We had near us there a little section of the old world which was trying, in a half-hearted fashion, to maintain itself in the midst of a democracy.

It was the manorial life of the patroons--a relic of ancient feudalism which had its beginning in 1629, when The West Indies Company issued its charter of Privileges and Exemptions.

That charter offered to any member of the company who should, within four years, bring fifty adults to the New Netherlands and establish them along the Hudson, a liberal grant of land, to be called a manor, of which the owner or patroon should be full proprietor and chief magistrate.

The settlers were to be exempt from taxation for ten years, but under bond to stay in one place and develop it.

In the beginning the patroon built houses and barns and furnished cattle, seed and tools.