Lights and Shadows of New York Life | Page 7

the mind, presented a vast expanse, unfurrowed by
any of those lines and angles which disfigure the human countenance
with what is termed expression. Two small gray eyes twinkled feebly in
the midst, like two stars of lesser magnitude in a hazy firmament; and
his full-fed cheeks, which seemed to have taken toll of everything that
went into his mouth, were curiously mottled and streaked with dusky
red, like a Spitzenberg apple. His habits were as regular as his person.
He daily took his four stated meals, appropriating exactly an hour to
each; he smoked and doubted eight hours, and he slept the remaining
twelve of the four-and-twenty."
Van Twiller ruled the province seven years, and, in spite of his
stupidity, it prospered. In 1633, Adam Roelantsen, the first
school-master, arrived--for the fruitful Walloons had opened the way
by this time for his labors--and in the same year a wooden church was
built in the present Bridge street, and placed in charge of the famous
Dominie Everardus Bogardus. In 1635, the fort, which marked the site
of the present Bowling Green, and which had been begun in 1614, was
finished, and in the same year the first English settlers at New
Amsterdam came into the town. The English in New England also
began to give the Dutch trouble during this administration, and even
sent a ship into "Hudson's River" to trade with the Indians. Influenced
by De Vries, the commander of the fort, the Governor sent an
expedition up the river after the audacious English vessel, seized her,

brought her back to New York, and sent her to sea with a warning not
to repeat her attempt. The disputes between the English and the Dutch
about the Connecticut settlements, also began to make trouble for New
Amsterdam. Van Twiller possessed no influence in the colony, was
laughed at and snubbed on every side, and was at length recalled by the
company in 1638. The only memorial of Van Twiller left to us is the
Isle of Nuts, which lies in the bay between New York and Brooklyn,
and which he purchased as his private domain. It is still called the
"Governor's Island."
Van Twiller's successor in the government of the province was William
Kieft. He was as energetic as he was spiteful, and as spiteful as he was
rapacious. His chief pleasure lay in quarrelling. He and his council
made some useful reforms, but as a rule they greatly oppressed the
people. During this administration agriculture was encouraged, the
growing of fruit was undertaken, and several other things done to
increase the material prosperity of the town. The fort was repaired and
strengthened, new warehouses were built, and police ordinances were
framed and strictly executed. The old wooden church was made a
barrack for troops, and a new and larger edifice of stone was
constructed by Kuyter and Dam within the walls of the fort. Within the
little tower were hung the bells captured from the Spanish by the Dutch
at Porto Rico. The church cost $1000, and was considered a grand
edifice. In 1642 a stone tavern was built at the head of Coenties Slip,
and in the same year, the first "city lots" with valid titles were granted
to the settlers.
The latter part of Kieft's administration was marked by contests with
the citizens, who compelled him, in 1641, to grant them a municipal
council, composed of twelve of the most prominent residents of New
Amsterdam, which council he arbitrarily dissolved at the first
opportunity. He also stirred up a war with the Indians, in which he was
the principal aggressor. This war brought great loss and suffering upon
the province, and came near ruining it. Kieft, alarmed at the results of
his folly, appointed a new municipal council of eight members, and this
council at once demanded of the States General of Holland the removal
of Kieft. Their demand was complied with, and in 1647, Peter

Stuyvesant was made Governor of New Netherlands, and reached New
Amsterdam in the same year.
Stuyvesant was essentially a strong man. A soldier by education and of
long experience, he was accustomed to regard rigid discipline as the
one thing needful in every relation of life, and he was not slow to
introduce that system into his government of New Amsterdam. He had
served gallantly in the wars against the Portuguese, and had lost a leg in
one of his numerous encounters with them. He was as vain as a
peacock, as fond of display as a child, and thoroughly imbued with the
most aristocratic ideas--qualities not exactly the best for a Governor of
New Amsterdam. Yet, he was, with all his faults, an honest man, he
had deeply at heart the interests of the colony, and his administration
was mainly a prosperous