result of his sagacity and wisdom in securing favorable and ample territory for the increasing number of colonists, and that, too, before it was appropriated by the Dutch or the rival colony of New Haven; and it is simply another fact to the credit of this far-seeing man in promoting the development of the three original towns.

Early in 1639 the General Court granted a commission to Ludlow to begin a plantation at Pequannocke. He was on that errand, with a few others from Windsor, afterwards joined by immigrants from Watertown and Concord, when the fine was imposed. He bought a large tract of land from the Pequannocke sachems,-afterwards greatly enlarged by other purchases to the westward,- and recalling the attractive region beyond (Uncoa), which he had personally seen on the second Pequot expedition, he also "set down" there, having purchased the territory embraced in the present town of Fairfield, to which he gave its

name.

On his return to Hartford, at a General Court session, October 10, 1639, he was taken to task for exceeding his commission. made a tactful and effectual explanation and

He

plea in justification of his act. reported:

It is thus

"Att his coming downe to Quinnipiocke the hand of the Lord was uppon him in taking away some of his cattle, wch prevented him in some of his purposes there for selling some of them: afterwards, att his coming to Pequannocke, he found cause to alter his former thoughts of wintering his cattle there, and understanding that the beginnings of a Plantacon beyond that was not caryed on according to the agreement made with those who were interessed in ordering the same, and that by some things wch appeared to him, his apprehensions were that some others intended to take up the sayd place who had not acquainted this Court with their purposes therein, wch might be preiudiciall to this Comonwelth, and knowing himselfe to be one of those to whom the disposel of that Plantacon was comitted, he adventured to drive his Cattle thither, make provision for them there, and to sette out himselfe and some others house lotts to build on there, and submitts himselfe to the Court to judge whether he hath transgressed the Comission or not."

A reprimand was given to Ludlow chiefly because he had not notified the General Court of his intention in advance; and Governor Haynes and Thomas Wells were appointed to visit the country (Fairfield), investigate what Ludlow had done, and report to the court. This was done; and they reported, that, "upon due consideration of the same, they had,

thought fit, upon Mr. Ludlow's assenting to the terms propounded by them, to confirm the same." And thus a fair domain was won for the Connecticut colony by peaceful measures, and held against the intrigues of the Dutch and the rival claims of New Haven, -a position of great strategic advantage and strength to the parent government in the later controversies of territorial ownership and occupation. Here again was he the man who held the post of honor, as he did in the palisado at Windsor in the stress of the Pequot war in

1637

CHAPTER XIII.

Dutch Claims in Connecticut-Confederation-Johnston's Opinion -Contention 1635-1664-Indian Allies-Diplomacy-Commissioners' Charges-Stuyvesant's Denial-Refusal of Massachusetts- Nullification - Historical Incidents-Rhode IslandUnderhill-Petition to Cromwell-Ships and Troops-Peace Declaration.

THE Dutch claimed the territory of Connecticut through the primal rights of discovery, of conquest or purchase, and occupation, -rights that underlie all civilization, by the strong hand;-and this fact is to be considered, howsoever one may criticise their blunt diplomacy, their disingenuousness, or their stubbornness in the support of their demands. They were adventurers for trade, and were ready to negotiate or manœuvre, bluster, or threaten, or fight for its advantages by the same methods which brought them profit along the Hudson and Mohawk, including the hazardous exchange of muskets and ammunition and rum with the Indians for beaver and other furs,

with shrewd and cunning appeals on occasion to their passions of cupidity and revenge.

What, in brief, are the facts as to the warfare along the western border in those crucial days? What were its causes, its incidents, its results? Who stood fast against Dutch intrigue and Indian craftiness, in the interests of the colonists, and finally sacrificed himself that his heritage-their heritage-should endure?

The confederation of the colonies in 1643,Connecticut, Massachusetts (with a greater population than the other colonies together), New Haven, and Plymouth,—was in chief due to a fear of the Dutch and the Indians: although Johnston, in his History of Connecticut, attributes it to a single cause:

"The leading reason for the formation of the union was probably the inability of the home government, during the confusion of the civil war, to afford protection to the New Englanders against the claims of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands."

That the motives of the league were composite is shown in the preamble to its articles :

66

whereas we live encompassed with people of severall Nations and strange languages which hereafter may prove injurious to us and our posterity";