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EXTRACTS
FROM
DE LAET AND AITZEMA,
RELATING TO
NEW NETHERLAND.
SECOND SERIES, VOL. II.
33NOTE
The first volume of the Second Series of the “Collections of the New
York Historical Society,” contains, (pp. 289-315,) translated extracts of those por-
tions of De Laet’s History of the New World, which relate to New Netherland.
In the valuable preliminary notice by the Editor and Translator, (pp. 282-288,) re-
ference is made to three several Editions of De Laet’s work, from which these
Extracts were taken; the original Dutch Edition, published by the Elzevirs at
Leyden in 1625 ; the Latin Edition, published in 1633 ; and the French Edition,
published in 1640.
There was, however, a Second Edition in Dutch, published in 1630, the title
of which is as follows: “ Nieuwe Wereldt ofte beschryvinge van West
Indien. Door Joannes De Laet. Tweede Druck. Tot Leyden, by de
Elzeviers. Anno 1630.” Reference was first made to this Edition in Mr.
Brodhead’s Anniversary Address, delivered before the N. Y. Historical Society,
in 1844, (page 26,) as affirming the purchase of the Island of Manhattan from
the Indians; a fact which was not stated in the original Edition of 1625, for the
reason that the purchase was not completed till 1626.
As the second edition corresponds almost exactly with the first, excepting in the
statement added at the end of the eleventh chapter, (as printed on page 303,
Vol. I., 2d series, of the Society’s Collections,) a literal translation of that para-
graph is deemed important enough to be now appended, in order to give com-
pleteness to the series of Extracts from De Laet.EXTRACT
FROM CHAPTER XI. OF* “ t>E LAET’S HISTORY OF THE NEW WORLD,’*—
SECOND EDITION.—TRANSLATED BY J. ROMEYft BRODHEAD.
Into New Netherland, and upon both these Rivers de
scribed by us in the foregoing chapters, several colonies
have been sent by the Directors of the Chartered West In-
dia Company, from the very commencement of that Com-
pany, to wit, from the year 1623, in order to continue the
possession of those quarters, and to maintain the trade in
peltries. They have there, at the uppermost part of the
North River, in the latitude of 43 degrees or thereabouts*
a small Fort, which our people call the Fort Orange, round
about which several colonizers have settled themselves un-
der the patronage of the aforesaid Company. And again
another Fort of greater importance at the mouth of the
same North River, upon an Island whict^they call Manhai-
ies or Manhatans Island, because this nation of Indians had
happened to possess the same, and by them it had been sold
to the Company. Here our people have made, as it were*
their head-quarters or principal colony, which they call
New Amsterdam. The ships which are yearly sent thither
harbour there, and prosecute their trade with boats and
sloops higher up the North River, in the South River, and
in all the other Rivers and Bays herein-before described
by us.EXTRACTS
PROM AITZEMA’S HISTORY OP THE UNITED PROVINCES.—TRANSLATED BY
REV. THOMAS DE WITT, D. D.
[Note.—‘The second edition of Leo de Aitzema’s History, from which the
following extracts are taken, was published at the Hague, in 1669-1671, un-
der the title of “ Saken van Staet en Ooorlogh,” in 7 vols. folio. The work
comprises the History of the United Provinces, from 1621 to 1668, and is valua-
ble for the original and authentic materials which it embodies. Sir Peter Lely,
in recommending Aitzema’s History to the notice of the Lord Keeper Guilford,
characterized it as “a sort of Rush worth.” [Roger North’s Life of Guilford.]
Aitzema died at the Hague in 1669, and his work was continued to 1697, in 4
vols. folio, by Lambert Bos. A copy of the folio edition of Aitzema is in the
library of the Society.]
1663.—FROM VOL. IV., PAGE 1120.
It was stated that the English were growm very strong
in the American regions, possessed much land, and were
greatly increased in population. The Holland West India
Company complained concerning the proceedings of the
English, and pronounced them unreasonable and unjustifia-
ble. The English had not only forcibly settled themselves
on many districts which had been first discovered and ta-
ken into possession by the Company, as appeared by the
signs which had been designated at first, and which re-
mained at the time of this forcible entry; but they had
also invaded several places which had been brought under
cultivation, and where towns and villages had been orga-
nized under their proper governments in the name of the
States General. They alleged as the only ground of their
unrighteous conduct, certain vague patents from the King of
Great Britain, conveying to them those lands which (as
was reasonable) were not occupied by others. The Com-
pany were not able, being taken by surprise, to prevent
these proceedings, and in every occurrence they first at-
tempted means of reconciliation, before resort was made toEXTRACTS FROM AITZEMA.
375
force. For this end they used from time to time many ef-
forts to procure a settled boundary line between the pos-
sessions of the two nations, agreed upon either here in
America, or else in Europe, believing that by this means
all difficulties might be prevented for time to come; and
they requested the aid and influence of the States General
for the attainment of this end. In this matter the Compa-
ny advanced so far in America that in the year 1650, there
was defined and established at Hartford a provisional
boundary line, subject to the approbation of the States
General and the British government. Still this had no in-
fluence in favorably disposing the English towards this ob-
ject, but it appeared evident that they were moving on-
wards in their proceedings. Apparently elated by their
first successful proceeding, they seemed to aim righteously,
or unrighteously, to make themselves masters of the whole
country, to deprive the Company of the cities, towns, and
the whole country under their jurisdiction, to reduce the
province of New Netherland under England, to the humi-
liation of the States General, to the great injury of the
commerce of the country, the incalculable loss of the Com-
pany, and the ruin of many inhabitants there settled.
Passing by several violent proceedings, of which account
has been given in remonstrances before sent to the States
General; on the 27th and 28th of July, they sent a Cap-
tain Talcott with sixteen or eighteen men on horseback to
the town named Oostdorp, under the authority and govern-
ment of the States General. On his arrival he absolved
the inhabitants from the oath of allegiance to the States
General, displaced the Magistrates appointed by the Com-
pany, appointed others in their places, and so assumed the
government of the town. Not content with that, but pro-
ceeding in this unheard of course, the same Captain Talcott,
on the 24th of December, sent to the town of Gravesend,
established under the authority of the States Genera], one
James Crisp to read an address to the inhabitants, inducing
them, like those of Oostdorp, to sedition, and thus bringing
them under the British Government. The intention was to
proceed for the like object to Vlissingen, Heemstede and
Ruddorp, but this was prevented by the arrest of the mes-
senger in very season, for, on the 24th of December, in the
evening, one hundred and fifty English, on horseback and
on foot, came into the town, surrounded the house of Lieu-
tenant Stilwell, demanded him dead or alive, broke into the
house, and committed much violence. The Company, in376
EXTRACTS FROM AITZEMA.
consideration of the close alliance between the Crown of
Great Britain and the States General, have not taken mea-
sures of resistance, until first the matter be communicated
to the States General, and their assistance and direction be
invoked. The Directors of the Company beseech the
States General to take into most serious consideration the
unrighteous acts of violence committed by the English
against the Company, and adopt the most suitable and ef-
fectual measures in the case.
1664.—FROM VOL. V., PAGE 64.
In relation to the present condition of matters, the West
India Company gave information on the 21st of January,
that the Director General and Council in New Netherland
addressed to them a letter, dated the third of November
last. They stated that they had endeavored to treat the
dispute which had arisen there in a friendly manner. For this
end the Director General Stuyvesant had gone in person to
Boston, if possible in a friendly way to induce the Congress of
the four united provinces of New England to desist from
their unlawful proceedings. After Stuyvesant had arrived
there, after much debate, the Colony of Hartford was open-
ly censured by the three other colonies, viz: Boston, Ply-
mouth and New Haven in relation to its proceedings
against the Company. The Colony of Hartford would not,
however, submit to the judgment of the three above
named colonies, contending that the questions in dispute
must be settled by the Legislature of the particular colony,
and not by the United Colonies, and that they had no power
to prescribe the limits of their patent obtained from the
King of England. So subsequently after the meeting of
the Legislature of Hartford, Commissioners were sent in
the month of October last, who, after all efforts for quiet-
ness, peace and unity had been employed, reported that the
above named Colony of Hartford positively declared that
they knew of no New Netherland, refused to the Director
General and Council their title used by them for about forty
years, according to their Commission by Their High Mighti-
nesses the States General. They contended that the places
which we called New Netherland, were given to them by His
Royal Majesty, and that consequently, although taken pos-
session of by us, must be reserved for them, although His
Royal Majesty in the very patent expressly protested, that
the Colony of Hartford should not do injury to any otherEXTRACTS FROM AITZEMA.
377
princes, potentates or States. They insisted that the Com-
pany could never show a patent from the King of Great
Britain, and therefore they would bring all the places, whe-
ther willingly or unwillingly, in subjection to them; that
they would maintain the possession of the town of Oostdorp,
and five towns situated on Long Island, which they had for
the third time induced to come under their jurisdiction, and
that they would extend the limits of their patent so as to
invade the whole of New Netherland, and render all in-
dependent of the Company, pretending that they would no
longer remain under the authority of the States General
and the direction of the Company. They declared that
they would throughout maintain and defend their right,
and declared that in case the Ministers of the Company
should oppose their proceedings, they would pursue them
with fire and sword, while at the same time they refused
many reasonable propositions for adjustment. Taking into
consideration these proceedings, the people of New Nether-
land held a General Convention, and found the condition of
things sueh, that without speedy assistance from the States
General, all must be lost. They therefore commissioned
two of those most interested to remonstrate with the Direc-
tors of the Company, and represent to the States General
the pressing necessity and sad condition in which New
Netherland was placed by such unlawful proceedings, and
humbly to request Their High Migh inesses not to suffer thou-
sands of persons who had left the Fatherland on the pro-
mise of security by the Octroy granted to the West India
Company, and by public invitation made with the approba-
tion of the States General, and who had settled themselves
there with their families, to be ruined, and after having
lived forty, thirty, twenty, more or less, years, and comfor-
tably settled themselves, to be forcibly removed. Their
High Mightinesses would clearly perceive from what is
above stated, what were the grounds on which the English
sought to establish their pretentions. The petitioners in
New Netherland having sought in the most friendly man-
ner to reconcile differences, but fruitlessly, and seeing no
other refuge than to cast themselves into the arms of the
States General, and to contemplate them as their protec-
tors, find themselves again obliged to address Their High
Mightinesses, and again to beseech them that they would at
last fix their eyes upon the proceedings which the English
have employed for years past in New Netherland, com-
plaints of which have from year to year been sent over.378
EXTRACTS FROM AITZEMA.
These complaints assured the States General that these con*
quests so often recommended by them to the Company, so ma-
ny years possessed by the Company at very great expense,
would be seized upon by the English, if Their High Migh-
tinesses should not take measures to repel such proceedings.
In such a case not only would the Company be deprived of
all the promised advantages, but also lose all the expendi-
tures which at the recommendation of the States General
they have incurred; but also many thousand inhabitants,
like those driven out of Brazil by the Portuguese, would be
sent forth naked by the English, destitute, weeping and
mourning to seek the shores whence they came. If Their
High Mightinesses should consider and lay to heart the
complaints of their weeping and injured subjects, and in the
exercise of their wisdom should direct the matter, whether
in respect to the King of England or otherwise, their faith-
ful subjects may yet be freed from this unrighteous oppres-
sion. In order to obtain this, the Directors of the West In-
dia Company, and the Director General and Council of
New Netherland, (as had been stated in previous memo-
rials,) had judged it the best means to establish a line of
separation, (subject to correction,) establishing territorial
limits, as takes place here in Europe; and they now beseech
the States General to provide that measures for that pur-
pose should be employed as early as may be practicable to
define such a line of separation, in the exercise of their ac-
customed wisdom. In view of the irregular and violent
measures of the English towards the Province of New Neth-
erland, it is desirable that during the negotiations relating
to the line of territorial separation, the English might not
be allowed to proceed in their course of measures, which
might result in the seizing of our colonial possessions be-
fore the negotiations were ended, and that therefore some
measures should be employed to oppose the measures and
defeat the designs of the English. The Directors found
themselves under the necessity of requesting from the
States General their advice: 1st. Whether the Company
should oppose determinedly the above mentioned proceed-
ings, or not; and also, they asked that they might be fur-
nished with adequate assistance for the same. 2d. That
the States General, in order to preserve their subjects in
allegiance to them, would grant an act to the Company un-
der the great seal, defining, according to the old computa-
tion, the territorial limits along the coast from latitude 37°
30' to 41° 30' and between these limits into the interior ofEXTRACTS FORM AITZEMA.
379
the country indefinitely. They also requested that letters
might immediately be addressed by the States General to
all the places and towns heretofore placed under their ju-
risdiction, which have already placed themselves under the
authority of the English, or which have been solicited by the
English to that end, in order that the former may return to
their allegiance, and the latter be preserved in it, and
moreover, that the power of the States General for bring-
ing into execution these instructions, may reduce them to
just subjection, and preserve them therein. 3d. They re-
quested that the States General would communicate these
measures to His Royal Majesty of Great Britain, in order
that he may give directions that the places invaded may be
immediately restored, and preserved from all usurpation
during the negotiation.
This memorial was placed in the hands of a committee,
according to usual custom, but the complaints continued,
until finally the whole of New Netherland and New Am-
sterdam were overpowered by the English.
1664.—FROM VOL. V. PAGE 193.
The Directors of the West India Company, on the 24th of
October, gave notice, that they had from time to time been
obliged to press upon the States General the consideration
of the intolerable acts of violence by which the English had
dispossessed the Company of their possessions in New
Netherland one after another, in order that their High
Mightinesses might not be unacquainted with the manner
in which they had been deprived of their foreign conquest,
of the inhabitants settled there, and the trade carried on
there ; and also that they might devise some means in their
accustomed wisdom, by which that total loss might be pre-
vented. At last they are sorrowfully obliged to give infor-
mation, that in fulfilment of the forebodings expressed in
former remonstrances and grievances, the ships and peo-
ple sent from England by the Duke of York, assisted by
the authorities of New England, seized upon the city of New
Amsterdam, now for fifty years possessed by these States in
peace and quietness, on the 27th of August last, and the
whole of the province of New Netherland was brought in
subjection to the English government, and immediately
named New York. This event has caused great grief to
thousands of inhabitants there, and the States have lost a
possession full of great promise, where thousands were from
SECOND SERIES, VOL. It.	34380
EXTRACTS FROM AITZEMA.
year to year gaining a livelihood, commerce was increas-
ing, and the colony was continually enlarging. The trade
of this country was continually increasing, which would
soon have enabled the Company to bring in millions for the
benefit of the State, and the advancement of its trade. The
Company felt themselves once more obliged to request the
States General to take into consideration these violent and
hostile proceedings, in view of the equity of the case, as
they have operated to the great injury of the States and the
Company ; and also to regard the sad and lamentable con-
dition of the inhabitants there, in hope that they may yet
devise some measures by which these possessions may be
restored to us.