Peter of New Amsterdam: A Story of Old New York

by Harry Castlemon

  It was on a certain Easter Monday, when all over the city the young menand maidens were playing at egg cracking, that Master Stuyvesant's planfor punishing those who did not choose to go to the same church as didhe, was begun.

  The Dutch had brought with them from Holland all the old games such asare played to-day; but the favorite among them was the cracking of eggson Easter Monday, and I dare venture to say every young person in thisland of America knows the game well by this time.

  The shops were gay with boiled eggs of various colors, hung in thewindows by many-colored ribbons, and it is not much straining at thetruth to say that every person in New Amsterdam, save those who, likethe soldiers, could not leave their posts of duty, was in the street,walking to and fro watching the young people as they strove to see howmany eggs they could capture by cracking them, when a Quaker, and anEnglishman at that, was taken into custody for preaching nearby NewAmsterdam without permission of Master Stuyvesant.

  Although this was directly opposite to what the West India Company hadsaid might be done in such portion of the new land as they claimed, itwould have passed almost unheeded had the arrest been made quietly; but,so I have heard it said, and so I believe, Master Stuyvesant himselfgave positive commands as to how the prisoner should be treated, andwhat should be done with him before he was lodged in jail.

  PUNISHING THE QUAKER

  A godly man was this Quaker, and yet he was tied face down to the backend of a cart, in which were two women accused of giving him shelter,and this sorry spectacle was paraded through the streets in the midst ofour merrymaking.

  Even though the man had been accused of some crime, it would have beenmore to the credit of our Director had he been lodged in jail withoutfirst marching him up and down that all the people might look upon thedisgrace.

  That he had done no more than preach the word of God in a manner such aswas not set down by the rules of the Dutch Reformed Church, caused thearrest to seem much like wickedness, and there were many persons in NewAmsterdam who in private cried out against it, for to speak in thosedays openly against whatsoever the Director commanded was cause forimprisonment in the dungeons, as in the case of Master Keller's raisinghis voice against the capture of the Swedish forts.

  Nor was this punishment, severe though you will say it was, all that theDirector imposed upon the God-fearing Quaker. He ordered that unless hecould pay the sum of six hundred florins at once, he should be chainedto a wheelbarrow by the side of a negro, who had been condemned to suchlabor for the good of the city because of having brutally beaten aDutchman, and this for the term of two years.

  The Quaker refused to move when they chained him to the black man, andit seemed to me well that he did so; but the refusal cost him dearly,for he was hung up by the thumbs and beaten with thirty lashes eachmorning for the space of four days, when a sister of Master Stuyvesantmercifully begged for, and succeeded in obtaining, the prisoner'srelease.

  Now you may be certain that our people of New Amsterdam, althoughknowing what might be their punishment for speaking against such an act,did not hold their tongues.

  Wherever two or three of the common people were gathered on the green,or in the streets, there could one hear harsh words spoken against theDirector, and because of such tongue-wagging there were seventeen freemen of New Amsterdam at one time imprisoned in the jail by the orders ofMaster Stuyvesant.

  OTHER PERSECUTIONS

  Instead of seeking to soothe the people, our Director became more harshand severe in such matters, and followed the arrest by sending back toHolland a preacher who had come at the request of the Lutherans of ourcity. Fathers and mothers to the number of six were put in jail becauseof refusing to have their children baptized in the Dutch church,desiring it should be done according to the Lutheran faith.

  That he fined the Baptist preacher one thousand pounds and banished himfrom the West India Company's lands, was no secret, since it was alldone in open court with our Director acting both as judge and jury, andthis despite the charter sent from Holland.

  I might go on until you were wearied, telling of the religiouspersecutions in New Amsterdam while Master Stuyvesant was Director; butthere is no good reason why one should repeat each case of suffering.

  It is enough that it was done, and verily did it seem to me in laterdays, that in the doing of it Master Stuyvesant was digging a pit forhis own downfall.

  To you who hear these things after they have passed, and concerningpeople whom you know not, they seem of but little importance; but to onelike myself, who had been told on the other side of the ocean that thisnew land of America would be a refuge for all who were oppressed becauseof their faith, it is a sore that will take long in the healing.

  DULL TRADE

  It seems to me, as I look back upon it, that at about the time MasterStuyvesant was hunting down with such a heavy hand those people who didnot come regularly to the Dutch church, preferring to hear some otherpreacher, that our trade in furs fell off in a manner to cause alarm.

  As a matter of course we did not reckon that time when the savages werebent on killing us, and, therefore, remained away entirely; but ascompared with what we took in when matters with the Indians were mostfriendly, we were losing ground rapidly.

  With the Swedes driven out of the land, it surely seemed as if the WestIndia Company should have been able to get, by trading, all the peltstaken by the Indians, and yet, from all I could hear, I knew that notmore than one half were coming our way. In addition to this, the savageswere bent on driving keener bargains, as if there were people closearound who were offering bigger prices than we of New Amsterdam.

  All this caused me no little trouble of mind, for although it was not myconcern to go abroad urging the Indians to come in for trade, I knewthat more than a fair share of blame would attach to me when the profitsof the year were reckoned.

  THE CHARGE MADE BY HANS BRAUN

  Kryn Gildersleeve and I had many a talk regarding the matter, until on acertain day he came with word which aroused me in no little degree, forhe claimed to know that Hans Braun had been to the Director with thecharge that I was neglecting my work, thus causing a falling off in ourtake of furs.

  It had for some time been in my mind that at the first good chance Iwould bid good-bye to the Dutchmen of New Amsterdam, and go to theEnglish, my countrymen, either in Boston or Salem, for I had laid bysufficient of money, not having squandered my wages, to set me up infur-buying on my own account. I had been told, by those who knew, thatin the English colonies there was no Company with the sole right to dealin pelts.

  In addition to all that, the Englishmen had begun to rule the landthemselves, save as their king might interfere, and such governmentpleased me far better than to be under the iron hand of a single manlike our Director.

  Therefore it was that I went straightway to Master Stuyvesant,determined to know if he believed what Hans might have said; and, if youplease, it was three long hours that I cooled my heels at the entranceto his chamber of business before I, the keeper of the storehouse and aregular officer of the Company, was allowed to enter, such kingly airshad he taken upon himself.

  When at last I stood before him, it was not as a beggar, though ofcourse my hat was in my hand, but as one who knows that he may notlawfully be displaced save by direct orders from Holland.

  Speaking to him as the head of the city should be spoken to, I repeatedwhat Kryn had told me, and asked if he had cause to complain of me.

  DISMISSED BY MASTER STUYVESANT

  Had I been a Lutheran preacher, or a Quaker, I could not have beentreated more shamefully. Instead of questioning as to why our trade wasgrowing small, in which case I should have told him that in my belief itwas owing to the English colony in the country of Connecticut, he criedout upon me in a most violent rage, declaring that I had been spendingmy time breeding discontent among the people, instead of having awatchful eye over the interests of the Company.

  And this when I had never been outside the fort, save while Ma
sterTienhoven was in the storehouse giving the advice that I take my ease!

  Nor was this the end of the matter; it seemed as if, being in a badhumor, he was bent on venting his spleen upon me, and without giving anyreasons, other than as I have told you, the Director declared that I wasno longer in the employ of the Company.

  When I spoke to him of the rule that a storekeeper may not be deprivedof his office save by the Council of the Company in Holland, he calledme a mutinous hound, and threatened that if I showed myself inside thefort after the sun had set, I would be thrown into prison.

  I knew full well that I would be powerless if he did such a wickedthing, for of course the word of the Director would be heeded by theCompany when set against one of the lower officers like myself,therefore did I hold my temper in check, striving to look thesubmission which I did not feel.

  It is no more than just that I should give Kryn Gildersleeve credit forgrieving over the injustice that had been done me; but he could not mendmatters, even if I would have had him, and two hours before sunset I hadmade a bargain for lodgings on the plantation belonging to Martin Kip,who was glad to have in his family one who knew the Indians so well thathe might be expected to get some hint if the savages were bent on moremischief.

  I had known Martin for many a year, he having come over in the _Sea Mew_when I did, and trusted him for a true friend, if so be he was notcalled upon for an outlay of money.

  To him I told my plans for joining one of the English colonies, and muchto my surprise he gave me his reasons for believing that I would soon bein an English colony, if I remained in New Amsterdam taking good carenot to show myself in such a manner as would arouse DirectorStuyvesant's ire.

  ENGLISH CLAIMS

  It was a long story concerning England, and the rights she claimed inthe New World, which he told, the repeating of which would not be ofinterest to you who know all he could have said, and, most likely, muchmore.

  What I had not known was that the English believed they owned all theland that had been settled by the West India Company, because, so theysaid, of John Cabot's having been the first white man to set foot on it;but the Dutch claimed that Henry Hudson first found the river which wassometimes called the North, therefore the country between it and theSouth river belonged to them.

  Because of no one's knowing at that time how large a country had beenfound in this New World, and because of the English kings' having givenaway lands to this person or that company, everything was in a snarl;but I said to myself that if the Swedes could be driven out of theirsettlements by Master Stuyvesant, it would be no more than turn aboutfor him to get the same treatment from the English.

  And, even though I had been working for the Dutch during so many yearsthat I had grown from boy to man, there was a great hope in my heartthat Master Kip had made no mistake when he believed we were like tohave a change of rulers before many years went by.

  IDLE DAYS

  While I waited, making myself as small as possible lest the Directorshould see me and remember that he had threatened to throw me intoprison, the people were growing more and more discontented because ofMaster Stuyvesant's not ceasing to punish Lutherans, Baptists, orQuakers when they refused to attend the Dutch church.

  Many a one threatened, in private, to do what he might toward teachingthe Director a lesson, if a fitting chance came his way, and I have beentold that a dozen or more Dutchmen, who had friends in power in Holland,sent to the West India Company many complaints concerning MasterStuyvesant, praying that he might be deprived of his office.

  It was during these idle days that I learned, because of asking manyquestions, much concerning the village of Hartford, which had been begunby the preacher Hooker, and all who went to his church in New Town ofthe Massachusetts Bay Colony.

  These people wanted a village of their own, therefore entered the forestwith but little of goods, suffering much in the battle with thewilderness, but coming out victors owing to their industry.

  While we of New Amsterdam had built a city, we could count no more thanfifteen hundred people in it, and this settlement on the Connecticutriver, which was by this time made up of three villages, boasted of morethan eight hundred persons.

  It was to Hartford I would first go when a fitting opportunity came, soI said to myself after hearing all that could be told concerning thesepeople, and to such an end I began to make plans.

  Wherever I might go, however, I could not find so much to please the eyeas in New Amsterdam, for the English people in this New World are muchmore prim and sedate, both in manner and dress, than are the Dutch.

  ON BROAD WAY

  It was indeed a brave sight to see the people of quality walking onBroad Way, or strolling to and fro upon the Bowling Green, of a summerevening, and although I so disliked the man, I must confess thatDirector Stuyvesant and his family went far toward adding to the finearray.

  The ladies dressed exceeding gay in high-colored gowns of silk, satin,or some other such stuff, open up and down in front of the skirt thattheir petticoats, ornamented with fine needlework, might be seen. Theirhose were of bright colors, and the low shoes, with very high heels, hadbows of ribbon, or buckles of silver, even of gold, which added much tothe looks of the wearer. It was the silken hoods which I disliked, forthose ladies curled or frowzled their hair in a most bewitching fashion,afterward covering it with powder, and the hood concealed far too muchof it.

  To see the rings set with precious stones on their fingers; the lockets,or toys, of gold hanging over the stiff fronts of their waists, and, onSundays, the Bibles and psalm books richly decked with gold and hangingby golden chains to their waists, one would hardly believe that we wereliving in such a wild land, with savages on every hand, who might at anymoment be at our throats.

  Our gentlemen did not allow the ladies all the bravery of attire, as youshall hear when I tell you how Director Stuyvesant was dressed when,standing half-hidden behind the whipping-post one evening, I saw himparading with his wife and sister, showing by the way he stumped alongwith his head high, that he believed himself the greatest man this sideHolland.

  He wore a long coat of blue velvet on which were silver buttons, and thehuge flaps of the pockets were trimmed with silver lace. His waistcoat,so long that the front came nearly to his knees, was of buff silkembroidered with silver threads, and fastened by buttons of gold inwhich were set jewels of different colors. His breeches of velvet wereof a deeper hue than the coat, while the low shoe had on it a silverbuckle so large that the wonder of it was how he could move his foot.

  He wore on his head a soft black hat, whose wide brim was caught up onone side with a gay knot of blue ribbon that fell down athwart his big,white wig. From the knot on his hat to below the black silk hose, hewas, when viewed on one side, a very gallant gentleman; but turn himabout so that his wooden stump with its heavy bands of silver might beseen, and one could not but remember the battle at St. Martins, where heleft his leg during a desperate fight.

  LOOKING AFTER THE FERRY

  During a portion of my idle time, I worked at fair wages for NicholasSteinburg, who ran the ferry from near the water-gate to the Long Islandshore, and of a verity I earned all he paid me.

  The boat on which wagons were taken across, was the most clumsy scow itwas ever my ill fortune to handle, and his slaves the most stupid to befound in all New Amsterdam. One was forced to send the unwieldy craftalong by heavy sweeps, which were fashioned so rudely that I dareventure to say there was twice as much of timber in them as wasnecessary, and that foolish negro who failed to lift one of them at theproper time, found that the current swung it around with a force thatsent him sprawling in the bottom of the boat.

  More than once have I picked one of the thick-headed black men up frombeneath the feet of the horses, and spent no little time trying torecover the oar.

  However, there was not much passing to and fro, for there were but fewfarms on the big island, and a goodly portion of the time I spent in thethatched shed which was put up for th
e pleasure of those who were forcedto await Nicholas Steinburg's slow motions.

  It is wearying work, looking after a ferry, even though one gets as wageone-half the money paid over to him, and I would not thus have spent mytime, had I not been taught by Master Minuit that he who squanders hisdays in idleness is the same as reproaching God for permitting him tolive.

  Then came the day when I rejoiced secretly, and many another man withme, because of what Director Stuyvesant had done to wrong us.

  THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH

  It was reported that the English, with four ships, had arrived at Bostonfrom England, and were making ready to come against New Amsterdam, tothe end that it might be taken from the Dutch, even as they had takenTrinity and Christina from the Swedes.

  We knew that there could be no doubt as to the truth of the news, foreven the names and strength of the ships were given, and there waslittle question but that they had already sailed from Boston, thereforedid we have reason to believe the fleet would be in our harbor verysoon.

  The force which King Charles had sent on advice of his brother, the Dukeof York, was made up of the _Guinea_, carrying thirty-six guns, the_Elias_ with thirty, the _Martin_ with sixteen, and the _William andNicholas_ with ten, making ninety-two guns against our twenty-twobombards, culverins, and serpentines.