CH. IX.]

nists on a point where they were very sensitive. The first colonial Assembly, in 1635, had passed a body of laws, which the proprietary rejected on the ground, that the initiative of legislation belonged to him. Soon after, he sent over a collection of statutes which he had drawn up, to be laid be1638. fore a second Assembly; that body, however, refused to admit the proprietary's claim to the initiative, or to adopt the laws proposed by him. Lord Baltimore, with great good sense, yielded the point, and a third Assembly was held, at which the first statutes of Maryland were enacted.

1639.

This Assembly was composed of deputies from the several hundreds into which the colony had been divided; an act was passed, "establishing the House of Assembly;" and a number of bills on the subject of municipal law were proposed for the approval of the House, but for some unexplained cause were not finally adopted. Trial by jury, conformity to the laws of England, provisions for the probate of wills, obligation not to neglect the cultivation of corn, and the like, were established; and it was declared, in the words of Magna Charta, that "Holy Church within this province shall have all her rights and liberties." Though it is tolerably certain, that by this term the Roman Catholic Church was meant, yet the proprietary does not seem ever to have contemplated the establishment of a colony solely for those of like faith with himself; on the contrary, he endeavored by proclamation, to repress disputations on the sub

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ject of religion, because thereby the public peace and quiet were likely to be disturbed; and practically, whether necessity or policy, or more honorable reasons, led to this result, toleration was established in Maryland. The Assemblies of the three following years maintained this principle of toleration firmly and steadily, and in 1649, "an act of toleration" was enacted by both the upper and lower House. Liberty of opinion was not indeed, nor could it well have been, as absolute as in our own times. own times. A profession of belief in the doctrine of the Trinity was required, and blasphemy was severely punished; but with this limitation the terms of the statute forbade any interference in, or even reproachful censure of, the private opinions or modes of worship, already sufficiently numerous and eccentric, established among the citizens. "Whereas," it states, "the enforcing of the conscience in matters of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence in those commonwealths where it hath been practised, and for the more quiet and peaceable government of this province, and the better to preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall be any ways troubled, molested, or discountenanced, for his or her religion, nor in the free exercise thereof; nor any way compelled to the belief or exercise of any religion against his or her consent, so that they be not unfaithful to the lord proprietary, or molest or conspire against the civil government established."

CH. X.1

83

The population of Maryland at this date, is estimated at about ten thou

Kieft, governor of New Netherland

JERSEY.

1638.

WILLIAM KIEFT, who is described by Winthrop as "a sober and discreet man," was the very opposite of Van Twiller in most respects; yet his appointment does not seem to have been a judicious step. Active, zealous, rapacious, quick-tempered, he entered upon the duties of his post with energy and spirit, and endeavored in many ways to remedy the difficulties into which New Netherland had fallen under the administration of Van Twiller. His protest against Swedish colonization on the Delaware was unsuccessful; nor was he able better to make headway in opposition to the encroachments of the New England people on the Connecticut. Valuable privileges were offered to settlers, the patroonships were limited, the monopoly of the Indian trade was relinquished, the Dutch Reformed Church

1640.

1641.

the Dutch away altogether. Long Island was claimed by Lord Sterling's agent, and under that claim insult was offered by a party from Lynn, Massachusetts, who attempted to settle on the western end of the island. They pulled down the Dutch arms, and put up in its place an indecent caricature. The Dutch made prisoners of them, and on their apologizing allowed them to retire to the eastern barren end of the island, where they founded Southampton, and put themselves under the jurisdiction of Connecticut. Various other active efforts were made by the New England colonists, which resulted in the founding of Stratford, Stamford, and Greenwich. Indeed the English inhabitants had increased so rapidly, even in the territory acknowledging the jurisdiction of the Dutch, that an English Secretary was found necessary, and George Baxter was appointed to that office.

The people of New Haven were desirous of founding a settlement on Delaware Bay, and some fifty families set out for this purpose. On touching at New Amsterdam, Kieft protested warmly against these encroachments; but they did not heed his words. Accordingly, in May, 1641, Kieft sent two sloops to break up the settlement, an enterprise into which the commander of the Swedish fort heartily entered; Lamberton, the leader of the party, was obliged to pay a ransom; the rest were compelled to swear allegiance to Sweden; and the Director insisted upon duties being paid at New Amsterdam, on the fur-trade in the Delaware. Natu

rally enough, the New Haven people took offence at all this, and the quarrel proceeded to that length, that Kieft proclaimed a non-intercourse with the colony on the Connecticut.

1642.

About the same date, serious difficul ties began to arise with the Indians. Several murders had been committed, and it was judged necessary to take steps to meet the emergency. A board of "Twelve Men" was appointed; and eighty men were sent against the hostile Indians; but without result, the guide having missed the way. Soon after, a Dutchman was murdered out of revenge, by a Hackensack Indian, who had been made drunk and robbed. Kieft would have no redress but that of blood, although full reparation was offered, according to the Indian idea of justice in such cases. While this dispute was yet unsettled, the Tappan Indians fled to the Dutch on being attacked by the Mohawks; and it was while they were thus trusting to the hospitality of white men that the detestable plan was hastily and wickedly formed to cut them off. In spite of the remonstrances of the best men in the colony, the cry for blood prevailed; and in February, 1643, the shrieks of the victims were heard even across the icy river. Warriors, old men, women, and children were slain without mercy, to the number of eighty or more. fants with their mothers perished in the river, the wounded were killed the next morning in cold blood, and about thirty prisoners were taken to New Amsterdam.

1643.

In

Retaliation followed as a matter of

CH. X.1

course.

Eleven of the smaller tribes in the vicinity joined together to make war on the Dutch. The scattered boweries, extending twenty and thirty miles to the north and east, were furiously attacked; houses were burned; men, women, and children killed and carried into captivity. The colonists fled in terror to New Amsterdam; Kieft was bitterly reproached and assailed for what had happened; and a fast was proclaimed. The Indians, their revenge satiated for the time, soon after made advances for peace, and a treaty was arranged early in the spring of the same year (1643); but war broke out again in the autumn. Great distress was the result; and in an appeal from the board of "Eight Men," sent to Holland in October, there is an affecting account of the wretched condition of the colony. It was at this date that "a good solid fence," or palisade, was erected as a protection to New Amsterdam, where the far-famed Wall Street now stands.

In July of this year, Kieft wrote a letter of congratulation to the Commissioners for the United Colonies of New England. At the same time, he took occasion to complain of the "insufferable wrongs” which the people of Connecticut had been guilty of towards the Dutch residents at the fort of Good Hope. The Commissioners, at their meeting in September, were not a whit behind the Director in making complaints, which led, as was natural, to a rejoinder on the part of Kieft.

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The horrors of the Pequod massacre were to some extent acted over 1644. again. Kieft's conduct was warmly complained of by the "Eight Men," in an appeal to Holland respecting the war; and it was not till August, 1645, that a treaty of peace was agreed upon, and a day of thanksgiving appointed.

The settlements about New Amsterdam were almost ruined by the late war, and hardly a hundred men could be mustered. Only five or six remained out of some thirty flourishing boweries; and it appeared, on examination, that New Netherland, up to this time (1638), had cost the West India Company more than $200,000 over and above all receipts.

Kieft became more and more unpopular, and the people complained of his tyranny, exaction, and arbitrary exercise of lawful authority. He fell into several violent disputes with ministers of churches, as well as individuals in the community; and altogether, matters came to such a pass, that it was evidently high time to supersede him and appoint a new Director. Accordingly, Petrus Stuyvesant, 1646. governor of Curaçoa, a staunch old soldier, but very haughty and imperious in his bearing, was appointed Director General of New Netherland, with a nominal jurisdiction over his former field of service. Some remaining restrictions on imports and exports were removed; but New Amsterdam still continued the sole port of entry.