parts, for the first time, some years after due possession had been taken thereof by the Dutch; that the former had been protested against, from time to time, and that they had continued to advance by force, and not of right, &c. But in order to be more precise, we shall say a word generally of the progress of the affair. 'Tis, then, thus : -- The English remarking from time to time more closely and particularly that the lands within the territory of New Netherland were much better and more fertile than those in New England and perceiving, at the same time, that they lay mostly vacant and were ;

taken possession of merely by setting up arms and a fort here and there, took occasion in consequence to creep gradually nearer to us, and first to come around Staten hook or Cape Cod, through Rhode Island, afterwards to occupy the Fresh river, and finally the Red Mountain^ or New Haven, with the adjacent places and villages; but they were never peaceable possessors, and it was always admitted that the boundary must be determined, and that this must be by superior autiiority ; as is to be seen in the last instruction given conjointly to the Director and Council. Now, the case is, that the Director went to the General Court of New England on the 17"" September, in the year 1650, and treated there with deputies from the Provinces respecting the boundary, and finally the arbitrators mutually made and came to a decision and award, subject to tiieir High Mightinesses' ratification ; but we have uo precise copy of it, as it still remains with the Board of Directors. All the arbitrators were English and friends of the English; and in this affair they pulled the wool over the Director's eyes; for, according to our information from New Netherland, he hath ceded to the English as far as Greenwich, inclusive, on the Main, together with a portion of Long Island.