USA > New York > New York City > History of the city of New York : its origin, rise, and progress. Vol. I > Part 3
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1 Beschryv van America, by Jan Huyghen Van Linschotten. (Amsterdam). N. Y. H. S. Coll., Vol. I. (Second Series) pp. 45, 46. Hakluyt, III. 360, 361. Harris's Voyages, II. 348. North American Review for October, 1837. Belknap's Am. Biog., I. 33.
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ESTEVAN GOMEZ.
sea-coast were found subject to the Iroquois, acknowledging the same by the payment of an annual tribute.
Of the subsequent career of Verrazano very little is known. We
catch fugitive glimpses of him only, enough to excite but not suffi- 1526.
cient to satisfy curiosity. There is evidence existing that he com- manded an expedition to the Indies for spices, in 1526, and it is supposed that he was engaged also in piratical ventures. He disappeared from public view, after having greatly advanced the knowledge of the new country and given France some claim to an extensive and picturesque territory.1
J.R. DAVIS
1572.
1595.
1620.
1628.
1650.
1670.
Group of gentlemen, showing fashions of the day.
In 1525 Estevan Gomez, a decoyed Portuguese, who had been the chief pilot of Magellan on his southern voyage, presuming that, since a strait to Cathay had been discovered in the south, there must necessarily be one at the north, sailed in the interests of Spain to find it. He is sup- posed to have cruised along our coasts as far as the Hudson River, since Rio de Gamas was the first name of European origin which it bore, and there is evidence of his having sailed to the shores of Maine, that land being described upon the Spanish maps as the Tierra de Gomez.2 He, like Verrazano, drew a chart and it was the more valuable of the two, as the former was entirely unknown down to the year 1582, when it appeared in
1 Charlevoix, Nouv. Fr., I. 78 ; Bancroft, I. 13. Annibale Caro, Lettere Familiari, Tomo I. let. 12. Article by Hon. J. Carson Brevoort, in Journals Am. Geog. Soc. N. Y., Vol. IV.
2 Herrera, Dec. III. lib. 8. cap. 8. Navarrete, I. e. p. 179. Oviedo (Sommario), cap. 10, fol. 14. . Peter Martyr, Dec. VIII. cap. 9.
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HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
the Hakluyt Collection of Voyages. Gomez's draft was embodied in the planisphere made by Ribero, now preserved in the British Museum. At a congress held at Badajos after Gomez's return, at which were present Se- bastian Cabot, then pilot-major of Spain, and all the most distinguished geographers of both Spain and Portugal, the outlines of America were fixed for the first time, the chart of Gomez was adopted by the official chart-makers, and from their works, with occasional amendments, passed into all the charts and maps of the sixteenth century, and some of the seventeenth. Beyond the information thus obtained, Gomez's voyage was very meager in results. He caught a few Indians to carry as tro- phies to the Spanish king, Charles I .; but when he arrived at Coruna, the courier who was despatched by post with the news, mistook slaves (escla- vos) for cloves, which was what Gomez had promised to bring home with him should he reach Cathay, and there was great excitement among the courtiers and nobles until the ludicrous blunder was corrected. " Then," says the quaint chronicler of the event, " there was much laugh- ter."1 From that time Spain had no confidence in any northern enter- prise. " To the South ! to the South !" was the cry, and all the strength and resources she could spare from her home wars was directed towards the prosecution of her discoveries and conquests in South America. " They that seek riches," said Peter Martyr, " must not go to the frozen North !"
For the next three fourths of a century the wilds and wastes of North America received comparatively little notice from the European powers. It was visited at different points and dates by fishermen and private ad- venturers, and a few flags were raised and colonies planted, but its geog- raphy, farther than its coast-outline, remained almost wholly unknown. During the interval France was too much occupied by her fruitless expe- ditions into Italy, and her unequal contest with the power and policy of Charles I. of Spain, and also by the civil wars with which she was desolated for nearly half a century, to speculate amidst her miseries upon possibilities, or lay plans for the future extension of her territories except upon parchment. England, too, through most of that period, was agitated and weakened by intestine broils or unwise interference in foreign af- fairs. Her immense navy, which has since enabled her to give law to the ocean, was then scarcely in embryo ; 2 and her commerce about the year 1550 had become so nearly extinct that bankruptcy appeared for a time
1 Gomara, chap. 40 (1st edition, 1552). History of the West Indies, by Peter Martyr (1530). Historia de las Indias Occidentales, by Antonio de Harrera (edition 1601), Tomo III. Dec. III. cap. 8.
2 Robertson's Historical Disquisition on Ancient India, sect. 4, p. 154.
21
ENGLAND AND RUSSIA.
inevitable. Native produce was in no demand, foreign importations had ceased, and a singular monopoly, consisting chiefly of the factors of ex- tensive mercantile houses in Antwerp and Hamburg, had obtained con- trol of her markets, and, vampire-like, was sucking her remnant of strength. The statesmen and the merchants of the realm met 1555.
in consultation, and took counsel of the aged and justly celebrated Sebas- tian Cabot, who, although he had thrice made the attempt to reach Asia by the north without success, had never given up his hobby, that " some great good lay in store for the world by the way of the Polar Seas." He advised that the northern coasts of Europe be explored for new markets, and an effort made to reach Cathay by a Siberian route.
A company was accordingly formed, which was called " The Society for the Discovery of Unknown Lands," and an expedition was fitted out in 1553, the expenses of which were mostly borne by private subscription. It was placed under the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby, and the bold Richard Chancellor was made pilot-major of the fleet. The vessels became separated during a storm, and Willoughby with two of them, after the most terrific hardships, reached an obscure harbor on the desolate coast of Lap- land, where he and his men finally perished. Chancellor, with heroic per- sistence, pushed his way through frozen waters where sunlight was perpet- ual, and landed in safety at Archangel. Russia was then scarcely known to Western Europe. Chancellor made good use of his opportunities. He journeyed by sledge to Moscow, and was invited to a personal interview with Emperor Ivan the Terrible. A lucrative and permanent trade was established between the two countries, which was the foundation of the commercial and political relations that have continued with slight inter- ruptions to the present time. By it a fresh impulse was given to produc- tive industry in England, and her credit was improved, while intercourse with the English secured to the Russians civilization, intelligence, and comfort. When Chancellor returned in 1554 to England, he was the bearer of a letter from Ivan the Terrible to Edward IV. The Muscovy Company, as it was afterwards styled, obtained a formal charter from the Crown, dated February 6, 1555, in which Sebastian Cabot was named as its first governor. It was granted a charter of privileges also by the Russian Emperor, and commenced energetic operations. The same com- pany, after a brilliant career of more than three hundred years, is still in existence. For full fifty years after its organization it absorbed the energy and the surplus capital of the English nation; and nothing was attempted in America save a few unimportant settlements, which came to nothing.
Meanwhile the Dutch were preparing for a marvelous leap into public
22
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
notice. When, in 1580, Philip II. united Portugal to Spain, and pres- ently began his war upon England, his ports were closed against English vessels. Therefore England was forced to buy her spices, silks, and other Indian produce of the Dutch. But the revolt of the Netherlands followed in quick succession, and Dutch vessels were excluded from Lisbon, which had been so long the European depot for Indian wares. Although the Dutch were not a creative people, there was no nation under the sun which, being strongly pushed in one direction, was more sure to succeed than they. They had begun already to reap large profits from their Eng- lish trade. Prices had gone up on all India goods ; that of pepper by two hundred per cent. They were compelled, as it were, to seek a direct pas- sage to the Orient. Thus originated the great commercial corporation known as the Dutch East India Company. Their vessels followed in the track of the Portuguese around Africa. The directors were mostly city nobles of the old school, and so prosperous became the company that in twenty years they divided more than four times their original capital among the shareholders, besides having acquired a vast amount of prop- erty in colonies, fortifications, and vessels.
East India Company's House.
While struggling for freedom amid the smallest beginnings, and at war with the nation the shadow of whose haughty flag waved over half a conquered world, and whose fashions and language controlled the courts of Europe, the Dutch received the impetus which raised them to the rank
23
THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY.
of a great power. More than one hundred Protestant families, the very pith of the nation, were driven from Belgium by the Spaniards, and found their homes in Holland and Zealand. The ruin of the ancient trade and opulence of Belgium and the sudden expansion of the Dutch Republic were two sides of the same event. But the exiled Belgians had no inten- tion of remaining permanently in Northern Netherlands. They breathed a new element of commercial strength into the atmosphere, and at the same time were putting their shrewd heads together to devise some method by which Belgium might be delivered from the Spanish yoke. They well knew that the wide possessions of Spain were open to the resolute attacks of a vigorous foe. Finally, they originated the gigantic scheme of a warlike company of private adventurers, who should conquer or ruin the Spanish settlements, seize the Spanish transports, and cut off all communication with her Transatlantic dependencies. And they pro- posed to name it, very appropriately, the West India Company.
The obstacles in the way of putting so vast a project into execution were very great. John of Barneveld was at the head of affairs in the Dutch Republic, and advocated peace. He was too practical a philoso- pher not to appreciate the enormous advantages his country had just gained. The victorious return of the Belgians to their native province would only remove commerce and political lead to the south, and was in no case to be desired. He was fully determined to prevent the existence of any such warlike corporation as the one under consideration. But the Belgians found energetic allies. The lower classes in the Holland towns favored them because that Barneveld was hated for his aristocratic pro- clivities. Influential men from the other Dutch provinces lent their aid because the Advocate aimed at an overweening influence for Holland. The House of Orange gave them the hand of fellowship because this great family aspired to wider dominion and to a less limited authority than they had hitherto possessed.
The leader of the Belgian party was William Usselincx, an exiled Antwerp merchant of noble descent, whose force of will was simply mar- velous, and whose magnetic influence over his countrymen was so great that they seemed to think with his brain and act with his hand. His ready pen kept the political life of Holland in one continual ferment. He was opposed to peace with Spain under any circumstances. He said the quarrel was in its nature irreconcilable and eternal, because it was despotism sacerdotal and regal arrayed against the spirit of rational hu- man liberty. His arguments were convincing, and his wit was as flash- ing and as quickly unsheathed as a sword.
The Dutch revolt was in itself the practical overthrow of religious tyr-
24
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
anny. It was a healthy and, for the age, an enlightened movement. But theological disputes arose upon the ruins of popular delusions, even among the Protestants themselves. Arminius, from the ancient Univer- sity of Leyden, undertook the difficult task of justifying before the tribu- nal of human reason the doctrine of the condemnation of sinners pre- destined to evil. He publicly taught, also, that the ministers of the church ought to be dependent upon the civil authority. The municipali- ties caught at the cleverly thrown bait, and attempted to free themselves from the pretensions of the established clergy. Gomar, a celebrated scholar and a religious fanatic, defended the doctrines of the established Protestant church and its principles of ecclesiastical polity. He was an intimate associate of Usselincx ; and both, being courageous, crafty, far- seeing men, were anxious to prolong a war which would render 1606. the absolute government of the magistrates impossible, and sub- mission to the Prince of Orange a political necessity.
Thus two parties were formed which lasted down to the French Revo- lution, and even at the present day there remains of them nearly as much as of whiggism and toryism in England. They were divided in almost every question of public interest. The Belgian party were strict Calvin- ists and democrats, and their policy was to carry on the war with Spain until Belgium should be freed. The Barneveld party were Arminians, aristocrats, republicans, and quite content to give Belgium over to the Spaniards.
The question of the West India Company was agitated for nearly thirty years. Its actual existence dates from the year 1606. That is, commissioners were named from the Assembly at that period, and discus- sions were frequent in regard to it. But Barneveld, who was at the head of the Assembly, never seriously thought of confirming the corporation. He only wished to use it as a threat for the intimidation of Spain, and it was chiefly by this menace that the twelve years' truce was accomplished, which played so important a part in the history of the Netherlands.
The wrangling between the two political parties grew more fierce as the details of the peace negotiations became known. The river Scheldt was to be closed, Antwerp thus ruined, Belgium given up, and all attacks upon the Spanish forbidden. The peace party maintained the principle of excluding strangers from every employment, and of concentrating all public offices in a few patrician houses of the old stock. The impov- erished, but proud and fiery Belgian exiles looked with dismay at their gloomy prospects in the event of the truce being agreed upon, and put forth all their energies towards the accomplishment of the West India Company. Usselincx wrote a series of pamphlets, in style simple
25
THE TWELVE YEARS TRUCE.
and effective, and which belong to the most remarkable productions of that class of literature. They created such a sensation, and attracted to such a degree the attention of contemporary historians, that the most distin- guished of them all, Emanuel van Meteren, reprinted one of them entire.
But the pamphlets, like the plan for the West India Company, 1609. only served to accelerate the conclusion of the truce. The Ad-
vocate made a singular use of his adversary's weapons. A cessation of hostilities for twelve years was signed by the representatives of the two nations in 1609. It was a signal victory for the aristocratic party.
But ten years later the great statesman paid for it with his life. No sooner had the Calvinistic faction gained the ascendency than the West India Company became a fixed fact. And it was due almost entirely to the herculean exertions of Usselincx. It is singular that a man who has earned so honorable a place in history should be so little known to the world. It is true that he never held an official position, yet he founded two great commercial companies, which were so prolific in results that, had justice been properly meted out, his name would have been immor- talized. He contributed more than any power to annihilate Spain. He brought to New York the nation in which the principle of free commu- nities - the vital principle of American liberty - was carried out to its full extent. He made Sweden a maritime power. And by the success of his enterprises, he was, in 1629, instrumental in saving Holland from the Spanish yoke, -an act so vast in its consequences that for it alone he deserves the eternal gratitude of all Germanic Europe.
In the mean time, and just about the date of the conclusion of the twelve years' truce with Spain, the East India Company had unwit- tingly discovered Manhattan Island, with which account the next chapter opens.
Portrait of John of Barneveld.
26
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER II.
1609 - 1614.
HENRY HUDSON.
HENRY HUDSON. - HIS VOYAGES. - HE DISCOVERS MANHATTAN ISLAND. - HIS VOY- AGE UP THE HUDSON RIVER. - HIS VISIT TO AN INDIAN CHIEF. - HIS TRAGICAL FATE. - AMERICAN FURS. - SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. - VOYAGES TO MANHATTAN. -THE FUR TRADE. - BURNING OF THE TIGER. - BUILDING OF A SHIP AT MAN- HATTAN. - DESCRIPTION OF MANHATTAN ISLAND. - THE MANHATTAN INDIANS. - CUSTOMS AND DRESS. - MONEY AND POLITICS. - TRADING PRIVILEGES.
O F the personal history of the illustrious navigator Henry Hudson very little is known. The first view we have of him is in the church of St. Ethelburge, Bishopsgate Street, London, in the summer of 1607, whither he had gone with his crew to partake of the sacrament before sailing under the auspices of the Muscovy Company in search of a passage to " Asia across the North Pole." His whole life as known to the world extends only over a period of about four years; and there is no portrait of him, not even a contemporaneous print of doubtful authen- ticity. This is the more remarkable as he lived in an age when it was quite the fashion to preserve the pictures of celebrities.1 He appears be- fore us a manly man in middle life, well educated, courageous, cool, an expert in seamanship, and of wide experience in his country's service. Who he was, has been a matter of much speculation. His father was probably Christopher Hudson, one of the factors of the Muscovy Com- pany, and their agent in Russia as early as 1560, a personage who a little later was made governor of the company, - an office he retained with honor until 1601. The grandfather of the discoverer of New York is supposed to have been the Henry Hudson who, in 1554, figured among the founders, and was the first assistant, of the Muscovy Company.
ยท
1 Purchas His Pilgrimes and Pilgrimage. Hakluyt Collection of Voyages. Vol. I. N. Y. H. S. Coll. (First Series). Henry Hudson in Holland, by Hon. Henry C. Murphy. Henry Hudson the Navigator, by Dr. Asher, member of the Hakluyt Society of London. Histori- cal Inquiry concerning Henry Hudson, by General John M. Read, Jr. Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson, by Rev. B. F. de Costa.
27
HENRY HUDSON.
Hudson's voyage in 1607 resulted only in his attaining a much higher degree of northern latitude than any of his predecessors. 1607.
The next year he sailed north again, but returned without hav- ing achieved any further measure of success.
1608.
The news that such voyages were in progress traveled in due course of time to Holland, and rendered the Dutch East India Company uneasy lest the discovery of a short route to India by their industrious rivals should suddenly deprive them of a lucrative trade. The learned historian, Van Meteren, was the Dutch minister at the Court of St. James, and through him messages were transmitted inviting Hudson to visit Holland.
It was not long ere the famous sea-captain arrived at the Hague, 1609. and was received with much ceremony. The officers of the com- pany met, and all that had been discovered concerning the northern seas was carefully discussed. The Dutch had not been behind their neighbors in daring exploits. Even while raising enormous sums of money towards carrying on the war with Spain, they had bent every energy towards ex- tending their commerce. Merchant companies and private adventures had been encouraged and assisted by the government. A number of expeditions had endeavored to reach " China behind Norway," and trading monopolies had been established in Guinea and at Archangel ; in short, the sails of the nation whitened the waters of almost every clime. The noblemen who directed the affairs of the East India Company were as cautious as they were enterprising. Some of them had been so influenced by the repre- sentations of the sorely disappointed De Moucheron, Barentsen, Cornelis- sen, Heemskerck, and others, that they declared it would be a waste of time and money to attempt again the navigation of the vast oceans of ice. But Hudson stood before them full of enthusiasm, and expressed his ardent conviction that Asia might be reached by the northeast. Peter Plantius, a clergyman of the Reformed Dutch Church in Amsterdam, who had been engaged with Usselincx in trying to found the West India Company, opened a correspondence with Hudson, and sent him some of his own published works. Plantius had a profound knowledge of maritime affairs, the result of unwearied investigations, and he warmly seconded the effort to search for a northeastern passage. He said that the failure of Heemskerck in 1596 was due to his trying to go through the Straits of Weygate, instead of keeping to the north of the island of Nova Zembla.
After much delay, an expedition was finally planned and Hudson placed in command. The Amsterdam Chamber defrayed the expenses. They furnished a yacht, or Dutch galliot, - an awkward, clumsy kind of a brig, with square sails upon two masts. It was a tolerably safe craft, but a slow sailer, of forty lasts' or eighty tons' burden, and was called the 2
28
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
Half Moon. It was manned with a crew of twenty men, partly English and partly Dutch sailors. Hudson was instructed to pass by the north and northeast of Nova Zembla, towards the Straits of Anian, and to search for no other routes or passages but the one in question. He obeyed his employers to the letter, until the cold grew so intense that the seamen of the East India Company, who had been accustomed to warmer climates, became chilled and unfit for duty. Once or twice the vessel escaped as by a miracle from unknown currents, then mountains of ice encompassed it, and the crew were so terrified that they arrayed them- selves in open rebellion. Hudson's only alternative was to turn back. He at once gave his attention to searching for a passage to Asia through the American Continent. He was familiar with Verrazano's charts and
11
Hudson's Ship.
reports, and he was a personal friend of Captain John Smith, whose adventures in America were watched in England with critical inter- est. He had good reasons for supposing that there was some commu- nication with the South Sea at about the fortieth degree of latitude. He accordingly sailed southward as far as Virginia, then cruised along Sept. 2. the shore in a northerly direction until the 2d of September, when he anchored in sight of the beautiful hills of Neversink, which hold the post of honor near the portals to our island. The next day he ventured a little farther into the lower bay, and found what he
Sept. 3. supposed to be three great rivers, one of which he tried to enter, but was prevented by "the very shoal bar before it."
Sept. 4. On the morning of September 4th he sent out a small boat to explore and sound the water, and a good harbor was found where
29
HUDSON DISCOVERS MANHATTAN ISLAND.
the sea " was four and five fathoms, two cables' length from shore." A great many fine fish were also discovered. Indians were seen along the shores, and towards evening they came prospecting around the Half Moon in small canoes. They were dressed in skins, wore feathers in their hair, and were adorned with clumsy copper ornaments. They brought with them green tobacco, and offered it as a peace-offering. They were so civil that a party of the sailors landed among them the next day, and were very well and deferentially treated. In addition to
Sept. 5. tobacco, they seemed to have a great abundance of maize, or Indian corn, dried currants, and hemp.
On the 6th, John Coleman, an Englishman, who had been with Sept. 6. Hudson on his previous polar voyages, was sent with four seamen to sound the Narrows. They passed through Kill von Kull to Newark Bay. The sweetness of the inner land, and the crisp saltness of the distant sea, were mixed in one delicious breeze, and they reported the country " as pleasant with grass and flowers as any they had ever seen." While returning to the Half Moon late in the afternoon, they were at- tacked by some Indians in canoes, and John Coleman was killed by one of their arrows. The Indians doubtless fired at random, as there is no evidence that hostilities were continued, or any attempt made to capture the boat, which in the confusion might have been done with the greatest ease. Night came on, and the frightened sailors lost their light and their way, and were tossed about on the troubled sea until ten o'clock the next morning, when, with the remains of their murdered officer, Sept. 7. they were at last received upon the Half Moon. Coleman was buried upon a point of land near by, which was called Coleman's Point.
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