ever,

But though unwilling to restore Columbus to that station of which from his contract with them, he was unjustly deprived, Ferdinand and Isabella were still desirous of employing him in new enterprises by sea. How they contrived to cajole him into such an undertaking, after they had treated him with such unparalleled indignity does not appear. We learn, howfrom the faithful page of history, that he made his fourth voyage to Hispaniola, in the year 1502. He from thence sailed along the continent about 200 leagues from Cape Gracios a Dios to Porto Bello. At length, after a considerable variety of fortune, when worn out with fatigue, disappointment and sorrow, he ended his useful life at Valadolid, on the 25th May 1506. He was grave though courteous in his deportment, circumspect in his words and actions, irreproachable in his morals and guided by a supreme respect for religion, which he manifested in every department of his life. His remains were deposited in the Cathedral of Seville, and an inscription, of which the following is a translation, was engraved upon his tomb.

"COLUMBUS has given a NEW WORLD to the kingdoms of CASTILE and LEON."

The fate of this great man was marked with circumstances peculiarly striking. He, at an early period of his life, devised and after encountering difficulties almost insurmountable, carried on to a successful issue, one of the most noble enterprises which ever entered into the mind of man. But notwithstanding the very liberal promises made to him, by the King and Queen of Spain, he was shamefully deprived of all and every part of the stipulated reward for his services, whilst living, and after his death, the honour of his very important discoveries, has, in a great measure, been bestowed upon another.

Amongst several adventurers to the New World, soon after the route had been clearly pointed out, was Americus VespuSIUS, a native of Florence, who visited the continent some years after Columbus, and transmitted to his friends in Europe, a history of his adventures, written in a captivating style. He had the address, to frame his narrative in such a manner, as to make it be believed, that the glory of having first discovered the continent in the New World belonged to him, by which means he robbed Columbus of the honour, which he justly deserved. The story of Americus was, in part, believed. The consent of all nations has bestowed the name of AMERICA, on the western continent; and, at this distance of time, we can only regret an act of injustice, which custom has compelled

B

us to sanction.

At what period, this appellation was given,

we have not the means of ascertaining.

CHAPTER II.

From the discovery of America by Columbus to the settlement of Fort Amsterdam, (now New-York) by the Dutch, in the year 1629.

I HAVE thus given a succinct account of the discovery of America by Columbus, and now proceed to detail the circumstances, which occurred, from that period, to the settlement of Fort Amsterdam (now New-York) by the Dutch.

Henry VII, king of England, employed Sebastian Cabot, a native of Venice, to discover a North West passage to China, in attempting which he, in the year 1497, discovered all the North East coast of America from Cape Florida to 67° 1-2 North lat. and as Cabot was in the English service, the king, as the phrase then was, became entitled to all that tract of country, by right of discovery.

In the year 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, an Englishman, sent two vessels, with people to effect a settlement, who landed at a place since called Roanoke, took possession of the country in the name of Elizabeth the English sovereign, and called it Virginia, in allusion to her being named The Virgin Queen. On 10th April 1606, two companies were incorporated by James, then king of England, by the names of the South Virginia Company and the North Virginia Company; the limits of the former being between the lat. of 34° and 41° and of the latter between 38° and 45°. By virtue of these patents, the South Virginia Company began a settlement in the great bay (Chesapeake) in 1607; but the North Virginia Company planted no colony until the year 1620, when Plymouth in New England was settled.

Henry Hudson, an Englishman, in the year 1608, sailing under a commission from his king, discovered Long Island, New-York, and the river, which still bears his name, the mouth of which is about 40° 20' N. lat. Hudson, without license from his sovereign, sold the country, or rather his right thereof to the Dutch. But the writers of that nation contend that he was sent out by their East India Company in the year 1609, to discover a North West passage to China, and that er having discovered Delaware Bay, he came hither and

penetrated up Hudson's river as far North as the latitude of 43°. It is said, however, that there was a sale and that the English objected to it, though they, for some time, neglected to oppose the Dutch settlement of the country.

In 1610, Hudson sailed again from Holland to this country, to which the Dutch had given the name of the New Netherlands, and in 1614, the States General granted a patent to the Dutch West India Company to carry on an exclusive trade on Hudson's River. Immediately after the receipt of their patent, they built a fort on the West side of that river near the spot, where Albany now stands, which was first commanded by Henry Christiaens. In the s me year, Sir Samuel Argall, resident of the South Virginia Company was despatched by Sir Thomas Dale, governor of Virginia, to dispossess the French of the towns of Port Royal and St. Croix lying on each side of the bay of Fundy, in Acadia, (now Nova Scotia) which was then claimed as a part of Virginia. In his return he visited the Dutch on Hudson's river, who finding themselves unable to make an effectual resistance prudently submitted, for the present, to the King of England, and under him to the Governor of Virginia,

In the year 1620, King James I. gave the Dutch permission to build some cottages, on Hudson's river for the convenience of their vessels, engaged in trade with Brazil, and under this license, they settled a colony, to which they still gave the name of the New Netherlands. The very next year, they erected a fort, on the South West point of the island Manhattan (now New-York) and appear to have considered their said colony as including the whole of New Jersey and Hudson's river and the greater part of that tract of country, which now constitute the states of New-York and Pennsylvania, lying on both sides of New Jersey.

Complaint having been made of the usurpations of the Dutch, by King Charles I. to the States General, the business was disavowed by them, and declared, in a public instrument, to be only a private undertaking of the West India company of Amsterdam. But whatever concessions were made by the Dutch government upon this occasion, their conduct appears to have been very little under the inflence of sincerity. It is probable however, that the mode of procedure which they adopted, might have been, in consequence of the civil commotions, which took place in England, soon after the commencement of the reign of that infatuated monarch, and which gave to the government of that nation so much business at home, as to leave them very little leisure to direct their attention to their territories abroad,

We accordingly find, that the States General, determined on the regular settlement of a colony, and made a grant of the country in 1621 to the West India company of Amsterdam. Wouter Van Twiller arrived at Fort Amsterdam (now New York) and took upon him the government of the colony, in June 1629. His style, in the patents which he granted was thus. "We the Director and Council residinh in New Netherland, under the government of their Higg Mightinesses the States General of the United Netherlands and the privileged West India Company."

CHAPTER III.

From the possession of the colony by the Dutch to its surrender to the British, under the command of Colonel Richard Nichols, in the year 1664.

It is my avowed object, in this undertaking, to lay before my readers the history of the city, not of the province, now the state of New-York: but at this early period, the circumstances incident to the settlement of both are so blended together as to render it difficult to separate the one from the other. I shail, therefore, without farther apology, proceed, in the manner, which appears to be most practicable for general information.

During the government of Mr. Van Twiller, the New-Englanders extended their possessions to the Westward, as far as Connecticut river. William Kieft, who succeeded in the administration, protested against it, and, in the year 1638, issued a proclamation prohibiting the English from trading to Fort Good Hope, and shortly after application was made to the States General for more troops to defend their territories against invasion. They appear to have had good reason for alarm, as Dr. Mather, in his History of New England, admits, that the inhabitants had formed the design of settling Connecticut river in the year 1635, before which time they had considered, that river to be, at least, 100 miles from any of their settlements, that in 1636 they seated themselves at Hartford, and after settling New Haven in 1638, drove the Dutch garrison from Fort Good Hope.

In 1640, the English, who had taken possession of the astern part of Long Island, proceeded as far as Oyster Bay, out 40 miles from the city of New-York. But Kieft broke

up their settlement in 1642, and fitted out two sloops to drive the Marylanders from the Schuylkill, of which they had then taken possession. The instructions to Alpendam, who commanded the expedition, assert, in the strongest terms, the right of which the Dutch deemed themselves possessed, both to the soil and trade on that river. Indeed it appears that they then claimed the exclusive jurisdiction of the whole country from Cape Cod to the West side of the entrance into the Delaware bay. About the same time, the English settlers from the Eastward, sent deputies to New-York for the purpose of settling their disputes about limits, to whom the Dutch offered certain conditions, recorded in the Latin language, of which it may be sufficient to give the following abstract.

Conditions offered by the director general of the council of New Netherland to the delegates of the Honourable the council of Hartford, viz. That the latter should pay for the occupancy of their lands to the States General of the United Provinces, or to their agents, the tenth part of the emoluments arising from their fields, orchards, and gardens; or, in lieu thereof, suc valuable consideration as might thereafter be agreed upon, so long as they should possess the said lands.. Dated at Fort Amsterdam, 9th July, 1642.

We have no account, that the English acceded to these proposals. On the contrary, they daily extended their possessions, and in 1643 the colonies of New England, entered into a league both against the Dutch and the Indians; the former of whom they even proposed to extirpate. But to this mea sure, the colony of Massachusetts bay would not accede, in consequence of which it was abandoned.

Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch Governor of this country, entered on his administration 27th May, 1647. The inroads and claims upon his government kept him constantly employed. New England as well as Maryland alarmed his fears by their rapid increase, and, at the same time Long Island was claimed for the dowager of Sterling. The Swedes too were continually encroaching upon Delaware. In 1651, the Dutch built fort Casimir, now called New-Castle; but of this the Swedes who claimed the country as their own, got possession, soon after it was erected. In 1655, the Dutch prepared to retake it; Stuyvesant commanded the expedition in person, and arrived with his forces in the Delaware. He landed them a few days after and immediately demanded the fortress, as Dutch property. Suen Scutz, the commandant desired leave to consult Risingh his superior officer, which being refused, he capitulated, on the 16th September. Risingh, who com