At the same time Stuyvesant was just as busy with his neighbors' affairs. He quarreled with the English in New England, as well as with the patroons in his own colony. Stuyvesant claimed all the region now included in New Jersey, a large part of that in the states of New York, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, and also a part of the territory of New England. [Sidenote: =Government by the people demanded=] The colony grew in numbers. New towns sprang up along the Hudson and on Long Island. But the increase in the number of the towns only made the call for a government by the people still louder. For several years the dispute between the people and the governor went on until, one day in 1664, news came that a fleet of English war vessels was in sight. Although England and Holland were at peace, the English king had given New Netherland to his brother, the Duke of York, and the English fleet had come to take it for the duke. [Illustration: A VIEW OF THE CITY AND HARBOR OF NEW AMSTERDAM (NEW YORK), 1656] Governor Stuyvesant was resolved to defend the colony to the last. But he was surprised to find that his people were not willing to fight for a governor who had given them so little share in governing themselves. [Sidenote: =What Stuyvesant learned after it was too late=] [Sidenote: =Brave to the last=] The commander of the fleet sent a letter to Stuyvesant offering very favorable terms of surrender. The council wanted the governor to surrender, but he grew angry, tore the letter to pieces, and declared he would never give up. The council put the pieces of the letter together and read it to the people. The minister of his own church begged the governor not to fight, and leading citizens, and mothers with their children, pleaded with Stuyvesant to surrender. Now what could the brave old Dutchman do? He could not fight a whole fleet alone. He turned sadly away, saying, "I would rather go to my grave than to surrender the city." [Illustration: A DUTCH COTTAGE AND STREET SCENE IN NEW YORK, 1679] [Sidenote: =New Netherland becomes New York=] =53. The Dutch Surrender to the English.= The English took possession, and the colony of New Netherland became the colony of New York, and at the same time the town of New Amsterdam became the town of New York. Fort Orange became Albany. English governors came to rule instead of Dutch governors. A few years later a Dutch fleet recaptured the colony; but, by a treaty at the close of the war, Holland returned it to England. When William and Mary came to the throne of England (1689) they gave New York a representative assembly. [Sidenote: =Dutch ideas and customs remain=] Although Dutch rule was gone forever, the Dutch people and Dutch ideas and customs remained. They were given no cause to regret the change. Peter Stuyvesant himself had become so attached to the colony that he came back from Holland and spent his last years on his great farm, or bowery, as the Dutch called it.