The Schuylers appear to have been of gentle blood, and Robert Livingston, the father of all the Livingstons, was the son of the Rev. John Livingston, a Scotch dissenting minister, who was banished to Holland for contmnac}- in 1663. The remainder of the colonists, from Patroons to tenants, seem to have been of that race that has always furnished the best colonisers in the world, and they have left a record of pluck and persistence that is part of the

96 The Hudson River

heritage of the country they settled and of the national character they helped to mould. The first of the Van Rensselaers was a man of prominence and wealth in Holland, but he was not a resident u])on his American estate. The later comers, of whom Li\'ingston was a shining example, were three quarters of a century behind the first, and enjoyed their manorial rights under new patents or confirmations of old ones, granted by the English Crown. We find Charles II. in the }-ear 1660 appointing a " Councill of Forraigne Plantacions" with power to investigate all questions of government or trade relating to the colonies, and to recommend measures beneficial to all parties, but particularly to the Crown. Four A^ears afterwards Stuyvesant surrendered New Amsterdam to the commander of the British fleet. For the enlightenment of his masters, the States- General, and incidentally for the instruction of posterity, the careful Secretary Van Tienhoven in 1650 wrote a re])ort that contained a section relating to the conveyance of farmers and handicraftsmen, the charges and responsibilities for which were assumed by the Patroon or land patentee. A large fly boat of 200 lasts, which would be chartered for the voyage out for fl. 6000. A vessel of 200 lasts would probably carry over 250 persons exclusive of the ships crew: they would re<iuire for food, for the voyage at least 30 guilders, fl. 7500.