*

or near Marsapeague, at which place they had a fort, on a neck called from that period, in consideration of that circumstance, Fort Neck, the remains of which are still very distinct, which they had constructed for their defence, or which had been erected on some former occasion for the like purpose. That Captain John Underhill led a party against them, attacked and destroyed a number of them, took the fort, and kept possession of it in order to prevent the re-union of the Indians, to watch their movements, and to guard the English settlements against their incursions.

April 16th, 1663, the Dutch governor complained that Governor Winthrop had not, according to agreement, delivered Fort Solomon, on Long-Island, to the Dutch. It is presumed that Fort Solomon was the one on Fort Neck. It was in Oysterbay, to more or less of which the Dutch laid claim, and was the only fort in possession of the English within the territory which the Dutch pretended to claim.

It is impossible, at this distance of time, to judge of the propriety or necessity of this attack upon the Indians. The measure may have been warranted by the state of things at the time, and may have saved the English settlements from massacre and devastation.

It is probable that these Indians had been gained over by the intrigues of the Dutch, and had assembled in order to aid them in their projected enterprize against the English, and that the transaction took place in the summer of 1653.

The project of the Dutch miscarried by their inability to unite the Indians in the scheme, by the defeat of the Dutch fleet in Europe, and by the subsequent peace.

After the war, the colonists resumed their friendly relations, but the impressions made on the minds of the English, by the sanguinary project of the Dutch government, were never effaced but by the conquest, in 1664.

June 11th, 1666, the English Governor held a treaty at Hempstead with Takapausha, the Marsapeague sachem, and other tribes who had probably thrown off the authority of their grand sachem, and had united with the Dutch against the English, by which they made peace with the English and submitted to their government.

We have no further account of any difficulty with the LongIsland Indians until the time of King Philip's war. This was

*The fort is situated near the meadows, about the centre of the neck. Its form is quadrangular, with an opening of about twelve feet wide at the south east angle. The ditch is now three feet deep, and the embankment as much as three feet above the level of the adjoining plain. It probably extends about ten rods one way, and six the other.

the most destructive Indian war in which the New-England colonies had ever been involved. It commenced in June, 1675, and lasted till August, 1676, and during its continuance was attended with great destruction of property and the loss of many valuable lives.

From the proximity of Narragansett to Montauk, it was apprehended that the Long-Island Indians might be seduced by the Narragansets to aid them in their hostilities against the whites. To prevent this the governor of New-York determined to cut off all intercourse between them.

December 13th, 1675, the governor ordered all the canoes east of Hell-Gate to be seized, and delivered to the constables, to be laid up and secured within three days, and also ordered that all such canoes as should be found in the sound after that time should be destroyed.

This measure deprived the Indians of the means of crossing the sound, and effectually prevented their lending any assistance to the hostile Indians.

Since that period, no danger seems to have been apprehended from the Indians on Long-Island, and from that time they have gradually diminished and disappeared, till only a few families are left.

Of the political condition of the several towns in the Dutch Territory on Long Island.

The states general of the United Belgic Provinces, in their grant to the Dutch West India company, in 1621, reserved to themselves the power of commissioning the governor whom they should appoint.

The object of this reservation was to connect the interests of the company with the mother country, and to secure the supreme control over the whole empire.

The first governor mentioned in the Dutch records, is Wouter Van Twiller, who arrived at New-Amsterdam, now New-York, in June, 1629.

It is intimated in a letter of Governor Kieft, that Peter Minuit preceded Van Twiller, and very probably he was preceded by others, either as commercial or political superintendents of the Dutch establishments.

William Kieft succeeded Van Twiller in March, 1638, and he was succeeded by Peter Stuyvesant in May 1647, who continued in power till the conquest by the English, in 1664. All the powers of government, executive, legislative, and judicial, civil and ecclesiastical, were vested in the governor and council.

The governor, directly or indirectly, appointed all public officers, framed all the laws, and decided all important controversies, heard appeals from subordinate magistrates, and required them to send such cases as were pending before them, to the council, to be decided as he thought fit.

April 12th, 1660, the governor ordered the magistrates of Rustdorpe, or Jamaica, to refer a certain cause then pending before them, to the council to be determined.

April 26th, 1660, the magistrates of Middleburgh, or NewTown, were ordered to do the same.

The governor ordered churches to be built-he installed ministers, and directed where and when they should preach, and he excluded such from teaching, whose tenets he did not approve.

The governor had the sole prerogative over the public lands. The Indian title was extinguished by him, or by individuals with his consent.

The governor granted such lands as had been purchased of the Indians, to individuals or companies for settlement. These grants were generally, if not uniformly, made subject to a reservation or quit-rent of one tenth of the produce, to become payable ten years after the date of the grant.

From the complaints of the delegates who met in 1653, to lay their grievances before the governor and council, it appears that the governor exercised his prerogative in a capricious manner, sometimes refusing lands to settlers, and at other times making large grants to favorites.

Of the Dutch Towns.

It appears that the Dutch towns were settled by the casual concurrence of individuals, without any previous regulations relative to their organization, or the administration of justice among them. Nor does it appear that they entered into any bond of union among themselves for self government.

In the infancy of the settlements, the governor appointed magistrates in the several villages, with more or less power as he judged proper, without any uniformity as to their number or title of office.

In 1660, on a petition of the inhabitants of New-Utrecht, the governor appointed a scout or constable, a secretary, and an assessor, with power to divide the land that was held in common, by lot among the proprietors-to see that the fields were fenced-to open a common street through the villageto erect a block house in the centre, with a mill in it, and a

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well by it, at the common expense, and to decide all differences, and to do as all other subaltern village courts are accustomed to do.

From this it appears that the first magistrates in the several villages, had full power to regulate the police, and provide for the security of the village.

After the settlers had become more numerous, and the towns were enlarged, they were permitted to choose their own magistrates, subject to the approbation of the governor. It would also seem that the powers of the magistrates were then enlarged, but were not defined by any general law, and were in a great measure discretionary.

In 1646, Brooklyn was permitted to choose two magistrates, who were authorized "to give judgment in all events as they should deem proper, not contrary to the charter of New-Netherland ;" and to give complete effect to their authority, the governor ordered that if any one disobeyed the decision of the magistrates, he should forfeit his right to the lands within the village *

In 1661, the governor enlarged the powers of the magis trates, or rather established a new court with larger and more definite powers than he had before granted. The magistrates who were chosen and allowed for this court, were authorised to decide all controversies between master and servant, master and apprentice, buyer and seller, landlord and tenant, and also to take cognizance of breaches of the peace, and other misdemeanors.

The Dutch courts proceeded rccording to the rules of the civil law, which was the Dutch common law.

The Dutch towns seem to have been governed principally by the ordinances of police enjoined by their magistrates.

Of the English Towns under the Dutch.

The English who settled the towns of Hempstead, Graves. end, Flushing, Jamaica, and Newtown, became Dutch subjects, and were permitted to hold land, enjoy liberty of conscience, and to choose their own magistrates, subject to the approbation of the governor.

Hempstead and Gravesend were incorporated towns, and were authorized to choose their own magistrates, who were to be presented to the governor for his approbation, and also a scout and clerk.

*This privilege seems not to have been extended to any other town, from which it is presumed that no other town was at that time so populous as to require them.

The magistrates were vested with power to hold courts, civil and criminal, with a limited jurisdiction, and to make ordinances for the welfare and good government of the towns respectively.

Flushing was also partially incorporated, but was by its charter only authorized to elect a scout or constable with power to preserve good order, heal differences, and report all cases of importance to the governor. It is probable that the people of Flushing were afterwards indulged with the power of choosing magistrates like the other towns.

Jamaica and Newtown were permitted to choose their own magistrates, subject to the confirmation of the governor. It was the practice in these, if not in all the English towns, to choose double the number to which they were entitled, out of which the governor named those that should serve.

In all the English towns, the people chose a certain number of men, whom they called townsmen, to superintend the civil concerns of the town for which they were elected. They co-operated with the magistrates in the incorporated towns, and in the other towns made all such regulations as they judged beneficial to the town; (except such as related to the admission of settlers, and the granting of lands,) which were to be submitted to the people in town-meeting for them to confirm or annul.*

It is probable the courts in the English towns for some time decided without a jury; but towards the latter part of the time they were under the Dutch, they seem, in one town at least, to have made an effort to adopt the principles of the common law.

December 1st, 1663, the town of Jamaica resolved, in town meeting, that the magistrates of that town should proceed according to the laws of England, as near as they could." The English towns under the Dutch government, seem to have been governed principally by the ordinances of their townsmen, and the acts made at their town meetings.

The power of the townsmen seems to have extended to all such regulations as related to the police of the towns-they prescribed rules for the making and repairing of fences-they regulated the time when the cattle should be turned into the common fields and taken out, and prescribed the rules by which the herdsmen were to be governed. March 17th, 1659, the magistrates of Hempstead resolved "to stand by and bear out the townsmen in giving effect to all such rules and orders at they should make for the good of the town, that year, except such as relate to the admission of inhabitants and the granting of land."-These last two powers were in all the towns reserved as the sole prerogative of the whole people in town meeting.

It was usual for the magistrates of Hempstead, after every election, at least for a series of years, to adopt similar resolutious.