ioners
from New England had joined the squadron, authorizing him to assure
Stuyvesant that, if Manhattan should be delivered up to the King, "any
people from the Netherlands may freely come and plant there or
thereabouts; and such vessels of their own country may freely come
thither, and any of them may as freely return home in vessels of their
own country." Visiting the city under a flag of truce Winthrop
delivered this to Stuyvesant outside the fort and urged him to
surrender. The director declined; and, returning to the fort, he
opened Nicolls' letter before the council and the burgomasters, who
desired that it should be communicated, as "all which regarded the
public welfare ought to be made public." Against this Stuyvesant
earnestly remonstrated, and, finding that the burgomasters continued
firm, in a fit of passion he "tore the letter in pieces." The citizens
suddenly ceasing their work at the palisades, hurried to the
Stadt-Huys, and sent three of their number to the fort to demand the
letter.

In vain the director hastened to pacify the burghers and urge them to
go on with the fortifications. "Complaints and curses" were uttered on
all sides against the company's misgovernment; resistance was declared
to be idle; "The letter! the letter!" was the general cry. To avoid a
mutiny Stuyvesant yielded, and a copy, made out from the collected
fragments, was handed to the burgomasters. In answer, however, to
Nicolls' summons he submitted a long justification of the Dutch title;
yet while protesting against any breach of the peace between the King
and the States-General, "for the hinderance and prevention of all
differences and the spilling of innocent blood, not only in these
parts, but also in Europe," he offered to treat. "Long Island is gone
and lost;" the capital "can not hold out long," was the last dispatch
to the "Lord Majors" of New Netherlands, which its director sent off
that night "in silence through hell Gate."

Observing Stuyvesant's reluctance to surrender, Nicolls directed
Captain Hyde, who commanded the squadron, to reduce the fort. Two of
the ships accordingly landed their troops just below Breuckelen
(Brooklyn), where volunteers from New England and the Long Island
villages had already encamped. The other two, coming up with full sail
passed in front of Fort Amsterdam and anchored between it and Nutten
Island.[2] Standing on one of the angles of the fortress--an
artilleryman with a lighted match at