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Page 52
Nicolls now addrest a letter to Winthrop, who with other commissioners
from New England had joined the squadron, authorizing him to assure
Stuyvesant that, if Manhattan should be delivered up to the King, "any
people from the Netherlands may freely come and plant there or
thereabouts; and such vessels of their own country may freely come
thither, and any of them may as freely return home in vessels of their
own country." Visiting the city under a flag of truce Winthrop
delivered this to Stuyvesant outside the fort and urged him to
surrender. The director declined; and, returning to the fort, he
opened Nicolls' letter before the council and the burgomasters, who
desired that it should be communicated, as "all which regarded the
public welfare ought to be made public." Against this Stuyvesant
earnestly remonstrated, and, finding that the burgomasters continued
firm, in a fit of passion he "tore the letter in pieces." The citizens
suddenly ceasing their work at the palisades, hurried to the
Stadt-Huys, and sent three of their number to the fort to demand the
letter.
In vain the director hastened to pacify the burghers and urge them to
go on with the fortifications. "Complaints and curses" were uttered on
all sides against the company's misgovernment; resistance was declared
to be idle; "The letter! the letter!" was the general cry. To avoid a
mutiny Stuyvesant yielded, and a copy, made out from the collected
fragments, was handed to the burgomasters. In answer, however, to
Nicolls' summons he submitted a long justification of the Dutch title;
yet while protesting against any breach of the peace between the King
and the States-General, "for the hinderance and prevention of all
differences and the spilling of innocent blood, not only in these
parts, but also in Europe," he offered to treat. "Long Island is gone
and lost;" the capital "can not hold out long," was the last dispatch
to the "Lord Majors" of New Netherlands, which its director sent off
that night "in silence through hell Gate."
Observing Stuyvesant's reluctance to surrender, Nicolls directed
Captain Hyde, who commanded the squadron, to reduce the fort. Two of
the ships accordingly landed their troops just below Breuckelen
(Brooklyn), where volunteers from New England and the Long Island
villages had already encamped. The other two, coming up with full sail
passed in front of Fort Amsterdam and anchored between it and Nutten
Island.[2] Standing on one of the angles of the fortress--an
artilleryman with a lighted match at his side--the director watched
their approach. At this moment the two domines Megapolensis, imploring
him not to begin hostilities, led Stuyvesant from the rampart, who
then, with a hundred of the garrison, went into the city to resist the
landing of the English. Hoping on against hope, the director now sent
Counsellor de Decker, Secretary Van Ruypen, Burgomaster Steenwyck, and
"Schepen" Cousseau with a letter to Nicolls stating that, as he felt
bound "to stand the storm," he desired if possible to arrange on
accommodation. But the English commander merely declared, "To-morrow I
will speak with you at Manhattan."
"Friends," was the answer, "will be welcome if they come in a friendly
manner."
"I shall come with ships and soldiers," replied Nicolls; "raise the
white flag of peace at the fort, and then something may be
considered." When this imperious message became known, men, women, and
children flocked to the director, beseeching him to submit. His only
answer was, "I would rather be carried out dead." The next day the
city authorities, the clergymen, and the officers of the burgher
guard, assembling at the Stadt-Huys, at the suggestion of Domine
Megapolensis, adopted a remonstrance to the director, exhibiting the
hopeless situation of New Amsterdam, on all sides encompassed and
hemmed in by enemies, and protesting against any further opposition to
the will of God. Besides the _schout_, burgomasters, and schepens, the
remonstrance was signed by Wilmerdonck and eighty-five of the
principal inhabitants, among whom was Stuyvesant's own son, Balthazar.
At last the director was obliged to yield. Although there were now
fifteen hundred souls in New Amsterdam, there were not more than two
hundred and fifty men able to bear arms, besides the one hundred fifty
regular soldiers. The people had at length refused to be called out,
and the regular troops were already heard talking of "where booty is
to be found, and where the young women live who wear gold chains." The
city, entirely open along both rivers, was shut on the northern side
by a breastwork and palisades[3], which, though sufficient to keep out
the savages, afforded no defense against a military siege. There were
scarcely six hundred pounds of serviceable powder in store.
A council of war had reported Fort Amsterdam untenable; for though it
mounted twenty-four guns, its single wall of earth, not more than ten
feet high and four thick, was almost touched by the private dwellings
clustered around, and was commanded, within a pistol-shot, by hills on
the north, over which ran the "Heereweg" or Broadway.
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