Casimir, now called Niewer Amstel, with all the lands depending thereon, according to the first purchase and deed of release of the natives, dated July 19, 1651, beginning at the west side of the Minquaa, or Christina Kill, in the Indian language named Suspecough, to the mouth of the bay, or river called Bompt-hook, in the Indian language Cannaresse; and so far inland as the bounds and limits of the Minquaas land, with all the streams, &c. appurtenances, and dependencies." Of the country northward of the Kill, no mention is made. Orders, in 1658, were given to William Beekman to purchase cape Hinlopen from the natives, and to settle and fortify it, which, for want of goods, was not done till the succeeding year.

In the year 1659, fresh troubles arose from the Maryland claim to the lands on South River; and in September colonel Nathaniel Utie, as commissioner from Fendal, lord Baltimore's governor, arrived at Niewer Amstel, from Maryland. The country was ordered to be evacuated, lord Baltimore claiming all the land between thirty-eight and forty degrees of latitude, from sea to sea. Beekman and his council demanded evidence of his lordship's right, and offered to prove the States General's grant to the West-India Company, theirs to them, payment for the land and possession; and upon the whole, proposed to refer the controversy to the republics of England and Holland, praying at the same time, three weeks to consult Stuyvesant, the general. The commissioner, notwithstanding, a few days after, warned him to draw off beyond the latitude of forty degrees: but Beekman disregarded the threat.Colonel Utie thereupon returned to Maryland, and an immediate invasion was expected.

.

Early in the spring of the year 1660, Nicholas Varleth, and Brian Newton, were dispatched from fort Amsterdam to Virginia, in quality of ambassadors, with full power to open a trade, and conclude a league, offensive and defensive against the barbarians. William Berckly, the governor, gave them a kind reception, and approved their proposal of peace and commerce, which Sir Henry Moody was sent here to agree upon and perfect. Four articles to that purpose were drawn up and sent to the governor for confirmation. Stuyvesant artfully endeavored, at this treaty, to procure an acknowledgment of the Dutch title to the country, which Berckly as carefully avoided. This was his answer:

"Sir: I have received the letter, you were pleased to send me, by Mr. Mills, his vessel, and shall be ever ready to comply with you, in all acts of neighborly friendship and amity. But truly, sir, you desire me to do that, concerning your titles and claims to land, in this northern part of America, which I am in no capacity to do; for I am but a servant of the assembly: neither do they arrogate any power to themselves, farther than the miserable distractions of England force them to. For when God shall be pleased in his mercy to take away and dissipate the unnatural divisions of their native country, they will immediately return to their own professed obedience. What then they should do in matters of contract, donation or confession of right, would have little strength or signification; much more presumptive and impertinent would it be in me to do it, without their knowledge or assent. We shall very shortly meet again, and then, if to them you signify your desires, I shall labour all I can to get you a satisfactory answer.

"I am, sir,

"Your humble servant,

"Virginia, August 20, 1660."

"WILLIAM BERCKLY.

Governor Stuyvesant was a faithful servant of the West-India Company: this is abundantly proved by his letters to them, exciting their care of the colony. In one, dated April 20, 1660, which is very long and pathetic, representing the desperate situation of affairs on both sides of the New-Netherland, he writes, "Your honors imagine that the troubles in England will prevent any attempt on these parts: alas! they are ten to one in number to us, and are able without any assistance, to deprive us of the country when they please." On the twenty-fifth of June, the same year, he informs them, "that the demands, encroachments, and usurpations of the English, gave the people here great concern. The right to both rivers, says he, by purchase and possession, is our own, without dispute. We apprehend, that they, our more powerful neighbours, lay their claims under a royal patent, which we are unable hitherto to do in your name."* Colonel Utie being unsuccessful the last year, in his embassy for the evacuation of the Dutch possessions on Delaware, lord Baltimore, in the autumn of 1660, applied by Capt. Neal, his agent, to the West-India Company, in Holland, for an order on the inhabitants of South River to submit to his authority, which they absolutely refused, asserting their right to that part of their colony.

The English, from New-England, were every day encroaching upon the Dutch. The following letter, from Stuyvesant to the West-India Company, dated July 21, 1661, shows the state of the colony at that time, on both sides: "We have not yet begun the fort on Long-Island, near Oysterbay, because

*If we should argue from this letter, that the West-India Company had no grants of the New-Netherlands from the States General, as some suppose, we discredit De Laet's history, dedicated to the States in 1624, as well as all the Dutch writers, and even Stuyvesant himself, who, in his letter to Richard Nicolls. at the surrender, asserts, that they had a grant, and showed it under seal to the English deputies. But the genuine construction of the Dutch governor's letter, is this, that in 1660, he had not the patent to the West-India Company, to lay before the English in America, who disputed the Dutch right to this county.