im and the imputed wrongs suffered by the Dutch from
the English, and the federal commissioners rejoined in a similar
manner. Then Stuyvesant proposed to refer the question in dispute to
four arbitrators, all Englishmen, two to be appointed by himself and
two by the federal commissioners.

The offer was accepted, and after a full hearing by these arbitrators,
Thomas Willet, George Baxter, Simon Bradstreet, and Thomas Prince,
declined to decide upon the wrongs complained of by either party and
rendered an award upon the territorial question only. They decided
that the Dutch should retain their fort on the Connecticut, and that
the boundary should begin at a point on the west side of Greenwich
Bay, about four miles from Stamford, and run due north twenty miles.
From that point it should be extended as the Dutch and New Haven might
agree, provided that the line should not come nearer the Hudson River
than ten miles. The English obtained most of Long Island besides, for
in that quarter the line was declared to be a meridian drawn through
the westernmost part of Oyster Bay.[24] If these terms subjected
Stuyvesant to severe criticism at New Amsterdam, it was really a
stroke of statesmanship to obtain, even at a sacrifice, what was for
the first time an international barrier to English intrusion.

The southern flank of New Netherland was left unprotected, and in 1651
New Haven once more endeavored to plant a colony on the Delaware. The
failure of the former attempt bore heavily upon the wealthy merchants
of the town, and they had ill luck in another adventure. In January,
1646, they sent an agent to England to solicit a charter from the
English government. The ship in which he sailed carried seventy other
prominent citizens of the place and a cargo valued at L5000. A great
storm ensued after the ship's departure and she was lost at sea.[25]
So disheartening was this misfortune that many at New Haven
entertained the idea of removing to the West Indies or Ireland.

Now, in 1651, under a commission from Governor Eaton, fifty men from
New Haven prepared to sail for the Delaware.[26] Their ship touched at
New Amsterdam, and Stuyvesant arrested both passengers and officers,
and only released them on their promise to return home. The
adventurers appealed to the commissioners, and these officials wrote a
letter to Stuyvesant protesting against his course.[27]

Next year war broke out between Holland and England, and the war
spirit