At the time of the gift to the Duke of York, no state of war existed between England and the Netherlands. Neither was there the plausible excuse of emergency on the ground of any threatening behavior of the Dutch in America, or even of dangerous differences between the provinces of New Netherland and Connecticut; for, as wTe have seen, the Dutch had pursued an undeviating course of forbearance and submission, and had but recently yielded all for which their English neighbors contended. It was a deed of spoliation pure and simple, and as such has been characterized in varying terms of denunciation by all impartial historians. Four ships of war, carrying ninety-two guns and about four hundred and fifty land troops, and commanded by Colonel Richard Nicolls, appeared before New Amsterdam at the end of August, and demanded the surrender of the city. Stuyvesant desired to resist to the last, but was overborne by the will of the citizens, and on the 6th of September articles of capitulation were sigued, which were extremely generous in their provisions, the Dutch being granted full privilege to continue in the enjoyment of their lands and other possessions, as well as liberty of religion and of occupying minor civil offices. Nicolls was installed as governor of the province, which took the name of New York. One of the first documents which the new authorities had to consider was a communication from the "inhabitants of Westchester," reciting, under seven different heads, their local grievances against the Dutch. In this paper no specific remedy was prayed for, and it appears to have been drawn merely to put on record the real and supposed injuries that the settlers had suffered from the New Netherland government, and to attract official attention to their community. O'Callaghan shows that in some of its more serious charges it is distinctly untruthful, suggesting a malignant animus.