^;2~ UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. : THE REPRESENTATION mW lETHERLAID, CONCEBinNG ITS LOCATION, PRODUCTIVENESS AND POOR C OJ^ D I T I N. PRESENTED TO THE STATES GENERAL OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS, AND PRINTED AT THE HAGUE, IN 1650, IRANSLITED FROM THE DUTCH FOR THE JTEW YORK mSTORICAL SOCIETY, WITH NOTES, BY HENRY C. MURPHY. NEW YORK: BARTLETT & WELFORD, NO. 7 ASTOR HOUSE. 1849. ^1 o 34541 N E W Y O R K i WILLIAM VAN NORDF. N, PRINTER NO. 39 WILLIAM STRKKT. ^J^ It INTRODUCTORY NOTE Although the existence of New-Netherland as an American dependency of Netherland, had been made known by difTerent publications, such as the Hislorischc Verhael of Wassenaer, the Nieuwe WereMt of De Lact, the Voijagiens of De Vries, the Welt- leschreihunn of the Blaeus, and others of a like character, no dis- tinct work on the country was printed until the year 1650. In that year appeared at tlie Hague a small quarto tract of forty-nine pages with the title of Vertoogh van Nieu Nederlaxd weghens de Ghelerentheydt, Vruchtbaerhydt, en Soberen Staet desselfs. As this work was the first in point of time to record the early annals of New-Netherland and the acts of a dynasty which claimed for half a century, sovereignty and exclusive jurisdiction over the greater portion of what now constitutes six states of this Confed- eracy, so is it also the original printed source from which sub- sequent writers have drawn many of their facts in relation to that period of the history of those states. Yet strange to say, it would seem that of the multitude who have thus written only Van der Donck, Acrelius, O'Callaghan and perhaps one or two others ever saw the book upon which they thus relied. It may not be a matter of surprise that American authors should have been satisfied to take at second hand, from a work wi itten in a different language from their own, and that language one not much in vogue ; but in trutli there is a good excuse for this seeming remissness on the part of both Dutch and American writers, in the fact that until recently, the original work has not for many years been known to exist to which they could refer. Besides the copy from which the following translation has been made only one other is to be found in this country, and that is in the library of New York Historical Society. Both of these have * IJSTRODaCTluN. only lately come to light. A manuscript copy taken from the original document wliich was presented to the States C4eneral, is among the transcripts made by Mr. Brodhead for the State of New York, from the Holland archives.* Its rarity in Europe may be inferred from the fact that the industrious Ebeling mentions it as j)rohahIy a printed document, and Lambrechtsen, the lale Dutch historian of New-Netherland, says that notwithstanding repeated eflbrts he had been unable to obtain possession of it. No apology therefore is deemed necessary for this attempt to give it publicity in an English dress. The true value of this historical relic consists in its being u con- temporaneous relation of events in New Netherland, by eleven per- sons who resided there, and who represented the entire population of New Amsterdam and the Dutch towns of Long Island, and were therefore cognizant of the matters stated in it either of their own knowledge or from others who were concerned in them. It was written lo be presented to the States General, with a view of obtain- ing a redress of certain grievances of which the people complained, and is accordingly generiilly known as the Remonstrance of New Netherland, and is so referred to by most writers. But in truth it is much moie than a remonstrance. In order to give it etfect as a petition for j-elief, it was necessary that the value and importance of the country should beset forth, and that the rights of the Father- land to dominion over it and the encroachments of other powers upon it, should be shown. In this wa}^ not only the sense of justice and sympathy of the government would be excited, but the pride of Netherlanders and a regard for their interest would be aroused. The work was therefore so prepared ; and it accordingly may properly be divided into three parts, the first giving a description of the natives and of the physical features of the country, the second being a relation of the events connected witli its settlement by Europeans, and the third forming a remonstrance against the policy and acts of the West India Company at. home and its governors, or Directors General as they were called, in this country. In regard to its authenticity it may be observed, that the documents which have within the last forty years been made accessible to the public, fully corroborate its statements of all those matters which are purely historical and not connected with the points of complaint, * Secretary of i^tate's Office, Albany. Holland Documents Vol. IV. p. 71. INTRODUCTION. t> and as to those points the facts for the the most part were not dis- puted, and only alleged to be perverted. It was probably written by Adrian van der Donck. iHe at least composed tl)e original journal from which it was derived, as appears in the work itself. That it is not in the form in which it was when seized by Stuyvesant is manifest from the rec-ord, which is still preserved at Albany, of the proceedings of the Director and Coun- cil on that occasion. It was nevertheless the document of the Nine Men, a body, selected by the Director and Council from double that number of persons, nominated by the people, for the purpose of aiding the administration in raising money for public objects from the inhabitants, though the purpose was declared in general terms to be to confer with it upon the best means of promoting the prosperity of the country and of the inhabitants. The restric- tions upon trade which it was the policy of the West India Company to impose, had injuriously affected the interests of the freemen of New Netherland, by retarding population and restraining enter- prise ; and the elected Nine Men were not long in directing their attention to some mode of relief A deputation to Holland was proposed by them and seconded by the Director General ; but when they sought to present their grievances in their own way, without consulting Stuyvesant, he insisted that the petition should be made through him. It was impossible for them to set forth their grievances without arraigning the acts of the Director himself, however guiltless, regarded as the minister of the Company, he might be, and as they were probably instigated by two or three in- dividuals, who had private griefs of their own, to speak the more harshly of him, they wore not disposed to make the communication in the manner he desired. The consequence was a quarrel, as detailed in the work, between them and the Director. As their ap- pointment was first made in September, 1647, and six of them went out of office annually, a new appointment was made before the matter was settled ; and probably the reason of eleven signing the doc- ument was, that some of the old as well as the new members united in the proceeding. The deputation consisting of Van der Donck, Jacob van Couwenhoven and Jan Evertsen-bout, three of the Col- lege, sailed for Holland in August, 1049, with the Remonstrance ; whither Stuyvesant had already despatched his Secretary, Cornells van Tienhoven, who in due time presented to the States General, an answer to the several specifications of complaint. 6 INTRUDUCTION. In regard to the strictures contained in the Remonstrance, upon the conduct of the Directors General, it must in justice to them be remarked, that while they exerted their authority with rigor and not in consonance with the more liberal notions of popular right at the present day, they appear, from their correspondence, still preserved at Albany, witli the West India Company, to have acted for the most part under positive orders, and in accordance, when they had no directions from the Company, with the spirit of their general instructions. The weakness of New Netherland in men, and in tliose internal resources which, in the absence of restrictions upon individual enterprise and in the existence of a government which adbrds security to life and property, naturally grow up, became more and more apparent as the encroachments of its neighbors in- creased. It was a sense of this weakness that originated the com- plaints which, when they came to be made to the government at home, had to be formed into specific charges, which necessarily placed the Directors in an unenviable light, being apparently the immediate autliors of tlie grievances set forth. The real difficulty however, and the fault were in the management of the Company, which liad taken possession of New Netherland for commercial purposes only, and wliich therefore had in view the planting of a colony for the Netherland nation merely as an ancillary to their profit. This was obvious when the condition of New Netherland was compared with that of the neighboring colonies ; but in making at this day a comparison of its condition at tiiat time with that of the adjoining colonies of the English the distinction, in justit.ie to the Dutch of New Netherland, should be ever borne in mind, that although both the English and Dutch colonies sprang alike from the enterpris3 of incorporated companies of private adventurers, yet the object of the English was not a purely commercial speculation as was that of the Dutch, and that while the Dutch Company con- tinued its control over its colony until its subjugation by the English, the Companies of the latter, at a very early period, and many years before that event, had been dissolved in pursuance of a wiser policy, — looking to the growth and importance of their American possessions, — on the part of the British government. The proceedings of the deputation on its reaching Flolland may be well gathered from the letters of the West India Company to the Director. The Company felt that the causes of complaint were at their own door and not at that of Stuyvesant, and though they INTRODUCTION. 7 thought that in some cases, exposed by the remonstrants, he had exceeded his instructions, they yet stood nobly by him. " The Deputies," they write to him on the 16th Feb., 1650, " provided with letters of credit and recommendation to the Department of Amsterdam, kept them back for nine or ten weeks and presented themselves first to the States General, expecting to succeed before the Managers would know of it. Failing there, they addressed themselves to the States of Guelderland, where they belched out their calumnies. They would have caused us a great deal of trouble had we not bridled their mouths. The name of New Neth- erland was scarcely ever mentioned before, and now it would seem as if heaven and earth were interested in it." Again, on the 15th of April, they say, " we have before explained at large how the Deputies strove by many suspicious means to attain their object indirectly, and had succeeded so far in covering their calumnies under a thick veil of truth as to impose upon many of the better class, so that the matter seemed to assume a perilous aspect both for your Honor's reputation and the interests of the West India Company, particularly of the chamber of Amsterdam. A great flare up was indeed apprehended but it was prevented by the pru- dent conduct of the committee of their High Mightinesses, who dis- covered a remedy which ought to give contentment to both parties, until further provision shall be made. We send you a copy of this resolution, from which you may learn what vexations we have suf- fered, and how full of danger it is to irritate a furious multitude." The resolution of the States General thus sent to Stuyvesant, which was merely the projet of reforms recommended by the committee, condemned the Indian war brought on by Kieft, and required for the future that no similar war should be undertaken without the knowledge of the States General ; it provided that the trade in guns and ammunition, with the Indians, should be gradually abolished, that the fortifications should be kept in repair, that no cattle should be exported from New Netherland, that the Council should be re- organized and Stuyvesant ordered home to give an account of his administration, that a Court of Justice should be erected for the province, and a city government established in New Amsterdam, and that two ships should be annually employed in transporting per- sons immigrating to New Netherland. In order to give effect to this resolution the concurrence of a majority of the managei? of all the Chambers of the West India Company was necessary. The 8 INTROiniCTION. Chamber of Amsterdam, to which was entrusted the control of the affairs of New Netherland, resisted its adoption, and thus the whole subject slept for two years, during which time two of the deputies returned home, leaving Van der Donck alone in Holland to press upon the States General the complaints already made and others arising under new cases of grievance. The Chamber of Amsterdam finally, however, conceded a municipal government to NeAV Am- sterdam, and also some changes in the duties and in the regulations of trade, the establishment of a school and other minor reforms ; and thus terminated what threatened to be a serious business for their interests in New Netherland. Van der Donck remained in Holland until the summer of 1G53 when he returned to New Netherland. He had employed himself in the meantime in writing his descriplion of Neio Netherland, and in May of that year secured a copy-right for the work ; though it was not then published. He evidently contemplaied an addition to it which was never made, embracing a history of the colony ; for on his return home the Company wrote to Stuyvesant Uiat he had ap- plied for permission to examine the papers in the office of the Sec- retary of New Netherland, to complete the history which he had undertaken to write ; which application they referred to the Direc- tor, advising him to give the permission but so that it should not be abused and that " the company's own weapons should not be turn- ed against itself, and new troubles raised to its annoyance." Stuy- vesant pi'obably did not encourage the application. Tlie work appeared in 1655, with the sanction of the Chamber of Amsterdam, in a small quarto of 100 pages, with the pictorial view of New Am- sterdam which Mr. Moulton has prefixed to the second part of his history. A second edition was published in the following year, with the map but without the view. Neither of them contains the history of New Netherland ; though both refer those who wish to be informed in regard to it to the Vertoogh,* of the descriptive por- * The chapter of Van der Donck containing this reference is entirely omitted in the published translation of General .Tohnson. We therefore translate it here. " The Netheklanders the first Possessors of New Netherland. " Although the possession and title which the Netherlanders have to New Netli- erland is amply treated of, in their length and breadth, in the Eepreaentation of the Commonalty, and little more can be said in relation to them unless access be had to the Registers of the Honorable West India Company, we will nevertheless touch upon them briefly, en passant. When this country was first discovered by the INTRODUCTION. 9 tion of which the work of Van der Donck is in fact merely an amplification. In 16.51 appeared at Amsterdam a work entitled '' Beschreibimff van Virginia, Nieuw Nederland, Nievw Engeland ;" and in 1602 anotlier witl) the title of " Kort Verhael van Nien Nederlajidl. ;" both of which are compilations, from the Vertoogh and other publi- cations. The Kort Verhael was published by the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, on the occasion of the transfer of the South river and its adjacent country to that city, by the West India Company, and was intended to invite the attention of emigrants to the new acquisition, which is descrii)pd in very flattering terms, at the ex- pense of the North river, against which the constant aggressions of the English are urged as a strong objection. It was by means of these works that the Verlongh became more known. The description of New Netherland, printed in the first volume of the new series of the Collections of the New York Historical Society, from the Du Simitiore MSS. is derived from the Verloogh. In regard to the version of the Vertoogh now made, it may be ob- served that the aim has been rather at correctness in interpretation than elegance in expression, and it has therefore been deemed proper Netherlanders, in the year 1G09, and it was told them by the natives that they were the first Christian explorers in that region, they took possession of it in the name and on behalf of their High Mightinesses, the Lords the States General o the United Netherlands, first in the South Bay at Cape Hinloopen, which they so called at that time, and which still retains that name, and so all along the coast and up the rivers, giving names to the different places, as far as the great North River, a great distance up which they sailed, and which some of the English will still call Hudson'^ river, but which was then named Mauritius river, after Prince Maurice, who at that time was Governor in Netherland ; from thence they sailed further along, till they went beyond Cape Cod, of which they also took possession, and which they named New Holland ; and our Netherlanders have sailed there and traded at the same places thus taken into possession, from time to time, since then until the charter was granted to the West Indian Company, when they passed under its jurisdiction. And although before, we had there in our favor the circumstances efforts, families and cattle, yet since the year 1622 several forts have been built, farms and plantations taken up, much of the land bought of the natives, and other tokens of possession shown, as is to be seen at length in the Representation of the Commonalty of New Netherland, to which we refer the curious reader. It is therefore unusual, unhandsome and unreas- onable for any other nation to assert title or jurisdiction over these places or over those situated between such as were first discovered by the Netherlanders." 2 10 INTRODUCTION. to follow more closely tlian would otherwise have been done, the language of the original, and to adopt, in many cases, the forms of construction and turns of tliought of the writer, contrary to the English idiom. Tiie marginal suuanary in the printed copy is confined to that part which treats of the causes of the decline of the country ; but in the manuscript transcribed by Mr. Brodhead, and followed in this particular in the following translation, it is carried throuiihout the whole work. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND, CO.NCER.VING 1X3 LOCATION, PRODUCTIVENESS, AND POOR CONDITION. Among all the people in the world, industrious in t''« ''^'ether- ('•11 • 1.1 1 landers are seeknig out loreign lands, navigable waters and trade, an enteriiris- those who bear the name of Netherlanders, will very seeking' out easily hold tlunr place with the first, as is sufficiently ["J^'^ g^^„*: known to all those who have in any wise saluted the merce. threshold of history, and as will also be confirmed by the following" relation. The country of Avhich we pro- ertilllid ^was pose to speak, was first discovered in the year of our ^'^^^^J, '1^'^,",^^ Lord 1G09, by the ship Half-Moon, of which Henry yeariooa. by Hudson was master and supercargo — at the expense of ^Hahc-Matn the chartered East India Company, though in search of a different object.* It was subsequently called New ^^^.^^ Neth- Netherland by our people, and very justly, as it was so caiied be- first discovered and possessed by Netherlanders, and at [/kc^Ne'ther- their cost ; so that even at the present day, those na- ''*"'' '" ""^■ f 1 1 11 11 1 "V respects. tives ol the country who are so old as to recollect when the Dutch ships first came, here, declare that when they when the saw them, they did not know what to make of them, '"wTshlp' and could not comprehend whether they came down 'hey did not from Heaven, or were of the devil. Some among them itwas.-jhey when the first one arrived, even imagined it to be a fish, qTinted ""^ or some monster of the sea, and accordingly a strange "''hnooth- •— ' •/ o cf ("oiuilry or report of it spread over the whole land. We have also peopio. heard the Indiansf frequently say, that they knew noth- ing of any other part of the world, or any other people than their own, before the arrival of the Netherlanders. * A northwest passage to China, — the attempts to accomplish which have caused the discovery and e.xploration, from the first, of North America, more than ail other objects combined. t Wilden — wild men, was the word generally used by the Dutch and Swedes to designate the natives of the coimtry. We adopt the received term for convenience. 'I'lir liii Lite is Iciiipc all'. 'I'lit- n> nu- west wii ll is lllf SI Ivii- lion of tlif couiiiry. 12 REI'RESKNTATION OF NKW NETHEKLAND. For these rcusons, therefore, and on account of the sim- ihtrJty ol* climate, situation and fertility, this place is Tiiciaiiiuck' ri^::htly called New Netherland. It is situated on the Neiiierhuui! northerly coast of America, in the latitude of 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42 degrees, or thereabouts, coast-wise. It is Us txteiii. bounded on the northeast by j\ew England, and on the southwest by Virginia. The coast rims nearly southwest and northeast, and is washetl by the ocean. On tlie norlli is the river of Canada, a large river running far iin.o the interior. The northwest side is, for the most part, still unknown. The land is naturally fruitful, and capable of support- ing a hirge population, if it were judiciously allotted according to location. The air is pleasant, and more temperate than in Netherland. The winds are change- able, and blow from all points, but generally from the southwest and northwest; the former prevailing in sum- mer, and the latter in winter, at times very sharply, but constitutiiig, nevertheless, the greatest blessing to the country as regards the health oi the people, being very l)racing and pm-e, and driving off or consuming all Tho coast is clamps and superfluous moisture. The coast is generally tieriii. The clear aiul sandy, but double and broken into islands. .l.'.iii.'k-,""or Eastvvai-d from the North river lies Long Island, a])out isiiuuls. '"'° forty miles* in length, forming a fine wide river, whicli falls at either end into the ocean, and affording a con- venient passage inside for the whole distance, protected Tiie Eiist ri- f I'om the dangers of the sea by a great number of good ^^sii-'e ^"^^^ bays and other places of anchorage, so that vessels can thereby in winter readily pass east and west. Towards the south approaching the South river,f there are sev- eral inlets, but they are muddy and sandy, though by proper exertion they could be used. Inside these again 'I'hf tore- i i '' I ,1 1 1 lands are thcrc are large streams and valteys, but the waters are sh'i'i'tmg. '"' shallow. Along ths seacoast the land is generally sandy or gravelly, not very high, but tolerably fertile, and for ottiiemoim. the most part covered over with beautiful woods. The iliain's 'ami couutry is in many places hilly, with some high moun- vaiiies. tains, and very fine flats and mowing lands, together with large meadows, salt and fresh, all making very fine hay land. It is overgrown with all kinds of trees, standing without order, as in other wildernesses, except * A Dutch mile is equal to four English miles t The river Delaware. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NKTHERLAND. 13 that the mowing lands, flats and meadows, have few or no trees, though with little pains they might be made good wood land. The seasons are the same as in Netherland, but the Tiie seasons summer is warmer and begins more suddenly. The "'"'"»' "|e 11 1 r- 1 -11 11 '^^""^ "'* '" wmter is cold, and lurther mland, or towards the most Netiieriami. northerly part, more so than in Netherland. It is also subject to much snow, Mhich remains long on the ground, and in the interior, three, four and live months ; but near the seacoast it is quickly dissolved by the south- erly winds. Thunder, lightning, rain, showers, hail, snow, frosts, dew and the like, are the same as in Neth- ^.g^,h'j;"'"' erland, except that in the summer sudden gusts of wind are somewhat more frequent. The land is adapted to the production of all kinds prmiuces^aii of winter and summer fruits, and with less trouble and kinds ofiruit tilling than in Netherland. It produces difl'erent kinds trouble than of wood, large and small, suitable for building houses ("nd.'"^^'*'^' and ships, consisting of oaks of various kinds, as post- oak, white smooth bark, white rough bark, grey bark, black bark, and another kind which they call, from its "*^""" • softness, butter oak, the poorest of all, and not very valu- able; the others, if cultivated as in Netherland, would be equal to any Flemish or Brabant oaks. It also yields several species of nut wood, such as oil-nuts, large and small ; walnut of different sizes, in great abundance, ^JJ^^ burnt'' and good for fuel, for which it is much used, and chesnut, the same as in Netherland, growing in the woods with- out order. There are three varieties of beech, — water beech, common beech, and hedge beech, — also, axe- handle w ood. two species of canoe wood, ash, birch, fir, fire wood, wild cedar, linden, alder, willow, thorn, elder, and many other kinds useful for various purposes, but unknown to us by name, and which the carpenters will be glad to submit for examination. 'J he indigenous fruits consist principally of acorns, f,fj,,gf^^,ng some of which arc verv sweet ; nuts ot dili'erent kinds, ".it'iraiiy h, ,.*,,. , ■, produced in esnuts, beechnuts, mulberries, plums, but not many, the country. medlars, wild cheri'ies, black currants, gooseberries, ha- zle nuts in great quantities, small apples, very large strawberries throughout the eountr}^ with many other fruits and roots which the Indians use. There is also plenty of bill-berri(!S or blue-berries, together with or the vines ground-nuts and artichokes, which grow under ground. «/"'. '"f*" Almost the whole land is full of vines, as well the wild ^^ ^^°"' 14 REPRESENTATION «JF Iv EVV NETHERLAND. woods as the mowinii- lands and flats ; l:)ut they grow ])riiicipally near to and upon the banks of the brooks, streams and rivers, which are numerous, and run con- veniently and pleasantly as ii" they were designed for the purpose. The grapes comprise many varieties, some white, some blue, some very fleshy, and only fit to make raisins of, others, on the contrary, juicy ; some are ver}- large and others small. The juice is pleasant, and as white in some as French or Rhenish wine, in others it is a very deep red, like Tent, and in some ])aler. The vines run mucli on the trees, and are shaded by their leaves, so that the gra.pes ripen late and are a little sour ; but when the people shall have more experience, as line wines will undoubtv-^dly be made here as in any otlier coinitry. In regard to other fruits, all those which grov^^ in iVetherland, also grow very well in New Netli- erland, without requiring as much care to be l)esto\ved upon them as is necessary there. Garden fruits succeed very well, and are dryer, sweeter, and more pleasant than in A^etherland ; for proof of which we may in- stance particularly muskmelons, citrons or watermelons, which in New Netherland grow readily in the open fields, if the briars and weeds are kept from them, but in Netherland they require the care oi' amateurs, or those wlio cultivate them lor proHt in very small gar- dens, and then they are neither so periect by lar, nor as palatable, as they are in New Netherland. In gen- eral all kinds of pumpkins are also much drier, sweeter. and more delicious, which is caused by the temperate- ness and amenity of the climate. oi ii,e i;iMie The taiRc cattle are in size and other respects about ilow''* uioy "^^^^ same as in Netherland, l)ut the English cattle and ihrive. swine thrive and feed best, a})pearing to be better suited to the country than those from Holland. They require, too, less trouble, expense, and attention ; for it is not necessary in winter to look after such as are not in use, or the swine, except that in the time of a deep snow they should have some attention. Illilch cows are much less trouble than they are in Holland, as most oi' the lime, if any care be requisite, it is only for the purpose of giving them occasionally e min- ditferent minerals, upon some of which experiments have ^'^'" been made according to our limited means, and which are found good. We have attempted several times to send specimens of them to Netherland. once with Arent proofs of mi van Corenbenf by way of New Haven and England, °«''"*8'^-«°- but the ship was wrecked and no tidings of it have ever been received. Director William Kielt also had many different specimens with him in the ship, the Princess, but they were lost in her with him. The mountains and mines nevertheless remain, and are easily to be found again whenever it may be thought proper to go to the labor and expense. In New England they have already The English progressed so far as to make castings of iron pots, tank- ^f^nietaC"'* ards, balls and the like out of their minerals, and we firmly believe all that is wanting here is to have a be- ginning made ; for there are in New Netherland two kinds of marcasite, and mines of white and yellow- quicksilver, of gold, silver, copper, iron, black lead and • Probably the prickly pear is meant. t Arent Corsen. He embarked in Mr. Lamberson's ghip, the fate of which was ma vellously connected with a mirage by the early New Eng- and writers. See Winihrop's Journal, ii. 254, and Mather's ^^agnalia. 06 Of the stone. 13 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. hard coal. It is supposed that tin and lead will also be found ; hnt who will seek alter them or Avho will work them as long as there are not more people ? The differ Fullcr's earth is found in abundance, and Armenian ent kiiuisof bQJp . j^igo ^vhite, red, yellow, blue and black clay very earth. soHd and greasy, and suitable lor many purposes : earth for stone ware, mountain-chrystal, glass like that of Muscovy, green serpentine stone in great abundance, grey hearth stone, slate, red grind-stone, flint, paving stone, large quantities of all varieties of quarry stone suitable for building and all kinds of walls, asbestos and very many other kinds applicable to the use of man. ofihe paints There are difierent paints, but the Christians are not .skilled in them. They are seen daily on the Indians, who understand their nature and use them to paint them- selves in different colors. If it were not that explorers are wanting, our people woidd be able to find them and provide themselves with them. OF THE AMERICANS OR NATIVES, THEIR APPEARANCE, OCCUPATIONS, AND MANNER OF LIVING. The natives are generally well set in their limbs, slender round the waist, broad across the shoulders, and have black hair and dark eyes. They are very nimble and active, well adapted to travel on foot and to drag heavy burdens. They are foul and slovenly in their ac- tions, and make little of all kinds of hardships ; to which indeed they are from youth accustomed. I'hey are like the Brazilians, in cofor, or as yellow as the people who sometimes come to Netherland and are called Heathens. The men generally have no beard, or very little, which „., they pull out. They use very few words, which they !=poMi''P"^'« mourning, and generally in the face. They suspend Zeewant, both white and black, from their heads, which they otherwise are not wont to cover, but on whieh they are now beginning to wear hats and caps bought of the Christians, and from their ears. They also put it round their necks and bodies, wherewith after their manner they appear very fine. They have long deer's hair which is dyed red, and of which they make rings for the head, and other hair of the same color, to hang from the neck like tresses, of which they are very proud. They frequently smear their skin and hair with difTerent kinds of grease. They can most all swim. They them- They make selves make the boats they use, whicli are of two kinds, |hemsci"es" some of entire trees, which they hollow out with lire, °',;y'bar|."'^/f hatchets and adzes, and which the Christians call trees. canoes ; the others are made of bark, which they put together very skilfully, and which are also called canoes. Traces of the institution of marriage can just be per- They do nm ceived among them, and nothing more. A man and "^*"^' woman join themselves together without any particular Who do the work and 20 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. ceremony otherwise than that the man by previous agree- ment with the woman gives her some Zeewant or clotii, which on their separation, which soon happens, he takes again. Both men and women are utterly unchaste and ^^^midKilte shamelessly promiscuous in their intercourse, which is *'J''"^'i"';"^'.y the cause of the men so often changing their wives and change their i • i i i /-> i- -i i i , wives. the women their husbands. (Jrdmarily they have but one wii'e, sometimes two or three, but this is generally among the chiefs. They have also among them difi'er- ent conditions of persons, such as noble and ignoble. The men are generally lazy, and do nothing until they become old and unesteemed, when ihey make spoons, wooden bowls, bags, nets and other similar articles ; beyond this the men do nothing except fish, hunt and go to war. The women are compelled to do the rest of the work, such as planting corn, cutting and drawing how. wood, cooking, taking care of the children and whatever else there is to be done. Their dwellings consist of Of their hickory saplings, placed upright in the ground and bent change of a'- arch-wisc ; the tops are covered with barks of trees, bode. which they cut for this purpose in great quantities. Some even have within them little boxes and imagery cut out rough, with very little design, but these are generally in the houses of the chiefs. In the fishing and hunting sea- sons, they lie under the open sky or little better. They do not live long in one place, but move about several times in a year, at such times and to such places as it appears beforehand best and easiest for them to obtain subsis- tence. There is a Tlicy are divided into different tribes and languages, chief ^^.ojer each tribe living generally by itself and having one of its number as a chief, though he has not much power or distinction except in their dances or in time of war. They have Amoug somc tlicrc is not the least knowledge of God, little know- aiici among others very little, though they relate very but \re strange fables concerning Him. of'thedevii'! They are in general much afraid of the Devil, who to whom receives their adoration ; and some give themselves up offerings. to him and thus permit themselves to be wheedled.* But their devils, they say, will have nothing to do with * The Indian mode of reasoning on this subject is well stated by Biorck, in his dissertation De plantatione Ecclesim Suecance in America. Refer- ring to their belief in a celestial and terrestrial manitto, he says, " They perversely argue that the loriner is not to be adored or feared because he is good, but the latter is to be feared and worshipped because he is bad." REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 21 the Dutch. No haunting of spirits and the like are heard of among them- They make oii'erings to the Devil some- times, but ^vith few solemnities. They believe in the immortality of the soul. They have some knowledge of the sun, moon and stars, wliich they understand well how to name, and they judge tolerably well about the weather. There is hardly any law or iuslice among There i» no 1 • • x^ 1 ii Ifiw or jus- them, except sometimes m war matters, and then very tice among little. The nearest blood is the avenger. The youngest '***"'• are the most courageous, and do for the most part what they please. Their weapons formerly were the bow Their weap- and arrow, which they employ with wonderful skill, but bowHmi'ar^- they now generally use clap-hammers, and those who j;|^'^^ "'"^'o^^ live near the Christians or have manj' dealings with pbiain guns, them, have firelocks and hatchets, which they obtain in the" chris- trade. They are exceedingly lond of guns, sparing no '""'^• expense for them ; and are so skilful in the use of them that they surpass many Christians. Their food is coarse and simple, drinking water as their only beverage, and eating the flesh of all kinds of animals which the coun- try afibrds, cooked without being dressed. They eat even badgers,dogs, eagles and such like trash, upon which Christians place no value. They use all kinds of fish, which they commonly cook without removing the en- trails, and snakes, frogs and the like. They know how to preserve fish and meat during winter, and to cook them with corn-meal. They make their bread of maize, but it is very plain, and cook it either whole or broken in a pestle block. The women do this and make of it a pap or porridge, which some of them call Sapsis,* others Enimdare, and which is their daily food. They mix this also well with small beans of different colors, which they plant themselves, but this is held by them as a dainty dish more than as daily food. BY WHOM NEW NETHERLAND WAS FIRST DISCOVERED, AND WHAT ARE ITS BOUNDARIES. That New Netherland was first found, claimed and ^a^ ^"""'ta^ possessed by Netherlanders, has already been stated ; but ^^^^ "^P^^^'a held by Ne- • Probably a misprint for Sapaan. therlanders. 22 REPRESENTATION OF NliVV NETHERLAND. in as much as a dispute has arisen, not onl}^ with the TheEnsiish Swecles (wljich is of little moment) but especially with have seized the English, who have already entered upon and seized a a large por- i p • tionofit. great part thereof, it is necessary to speak of" each claim somewhat at large. But because this matter has been treated upon by various ingenious minds in its length and breadth, and as tbose claims are so absurd as to require only a few reasons in answer to them, we will be as brief as is in any wise practicable. After their High Mightinesses, the Lords IStates General, were pleased, in the year of our Lord 1G22, to include tliis province in their grant to the Honorable West India Company, their Honors deemed it necessary to take into possession so naturally beautiful and noble a province, which was immediately done, as opportunity offered, the same as in all similar beginnings. Four Forts Siucc the year of our Lord 1G23, lour forts have been token of pos- Duilt there by order of the Lords Mayors, one on the south point of the Manhatans Island, where the East and North rivers unite, called New Amsterdam, where the staple-right* of New Netherland was designed to be ; another upon the same river, six-and-thirty Dutch miles higher up, and three miles below the great Cohoes (Koc- hoos) fall of the Mohawk's river, (Maquas-kil,) on the west side of the river, in the colony of Kenselaerswyck, and is called Orange ; but upon this river there has been as" to'^''the ^^ y^^ '"'^ dispute witli any foreigners. Upon the South North river, riyer lics fort Nassau and upon the Fresh river,f the Good Hope. Of these lour forts there has been always, from the beginning to the present time some possession, very pour although they are all now in a very bad condition, not condition °^ , . , "^ ■, -, , *, . are useless. Only 111 themselves but also as regards possession. These forts, both to the South and North, are so situated as to command and prion was already fully taken by the building and occupation of fort Good Hope, and there was no neglect from time to time in warning them, in making known our rights, and in protesting against their usurpation and violence, they have disregarded all these things and have seized TheEnciish and possessed, and still hold, the largest and best part of ForT^Gocdc New Netherland, that is, on the East side of the North """p- river, from Cape Cod, (by our people in 1609 called New Holland, and taken possession of by the setting up their iiigh of the Arms of their High Mightinesses.) to within six el' were^'s^et miles of the North river, where the English have now a "i',^' ^^^ I.. on or iNcvv village called .Stamford, from whence it could be travelled iioiiand. now, in a summer's day, to the North river and back again, if the Indian path were only known. The Eng- lish of New Haven also have a trading house, which lies East or South East of Magdalen Island, and not more The EnpUsh than six miles from the North river, in which this Island frmn''^ ""the lies, on the East side twenty three and a half miles above ^°^^^ "^■^'^^ Fort Amsterdam.* This trading post was established for no other purpose than to divert the trade of the North river or to destroy it entirely. They have also endeav- ored several times, during eight or nine years past, to buy of the Indians a large quantity of land, (which would have served more than any other thing to draw off the trade,) as we have understood from the Indians ; for the post is situated not more than three or lour miles from the East bounds of the Colony of Renselaerswyck. This and similar dilliculties these people now wish to lay to our charge, all under the pretence of a very clear conscience, notwithstanding King James, of most glorious memory, chartered the Virginia Companies up- TheVireinia on condition that they should remain an hundred miles were7o*^^re- from each other, according to our reckoning. They are '"«'» ^ hnn- ^villing to avail themselves of this grant, but by no apart. means to comply with the terms stipulated in it. All the islands, bavs, havens, rivers, kilst and places, -'^", ^^° '^': ' .■' ' ' ' ' , i ' ands and even to a great distance on the other side ol New ilol- hays have land or Cape Cod, have Dutch names, which our Dutch na'mc"''" ship masters and traders gave to them ; who were the * Between the landings of Redhook. The trading post of the English here spoken of was that of .Air. Pinchon on the Connecticut. t A kil is a small stream, not entitled to be called either a strait or a river. 24 FT'.PRESENTATION OF NEW NETHF.RLAND. first to discover and to trade to them, even before they had names, as the English themselves well know ; but as long as they could do as they pleased, they were wil- ling not to know it. And those of them who are at the oiMh^Fresh Fresli river, have desired to enter into an agreement to river offered makc a vearlv acknowledfi-ment, or an absolute nur- tn make an , i • i • i i • '" ,■• ■ ■ i • i acknowieiig- chase, w'hich, indeed, is prool positive that our right "'^"'' was well known to them, and that they themselves had nothing against it in conscience, although they now, from time to time, have invented and pretended many things in order to screen themselves, or thereby to cause delay. Moreover the people of Rhode Island, when they were at variance with those of the Bay,* sought reiuge among the Dutch, and sojourn among them. For all these things, and what we shall relate in the following The original pagcs, there are proofs and documents enough, either documents" with the Secretary of the company or with the directors. IZJnn ^Tf I'^ short, it is just this with the English, they are the secreta- willing to kuow the Nethcrlandei's, and to use them as officers of a protection in time of need, but when that is past, they the company ^^^ longer regard them, but play the fool with them. This happens so only because we have neglected to populate the land ; or, to speak more plainly and truly, because w-e have out of regard for our own profit, wish- ed to scrape all the fat into one or more pots, and thus secure the trade and neglect population. Long Island, which, on account of its fine bays and Long Island bavcus, and good lands, is a crown for the Province, oVNewNe" ^^^^^ have also seized upon, except, on the west end, two theriand. Dutch villagcs — Breuckcleu and Amersvoort,t not of much importance — and some English villages, as Graves- end, Greenwich and Mespat, (from which the people were driven off during the war, and which was after- There are a wai'ds Confiscated by Director Kieft : but as the owners aTiviaspTthf appealed therefrom, it remains so still, though there are h • iio^^ a very few people in the place :) also, Vlissengen,J pretty vii- whicli is a pretty village and tolerably rich in cattle. lage. rj>jjg fourth and last village is Hempstead, which is su- of Lon-isi- perior to the rest, for it is very rich in cattlf\ and in par- As wc are uow ou the subject of liOng Island, we ticular. * ^.Tnssacliusetts. Roser W'iliiains embarked from Kew Amsitfrdam for England in lf)43. being interdicted Roston. t Flatland.s. t Flushing. for afier REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 25 will, because the English claim it, speak of it somewhat particularly. The ocean is on the. south, and the East river on the north side ot it ; and as we have said, it is on account of its good situation, of its land, and of its convenient harbors, and anchoring places — a crown for New Nethcrland. The East river «eparates it from Manathans Island as far as the Hellegat. It is tolera- bly wide and convenient ; and has been inhabited Ijy our freemen from the first, according as opportunities ofiered. In the year 1640, a Scotchman, with an J'^";?- ^ g^^,^^. lish commission, was arrested by Director William Kieft. man cr.ine He laid claim to the island, but his pretension was not rnfrci'.i.ne'd much regarded ; for which reason he departed without "'e island, accomplishing any thing, having influenced only a few simple people. Director Kieft also afterwards sent and broke up the English who wished to begin a settlement at Oyster Bay, and thus it has remained from that time to the present. In the year 1647, a Scotchman came here, who called Forester, go himself Captain Forester, and claimed this island for J'he"j,';„. ' the Dowager of Sterling, whose governor he gave him- oi sterling self out to bo. He had a commission dated in the 18th year of King James' reign, but it was not signed by his Majesty or any body else. Appended to it was an old seal which we could not decipher. His commission em- braced the whole of Long Island, together with five leagues round about it, as well the main land as islands. He had also full authority from Mary, dowager of Ster- ling, but this was all. ZVevertheless the man was very consequential, and said on his first arrival, that he came here to see Governor Stuyvesant's commission, and if that was better than his, he was willing to give way ; if not, Governor Stuyvesant must yield to him. To make the matter short, the Director took copies of the papers and sent the man to Holland in the Falconer ; but as this vessel put into England, the man did not reach Holland, having escaped there, and never troubling the captain afterwards. The English have since boasted of lliis very loudly, and have also given out that he had again arrived at Boston, but we have not seen him. It is to be apprehended that if he has come now, some new act will be committed, for which reason it would be well to hasten the redress of New Netherland.* • See Note A, post. 4 26 RKI'RESENTATION OV N£VV NETIIEKLAND. OF THE FRESH RIVER. After Fort Good Hope, begun in the year 1G23,* on the Fret-h river, was linished, sometime had ehipsed when an English bark arrived there. Jacob Van Curler, Com- Ti.e EiiRiiMi missary of the Company, by order of Director Wouter some failli- ^'^'^ Twiller, protested against it, but notwithstanding lies to the his prolcst lliev did, a year or two afterwards, come I'fi'schc He- . t -» vwr, iioi- there with some families. A protest was also made hiK'our"i!ro- iigainst them; but it was very manifest that these peo- t'^^'^t- ])le had little respect for it, for notwithstanding our pro- tests they have iinally seized and possessed th(^ whole of litiuf rejiard thc Frcsli rlvcr, and have j)roceeded so far in their shame- lesf^'""^ and ^^^^ courso as, iu the year 1G40, to seize the company's seize aiiuo.t famis at tlic Fort, paying no regard to the protests which the river?" We made. They have gone even still further, and have belabored the Company's people with sticks and heavy They iieat clubs ; and have forciblv thrown into the I'iver their our people i i • " i -i i i and destroy plouglis aucl othcr Histruments, while they were on the ments.""'''^ land lor the pm-pose of working, and have let their horses loose. The same things have happened very fre- quently. They also obtained the hogs and cows belong- 'jhrn sell ing to the Fort, and several times sold some of them ibr our cattle. ^^^^ purposc, as they said, of repairing the damage. Against all these acts, and each one in particular, pro- tests were repeatedly made, but they were met with ridicule. There were several letters written in Latin to their governors; of which letters and protests, minutes or copies remain "with the Company's officers, from which a much fuller account of these transactions could They have ^6 made. But all opposition was in vain, for having set their Y^r^^ ^ smack of the goodness and convenience of this the lountry river, and discovered the difference between the land he'eas'i'i'y''H- there and that more easterly, they would not go back ; verted from j^^j. "would they put themsclves under the ])rotection of their High Mightinesses, although they were res|)ectfully exhorted thereto, as was desirable from the lirst they should have done. * A inispritit for 11)33. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 27 OF THE RIGHT OF THE NETHERLANDERS TO THE FRESH RIVER. To speak from the boginninir, our people had carefully °,"J!e '*®7he explored and discovered the most northerly parts of New ^"'"- ">. [^ ■;"''.'"■ It has been so charged upon them in several letters, but it nieir piacc. has never been followed up. Besides the)- have, contra jus s^entium, j)er fas et nefas, invaded the whole river, for the reason, as thej^ say, that the land was lying idle and waste, which was not true at the time they came ; for there was already built upon the river a fort which continued to be possessed by a garrison. There was also a large brewery near the fort, belonging to the Dutch or the Company. Most of the land was bought and appropriated and the arms of their High ^ligh- tinesses were set up at KievetsIIoeck, which is situated at the mouth of the river, so that every thing was done Every thing that could be done except that the country was not all iuIucoxm"^ actually occupied. The . ,nglish therefore wished to d"nc, except , *^ 1 '^ . f, . ^ . , . , ppii|)lin!; the regard it the same as it it were in their power to estab- country. lish laws tor our nation in its own purchased lands and limits, and direct how and in what manner it should in- troduce people into the country. But it does not turn • Now called Saybrook Point. Kierit, or Kieirit, is the bird pewit. 28 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. out exactly, according- to tlicir desire and pleasure, that they have the right to invade and appropriate these waters, lands and jurisdiction to themselves. OF THE RODEN-BERCH, BY THE ENGLISH CALLED NEW HAVEN, AND OTHER PLACES OF LESS IMPORTANCE. The number of villages in the possession of the Eng- lish viiiaiies lish, I'rom New Holland or Cape Cod to Stamford, within manyinhii'b'- the limits of the Netherlanders, is about thirty, and they itini^ they niav coutaiu live thousand men capable of bearins; arms. coiitiiin. •'. , ' . II- Their cattle, cows and horses are estimated at thirty thousand ; their goats and hogs cannot be stated, as neither of them can be fully known because there are several places which cannot well pass for villages, but which nevertheless are beginnings of villages. Among the villages, Roden-Berch,* or New Haven, is the first. New Haven |j jjr^g ^ Govemoi', contaius about three hundred and IS one ol the . „ ... , . r i i p i tt • i New Enii- iorty lamilies, and is one oi the members of the I'nited '"s, which Colonies of i\ew England, of which there are four in all. nies, are four in all. This place was begun eleven yeas ago, in the year 1038, since when the people have broken otf and formed Milford, vStratford, Stamlbrd a.nd the trading house before spoken of, &c. Director Kieft has caused several protests to be drawn up, in Latin and in other languages, commanding them by virtue of his commissions irom the Lords States General, His Highness the Prince of Orange and the Most Noble Directors of the Chartered West India Company, to desist from their proceedings and usurpations, and warning them, in case they did not, that we would, as rru T- ,. , soon as a fit opportunity should present, exact of them The bnglish .„. if 5^ • 7;- 71 continue to satisfaction thereior. Jbut it icas knocking at a dead h^mfs, disre*- man's door, as they did not regard these protests or even f.mt'('st\ am! ^akc any notice of them; on the contrary they have jiistifyiiiE sought many subterfuges, circumstances, ialse jiretences by s'ubteriu- and sopliistical arguments to give color to their doings, ^^^' and to throw a cloud upon our lawilii title and valid rights, in order to trick us out of them. General Stuy- vesant also has had many questions with them, growing • Ried-Mc'tnaia. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANU. 29 out of this matter, but it remains as it was. The utmost that they have ever been willing to come to, is to declare that the dispute could not be settled in this country, and that they desired and were satisfied that their High jNIightinesses should arrange it with their sovereign. It is highly necessary that this should be done, inasmuch as the English have already seized, and are in possession They have of, almost half of New Netherland, which hereafter must m' xew .nV be of very great importance. It is therefore heartily to '^eruind. be desired that their High Mightinesses will be pleased to take this subject into serious consideration before it shall go further, and the breach become irreparable. We must now pass to the South river, called by the English Delaware Baj', first speaking of the boundaries ; but before doing so, we cannot omit to say that there has been here, both in the time of Director Kieft and in that of General Stuyvesant, a certain Ensrlishman, who _. _. . nil- If n- T-i 1 1 -r»i •' 1 1 -1 p Sir Edward called himseli fen' Edward rlowden. with the title ol pioeydcn, Earl Palatine of New Albion, who claimed that the land oi^ New aT on the West side of the North river to Virginia was his, [j|"^j' '='""",' by gift of King James of England, but he said he did not n«w Neih- wish to have any strife with the Dutch, though he was very much piqued at the Swedish Governor, John Printz, at the South river, on account of some afiront given him, too long to relate. He said that when an opportunity should offer he would go there and take possession of the river. In short it amounts to this, according to the claims of the English, that there is nothing left for the subjects of Their High Mightinesses, — one must have this far, and another that far, but as between themselves they never fall short.* erland. OF THE SOUTH RIVER AND THE BOUNDARIES THERE. As we have now come to speak of the South River and the most southerly portion of New Netherland, we will, since it is well distinguished from the other part, re- late every thing from the beginning, and as briefly as is practicable. The boundaries, as we find them, extend to Cape Henlopen, many miles south of Cape Cornelius, • See Note B. post. '^" RKPRESENTATION OF NKVV NETHERLAND. at the lallrude of thirty-ei^'ht degrees. The coast stretches, one course with another, west-southwest and west, and although this Cape Henlopen is not much esteemed, it is neverfheless proper that it should be brought to our attention, as being well situated, not only in regard to the position of the country, but also as The Knjiiish relates to the trade with the Indians at the South river, 011(1 swedes i • i ^ i m i- i i ti i • • ,• ;'re luaking wlucli tuc ii,nglish and bwedes are strivmg after very ?ions ior'th''e hard, as we will show. When the boundaries of this souai °' I'i V- country shall be settled, these people should without fur- or, which ther question be ousted, and both the enjoyment ot the uie"''hnnn'^ productions of the land and the trade be retained tor the fiMrv. subjects of Their High Mightinesses. OF THE SOUTH BAY AND SOUTH RIVER. The latitude ^'""^ Soutli Bay and South River, ])y many called the Bm'!'V'^"""' '^*"c°"*^^ great river of New Netherland, is situated at the £3roin^^'''"* latitude of 38 degrees 53 minutes. It has two head- lands or capes. — the more northerly bearing the name of Cape ]May, the more southerly, that of Cape Cornelius. The bay was called Newport-May. but at the presenttime is known as Godyn's l)ay. These names were given to the It was di^ places about (he time of their (irst discovery, beiore any covereii in othcrs Were glvcu them. The discovery, moreover, took the year ) GOO i ^ ^i .- • i i ,. i -Jt i ■.-.• by the Ki,i|. place at the same trnie with that ot the North River, and N.ivrMao. \^y ^-j^p same ship and persons, who entered the South Bay before they came to the North River, as is all to be read, at length, in the " Nieuive Werell'' of .Tohannes de Laet. At the same time that the forts were laid out on the North and Fresh rivers, after (zedert) the year 1623, F/'ft N'jssaii fort Nassau was erected upon this river, which, in com- the tour. " mon parlance, is called the South river. It was the first of the four, and was built with the same object and de- sign as the others, as hereinbefore related. It lies on the east bank, but it would have done as well on the west bank, fifteen miles up the river. The bay runs lor the most part north and south; is called Newport-May or Godyn's bay ; and is nine miles long before you come to the river, and six miles wide, so that you cannot see from one side to the other. On account of certain bars it is somewhat dangerous for inexperienced navigators REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 31 but not SO Ibr those who are acquainted with the chan- nels. This bay and river is compared by its admirers with the river Amazon, that is, by sucli of them as have j[^*'!',,„^"M'^?l seen both ; each ol" which is considered one of the most «r i.re com- beautiful, and the best and pleasantest rivers in the world ihV,se who of itself and as regards others convenient to it. Four- ^^^''■'' jy^"Jj teen streams empty into this river, the least of them nav- Amazon. igable lor two or three miles ; and on both sides there are tolerably level lands of great extent. Two miles TJ?^^ ^"^^^^ from Cape Cornelius, where you enter on the west side, lies navi:;Kbie a certain kil, which might be taken for an ordinary river or stream, being navigable far up, and affording a beau- tiful road-stead for ships of all burdens. There is no other like it in the whole bay for safety and convenience. The main channel ibr navigation runs close by the place we call the Hoere-kil. From whence this name is de- rived we do not know,* so long is it since this place was taken and colonized by Netherlanders, years beibre any English or ►Swedes came there. The {States' arms were set up at this place in copper, but as they were thrown ^^^^ states' down by some mischievous Indians, the Commissary there arms were very firmly insisted upon, and demanded, the head of i',erorC i^ile the offender. The Indians not knowing otherwise g"^l]\^^ °' brought a head, saying it was his ; and the affair was came, supposed to be all settled, but some time afterwards, when our people were working unsuspectingly in their fields, the Indians came in the guise of friendship, and distributing themselves among the Dutch in proportionate numbers, surprised and murdered them. By this means i„ conse- the Colony was again reduced to nothing; but it was ','he" murder nevertheless sealed with blood and dearly enough bought, "i" 'he coio- There is another kil on the east side called the Varck- iioere-kii, ens kil, (Hog creek,)t three miles within the mouth of ^^f^' ""JZl the river. Here some J-higlish had settled themselves, >*.''" ^"^ * but Director Kieft protested against their proceedings, and drove them away, having been assisted in doing so, somewhat, by the Swedes, who had agreed with him to keep out the English. The Swedish Governor, consid- ering an opportunity then ofTered to him, caused a P'ort The swedes . 1 -1 11 11 1 m • 7 • 1 • built Kort to be buiit at this place, called Hjlsinborg,]. and mam- Eisinburgh. ■^ It means harlot's creek, and wasso called, according to the Kort Verhael, from a well known custom of the Indians towards strangers, which was there praciiced by them towards the Dutch who first came to that place. t Now called Salem Creek. T Afterwards destroyed by the Leiuii Lenape, on its abandonment by the Swedes, who left it in consequence, not of Dutch prowess, but of the musquitoes. 32 EEPRESENTATIOX OP NEW NETHERLAND, fests there great boldness towards every one, even over the Company's boats. All who go to the South river, must strike the flag before this Fort, none excepted ; and two men are sent on board to ascertain from whence the yachts or ships come. It is not much better than exercising the right of search. It will, to all appearance, The Swedes comc to this iu the end. What authority these people ri?ht to the cau have to do this, we know not ; nor can we compre- south river, j^end how ofiicers of other potentates, (as they them- selves say they are, but what commission they have we do not yet know,) can make themselves master ol', and assume authority over, land and goods belonging to and possessed by other people, and sealed with their blood, independently of the patent. The 3Iinquas-kil* is the first upon the river, and there the Swedes have built Fort Christina. This place is well situated, as large ships can lie close against the shore to load and unload. There is, besides others, a place on the river called Schuylkihf (a convenient and navigable stream.) here- tofore possessed by the Netherlanders, but how is it now ? The Swedes have it almost entirely under their Several pia domiuiou. Thcrc are in the river several beautiful large South" river inlands, and other places which were formerly possessed in posses- by (lie Ncthcrlanders, and which still bear the names people. given by them. These facts, with various other matters, constitute sutlicient and abundant proof that the river be- longs to the Netherlanders, and not to the Swedes, whose beginnings can be shown by witnesses to have been The Swedes made ouly eleven years ago, in the year 1638, J when e\ra'^tolnhoid ouc Minue-iclfs, wlio bcforc that time had had the Di- on ihesouth rection at the Manathans, on behalf of the West India trickery. ^ Company, arrived in the river with the ship Knhner- S/eiitel, (Key of Calmar.) and the yacht, VogeJ-Gryp, (GrilTen,) giving out to the Netherlanders who lived up the river, under the Company, and the Heer Vander Ne- derhorst, that he was on a voyage to the West Indies, and that })assing by there, he wished to do some repairs, and to furnish the ships with water and wood, and would th(Mi leave. Some time ai'terwards, some of our makeTutue pcoplc goiug there again, found that the Swedes had garden. douc morc, and had already made a small garden for raising salads, pot-herbs and the like. They wondered at this, and inquired of the Swedes what it meant, and * ChiistiiKi Creek, ■y 'TvSii\s\-died Skulkiiigcreek. J See Note C. post. REPRESENTATION OF M-VV WLiriERLAND. 33 whether they intended to stay there. Tliey excused ihcHLselves by various reasons and subterfuges, but not- withstanding vvhicli, it was supposed such was their de- sign. Still later became apparent, from their build- ing a fort, what their intentions were. Director Kieft, when he obtained information of the matter, protested against it, but in vain. It was plainly and clearly to Protestmade be seen, in the progress of the afiair, that they did not s't'ue''";,rii.s intend to leav(\ It is matter of evidence that above '*^'"''- Mas;hch(ic}iansie* near the Sanhihans,-] the arms of Their High Mightinesses were erected by order of Director Kielt, as a symbol that the river, with all the country and the lands around there, were held and owned under Their High Mightinesses. But what Iruits has it pro- duced as yet, other than continued derision and deroga- tion of dignity ? For the Swedes, with intolerant inso- .^^g ci^e^gg lence, have thrown down the arms, which are sutfered tear .loun the Slates to remain so, and this is looked upon by them, and par- arms, ticularly by their Governor, as a Roman achievement. True, we have made several protests, as well against this as other transactions, but they have had as much effect as the flying of a ci'ovji overhead; and it is believed that if this Governor had a supply of men, there would be more madness in him than there has been iu the ,„, ■n 1 • 1 f I • /-I I 1 • i> • , J lie olficers ii.nglisli, or any oi then* Governors. In briel, \n regard or the t .un- to the Swedes, the Company's officers will be able to p;\"ea Tuner make a more pertinent explanation, as all the papers "hrpmce'ed- remain with them ; besides, it is to their journals we j"?s of the , ,. Swedes. ourselves reler. The English have sought at difl^erent times and places to colonise this river, which they say, is annexed to their territory, but this has as yet been prevented by different protests. We have also expelled them by force, well driven "fmm knowing that if they once settled there, we should lose ^''^'^""'hri- the river or hold it with difficulty, as they would swarm there in great numbers. There are great reports daily, that the English will soon repair there with many fami- lies. It is certain that if they do come and nestle down there, they will soon possess it so completely, that neither Hollanders nor Swedes, in a short time, will have much to say ; at least, we run a chance of losing the whole, * Mnghchachansie, or, as it is spelt by Campanius, Mehansin-sippus, was, 86 its termination denotes, a small stream which emptieci into the Delaware on the east side, probably Crosswick creek at Bordentown. t The Sankikans were seated at Assinpink, now Trenton. 5 The Bewint hcbhrrs do 34 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. or the c:reatost part of the river, if remarl\'a])le precau- tion be not used. It could be retained if theie were a popidation ; but the Managers oj" the Company to this day have had no regard to peoj)ling the country worth t'hr 'c'm'ni'ry the whilc, thoLigh the subject has Ijeen lully brought be- gmw'ih'."' '" ^'"^'6 them in several documents. They have been other- wise employed ; for it has been with this matter as with the rest, that avai-ice has l)linded wisdom. The report now is that the English intend to build a village and trading house there ; and indeed if they begin, there is nobody in this country who, on the company's behall", can or apparently will, make much eiibrt to prevent Certain Ne- them. Not longer ago than last vear, several free per- tlierlanaers .„ r- '^i "" " ' i i i spektncsta- SOUS,' somc ot whom wcrc our owu countrymcu who had selves 'nn'"' ^^' could havo good umstcrs in Fatherland, wished to es- tiieSdiiihri- tablish a trading house and erect some breweries in the ver, but ii> , . ,. . , vain. plantation, upon condition that certain privileges and exemptions should be extended to them ; but this was refused by the General, saying, that he could not do it, not having any order or authority from the noble Lords Mayors ; but if they w'ere willing to begin there without privileges, they could do so. And when we represented to His Honor that such were oifered by our neighbors all around us, if we would only declare ourselves willing to be called members of their government, and that this place ran a thousand dangers from the Swedes and u'.'ruir.nvr" English, His Honor answered that it was well known to tiie hiMine of be as wc said, (as he himself did, in I'act, well know,) and "ing the'"'^ that the reason was also belbre us, that the orders which countrj up- j^g \-^Q^^\ fpom the Mayors t were so, and he could not pany. auswcr for them. Now we are ignorant in these mat- ters, but one thing or the other must be true, either it is the fault oi' the Director or Managers, or of both of them. However it may be, one shifts the blame upon the other, and between them both every thing goes to ForeiKners Tuin. Foreigners enjoy the country and fare very well ; I'ierand'p'ri- ^^^y laugh at US if wc Say any thing ; they enjoy privi- viieges. leges and exemptions, which, if our Netherlanders had enjoyed as they do, would Mdthout doubt, next to the help of God, without which we are powerless, have en- abled our people to flourish as w^ell or better than they * Free persons were those who came to New NetherlanJ, not as colonists under the patroons, or as employes of the West India Company, but on their own account. t Managers, called Majors. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 35 do; ergo, the Company or their oOicers have hitherto been and are still the cause of its not farinjz; better with .y^^^^ j^ „„ the country. On account of their cupidity and bad j;';';"'';'',';,',^,;'^!' management there is no hope, so long as the land is un- iKinc heitcr der their government, that it will go on any better ; but "^ '^^ 'SJ it will grow worse. This, however, is not the proper J^'|« compa- place to speak of these things. OF THE SITUATION AND GOODNESS OF THE WATERS. Having given an account of the situation of the country and its boundaries, and having consequently spoken of the location of the rivers, it will not be foreign to our purpose to add a word as to the goodness and conven- ience of the waters ; v/hich are salt, brackish, or fresh, according to their locality. There are in New Nether- There are land four principal rivers; the most southerly is usually v""s in^New called the .South river, and the bay at its entrance, '^etheriand. Godyn's Bay. It is so called not because it runs to the south, but because it is the most southerly river in New Netherland. Another which this lies south of or nearest to, and which is the most important as regards trade and population, is called Rio Montanjes, from certain mountains, and Mauritius river, but generally, the North river, because it reaches farthest north. The third is the j^JlgrlTlo East river, so called because it runs east of the Man- cmied be 1 rT\i • ■ 111 , ■ \ ±. cause It runs athans. This is regarded by many not as a river but as east and a bay, because it is extremely wide in some places and ^^®'"' connects at both ends with the sea. We however con- sider it a river and such it is commonly reckoned. The fourth is called the Fresh river, because the water is for the most part fresh, more so than the others. Besides these rivers, there are many bays, havens and inlets, very convenient and useful, some of which might well be classed among rivers. There are numerous bodies of water inland, some large, ot'iers small, besides navi- gable kils like rivers, and many creeks very advanta- geous for the purpose of navigating through the country, as the map of New Netherland will prove. There are ^J"J!ims""" various waterfalls and streams, kils tit to erect mills of all kinds upon for the use of man. and innumerable small rivulets over the whole country, like veins in the body ; M my si> ■illfIS nd I'o 111 tains SI) lie o t \v licli smoke in winter ml 86 RBPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. but they are all fresh water, except some on the sea shore, which are salt and fresh or l)rackisli.but very good both for wild and domestic animals to drink. The surplus waters are lost in the rivers or in the sea. Besides all these there are fountains without number, and springs all over, even at places where water would not be expected ; as on clilis and rocks whence spring veins are certain to issue. Some of them are worthy of being remembered, i'lrsiiminp'r''' ^^^ ^ttly bccausc they are all (except in the thickets) very clear and pure, Imt because many have these prop- erties, that in the winter they smoke from heat, an:l in summer are so cool that the hands can hardly be endured in them on account of the cold, not even in the hot- test of the summer; which circumstance makes them pleasant for the use of man and beast, who can partake of them without danger ; for if any one drink thereof, it does him no harm although it be very warm weather. Thus much of the proprietorsliip, location, goodness and fruitfulness oi this province, in which particulars, as far xew xeth- j^g our little experience extends, it need vield to no erlaiid Yields . . ^-i * i " i • i« no jirov- j)rovince in hiurope. As to what concerns trade, — m r'o'iie. " '" which Europe and especially Netherland is pre-eminent, vit;!!i!ea"tbr ^^ '^^t oul}^ llcs vcry convenient and proper for it, but if trade. there were inhabitants, it would be found to have more commodities of and in itself to export to other countries than it would have to import Irom them. These things considered, it woukl be little labor for the mind to estimate and compute exactly what importance this naturally noble province is to the Netherland nation, what service it could .wat"id'van'^ rcndcr it in future, and what a retreat it Avould be for fas!e to the all the uccdy in Netherland, as well of high and middle, nation here as of low degree ; for it is much easier for all men of en- ^^^^''' terprise to obtain a livelihood here than in Netherland. ,|,i_^^^j.^ j^ We cannotsufficiently thank the Fountain of all Good- c.hi that lie ness for His having led us into such a fruitfid and the x'.'iher healthl'ul land, which we, with our numerous sins, still '.vi't'tl t'l'i.'s'"" heaped up here daily, beyond measure, have not deserv- country. ed. We are also in the highest degree beholden to the Indians, who not only have given up to us this good and fruitful country, and for a trifle yielded us the ownership, but also have enriched us with their valuable trade, so that there is no one in New Netherland or who trades to New Netherland without obligation to them. Great is our disgrace now, and happ}' should we have been, had we acknowledged these benefits as we ought, and REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 87 had wo striven to impart as much as was in our power, to the hidians, the Eternal Good, in return lor what they divided with us. It is to be feared that at the Last Day they will stand up against us for this injury. Lord of Rulers ! forgive us lor not having conducted therein more according to our reason ; give us also the means and so direct our hearts that we in future may acquit ourselves as we ought for the salvation of our own souls and of theirs, and for the magnifying of thy Holy Name, for the sake of Christ. Amen. To speak with deference, it is proper to look beyond The trouble the trouble which will be incurred in adjusting the o" se^uinll''^ boundaries and the first cost of increasing the population J^f^ ,'?,'u""^be of this country, and to consider that beginnings are difh- overiooke.i , 11 • 111 • 1 '^ -PI ""'' '"" '"'' cult and that sowmg would be irksome it the sower pnriance or were not cheered with the hope of reaping. We trust consiuered^ and so assure ourselves that the very great experience of Their High Mightinesses will dictate better remedies than we are able to suggest. But it may be that Their High Mightinesses and some other friends, before whom this may come, may think strange that we speak as highly of this place as we do, and as we know to be true, and yet complain of want and poverty, seek relief, assistance, redress, lesstming of command, population and the like, and show that the country is in a poor and ruinous condition ; yea, so much so, as that without special aid and assistance it will utterly fall off and pass under foreign rule. It will therefore be necessary to point out the true reasons and causes why 7\'ew Nether- land is in so bad a state, which we will do as simply and truly as possible, according to the facts, as we have seen, experienced, and heard them ; and as this state- ment will encounter much opposition and reproach from many persons who may take ofience at it, we humbly pray Their High Mightinesses and all well wishers, ][,enj*o''/®'},e that they do not let the truth yield to any falsehoods, in- causes and vented and embellished for the purpose, and that they New"Neth- receive no other testimony against this relation than liepressid*a that of such impartial persons as have not had, either condition. directly or indirecti)', any hand therein, and are not in- ex'ceedineiy juriously affected by the loss of New Netherland, or are"eiposed otherwise under obligation to it. With this remark we ''v it- proceed to the reasons and sole cause of the evil which we correctly but briefly and indistinctly stated in the be- ginning of our petition to Their High Mightinesses. 38 REPRESEXTATIOX OF XEU" XETHERLAXD. OF THE REASONS AND CAUSES WHY AXD HOW NEW XETHERLAXD IS SO DECAYED. Bad govern- As we shall speak ot' the reasons and causes which "!n 'of Vew have brought Xew Xetherland into the ruinous condition Neiheriand. jn "which it is uow found to be. we deem it necessary to state the very tirst ditticulties, and for this purpose re- gard it as M-e see and find it. in our daily experience. As far as our understanding goes, to describe it in one word, (and none better presents itself.) it is had govern- Tnent. with its attendants and consequences, that is the true and only ioundation stone of the decay and ruin of Tiiegoyern- Xcw Xethcrlaud. This government from which so much abuse proceeds, is two fold, that is : in the Fath- erland bv the ^Managers, and in this country. "* ^A e shall first briefly and in some order point out the mis- takes in Fatherland, and aiterwards proceed to show how abuses have grown up and obtained strength here. The Managers ot the Company adopted a wrong course at first, and as we t'nink had more regard for their own interest than for the welfare of the country^ wrong t-Mi- trugfij^g rather to evil than just counsels. This is proven by the unnecessary expenses incurred from time to time, the heavy accounts of Xew IXetherland.r the registering of manors — in which business most of the ^lanagers themselves engaged, and in reference to which they have regulated the trade, — and finally the not peopling the countrv. It seems as if from the first, the Company have sousfht to stock t.is land with their own employes^ which was a great mistake, for when their time was The ?er- out they returned home, taking nothing with them, ex- Inmp=.nV''^" cept a little in their purses and a bad name for the c'nfa:'rv^ a couutrv. in regard to its means of sustenance and in oth- ba.d name, er resDects. In the meantime there was no profit, but on the contrary heavy monthly expenditures, as the ac- counts of rSew Z\etherland will show. Had the Honorable ^Vest India Company, in the be- ginning, sought population instead of running to great expense for unnecessary things, which under more favor- able circumstances misht have been suitable and verv • V;z : by the Director and Council. T Ti.e West India Company had, between the years 1626 and 1644, ex- pended for New Netheriand the sum of §220,000. the -r.i-e r~ tnn ni;; ted b7 ;he £■-;- tr:'n: :ri and he. TiC- t:ce of the Dire cior The Br: -iTl!- h'.bi "rr Tave purs ued a re- ilu- REPBESEXTATIOy OF XEW NETHERLAXD. 39 proper, the account of Xew Netherland would not have been so large as it now is, caused by building the ship New Netherland at an excessive outlay, by erecting three expensive mills, by brick making, by tar-burning, by ash-burnine, by salt making and like operations, which through bad management and calculation have all gone to nought, or come to little ; but which never- theless have cost much. Had the same money been used in brinsring people and importing cattle, the country would now have been ot great value. The land itself is much better and it is more conven- iently situated than that which the English possess, and ^'ifer'"*!! " if there were no interference with individual gain and [^"j;^.^""j private trade, there would be no danger of their surpas- -ted than sms: us as tar as they do. tnsiand. Had the first exemptions been truly observed, accord- ing to their intention, and had they not been carried out with particular views, certainly the friends of New Xeth- erland would have exerted themselves more to take people there and make settlements. The other con- ditions which were introduced have always discouraged individuals and kept them down, so that those who were acquainted with the business dare not attempt it. It is very true that the Company have brought over some persons, but they have not continued to do so, and it therefore has done little good. It was not begun pro|>- erly ; for it was merely accidental, and was not in- tended. It is impossible for us to state pertinently wherein and how olten the Company have acted injuriously to this country. They have not approved of our own country- men settling the land, as is shown in the case of Jacob ^refn^" W alin^en and his people at the Fresh river, and quite '°p*/J?'}."'** 1-1 1 -- 1 • 1 •! 1 ^°^ \\alin?- recently m the cases at the !>outh river : — while at the en to seiuc same time foreigners were permitted to go there without hver.* opposition or protest. It is known they are censurable in other respects, the garrisons are not kept complete conformably to the exemptions, and thus the cause of The fault of New Xetherland's bad condition, lurks as well in Neth- dulonof""'' erland as here. Yea, the seeds of war, according to the ^ru'nd rie]^ declaration of Director Kieft, were lirst sown by the "HhiheBe- Fatherland ; for he said he had express orders to exact " the contribution from the Indians ; which would have been very well if the land had been peopled, but as it was, it was premature. 40 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. Losriiiiiiiiie Trade, Avithont which, when it is lejjitimate, no coun- dmv M hy'lhe ^'T ^^^ prosjHTous, is by their acts so deca3'ed, that the coiiipiuiy. Jilie is nowhere else. It is more suited for ski^•es ihan freemen, in consecjuence of the restrictions upon it and the annoyances which accom])any the exercise of the right of inspection. We approve of inspection, how- ever, so I'ar as rehttes to contraband. his ri<:i,t to This contraband trad(! has ruined the country. c'Mm'!ii'!'iui fhougli it is now excluded from every part of it by orders u:.,u-. lor it oiveii l)v the ]Manae,ers to their officers. These orders coiiiiiry. sJiould be executed without partiality, which is not always the case. The Recognition* runs high, and of inspection and confiscation there is no lack ; hence true trade is entirely diverted, except a little, which exists pro forma, as a cloak to carry on smuggling. In the The Chris- 111^^11 time the Christians are treated almost like Indians, li.uis :.re ii^ the purchase of the necessaries with which they can- treated ill- ,. 1 rrr • 1 ■ 1- most like In- uot dispcuse. 1 liis causcs great complaint, distress and poverty : as, for example, the merchants sell those goods which are liable to little depreciation, at a hundred per cent, and more profit, when there is no particular demand or scarcity of them. And the traders who come with small cargoes, and others engaged in the business, buy them up from th(^ merchants and sell them again to the common man, who cannot do without them, oftentimes at a hun- dred |)er cent, advance, and higher or lower according as it suits them. ITpon liquors, which are liable to much leakage, they take more, and those who buy from them re- tail them in the same manner, as we have described in re- gard to dry wares, and generally at as much profit, so that r...r„i. rue the goods are in first, second and sometimes inthird hands, sold at one ?? J ' two and ' at one and two hundred per cent, and more advance. dreir.ne"'"' We are not able to think of all the practices which are cent, profit, coiitrived lor advancing individual gain. Little atten- tion is given to populating the land. The people, more- over, have been driven away by harsh and unreasonable proceedings, for which their Honors gave the orders ; Thp Bcpjnt- l(jy. the Managers wrote to Director Kieft to prosecute hehbcrs di- ^ . ^ ^ . . rect that whcii there was no onence, and to consider a partial should i,e*re- offeuce {fauU') an entire one, and so forth. It has also whole ''one '^ ^^ %een how the letters of the Eight men were treated, and thus ' and what followed thereupon ; besides there were many peSpie." ^ ruinous orders and instructions which are not known to us. But leaving this at present, with now and then a * A tax ill tilt- nature of an export duty. REPRESENTATION OF NEW N'ETHERLAXD. 41 Word, as it is scaifcly worth relating, — let us proceed lu examine how their ollicers and Directors have con- ^.^^ pj^g^.. ducted themselves from time to time, haviner played "t" p'«y With the managers as well as with the people, as a cat masters and does with a mouse. It would be possible to relate their a"c''arwith''a management from the beginning, l)ut as most of us were "^o"se. not here then and therefore not eye witnesses, and as a long time has passed whereby it has partly escaped recol- lection, and as in our view it was not so bad then as afterwards when the land was made free and freemen began to increase, we will pass by the beginning and let Mr. Lubbert van Dincklaghen, Vice Director of New Netherland. describe the government of Director Wouter Van Twiller ol" which he is known to have inlbrmation, and will only speak of the last two miserable and im- poverished administrations. We would speak well of the government under Director Kieft, who is now^ no ^^^ smart of more, but the evil of it lives after him ; and of that un- ministranon der Director Stuyvesant which still stands, if indeed ue». '^'""'"" that may be called standing, which lies completely under foot. The Directors here, though far from their masters, under pre- were close by their i)rofit. They have always known J'„I.;'th,"pub' how to manage their own matters with little loss, and ''<^ I'nsiness, 1 n ^ 1 !• 1 • rni i i the Directors under pretext oi the public business. 1 hey have also attend to conducted themselves just as if they were the sovereigns '^^"°"'°- ot the country. As they desired to have it, so always has it been ; and as they willed so was it done. " The Managers," they say, '• are masters in Fatherland, tors^ piay'^*^" but we are masters in this land." As they understand n^aster!"'"'* it so it is, there is no appeal. And it has not been diilicult ior them hitherto to maintain this doctrine in practice ; for the people were few and for the most part very simple and uninformed, and besides, had transac- tions with the Directors every day. As there were some intelligent men among them, ir/io could no upon their own feet, them it was sought to obli<2e. They could not un- derstand at lirst the arts of the Directors which were always subtle and dark, inasnmch as they were very frequently successful and for a long time quite advan- ^. tageous. Director Kieft said himself and let it be said Kiet^ iet it also by others, tiiat he was sovereign in this country, the gatedumt" " same as the Prince in Netherland. This was told him •«'.»»' ^"ve- reign in this several times here and he never made any particular country, and 1 • .. ... r,.| , . ^ ,, V II rxercucdsu oti|cctu)u to it. J he retusing to allow appeals, and otliyr prcmepower 6 liere more th :ui tlic Ci lllll >;ui>-. fst uyvesriiit. r\'. ■nie ;tii ■s llic «f M|.- Ill In ■M 1 . lie hi ■M,|,li,.s in^i-lf 42 REPRESENTATION Of^ NEW NETHERLANn. similar acts, prove cloai-ly that in regard to us it is just as tliey say and not otherwise. The ])resent Director does the same, and in the denial ot' appeal, he is at koine. He ass<>rts the maxim, " the Prince is above the law," and applies it so boldly to his own person that he is even ashamed of it himself. These directors having then ihe power in their own hands, can do and have • ",',„." I 'n ,',',",' done what they chose according to their good will and lau'.''" "" l>lea8nre ; and whatev(M- was, was right, because it w^as agreeable to them. It is well known that those who accept po\ATr, and use it to command what they will, Jrequently command and will more than they ought, whether it appear well or not. So too there are always some persons who applaud such conduct, some out of a desire to make mischief, others from fear; and yet still complain with .Tan Yergns de cinnenlia duris, of the clemrncy of the Duke. But in order that we give nobody cause fo suspect that we hloiv (/ni/ too hard, it will be The oiitu'n- ))i'0|ier to illustrate by examples the government of Mr. lr:Mi?m''i''"'' J-^i'"<'ctor Kieitat its close, and the administration of Mr. uiivd,)!- Director Stuyvesant just prior to tlie time of our depar- ir.,'1.,1 i,'y.'\ ture thence. We frankly admit, iiowever. that we will '""''''■-■ not be able to speak ol" them lully, because they were conducted so se<'retly and with such duplicity and cralt. We will nevertheless expose some of tlieir jiroceedings according to our ability, and thus let the lion be judged of from his paw. <;•"'; Casting onr t\yes upon the government of Director ,iimli,'i,r'.|'! Kieft, the chiireh hrst meets us, and we will therefore ''"^' speak of llie pul)lic ])roperty ecclesiastical and civil. But as this man is now dead, and some of his man- agement and doings are freely represented by one .To- eiiem T^ietersz Cuyter and Cornelis Melyn,* we will dis- pose of this point as biielly as we ))ossibly can. ''!'.'■.":".'"!'' ij<'f«'re the time that Director Kieit brought the un- iiniiieii'i up- necessary war U])on the counti'v. In's principal aim and iry '1 1'y Ku'i'i' '^ndeavors wei'c I0 provide well lor himself and to leave a great name alter him, Init M'ithout any expense to himself or the Company. He never did any thing re- luarkahle for the country by which it was improved. Thus he c(insi(lei'<'d the erecfioii ol a church a very necessary public work, the more so, as it was in contem- * Cayter iiiid JMrlyn liad nrrniirnecl Kieft liefore Sttiyvcsaiit, ami upon his Jifci'iitlnl lind apiienled to the Stales General 111 Netherlaiid, whither they had been l)aiiislied on that account. REPilESENTATlON OF NEW NETIIERLAXU. 43 ))Iatlon to build one at that time at Rrn-elaer.s-AV'yck. Kieft was Willi this view he coinmuiiicati'd with tlic cliLirch war- "i";',rci[-\var'^ dens, — of which body he hiinsell was one, — and lliey wil- iiens ; and lingly agreed to and seconded the project. The place church t..' where it shoidtl stand was then debated. The Director 1',^^ 'r.'rt' III contended I hat it should be placed in the fort, and there *'''•« "'" 1 ' the 111. it was erected in spite of the others, and. indeed, as suit- ably as (I fiflh wheel to a wagon; for I)esides that the fort is small and lies upon a point of land which must be very valuable in case o( an increase of ])(>pulation, the church ought to be owned by the congre-^ation at whose cost it was built. It also intercepts and turns T,,e ,„i,| j^ off the south wind from the grist-mill which stands ',;''.',',"^'='"'^ close by, for which reason there is frequently in sunmier thurcii. a want of bread from its inability to grind, though not from this cause alone. The mill is nc^glcctcd and, in consequence ol" remaining idle most of tlie time, has be- come considerably rotten so that it cannot now be made to go with more than two arms, and it has been so lor nearly five years. But to return to the church, — from which the grist-mill has somewhat diverted us, — the Director then resolved to build a church, and at the place where it suited him ; but he was in want of money and was at a loss how to obtain it. It happened about this time that the minister, Everadus Bogardus, gave his daughter in marriage ; and the occasion ot the wedding the Director considered a good opportunity lor his pur- pose. So after the fourth or fifth round of drinking, he set about the business, and he himself showing a liberal example let the wedding-guests subscribe what they o;e'''Jvr"(Ung were willing to give towai'ds the church. All then with ^,",''^,'^''j'^^''jj light heads subscribed largely, competing vvitli one an- willing to other ; and although some well repented it when they W^^ Xirch* got home, they were nevertheless compelled to paj-, — "^"'fny'!',^"^''* nothing could avail to prevent it. The church was then, them afier- ■*. , , . p • , 1 1 • wards re- contrary to every consideration ol propriety, ))lacea in pent or it the fort. The honor and ownership of that work must ^'^^.^'^l'^"" be judged of from th(> inscription, which is in our o])inion ambiguous, thus reading: '• 1()42. Willem Kieit I)i- REUTEUR GeNERAEL, HEEKT HE GlIEMEENTE DESEN TeMPEL doen bouwen." (1G4'2. William Kieft Director General, has caused the co}i<(rei(ation to build this church). But whatever bi; intended l^y the inscription, the peojde nev- ertheless paid for the church. "^^ • See Nole D, post. 44 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NEI'HERIiAND. There is no We must HOW speak of the property belonj2:ing- to the er't>%^''^'"'^ cliLireb, and, to do the truth no violence, we do not know- that there has ever been any, or that the church has any income except what is given to it. There has never been any exertion made eitlier by the Company or by the Director to obtain or provide any. contribu- "^^^^ hotcl kas been s-oiii'j; round a long time for the pur- tions are pose of crccting a common school and it has been built made tor the ' .,, 7 i T ^ ^1 ,^ . . • - 1 • 1 o school. Vi'ith Avords, but as yet tlie hrst stone is not laid. .Some mate)"ials only are provided. The money nevertheless, given for the ]Hirpose has all found its way out and is mostly spent ; so that it falls short and no permanent benefit has as yet been derived from it. For the poor aaIio are, however, otherwise well pro- vided for, nothing is done except the alms collected The poor- amoug the people, and some fines and donations of the [y"''in""the inhabitantSo A considerable portion of this money is in hands of the f^e posscssiou of the Compaiiv. who liavc been s|)ending ifr^, imtnei- it irom tiiiic to time, and have promised, tor a year and parnor"\"- upwards, to pay interest. Little attention however is terestranbe o-iyen to tliis promisc. SO that neither ])rincipal nor in- ohtained ~ ' ■ i ■ from them, tcrcst caii be obtained Irom tnem. Flying reports about asylums for orphans, for the sick and aged, and the like have occasion;illy been heard, but as yet no attempt, order or direction has been made in relation to them. From all these facts, then, it sufli- scarceiyany cicutlv appears that scarcely any proper care or diligence eii'^'for'''''" ^^^^ been used by the Company or its ofiicers lor any church prop- ecclcsiastical j)roperty whatever, — at least, nothing as far ^'^ ^' as is known, — from the beginning to this time ; but, on the contrary, great industry and exertion have been used to attach and bind closely to th*mi their minions, as we shall hereafter at the ])roper time relate. And now let us proceed to the consideration of what public measures of a civil character had been adopted up to the time of our departure, in order to make manifest the diligence and care of the Directoi's in this particular. The Recoc- Tlicrc v.'as iiot at fii'st, uudcr thc govcrimioit ofDirec- niiion on ° {-.or Kicft. .SO mucli oiiportunity as there has since been ; — peltries paid , ' , \ \ „ ,* , . , • 1 • in N.N. because the recognition or the peltries was then paid in the Fatherland, and the freemen gave nothing for ex- cise ; but after that public calamit}'', the rash war, was brought upon us, tlie recognition of the jjeltries began to be collected in this country, and a beer-excise was sought to be established, about which a conference was REI'RESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 46 had with the Eight men,* who were then chosen from the people. As they did not understand it, they desired to know under what regulations and upon what footing it would take place, and how long it would continue. Director Kieit promised that it should not continue longer than until a ship of the Company should arrive with a new Director, or until the war sliould he at an end. Although it was very much distrusted by all and The beer ex- was not consented to, yet he introduced it by force. The ce^i? by force' brewers who would not agree to it had their beer given a prize to the soldiers. It has been continued in force ever since and has caused great strife and discontent. ™, „. , 1 • . 1 I T-\- 1-1 The Director rroni this tune forward the Du-ector began to divide i-esins to the people and to set up party. Those who were on his peopiL.^and side could do nothing amiss, however bad it might be ; — ous^^Tr '''his those who were opposed to him were always wrong in panizans whatever they did well, and the order to reckon half an offence a whole one was then enforced. The jealousy of the Director was so great that he could not bear Avithout suspicion, that impartial persons should visit his partisans. After the war was, as the Director himself said, finish- ed, — though in our opinion it will never be finished until ^'''^ "'^r '~ iiovcr will the country is populated, — every one hoped that this im- be ended un- post would be removed, but Director Kieft put off the Inore'^people removal until the arrival of a new Director, who was i" "'^ '^°^'^' try. delayed for some time thereafter. When finally he did appear, it was like the crowning of RehoI)oam, for, in- stead of abolishing the beer-excise, his first business was g,uy^., to impose a wine-excise and other intolerable burdens ; '">poses so that some of the commonalty as they had no remedy, The com- were constrained to remonstrate against the same. In- "uonaBainsi stead however of obtaining the relief Avhich they ex- "• pected, they received abuse from the Director. Subse- quently a written answer was given them that a Director like him usually had such large and ample powers that poor common people as are here, made mistakes in rela- tion to them, and should submit to them without relief Further attem})ts have accordingly been made from time to time to introduce new taxes and duties. In line it was so managed in Director Kieft's time, that a large Kieft cniicc- yearly sum was received from the recognition and other »e'"f«'n 'he * The Eight men and the Twelve men were chosen during the Indian difficulties, the latter in 1641, and the former in ](i43,to advise with the Director, like the Nine men subsequently. esant the xcise. 4G REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANU. people ]6,- sources, calculated to amount anually to 16,000 guilders,* yeariyl'''''"^^ besidcs the recognition whicli was ])aid in tlu^ Father- land and which was paid in eliect here l)y the j)ooi' commonalty ; for the goods were thereby run up exor- stiiyvo^ant bitautly high and sold to them. In Director 8tuy vesant's? '''"7'"*,. ,, administration the revenue has reached a mu'-ii higher -.mm. sum, and it is estimated that about 30,000 guddiT.sf ai-e now derived yearly from the people by recognitions, condscations, excise and other taxes. Though it is not riglit that the more one has the more he should liitve. yet this was submitted to in order to give ms mnrli as possible, when if was designed ior the juiblie weal. And whereas in all the i)i'oclaniations it was promised, III lllP ])l:i- J I , ' cir.is it was and declared that the money should be employed Ibr airil'provuieii laudablc and necessary public works, let us now look Ibr monies^ roi- ^ mooKmt aud SCO what laudable public Avorks there lectprt rr.iiii are in this country, and what fruits all the (halations shoiii'i" he and contributions have hitherto borne. But not to ei-r tii'^r buTietit. hei-ein is it not necessary tliat we should know what goods and elfects belong to tin? Honorabl.; Company as its own ? Ibr what belongs to it particularly is not The Com- public. The Company's elieets in this country may, oT'in N'"^ N perhaps, witli Ibrts, cannon, ammunition, ware-houses, » mits to dwelling-houses. work-slioj)s. horses, catlle, boats, and alioMt 60.- , ,1 I i J r <>i\ / i\,\ oooor 70,001) whatever clsf' there niav he. aniouuL to irom nO,(i()0 fi*;;;Vn- to 70.000 guilders,^ and it "is very jjrobable that the debts .leiiteii more agaiust it are considerably iiioi-e. But, ])assing these by, let us turn our attention to the public j)i-oj)ei-ty, a)id Si'e where the money from time to time has Ijecn i\>ri\. Ac- cording to the proclamations during the admimsti-ation of Director Ivieit, if we rightly consider and examine them all, we cannot learn or tliscover that any thing, — v»'e say done'to'rTiIe o HI/ fJi i ni^- liU'gQ OY suiall, — worth ndatiug. was done, built l^'opie under q,. made, which concerned or belonged to the conimon- alty. the church excepted, whereof we hav(^ hereto ore spoken. Yea, it has gone on so badly and negligently that nothing has ever been designed, und(;rstood or done that gave appearance of content to the peo])le, (>ven ex- ternally, but on the contrary, what came from the com- peopiev^^nrt uionalty has even been mixed up with the eJleets of the the compa- Companv, and even the comi)any"s property and means ny s proper- * , i i ^ i • i ^ 1 ty neglected, havc bccu cveiy whcrc negiecteti, m order to maivc * !iii(i,4nn. t .f 12,000. t From $24,000 to S^B.OOO. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 47 friciicls, to secure witnesses and to avoid accusers about the managemeiit of the war. The nejjroes, also, who came from Tamaiidare* were sold for pork and peas, from the |)roce(Hls of which something wonderful was to be j)erfoi'ined. but they just diij)p<'(l throuirli the fingers. There are, also, various other negroes in this country, some of whom have been made free for their long ser- vice, but their children have remained slaves, though it is contrary to the laws of every people that any one born of a Christian mother should be a slave and be compelled to remain in servitude. Jt is impossible to relate every thing that has happened. ^\ hoever did not give his assent and approval was watched and, when it was con- venient, was summoned. We submit to all intidligent persons to consider what fruit this has borne, and Mhat a way this was to obtain good testimony. Men are by nature covetous, especially those who are needy, and of this we will hereafter adduce some few proois. when we come to speak of Director Kieft's government particular- ly. But to proceed now to the administration of Direc- i'/f"'<'p'Ho torfetuyvesant,and tosee how aiiairshave been conducted ment of i)i- up to the time of our departure. JNlr. Stuyvesant has veViriu.^'"^ most all the time from his first arrival up to our leaving, fs\m< ■ wuh- been busy building, laying masonr}-, making, breaking, ""i "'"v ad- lepairing and the like, but generally in matters of tV"!,'ffi?irsof the Company and with little profit to it ; for upon some [,''.'; '^'"■"p^' things more was spent than they were worth ; and though, at the first, he put in order the church which nosides the came into his hands very much out of repair, and shortly wi'm!r" .-.nd afterwards made a wooden wharf, both of which are "'•■^.'•'"''■'^h , , , . ,. , . . nothing done very serviceable and convenient, yel alter this time M'e f"r the peo- do not know that any thing has been done or made that ^^^' is entitled to the name of a public "work, though there has b(H'n income enough as is to be seen in the statement of the yearly revenue. Nothing more was a Iterwards at- tempted, as is the case with dropsical people. Thus in a short time very great discontent has ?;prung up on all sides, not only among the burghers, who had litie to say, but also among the Company's officers themselves, so that various protests were made by them on account of the expense and waste consc(|uent upon unnecessary coun- cillors, officers, servants and the like who are not known • The name of a bay on the coast of Brazil, where the Diitcli Ailiniral, Lichthart, oblained a signal triumph over the Portuguese in a naval en- gagement on tlie 9th of September, 1645. 48 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANDS by the Mayors, and also on account of the monies and means which were given in common, beinji privately a})pro])riated and used. But it was all in vain, there was very little or no amendment ; and the greater the endeavors to help, restore and raise up every thing, the worse has it been ; for pride has ruled when justice die- stuyvesant tatcd Otherwise, just as if it were disgi-aceful to follow \viirnnt '"" advice, and as if every thing should come from one head. heed i.dvict-. 'j^j^p I'raits of this conduct can speak and bear testimony of themselves. It has been so now so long, that every day serves the more to condemn il . I'reviously to the 23d of Jul}^ 1049, nothing had b(-cn done concerning weights and measures or the like ; but at that time they notified the people that in August then next ensuing, an order would be made stating when the Fiscal would do some- thing about it, which was as much as to say, lohen he voiild give the pigeons drink. There is frequently much discontent and discord among tlie people on account of weights and measures, and if they be not regulated notliing can be right. It is also Ix^lieved that some of large consciences have two sets of them, but we cannot affirm the fact. As to the corn measure, the Company ,„, , itself has alwavs been suspected, Init who dare lisi) it ? 1 here is no .' 111 1 regulation Tlic payment in Zeewant, which is the currency here, iheZeewant has iicvcr bceii placcd upon a good fooling, although is'asked'ior! ^^^*^' 00111111011 ally requested it, and showed how it should be regulated, assigning numerous reasons therefor. But it always produced strife and discontent, and if any thing were said before the Director of these matters moi'c than. ])leased him. very wicked and siiiteful words wei'c re- turned. Tliose moreover who made it their business to riii'iruie'"' s])c;!k to liiui of such things were, if lie xw-vv. in no good im'r'iuiiong ht. very Jreely berated as clowns ;tiid bear-skinners, the people, 'j'li,. [qyx Kiidcf which we shelter ourselves, and from clowns and . 111 1 1 • 1 -i 1 i)car.skin- \\hieh MS it seeius all aulliofily ))J'oceeds, lies UKe a mole- The' fort is heap or a toilering wall, on w hieh there is not one gun left like a canuao'e or one piece oJ cannon in a suitable frame and all the or Oil a goofi ])latlorni. t rom the nrst it has been de- out"oTorder'! clarcd that it should be rejiaired. laid in five angles, and put in royal condition. Tlie commonalty's men have been addressed lor money for the purpose, but they ex- cused themselves on the ground tliat the people were poor. Every one was discontented and feared that if the Director once had the fort to rely upon, he would be more cruel and severe. It is left sticking between them. REPRESENTATION OF NF,\V NETHERLAXD. 49 He will doubtless know how to lay the l)l;ime upon the commonalty who an; innocent, with much circumstance, although the Director wished to have the money from them, and for that pui-pose pretended to have an order from Their Hisih j\Ji<;htinesses. Had the Director laid out the iburth part ol the money which was collected c"iiecu!.T"'^ from the commonalty during his time, lor that purpose, Ij^','" ,'.''' „^s it certainly would not have tViilen short, as the wine ex- "'"■ exiienu cise was expressly laid for that object. But it was r„ri." sought in a thousand ways to shear the sheep thmii^h the wool was not yet fcrovn. In regard, then, to public works, there is little dill'erence between Director Kieft and Director tStuyvesant, for, after the church was built, the former was negligent, and mad(; it a personal matter against those who loohed hi/n in the eye. The latter has had much more opportunity to assist the commonalty than his predecessor had, for he has had no war on his J^'" 'J'"^'=- I 7 tors prusc- hands. lie is also unlike his predecessor in having been cme per^on- morr diligent and bitter in looking up causes of prosecu- yt,nves;nit tion against his innocent opponent-^. than Kieft. THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIRECTOR KIIIFT IN PAR- TICULAR. SuFFieiEXT has been said of what Director Kirit did in regard to the church and its afiairs, and in regard to the State, such as buildings and taxes or revenue. It remains for us to proceed to the Council-house and produce thence some examples, as we promised. We will, in doing so, endeavor to be brief. The Council then consisted of Director Kieft and Monsieur la INIontagne. The Director had two votes, and Monsieur la Montague one ; and it was a high crime to appeal from their judgments. Cornelis Van- dcr Iloykens sat v.-ith them as Fiscal,* and Cornelis van Tienhoven as Secretary, and whenever any thinir extra- ordinary occurred, the Director allowed some, w hom it pleased him, — officers of the company for the most pari, — to be summoned in addition, but that seldom happened. Nevertheless it gave discontent. The Twelve men, and * Prosecuting Attorney. His name is usually spelt V'an der Huvghens. 7 (Ill the vul^iir lo l:iV , llu hl,H III' <> rilic Ill.M ii|)alini;" 40-41.) In Sept. IGCG, his son brou'^ht a suit to recover his unpaid salary asn inister at Flushing. An order ol the town court was produced, dated •'a. 2, 1647, to assess the inhabitants of the town for the salary. It was giv^ri in evidence that the tosvn had been compelled by Stuyvesant to sign the article.s for the minister, he taking them one alter another in a room and threatening them if they did not. The court ordered a part of the money to ho paid. 5'i REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. ful, and h(^ had not wherewith to begin, Master Doughty was in no haste. He went however, sometime alter- wards and dwelt there hali a year, but again left it, ^uvnirli '^"\n As peace was made, and in hope that some others would nr''''-""i'''"'„ niake a village there, a suit was brought against the p.-n'pif.,i. "" minister, and carried on so i'ar, that his land was confis- )V'r iris'n'nt catpd. Mastcr Doughty, feeling himself aggrieved, ap- ''■"'"'■■"'''■ pealed from the sentence. The Director answered, his sentence could not be appealed from, but must avail ab- solutely ; and caused the minister lor that remark to be imprisoned twenty-ibur hours and then to pay 25 guil- ders. We have always considered this an act of tyran- ny and regarded it as a token of sovereignty. The matter of Arnoldus van Herdenbereh wars very like it in its termination. After Zeger Theunisz was murdered by the Indians in the Beregat* and the yacht had re- turned to (he Manathans, Arnoldus Van Hardenbergh was Vviih two others appointed i)y the Director and Council, curators over the estate, and the }'acht was searched. iJome goods were lound in it which were not inventoried, whereupon the Fiscal went to law with the curators, and claimed that the goods were confiscable to the Company. The curators resisted and gave Her- denljerch charge of the matter. After some proceed- ings the goods were condemned. As he found himself now acting in behalf of the common owners, he appealed to such judges as they sliould choose lor the purpose. The same game was then played over again. It was a hi^h crime. The Fiscal made great pretensions and a senttmce was passed, whereoi" the contents read thus : "Having seen the written complaint of the Fiscal Van- der Hoykens against Arnoldus Van Hardenberch in re- lation to appealing from our sentence dated the 28th April last past, as appears by the signature of the before- named A. Van Hardenberch, from which sentence no appeal can be had. as is proven to him by the commis- sion of Their High Mightinesses the Lords JStates General and His Highness of Orange : Therefore the Director General and Council of New Netherland, regarding the Hprden daugcrous couscquences resulting to the supreme author- iiorfrh HP- ity oi'tliis land's magistracy, condemn the beibre named Imys^riine Amold \ ixw Herdeuberch, to pay ibrthwith a fine of 25 .I'crs^ ^"'' guilders, or to be imprisoned until the penalty be paid. * Shrp\v5!)uiy Tnlet. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 53 An example to others." Now, if one know the lion from his paw, he can see that these people do not regard the name of Their High Mightinesses, His Highness of Orange, the honor of the Magistrates, the words, ' dan- gerous consequences,' ' an example to others,' and the like, — having used them to play their own parts there- ™V''"simi- with. We have therefore placed this act by the side of unothut that which was committed against the hiinister Doughty. Uo'iieiiiy. Many more similar cases would be found in the minute book, if what was unjustly done were always inserted in it, which is very doubtful, the contrary sometimes being observed. It appears sufficiently, that pretty much every thing has been badly managed. And with this we will leave the subject and pass on to the government ol Director Stuyvesant, with a single word lirst, how- ever, touching the proviso incorporated in the ground- ^llnMlc"^'' briefs, as the consequences may thence be very well gr'»in''-i»'>ef- understood. Absolute grants were made to the people by the ground-briefs, who thought that every thing was right, and that they were masters of their own pos- sessions. The ground-brieis were then demanded from them again upon pretence that there was something for- gotten in them ; but it amounted to nothing except that they thought they had incommoded themselves in giving them, and therefore a proviso was added to the ground- brief below, and it was signed anew ; which proviso directly conflicts with the ground-brief, as there is now in one and the same ground-brief a contradiction with- ^ coniradic- 11 1- • 1 1 • 1 1 1 """ '" '"® out semblance of agreement, tor it reads thus in the old ground brief. brief; — "and take in possession the land and the valleys aj)pertaining thereto," and the proviso says, " no valley to be used before the company," all which could well enough be used, and the company have a competency. In the ground-briefs is contained also another provision, which is usually inserted and sticks in the hosmn of every one; to wit, that they must submit themselves to all taxes which the council has made or shall make.* These impositions can be continued in infinitum, and have * The following clause, taken from a ground-brief or patent i?sued in 1639, is the one here alluded to. Afier describing the land conveyed, it is declared to be " upon the express condition and stipulation ihat the said A. B. and his assigns shall acknowledge the Noble Lords Managers aforesaid as their masters and patroons under the sovereignty of the High and iMighty Lord Slates' General, and shall be obedient to the Director and Council here, as all good citizens are bound to be, submitting themselves to all such taxes and imposts as have been or may be, hereafter, imposed by the Noble Lords. 54 EEPRKSENTATION OF NEW NETFIERLAND. already hern enforcod asainst several inhabitants. Others also arn discouraa-ed troni undertaking anything on such terms. THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIRECTOR STU YVES ANT IN PARTICULAR. Sttiyvp^:int's •niMiPiit We wish much we were already through with this injiiro^ the administration, for it has injured us, and we perceive our ability WPiik ; — nevertheless we will begin, and as ^ve have already spoken of the public property, ecclesi- astic;! 1 and civil, we will consider how it is in regard to the tidministration of justice, and speak impartially be- tween man a.nd man. And Hrst, to point as with a finger, at the manners of the Director and Council. As regards the Director, irom his first arrival to this time, his manner in court has been to treat with violence, dis- Hepiaysthe putc with or advaiice one of the two parties, not as be- advocitprind comes a iudu'e. but as a bounden advocate, which has tint the 111(120 . - , . 1 ' • I in court. givcu great discontent to every one, and wiln some it has gone so far and has e.Tected so much, that many of them dare bring no matter before the Court, if they do not stand well or tolerably so with the Director. For whoever has him opposed, has as much as the sun and moon against him. Having himself appointed many of the Councillors, and placed them under obligation to him, and some of them being ibr other reasons well disposed, he can with them overpower the rest by plurality of votes. He frequently juits his opinion in writing, and that so fully that it srikes on every side, and then he adds verbally, " Monsieui", this is my advice, if a,ny one Up will ni- b?"-^ aught to say aarainst it. let him speak." It then any 'jo"ii'ion"uKi 'jody makes opposition, which is not easily done, though will heed no hc bc wcU grouudcd. His Honor bursts out immediately ** '^"^''' in such a iury and makes such gestures, that it is frightful ; yea, he rails out frequently at the Councillors for this thing and the other, with ill words which would better suit the fish-market than the Council chamber ; — and if this be all endured. His Honor will not rest yet unless he have his will. To demonstrate this by examples and proof, tliough easily done, would REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 55 nevertheless detain us too long ; but we all say and af- firm that this has been his common practice Irom the first and still daily continues. And this is the condition of things in the Conncil on the part of the Director, who is its head nnd President. Let us now brielly speak of the Councillors individually. The Vice Director, L^ib- hertvan l)inckl(im:n, has lor a long time on various occa- Dnickiiige is sions shown great dissatislaction about many diilcrent isfied. matters, and has protested against the Director and his appointed Councillors, but only lately, and after some others of the chief officers had done so. He was, before this, so influenced by fear, that he durst venture to say nothing against the Director, but let many things pass by and submitted to them. He declared afterwards that he had great objections to them, because they were not just, but he kept silent for the sake of peace ; as the Director had said in the Council, that he would treat him worse than Wouter Van Twiller had ever done, if he were not willing to conform to his wishes. This man then is over-ruled. Let us proceed to the others. Man- ^^ ^,^,^. sieur la Montas:ne had been in the Council in Kieft's tngne dares 11 1 11 IT iH>t speak time, and was then very much suspected by many. He freely. had no commission from the Fatherland, was driven by the war from his farm, is also very much indebted to the Company, and therefore is compelled to dissemble. But it is sufficiently known from himself that he is not pleased, and is opposed to the administration. Brian prvnn New- Newton, lieutenant of the soldiers, is the next. This ton does not ,.,,., T-^. ,' 11- 1 ■ iiiulprslaiid man is afraid ol the Director, and regards him as Ins our lannuace benefactor; and b(^sides, is very simple and inexperinced ^^^^ "'"'""'>' in law. As he does not understand our Dutch language, he is scarcely capable of replying to the long written opinions, except that he can and will say yes. Some- times the Commissary, Adrian Keyser is admitted into The com- the council, who came here as secretarv. This man ""ssi'ry Ad- 1 r 111 1 "^ 1 7 y-1 i* '^"'" Keyser. has not forgotten mucli law, but says that he lets God s icater run over God's field. He cannot and dares not say any thing, for so much devolves upon him that it is best that he should be silent. The captains of the ships, when they are ashore, have a vote in the Council ; as ^M^'ki'l'and Jelmer Thomass'^n, and Paulus Lenaertson, who was their' vote in made Equipment master upon his fir.st arrival, and *''"""''''• who has always had a seat in the Council, and is a free man. What knowledge these people, who all their lives sail on the sea, and are brought up to ship-work, have of so REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANU. law matters, and of the disputes of landsmen, any one can easily imagine. Besides, the Director keeps them so in debt that they dare not speak in opposition to him, as will appear from this ])assag-e at Curagoa, belbre the Director ever saw New Netherland. As tliey wen^ dis- coursing about the price of carracks, (c/-c//./.s*). the Di- siiiiMs.,,11 lector said to the minister and others, "Dominc Johan- nes.f 1 thought thai I had brought honest ship-masters r;iils at thnn aslhiev disix'j;;inl i i • . . . ^ and this wassaid of these councillors, and especially ol'the equipment-master, for Captain Jelmer was most all the time at sea. They have let it pass unnoticed, — a proof that they were indebted. But they liave not fared bad- ly ; for though Paulus Lenaertssen has small wages, he has built a better dwelling house here than any body else. How this hashaj^nened is mysterious to us : lor if 11 causes >i i\- , i i i i ,'.i i ■ Mispicioii, the Du'ector lias knowledge ot tiiese matters, he is never- rIrtoi"i'nvni'< thclcss as qulct when Paul us Lenaertssen rises, as he is !■' ■'!'.''" s, I '"'^ inattentive to any body else, which causes suspicion in iMiici..' the minds of many. There remains to comj)lete this court-bench, the Secretary and the Fiscal, Hendrick van 'e\cu\IJT^^ ^//e/.-, who had previously been an ensign-bearer. Di- ivoiii ihe rector Stuyvesant has kept liim twenty-nine months out i:i't",','i',',ntiiJ" of the meetings of the Council, for the reason among others which Ilis Honor assigned, that he cannot keep secret but make public, what is there resolved. He also irequently declared that he was a villain, a scoundrel, The Fiscal ■^ thief and the like. All this is well known to the Fis- wisest'"' *^^^'' ^^'^^^^ dares not against him take the right course, and in our judgment it is not advisable (or him to do so ; for the Director is utterly insulferable in word and deed. What shall we say of a man whose head is troubled, and has a, scre.ir loose, and who is powerful at liome ; especially, as it often hapjiens that it is hushed up, if there be anij sap in ihe icood to close it up. The Secretary, 'ti!ryhf\s"^ ^ornelins Van TienhoveM, comes next. Of this man very been long in much could bc Said, and more than we are able, but we the cciinlry -hi i i i t i p i i f ^ ana is iniiy Will selcct hcrc and there a little lor the sake oi brevity. a door-step. j|g j^ cautious, subtlc, intelligent and sharp-witted, — good gifts when they are well used. He is one of those who have been longest in the country, and every cireum- * The meaninjj; of this word is uncertain. Crurkys is an old Scotch term signifying cannon. See Jamieson's Ely. Diet, of the Scotch language. Krnk or Krnak in the Dutch, answers to carrack, a galleon or large ship. t Rev. Johannes Backerus. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 57 Stance is well known to him, in regard both to the Chris- Jy'^J,*'"':'"' tians and the Indians. With the Indians, moreover, he "mnpihein- runs about the same as an Indian, with a little covering indi.ui. iio and a small patch in front, from lust alter the prostitutes ch'iav^e'iiut!^ to whom he has always been mijilitily inclined, and with whom he has had so much to do that no punishment c^" threats of the Director can drive him from them. II(! is extremely expert in dissimulation. He appears to all to be asleep, but it is in order to bite, and shows externally the most friendship towards those whom he most hates. He gives every one who has any business with him, — which scarcely no one can avoid, — good answers and promises of assistance, yet rarely helps any body ; but tvvisis continually and shutfles from one side to the other. Except to his friends, — the priests, — he is in his words and conduct loose, false, deceitful and given to lying, promis- ing every one, and when it comes to perform, 7iever at home. The origin of the war was ascribed principally to The cause of him, together with some of his friends. In consequence ,','|,!,)ni'ir'*'* of his false reports and lies the Director was led into it, siiouiders. as is believed and declared both by the honest Indians and Christians. Now, if the voice of the people, — accord- ing to the maxim, — be the voice of God, one can with ^'"'•''ne '^ . ' . 1 > 1 gi>0(l c:in be truth say scarcely any thing good of this man or omit said or him, anything bad. The whole country, save the Director i!aa can be'^ and his party, cries out against him bitterly, as a villain, murderer and traitor, who must leave the country or there will be no peace with the Indians. Director Stuy- vesant was, at first and afterwards, well admonished of this; but he has nevertheless kept him in office, and sub- mitted to him so much, that all things go according to his wishes, more than if he were President. Yea, he also says that he is well contented to have him in office, hut that stone does not yet rest.* We lirmly believe that he misleads him in many things, so that he docs many bad things, which he otherwise would not do ; in a word that he is one great cause of his ruin and the lands' dis- quiet. But it seems that the Director can or will see nothing of it ; for when it was represented to him by some persons he gave it no consideration. It has been contrived to disguise and manage matters so, that in the Fatherland, where the truth can be freely spoken, no- • By this figurative expression is probably meant that efforts would be made in the Fatherland to have Van Tienhoven removed. 8 58 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. Nine men chosen to represent the whole people. body would be able to molest him. Nothing has been done there to get at the truth. Having established the powers of the Council, it is easy to understand that the law-people clung by each other, in order to maintain the imaginary sovereignty and to give color to that yretension. Nine men were chosen to represent the whole commonalty, and commissions and instructions were given that whatever these men should do, should be the act of the whole commonalty. And so in fact it was, as long as it corresponded with the wishes and views ot the Director. In such cases they repre- sented the whole commonalty ; but when it did not so correspond, they were then clow ns, usurers, rebels and the like. But to understand this properly it will be best briefly to state all things chronologically, as they have happened during his administration, and in what man- ner those who have sought the good of the counti-y have been treated with injustice. His first arrival — for what passed on the voyage is not for us to speak ol', — was like a peacock, with great state and pomp. The declaration of His Honor, that he wish- ed to st;iy here only three years, with other haughty expressions, caused some to think that he would not be a father. The appellation of Lo?-d General, and similar titles, were never before known here. Almost every day he caused proclamations of various import to be pub- cards issued, lished, which were for the most part never observed, and have long since been a dead letter, except the wine excise, as that yielded a protit. The proceedings of the u,ns ''.Mfi-mist ^^^'"^^' ineii, and those especially against Jochem I'ietersz jochem Pie Cuytcr aud Cornelis Melyn, happened in the beginning Meiyn very oi" his administration. The Director showed himself so cei.surubie. onc-sidcd in them, that he gave reason to many to judge of his character little to his advantage. Every one clear- ly saw that Director Kielt had more favor, aid and counsel in his suite, than his adversary, and that the one Director was the advocate of the other as the lan- guage of Director Stuyvesant imported and signified when he said, "These brutes may hereafter endeavor to knock me down also, but I will manage it so now, that they will have their bellies full for the future." How it was managed, the result of the lawsuit can bear wit- ness. They were compelled to pay fines, and were cruelly banished. In order that nothing should be want- ing, Cornelis Melyn was threatened if he asked for mer- Many pln- \tiiyvesant Miaves cm- REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 59 cy, that it would after a while be seen how his matters would turn out in the fatherland, in language like this, as Melyn, wlio is still living, himself declares, *' If I knew, Afelyn, that you would divulge our sentence, or liKcai'pned bring it he"fon> Their High Mightinesses, I would cause Joltg "'^ ^"'' you to be hung immediaiely on the highest tree in New- Netherland." Now this took place in private, and may be denied, — and nothing ought to be taken as true but what is credible, — but this is so conbrmed by similar cases, that it cannot be doubted. At one time, after leav- ing the house of the minister, where the consistory had been sitting and had risen, it happened that Arnoldus Van Herdenbergh related the proceedings relative to the estate of Zeger Teunisz, and how he himsell", as curator, had appealed from the sentence ; wliereupon the Direc- tor, who had been sitting there with them as an elder, interrupted him and replied, " It mav during mv adminis- stnyvesant 1 11 I i" > • i> III declares in tration be contemplated to appeal, but il anyone should the cmsisio- do it, I will make him a fool shorter, and send the pieces ',^,i,f^p,'i^,^ to Holland, and let him appeal in that wav." Oh cruel (le'nh u.ose 111 1 r •" J o A J ^v'"' appeal words! what more could even a sovereign do / And iromhissen- yet this is all firmly established; for after Jochem '^"'"'' Pieterz Cuyter and Cornelis Melyn went to the Father- land to prosecute their appeal, and letters came back here from them, and the report was that ihey were up- held in the appeal, or would be so upheld, the Director declared openly, at various times, and on many occa- sions, as well before inhabitants as strangers, when speaking of Jochem Pietersz Cuyter and Cornelis Melyn, "If they come back and bring the order of the States, Herommms thev would be as thev were, unless their High Miirhti- the..rdpr--nf •: 1 • 1 T Ml • 1 •. 1 'he SlalfS nesses summon me, m which case 1 will immediately send them back." His Honor has also always denied that any appeal was or could be taken in this country, and declared that he was able to show this conclusively. And as some were not willing to believe it, especially in matters against the company or their oflicers, a great deal was quoted and extracted from different authorities, but not much to the purpose. At the first, while Direc- tor Kieft was still here, the English minister,* as he had been long badly treated and his land was confiscated, prayed that he might be permitted to return to the Is- landb,t or to Netherland ; but an unfavorable answer • Francis Doughty. t The West Indies. r»0 REPREi?ENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. was ahvaj^s given him, and he was threatened with this and that; finally it resulted in permission to return, leqirii'ei'i"."'' provided he gave a promise under his hand, that he pir>oH'"i'imt '^'^'<^'ul(^ 11^5^ i'l any place in which he should come, speak lie would lint or complain of what had b(>lallen him here in New iiad been Nethcrlaiid from Director Kiel't or »Stuyvesant. This "-•''' the man himself declares. Mr. Dincklagen and Com- mander Loper. who ihen had seats in the Council, also say that this is true. It is a marvel how the Directors can now justify to their own consciences what they wished to do with such certificates, and others like them, which were secretly obtained. The Honorable Director began also at the first to argue very stoutly against the contra- band ti-ade, as was indeed very laudable. The law was passed and remained in force, yet this trade, forbidden to others, he himself wished to carry on; but to this the ])eople Mere not willing to consent. His Honor said, stiivvcsant and openly asserted, that he was allowed, on behalf of sells powder in Mild ie;i'%ax- They understand how to impose taxes, for while they ed and Ihe promised in the exemptions, not to go above five per burden falls ' , , .' t. • i • ^i a. ^i • upon the cent., they now take sixteen. It is obvious that there is ro.nmon ^ great dHlerence. — a half difference, but there is no re- lief. The evasions and objections which are used by them, as regards merchants goods, smuggling, and many other things, and which the times have taught them, in order to give color to their acts, are of no force or con- sideration. They, however, are not now to be refuted, man. RF.PRE.-SKNTATM.V of NEW^ NETHtRI.ASD. 65 as il would take too loiiii ; thou<^h we stand ready to do so, if there be any necessity lor it. These and innumer- able other dilKculties, which we have not time to ex- ])ress, exist, tending to the damage, injury and ruin of the country. If the inhabitants, or we ourselves, go to the Director or other ofHcers of the Comjjany, and speak of the flourishing condition of our neighbors, and complain of oui- own d(>solate and ruinous state, we get riiu Director lor answer from hem, that they see and observe it, u,eTrM'ieb' but cannot remedy it, as they Jollow the Company's gj,'",'','"^'.''" orders, which they arc compelled to do, and that if we dress. have any thing to say, w'e must petition their masters, the Managers, or 'I'heir High Mightinesses, which, in truth, we have juducd to be necessary. It is now more than a year since the commonalty deemed it expedient, and proposed, to send a deputation to Their High Migh- tinesses. The Director commended the project, and not ^.^^ resoiu- only assented to it, but urged it stronglv. It was put well |'<>m »>< i" -^ , I n 1 , 111 J 1 /• . ilepulatioii in the mill, so that we had already spoken oi a person to M|.|ir..ve.i i.y go, when it lell through, lor these reasons: When it was '•!« ^'f^cior. j-roposed. the Director desired that it should be commu- nicated according to his wishes ; which some M'ho jier- ceived the object, would not consent to, and the matter therefore fell asleep. Besides, the English, who had been depended upon and who were associated in the affair, withdrew from time to time from us. This made the necessity of action the greater, and the Nine Men W'ere therefore changed the next year, w hen Heer Stuyvesant again urged the matter strongly, and declar- ed that he had already written to the Company that rs'oro^mimn such persons would come. After the election of the ''uiatullf '^^ Nine Men, and before the new incumbents w^ere sworn wmidgo. in, it was determined b}^ them and resolved verbally, that they would proceed with the deputation, whatever should be the consequences ; but it remained some time before the oath was renewed, on account of some am- plification of the commission being necessary, w hich was finally given and the protocol arranged and signed ; but we have never been able to obtain an authentic coj)y of it, although the Director has frequently promised, and we have frequently apf)lied for it. As the Company had now been waited upon a long n,inaiion'7o while in vain, promising amendment from time to time. I'f"'' n6 R[;hkesentation of new netiiEkland. The Coin- rbeir iniention known to the Director, and requested that not"ai'i'.we(i f^'^.v mj^ht confer with the commonalty ; but their wiih'the pi'oposition was not well received, and they obtained in people. reply to their written petition, a very long letter, to the eftect, that communication must be made through the Director, and his instructions Ibllowed, with many other things which did not agree with our object, and were impracticable, as we think, for various reasons \\ liich we have set down in writing. We thought it was not advisable to communicate through him, but we repre- sented to his Honor that should he let us go, we would not send any thing to the Fatherland, without his hav- ing a coj)y ot it. He could then answer for himself, as we would be glad he should ; but to follow his direc- tions in this matter was not, we thought, founded in reason, but was antagonistic to the weil'are of the coun- try. We had never promised or agreed to do so ; but were bound by an oath to seek the prosperity of the country, as, according to our best knowledge, we are always inclined to do. The leuer ..f bi tiic abovc mentioned letter it says, if we read riglit- the Director. ]y^ ^]-j,^|. ^y^ should inquire what approbation the Com- monalty were willing to give to this business, and how the expense should be defrayed ; but the Director explain- ed it difierently from what we understood it. Now as he was not willing to convene the j^eopie for our pur- pose, or that we should do it, we went round from house to house and spoke to the commonalty. The General The Director ^^^s, from that time, burned with rage, and, if we can js very vio- judse, has not been effectually appeased since, although lent because "^ '"'■,.-, , i i . i i /• ii t i • j' they do not wc did uot kuow what else to do, and tollowed his order directions! herein. Nevertheless it was contemplated that the Nine Men should not communicate with him or follow his directions in any thing pertaining to the matter. This excited in him a bitter and unconquerable hatred against them all, but principally against those whom he supposed to be the chief authors of it ; and although these persons had been good and dear friends with him always, and he, shortly before, had regarded them as the most honorable, respectable, intelligent and patriotic men of the country, yet, as soon as they did not follow the General's wishes, they were this and that, some of them rascals, liars, rebels, usurers and spendthrii'ts, in a word, hanging was almost too good lor them. It had been previously strongly urged that the deputation REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETFIERLAND. 67 should be expedited, but [he said] there was then still six months time, and all that was proper and necessary- could be put upon a sheet of paper. Many reports also ^,^^.^^ ^ were spread among the people, and it was sous^ht prin- mt'.ms cm- cipally by means of the English to prevent the college ve'riThe'Voi- of the Nine Men from doing any thing; but as these Ifi^losc"' '*' intrigues were discovered, and it was therefore manifest that this could not be effected, so in order to make a diversion, many suits were brought against those who were considered the ringleaders. They were accused and then prosecuted by the Fiscal and other suborned officers, who made them out to be the greatest villains in the country, where shortly before they had been known as the best people and dearest children. At this time an opportunity presented itself, which the Director was as glad to have, as he himself said, as his own life. At the beginning of the year 1G49, clearly perceiving that we would not only have much to do about the deputa- tion but would hardly be able to accomplish it, we deemed it necessary to make regular memoranda for of 'he notes, the purpose of furnishing a journal from them at the proper time. This duty was committed to one Adriaen vander Donck, who by a resolution adopted at the same time, was lodged in a chamber at the house of one Michael Jansz. The General on a certain occasion The notes when Vander Donck was out of the chamber, seized this van^'rier^"' rough dralt with his own hands, put A^ander Donck "|'"'^'*''""° the day after in jail, called together the great Council, accused him of having committed crimen Icbscp. majesla- tis, and took up the matter so warmly, that there was scarcely any determining whether the deputation was to proceed, (and it was yet to be arranged,) or whether the journal, — as Mine Heer styled the rough draft from which the journal was to be prepared, — was of itself action enough ; for jMine Heer said there were great calumnies in it against Their High Mightinesses, and when we wished to explain it, and sought to correct the errors, (as the writer did not wish to insist upon it and said he knew well that there were mistakes in it, aris- ing from haste, and other similar causes, in consequence of liis having had much to do and not having read over again the most of it,) our request was called a libel ifonever which was worthy of no answer, and the writer of which nlU'suit' the it was intended to punish as an example to others. In Director. fine we could not make it right in any way. He forbid 6S REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. Yander Donck the Council and also our meetings, and £jave us ibrmal notice to that effect, and yet would not release hitn irorn his oath. For the purpose of cutting off the convenient mode of proof, he issued a procla- plnh'i'i'i'irMi. mation declaring that no testimony or other act should be valid unless it were written by the Secretary ; which was of service to nobody, but. on the contrary, every one complained that nothing could be done. Director Kieft had done the same thing when he was apprehensive that an Atleslation would be executed against him. And so it is their practice generally to do every thing they can think of in order to uphold their conduct. Those whose oliiecs required them to concern themselves with the affairs of the country, and did so, did well, if they Those who went according to the General's will and pleasure; if comury'.''*''' ^^'"X ^^^'^ "^^ ^^^^Y wcre ))rosecuted and thown into pris- ueTtcd'"""^' on, guarded by soldiers so they could not speak with any body, aniirily abused before every one as monsters, threatened to be taught this and that, and every thing done against them that he could contrive or invent. We cannot enter into details, but refer to the record kept of these things, and the documents which the Director himself will furnish. Front the tbregoinir relation Their High Mightinesses, and other friends who may see it, Thfi truth in can wcll imagine what labor and burdens we have had New''iN,vth- upon our shoulders from which we would very willingly «rian.i long havc cscapcd, but for love of the country and of truth, concealed. i • i ',. , ■, , , . , . , nii which, as lar as we know, has long lam buried. Ihe trouble and difficulty which do or will affect us, al- though wanting no addition, do not grieve us so much as the sorrowtul condition of i\ew iN'efherland. now lying at its last gasp ; but we hope and trust that our afflic- tions and the sulferings of the inhabitants and peoj)le of the country will awaken in Their High Mightinesses a compassion which will be a cause of rejoicing to New jXetherland.* * See Note E.— Post REPRESEKTATION OF NEW NETHERLANU. G9 IN WHAT MANNER NEW NETHERLAND SHOULD BE REDRESSED. ALTiioufiii we are well assured and know, in regard to the mode of redress of the country, we are only children, and Their High Mightinesses are entirely competent, we nevertheless pray that they overlook our presumption and pardon us it we make some suggestions according to our humble understanding thereol", in addition to what we have considered necessary in our petition to Their High Mightinesses. In our opinion this country will never flourish under the government of the Honorable Company, but will pass away and come to an end of itselt', unless the Hon- orable Comj)any be relormed ; and therefore it would be more profitable ibr them, and better for the country, that they should be lid thereof, and their efllects trans- ported hence. To speak specifically. Care ought to be taken of the public property, as well ecclesiastical as civil, which, in beginnings, can be illy dispensed with. It is doubtful wh(!ther Divine Worship will not have to cease altogeth- er in cons(;quence of the departure of the minister, and the inability of the Company. There should be a public school, provided with at least two good masters, so that first of all in so M^ild a country, where there are many loose people, the youth be well taught and brought up, not only in reading and writing, but also in the knowl- edge and fear of the Lord. As it is now, the school is kept very irregularly, one and another keeping it ac- cording to his pleasure and as long as he thinks proper. There ought also to be an alms house, and an orphan asylum, and other similar institutions. The minister who now goes home,* can give a much fuller explana- tion thereof. The country must also be provided with godly, honorable and intelligent rulers who are not very indigent, or, indeed, are not too covetous. A covetous Governor makes poor subjects. The manner the coun- try is nuw governed falls severely upon it, and is intol- • This wag tlie Rev. Johannes Backerus. who had previously been a min- ister .11 Curacoa. He succeeded the Rev. Everadus Bogardus as minister at New Amsterdam in 1647, and left for Holland in 1649, just before the de- parture of this deputation. 70 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. erable, for nobody is unmolested or secure in his property longer than the Director pleases, who is generally stroiiiily inclined to confiscating; and if every thing be well done, and the property given to the Heer, one must still study always to please him if he would have quiet. A good population \^'ould be the consequence of a good government, as we have shown according to our ability in our petition ; and although to give free passage and equip ships, if it be necessary, would be expensive at first, — yet if the result be considered, it would ultimate- ly be a wise measure, if by that means farmers and laborers together with other poor people were brought into the country, with the little [)roperty which they have ; of whom the Fatherland has enough to spare. We believe it would then prosper, especially as good privileges and exemptions, which we regard as the moth- er of population, would encourage the inhabitants to carry on commerce and lawful trade. Every one would be allui-ed hither by the pleasantness, situation, salubrity and fruitfulness ot the country, if protection were secured within the already established boundaries. It would all, with God's assistance, then, according to human Judg- ment, go well, and New Netherland would in a lew years be a brave place and be able to do service to the Neth- erland nation, to repay richly the cost, and to thank its benefactors. High Mighty Lords ! We have had the boldness to write this remonstrance, and to place matters before ^ you as we have done from love of the truth, and because we felt ourselves obliged to do so by our oath and con- science. It is well that we have not seen, heard and considered them all at once, but separately, in their wdiole tenor and in every particular. Nevertheless there is nothing in it but what is well known by some of us to be true ; — the most is known by all of us to be true. We hope Their High Mightinesses will pardon our pre- sumption and our plainness of style, composition and method. In conclusion we commit Their High Mighti- nesses, their persons, deliberations and measures at heme and abroad, together with all the friends of New Neth- erland, to the merciful guidance and protection of the Highest, whom we supplicate for Their High Mighti- nesses' present and eternal weltare. Amen. Actum defen. — 28th of July in New Netherland. And was subscribed, ~"'^4f/r/aen vander Donck,Angustijn Her- REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANU. viansz, Arnoldiis van Hardenhergli. Jacob van Couwen- hoven, Olojf' Stevensz" (by whose name was written, " under protest, — obliged to siirn about the iroveinmeMt of the Heer Kieft.") '' Mic/iielJansz, Thomas H U, Elhert Elbertsz, Govert Lokermans, Hendrick Hendricksz Kip, and Jan K verts-bout,'^ Below was written, " Accordiui^ to the collation of the original remonstrance, dated and subscribed as above, with ivhich these are found to corres- pond at the Hague, the I3th October, 1G19, bi/ me ;" — and was subscribed, "D. V. SCHELLUYiNEN, iVofary Publicr 71 K O T E S . A.— ragf 25. THE TITLE OF THE KAKL OF bTIRLIXG TO LOMi ISLAND AM> THE ADJACENT 1J.LANP3. Andkew Forester, the agent ot the dowager of Slirlintr, was a Scotchman (roin Dundee. He was arrested and e.xaniined before the Director and Council, on tlie 28lh iSeptember, 1G47, when the facts appeared as set forth in the te.\t. Tlie other Scotciniiaii arrested in 1(J40 by Kiefi, wns.faiiies l^'arrett, wlm heid a power of attorney from the Earl of Stirling in his life time, dated tlie 20iii of April, l(i37, authorising him to dispose of Long Island and the adjacent islands between the degrees of forty and forty-one north latitude, or any part of them. A cer- tified copy of this instrument is on file in the office of the town cleik of South- ampton on Long Island. Savage, in Winthrop, (Vol. ii. p. C), misled by Wood, ("who however corrects the enor in the second edition of his " Sketch of Long Island,") confounds Forester with Farrett. The history of the grant of Long Island to the Earl of Siirling, has been nnicli obscured. It is not, as intimated by Hubbard, included in either of his patems for Nova Scotia, nor was it a grant direct from the crown, as stated by other writers. Those of Nova Scotia and the Canada grant, were issued by the crown, that of Long Island came from the Plymouth Company ; though in truth they may all be considered as emanating from that Company, through royal interference. The adventurers of the Northern Colony of Virginia obtained from James L a separate patent in 1G20, for all that portion of the country within their limits, that is, between the degrees of 40 and 4H, and formed a new company under the name of" The Council established at Plymouth in the county of Devon for the planting, ruling and governing of New England in America." The Earl of Stir- ling, ilien Sir William Alexander and IVlaster of Requtsts to the King, for Scot- land, becoming acquainted with Capt. .lohn Mason who had been in the country, was ill consequence induced to apply to the King for a patent for Nova Scotia, which was granted him in 1621 ; but as this territory was within the limits of the grant to the Council of New England, the prior assent of that cor- poration was necessary, and, upon the request of the King, was given, (Gorges' Brief Narration, ch p. 24.) Sir William Alexander was a favoiite of .tames I. probably on account of his being a fellow countryman of courtly manners and poetical talents. The interposition of the King in his behalf, and the extraordi- nary privileges included in the grant, of creating titles ol nobility for New Scot- land, which were in fact conferred, show the extent of his influence with that monarch, — an influence which on the death of .lames, he retained with his successor. The patentees of New England surrenrlered their charter in 16^5, first pass- ing grants to themselves in severalty, ot such parts of the country" along the sea coast," as they deemed proper. They hail, however, previously conveyed to pri- vate persons d fferent poitions of the country, and in April of that year made a deed to the Earl of Stirling of Long Island and the adjacent islands. This deed has never been prothiced in public, though it is said to be in the Stnle Paper OfFice in London. It is however desciibed both in the petition of lieiiry. the third Earl of Stirliii!!, made in 1061, to Ciiarles II., praying that in any treaty made with the Dutch, the subje Is of the latter government on Long Inland might be required to submit to the English, (London Documents at Albany, v ol. L) and REPRESENTATION Of NEW NETJIEKLAND. NuTES. 73 in the power of attorney of the first Enrl of Stirline; to Farrett, before referrey the Council of New Englaii , their deed to the Earl of Stirling must have lieen ln'fore tli.it event. t Reprinted in Force's Ccdiectiun of American Tracts. 10 74 RtJt'KESKN'JWI'ION OF NEW NK'I'UKRI.ANiy. — iVOTf.S, actual presetice in flijs country, asserting liis clrim, bufore the appenrnnce of the Description nf the Province of New Alliion* His two visits to New Netherland prosecutini; liis title are distinctly asserted in the text, one in the time ot' Kielt and the other in that of Siuyves;inJ. It is stated by Winthrop, suh anno 1648- that lie arrived in Boston in that year from Virginia where he had been almost seven years, which agrees with the jieriod stated in the Description of New Alhion for his residence in the country, it was durins this term that his visits were made to New Neiherland, the last of which was on his way to Boston from Virginia, on his retuMn to England. The work appears to hr/vc been published immeifiateSy on his reaching England. But ihe most interestini.' piece of contemporaneous evidence in legard to this claim is io he found in the Journiil of Augustine lleeremans, (one of Jhe Nine Men,) who ^vith Resolve Walisron was sent as a Commissioner by Stuyvesant to the gover- noi- of Maryland in reference to the disputes about the bouiuhiries between their two colonies, in the year Hiol'. Heeremnns states that in their interview with Governor Kendall of Maryland, the latter cltiimed thaJ the patent of I^ord Balti- more extended norih to tl)e patent of New England, and then says : " Upon which we asked where then would New Netherland be, it'their limits were to join those of New England ? To Sliis he answered, he did not know. We then said we knew for both ; that it was a mistake and that New NeSherland was in posses- sion of these limits several years bribre n^y Lord Baltimore obtained his patent, and that we actually settled these parts. We broui,'bt forward also among other facts, how Edni. PU/trden in jonnrr daijf! laid claim to Delaware Bat/, and we ifeclared that t!ie one pretension had no better si\i)port than the other. To which he replied that Plowden had not obtained a conmiission, and was thrown in jad in England for his debts. He ncknowlcdged however that Plowden mlicited front the Knnt the people of New Albiffn.in the name of the Earl of Albion. The charter, Sease aud release were republished by Mr. Hazard in the tirst volume of his Col|eci;ions. The address to the public may be fouled in Mr. Pennington's Ex- aminntion of the iiamphlet before mentioned in the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pen!is>ivania. The i]roclamation has not Wen republished. The only copy which we know of, is the one for the use of which we are iindebted to ilie kindness of Hon. Petier Force of Washington. This charter IS from the Deputy General of Ireland, and is dated the 21st of .lune, in the tenth year of Charles I. (KiS^,) and grants to Edmund Plowden, Knight, and So John Lawrence, Knight and Baronet, Bovvyer Worsley, Knight, Charles Barrett nnd .lolm Trusler, Roger Pncke, Williiitn Inwooil, Thomas Ribread and George Noble, certain lantis and premises to be erected into a pro- vince and called New Albion, consisting of Long Island or Isle of Plowden and of a part of the main land forming a square of one hundred and twenty miles on each side, beginning at Cape May, thence along the river Delaware forty leagues, thence on a linp at rigliJ angles north forly leagues, thence in a line at right angles east forly leagues including Sandheey [Saiiidy Hook,] and fiom * This work puriinris to li:i vc tiecn written by Beanchamp riaiilasenet, wlio was (loul)tless a tictiliiiii-: pprs(iii;i'.;r. Il ini \\ riiirti by PJDuden, it w:is prepared under his direction. In ihi' M'l-oiiil ch i|>U-r tliiTP i- il ri'lt'r iii-:' lo the Indian war chu-inu' KietVs administration, to the ii\i-r-a^i' of till- lai<.'li-;li popiija'inn at .Manhattan, and the furnishing aiiuiiunitiun to the Siiili-m^ l^y i^usyvesiiiil, — facts witliiu l.'luvv(le!i''s l<,nou!edse or soiue mi* « ho had been here. REPRESBNTATION OF NEW NETIIEM.ANI). NOTES. 7 thencp south on the line of the squnre to Cope Mays and also grants to Plowden the title of Karl Palatine thereof. By the release, also dated in IG.'M, the four patentees last aliove named convey iheir interests to the children ot Edmund Plowden, and declare that the intei^esi of Worsiey and Barrett, had, in con- sequence of their death, passed to the survivins; patentees. This charter was void, as made without authority, (or whatever patents of lands in this coun- try may have heen lawfully issued hy the royal colonial governors, no such grants were ever authorized to he made hy any delegiiied power at home, much (ess were political charters with provincial grants permitted to be given by subordinate authorities, either here or there. It was accordingly treated as a nullity by the Enjilish as well as by the Dutch. The occasion of the publication by Varlo wtvs the purcliase by him before the revolutionary war, Irom sturie person in England, of one third of tliis allej^ed proprietary riffht. He came to this country in 17H4 for the purpo.=e ()f piosecuiiiiiT the claim, aiul alter his return to Enijland published an acroimt of his travels in America, with some fiicts connected with this claim, in a book which he called " Floating Ideas of Nature." (2 vols. I'Jmo. Lond. 179()). Was there any settlement attempted by Plowden, and if so, where? In the work of Varlo just alluded to, he states that Edward, the second* son of Sir Edmund Plowden, came to the palatinate, with his lady and two sons, for the purpose of enjoyint; the property; but that they had not Ix-en long here, when they were attacked by the Indians, and Edward and his lady niurdeied, the two childivn escapins. Whence he obtained this information does not appear precisely, tlioui:i\ probably from Edmund Plowden, Esij, ot Maryland, whom he visited during his tour in this country, or from the Plowden family in Ireland. We have ascertained some facts, which may well be taken into view in con- nection with the point we are now considering. It appears from the records at Anna{K)lis, thatone Edmird Plowden took up a tract of land in St. Mary's county, Maryland, called " Plowden's discovery," on the 2!hh of March, 1742, and on the eighth of August, following, two other tracts, making in all 66tj acres, which have ever since remained in the possession of his descendants, and are now called Bushwood. Edmund Plowden, one of these descendants, was, in 1777 appointed a captain of militia in the upper battalion of St. Mary's county, and in the years 1783 and 1784, represented that county in the Legislature of Maryland. He is the member of the family visited by Varlo, who erroneously gives his name Edtpard. The correct name, Edmund, which was the name of the patentee of New Albion, is a circumstance not to be disregarded in the present inquiry. Edmund J. Plowden, Esqr.,of Bu-:hwood, the grandson of this Edmund, informs us, (in 184'J.) that by tradition he is descended from one of the sons of the Edward, murdered by the Indians, whose names were Thomas and George, but at what time or at what particular place the murder happened is unknown. He states that Varlo called upon his grandfather with a view of obtaining his aid in prosecuting the claim, which his grandfather declnied, in consequence of his advanced age and the difficulties which obviously presented themselves ; and that there was a correspondence on the subject between his grandfather and Francis Plowden, the author of the well known history of Ire- land. He further says, " my father dying when I was but a boy, many papers were either mislaid or destroyed, among them this very grant to Sir Edvvard.t which when a boy I have otten seen, as also a book tracing the descent of our family at least from Sir Edward, down to my grandfather." The Sir Edward here referred to is the one called by Varlo the second son of Sir Ednuind Plowden the original claimant, and the title preti.ved to the natnes, which apjiears to have had no other foundation than the charter of New Albion, has been trans- * The names of Edmund Plowrien's children are given in the Description of .\Vjc Mbion as folhuvs : Francis, (the eldest,) Thomas, Wincfrid, Barbara and Katharine. The name ot Edward does not appear. t This may have been either a conveyance from the fnniily, of t'..^ release from the pa- tentees before mentioned. 76 RErRESENTATlON OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. mitted in the family to later members of it. He has also shown us a conveyance on parcliment, with internal evidence of its antiquity, of /iesi/;Tec//o/( Manor in Maryland, made by Richard Perry to Thomns and Geoiise FLowdrn, dated 10th May, lt)84, which proves them to iiave been in this country at a time con- sistently with the tradition. If any settlement were attem|)ted it must liave been by one of the Plowdens, probably a grandson if tiot a son of the original claimant. There is no mention in the Dutch records of any such attempt during the time the country was under tlie control ot the West India Company. From the great minuteness with which every aggression of the English, and every other event connected with the possessions of the comjtany, are stated in those records it could not well have happened without some mention of it in ihein. There were three projects by the English to obtain a foothold on the Delaware, during the Dutch dynasty, which are stated ; — one by George Holmes in 1(335, with a party of a dozen men, and is referred to in the brief statement of Van Tieidu>ven, in connection with the name oi' Thomas Hall, who was one of the parly ; the second in 1641, by Mr. Lambertson of New Haven: and the third in 1G59. by Lord Balti- more, which was the occasion of the embassy ofHeermans and Waldion before referred to. It appears to admit of little doubt that one of the Plowdens came over here after the return of Edimuid, the original grantee, to enjoy the property, but for the reasons given in regard to any settlement by the latter it couid not have been before the year ]G()4, when the Dutch power ceased in New Netherland. It is (luite likely that the conquest by the English, revived the fallacious hopes of the Plowden family, and that they despatched one of their number, in after years, to this country. But where he attempted his settlement is unknown, as are also the circumstances of his tragic fate. If attempted any where within the limits of New Albion, it must have been in New Jersey. The annals of Long Island have been so fully preserved as to render the absence of all allusion in them to the matter conclusive against the su])position of its having been tried there. We cannot dismiss the subject of New Albion, without adverting to a state- ment contained in the work of Plantagenet, as the original source from which the historians of New York, with hardly an exception, have derived and trans- mitted an error connected with the conflicting claims of the Dutch and English to New Netherlarul. It is the alleged landing of Sir Samuel Argall on Manhat- tan island in Kil.'J, on his return voyage to Virginia from his expedition against the French at Acadia. This is a pure tiction.unsustained by any good authority, — ihougli some writers have heaped up citations on the subject, — and as fully sus- ceptible of disproof as any statement of that character at that early period can be. C.— rngr 32. The Swedes on the Delaware. The historians of New Sweden have been in doubt as to the precise time of the arrival of the Swedes. Mr. Clay says, that Minuit brought over the first colonies about the year 1636. Mr. hin is considers the time of his arrival uncertain, though he supposes from circumstances that it was early in the spring of 1638. Acrelius, who b.ad the information before him, is not explicit : and Thomas Cam- panius is both ambiguous and wrong, as are all those who have relied upon him. The year is distinctly given in the te.xt. It is said to be 1638, and " eleven years ago," that is, belore 1649. when the Vertoogh was written. But we have it in our power not oidy to corroborate this statement, but to fi.x the month, by evidence of a different character. Among ihe London Documents procured by the historical tigent of New York, is a letter from the Treasurer of Virginia, .[erome llawley, lo Mr. Secretary Windebanke, dated " Jamestown in Virginia, 8ili May, 1638," in which the following passage occurs: " Since which tyme (20th March last,) heare arrived a Dutch shipp with commission from the yong Queene of Sweaden. aiui signed by eight of the cbieli? Lordes of Sweaden, the REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. ''"^ coppe whereof I would have taken to send to yo'r Ilon'r, but the Cnptayne would not permit me to take any coppe thereof, except he might liave free trade for tobacco to carry to Sweden, which beins contrary to his Maj'is instructions the Govern'r excused himself thereof. The shipp remained heare about 10 days to refresh with wood and water, during which tyme, ihe M'r of said shipp made knowne that both himselfe and another shipp of liis compiny, were bound fdr Delaware Baye, which is the conlines of Virginia and New England, and they p'tend lo make a plantation and to plant tobacco, which the Dutch do aliso already in Hudson's river, which is the very next river Northard from Delaware Baye. All which being his Mat's terretorys, &.c." (London Doc. Vol. 1.) The two ships, which were the AV// of Calmar and the GrUJiii, must have been m Virginia at or afier the tirst of A|>ril,. -supposing them to have arrived the very day afte" the 20th of March, referred to in this letter, as they staid there ten days to wood and water, which would have consumed all the month of March at least. At all events it is certain they could not have arrived in the Delaware, to sail to which would have taken another day, before tiie lirst of April. Tiie probabilities are that they did not arrive in Virginia on the day after the 20th of March, be- cause if they had done so, it would probably have been so stated in the letter, and consequently they did not reach the Delaware until some days after the first of April. The point then remains, how late a day could this have been ? Hawley's letter was written on the tenth of May, before which time they had left Virginia, and allowing that they left on the previous day, which is the latest one consistently with his letter, and that ii took even two or three days to get to the Delaware, we have the latest period, the eleventh or twelfth of May as the time of their arrival. That it was not, however, so late as this, may be gathered from another record in connection with the text ; the protest of Director Kieft at New Amsterdam on the occasion, complaining of the Swedes for having begun " to build a fort between our forts" that is between the Iloerekil and fort Nassau. The date of the protest is variously given by different writers, Acrelius,and Smith, the historian of New York, stating it to be the 6th of May, and others the 17th of that month. The record at Albany, from whence it has been taken by all of them , lias no date ; but it occurs in a book in which the date of the record before it is the 6th, and of that which follows is the 17th of May. Hence the discrepancy. Supposing it however to have been issued on the 17tii, how much time had elapsed at that day after the Swedes reached the Delaware \ Now it is stated in the Vertoogh that the Swedes did not be^in their fort at their first arrival, and that it was not until the third visit of the Dutch to them that any attempt of that kind was dis- covered. They busied tiiemselves at first in obtaining wood and water for their ships, which returned home in June, leaving some colonists behind, and then in planting a kitchen garden. This must have taken some time ; and it was not until after this that the fort was commenced, and information of that fact sent to Kieft at New Amsterdam, a long, and at that time tedious journey from Fort Nassau, (Gloucester Point in New Jersey — some miles below Philadelphia;) for, as before observed, he distinctly protests against the building of the fort. Hence the conclusion is irresistible, that the first entry in the Delaware by the Key of Calmar and the Griffin, must have been before the first of May. We will not attempt to fix the precise day, for that is impossible ; but that the month was April, seems to admit of no question. The statement of Campanius which makes the first coming of the Swedes un- der different auspices and in an earlier year, 1631 in pursuance of an edict of Gustavus, confirmed by the Diet in 1627 upon the representation of Usseiinx, is not founded upon any evidence which has ever been produced in this country or in Sweden, nor is it corroborated by a single other writer. Mr. Arfwedson errs when he quotes Biorck, (in Dissert, de plant. Eccl. Sre. in America,) as an au- thority that the first emigration to the colony was made in 1627, and that the building of Fort Christina took place in 1631. {Arfwed. de cnlonia Nora Sveria dedncta historiola, p. JO.) The language of Biorck is this: " As to what roncema the first arrival of the Swedes in America we may observe, according to 78 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. Til. Ciimranius Holm, p. 57, that the first expedition tliither was made in the year KiiJT, durinir the rei^n of Gustavus Adoipluis, which was followed by others in the time of Queen Christina. The originator of the first e.xpedition was Wil- liam Usselinx, a Batavian, &c." {Dissert, de plant, p. 5.) All this statement it will be seen is declared to be made on the authority of Campanius, and not on that of Biorck himself. We are therefore thrown back upon Cainimnius, who had never been in this country. His description of New Sweden was derived from the notes of his grandfather, the Rev. John Campanius, who came over with Gov- ernor Printz.and was in the country six years. So far as the grandson confines himself to the matters known by his ancestor, he may be depended upon ; but when he goes beyond them, he is constantly llounderiiig in error. Biorck quotes in the same paragraph in which the above passage occurs, from a much more re- liable source in relation to this very point, and in contradiction of Companius, from Rev. Andrew Sandel who was minister of the church at Wicaco, (now a part of Philadelphia,) from 1702 to 1719. Biorck speaking of the expedition of John Printz to the Delaware in 1642, says: " But as we learn from the obser- vations of Mr. Sandel, colonists probably not less numerous, were previously [that is, before Printz' arrival,] sent over to these parts of America, under a very pru- dent man, Meneve, [Minuit,] a Belgian. It is said that he was the first governor of the Hollanders who inhaliit the territory of New Jersey ; but as a quarrel took place between him and them, he was compelled to return home, w^iere he was arraigned and deprived of his office. For this reason he left his country and went to Sweden, where upon a representation to the chief men of the great fer- tility and excellence of the country, he at length obtained permission to conduct thither a new colony. Upon his death, Peter HoUender succeeded to his place, who is considered to have been the first governor there." No allusion is made by Sandel to the alleged colony during the reign of (iustavus, which he would cer- tainly have (lone if it had ever existed. He uses the term " new colony," evident- ly in contradistinction to the Dutch colony of which Minuit had been the gov- ernor, for he speaks of no other. 'D.—Page 4.3. The iNscRirnoN on the First Dutch Church. The site of the first church built in New Netherland was in front of what is now called the Bowling Green, being the same spot on which Fort Amsterdam, which received successively the names of the reigning monarchs of Great Bri- tain alter its conquest from the Dutch, until the revolution, was erected as stated in this work. The fort called Fort George, was, by authority of law, razed to the ground in I7LMI, for the purpose of locating the Government House, which subse- quently stood there. On removing the rubbish of the fort the inscription on the old church was found. The following paragraph, recording the fact, may be found in the New York Magazine for 1790. "June 2.3. On Monday last, in digging away the foundation of the fort in this city, a square stone was found among the ruins of a chapel, (which formerly stood in the fort, with the following Dutch inscription on it : Ao. Do. MDCXLir. W. Kieft Dr. Gr. Heeft de Gemeenten Dese Tem pel doen Bouwen. REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. NOTES. 79 (Translation.) " In the year of our Lord, lfi42, Willium Kiefl, Director General, caused the CDiiKregation to build lliis church." The stone was removed to the helfry of the Garden Street Cliurch, whicli was destroyed hy the great Fire of IR.'Ji), and will) which was lost this interealing nie- inorial of the first cliurch in New Neiherland. E.—ragi> 68. Va.t TiENncvE.s's Answer to the VERTOoGn. Justice demands that we should give the answer of Stuyvesant, by his secre- tary, to the charges of the coMiplainants. Van Tienhoven, with all his faults, was a man of ability, and he pri-sented his points with force and succiTictnesa. He entered upon no defence of himself — whether from prudence, in order to avoid a personal issue in an affair of such great interest to his eiiii)loyers, or from a consciousness of their trnih, is uncertain. Probably both considerations ope- rated upon him. He was shrewd enough to display no feeling ; while it apjiears to be well established thai his habits were loose and profligate, though lie con- tinued, notwithstanding, to retain the confidence of Stuyvesant for a long time, and even after he had lost that of the company, as he was dismissed by him from the service of the company only upon its repeated peremptory order, (Alby. Re- cords, Vol. IV., 14, 2U7 and 217.) which took place in ICofJ. In his reply Van Tienhoven retaliati d upon the signers of the remonstrance by a description of them, individually, intended to be not very flattering to them, with which he closes his cort berirht. or brief statenieiit. This reply, with the remonstrance, aflbrd us a good insight into the earlier management of the West India Com- pany in New Netherland. The answer was never printed, and was found among the royal archives at the Hague, by Mr. Brodhead, whence it was lian- scriheci into the Holland documents of our State, and from them it is now trans- lated as follows: " A hrief stafrment or avsicer to amnr points embraced in the leritten deduction of Adrian Van der Donk anil liin associatex, prexcnted to the Hish and Mighty Lords States General. Prepared by Cornei-is Van TiENHOVEjf, Secretary of the Director and Council of New Netherland." " In order to present the aforesaid answer succinctly, he. Van Tienhoven, will allege not only that it illy becomes the aforesaid Van der Donk and other private l)ersons to assail and abuse the administration of the Managers in this country, and that of their Governors there,* in such harsh and general terms, but that they would much belter discharge their duty if they were first to bring to the notice of their lords and patrons what they had to complain of But passing by this point, and leaving the consideration thereof to the discretion of your High Mightinesses, he observes preliiiiinarily and generally, that the?e persons say much and \nvve little, so that it could as easily, and with more truth, be denied, than by them ii i3 affirmed. " Coming then to the matter, I will only touch upon those points as to whicli either the Bewinthebbers or the Directors are arraigned. In regard to point No. 1,'it is denied, and it never will appear that the company have refused to permil people to make settlements in the country, and allowed foreigners to take up the land. " The policy of the company was to act on the defensive. As they had not the power to resist their pretended friends, and could only protect their rights by ])rotest, this was better and more prudent than to come to hostilities. " Trade has long been free to every one, and as profitable as ever. Nobody's goods were confiscated, except those who had violated their contract, or the order * In New Netherland. Van Tienhoven prcpiircd lliis answer in Holland. 80 REPKKSENTATION OF NEW NETIJERLAN'l).- JJOTEH. Iiy which tliey were forbidden ; mid it' any body thinks that injustice has beefl done him by contiscation, he can speak for himself At all events it does not concern these people. " They complain that the Chrisrians: are treated like the Indians in the sale of goods, which is admitted ; bnt that lias not been by the company, nor by the directors, because, ((iod helij tiieni.) they have not had anything there to sell for manjr vears. Most of the remonstranis are merchants or factors, and are them- selves the persons wlio, for those articles wiiich cost here one hundred gnilder.si, charge there, over and above the first cost, including insurance, duties, laborer's wages, freight, ifcc.. one and two hundred per cent, or more profit. Here can be seen at once how these pi-o^le lay to the chariie of the ^Managers and their officers the very fault which tiiey themselves commit. They can never show, even at the time the conipany had their shop and niaijazines there, that the goods were sold at more than tjfty per cent, protii, in confoiniity with the exemptions. The forestalling of ilie trooilsby one and anoiher, and the demanding this i)rofit, was not prevented by the Director, as the trade was thrown o]ien to both those of small and those of large means. " It is a pure cahnnny, tliat the Conipany had ordered hall' a fault to be reck' oiied f(ir a whole one. " And, as it does not ciMicern the iidiabitants wh.at instructions or orders the panoons trive to the Du'ector. the charsje is made tor the purpose of bringing about, that these people may live without beins subject to the censure or disci- pline of any one, which, however, ihcy stand doubly in need of " Again it is said in general terms, but wherein, should be specified and proven, that the Director exercises, and has usurped, sovereign power. " That the inhabitants have had need of the Directors, appears by the books of accounts, in which it can he seen that the Company has assisted all the free- men, (some few excepted.) with clothing, provisions, and other things, and in the erection of houses, and at a rate from fifty to one hundred per cent, advance above the first cost in the P^atherland, and these amounts are not yet paid by the complainants. It would be very agreeable, no doubt, to deprive the Ci.impany of the country, and thus get rid of payint; tlieni. " It is ridiculous to supi)ose Director Kieft should have said that he was sove- reign, like the Prince in the Fatherland ; but as relates to the denial of appeal lo the Fatherland, it arose from this, that, in the exemptions, the Island of the Maidiatans was reserved as the capital of New Netherlands, and all the adja- cent colonies were to have their appeal to it as the Supreme Court of that region. " Besides, it is to be remarked, that the jiatroon of the colony of Renselaers- wyck notified all the inhabitants not to appeal to the Manhatans, which wa,s contrary to the exemptitms. by which the colonies are bound to make a yearly report of the state of the colony, and of the administration of justice, to the Direc- tor and Council on the Manlmtans. " The Directors have never had any management of, or meddled with, church property. And it is not known, nor can it be proven, that any one of the inhab- itants of New Netherlands has contributed or jiiven, either voluntarily or upon solicitation, any thing for the erection of an orphan asylum, or an alms house. It is true the church was built in the fori in the time ofWilliani Kieft, and 1,800 iiuilders were subscribed for the pm-posc, for which most of the subscribers have been charged iii their accounts, which have not yet been jiaid. The Company^ in the iiieamime, has disbursed the money, so that the conmionalty has not, but the Company has, paid the workmen. If the commonalty desire the aforesaid works, they must contribute towards iliem as is done in this country, and, if there be an orphan asylum and alms house, the rents should l>e able not only to keep up the house, but also to maintain the orphans and old peo|jle. '• If any one could show that by will, or by donation of a living person, any money, or moveable or immoveable property, has been bestowed for such or any other public work, the remonstrants would have done it ; but there is in New Netherland no instance of the kind, rnid the charge is spoken or written in anger. "When the church, which is in the f Tt. \\as to b^ built, the church wardens were REPRESENTATION OF NCW NCTHEKhAND. NoTH.S. SI comeiii it slioiilil be put there. These persons complain because lliey considered the Company's fort not worthy of a church. When the church was built, could {he grisi mill not grind with a southeast wind if the (other) wind was shut off by the wails of the fort ? " Although the new school, towards which the cominonalty has contributed somethinji, is not yet built, and the Director has no managf-ment of the money, but the church wardens have, yet the Director is busy in i)ro%'iding materials. In the mean time a place has been selected for a school, where the school is kept by .Fan Cornelissen. The other schoolmasters keep school in hired houses, so that the youth, considerinff the circumstances of the country, are not in want ot schools. It is true there is no Latin school or academy, but if any of the com- monalty desire ii, they can furnish the means and attempt it. " As to what concerns the deacon's or poor fund, the deacons are accountable, and are the persons to be inquired of, as to where the money is invested, which they have from time to time put out at interest ; and as the Director has never had the management of it, (as against common usage,) the deacons are respon- sii)le for it, rmd not the director. It is true director Kieft being distressed for money, had a box hung in his house, of which the dencons had the key, and in which all the small fin-s and penalties which were incurred on court days were dropped. With the consent of the deacons he opened it, and took on interest the money, which amounted to a pretty sum. " It is admitted, that the beer e.Ncise of William Kieft, and the wine excise of Peier Stuyvesant, were imposed and continued to be collected up to the time of my leaving there ; but it is to be observed here, that the memorialists have no reason to complain about it, for the merchant, burgher, farmer, and all others, (tapsters only excepted,) can lay in as much beer and wine as they please, with- out paying any excise, being only bound to give an account of it in order that the quantity m ly be ascertained. The tapsters pay three guilders for each tun of beer, and one styver for each can of wine, which they get back again from their daily visitors, and the travellers from New England, Virginia, and else- where. " The commonalty up to that time, were burdened with no other internal taxes, than the before mentioned excise, unless the voluntary gifts which were two years since made for the erection of the church, be considered a tax, of which Jacob Couwenlioven,* who is one of the churchwardens, will be able to give an account. " In New England there are no taxes or duties imposed upon goods exported or imported ; but every person is there assessed by the government, according to his means, and so is compelled by the magistrates to pay for the building and re- pairing of churches, and the support of the ministers ; for the building of school- houses, and the support of schoolmasters ; for all city and village improvements, and the making and keeping in repair all public roads and paths, which are there made many miles into the country, so that they can be used by horses and car- riages, and journeys made from one place to another ; for constructing and keep- ing up all bridges over rivers for the accommodation of pa.esengers ; for the building of hotels for travellers, and for the maintenance of governors, magis- trates, marshals, and officers of justice, and of majors, captains, and other oflicers of the militia. " In every province of New F-'ngland there is quarterly a general assembly of all the magistrates of such province ; and there is yearly a general convention of all the provinces, each of which sends one deputy with his suite, which convention lasts a long time. All their travelling expenses, board, and compensation, are there raised from the people. " The accounts will show what was the amount of recognitions collected annually in Kieft's time ; but it will not appear that it was as large by far as they say the people were compelled to pay. This is not the Company's fault, nor the Directors", but of those who charge one, two and three hundred per cent, profit, which the people are compelled to pay because there are few tradesmen. * One of the throe delegates from the coiiinitmalty. then in Uolliuid. 11 82 REl'RESRNTATIOiV OF NEW NETilERLAND, ^VVKSy '• It \\ill iifve-r fippeiir t'lKit 3I),000 guiltlers are collected lioin the comtuau-alty ill l-!tuyvcs;iiit's lime ; fur nolhiii!:; is received besides the beer nnd wine excise, which aniouiics to about 4.0(JU guilders ort the Alanhatans. From the other vil- lages hituatetl around it there is liitle or nothing collected, because there- are no tapsters, except one at the Ferry,* and one at l^'Uishing. '' There is nothing conrtscaied belonging to the commonalty, and oniV contra- band goods of ioieigners ; and of these nobody's goods are confiscated with- out good cause. " The question is whether the Honorable Company or tlie Directors are bound io construct any works for the commonalty ou£ of the recognitions which the trader pays in New Netherland for goods exported, especially as those duties were allowed to the Company by their High Mitrhtinesses for the establishmenS of garrisons, and the ex]jenses which they would thereby incur, and not far the construction of hospitals, orphan asylums, or churches and school-houses. '• I'he iharge tliat the proijcriy of the C'omi)any is neglected in order So B^ake friends, cannot be sustained by proof. "Till- provisions in e.vc iianue for the negroes who came from Tamarjdare v^'ere sent to Curayoa, cxccp: a portion consumed on the Manhatans, as the ac- counts will show ; bu! ail these ari- matters which do not concern these persons, especially as they are not accountable lijr them. " As to what relates to the coiitr;ic! of the free persons, the Director has gra- ciously grained the neiiroes who were the Company's slaves, to give them their freedom in (•iins,"queiict' of llieir long service, on condition that their children slioidd remain slaves, who are not treated otherwise than as Christians. At pre- .vent ihere arc onl^' three ofthe.se children who do any service, one of them is as the House of llope,t one at the Conipany's bouwery, and one with Martin Cri- gier, who litis brougiit the girl up well, as eveiyiiody knows. " That the Heer Stuyvesant shonki biyild uji, tdter and repair the Company's property was his ditty. l''or tlie conse(iuent loss or profit he will answer to the Company. " Tlif li^irLdiers upon the island of [Vlanhatana, and thereabouts, must know ihat nobody comes or is admitted to New Netherland, (being a conquest,) except upon ibis condition, that he shall iiave nothinp a |iai-t of the currency ainonsr the whites as well as the In- dians, and was evt-ii p:ii(l in I he Sunday Cdlleclions in the ehiu'ches It was made for the n.ii^i jiii.'-i ol Ihe slit-n iili/ie hai.l clam ; tlial madeoiU of the hlne part (ir heart of the shell ii.a W12 llii' liiL'lifsl vabir. Ii was ill sha|)p and size like cinniniin heads, and was perfs)rate(l ionsilinliiially so as to !.»• sirniii;. Kieft's reirtilalion, relVrred to by Van Tienhoven, which was adopicd on jtitli April, lli-ll, ilt^clared that the roiiL'h or loose sewan, worth six for a stiver, c.iin^' from oiln-r |ilarc-, .-.r.d il \v,ls ilic iMaiihatan sewan whi'ih lie li.ved at four for :'j stiver, ■,oul wliii li is.L- ronscnurii'.ly liit' he>t. m:PRESENTAT10N OF NEW NF.TIIERI.AND. NOTES. 83 " Thnt the fort is not properly repaired does not concern the inhaliitnnis. It is not their domain, but the Company's. They tire willing lo be prutccted by good fo'ts and garrisons belonging to the Company without lurnishing any aid or at--sioi of land of ins own, but is obliged lo take upon rent ail the land which he • ■idtivalcs. When a house is erected he is obliuvd to pay an annual ground- rent in beavers, and so also must the boor^, tor vvliirh they allow tliein free trade, astiiey call it. Where is there an inhabiiant under the jurisdiction of tlie Com- pany who expends or lays out any thing for irade or land I AH the farms are con- veyed in fee, subject to l\w chiufe be racint oj I e mig tc licratnrti, (taxes imposed or to be imposed.) " The English minister Francis Doughty lias never been in the service of the com|iany. wherefore it was not indebted to him ; but his English congregation are Ijomid to pay him, as may be proven in New INetherlaiul. '■ The Company has advanced the said minister, trom time to tinn'. uoods and necessaries of life amounting to about 1100 guilders, as the booiss ot the colony e:i;i sliow, which he has not yet paid, and vvliich he claims be should not jiay. NVheilicr or not the Director has desired a coniproniise wiih Doughty, I do iiiit know. '■ Dirreior Smyve^ant, when he came to New Netherland, endeavored accord- iiiLT !o ins orders lo slop in a proper manner the contraband trade in guns, powder and lend. The people of ihe colony of Renselaerwyck understanding this, sent a letier to the Direcior, reiiuesting inoderaiion, es[)ecially, as they said, it that tiadr were entirely abolished all the christians in the colony would run great danaer of being murdered, as may more at large be seen by the contents of their petition. " The Director and Council taking the request into consideration, and looking further into the consequences, resolved that guns and powder, to a limited e.xtent, be sparingly furnished by the Commissary ai Fort Orange, on account of the Comi)any, taking good care that no supply should be carried by the boats navigating the river, unless in pursuance of a further order. Ii is here to be observed that the Direcior, in order lo keep the colony out of danger, has permitted some arms to be furnished at the tort. Nobody can prove that the Director has sold or per- mitted to be sold, any thing contraband, for his own private benefit. That the Direcior has permitted some guns to be seized, has happened because they brought with them no license pursuant to the order of the company, and they would under such pretences have been able to bring many guns. The Director has paid for every one that was seized, si.xteen guilders, although it did not cost in this country more than eight or nine guilders. '■ It is true that a case of guns was brought over by Vastrick, by order of Direc- tor Stuyvesant, in which there were thirty guns, which the Director, with the knowledge of the Second (Vice Director, Dincklagen,) and Fiscal, permitted lo be landed in the full light of day, which guns were delivered to Commissary Keyser with orders to "sell thetn'io the Neiherlanders who had no arms, in order liiat in time of need thry might defend themselves, which Keyser has done; and it will appear by his accounts where these guns are. If there were any more guns in the ship it was unknown to the Director. The Fiscal, whose bu.siness it was, should have seen to it and inspected the ship ; and these accusers should have shown that the Fiscal fiad neglected to make the search as it ought to have been done. ■•.Jacob Reinsen and Jacob Schermerhorn were a fum of merchants from Walerland, one of whom, Jacoi) Schennerhorn, was at Fort Orange, the other, .lacob Reiiit.jes. was at F(Mt Am.sterdam. wdio there bouiiht powder, lead and guns, nml s^ni ibein up to Sclii-rni''rlioru. who suppli'^d tlie rndiaiis. If so hnp- REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 85 pened that the Company's corporal, Govert Barent, having in charge such of the nrms of the Company as required to be repaired or cleaned, sold to the before named Jacob Reintjes, guns, locks, gtm barrels, &,c., as by Jacob Reinijes' own ncknosvlcdi;ed letters, written to his pariner long before iliis came to light, and by the inlorination oi the corporal, can be proven. The corporal, seduced by the solicitation of Jacob Reinijes, sold him the amis as often as desired, though the latter knew that the guns and gun barrels belonged to the Company, and not to the corporal. Therefore a parcel of peltries, (as may be seen in the accounts,) bought, as appeared from the letters, with contraband goods, was confiscated. As the said Jacob Reintjes has been in this country since the conliscation, he would have made complaint if he had not been guilty, especially as he was sufficiently urged to do so by the enemies of the Company and of tiie Director, but his own letters were witnesses against him. " Joost (le Backer being accused by the above named corporal of having bought gun locks and gun barrels from him, and the first informaiioi having proved correct, he was therefore taken into custody, and his house searched according to law, in wliich was found a gun of the Company ; wherefore he gave security (to answer,) for the claim of the Fiscal. " As the English of New England protected among them all fugitives who came to them from the .Manhatans without the pa.ssport required by the usa^e of the country, whether persons in the service of the Company or freemen, and took them into their service, it was therefore sought by commissioners to induce the English to restore the fugitives according to an agreement previously made with Governors Eaton and Hopkins, but as Governor Eaton persisted in refusing lo send back the runaways, although earnestly solicited to do so, the Director and Council, according to a jjrevious resolution, issued a proclamation that all per- sons who should come from the province of New Haven (all the others excepted) to New Netherlanil shonitl be protected ; which was a retaliatory measure. As the Governor permitted some of the fugitives to come back to us, the Director and Council annulled the order, and since then matters have gone on peaceably the same as before the dispute about the boundaries. " Nobody's goods are confiscated in New Netherland without great reason ; and if any one feels aggrieved about it, the Director will be prepared to furnish an answer. That ships or shipmasters are afraid of confiscation and therefore do not come to New Netherland is probable, for nobodv can come to New Nether- land without a license or permit. Whoever has this, and does not violate his agreement, and has properly entered his goods, need not be afraid of confisca- tion ; but all smugglers and persons who sail with two commissions may well be. " All those who were indebted to the Company were warned by the Director and Council to pay the debts left uncollected by the late William Kieft, and as some could, and others couid not -well pay, no one was compelled to pay ; but these debts, amounting to .30,000 guilders, made many who did not wish to pay, angry and insolent, (especially as the Company now had nothing in that coun- try to sell them on credit,) and it seemed that some sought to pay after the Bra- zil fashion.* " The memorialists have requested that the people should not be oppressed, which, however, has never been the case, but they would be right glad to see that the Company dunned nobody, nor demanded their own, yet paid their creditors. It will appear by ths account books of the Company that the debts were not con- tracted during the war, but before it. The Company has assisted the inhabi- tants, who were poor and burdened with wives and children, with clothing, houses cattle, land, »fcc., and from time to time charged them in account, in hopes of their being able at some time to pay for them. " If the taxes of New England, before spoken of, be compared with those of New Netherland, it will be found that those of New England are a greater bur- den upon that country than the taxes of New Netherland are upon our people. * This is an allusion to the recent lost by the Company nf Rr.Tzil, which had been tHlcnj from them by the Portuguese, whereby their ilebiors tlierc gut rid oC ilieir ifebts. bU EEPRERENTATION OF NEW NKTFIERLAND. NOTES. •• The wine exfisc of one stiver per can, was first laid in the year 1647. '• The beer excise ofthree guilders per tun, was imposed hy Keift in 1644, and is paid iiy tlie lapsier, and nor, by the luugliei-. '■ 'i'lie recognition of eight in a hundred upon iniiiorted beaver skins, dot s not come out ol tiie irdiabitants, but out of the trader, vvlio is bound to jjay it ae- (;ording to coirtract. " Tire Diieclor has always shown that he was desiroirs and pleased to see a deputation from the commonalty, who should seek, in the Fatherland, froiir tire Compairy as jjatrons, and the Lor-ds Slates as sovereigns, the following: popula- tion, settlement of boundaries, reduction ol' charges uporr New Nelherland tobacco and other productions, ineairs of transporting people, permanent and solid pri- vileges, &c. " For whicli purpose he has always lent a helping baud ; but the remonstrants have seci-etly goire rourrd exciling some of the conimoirally, and liy ihat means oiitained a clandestine ami secret subscriplion, as is to be seen by iheir remon- sti-ance, designed for no other object tharr to render the Company — their pa- trons — aird the oflrcers in New Netherlarrd odious before Their High Mighti- nesses, so that the Company might be deprived of the jus patronatus and be still further injured. " The i-enroirslrants say tlrat we had relied upon the Knglish, and by meairs of them sought to divert the college, (as rlrey call it,) which is untrue, as ap|)ears hy the propositions made to them. But rt is here to be observed that the English, living under the protection of the Netherlairders, having taken the oallr of alle- giance ami benig domiciliated and settled in New Nelherland, are to be cuiisi- (iered citizens of t he country. These persons have always l)een opposed to them, since (he Englrsh as well as they had a r-iglit to say someihing in relation to the deputation, and would not consent to all their calumnies and slanders, but looked to the good of till' conrmonalry and of the irrhabiiants. " It was never written in a letter upon their solicitation that tliey might secret- ly go ami s]ieak to the commonalty. 'I'he intention ol the Director was localise thenr to be called together at Iris own time, as opportunity should offer, at which time they might speak to the commonalty publicly about the deputation. The Director was not obliged, as they say, to call tire cummonalty inrmediately to- gether. It was to be considered by hiirr at N\hat time each one could convenient- ly conre from hoirre wrthoiit loss, especially as soirre lived nl a distance in the couirtry, vtc. " That they have m>t been willing to coinmnnicate, was because all whom they had slandei-ed would have been able to have jirovided themselves with the means of defence, and made the contrary appear, and in that case could have produced sonrelhing from some of them. And since the l)ii-ector and those corrnected with the administration in New Netherland are very rrriich wrongeil attd defamed, I desire time in oi'der to wait for ojiposing docuineiiis from New Netherland. it it be nece.'isary. " Vander ]")onk and his as.socintes say that the Director instituted suits agairrst some per-sons. 'I'he Director going to the house of IVIichael .lansen, (one of the signers of the r-emonsti-ance,) was warned by the said Michael and Thomas Hall, saying, there was within it a scandalous journal of Adrian vair der Donck ; which journal the Director took with hinr. ami on account of the slandei'S which were contained in it against 'I'heir High Mightinesses and private individuals, Van der Donck was arrested at his lodgiirgs and proof of what he had written demanded, but it was dispensed with on the apphcarion aird solicitation of others. " During the administration both of Kieft and of Stuyvesairt, it was by a placard published and posted, that no attestation or other public writing should be valid before a court in Netherland, unless it were written by the secretary. This was not done in order that there should be no testinrony, (against the Director,) but upon thisconsideratiorr, that nrost of the people living in Netherland are country or seafaring men, and sumnron each other fVerjuently for small matters before the court, while many of them can neither read nor v.nite, and neither testily intel- li'dbly nor produce written evidence, and if sotrre do produce it, sometimes it is REPRESENTATION OF N F,\V NRTIl CRLAND. NOTES. b7 written by a sailor or a boor, and is often wholly indisiinct and repugnaiu to ilie meaning of those who had it written or who made the statement ; consequently the Director and Council coukl not know the truth of matters aa was proper and as justice demanded, &c. No body has been arrested except Van der Donk for writing the journal, and Augustus Heeimans, the asenl of Gabri, because he refused lo exhibit the writinL's drawn up by the Nine Men, which were reported to the Director, who had been for them many times like a boy. " Upon the lirst point of redress, as they call it, the remonstrants advise, that the Company should abandon the country. What frivolous advice this is! The Company have at their own expense conveyed cattle and many persons thither, built forts, protected many peojile who were poor and needy emigrating from Holland, and provided them with provisions and clothing; and now when some of them have a little more than they can eat up in a day, they svish to be released from the authority of their benefactors, and without pa\ing if they could ; a sign of gross ingiatitude. " Hitherto the eouniry has be< n nothing but expense to the Company, and now when it can provide tor itself and yield for the future some prolit lo the Company, these jieople are not willing to pay the tenth which they are bound honestly to pay when called upon after the expiration of the ten years, pursuant to the ex- emptions. " Upon the second point they say that provision should be made for ecclesiasti- cal and municipal property, church services, an orphan asylum and an almshouse. ]f they are such philanthropists as they ajtpear, let them lead the way in generous contributions lor such laudable objects, and not complain when the Directors have endeavored to make collections for the church and school. What complaints would have been made if the Director had undertaken lo make collections for an almshouse and an orphan asylum. 1 he service of the church will not be suspended, although Dominie Johannes Backerus has returned, who has been there more than twenty-seven months. His place is supplied by a learned and g^dly miinsier who has no interpreter when he defends the Reformed Keligion against any minister of our neighbors, the English Brownists.* " The foregoing are the points which reijuire any answer. We will only add some description of the persons who have signed the lemonstrance and who are the following ; " Adrian van der Donk has been about eight years in New Netherland. He went there in the service of the proprietors of the colony of Renselaerswyck as an officer, but did not lone continue siu-h, though be lived in that colony till 1646. " Arrioldii-t Van Niirdrriliiiii;/i accompanied Hay .lansen to New Netherland, in the year 1644, with a cargo for his brother. He has never to our knowledge suffered any loss or ilnmage in New Netherland, but has known how to charge the commonalty well for his goods. " Aiigiistyn Heermans went by the authority of Enkhuizen,t being then as he still is, the agent of Gabrie, in trading business. " Jacob ran Conwenhoven went to the country with his father in boyhood, was taken by Wonter Van Twiller into the service of the Company as an assistant, and afterwards became a tobacco planter. The Company has aided him with necessaries, as it is to be seen by the books, but they have been paid for. " OInf Strrenxrn, brother-in-law of Govert Loockmans, went out in the year 1637 in the ship Herring as a soldier, in the service of the Company. He was promoted by Director Kieft and finally made Commissary of the shop. He ha» profited in the service of the Company, and has endeavored to give his benefactor the world's pay, that is, to recompense good with evil. He signed under protest, saying that he was compelled to sign, which can be understood two ways, one that he had been compelled lo subscribe to the truth, the other that he had been constrained by force to do it. It he means the latter, it must be proven. * Tlif Rev. .lohannes Meg^polensis is lirro rrforred to. t A city in the North Quarter, which was one iil" the Chambers or ileimriinents ..f ihe Wesl India Cuinp:iny. S8 REPRESENTATION OF NEW iNETHERLAND. NOTEf5. " JSIichiipl Jiinsrn went to New Nellierlund as a tanner's man in the emiiloy of the pioprietors of Rens(>laerp\vyck. He made liis fortune in the colony in a few years, but not being able to ac:ree wiili the officers, iinally came to live upon the island Manhatans. He would liave come here himself, but the accounts between him and the colony not being settled, in which the proprietors did not consider themselves indebted as he claimed, .Ian Evertsen came over in his stead. "• Thamax Hull went to the South River in Ki.SG, in the employ of Air. ?Iolme.«, an Englishman, who intended to take Fort Nas.sau and rob us of the South River. This Thomas Hall ran away from his master, came to the Manhatans and hired himself as a farmer's man to Jacob Van Curlur. Benig n freeman he has made a tobacco planintion upon the lami of that not.'d individual, Wouter Van Twy- ler. Tliomas Hall dwells at i)reseni uijon a .-^inall bowery belonging to the Hon- orable Company. " Elbert Elbertsen went to the coimtrv as a f n'lner's boy at about ten or eleven years of age, in the service of ^V'ouler Yi\n Twyler, and has never hat! any land of his own. About three years ago he married the widmv of Gerret Wolphertsen, (brother of the before mentioned Jacoi) Van Couwenhoven,) and from that time to this has been indebted to the Company, and would be very glad to get rid of paying. " GorrrI Luorktiirnis, brother in law ot Jacob Van Couwenhoven, went to New Netherland in the yacht St. Martin, in the year 1G33, as a. cook's mate, and was taken by Wouter Van Twyler into the service of the Company, in which service he profited somewhat. He became a freeman, ami finally took charge of the trading business for Gilles Verbruggen and his Com|)any. This Loockmans owes gratitu'ie to the Company, next to God, for his elevation, and ought not advise its removal from the couiury. " Heiu'rirk Kip is a tailor, and has never suffered any loss in New Nether- land to our knowledge. "/«» Erfr/.svM-io;//, formerly an oflicer of the Company, came the lasi time in the year 1634, with the ship Eendracht, (Union,) in the service of the Honor- able Micliicl Paauw, and lived in Pavonia until the year 1643, and prospered moderately. As the Honorable Coinjjany purchased the property of the Heer Paauw, the said Jan Evertsen having the property, succeeded well in the service of the Company, but as his house and barn at Pavonia were burnt down in the war, he appeared to take tliat as a cause for complaint. It i,s here to be remarked, that the Honorable Company paid 26,000 guilders for the colony of the Heer Paauw. The said Jan Evertsen built his house ujion the land and had given nothing for his farm, which yielded good wheat. Long afterwards his house was burnt. The land and a poor unfinished liouse, with a tew cattle, he has sold to Micliiel Jansen for eight thousand guilders. ■' In tine, these people, to give their doings a gloss, say that they are bound by conscience and compelled by reason ; but if that were the case they would not assail their benefactors, the Company and others, and endeavor to deprive them of this noble country, by advising their removal, now that it begins to be like something, and may hereafter be of some advatitage to the Company, and now that many of the inhabitants are themselves in a better condition than ever, endeavors caused apparently by the ambition of many, &c. " At the Hague, 2dtk November, 1650." r t f ^Sr^ t<' a, I