How do I stop mail from downloading all my old e-mails from my gmail account?

My old macbook pro died today and it was replaced with a brand spankin’ new one. The problem? Since the hard drive went kaput, I lost all my preferences and information (I had most of it on a backup so that’s not a huge deal). My problem is that I’m trying to find a way to configure “mail” so that it will only download new e-mails, not the old ones I have taking up space on my gmail. I have no problem keeping those online.. I just don’t want them taking up HD space. Any help would be greatly appreciated!