USA > New York > History of the state of New York Vol I > Part 2
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CHAPTER XV. 1649-1651.
Death of Charles I., 498 ; Threatened Rupture between England and the Nether- lands, 499; Death of Winthrop, and Correspondence with New England, 499; The Dutch and other Foreigners forbidden to trade with the New England Sav- ages, 500; Stuyvesant and the Nine Men, 501; Proceedings against Van der Donck, 502; Case of Kuyter and Melyn, 503; Memorial of the Nine Men to the States General, 504; Burgher Government demanded ; Remarks and Observa- tions of the Nine Men, 505; Vertoogh, or Remonstrance of New Netherland, 506; Delegates sent to Holland, 507; Domine Backerus succeeded by Megapo- lensis, 508; Van Tienhoven sent to Holland as Stuyvesant's Representative, 509; Katskill, Claverack, and Weckquaesgeek, 510; Lands purchased on the South River, 510, 511 ; The popular Delegates at the Hague, 511; Publication of the Vertoogh, 512 ; Letter of the West India Company's Chamber at Amster- dam, 512; Measures to promote Emigration, 513; Provisional Order for the Government of New Netherland, 514; Opposed by the Amsterdam Chamber, 515; Domine Grasmeer, 516 ; Municipal Affairs of New Amsterdam, 517; Stuy- vesant's Opposition to Reforms, 517; The Director visits Hartford, 518 ; Provis- ional Treaty arranged, 519, 520; Dissatisfaction of the Commonalty at New Am- sterdam, 521 ; Affairs at Rensselaerswyck, 522; Van der Donck and Van Tien- hoven in Holland, 523; Return of Van Tienhoven, 524; Melyn on Staten Island, 525 ; Van Dincklagen and Van Schelluyne oppressed, 526 ; Gravesend and Heem- stede support Stuyvesant, 526, 527; Expedition from New Haven to the South River defeated, 527; Van Slechtenhorst arrested at New Amsterdam, 528 ;
xi
CONTENTS.
Stuyvesant visits the South River, 529; Fort Nassau demolished, and Fort Cas- imir built, 529; Dyckman appointed Commissary at Fort Orange in Place of Lab- batie, 530 ; Proposed Exploration of the Katskill Mountains, 531.
CHAPTER XVI. 1652-1653.
Fiscal Van Dyck superseded, and Van Tienhoven promoted, 532 ; Troubles at Bev- erwyck, 533 ; Stuyvesant again at Fort Orange, 534; Annexation of Beverwyck to Fort Orange, 535; John Baptist van Rensselaer Director, and Gerrit Swart Schout of Rensselaerswyck, 535; Settlement at Atkarkarton, or Esopus, 536 ; Middelburg or Newtown, and Midwout or Flatbush, on Long Island, 536; Van Werckhoven's Purchases on Long Island and New Jersey, 537; Domine Dris- ius, 537; Domine Schaats, 538; Opposition of the Amsterdam Chamber to the Provisional Order, 539; Burgher Government conceded to Manhattan, 540; In- structions for Schout of New Amsterdam, 541; The States General recall Stuy- vesant, 541 ; His Recall revoked, 542; Proposed Union between England and the Netherlands, 542; English Act of Navigation, 543; Failure of proposed Treaty, 544 ; Naval War between the Dutch and English, 545; Precautions of the States General and the Amsterdam Chamber, 546; Maritime Superiority of Manhattan predicted, 547; Its Condition and Population, 548 ; Organization of the municipal Government of the City of New Amsterdam, 548, 549; Critical Condition of the Province ; Preparations for Defense, 549; First City Debt, 550 ; State of Feeling in New England ; Charges against the Dutch, 550, 551 ; Agents sent to New Netherland, and Preparations for War, 552; Conduct of the New England Agents, and Propositions of the Dutch, 553; Stuyvesant's Reply to the Commissioners, 554; Substance of the Charges against him, 555; Underhill's seditious Conduct on Long Island, 556 ; Is banished, and goes to Rhode Island, 556 ; Massachusetts at Variance with the Commissioners, 557; Prevents a War with New England, 558 ; Fort Good Hope seized by Underhill, 558; Stuyvesant sends an Embassy to Virginia, 559 ; Disagrees with the City Authorities of New Amsterdam, 560; Return of Van der Donck ; His " Description of New Nether- land," 561; De Sille appointed Counselor, and Van Ruyven Provincial Secretary, 561; Domine Drisius sent on an Embassy to Virginia, 562; Affairs of Rensse- laerswyck, 562 ; The Mohawks and the French, 563; Father Poncet restored, 564 ; Temper of the New England Governments, 564, 565; Piracies on Long Island Sound, 565; Libelous Pamphlet published in London, 566; The Bound- ary Question in Holland, 567; Stuyvesant surrenders the Excise to the City, 568; Disaffection among the English on Long Island, 568; Meeting of Delegates at New Amsterdam, 569 ; " Landtdag" or Convention called, 570 ; It meets at New Amsterdam, 571; Remonstrance of the Convention, 571; Its Character, 572 ; Stuyvesant's Reply, 573; Rejoinder of the Convention, 574; The Convention dissolved, 575; Letter of Burgomasters and Schepens of New Amsterdam to the West India Company, 575 ; Letter from Gravesend, 576; Affairs on the South River, 576 ; Departure of Printz, 577; John Rising appointed Deputy Governor of New Sweden, 577.
xii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVII. 1654-1655.
New Amsterdam Affairs, 578; Precautionary Measures, 579; Breuckelen, Amers- foort, and Midwout incorporated, 580 ; Church at Midwout or Flatbush, and Dom- ine Polhemus called, 581 ; Illiberal Treatment of Lutherans at New Amsterdam, 582 ; Cromwell's Expedition against New Netherland, 582; Sequestration of Fort Good Hope by Connecticut, 583; New Amsterdam put in a State of Defense, 584; Warlike Preparations in New England, 585; Treaty of Peace between En- gland and Holland, and Countermand of hostile Orders, 586; Thanksgiving in New Netherland, 587; Letters of the Company to Stuyvesant and to the City Authorities, 587; Grant of a City Hall and Seal to New Amsterdam, 588 ; Kuy- ter murdered, and Van Tienhoven continued as City Schout, 588 ; Ferry at Man- hattan regulated, 589; War Tax laid; Excise resumed by Stuyvesant, 590 ; Troubles at Beverwyck, 591; Father Le Moyne discovers the Salt Springs at Onondaga, 592 ; Rising at the South River, 593; Captures Fort Casimir, and names it Fort Trinity, 593; Swedish Ship seized at Manhattan, 594; English Settlements at West Chester and Oyster Bay, 595; Stuyvesant visits Lady Moody at Gravesend, 596 ; Delivers Seal and Coat of Arms to Burgomasters at New Amsterdam, 596; Sails for the West Indies, 597; Baxter, Hubbard, and Grover at Gravesend, 597; Protest against the Settlers at West Chester, 598 ; De Decker appointed Commissary at Fort Orange in Place of Dyckman, 599; Affairs at Gravesend, 599 ; The Boundary Question in Holland, 600; Stuyvesant ordered to recover Fort Casimir, 601 ; Letter of West India Company to Burgo- masters of New Amsterdam, 602; Stuyvesant returns from the West Indies, 603 ; Expedition to the South River, 604; Capitulation of the Swedes, 605; Es- tablishment of the Dutch Power on the South River, 606; Indian Invasion 01 New Amsterdam, 607; Hoboken, Pavonia, and Staten Island laid waste; Eso- pus deserted, 607; Measures for Defense ; Ransom of Prisoners, 608; Jacquet appointed Vice Director on the South River, 609; Assistance asked from Hol- land, and Precautions against the Savages proposed, 610; Stuyvesant prohibits New Year and May Day Sports, 611; Father Le Moyne at Beverwyck, 611; New Alliance between the Dutch and the Mohawks, 611; Chaumonot and Dablon ; Jesuit Chapel at Onondaga, 612.
CHAPTER XVIII. 1656-1658.
Proclamation to form Villages, 613; Stuyvesant and the Municipal Government of New Amsterdam, 613; Religious Affairs in New Netherland, 614-616 ; Procla- mation against unauthorized Conventicles, 617; Disapproved by the West India Company, 617; Expedition sent to West Chester, 618 ; Oostdorp or West Ches- ter, and Rustdorp or Jamaica incorporated, 619; Baxter escapes to New En- gland, 620 ; Swedish Ship seized at the South River, 620; Ratification of the Hart- ford Treaty by the States General, 621; Complaints of the Swedish Government, 622 ; Van Tienhoven dismissed from public Service, 622 ; Survey and Population of New Amsterdam, 623 ; Troubles at Beverwyck about the Excise, 623; Van Rensselaer fined and ordered to give Bonds, 624; New Church at Beverwyck, 624,
xiii
CONTENTS.
625; La Montagne appointed Vice Director at Fort Orange in Place of De Decker, 625 ; Unsatisfactory Correspondence with New England, 625 ; Lutherans at New Amsterdam, and Baptists at Flushing, 626 ; Affairs at Oostdorp, 627; Great and Small Burgher Right established at New Amsterdam, 628, 629 ; The West India Company conveys Fort Casimir and the adjacent Territory to the City of Am- sterdam, 630 ; Colony of New Amstel; Alrichs appointed Director, 630, 631 ; Transfer of Fort Casimir, and Organization of Colony of New Amstel, 632 ; Fort Christina named Altona, and Jacquet succeeded by Hudde, 633 ; Domine Welius and Church at New Amstel, 633; Cromwell's Letter to the English on Long Island, 634; Lutheran Clergyman at New Amsterdam, 635; The People called Quakers, 635; Penal Laws of Massachusetts, 635; Liberality of Rhode Island, 636 ; Quakers at New Amsterdam, 636; Proclamation against Quakers, 637 ; Remonstrance of Flushing, 637; Its Charter modified, 638; Persecution of Quak- ers, 638, 639 ; Nomination of Magistrates allowed to New Amsterdam, 640 ; For- eigners ; Municipal Affairs ; Latin School, 640, 641; New Haerlem and Staten Island, 641 ; Bergen and Gamoenepa, or Communipa, 642 ; The West India Com- pany enjoins religious Moderation, 642, 643 ; Jesuit Mission at Onondaga ; Saint Mary's of Genentaha, 644 ; Le Moyne at New Amsterdam, 645; Commerce be- tween New Netherland and Canada, 646; Abandonment of the French Settle- ment at Onondaga, 646 ; Outrages of the Indians at Esopus, 647; Stuyvesant's Conference with the Esopus Savages, 648 ; Village laid out at Esopus, 649 ; Jer- emias Van Rensselaer Director of Rensselaerswyck, 649; Mohawks at Fort Or- ange, 650; Dirck Smit Commandant at Esopus, 651 ; Stuyvesant visits Altona, 651 ; Willem Beeckman appointed Vice Director on the South River, 652; Af- fairs at New Amstel, 653; Death of Cromwell, and Downfall of the Protector- ate, 653.
CHAPTER XIX. 1659-1660.
Territorial Claims of Massachusetts, 654; Exploring Party refused a Passage up the North River, 655 ; The West India Company allows New Netherland a For- eign Trade, 656 ; Curtius Latin Schoolmaster at New Amsterdam, 656; Liber- ality in Religion enjoined, 656; Hermanus Blom called to Esopus, 657; Fresh Troubles with the Savages, 658; Delegation from Beverwyck to the Mohawks at Caughnawaga, 659 ; Expedition from New Amsterdam to Esopus, 660; Affairs at New Amstel, 661; Copper Mine at Minnisinck, 662; Beeckman purchases near Cape Hinlopen, 663 ; Designs of the Maryland Government, 663; Utie at New Amstel, 664; Conference with the Dutch Officers, 665; Heerman's and Waldron's Embassy to Maryland, 666; Negotiations with Governor Fendall, 667-669 ; Death of Domine Welius and of Director Alrichs, 670; Southampton, Easthampton, Huntington, and Setauket, on Long Island, 671; Letter of Com- missioners to Stuyvesant in favor of the Massachusetts Claim, 672; Stuyvesant's Reply, 673; His Dispatches to the Company, 674; Tonneman Schout of New Amsterdam ; Second Survey of the City, 674; New Haerlem incorporated, 674 ; Treaty with the Long Island and other Indians, 675; War against the Esopus Savages, 676 ; Stuyvesant refuses to organize a Court at Esopus, 677; Opposes the Employment of the Mohawks, 677; Conference and Treaty with the Esopus Indians, 678 ; " Bosch-loopers" at Fort Orange, 679 ; Stuyvesant's Conference
xiv
CONTENTS.
with the Senecas, 679 ; Domine Blom settled at Esopus, 680 ; Domine Selyns at Breuckelen and the Director's Bouwery, 680, 681; Lutherans at Beverwyck, 681; Hinoyossa succeeds Alrichs at New Amstel, 682; Treaty between New Netherland and Virginia, 683; Sir Henry Moody's Embassy to Manhattan, 683 ; Berkeley's Correspondence with Stuyvesant, 684; Restoration of Charles II., 684 ; Lord Baltimore and the West India Company, 685; The Company's Me- morial to the States General, 686; English Council for Foreign Plantations, 686.
CHAPTER XX. 1661-1664.
English Jealousy of the Dutch, 687; Liberal Conditions offered by the West India Company to English Emigrants to New Netherland, 688; Stuyvesant again per- secutes Quakers, 689 ; Charter of Wiltwyck, or Wildwyck, at Esopus ; Roelof Swartwout Schout, 690; Purchase of "Schonowe," or Schenectady Flats, 691 ; Bergen incorporated ; Tielman van Vleeck Schout, 691, 692; Staten Island ; Domine Drisius preaches there in French, 692; New Utrecht and Boswyck, or Bushwick, incorporated, 693; The "Five Dutch Towns," 693; Affairs at New Amsterdam ; a Mint contemplated ; Curtius succeeded by Luyck ; Reputation of the Latin School, 694; Salt-works on Coney Island, 694; Connecticut petitions the King for a Charter, 695; Winthrop sails from New Amsterdam, 695; Pro- posed Puritan Settlement in New Netherland ; Stuyvesant's Concessions, 696 ; Calvert on the South River, 697; Mennonists propose to colonize the Horekill, 698 ; Singular Articles of Association, 698, 699 ; Plockhoy, their Leader, 699 ; Beeckman and Hinoyossa, 699 ; Sir George Downing, the British Ambassador at the Hague, 700; Lord Baltimore's and Lord Stirling's Claims, 701; Convention between the United Provinces and Great Britain, 701; Berkeley and Winthrop in London ; Royal Charter for Connecticut, 702 ; Encroaching Claims of the Con- necticut Court, 703; West Chester and Long Island Towns annexed, 703; Le Moyne again among the Iroquois, 704; The Mohawks on the Kennebeck, 704; Governor Breedon's Complaints, and Stuyvesant's Interposition, 704; Tracy Viceroy of Canada, 705; Progress of Quakerism on Long Island, 705; Banish- ment of Bowne, 706; The West India Company enjoins Toleration, and Perse- cution ceases, 707; Terms offered to Puritans desiring to settle themselves on the Raritan, 708; Connecticut enforces its Claims of Jurisdiction, 709; Earth- quake, 709 ; Small-pox at Beverwyck, and non-intercourse Regulations of Con- necticut, 710; New Village at Esopus ; "Ronduit" on the Kill, 710; Wiltwyck surprised by the Savages, 711 ; Expedition sent from New Amsterdam, 712; In- vasion of the Esopus Country, and Destruction of Indian Forts on the Shawan- gunk Kill, 712, 713; Party sent to the Sager's Kill, 713, 714; The South River ceded to the City of Amsterdam, 714-716 ; Calvert at New Amstel and Altona, 717; Hinoyossa and Beeckman, 717; Stuyvesant visits Boston, and negotiates with the Commissioners, 718; Difficulties on Long Island, 719; Dutch Commis- sioners sent to Hartford, 720 ; Unsatisfactory Negotiation, 721 ; Act of Connecti- cut respecting the West Chester and Long Island Towns, 722; Convention called at New Amsterdam, 722 ; Remonstrance to the West India Company, 723; Names of English Villages on Long Island changed, 723; Stuyvesant surrenders them and West Chester to Connecticut, 723; English Party on the Raritan ; Purchase of the Nevesinck Lands, 724; Baxter and Scott in London, 725; Scott on Long
XV
CONTENTS.
Island, 726 ; Combination of English Villages ; Scott chosen President, 726; Con ditional Arrangement at Jamaica, 727; Agreement between Stuyvesant and Scott, 728; General Provincial Assembly at New Amsterdam, 729; Charter of the West India Company explained and confirmed by the States General, 730 ; Letters to the Towns, 730; Arrival of Huguenots, 730; Treaty of Peace with the Esopus Savages, 731 ; Beeckman Commissary at Esopus, 732 ; Settlement at Schaen- hechstede, or Schenectady, 732 ; The Mohawks and the Abenaquis, 732 ; Ravages of the Mahicans, and Alarm at Fort Orange, 733; Winthrop's Proceedings on Long Island, 734; Stuyvesant still hopeful, 734 ; Royal Patent to the Duke of York and Albany, 735; Royal Commissioners, 736 ; Colonel Richard Nicolls dis- patched with a Squadron to surprise New Netherland, 736 ; Grant of New Jersey, 736 ; Preparations to defend New Amsterdam, 736 ; Stuyvesant goes to Fort Or- ange, 737; Royal Commissioners at Boston, 737; Squadron anchors in Nyack Bay, 738; Manhattan summoned to surrender, 739; Stuyvesant tears Nicolls's Letter, 739 ; Ships anchor before Fort Amsterdam, 740; Condition of the City, 741; Capitulation agreed to, 742; Surrender of New Amsterdam, 742; Nicolls pro- claimed Governor ; his opinion of the City called "New York," 743; Surrender of Fort Orange ; named Fort Albany, 744; Reduction of the South River, 744; New York, Albania, and Yorkshire named, 745; Review; Character and Influ- ence of the Founders of New York, 745-750.
APPENDIX.
Note A
Page 751
Note B
752
Note C
753
Note D
753 Note E
754
Note F
755
Note G
755
Note H
756 757
Note I
Note K
758
Note L
758 759
Note N
760
Note O
760
Note P
760 761
Note Q
Note R
761
762 Note S
Note M
GENERAL INDEX 765
X
HISTORY
OF THE
STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAPTER I.
IN the beginning of the seventeenth century, moment- CHAP. I. ous events, which had been agitating Europe, led the way to the permanent colonization of the northern regions of tion. Introduc- America. The art of printing had gradually diffused the learning of the cloister through the marts of commerce ; a venerable but abused faith no longer shackled emanci- pated mind ; a recent inductive philosophy was teaching mankind to seek the fruits of careful experiment ; and an irrepressible spirit of adventure, growing with the prog- ress of knowledge, prompted enterprise in the New World which the genius of Columbus had given to the Old.
The immortal Genoese, who, in those late years fore- 1492. told at Rome, had verified the sublime prophecy of Sene- ca, and made the ocean reveal the long-mysterious earth beyond the furthest Thule, had worked out his grand dem- onstration in the service of Spain. By her the splendid prize was claimed. But Portugal, having already ex- plored the Azores, boldly asserted a superior right. The question was referred to the Pope ; and Alexander the Papal dona- Sixth decided that the sovereigns of Spain should hold, tion of the New World to Spain. as a gift in perpetuity, all the heathen lands found or 1493. 4th May. to be discovered to the west of a meridian, one hundred leagues westward of the Azores. The apostolic decree did
A
2
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1493.
CHAP. I. not satisfy Portugal ; and it was agreed that the line of partition should be advanced two hundred and seventy leagues further to the west. Still, nearly all the New World remained actually included in the papal donation to Spain .*
But the Pontiff's sweeping grant was not universally respected. Leaving Spain and Portugal to push their con- English and French quests in the rich and sultry regions of the south, England discoveries. and France commenced an early rivalry in exploring the rugged and picturesque territories of the north. Disre- garding the edict of the Vatican, almost simultaneously they began their grand career of transatlantic enterprise. Cabot. While the Cabots, under commissions of Henry the Sev- enth, after discovering Newfoundland, sailed along the 1497-8. continent, from Labrador to the parallel of Gibraltar, and, 1517. in a succeeding reign, perhaps entered the Arctic Seas westward of Greenland, the fishermen of Normandy visit- 1504. ed Cape Breton, and made rude charts of the great gulf 1506. within; and Verazzano, under a commission of Francis Verazzano. the First, coasting northward from the Carolinas, explored, 1524. with his boat, the "most beautiful" Bay of New York,t and anchored awhile in the "very excellent harbor" of Newport. But, though plans of colonization were sug- gested in England and France, permanent occupation was
* Hazard's Historical Collections, i., 3-6 ; Chalmers's Political Annals, 10; Herrera, i., 2, 10 ; Irving's Columbus, i., 185-200 ; Prescott's Ferd. and Isab., ii., 116, 174, 181 ; Thorne, in Hakluyt's "Divers Voyages," &c., 43-47, reprinted by the Hakluyt Society of London, 1850.
t Verazzano thus describes the Narrows, and the Bay of New York : " After proceed- ing one hundred leagues, we found a very pleasant situation among some steep hills, through which a very large river, deep at its mouth, forced its way to the sea. From the sea to the estuary of the river, any ship heavily laden might pass, with the help of the tide, which rises eight feet. But as we were riding at anchor in a good berth, we would not venture up in our vessel, without a knowledge of the mouth ; therefore we took the boat, and entering the river, we found the country on its banks well peopled, the inhab- itants not differing much from the others, being dressed out with the feathers of birds of various colors. They came toward us with evident delight, raising loud shouts of admi- ration, and showing us where we could most securely land with our boat. We passed up this river about half a league, when we found it formed a most beautiful lake, three leagues in circuit, upon which they were rowing thirty or more of their small boats, from one shore to the other, filled with multitudes who came to see us. All of a sudden, as is wont to happen to navigators, a violent contrary wind blew in from the sea, and forced us to return to our ship, greatly regretting to leave this region, which seemed so commodious and delightful, and which we supposed must also contain great riches, as the hills showed many indications of minerals."-Letter to King Francis I., of July 8, 1524, translated by Mr. Cogswell, in N. Y. H. S. Coll., i. (second series), 45, 46.
3
THE FRENCH IN CANADA. .
delayed. Not a solitary emigrant established his home CHAP. I. along all the indented line of coast .*
Jacques Cartier, an experienced mariner of Saint Malo, Cartier in following, a few years after Verazzano's adventurous voy- Canada. age, discovered the mouth of the " Great River of Cana- 1534. da." The next year, returning with three well-fitted ves- sels, Cartier passed westward of Newfoundland on the festival of Saint Lawrence, and, in honor of the martyr, 1535. gave his name to the noble gulf which stretched beyond. Pursuing his way up the great river, and holding friendly intercourse with the Hurons and Algonquins along its banks, the enterprising explorer visited the island of Hochelaga, the fertile hill on which, he named " Mont 3 October. Real." After wintering his ships in the little river just north of the present city of Quebec, Cartier solemnly erect- 1536. ed a cross, and, claiming the surrounding regions as the 6 May. rightful possessions of his sovereign king, Francis I., set sail once more for Saint Malo.
Cartier's reports on his return to France, though they did not arouse a general spirit of enterprise among his countrymen, stimulated François de la Roque, lord of Ro- Robervai. berval, a nobleman of Picardy, to obtain from the king a 1540. patent as viceroy over the newly-discovered French ter- 15 January. ritories on the Saint Lawrence. With Roberval was as- sociated Cartier, as captain and pilot-in-chief. Return- 19 October. ing to the Saint Lawrence, Cartier built a rude fort, not far from the site of Quebec, and thus gave to his country the pre-eminence of having erected the first European post 1541.
* Hazard, i., 9, 10 ; Chalmers, 4, 7, 8 ; Holmes's Annals, i., 13-54 ; Bancroft, i., 8-17, 75, 76 ; Biddle's "Memoir of Cabot ;" C. Robinson's " Voyages to America ;" Hakluyt's " Divers Voyages." In 1501, Cortereal, a Portuguese, visited Newfoundland and Labra- dor, but his voyages produced no practical results. Verazzano's Letter to King Francis I., of July 8, 1524, giving an account of his discoveries, is the earliest original description now extant, of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Translations of that letter are in N. Y. II. S. Collections, i., 45-60 (from Ramusio), and in i. (second series), 39-67 (from the Magliabecchian MSS.). In the Hakluyt Society's reprint of " Hakluyt's Divers Voyages," the translation of Verazzano's letter (from Ramusio) is accompanied by a fac-simile of the rare map which Michael Lock, of London, made and dedicated to Sir Philip Sydney, in 1582. This map, it appears, was constructed partly from "an old excellent mappe," which Verazzano himself had given to King Henry VIII., and which, when Hakluyt pub- lished his work (in 1582), was "yet in the custodie of Master Locke." The name by which the New World is now unworthily known, was not, at the time of Verazzano's voyage, applied to the Northern Continent ; at all events. Verazzano does not use the term " America" in his letter.
10 August
4
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. I. in the northern territory of America. But divided author- 1542. ity frustrated the discordant enterprise ; and, for a long generation, no further American discoveries were prose- cuted by the subjects of France .*
Frobisher's Voyages. Forty years after Cartier first ascended the Saint Law- rence, Martin Frobisher, "one of the boldest men who ever ventured upon the ocean," encouraged by the favor of Eliz- abeth to search for a northwest passage to China, made his 1576. way to a group of islands off the coast of Labrador. A few stones brought back to London, from the desolate abode of the Esquimaux, were supposed to contain gold ; 1577-8. and new expeditions were sent to the imaginary Dorado. But Frobisher's voyages were all unsuccessful. While credulous avarice was signally disappointed, the coasts of North America remained unexplored by the English.t
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