The author of the next general history of the State[702] is well known as the historian of the American Theatre and of the Arts of Design in America, both commendable works. With the taste of an antiquary, Mr. Dunlap has gathered some curious details; but The History of the New Netherlands, etc., has little merit as historical authority. The first volume passed through the press during the fatal illness of the author; the second was supervised by a friend who apologized for his want of “intimacy with the subject.” It appeared after the author’s death. The main value of the work consists in the abstracts published as an appendix to the second volume.[703]
A much more thorough work followed, a dozen years later, when Mr. Brodhead began his History.[704] Its two volumes comprise all the known information concerning the period they cover, up to the time of publication. Mr. Brodhead by birth and education was eminently qualified for his ponderous task. He united in his blood the English and Dutch strains; on the father’s side being descended from one of the English officers, who came out with Nicolls at the time of the conquest. A lawyer by profession, he was attached to the legation at the Hague, and was commissioned by the State of New York to procure original materials relating to its early history. In this labor he spent three years in the archives of England, Holland, and France. At his death he left manuscript material for a third volume, which it is the hope of students may yet be made accessible. He divides his work into four marked periods: The first, from the discovery, in 1609, to its conquest by the English in 1664; the second carries the story down to 1691. The treatment is of the most exhaustive character, and the work is a monument of literary industry and careful execution. The authorities are in all cases given in foot-notes. The sympathies of the author are plainly with Holland in the original struggle, and later with New York in her occasional antagonism to the influence of New England. While the reader may sometimes smile at his enthusiasm and differ from his opinions, he will find no occasion to quarrel with his candor. The tendency of his mind will be found legal rather than judicial. His chief merit is his admirable co-ordination of an immense mass of material, covering a vast circuit of investigation.[705]
[EDITORIAL NOTES.]
A. Specific Authorities.—More particular mention of such sources as pertain jointly to the Dutch and English rule in New York is made in Mr. Fernow’s chapter on “New Netherland,” in Vol. IV.
Chalmers’ Political Annals of the Present United Provinces reviews the English rule; but Brodhead (i. 62) considers that Chalmers’s treatment is biased, and grossly misrepresents the facts.
The documents in Hazard’s Historical Collections of State Papers which relate to New York were reprinted in 1811 in the N. Y. Hist. Soc. Coll., i. 189-303, and in the printed series published by the State under the editing of Dr. O’Callaghan, an account of which can better be made, unbroken between the Dutch and English portions, in connection with Mr. Fernow’s chapter. Various papers of importance, however, have appeared in the Collections and Proceedings of the New York Historical Society, and others are in the Manual of the City of New York, edited for thirty years, since 1841, successively by Valentine and Shannon. The journals of the Council and Assembly of the Colony of New York are rich in material.
Some original documents have appeared in connection with inquiries into the history of the boundaries of the State: Report to ascertain and settle the Boundary Line between New York and Connecticut, Feb. 8, 1861; Report on the Boundaries of New York, Albany, 1874; papers of Dawson, Whitehead, etc., in Historical Magazine, xviii. 25, 82, 146, 211, 267, 321. Cf. also C. W. Bowen’s Boundary Disputes of Connecticut, Boston, 1882, part iv.
At a commemoration of the English conquest of 1664, held by the New York Historical Society in 1864, the oration was fitly made by Mr. Brodhead. Historical Magazine, viii. 375. The first printed Dutch report of the capture is given in the Kort en bondigh Verhael, Amsterdam, 1667, p. 27; cf. Asher’s Essay, no. 354. The list of those in New York city who took the oath, October, 1664, is given in Valentine’s Manual, 1854. The patent of March 12, 1664, granted the Duke of York, under whose authority the conquest was made, is given in Brodhead’s New York, ii. 651; cf. also Learning and Spicer’s Grants, etc. of New Jersey, p. 3, and New York Colonial Documents, ii. 295. Charles E. Anthon, in the Magazine of American History, September, 1882, urges that a commemorative sculpture be placed in Central Park, to preserve the memory of the royal Duke whose twin titles of York and Albany are borne by the two chief cities of the State.