LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.? 
 
 I ^A^ft. ll%x \ 
 
 UNITED STATES OP AMERICA.^ 
 
T II E 
 
 REPRESENT AT ION 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 TRAXSLATED FROM THE DtPTCH FOR THE NEW YORK HISTORICAT, SOCIETY, 
 
 WITH NOTES, 
 
 BY 
 
 HENRY C. MURPHY. 
 
 /^^ 
 
» 
 
 ■M 
 
THE 
 
 EEPRESENTATION 
 
 IE¥ lETHERLAID, 
 
 CONCERNING ITS 
 
 LOCATION, PRODUCTIVENESS AND POOR 
 CONDITION. 
 
 PRESENTED TO THE STATES GENERAL OF THE UNITED NETHERLANDS, 
 AND PRINTED AT THE HAGUE, IN 
 
 1650, 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE DUTCH FOR THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 
 
 WITH NOTES, 
 
 .^^^t.^ ■ ^'^^■ 
 
 ^iryvcJc ' 
 
 HENRY C. MoRPHY 
 
 7 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 BARTLETT & WELFORD, 
 
 NO. 7 ASTOR HOUSE. 
 
 1849. 
 
N E W Y O R K : 
 
 WILLIAM VAN NORDEN, PRINTER 
 NO. 39 WILLIAM STRKET. 
 
 F, 
 
 \ 
 
 TV I -) 
 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE 
 
 Although the existence of New-Netherland as an American 
 dependency of Netlierland, had been made known by different 
 publications, such as the Historische Verliael of Wassenaer, the 
 Nietiwe Wereldt of De Laet, the Voyagiens of De Vries, the Welt- 
 heschreibung of the Blaeus, and others of a lilie character, no dis- 
 tinct work on the country was printed until the year 1650. In 
 that year appeared at the Hague a small quarto tract of forty-nine 
 pages with the title of Vertoogh van Nieu Nederland weghens de\ 
 Ghelegentheydt, Vutjchtbaerhydt, 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, [t may not be a matter 
 of surprise that American authors should have been satisfied to take 
 at second hand, from a work written in a different language from their 
 own, and that language one not much in vogue ; but in truth 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 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 only lately come to light. A manuscript copy taken from the 
 original document which was presented to the States General, 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 
 probahly a printed document, and Lambrechtsen, the lale Dutch 
 historian of New-Netherland, says that notwithstanding repeated 
 eflbrts he had bi?en 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 a 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 to 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 generally known as the Remonstrance of New 
 Netherland, and is so referred to by most writers. But in truth it 
 is much more than a remonstrance. In order to give it effect as a 
 petition for relief, it was necessary that the value and importance 
 of the country should be set 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 way 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 with 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 lo the public, 
 fully corroborate its statements of all those mattei's which are 
 purely historical and not connected with the points of complaint, 
 
 * Seuretaiy of State's Office, Albany. Holland Documents Vol. IV. p. 71. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 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. He at least 
 composed the 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 record, 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 mjDde 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, 1649, with the Remonstrance • 
 whither Stuyvesant had already despatched his Secretary, Cornelis 
 van Tienhoven, who in due time presented to the States Genera] 
 an answer to the several specifications of complaint. 
 
fi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 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, with 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 
 those internal resources which, in the absence of restrictions upon 
 individual enterprise and in the existence of a government which 
 affords 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 authors of the grievances set forth. The real difficulty 
 however, and the fault were in the management of the Company, 
 which had taken possession of New Netherland for commercial 
 purposes only, and which 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 that time with that of the 
 adjoining colonies of the English the distinction, in justice to the 
 Dutch of New Netherland, should be isver borne in mind, that 
 although both the English and Dutch colonies sprang alike from the 
 enterprise 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 Holland 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 
 
INTRODUCTKJN. 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 Stuy vesant, which 
 was merely the frojet 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 manageif of all 
 the Chambers of the West India Company was necessary. The 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 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 New 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 16.53 
 when he returned to New Netherland. He had employed himself 
 in the meantime in writing his description of New Netherland, and in 
 May of that year secured a copy-right for the work ; though it was 
 not then published. Fie evidently contemplated an addition to it 
 which was never made, embracing a history of the colony ; for on 
 his return home the Company wrote to Stuyvesant that 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 probably did not encourage the application. The 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 Johnson. We therefore translate it here . 
 
 " The Netherlanders the first Possessors of New Netherland. 
 
 " Although the possession and title which the Netherlanders have to New Neth- 
 erland is amply treated of, in their length and breadth, in the 'Representation 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, e«passa?U. 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 1651 appeared at Amsterdam a work entitled '' Beschreihttng 
 van Virginia, Nieuw NederJand, Nietiw Engeland ;^^ and in 1662 
 anotlier with the title of " Kort Verhael van Nien Nederlandt ;" 
 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 descril)ed 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 Vertoogh 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 
 Simitiere MSS. is derived from the Vertoogh. 
 
 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 1609, 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's river, but which was then named MaurHius 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 of forts, 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 Covmionalty 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 than would otherwise have been done, the 
 language of the original, and to adopt, in many cases, the forms of 
 construction and turns of thought of the writer, contrary to the 
 English idiom. The marginal summary 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 
 throughout the whole work. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND, 
 
 CONCERNJN& ITS 
 
 LOCATION, PRODUCTIVENESS, AND POOR CONDITION. 
 
 Among all the people in the world, industrious in J^^l^^^^^^'' 
 seeking out foreign lands, navigable waters and trade, an enterpris- 
 
 ing people in 
 
 those who bear the name of Netherlanders, will very seeking out 
 
 wa- 
 corn- 
 
 easily hold their place with the first, as is sufliciently {"If"^ 
 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 which we pro- eri'^d^was 
 pose to speak, was first discovered in the year of our ^^^ •^'^cov- 
 Lord 1609, by the ship Half-Moon, of which Henry year icoo. by 
 Hudson was master and supercargo — at the expense of Hliue-jualn 
 the chartered East India Company, though in search of 
 a different object.* It was subsequently called New ^ew Neth- 
 Netherland by our people, and very justly, as it was so caiied^be- 
 first discovered and possessed by Netherlanders, and at fik^Ne^her- 
 their cost ; so that even at the present day, those na- ^'*"'' '" '"'»^- 
 
 ^. p , , r, "^1, 1 ny respects. 
 
 tives 01 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 themi, sawTship' 
 and could not comprehend whether they came down "^^y did not 
 from Heaven, or were of the devil. Some among them it was. They 
 when the first one arrived, even imagined it to be a fish, q^IfaTnted ^° 
 or some monster of the sea, and accordingly a stransre ^^''** "° °^^' 
 
 r> • 1 11111 11 r "^ 1 , er country or 
 
 report ol it spread over the whole land. We have also people. 
 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 accomph'sh which have 
 caused the discovery and exploration, from the first, of North America, more 
 than all other objects combined. 
 
 t Wilden — wild men, was the word generally used by the Dutch and 
 Swedes to designate the natives of the country. We adopt the received 
 term for convenience. 
 
12 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 For these reasons, therefore, and on account of the sim- 
 ilarity of climate, situation and fertility, this place is 
 
 The laiiiude rightly called New Netherland. It is situated on the 
 
 Netheria.r northerly coast of America, in the latitude of 38, 39, 40, 
 41 and 42 degrees, or thereabouts, coast-wise. It is 
 
 Its extent, bounded on the northeast by New England, and on the 
 southwest by Virginia. The coast runs nearly southwest 
 and northeast, and is washed by the ocean. On the 
 north is the river of Canada, a large river running far 
 into the interior. The northwest side is, for the most 
 part, still unknown. 
 
 The land is naturally fruitful, and capable of support- 
 ing a large population, if it were judiciously allotted 
 
 is't(^',upe'nal! according to location. The air is pleasant, and more 
 
 The north- temperate than in Netherland. The winds are change- 
 west wimi is r 1 1 r 11 • 1 11 r- 1 
 the saiva- able, and blow from all pomts, but generally irom the 
 
 country. ' "^ southwcst and northwest; the former prevailing in sum- 
 mer, and the latter in winter, at times very sharply, but 
 constituting, nevertheless, the greatest blessing to the 
 country as regards the health of the people, being very 
 bracing and pure, and driving off or consuming all 
 The coast is damps and superfluous moisture. The coast is generally 
 clean. The clear and sandy, but double and broken into islands, 
 d'oubie/^or Ea.stward from the North river lies Long Island, about 
 i'sTamis. ""° forty miles* in length, forming a fine wide river, which 
 falls at either end into the ocean, and affording a con- 
 venient passage inside for the whole distance, protected 
 The East ri- from the dangers of the sea by a great number of good 
 ver is a safe {j^ys and othcr 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 
 The tore- P^'^pcr cxcrtiou they could be used. Inside these again 
 lands arc there are large streams and valleys, but the waters are 
 shirtLg.*^" shallow. Along ths seacoast the land is generally sandy 
 or gravelly, not very high, but tolerably fertile, and for 
 oftuemonn. the most part covered over with beautiful woods. The 
 plains ami country 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 NETHERLAND. J 3 
 
 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 The seasons 
 summer is warmer and begins more suddenly. The ^i'""*'' ^^^ 
 
 1 ■, if>i -ii 11 same as ui 
 
 wmter is cold, and lurther inland, or towards the most Netherland. 
 northerly part, more so than in Netherland. It is also 
 subject to much snow, which remains long on the 
 ground, and in the interior, three, four and five 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- A'ldaiM.u.e 
 erland, except that in the summer sudden gusts of wind 
 are somewhat more frequent. 
 
 The land is adapted to the production of all kinds produces^ail 
 of winter and summer fruits, and with less trouble and kinds of fmu 
 tilling than in Netherland. It produces different kinds trouWe than 
 of wood, large and small, suitaljle 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, ^^^^^ ^^^^^'^ 
 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 wood, 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, oftjjgffujt^ 
 some of which are very sweet ; nuts of different kinds, naturally 
 chesnuts, beechnuts, mulberries, plums, but not many, the country! 
 medlars, wild cherries, black currants, gooseberries, ha- 
 zle nuts in great quantities, small apples, very large 
 strawberries throughout the country, with many other 
 fruits and roots which the Indians use. There is also 
 plenty of bill-berries or blue-berries, together with of the vinr* 
 ground-nuts and artichokes, which grow under ground. ^}^^ i»o^^ 
 Almost the whole land is full of vines, as well the wild * ®^^'°^" 
 
14 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 woods as the mowing* lands and flats ; but they grow 
 principally near to and upon the banks of the brooks, 
 streams and rivers, which are numerous, and run con- 
 veniently and pleasantly as if 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 
 very 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 paler. The 
 vines run much on the trees, and are shaded by their 
 leaves, so that the grapes ripen late and are a little 
 sour ; but when the people shall have more experience, 
 as fine wines will undoubtedly be made here as in any 
 other country. In regard to other fruits, all those which 
 grow in Netherland, also grow very well in New Neth- 
 erland, without requiring as much care to be bestowed 
 upon them as is necessary there. Garden fruits succeed 
 very well, and are dryer, sw^eeter, and more pleasant 
 than in Netherland ; 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 of amateurs, or 
 those who cultivate them for profit in very small gar- 
 dens, and then they are neither so perfect by far, 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. 
 Of the tame The tame cattle are in size and other respects about 
 how** xhey *^^6 same as in Netherland, but the English cattle and 
 thrive. swine thrive and feed best, appearing 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. Milch cows are much 
 less trouble than they are in Holland, as most of the 
 time, if any care be requisite, it is only for the purpose 
 of giving them occasionally a little hay. 
 
 The wild animals are principally lions,* but they are 
 few ; bears, of which there are many, elks and deer in 
 
 * Panthers — sometimes called American lions. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 15 
 
 gTeat numbers, some of which are entirely white, and ^^.'^^^ ^^''^ 
 
 1 111111 mi T T 11 1 • animals and 
 
 others wholly black. Ihe Indians say that the white what they 
 deer are of very great consequence in the estimation of '""■ 
 the other deer, and are exceedingly beloved, regarded 
 and honored by the others, but that it is otherwise with 
 the black deer. There are other large animals in the 
 interior, but they are unknown to the Christians. There 
 are also wolves, dangerous only to small cattle, beavers, 
 otters, weasels, wild cats, foxes, racoons, minks, hares, 
 muskrats, about as large as cats, pole-cats and squirrels, 
 some of which can fly. There are also ground hogs 
 and other small animals, but they are for the most part, 
 as we said before, not known to the Christians. 
 
 Of birds this country is by no means without its share. 
 There are great numbers of birds of prey, as, eagles, of ofthewrds. 
 two kinds, — the hald-headed, which has the head, tail and 
 principal feathers white, and the common kind ; hawks, 
 buzzards, sparrow-hawks, crows, chicken-hawks, and 
 many others, all capable of being trained and used for 
 hunting, though they differ in shape, somewhat, from 
 those in Netherland. There is also a bird which has its 
 head like a cat, and its body like a large owl, colored 
 white.* We know no name for it in Netherland, but 
 in France it is called grand due, and is esteemed very 
 highly. _ 
 
 The other birds are turkies, the same as in Netherland, * 
 
 but they are wild, and are plentiest and best in winter ; 
 several kinds of partridges, some smaller than in Neth- 
 erland, others larger, curlews, wood and water snipes, 
 pheasants, heath-hens, cranes, herons, bitterns, multi- 
 tudes of pigeons resembling coal-pigeons, but a little 
 smaller ; quails, merlins, thrushes, shore-runners, but in 
 some respects different from those of Netherland. There 
 are other small' birds, some of which sing, but the names 
 of most of them are unknown to us, and would take 
 long to enumerate. Water fowl are found here of dif- ^^ ^^^ ^^ 
 ferent kinds, very good to eat ; also swans, similar to ter fowl. 
 those in Netherland and full as large : three kinds of 
 geese, grey geese, which are the largest and best, red 
 geese and white headed geese, ducks of different kinds, 
 widgeons, divers, coots, eel-shovellers and several others, 
 but not so abundant as the foregoing. 
 
 The river fish are almost the same as in Netherland, 
 
 * The Cat-Owl — hiiho virginianus. 
 
16 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 Of the fish comprising salmon, sturgeon, twelves, thirteens.* shad 
 carp, perch, pike, troat, roach, thickhead, suckers, sun- 
 lish, eel, nine-eyes or lampreys, both much more abund- 
 ant and larger than in Netherland, besides many other 
 valuable fish which we are unable to name. 
 
 In the salt water are caught cod-fish, shell-fish, weak- 
 Jnt^kindlTf fish, herring, mackerel, thorn-backs, flounders, plaice, 
 sea fish. sheeps-head, black-fish, sea-dogs, panyns and many 
 others ; also lobsters, crabs, great cockles, from which 
 the Indians make the white and black Zeewant, oysters 
 and muscles in great quantities, with many other kinds 
 of shell fish very similar to each other, for which we 
 know no names, besides sea and land tortoises. 
 Of the ven- The vcnomous animals consist, for the most part, of 
 omous tribe, addcrs and lizards, though they are quite harmless. 
 There are snakes of different kinds, which are not dan- 
 gerous and flee before men if they possibly can, el^e 
 they are usually beaten to death. The rattle-snakes, 
 however, which have a rattle on the tail, with which they 
 rattle very loudly when they are angry or intend to 
 sting, and which grows every year a joint larger, are 
 very malignant and do not readily retreat before a man 
 or any other creature. Whoever is bitten by them runs 
 great danger of his life, unless great care be taken ; but 
 ^ fortunately they are not numerous, and there grows 
 
 " spontaneously in the country, the true snake root, which 
 
 is very highly esteemed by the Indians as an unfailing 
 cure.f 
 ofthemedi- The medicinal plants found in New Netherland in a 
 cinai plants, day, by little search, as far as they have come to our 
 knowledge, consist principally of Venus' hair, hart's 
 tongue, ling wort, polypody, white mullein, priest's shoe, 
 garden and sea-beach orach, water germander, tower-mus- 
 tard, sweet flag, sassafras, crowfoot, plantain, shepherd's 
 purse, mallows, wild marjoram, crane's bill, marsh-mal- 
 lows, false eglantine, laurel, violet, blue flag, wild indigo, 
 Solomon's seal, dragon's blood, comfrey, milfoil, many 
 sorts of fern, wild lilies of different kinds, agrimony, wild 
 
 * The striped hass and dnem-fish, which were found here after the shad, 
 which in the Dutcla language is named elft, (eleventh,) were called twelves 
 and thirteens, from that circumstance. 
 
 t The serpentaria is the plant here referred to, which it is well known is 
 not an antidote to the poison of snakes. Lieut. Abert, however, mentions, 
 in the Report of his examination of New Mexico, a plant of alexipharniical 
 virtues, in use among the Chayenne Indians, supposed to be a species of co- 
 reopsis. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 17 
 
 leek, blessed thistle, snake-root, Spanish figs which grow 
 out of the leaves,* tarragon and numerous other plants 
 and flowers, but as we are not skilled in those things, we 
 cannot say much of them ; yet it is not to be doubted 
 that amateurs would be able to find many simples of 
 great and different virtues, in which we have confidence, 
 principally because the Indians cure very dangerous 
 and perilous wounds and sores by roots, leaves and 
 other trifles. 
 
 It is certain that the Indigo sihestris groM^s here spon- or the indi- 
 taneously without human aid. It coul 1 be easily culti- s<> suvestris. 
 vated if there were people who would '.indertake it ; at 
 least, the other species would grow very well and yield 
 a good proflt. We have seen proof of this in the colony 
 of Renselaerswyck, though it was all sown too late and 
 upon a barren rock where there was little earth. It 
 came up very well, but in consequence of the drought 
 turned very yellow and withered, and was neglec- 
 ted ; nevertheless it was evident, that if it were well 
 covered, it would succeed. Madder plants also would 
 undoubtedly grow well both in fields and gardens, and 
 better than in Zealand. 
 
 There may be discovered casually or by little search, or the min- 
 dilferent 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, -^"^'^ g'^^''- 
 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- ^n^ltar^'* 
 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 ship, the fate of 
 which was maivellously connected with a mirage by the early New Eng- 
 and writers. See Winthrop's Journal,\\. 254, and Mather's Magnolia, 26, 
 
 3 
 
Of the stone. 
 
 18 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 hard coal. It is supposed that tin and lead will also be 
 found ; but who will seek after them or who will work 
 them as long as there are not more people ? 
 The differ- FuUer's earth is found in abundance, and Armenian 
 ent kinds of ^ole ; also whitc, red, yellow, blue and black clay very 
 earth. ' solid and greasy, and suitable for many purposes : earth 
 for stone ware, mountain-chrysial, glass like that of 
 Muscov}'', 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. 
 Of the paints There are different 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 would 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. They are like 
 the Brazilians, in color, 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 
 The Indians ^^^Y P^H out. They usc vcry few words, which they 
 speaksiovviy flpst wcll cousider. Naturally thev are very modest, 
 
 and use few . , ,. . , ii-i- • i-i 
 
 words. Simple and mexperienced ; though m their actions high 
 minded enough, vigorous and quick to comprehend or 
 learn, be it right or wrong, whenever they are so in- 
 clined. They are not honorable as soldiers but perfid- 
 ious, accomplishing all their enterprises by treachery, 
 using many stratagems to deceive their enemies, and 
 ordering all their plans, involving any danger, by night. 
 The desire of revenge appears to be born in them. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 19 
 
 They are very obstinate in defending themselves when 
 they cannot run, which however they do when they 
 can ; and they make little of death when it is inevitable, ^^^^ ^.^^ 
 and despise all tortures which can be inflicted upon while dying 
 them while dying, manifesting? no sorrow, but usually ^' ""^ ^'^'"'• 
 singing on the occasion. They understand how to cure ^.j^^^ ^.^^^ 
 wounds and hurts, or inveterate sores and injuries, by how to cure 
 means of herbs and roots, which grow in the country, and and hum". ^ 
 which are known to them. Their clothing, both for men 
 and women, is a piece of duffels or leather, in front, with a of^^^.^ theu 
 deer skin or elk's hide over the body. Some have bears' "^ ° '°^" 
 hides of which they make doublets ; others have coats 
 made of the skins of racoons, wild-cats, wolves, dogs, 
 weasels, squirrels, beavers and the like, and also of tur- 
 key's feathers. At present they use for the most part 
 duffels cloth, which they obtain in barter from the Chris- 
 tians. They make their stockings and shoes of deer 
 skins or elk's hide, and some have shoes made of corn- 
 husks ; of which they also make sacks. Their money Their mo- 
 consists of white and black Zeewant, which they them- "^^'' black 
 selves make- Their measure of value is by the hand zeewant. 
 or by the fathom ; but their corn is measured by denotas, 
 which are bags they make themselves. Their ornaments They paint 
 consist in cutting their bodies, or painting them with bodief"'for 
 various colors, sometimes very black, if they are in "je purpose 
 
 1 11 • ^1 /• rri 1 of ornament. 
 
 mournmg, and generally in the lace. Iney suspend 
 Zeewant, both white and black, from their heads, which 
 they otherwise are not wont to cover, but on which 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 different 
 kinds of grease. They can most all swim. They them- They make 
 selves make the boats they use, which are of two kinds, [hemsei''\"er 
 some of entire trees, which they hollow out with fire, °;}^"^i,arrof 
 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 not 
 ceived among them, and nothing more. A man and 
 woman join themselves together without any particular 
 
20 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 ceremony otherwise than that the man by previous agree- 
 ment with the woman gives her some Zeewant or cloth, 
 which on their separation, which soon happens, he takes 
 again. Both men and women are utterly unchaste and 
 ^^7nXIte shamelessly promiscuous in their intercourse, which is 
 «^ frequently i\^q causc of the men so often changing their wives and 
 wives. the w^omen their husbands. Ordinarily they have but 
 one wife, sometimes two or three, but this is generally 
 among the chiefs. They have also among them differ- 
 ent conditions of persons, such as noble and ignoble. 
 The men are generally lazy, and do nothing until they 
 become old and unesteemed, when the}^ 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 
 wOTk^^and work, sucli 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 
 houses, and arch-wise; the tops are covered with bai'ks of trees, 
 
 change oi 3.- ' i . ^ ' 
 
 bode. which they cut for this purpose in great quantities, feome 
 
 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 They are divided into different tribes and languages, 
 chief °^er 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 there is not the least knowledge of God, 
 lit'ie f'rT ^^^ among others very little, though they relate very 
 but 'are Strange fables concerning Him. 
 
 of'thedevit They are in general much afraid of the Devil, who 
 to whom receives their adoration ; and some give themselves up 
 
 they make . =' ini 
 
 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 EcclesicB SiiecancB in America. Refer- 
 ring to their belief in a celestial and terrestrial nianitto, lie says, " They 
 perversely argue that the former 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 OF NEW NETHERLAND. 21 
 
 the Dutch. No haunting of spirits and the like are heard 
 of among them. They make offerings to the Devil some- 
 times, but with few solemnities. They believe in the 
 immortality of the soul. They have some knowledge 
 of the sun, moon and stars, which they understand well 
 how to name, and they judge tolerably well about the 
 weather. There is hardly any law or justice among There is no 
 them, except sometimes in 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 bow ami ar^ 
 they now generally use clap-hammers, and those who f""'- 'hough 
 live near the Christians or have many dealings with pbiain guns, 
 them, have firelocks and hatchets, which they obtain in Ihe''' chris- 
 trade. They are exceedingly fond 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 affords, 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 Enimdarc, 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 wasfi?s"ta^ 
 possessed by Netherlanders, has already been stated ; but ^f^'^^ IT^^^a 
 
 held by Ne- 
 • Probably a misprint for Sapaan. therlanders. 
 
22 REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 in as much as a dispute has arisen, not only with the 
 The Enciish Swedes (which is of little moment) but especially with 
 have seized the English, who have already entered upon and seized a 
 
 a large por- i n • • i p i i • 
 
 tion of it. great part thereof, it is necessary to speak of eacii claim 
 somewhat at large. 
 
 But because this matter has been treated upon by 
 various ingenious minds in its length and breadth, and as 
 those claims are so absurd as to require only a lew 
 reasons in answer to them, we will be as brief as is in 
 any wise practicable. After their High Mightinesses, 
 the Lords States General, were pleased, in the year of our 
 Lord 1622, to include this 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 Since the v^ar of our Lord 1623, iour forts have been 
 
 were built in , ., , *' , , /• i t i \ t i 
 
 token of pes- buiit there by order of the Lords Mayors, one on the 
 
 session. gQuth 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 Renselaerswyck, 
 
 and is called Orange ; but upon this river there has been 
 
 a% to'^The ^^ y^^ ^^ dispute with any foreigners. Upon the South 
 
 North river, rivcr lics fort Nassau and upon the Fresh river,f the 
 
 Good Hope. Of these four forts there has been always, 
 
 from the beginning to the present time some possession, 
 
 very poor although thcv are all now in a very bad condition, not 
 
 condition °^,~, '', ^i •' , 
 
 are useless, only HI thcmsclvcs but also as regards possession. 
 
 These forts, both to the South and North, are so situated 
 as to command and protect not only the said rivers, but 
 also the plantations between them, as well as those 
 round about them, and on the other side of the river as 
 far as the ownership by occupation extends. These the 
 Hon. Company declared they owned and would main- 
 tain, against all foreign or domestic powers who should 
 attempt to seize them against their consent. Yet on the 
 North East side of New Netherland, this declaration 
 
 * Staple-right is a privilege granted to the inhabitants of a place 
 to compel the masters of vessels or merchants trading along their coasts, to 
 discharge their cargoes there for sale, or else pay duties. 
 
 t Connecticut River. 
 
 The Forts 
 are now in a 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 23 
 
 was not at all regarded or observed by the English liv- 
 ing to the Eastw^ard ; for notwithstanding possession 
 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 The English 
 and possessed, and still hold, the largest and best part of Fon"'^Goede 
 New Netherland, that is, on the East side of the North ^""p- 
 river, from Cape Cod, (by our people in 1609 called ^j^^_^^^^ ^^ 
 New Holland, and taken possession of by the setting up their High 
 of the Arms of their High Mightinesses,) to within six es' werT's^Jt 
 miles of the North river, where the English have now a }!,J^^^^'^ ^''^p^ 
 village called Stamford, from whence it could be travelled Holland. 
 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 English 
 than six miles from the North river, in which this Island from^'^\hl 
 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 an}'^ other thing to draw off the 
 trade.) as we have understood from the Indians ; for the 
 post is situated not more than three or four miles from 
 the East bounds of the Colony of Renselaerswyck. 
 
 This and similar difficulties 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- The Virginia 
 on condition that they should remain an hundred miles werTt"o^^re- 
 from each other, according to our reckoning. They are |,"gji" '' jjj[}"3 
 willing to avail themselves of this grant, but by no apart. 
 means to comply with the terms stipulated in it. 
 
 All the islands, bays, havens, rivers, kilsf and places, ^'Jis'*'^ a'nd 
 even to a great distance on the other side of New Hoi- bays have 
 land or Cape Cod, have Dutch names, which our Dutch nJ'mes.*" 
 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 Mr. Pinchon on the Connecticut. 
 
 t A kil is a small stream, not entitled to be called either a strait or a river. 
 
24 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 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 
 M iheFresil Fresh river, have desired to enter into an agreement ta 
 river offered make 3, yearly acknowledgment, or an absolute pur- 
 acknowiedg- chase, AvMch, indeed, is proof 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 refuge 
 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. 
 selsio"n ^°of ^^^ short, It is just this with the English, they are 
 the secreta- willing to kuow the Nctherlauders, and to use them as 
 officers"' of a protectiou 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 we 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 
 LoiKT Island haveus, and good lands, is a croion for the Province, 
 *f N^ "T" ^^^^y have also seized upon, except, on the west end, two 
 theriand. Dutcli villages — Breuckelcn and Amersvoort,f 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 wards Confiscated by Director Kieft : but as the owners 
 aTMasirethf appealed therefrom, it remains so still, though there are 
 hin sa ^^^^^ ^ very few people in the place :) also, Vlissengen,J 
 pretty vii- which is a pretty village and tolerably rich in cattle, 
 lage. rpj^g fourth and last village is Hempstead, which is su- 
 
 of Ton^isi- perior to the rest, for it is very rich in cattle, 
 and in "par- As wc are now on the subject of Long Island, we- 
 
 ticular. '^ » ' 
 
 * Massachusetts. Roger Williams embarked from New Amsterdam for 
 England in 1643, being interdicted Boston. 
 
 t Fiatlands. X Flushing. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 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 of 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 Netherland, The East river separates it from 
 Manathans Island as far as the Hellegat. It is tolera- 
 bly wide and convenient ; and has been inhabited by 
 our freemen from the first, according as opportunities 
 offered. In the year 1G40, a Scotchman, with an Eng- ^ g „, h- 
 lish commission, was arrested by Director William Kieft. man cune 
 He laid claim to the island, but his pretension was not an"daimt*d 
 much regarded ; for which reason he departed without 'he 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 1G47, a Scotchman came here, who called Forester, po- 
 himself Captain Forester, and claimed this island for J',^e"d'^^.ageJ 
 the Dowager of Sterling, whose governor he gave him- or sterling. 
 self out to be. 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. Nevertheless 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 
 aftervi^ards. The English have since boasted of this 
 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 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 OF THE FRESH RIVER. 
 
 After Fort Good Hope, begun in the year 1623,* on the 
 Fresh river, was finished, sometime had elapsed when 
 an English bark arrived there. Jacob Van Curler, Com- 
 The English niissary of the Company, by order of Director Wouter 
 soi'iie fami^ ^^*^'^ Twiilcr, protested against it, but notwithstanding 
 lies to the his protcst ihcj' did, a year or two afterwards, come 
 ricrf*'* not- there with some families. A protest was also made 
 inl'^^ourpro- against them ; but it was very manifest that these peo- 
 test. pie had little respect for it, for notwithstanding our pro- 
 
 tests they have finally seized and possessed the whole of 
 m'tfe^ repaid the Frcsh river, and have proceeded so far in their shame- 
 tests"""^ an"d ^^^^ courso as, in the year 1G40, to seize the company's 
 seize almost farms at the Fort, paying no regard to the protests which 
 theTiver!" WO made. They have gone even still further, and have 
 belabored the Company's people with sticks and heavy 
 They beat clubs ; and have Ibrcibly thrown into the river their 
 and destroy ploughs and othcr instrumcuts, while they were on the 
 ments.'""^'^ land lor the purpose of working, and have let their 
 horses loose. The same things have happened very fre- 
 quently. They also obtained the hogs and cows belong- 
 They sell iug to the Fort, and several times sold some of them for 
 our cattle, ^^le 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 oflicers, from 
 which a much fuller account of these transactions could 
 They have ^^ made. But all opposition was in vain, for having 
 set their had a smack of the goodness and convenience of this 
 thTcoun'try rivcr, and discovered the difference between the land 
 be'lrsi'iy'di- there and that more easterly, they would not go back ; 
 verted from jjqj. would they put themsclvcs under the protection of 
 their High Mightinesses, although they were respectfully 
 exhorted thereto, as was desirable from the first they 
 should have done. 
 
 * A misprint for 1633. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 27 
 
 OF THE RIGHT OF THE NETHERLANDERS TO THE FRESH 
 
 RIVER. 
 
 To speak from the beginning, our people had carefully ^"Je ''^The 
 explored and discovered the most northerly parts of New ''■'«' to take 
 
 ■XT ii 11 1 T 1 i'i<i/~i possession of 
 
 IMetnerland and some distance on the other sideoi Cape the country 
 Cod, as it is called, before the English were known here, much^of'lt'.' 
 and had set up our Arms upon Cape Cod as an act of 
 possession. In the year 1614 our traders had not only 
 traded at the Fresh River, but had also ascended it be- 
 lore any English had ever dreamed of going there, which 
 they did first in the year 163G, after our fort, the Good 
 Hope, had been a long time in esse and most all the 
 lands on both sides the river had been purchased by our 
 people from the Indians, which purchase took place prin- 
 cipally in the year 1632. Kievets-hoeck * w^as also pur- 
 chased at the same time by one Hans den Sluys, an 
 officer of the company. At this place the States' arms 
 had been affixed to a tree in token of possession ; but „, „ ... 
 
 1 T-i !• 1 1 1 T-i 1 T^- 1 The English 
 
 the Enghsh who now possess the r resh Kiver have torn throw down 
 them down and engraved a ridiculous face in their place. xheir^Vh 
 Whether this was done by authority or not, cannot be es'^lln'r^set 
 positively asserted ; it is however supposed that it was. up a ndiru- 
 It has been so charged upon them in several letters, but it their place. 
 has never been followed up. Besides they have, contra 
 jus gentium, per fas et nefas, invaded the whole river, 
 for the reason, as they 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 Migh- 
 tinesses were set up at Kievets Hoeck, 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 JJ^^^couWbe 
 actually occupied. The linglish therefore wished to done, except 
 regard it the same as if it were in their power to estab- country, 
 lish laws for our nation in its own purchased lands and 
 limits, and direct how and in what manner it should in- 
 troduce peo})Ie into the country. But it does not turn 
 
 • Now called Saybrook Point. Kievit, or Kiewit, is the bird pewit. 
 
28 REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 out exactly, according to their 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 villages lish, from New Holland or Cape Cod to Stamford, within 
 maliyinhab^ the limits of the Netherlanders, is about thirty, and they 
 itants they jnay contain five thousand men capable of bearing arms. 
 
 contain. mi • ^ i i • i i • 
 
 Iheir cattle, cows and horses are estimated at thirty 
 thousand ; their goats and hcgs 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 jj \-^g^^ ^ Govcmor, coiitains about three hundred and 
 
 IS one of the „ ... , . r- i i n i tt • t 
 
 New Eng- forty families, and is one of the members of the United 
 
 n'ies, which Colonics of JN'ow England, of which there are four in all. 
 
 are four in This placc was bcguu clcvcn yeas ago, in the year 
 
 1G38, since when the people have broken off and formed 
 
 Milford, Stratford, Stamford and 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 from 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 
 
 The English ^^^^ ^^ ^ fit Opportunity should present, exact of them 
 
 continue to satisfaction therefor. But it ivas knocking at a dead 
 
 lamfs, disre*'- ?7ian's doov, as they did not regard these protests or even 
 
 prou'stl, and take any notice of them; on the contrar^'^ they have 
 
 justifying sought many subterfuges, circumstances, false pretences 
 
 by subterfu- and sophistical arguments to give color to their doings, 
 
 ^®*' and to throw a cloud upon our lawful title and valid 
 
 rights, in order to trick us out of them. General Stuy- 
 
 vesant also has had many questions with them, growing 
 
 • Red-Mountain. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 29 
 
 out of this matter, but it remains as it was. The utmost 
 
 that they have ever been w^illing 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 
 
 Mightinesses 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 hiive 
 
 of, almosthalf of New Netherland, which hereafter must Tr'New \V 
 
 be of very great importance. It is therefore heartily to ^heriand. 
 
 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 Bay, 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 Stuy vesant, a certain Englishman, who g.^ Edward 
 called himself Sir Edward Plowden, with the title of pioeyden, 
 Earl Palatine of New Albion, who claimed that the land orNJlv ai- 
 on the West side of the North river to Virginia was his, |Ji°^^ «"''"'^,®j 
 by gift of King James of England, but he said he did not New 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 affront 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.* 
 
 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, poet. 
 
30 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 at the latitude of thirty-eight degrees. The coast 
 
 stretches, one course with another, west-southwest and 
 
 west, and although this Cape Henlopen is not much 
 
 esteemed, it is nevertheless 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 Enftiish rclatcs to the trade with the Indians at the South river, 
 
 are nmking which the English and Swedes are striving after very 
 
 fionsfor'The hard, as we will show. When the boundaries of this 
 
 trade of the couutry shall be settled, these people should Avithout fur- 
 
 er, which thcr qucstion be ousted, and both the enjoj^ment of the 
 
 the"''*boiin^ productions of the land and the trade be retained for the 
 
 ^^'y- subjects of Their High Mightinesses. 
 
 OF THE SOUTH BAY AND SOUTH RIVER. 
 
 The latitude '^^^ South Ba}'' and South River, by many called the 
 of the South second great river of New Netherland, is situated at the 
 53min'. ' ^" latitude of 38 degrees 53 minutes. It has two head- 
 lands or capes, — the more northerly bearing the name 
 of Cape Ma}^ the more southerly, that of Cape Cornelius. 
 The bay was called Newport-May, but at the present time 
 is known as Godyn's bay. These names were given to the 
 It was dis pl^css about the time of their first discovery, before any 
 covered in otlicrs wcrc givcu them. The discover}^ moreover, took 
 by^thrship place at the same time with that of the North River, and 
 Halve Maen. [jy ^jjg 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 " Nieuwe Werelt" of Johannes de Laet. 
 At the same time that the forts were laid out on the 
 North and Fresh rivers, after (zedert) the year 1623, 
 Fort Nassau fort Nassau was erected upon this river, which, in com- 
 the four. " mou 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 for 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 for those who are acquainted with the chan- 
 nels. This bay and river is comjjared by its admirers 
 with the river Amazon, that is, by such of them as have 'f he South 
 seen both ; each of which is considered one of the most er'lire com- 
 beautiful, and the best and pleasantest rivers in the world ]^^"^Jl „,|^^ 
 of itself and as regards others convenient to it. Four- '^"O"- ^y*"^ 
 
 Inc river 
 
 teen streams empty into this river, the least of them nav- Amazon, 
 igable for two or three miles ; and on both sides there 
 are tolerably level lands of great extent. Two miles Vl^^ h"a^u 
 from Cape Cornelius, where you enter on the west side, lies navi;;aiiie 
 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 for 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, j^ears before any 
 English or iSwedes came there. The States* arms were 
 set up at this place in copper, but as they were thrown ^j^^ states- 
 down by some mischievous Indians, the Commissary there arms were 
 very firmly insisted upon, and demanded, the head of before * ill 
 the offender. The Indians not knowing otherwise |"|jes °' 
 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 J'^g" murder 
 nevertheless sealed with blood and dearly enough bought, of <he coio- 
 
 iiists it I he 
 
 There is another kil on the east side called the Varck- noere-kii, 
 ens kil, (Hog creek,) f three miles within the mouth of Jjj^' ""JZl 
 the river. Here some J'^nglish had settled themselves, s."" ^o^ a 
 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 offered to him, caused a Fort The sw^ies 
 to be built at this place, called Elsinhorg,X and mani- Eisinburgh. 
 
 * It nieans harlot's creek, and was so called, according to the Kort Verhael, 
 from a well known custom of the Iiadians towards strangers, which was there 
 practiced by them towards the Dutch who first came to that place. 
 
 t Now called Salem Creek. 
 
 X Afterwards destroyed by the Lenni Lenape, on its abandonment by the 
 Swedes, who left it in consequence, not of Dutch prowess, but of the tnusquitoea 
 
32 REPRESENTATION 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 in the end. What authority these people 
 ri|ht to the can have to do this, we know not ; nor can we compre- 
 south river, heud how ofliccrs of Other potentates, (as they them- 
 selves say they are, but what commission they have we 
 do not yet know,) can make theraselv^es master of, and 
 assume authority over, land and goods belonging to and 
 possessed by other people, and sealed with their blood, 
 independently of the patent. The Minquas-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 
 Schuylkil,f (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 dominion. There are in the river several beautiful large 
 south"river islands, and other places which were formerly possessed 
 in posses- by the Nctherlanders, and which still bear the names 
 people. given by them. These facts, with various other matters, 
 constitute sufficient 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 only eleven years ago, in the year 1638, J when 
 edrfootho"d one Minne-wits, who before that time had had the Di- 
 on the south rection at the Manathans, on behalf of the West India 
 trickery. Company, arrived in the river with the ship Kalmer- 
 Sleutel, (Key of Calmar,) and the yacht, Vogel-Gryp, 
 (Griffen,) 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 passing by there, he wished to do some repairs, 
 and to furnish the ships with water and wood, and 
 would then leave. Some time afterwards, some of our 
 niake"^a^ut!e peoplc goiug thcTc again, found that the Swedes had 
 garden. done more, 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 
 
 * Christina Creek, t Translated SAuZHng^creei. t See Note C. post. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 33 
 
 whether they intended to stay there. They excused 
 themselves by various reasons and subterfuges, but not- 
 withstanding whicii, 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 cleai'ly to Protestmade 
 be seen, in the progress of the aflair, that they did not snites'^arms 
 intend to leave. It is matter of evidence that above ^'^'"p- 
 Maghchachajisie,* near the Sankikans,-\ the arms of Their 
 High Mightinesses were erected by order of Director 
 Kieft, 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 fruits has it pro- 
 duced as yet, other than continued derision and deroga- 
 tion of dignity ? For the Swedes, with intolerant inso- ^he swedes 
 lence, have thrown down the arms, which are suffered tear down 
 
 . 11--111 11 1 ^"^ Stales 
 
 to remam so, and this is looked upon by tliem, 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 thejiying of a crow 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 in the 
 English, or any of their Governors. In brief, in regard or the »nm- 
 to the Swedes, the Company's officers will be able to ITvea, fnuer 
 make a more pertinent explanation, as all the papers (^^''""cee'd- 
 remain with them ; besides, it is to their journals we infjs of the 
 
 , ,. ' ' "^ Swedes. 
 
 ourselves refer. 
 
 The English have sought at different 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 driv^eii"rrom 
 knowing that if they once settled there, we should lose |,g^ '^"""' "' 
 the river or hold it with difhculty, 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, 
 
 * Maghchachansie, or, as it is spelt by Campanius, Mekansio-sippiis, was, 
 as its termination denotes, a small stream which emptied into the Delaware 
 on the east side, probably Crosswick creek at Bordentown. 
 
 t The Sankikans were seated at Assinpink, now Trenton. 
 
 5 
 
34 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 or the greatest part of the river, if remarkable precau- 
 tion be not used. It could be retained if there were a 
 „ . population; but the IManaeers of the Company to this 
 kebbers do dav havc had no regard to peophng the country wortri 
 "he ''comltry the vvhilc, though the subject has been lully brought be- 
 b.u retard its f j.g ^liem in several documents. They have been other 
 wise employed ; for it has been with this matter as 
 with the rest, that avarice has blinded 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 behalf, 
 can or apparently will, make much efiort to prevent 
 Certain Ne- them. Not longcr ago than last year, several free per- 
 leelvMo elL SOUS,* somc of whom were our own countrymen who had 
 seivL '™ '" or could have good masters in Fatherland, wished to es- 
 the South ri- tablish a trading house and erect some breweries in the 
 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 were willing to begin there without 
 privileges, they could do so. And when we represented 
 to His Honor that such were offered 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 
 The Direc- English, His Honor answered that it was well known to 
 the blame of be as WO Said, (as he himself did, in fact, well know,) and 
 ting thT''"" that the reason was also before us, that the orders which 
 country up- \^q }jad from the Mayors t M^ere so, and he could not 
 
 on the Com- n i tvt • • i 
 
 pany. auswcr lor them. J\ow we are ignorant m these mat- 
 
 ters, but one thing or the other must be true, either 
 it is the fault of 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 
 
 Foreigners ruin. Foreigners enjoy the country and fare very well ; 
 
 '^erand"' H- ^^^^ laugh at US if we say any thing ; they enjoy privi- 
 
 viieges. leges and exemptions, which, if our Netherlanders had 
 enjoyed as they do, would without doubt, next to the 
 help of God, without which we are powerless, have en- 
 abled our people to flourish as well or better than they 
 
 * Free perso7is were those who came to New Netherland, not as colonista 
 under the patroons, or as employes of the West India Company, but on 
 their own account. 
 
 t Managers, called Majors. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 35 
 
 do; ergo, the Company or their officers have hitherto 
 been and are still the cause of its not faring better with ^^^^^ j^ „„ 
 the country. On account of their cupidity and bad prospect of 
 management there is no hope, so long as the land is un- bning better 
 der their government, that it will go on any better ; but J'/ 'j'J' '""mi'er 
 it will grow worse. This, however, is not the proper |^''f ^^0"'?^- 
 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 ; which 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'ers 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 ^|?|rT*^so 
 East river, so called because it runs east of the Man- called be 
 
 1 rni • • 111 ^ ■ I. J. causeUruns 
 
 athans. 1 his is regarded by many not as a river out as pr,stan(i 
 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^^ers 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 ^Ire^^ns!"'"' 
 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 ; 
 
36 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 but they are all fresh water, except some on the sea 
 shore, which are salt and fresh or brackish, 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 
 spri"^s and thcsc there are fountains without number, and springs all 
 smi"e'lir' over, even at places where water would not be expected ; 
 which as on cliffs and rocks whence spring veins are certain to 
 
 wi'nter '"and Issuc. Somc of them are worthy of being remembered, 
 iD%umme?l'^ uot ouly bccausc they are all (except in the thickets) 
 very clear and pure, but because many have these prop- 
 erties, that in the winter they smoke from heat, and 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 proprietorship, location, goodness and 
 fruitfulness of this province, in which particulars, as far 
 ^rt^d^eids ^® o^"' ^^^^^® experience extends, it need yield to no 
 to no prov- proviucc in Europe. As to what concerns trade, — in 
 iope. ° "' which Europe and especially Netherland is pre-eminent, 
 situated ^to i^ ^^^ o"b' li^s "^sry 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 would be little labor for the mind to estimate 
 and compute exactly what importance this naturally noble 
 province is to the Netherlandnation, what service it could 
 gre^^aci'vim^ rcuder it in future, and what a retreat it M^ould be for 
 Nethedinli'' ^^^ ^^^ needy 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. 
 Thanks to ^^ caunot Sufficiently thank the Fountain of all Good- 
 God that he ness for His having led us into such a fruitful and 
 the Nether hcalthful land, which we, with our numerous sins, still 
 !vi"th this"™ heaped up here dail}^, 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. Grt at 
 is our disgrace now, and happj- should we have been, 
 had we acknowledged these benefits as we ought, and 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 37 
 
 had we striven to impart as much as was in our power, 
 to the Indians, the Eternal Good, in return for 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 for 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 tronbie 
 the trouble which will be incurred in adjusting the of se^'injj^^ 
 l)oundaries and the first cost of increasing the population '^^^ rnu""''be 
 of this country, and to consider that beginnings are difii- overlooked 
 cult and that sowing would be irksome if the sov>^er ponance of 
 were not cheered with the hope of reaping. We trust considered? 
 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, lessening 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 New 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 offence at it, we humbly 
 pray Their High xMightinesses and all well wishers, n^g^j^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 I,epresled*a 
 that of such impartial persons as have not had, either condition, 
 
 .,., ^1 ,, . 1 . will irritate 
 
 directly or indirectly, any hand therein, and are not in- exceedingly 
 juriously affected by the loss of New Netherland, or are"expo^sed 
 otherwise under obligation to it. With this remark we '^^ it. 
 proceed to the reasons and sole cause of the evil which 
 v^^e correctly but briefly and indistinctly stated in the be- 
 ginning of our petition to Their High Mightinesses. 
 
38 REPRKSENTATION OP NEW NETBEIlLAIirD» 
 
 OF THE REASONS AND CAUSES WHY AND HOW NEW 
 NETHERLAND IS SO DECAYED. 
 
 Bad govern- As We shall spcak of the reasons and causes which 
 r"an'of Vew havc brought New Netherland into the ruinous condition 
 Netheriand. jn which it is uow fouud to be, we deem it necessary to 
 state the very first difficulties, and for this purpose re- 
 gard it as we 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- 
 ment, with its attendants and consequences, that is the 
 true and only foundation stone of the decay and ruin of 
 The govern- jXJew Netherland. This government from which so 
 is two fold, much abuse proceeds, is two fold, that is ; in the Fath- 
 tonsm'lued crland by the Managers, and in this country.* V/e 
 by iiie fie- shall first briefly and in some order point out the mis- 
 
 witit hebbrrs -niii i r i i 
 
 and the pnic- takes in Fatherland, and afterwards proceed to show 
 ofrmors.' ^ how abuscs have grown up and obtained strength here. 
 The Managers of the Company adopted a wrong 
 The Bewint- coursc at first, and as we think had more regard for 
 purs'tied a their owu interest than for the welfare of the country, 
 wrong poll- trustingrather to evil than just counsels. This is proven 
 by the unnecessary expenses incurred from time to time, 
 the heavy accounts of New Netherland,f the registering 
 of manors — in which business most of the Managers 
 themselves engaged, and in reference to which they have 
 regulated the trade, — and finally the not peopling the 
 country. It seems as if from the first, the Company 
 have sought to stock tids land with their own employes, 
 which was a great mistake, for when their time was 
 The ser- out they returned home, taking nothing with them, ex- 
 compa'Jiy ^ ccpt a Httlc iu their purses and a bad name for the 
 clmntry" a country, in regard to its means of sustenance and in oth- 
 bad name, er rcspects. In the meantime there was no profit, but 
 on the contrary heavy monthly expenditures, as the ac- 
 counts of New Netherland will show. 
 
 Had the Honorable West India Company, in the be- 
 ginning, sought population instead of running to great 
 expense for unnecessary things, which under more favor- 
 able circumstances might have been suitable and very 
 
 * Viz : by the Director and Council. 
 
 t The West India Company had, between the years 1626 and 1644, ex- 
 pended for New Netherland the Bum of $220,000. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 39 
 
 proper, the account of New 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-burning, by salt making and like operations, 
 which through bad management and calculation have 
 all gone to nought, or cume to little ; but which never- 
 theless have cost much. Had the same money been 
 used in bringing people and importing cattle, the country 
 would now have been of great value. 
 
 The land itself is much better and it is more conven- 
 iently situated than that which the English possess, and L^uer ""a".*!! " 
 if there were no interference with individual gain and "'i'Jn'i,':""^^" 
 private trade, there would be no danger of their surpas- ated than 
 
 ^. f ^1 J t'lat of New 
 
 Sing us as lar as they do. England. 
 
 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 Neth- 
 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 attenipt it. It is 
 very true that the Company have brought over some 
 persons, but they have not continued to do so, ajid it 
 therefore has done little good. It was not begun prop- 
 erly ; for it was merely accidental, and was not in- 
 tended. 
 
 It is impossible for us to state pertinently w^herein and 
 how often 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 ny refus'er' 
 Walingen and his people at the Fresh river, and quite coi^''w!J{ing' 
 recently in the cases at the South river ; — while at the en to settle 
 same time foreigners were permitted to go there without river. 
 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 Netherland's bad condition, lurks as well in Neth- dulon'^oi*'""' 
 erland as here. Yea, the seeds of war, according to the ^rb'^rf^es''' 
 declaration of Director Kieft, were first sown by the ^'!'^'*^fj'^*' 
 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. 
 
 Legitimate Trade, without which, when it is legitimate, no coun- 
 dnwn'by'The ^U ^^ prosperous, is by their acts so decayed, that the 
 Company. Jike Is nowhcrc else. It is more suited for slaves than 
 freemen, in consequence of the restrictions upon it and 
 the annoyances which accompany the exercise of the 
 right of inspection. We approve of inspection, how- 
 ever, so far as relates to contraband. 
 It is right to This Contraband trade has ruined the country, 
 Mrftrahand though it is uow cxcludcd from every part of it by orders 
 trade, for it given by the Managers to their officers. These orders 
 
 rums the ^-^ »/ <— ' 
 
 country. should be cxccuted 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 
 p7'o fornia, as a cloak to carry on smuggling. In the 
 
 •The Chris- ^neau time the Christians are treated almost like Indians, 
 
 iians are in the purchasc of the necessaries with which they can- 
 treated al- ,1. r-r\l • 1 • T 1 
 
 most like In- uot dispense. Ihis causes great complamt, 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 
 Irom the merchants and sell them again to the common 
 man, who cannot do without them, oftentimes at a hun- 
 dred per cent, advance, and higher or low^er according as 
 it suits them. Upon liquors, which are liable to much 
 leakage, the}^ 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 
 
 Goods are the goods are in first, second and sometimes in third hands, 
 
 sold at one, i i i i i i 
 
 two and at onc and two hundred per cent, and more advance. 
 drerper'"' We are not able to think of all the practices w^hich are 
 cent, profit, coutrived for 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 ; 
 JeMef/di"' "^ ^^^ Managers wrote to Director Kieft to prosecute 
 rect that whou there was no offence, and to consider a partial 
 should bere- offeiicc (fautc) ail entire one, and so forth. It has also 
 wS ''one ^° ^® ^^^'^ ^*^^ ^^^^ letters of the Eight men were treated, 
 and thus ' and what followed thereupon ; besides there were many 
 people. ruinous orders and instructions which are not known to 
 us. But leaving this at present, with now and then a 
 
 * A tax in the nature of an export duty. 
 
REPRESEiVl ATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 41 
 
 Word, as it is scarcely worth relating, — let us proceed 
 to examine how their oflicers and Directors have con- r,.^p ,,j^gp_ 
 ducted themselves from time to time, havinf? played '""^^ piay 
 with the managers as well as with the people, as a cat masiers and 
 does with a mouse. It would be possible to relate their a'aJr'vith'f 
 management from the beginning, Ijut as most of us were n»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 of which he is known to have information, 
 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 ^K^"^^';"'^ 
 more, but the evil of it lives after him ; and of that un- minisiraiion 
 der Director Stuyvesant which still stands, if indeed ues. '^""""' 
 that may be called standing, which lies completely 
 under foot. 
 
 The Directors here, though far from their masters, underpre- 
 were close by their profit. They have always known in|!'the"pub- 
 how to manage their own matters with little loss, and 'I5 I'lisiness, 
 
 , . , the JJirectorS 
 
 under pretext of the public business. They have also attend to 
 conducted themselves just as if they were the sovereigns *^'^"^ °"'"' 
 of 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 ^aster!"'"'^ 
 it so it is, there is no appeal. And it has not been 
 difficult for 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, u-ho could go upon their own 
 feet, them it was sought to oblige. They could not un- 
 derstand at first the arts of the Directors which were 
 always subtle and dark, inasmuch as they ^^'ere very 
 frequently successful and for a long time quite advan- ^5^^^.^,,^ 
 tageous. Director Kieft said himself and let it be said Kieft let it 
 also by others, that he was sovereign in this country, the aaterthat"" 
 same as the Prince in Netherland, This was told him re\)^i''in°thu, 
 several times here and he never made any paiticular country and 
 objection to it. 1 he refusing to allow appeals, and other premepower 
 
 6 
 
42 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHEELAND. 
 
 here more similar acts, provc clearly that in regard to us it is just 
 
 co^imanV ^^ they Say and not otherwise. The present Director 
 
 does the same, and in the denial of appeal, he is at home, 
 
 stiiyvesant He asserts the maxim, " the Prince is above the law," 
 
 r^hTof**ap- s-^id applies it so boldly to his own person that he is 
 
 p*'?'- ,. even ashamed of it himself. These directors having 
 
 to himself then the power in their own hands, can do and haye 
 
 '■\he''priiu-e donc what they chose according to their good will and 
 
 iaw'^"^'^ ^""^ pleasure ; and whatever was, was right, because it was 
 
 agreeable to them. It is well known that those who 
 
 accept power, and use it to command what they will, 
 
 frequently 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 Jan Vergas cle dementia ducis, of the 
 
 clemency of the Duke. But in order that we give nobody 
 
 cause to suspect that we blow any too hard, it will be 
 
 The outso- proper to illustrate by examples the government of Mr. 
 
 ini! adminis- Director Kieft at its close, and the administration of Mr. 
 
 trillion ol . ' . 1 • /. 1 
 
 Director Director otuyvesant just prior to the time oi our depar- 
 tnued h'y el- turc theuce. We frankly admit, however, that we will 
 ampies. y^^^^ |-,g ^]^^^ ^^ spcak of them fully, because they were 
 conducted so secretly and with such duplicity and craft. 
 We will nevertheless expose some of their proceedings 
 according to our ability, and thus let the lion be judged 
 of from his paw. 
 oiihe Casting our eyes upon the government of Director 
 
 ciMi'rch prop- Kieft, the church first meets us, and we will therefore 
 ^"^'J- speak of the public property ecclesiastical and civiL 
 
 But as this man is now dead, and some of his man- 
 agement and doings are freely represented by one Jo- 
 chem Pietersz Cuyter and Cornelis Melyn,* we will dis- 
 pose of this point as briefly as we possibly can. 
 The war un- Bcforc the time that Director Kielt brought the un- 
 
 riecessarilv .i , i • . . ^ . , 
 
 brought up- necessary war upon the country, his principal aim and 
 trVby Kieft" cudcavors wei'c to provide well for himself and to leave 
 a great name after him, but without any expense to 
 himself or the Company. He never did any thing re- 
 markable for the country by wdiich it was improved. 
 Thus he considered the erection of a church a very 
 necessary public w^ork, the more so, as it was in contem- 
 
 * Cuyter and Melyn had arraigned Kieft before Stuyvesant, and upon his 
 acq'iittni had appealed to the States General in Netherland, whither they 
 had been banished on that account. 
 
REPRESEXTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 43 
 
 was 
 
 plation to build one at that time at Ren^elaers-Wyck. Kieft 
 With this view he communicated with the church war- churclf-wVir". 
 dens, — of which body he himself was one, — and they'wil- dens; and 
 lingly agreed to and seconded the project. The place church to' 
 where it shoukl stand \vas then debated. The Director t^g ^'f"^l "^ 
 contended that it should be placed in the fort, and there ^pit" or 
 
 ('11 I'll ■ tnerii. 
 
 It was erected in spite or the others, and, indeed, as suit- 
 ably as a fifth wheel to a wagon ; for besides that the 
 fort is small and lies upon a point of land which must 
 be very valuable in case of an increase of population, 
 the church ought to be owned by the congregation at 
 whose cost it was built. It also intercepts and turns T^^e miu is 
 off the south wind from the grist-mill which stands f^'^m^J-^^^ 
 close by, for which reason there is frequently in summer churcu. 
 a want of bread from its inability to grind, though not 
 from this cause alone. The mill is neglected and, in 
 consequence of remaining idle most of the time, has be- 
 come considerably rotten so that it cannot now be made 
 to go Math more than two arms, and it has been so for 
 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 oi the wedding 
 the Director considered a good opportunity for 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 J^fe'^^veXing 
 were willing to give towards the church. All then with ^^"^;^J="j';f j^ 
 light heads subscribed largely, competing with one an- willing' to 
 other ; and although some \vell repented it when they fh^ Xirch! 
 got home, they were nevertheless compelled to pay,— ;;';.f„y'|5°"s^''' 
 nothing could avail to prevent it. The church was then, them after- 
 
 '^ X _ -J. 1 1 • wards re- 
 
 contrary to every consideration of propriety, placed in pent oc it 
 the fort. The honor and ownership of that work must '^^'^^oy.^T 
 be judged of from the inscription, which is in our opinion 
 ambiguous, thus reading: "1642. Willem Kieft Di- 
 RECTEUR Gexerael, heeft de Ghemeente desen Tempel 
 doen bouwen." (1642. William Kieft Director General, 
 has caused the congregation to build this church). But 
 whatever be intended by the inscription, the people nev- 
 ertheless paid for the church.* 
 
 « Sec Note D, post. 
 
41 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NE Til ERE AND. 
 
 There is no We must HOW speak of the property belonging to the 
 
 ^^^^'^^P'^"?- church, and, to do the truth no violence, we do not know 
 
 that there has ever been an}', or that the church has any 
 
 income except what is given to it. Tliere has never 
 
 been any exertion made either by the Company or by 
 
 the Director to obtain or provide any. 
 
 Contribu- "^''^^ boivl kas been going round a long time for the pur- 
 
 tions are posc of crectiug a common school and it has been built 
 
 school.*'^ " with words, but as yet the first stone is not laid. Some 
 
 materials only are provided. The money nevertheless, 
 
 given for the purpose has all found its way out and is 
 
 mostly spent ; so that it falls short and no permanent 
 
 benefit has as jet been derived from it. 
 
 For the poor who are, however, otherwise well pro- 
 vided for, nothing is done except the alms collected 
 The poor- amoug tlic peoplc, and some fines and donations of the 
 [y"'^in"^the inhabitants. A considerable portion of this money is in 
 hands nf the the posscssiou of the Company, who liavc been spending 
 ier5,'but nei- it from time to time, and have promised, for a year and 
 parnor'Tn- upwards, to pay interest. Little attention however is 
 obTalned" ''^ glvcn to this promisc, so that neither princij)al nor in- 
 from them, tcrcst cau bc obtained from them. 
 
 Flying reports about asylums for orphans, for the sick 
 
 and aged, and the like have occasionally been heard, 
 
 but as yet no attempt, order or direction has been made 
 
 in relation to them. From all these facts, then, it suffi- 
 
 Scarceiyany cieutly appears that scarcely any proper care or diligence 
 
 e"Vr'''"^ has been used by the Company or its officers for any 
 
 church prop- ecclcsiastical property 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 them their minions, as we 
 
 shall hereafter at the proper 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 
 
 oar departure, in order to make manifest the diligence 
 
 and care of the Directors in this particular. 
 
 The RecoT. Tlicrc was uot at first, uudcr tlic government ofDirec- 
 
 nitioti on tor Kieft, so much opportunity as there has since been ; — 
 
 peltries paid , , • • f i i • i • i' • 
 
 ill i\. i\. because tiie recognition or the peltries was then paid in 
 the Fatherland, and the freemen gave nothing for ex- 
 cise ; but after that public calamity, the rash war, was 
 brought upon us, the recognition of the peltries began to 
 be collected in this country, and a beer-excise was 
 sought to be established, about which a conference was 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETUERLAND. 45 
 
 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 Kieft promised that it should not continue 
 longer than until a ship of the Company should arrive 
 with a new Director, or until the war should be 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 clTa 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. The Director 
 
 From this time forward the Director began to divide begins to 
 the people and to set up party. Those who were on his peopie.^'and 
 side could do nothing amiss, however bad it might be ; — oiJ^' if '''his 
 those who were opposed to him were always wrong in P^'''{,^"^[|gj 
 whatever they did well, and the order to reckon half an 
 offence a whole one was then enforced. The jealous}^ 
 of the Director was so great that he could not bear 
 without 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 ^''^^ war 
 
 ' ^ '- - -^ -1.. never Will 
 
 the country is populated, — every one hoped that this im- be ended un- 
 post would be removed, but Director Kieft put off the .'nore^'peopie 
 removal until the arrival of a new Director, who was \'^^^^^ *=°"'^" 
 delayed for some time thereafter. When finally he did 
 appear, it was like the crowning of Rehoboam, for, in- 
 stead of abolishing the beer-excise, his first business was gtuyvesant 
 to impose a wine-excise and other intolerable burdens ; ""P"^ttJ'\'' 
 
 i- 1 1 1 i \viiie~cxcisc. 
 
 so that some of the commonalty as they had no remedy, The com- 
 were constrained to remonstrate against the same. In- mionauainst 
 stead however of obtaining the relief which 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 attempts have accordingly been made from time 
 to time to introduce new taxes and duties. In fine it 
 was so managed in Director Kieft's time, that a large Kieft coiiec- 
 yearly sum was received from the recognition and other "^•' ''■°'" ^^^ 
 
 * The Eight men and the Twelve men were chosen during the Indian 
 difficulties, the latter in lG41,and the former in ] (143, to advise with the 
 Director, like the Nine men subsequently. 
 
46 REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 people 36,- sources, Calculated to amount anually to 16,000 guilders,* 
 yearfy'!'"''^'^ besides the recognition which was paid in the Father- 
 land and which was paid in effect here by the poor 
 commonalty ; for the goods were thereby run up exor- 
 stuyvesant bitautly high and sold to them. In Director Stay vesant's 
 yellrry ftiii administration the revenue has reached a much higher 
 30,030. sum, and it is estimated that about 30,000 guildersf are 
 
 now derived yearly from the people by recognitions, 
 confiscations, excise and other taxes. Though it is not 
 right that the more one has the more he should have, 
 yet this was submitted to in order to give as much as 
 possible, when it was designed for the public weal. 
 In the pia- "^'^^ vvliercas in all the proclamations it Avas promised, 
 cards it was and dcclarcd that the money should be employed for 
 aiiTprovided lauddblc and necessary public works, let us now look for 
 monies^ col- ^ momeut and see what laudable public works there 
 i«cted from are lu tliis countrv, and what fruits all the donations 
 
 the people , . , . •, i • i i t» 
 
 should he and contributions have hitherto borne. But not to err 
 "heir benefit, herein is it not necessary that we should know what 
 goods and effects belong to the Honorable Company 
 as its own ? for what belongs to it particularly is not 
 The Com- public. The Company's effects in this country may, 
 erty^i'n nT' pei'haps, with forts, cannon, ammunition, ware-houses, 
 T°""6o '° dwelling-houses, work-shops, horses, cattle, boats, and 
 000 or 70,000 whatcvcr else there may be, amount to from 60,000 
 fheyjare'in'^ ^o 70,000 guilders,J and it is very probable that the debts 
 uiai'fthat'"*' against it are considerably more. But, passing these by, 
 let us turn our attention to the public property, and see 
 where the money from time to time has been used. Ac- 
 cording to the proclamations during the administration of 
 Director Kieft, if we rightly consider and examine them 
 all, we cannot learn or discover that any thing, — we sa}' 
 do"ne't">rthe duy tiling \?iYge oY Small, — worth relating, was done, built 
 Kielt '^ "'"'^"^ or made, which concerned or belonged to the common- 
 alty, the church excepted, whereof we have heretofore 
 spoken. Yea, it has gone on so badly and negligently 
 that nothing has ever been designed, understood or done 
 that gave appearance of content to the people, even ex- 
 ternally, but on the contrary, what came from the com- 
 peopie's^nd monalty has even been mixed up with the effects of the 
 the compa- CoiTipanv, aiid even the company's property and means 
 
 ny's proper- ^ , ' i i "V i • i i 
 
 ty neglected, havc bccn cvcry where neglected, in order to make 
 
 * $6,400. 
 
 t $12,000. 
 
 % From $24,000 to f 28,000. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 47 
 
 friends, to secure witnesses and to avoid accusers about 
 the management of the war. 1'he negroes, also, who 
 came from Tamandare* were sold for pork and peas, 
 from the proceeds of which something wonderful was to 
 be performed, but they just dripped through 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. It is impossible to relate every 
 thing that has happened. Whoever did not give his 
 assent and approval was watched and, when it was con- 
 venient, was summoned. We submit to all intelligent 
 persons to consider what fruit this has borne, and what 
 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 proofs, when we 
 come to speak of Director Kieft's government particular- 
 ly. But to proceed now to the administration of Direc- P/oceedto 
 
 o( 1 1 n' • 1 1 11 '"^ govern- 
 
 torStuyvesant,and to see now anairshave been conducted mem of di- 
 up to the time of our departure. Mr. Stuyvesant has vt^sant. *"^ 
 most all the time from his first arrival up to our leaving, fs\"^7ytv"th- 
 been busy building, laying masonr}-, making, l)reaking, ""t any ad- 
 repairing and the like, but generally in matters of iheaffidrsof 
 the Company and with little profit to it ; for upon some J,^^ comi^a- 
 things more was spent than they were -worth ; and 
 though, at the first, he put in order the church which Besides the 
 came into his hands very much out of repair, and shortly wharf" and 
 afterwards made a wooden wharf, both of which are no^hins'lone 
 very serviceable and convenient, yet after this time we for 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 been income enough as is to be seen in the statement 
 of the yearly revenue. Nothing more was afterwards at- 
 tempted, as is the case with dropsical people. Thus in a 
 short time very great discontent has sprung up on all 
 sides, not only among the burghers, who had little to say. 
 but also among the Company's officersthemselves, so that 
 various protests were made by them on account of the 
 expense and waste consequent 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 Dutch Admiral, 
 Lichthart, obtained a signal triumph over the Portuguese in a naval en- 
 gagement on the 9th of September, 1645. 
 
48 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 by the Mayors, and also on account of the monh^s and 
 means which were given in common, being pi'ivately 
 appropriated 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 dic- 
 stiiyvesant tatcd Otherwise, just as if it were disgraceful to follow 
 wifniot ''""^ advice, and as if every thing should come from one head, 
 heedndvice. -pj^^ fruits 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 it. Previously to the 23d 
 of July 1649, nothing had been done concerning weights 
 and measures or the like ; but at that time they notified 
 the peo])le that in August then next ensuing, an order 
 would be made stating when the Fiscal Avould do some- 
 thing about it, which was as much as to say, when he 
 would give the pigeons drink. There is frequently much 
 discontent and discord among the people on account of 
 weights and measures, and if they be not regulated 
 nothing can be right. It is also believed that some of 
 large consciences have two sets of them, but we cannot 
 affirm the fact. As to the corn measure, the Company 
 There is no itsclf has alvvays been suspected, but who dare lisp it? 
 regulation The payment in Zeewant, which is the currency here, 
 
 concerning i i i i i r ,• i i i 
 
 the Zeewant has ucvcr Dcen pJaccd upon a good fnotmg, although 
 Ts'asked'for.^ the commoualty 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 ol these matters more than 
 pleased him, very wicked and spiteful words were re- 
 turned. Those moreover who made it their business to 
 caus^he^" speak to him of such things were, if he were in no good 
 inen^'among ^U Very frccly berated as clowns and bear-skinners. 
 the people, 'pjjg jq^.^ Under which we shelter ourselves, and from 
 
 clowns and . i, i ■ i i- i-i i 
 
 bearskin- whicli as it scems all authority proceeds, lies like a mole- 
 ThT fort is heap or a tottering wall, on which there is not one gun 
 mole-heap " Carriage or one piece of cannon in a suitable frame 
 and all iiie or Oil a good platfoi'm. From the first it has been de- 
 out of order, clared that it should be repaired, laid in five angles, and 
 put in royal condition. The commonalty's men have 
 been addressed for money for the purpose, but the}^ ex- 
 cused themselves on the ground that the people were 
 poor. Every one was discontented and feared that if 
 the Director once had the fort to rely upon, he w'ould be 
 more cruel and severe. It is left sticking between them. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 49 
 
 He will doubtless know how to lay the blame upon the 
 commonalty who are innocent, with much circumstance, 
 although the Director washed to have the money from 
 them, and for that purpose pretended to have an order 
 from Their High Mightinesses. Had the Director laid 
 out the fourth part oi the money which was collected c'mecter*^ 
 from the commonalty duiing his time, for that purpose, '^'e'('."lle'^vas 
 it certainly would not have fallen short, as the wine ex- ""<■ expend 
 cise was expressly laid for that object. But it was fon. "" '*** 
 sought in a thousand ways to shear the sheep though the 
 wool was not yet groi'jn. In regard, then, to public works, 
 there is little difference between Director Ivielt and 
 Director iStuyvesant, for, after the church was built, the 
 former was negligent, and made it a personal matter 
 against those who looked him 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 "^'^^ "'■■«'=- 
 hands. He is also unlike his predecessor in having been cme person- 
 more diligent and bitter in looking up causes of prosecu- stuyi'"'^ 
 
 ivesfinc 
 
 tion against his innocent opponents. th^^'K*^ 
 
 than Kieft. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIRECTOR KIEFT IN PAR- 
 TICULAR. 
 
 Sufficient has been said of what Director Kiett did 
 in regard to the church and its affairs, 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 Montague. The Director had two votes, 
 and Monsieur la Montague one ; and it was a high 
 crime to appeal from their judgments. Cornelis Van- 
 der Hoykens sat with them as Fiscal,* and Cornelis van 
 Tienhoven as Secretary, and whenever any thing extra- 
 ordinary occurred, the Director allowed some, whom it 
 pleased him, — officers of the company for the most part, — 
 to be summoned in addition, but that seldom happened. 
 Nevertheless it gave discontent. The Twelve men, and 
 
 * Prosecuting Attorney. His name is usually spelt Van der Huygliens. 
 
 7 
 
50 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 The twelve aftcrwards the Eidit,had in lawful matters neither voter 
 
 jNlt-n :ind i • • i ^ J 
 
 Eiu'ht Men nor advice ; but were chosen in view oi the war and 
 hi^ive III e to g^i^g other occurrences, to serve as cloaks and cats- 
 paws. Otherwise they were of no consideration ; and 
 were little respected if they opposed at all the views of 
 The Direc- the Director, M'ho himself imagined, and indeed wished 
 {he%ui?ar'io to make others believe, that he was sovereign, and 
 the'^Iresov- ^^^^ ^^ ^^^ absolutely in his power to do and permit any 
 ereign. thing. He little regarded the safety of the people 
 as the supreme law, as clearly appeared in the war, 
 although when the spit was turned in the ashes, it was 
 sought by cunning and numerous certificates and peti- 
 tions to shift the blame upon others. But that happen- 
 ed so because the war was carried too far. Every one 
 As^veiyone \^\^ ^jjg damage and the blood which was shed to his ac- 
 biHineofthe couut. La Montaguc said that he had protested against 
 up"mthoDi- it, and was concerned in it at first against his will and 
 d^f^av'nrs*'to" to his grciit Tcgret, and that afterwards, when according 
 shove ihe \q hjs judgment it was best to do so, he had pretended to 
 own shoiii- assist. The Secretary, Cornelius Van Titmhoven, also 
 ''^"' said that he had no hand in the matter, and nothing had 
 
 been done by him in regard to it except by the ex- 
 press orders of ihe Director. But this was not believed, 
 Tho secreta- for there are those who have heard La Montague say 
 fais^'report ^^^^ if the Secretary had not brought a false report the 
 affair would never have happened.* There are others 
 also who know this, and every one believes it to be so ; 
 and indeed it has plausibility. Fiscal Van der Hoy kens 
 was not trusted on account of his drinking, wherein all 
 his science consists. He had also no experience here, 
 and in the beginning frequently denounced the war 
 as being against his will. So that the blame rests, and 
 must rest only upon the Director and Secretary Tienho- 
 ven. The Director was entrusted with the highest au- 
 thority, and if any body advised him to the land's ruin,, 
 he was not bound to follow the advice. He alterwards 
 endeavored to shift the burden from his own neck 
 The peti- upon the people, who however excuse themselves al- 
 en"ireiy"°in though in our judgment they are not all entirely inno- 
 nocent. ccut. The causc of this war we conceive to have been 
 the exacting of the contribution, (for which the Director 
 said he had the order of the Mayors,) and his own un- 
 
 * He had been sent to Pavonia (Hoboken) to reconnoitre the position 
 of the Indians. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 51 
 
 governable passions, which showed themselves princi- 
 pally in private. But there are friends whom this 
 business intimately concerns, and as they have already 
 undertaken it, we will leave the matter with them and 
 proceed to adduce one or two proofs disclosing the rc^gnty.^"^* 
 aspiration after sovereignty. Passing by many cases for 
 the sake of brevity, we have that of one Francis Dough- 
 ty, an English Minister, and of Arnoldus Van Herden- 
 berch, a free merchant. But as these cases appear in 
 the matters to come before Their High Mightinesses in 
 full conclave, we will merely give a summary of them. 
 This minister, Francis Doughty, during the first troubles 
 in England, in order to escape them, came to New p^^ ^J''*""''^ 
 England. But he found that he had got from the pan 
 into the fire. Wherefore in order that he might, in con- 
 formity with the Dutch reformation, have freedom of 
 conscience, which, contrary to his expectation he missed 
 in New England, he betook himself to the protection of 
 the Dutch. An absolute ground-brief* with manorial 
 privileges was granted to him by the Director. He had 
 increased his settlement in the course of one year by the 
 addition of several families, but the war coming on, He is driven 
 they were driven from their lands with the loss of some [ands*^"* 
 men and many cattle, besides most all their houses and 
 what other property they had. They afterwards returned 
 and remained a while, but consumingmorethan they were 
 able to raise, they came to Manathans where all the inhab- 
 itants at that time had fled, and there Master Doughty , . . 
 
 *^ Is niinistfr 
 
 officiated as a minister. After the flame of war was out at the Man- 
 and the peace was concluded, — but in such a manner that '^"^*"^' 
 no one much relied upon it, — some of the people again 
 returned to their lands. The Director would have been 
 glad, in order that all things should be completely res- 
 tored, if this man had done the same and had gone back 
 upon his land ; — but inasmuch as the peace was doubt- 
 
 * Conveyance. Mespat or Maspeth, which was thus conveyed, is in the 
 town of Newtown in Queens county. Doughty was one of the first pur- 
 chasers of Taunton, Mass., in 1637. (Baylies New Plymouth, i. 288). 
 He was driven from New England because he held that " children who 
 were of baptised parents, — and so Abraham's children, — ought to be baptised" 
 (Lechford's " Plaine Dealing" 40-41.) In Sept. 16f'6, his son brought a 
 Buit to recover his unpaid salary as a inisler at Flushing. An order oi the 
 town court was produced, dated eo. 2, 1647, to assess the inhabitants of 
 the town for the salary. It was giviii in evidence that the town had been 
 compelled by Stuyvesant to sign the articles for the minister, he taking 
 them one after another in a room and threatening them if they did not. 
 The court ordered a part of the money to be paid. 
 
52 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 ful, and he had not wherewith to begin, Master Doughty 
 was in no haste. He went however, sometime after- 
 wards and dwelt there half a year, but again left it. 
 fisTa'ied "'"in As pcacc was made, and in hope that some others would 
 ofTts'^bein "^^ke a village there, a suit was brought against the 
 peopled. minister, and carried on so far, that his land was confis- 
 evei^ias"iot cated. Master Doughty, feeling himself aggrieved, ap- 
 happened. pealed from the sentence. The Director answered, his 
 sentence could not be appealed from, but must avail ab- 
 solutely ; and caused the minister for that remark to be 
 imprisoned twenty-four 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 Herdenberch was very like it in 
 its termination. After Zeger Theunisz was murdered 
 by the Indians in the BeregaL* and the yacht had re- 
 turned to the Manathans, Arnoldus Van Hardenbergh 
 was with two others appointed by the Director and 
 Council, curators over the estate, and the yacht was 
 searched. Some goods were iound 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- 
 denberch 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 should choose for the purpose. 
 The same game was then played over again. It was a 
 high crime. The Fiscal made great pretensions and a 
 sentence was passed, whereof 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 States General 
 and His Highness of Orange : Therefore the Director 
 General and Council of New Netherland, regarding the 
 Herden dangcrous consequcuces resulting to the supreme author- 
 berghap- ity of this laud's magistracy, condemn the before named 
 pays a fine Amold Van Herdenberch, to pay forthwith a fine of 25 
 ders? ^'"'' guilders, or to be imprisoned until the penalty be paid. 
 
 * Shrewsbury Inlet. 
 
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- ™^is'"'"^,n'i- 
 with. We have therefore placed this act by the side of lartothat 
 that which was committed against the minister Doughty, ifoughty. 
 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 
 of Director Stuyvesant, with a single word first, how- 
 ever, touching the proviso incorporated in the ground- ^o^'n^he"^'" 
 briefs, as the consequences may thence be very M-ell ground-brief, 
 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-briefs 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 r r • 11-111 """ 'r; the 
 
 out semblance of agreement, lor it reads thus in the old ground brief. 
 brief; — "and take in possession the land and the valleys 
 appertaining 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 containedalso another provision, which 
 is usually inserted and sticks in the bosom 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 issued in 
 1639, is the one here alluded to. After describing the land conveyed, it is 
 declared to be " upon the express condition and stipulation that 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 Mighty 
 Lord States' 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. 
 
S4 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 already hfen enforced against several inhabitants. 
 Others also are discouraged from undertaking anything 
 on such terms. 
 
 THE ADMINISTRATION OF DIRECTOR STUYVESANT IN 
 PARTICULAR. 
 
 govemme"n? ^^^ ^^^^^ much we Were already through with this 
 injures the administration, for it has injured us, and we perceive 
 
 inhabitants. ,.,. , , "t .1,1 . -, 
 
 our aoility weak ; — nevertheless we will begm, and as 
 we have already spoken of the public property, ecclesi- 
 astical and civil, we will consider how it is in regard to 
 the administration of justice, and speak impartially be- 
 tween man and man. And first, to point as with a 
 finger, at the manners of the Director and Council. As 
 regards the Director, from his first arrival to this time, 
 his manner in court has been to treat with violence, dis- 
 Heniaysthe P^te with or advaucc one of the two parties, not as be- 
 noahejud"e ^^mes a judgc, but as a bounden advocate, which has 
 in court. ^ givctt gi'cat discouteut to every one, and with some it 
 has gone so far and has effected 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 for other reasons well disposed, 
 he can with them overpower the rest by plurality of 
 votes. He frequently puts his opinion in writing, and 
 that so fully that it srikes on every side, and then he 
 adds verbally, " Monsieur, this is my advice, if any one 
 He will ai- ha,s aught to say against it, let him speak." If then any 
 poTit'ion"aTd ^ody makcs opposition, which is not easily done, though 
 will heed no he Sc wcll groundcd, His Honor bursts out immediately 
 in such a fury 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, though easily done, would 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 55 
 
 nevertheless detain us too long ; but we all say and af- 
 firm that this has been his common practice from the 
 first and still daily continues. And this is the condition of 
 things in the Council on the part of the Director, who 
 is its head and President. Let us now briefly speak of 
 the Councillors individually. The Vice Director, Luh- 
 bert van Dinclilas:en, has for a long time on various occa- nmckiage is 
 sions shown great dissatisfaction about many dmerent istied. 
 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 \vould 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. Mon- ^a Mon- 
 sieur la Montas'ne had been in the Council in Kieft's ^^gne dares 
 
 ,1 , 11 TT not 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 pr^-an New- 
 Newton, lieutenant of the soldiers, is the next. This ton 'loes not 
 
 f 1 • 1 T-w 1 11- I • I'liHerstand 
 
 man is afraid ot the Director, and regards hmi as his our language 
 
 1 r- . ju'j- •! J- -J and must say 
 
 benefactor ; and besides, is very simple and inexpermced yes. 
 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 secretary. This man "i^n KL4n 
 has not forgotten much law, but says that he lets God's 
 water 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 c^l'malnLnd 
 Jelmer Thomassen, and Paulus Lenaertson, who was their vote in 
 made Equipment master upon his first 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 
 
56 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 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 passage at Curagoa, before the 
 Director ever saw New Netherland. As they were dis- 
 coursing about the price of carracks, (crakis*), the Di- 
 Btnyvesant rcctor Said to the minister and others, " Domine Johan- 
 nsthieve'l!'" ncs.f 1 thought that I had brought honest ship-masters 
 dL^e.'aru'''^ with me, but I find that I have brought a set of thieves ;" 
 and this was said of these councillors, and especially of the 
 equipment-master, for Captain Jelmer was most all the 
 time at sea. They have let it pass unnoticed, — a proof 
 that they vvere indebted. But they have 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 has happened is mysterious to us ; for if 
 suspicion, the Director has knowledge of these matters, he is never- 
 rcctormvors thclcss as quict whcu Paulus Lenaertssen rises, as he is 
 PhuIus Len- inattentive to any body else, which causes suspicion in 
 much. the minds of many. There remains to complete this 
 
 court-bench, the Secretary and the Fiscal, Hendrick van 
 exduiied*'^^^ -Dj/cA", who had previously been an ensign-bearer. Di- 
 from the icctor Stuyvcto'ant has kept him twenty-nine months out 
 29n")nths. of the meetings of the Council, for the reason among 
 others which His Honor assigned, that he cannot keep 
 secret but make public, what is there resolved. He also 
 frequently declared that he was a villain, a scoundrel, 
 The Fiscal ^ thief and the like. All this is well known to the Fis- 
 wlsest!*^ cal, who dares not against him take the right course, and 
 in our judgment it is not advisable for him to do so ; 
 for the Director is utterly insufferable in word and deed. 
 What shall we say of a man whose head is troubled, 
 and has a sa-ew loose, and who is powerful at ht)me ; 
 especially, as it often happens that it is hushed up, if 
 there he any sap in the wood to close it up. The Secretary, 
 t^ryhas^"^ CovneUus Van Tienhoven, comes next. Of this man very 
 been long in much could bc Said, and more than we are able, but we 
 and is truly wiU sclcct hcrc and there a little for the sake of brevity, 
 a door-step, jjg jg 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 circum- 
 
 * The meaning of this word is uncertain. Crackys is an old Scotch 
 term signifying cannon. See Jamieson's Ety. Diet, of the Scotch language. 
 Krak or Kraak in the Dutch, answers to carrack, a galleon or large ship. 
 
 + Rev. Johannes Backerus. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 57 
 
 The secrela- 
 runs 
 
 Stance is well known to him, in regard both to the Chris- ,y 
 tians and the Indians. With the Indians, moreover, he ,';|;;;;^;[;fJ.J|; 
 runs about the same as an Indian, with a little covering Indian. He 
 and a small patch in front, from lust after the prostitutes chtav^emn!"' 
 to whom he has always been mightily inclined, and with 
 whom he has had so much to do that no punishment or 
 threats of the Director can drive him from them. He 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 
 twists continually and shuffles 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, never at 
 home. The origin of the war was ascribed principally to Thecaueeof 
 him, together with some of his friends. In consequence ,'J|,on''h'ir'^* 
 of his false reports and lies the Director was led into it, siiouuiers. 
 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 ^"^fH^ ^e 
 truth say scarcely any thing good of this man or omit sakiof him, 
 any thing bad. The whole country, save the Director t,ad caa 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 accordmg 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 7wt yet rest* We firmly believe that he 
 misleads him in many things, so that he does 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 Tit- nhoven removed. 
 
 8 
 
58 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 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 sovereignt}'^ and to give color to that 
 ciio3e'i?w pretension. Nine men were chosen to represent the 
 represent wholc commoualty, and commissions and instructions 
 jieopie."" 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 view^s of the Director. In such cases they repre- 
 sented the whole commonalty ; but when it did not so 
 correspond, they were then clowns, 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 country have 
 been treated with injustice. 
 
 His first arrival — for what passed on the voyage is not 
 for us to speak of, — was like a peacock, with great state 
 and pomp. The declaration of His Honor, that he wish- 
 ed to stay here oidy three years, with other haughty 
 expressions, caused some to think that he would not be 
 a father. The appellation o^ Lord General, and similar 
 titles, were never before known here. Almost every day 
 Many pia- ^^^ causcd proclamations of various import to be pub- 
 cards issued. Ushcd, which wcrc for the most part never observed, 
 and have long since been a dead letter, except the wine 
 excise, as that yielded a profit. The proceedings of the 
 The proceed- gjcrht men, and those especially against Jochem I'ietersz 
 Jochem Pie- Cuytcr and Cornells Melyn, happened in the beginning 
 Meiyn very of his administration. The Director showed himself so 
 censurable, onc-sidcd iu them, that he gave reason to many to judge 
 of his character little to his advantage. Every one clear- 
 ly saw that Director Kieft 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 
 stuyvesant whcu he Said, " These brutes may hereafter endeavor to 
 behaves cru- jj^^q^jIj j^-^g 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- 
 
REPRESENTATrON 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, who is still living, himself declares, " If I 
 knew, Melyn, that you would divulge our sentence, or threa"ened 
 bring it before Their High Mightinesses, I would cause foit^ "'^ ^'''' 
 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 confirmed 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 himself, as curator, 
 had appealed from the sentence ; whereupon the Direc- 
 tor, who had been sitting there with them as an elder, 
 interrupted him and replied, "Itmay during my adminis- smyvesant 
 tration be contemplated to appeal, but if any one should the consis'to- 
 do it, I will make him a foot shorter, and send the pieces ^Juf^pi't^'io 
 to Holland, and let him appeal in that way." Oh cruel ^'',^/,''^"','^!f, 
 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 they 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, ^lecm^emns. 
 they would be as thev were, unless their High Mighti- the orders of 
 
 •' •; , . , T Ml • 1- * 1 the Slates. 
 
 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 officers, 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- 
 lands,t or to Netherland; but an unfavorable answer 
 
 • Francis Doughty. t The West Indies. 
 
60 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 was alwa3^s given him, and he was threatened M^ith 
 this and that ; finally it resulted in permission to return, 
 KqlrireJiTf* provided he gave a promise under his hand, that he 
 ^arso^'n"""!!!? would not iu auj place in which he should come, speak 
 hewoui,in..t or complaiu of what had befallen him here in New 
 hn,i been'^ Nctlierland from Director Kieft 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 owai 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 trade, as was indeed very laudable. The law was 
 passed and remahied in force, yet this trade, forbidden 
 to others, he himself wished to carry on ; but to this the 
 people were not willing to consent. His Honor said, 
 Stuyvesant and opculy asscrtcd, that he was allowed, on behalf of 
 
 sells powder y rt n i i i i it 
 
 and lead to the Lompany. to sell powder, lead and guns to the In- 
 the Indians, jjy^^g^ j^y^- j^q Qj^g g]gg could do SO, and that he wished to 
 
 carry their resolution into execution. What the resolu- 
 tion of the Company amounts to, is unknown to us,* but 
 what relates to the act is notorious to every inhabitant ; 
 as the Director has by his servants openly carried on the 
 trade with the Indians, and has taken guns from free 
 men who had brought with them one or two for their 
 own use and amusement, paying for them according to 
 his own pleasure, and selling them to the Indians. But 
 this way of proceeding could amount to nothing, and 
 made little progress. It was necessary to do something 
 ohtlhfs'T' more, and therefore a merchant, Gerrit Vastrick, receiv- 
 caseofguns. gfj ordcrs to bring with him one case of guns, which is 
 known of, for the purpose, as it was said, ol supplying the 
 Indians sparingly. They set about with this case of guns 
 so openly, that there was not a man on the Manathans 
 but knew it ; and it was work enough to quiet the people. 
 
 * The Company had written to Stuyvesant on the 7th of April, 1648, as 
 foljows : — " It is our opinion that the IMatives within our conquests should 
 be governed with lenity — a conclusion formed from our wais with them, 
 which we believe are the cause of their anxiety to provide themselves with 
 powder and ball for use in hunting which we consider nothing but an art- 
 ful pretext. Yet as they urge it with such earnestness, that they would 
 rather renew the war with us than be without these articles, and as a war 
 with them, in our present situation, would be very unwelcome, we think the 
 best policy is to furnish them with powder and ball, but with a sparing hand." 
 (.-^Ibiny "ecords, Vol. IV. p. I, \i.) 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 61 
 
 Every body made his own comment ; and, as it was ob- 
 serv*ed that the shij) was not inspected as others had 
 been before, it was presumed that there were many 
 more guns, besides powder and lead, in it for the Gov- 
 ernor ; but as the first did not succeed, silence was there- 
 fore observed in regard to the rest ; and it might have 
 passed unnoticed, had not every one perceived that it 
 opened a great door for abuse. The Director so treat- 
 ing all others, then gave permission to a captain and 
 merchant, who were celebrated for this of old, and who 
 were now said to have brought with them a great num- 
 ber of guns, which was the more believed, because they 
 went to the ri^ht place, and on their return {Retoere*) 
 were dumb as to what they did. This begat so much 
 discontent among the common people, and even among 
 the other officers, that it is not to be expressed ; and had 
 the people not been persuaded to hold back, something 
 extraordinary would have happened. It was further 
 declared, that the Director is everything, and does the Ja'JrirsoTa'ii 
 business of the whole country, having several shops ''.'"''* °'^ '^''" 
 himself; that he is a brewer and has breweries, is a 
 part owner of ships, a merchant and a trader, as well in 
 lawful as contraband articles. But he does not mind order of the 
 what is said ; he exhibits the orders of the Managers Bexdnt-hcb- 
 that he might do so, and says, moreover, that he should powder and 
 receive a supply of powder and lead by the Falconer ^""^' 
 for the purpose. In a word, the same person who inter- 
 dicts the trade to others upon pain of death, carries it on 
 both secretly and openly, contrary to good morals. His 
 example is not to be followed, and if others do follow it, — 
 which indeed often happens secretly, — then away with 
 them to the gallows. This we have seen in the case of Proceedings 
 Jacob Reyntgen and Jacob Van Schermerhoren, who, jacob^Reyn"- 
 for this offence, were sentenced to die, and who were ^J;[J y"^^ ^^' 
 with much difficulty relieved from the sentence, and then schermerho 
 they were banished as felons, and their goods confis- ^^'^' 
 cated. The banishment was, by the intervention of 
 many good men, afterwards remitted, but their goods, 
 I. any of which were free, (as they were trading mer- 
 chants) remained confiscated. We cannot pass by re- i^g® j"™ "ta- 
 lating here what happened to one Joost Theunisz Bac- ''on '? Joost 
 ker, who complained to us of being greatly maltreated, Backer. 
 
 * This is not a Dutch word. It mav be the French, retour, in which 
 sense we have used it. Its presence renders the sense doubtful, and perhaps 
 the translation of the passage is incorrect. 
 
62 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 as he in fact was. For the man being a reputable 
 burgher, of good life and moderate means, was put in 
 prison upon the declaration of an officer of the Compa- 
 ny-, who, according to the General and Council, had him- 
 self thrice well deserved the gallows, and for whom a 
 new one even had been made, from which, out of mercy, 
 he escaped. He was persecuted in every M^ay, and final- 
 ly, when nothing couid be established against him hav- 
 ing the semblance of crime, he was released again, after 
 thirteen days confinement, upon satisfactory bail for his 
 appearance, in case the Fiscal should find anything 
 against him. Nothing has as yet been done about it 
 though the year and a day have passed by. We have, 
 as advocates for this commoner, and upon his request 
 respectfully solicite 1, as his bonds are heavy, that the 
 suit should be tried, so that he might be punished accord- 
 ing to his deserts if he were guilty, and if not, that he 
 might be discharged. But there was nothing gained by 
 our interposition, as we were answered with reproach- 
 ful language, and the Fiscal was permitted to rattle out 
 any thing that came in his mouth, and the man was 
 rendered odious beyond all precedent, and abused be- 
 fore all as a foul monster. Asked he anything, even if 
 it were all right,he receivedabusive language,his request 
 was not complied with, and justice was denied him. 
 These things produced great dissatisfaction, and led some 
 Khnlve'lf *° meditate leaving the country. It happened better with 
 PeterVar.der onc Pictcr Vandcr Linden, as he was not imprisoned. 
 There are many others, but the most of them are afraid, 
 yet would speak if they durst. Now the Company it- 
 self carries on the forbidden trade, and the people think 
 that as it can do so without criminality there is no harm 
 in their doing it; and this causes smuggling and frauds 
 to an incredible extent, though not so great this year as 
 heretofore. The publishing of a placard that those who 
 Prociama- wcrc iuvolvcd, whether civilly or criminally, in New 
 prm/ct'ion^of England, might have passport and protection here, has 
 evil doers, very much embittered the minds of the English, and has 
 been considered by every one fraught with bad conse- 
 quences. Great distrust has also been created among 
 Jo'JifiFmer' the inhabitants on account of Heer Stuy vesant being so 
 very freely, ready to coufiscate. There scarcely comes a ship in or 
 near here, which, if it do not belong to friends, is not re- 
 garded as a prize by him. There will be great pretences 
 (though little comes of them) made concerning these 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 63 
 
 matters, about which we will not dispute ; but confis- 
 cating has reached such a pitch in iNew Netherland, that 
 nobody who has any visible property considers it to be 
 at all safe. It were well if the knowledge of this thing 
 were confined to this country ; but he has spread it him- 
 self among the neighboring English — North and South, — 
 and in the West Indies and Caribbee Islands. Every- 
 where there, such is the bad report, that not a ship dare 
 come from those places ; and good credible people who 
 come from thence, by the way of Boston, and others of 
 Boston trading here, assure us that more than twenty- 
 five ships would come here from those islands every year 
 if the owners were not fearful of confiscation. And this 
 is the result only in these places. The same report 
 flies to all others, and produces like fear in them, so that Thereportof 
 this vulture is destroying the prosperity of New Nether- JiHes^mucT 
 land, diverting its trade, and making the people discon- i"jt""y and 
 tented. Other places not so well situated as this, have 
 more shipping. All the substantial inhabitants, the 
 merchant, the burgher and peasant, the planter, the 
 laboring man, and also the man in service, suffer great 
 injury in consequence ; for if the shipping were abun- 
 dant, every thing could be better sold, and necessaries fjitppfn"^ 
 be more easily obtained than they are now, whether they ni«kes good 
 be such as the people themselves, by God's blessing, get 
 out of the earth, or those they otherwise procure, and 
 be sold with more profit ; and freedom in trade would 
 be given to the people. New England is a clear exam- 
 ple that this policy succeeds well, and so especially is 
 Virginia. All the debts and claims which were left un- 
 collected by Director Kielt, — due for the most part from 
 poor and indigent people who had nothing, and whose 
 property was destroyed by the war, by which they were 
 compelled to abandon their houses, lands, cattle and 
 other means, — were now^ demanded ; and when the peo- 
 ple declared that they were not able to pay — that they 
 had lost their propert}^ by the war, and desired My Lord 
 to have patience, they were repulsed. A resolution w^as 
 adopted and put in execution, requiring those who did The Director 
 not satisfy the company's debts, to pay interest ; but the debls"con'^^ 
 debts in question were made in and by the war, and the 'r^^^'e'i du 
 
 , ^ '' , . ring the war, 
 
 people are not able to pay eitlier prmcipal or mterest. but refuses 
 Again, the just debts which Director Kieft lel't behind, just'cilims^ 
 due from the company, whether they consisted of month- company!)^ 
 ly wages, or were for grain delivered, or were other- 
 
64 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. 
 
 wise lawfully contracted, these the Director will not pay. 
 If we oppose this as an unusual course, it is admitted 
 and he wishes to have it so. We have by petition 
 and proper remonstrance effected, however, so much, 
 that the collection of the debts is put oif for a time. 
 
 Besides this, the country of the Company is so taxed, 
 and is burdened and kept down in such a manner, that 
 the inhabitants are not able to appear beside their neigh- 
 bors of Virginia or New I'jngland, or to undertake any 
 enterprise. It seems, — and thus much is known by us, — 
 that all the inhabitants of New Netherland admit that 
 the Managers have scarce any care or regard for New 
 Netherland, except when there is something to receive, 
 for which reason, however, they receive less. The great 
 extremity of war into which we have been thrown, 
 clearly demonstrates that the Managers care not wheth- 
 er New Netherland sink or swim ; for when in that 
 emergency, aid and assistance were sought from them, — 
 which they indeed were bound by honor, and by promises 
 half unsolicited, to grant, pursuant to the exemptions, — 
 they made no attempt to furnish them at their own ex- 
 pense. We let the expense go ; they have never es- 
 tablished any good order or regulation concerning it, 
 although the plenitude of their High Mightinesses had 
 decreed and commanded it. Neither have they ever 
 allowed the true causes and reasons of the war to be in- 
 vestigated, nor have they attempted to punish those who 
 No Utile sus- had rashly begun it. Hence no little suspicion attaches 
 ihemanape" to their ordcr concerning it ; at least it is certain that 
 ment of the t}^gjp oflicers wcrc choscu morc from favor and friend- 
 ship than merit, which did not make their matters go on 
 better. But this is the loss and damage for the most part 
 of the stockholders. Many of the others doubtless knew 
 well the object. In a word, they come far short in af- 
 fording that protection which they owe the country, 
 though the burdens are nothing lighter on that account. 
 heavuy%ax- Thcy Understand how to impose taxes, for while they 
 burden'' faHs P^'O'^iscd in the exemptions, not to go above five per 
 upon the cent., they now take sixteen. It is obvious that there is 
 coinmon ^ great difference, — 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, 
 
 war. 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 65 
 
 as it would take too long ; though we stand ready to do 
 so, if there be any necessity for it. These and innumer- 
 able other difficulties, which we have not time to ex- 
 press, exist, tending to the damage, injury and ruin of 
 the country. If the inhabitants, or we ourselves, go to 
 the Director or other officers of the Company, and 
 speak of the flourishing condition of our neighbors, and 
 complain of our own desolate and ruinous state, we get TheDirecto«' 
 for answer from them, that they see and observe it, u/eTAi'lh' 
 but cannot remedy it, as they iollow the Company's gg",^'^*"gf" 
 orders, which they are compelled to do, and that if we dress. 
 have any thing to say, we must petition their masters, 
 the Managers, or .Their High Mightinesses, which, in 
 truth, we have judged 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 .p^^ ^esoiu- 
 only assented to it, but urged it strongly. It loas put icell tion as to a 
 in the mill, so that we had already spoken of a pei'son to appro've'd'hy 
 go, when it fell through, for these reasons : When it was the Director. 
 proposed, the Director desired that it should be commu- 
 nicated according to his wishes ; which some who per- 
 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 
 afTair, withdrew from time to time from us. I'his 
 made the necessity of action the greater, and the Nine 
 Men were therefore changed the next year, when Heer 
 Stuyvesant again urged the matter strongly, and declar- 
 ed that he had already written to the Company that isoF op'in^on 
 such persons would come. After the election of the 'u'Jatio'n ^^ 
 Nine Men, and before the new incumbents were sworn wouidgo. 
 in, it was determined by 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, which was 
 finally given and the protocol arranged and signed ; but 
 we have never been able to obtain an authentic copy of 
 it, although the Director has frequently promised, and 
 we. have frequently applied for it. 
 
 As the Company had now been waited upon a long minalion'To 
 while in vain, promising amendment Irom time to time, ^^,";I "'^'^'^p"' 
 but going on worse, a determined resolution was taken "riieir Hish 
 by the commons-men to send some person. They made Vs." "'"''**■ 
 
 9 
 
66 
 
 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIEKLAND. 
 
 The Com- their intention known to the Director, and requested that 
 J!!"t"lHmved ^hey might confer with the commonalty ; but their 
 witiT'the proposition was not well received, and they obtained in 
 people. reply to their written petition, a very long letter, to the 
 effect, that communication must be made through the 
 Director, and his instructions followed, with many other 
 things which did not agree with our object, and were 
 impracticable, as we think, for various reasons which 
 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 co{)y of 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 welfare 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 letter of lu the abovc mentioned letter it says, if we read right- 
 the Director. ]y^ ^^ia,^ we 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 differently from what we understood it. Now as 
 he was not willing to convene the people 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 ^^^f from that time, burned with rage, and, if we can 
 lentlTca^i'se J^^^^» ^^^ "°^ been effectually appeased since, although 
 they do not WO did uot know what else to do, and followed his order 
 d'lrecTions! 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 the}' did not follow 
 the General's wishes, they were this and that, some of 
 them rascals, liars, rebels, usurers and spendthrifts, in a 
 word, hanging was almost too good for them. It had 
 been previously strongly urged that the deputation 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 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 y,^^.^^^^ 
 were spread among the people, and it was sought prin- menns em- 
 cipall}' by means of the English to prevent the college ve'rtThe"coi- 
 of the Nme Men from doing any thing ; but as these jf^r'puse." "* 
 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 1649, 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 the 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 der 
 rough drait with his own hands, put Vander Donck J""''''''"''" 
 the day after in jail, called together the great Council, 
 accused him of having committed crimen Icescp. majesta- 
 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 Mine 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 his having had much to do and not having read over 
 again the most of it,) our request was called a libel However 
 which was worthy of no answer, and the writer of which nut suit the 
 it was intended to punish as an example to others. In ^^'''ector. 
 fine we could not make it right in any way. He forbid 
 
68 REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHERLAND. 
 
 Vander Donck the Council and also our meetings, and 
 gave us formal notice to that effect, and yet would not 
 release him from his oath. For the purpose of cutting 
 off the convenient mode of proof, he issued a procla- 
 pTohibUed. mation declaring that no testimony or other act should 
 be valid unless it were written by the Secretary ; Mhich 
 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 Attestation 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 offices required them to concern themselves with 
 the affairs of the country, and did so, did well, if they 
 Tho'^e who went according to the General's will and pleasure ; if 
 coun'try.'^'''^ they did not, they were prosecuted and thown into pris- 
 very badly ou, guarded by soldiers so they could not speak with any 
 body, angrily 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. From the foregoing relation Their 
 High Mightinesses, and other friends who may see it, 
 The truth in Can wcll imagine what labor and burdens we have had 
 New*^ iN-'eth- upon our shouldcrs from which we would very willingly 
 eriand long havc cscapcd, but for love of the country and of truth, 
 which, as far as we know, has long lain buried. The 
 trouble and difficulty Avhich do or will affect us, al- 
 though wanting no addition, do not grieve us so much 
 as the sorrowful condition of New Netherland, now lying 
 at its last gasp ; but we hope and trust that our afflic- 
 tions and the sufferings of the inhabitants and people of 
 the country will awaken in Their High JMightinesses a 
 compassion which will be a cause of rejoicing to New 
 jXetherland.* 
 
 * See Note E.— Post 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 69 
 
 IN WHAT MANNER NEW NETHERLAND SHOULD BE 
 REDRESSED. 
 
 Althouoh we are well assured and know, in resfard 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 thereof, 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 itself, unless the Hon- 
 orable Company be reformed ; and therefore it would 
 be more profitable for them, and better for the country, 
 that they should be rid thereof, and their effects 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 
 whether Divine Worship will not have to cease altogeth- 
 er in consequence 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 wild 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 now governed falls severely upon it, and is intol- 
 
 * This was the Rev. Johannes Backerus, who had previously been a min- 
 ister at 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 
 strongly 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 would 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 property 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 allured 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, accor(iing to human judg- 
 ment, go well, and New Netherland would in a few 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 
 whole 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 home 
 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 welfare. Amen. 
 
 Actum defen. — 28th of .July in New Netherland. And 
 was subscribed, — ^''Adriaen vander Donck,AugustijnHer- 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. 71 
 
 mansz, Arnoldus van liardenher^h. Jacob van Couwen- 
 hoven, Oloff Stevensz," (by M'hose name was written, 
 " under protest, — oblio;ed to si^-n about the s?overnment 
 ofthe Heer Kieft,") '' MichielJatisz, Thumas H. U, Elbert 
 Elbertsz, Govert Lokei?nans, Hendrick Hendricksz Kip, 
 and Jan Everts-bout," Below was written, " According 
 to the collation of the original remonstrance, dated and 
 subscribed as above, ivith V)hic/i these are found to corres- 
 pond at the Hague, the ISth October, 16i9, bi/ me ;" — and 
 was subscribed, 
 
 *'D. V. SCHELLUYNEN, iVo^ari/ Publicr 
 
NOTES. 
 
 A.—Fase 25. 
 
 THE TITLE OF THE EAKL OF STIRLING TO LO.VG ISLAND AND THE ADJACENT ISLANDS^ 
 
 Andrew Forester, the agent of the dowager of Stirling, was a Scotchman from 
 Dundee. He was arrested and examined before the Director and Council, on 
 the 28th September, 1647, when the facts appeared as set forth in the text. The 
 other Scotchman arrested in 1640 by Kieft, was James Farrett, who held a power 
 of attorney from the Earl of Stirling in his life time, dated tiie 20th of April, 
 1637, 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 clerk of South- 
 ampton on Long Island. Savage, in Winthrop, (Vol. ii. p. 6.), misled by Wood, 
 (who however corrects the error 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 Stirling, has been much 
 obscured. It is not, as intimated by Hubbard, included in either of his patents for 
 Nova Scotia, nor was it a grant direct froin 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 ofVirginia obtained from James I. a 
 separate patent in 1620, for all that portion of the country within their limits, 
 that is, between the degrees of 40 and 48, 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, then Sir William Alexander and Master of Requests to the King, for Scot- 
 land, becoming acquainted with Capt. John Mason who had been in the country, 
 was in 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, chjp. 24.) Sir William Alexander was a favorite of James 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 of 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 James, he retained with his 
 successor. 
 
 The patentees of New England surrendered their charter in 16!^5, first pass- 
 ing grants to themselves in severalty, of such parts of the country" along the sea 
 coast," as they deemed proper. They had, however,previously conveyed to pri- 
 vate persons different portions 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 produced in public, though it is said to be in the Stnte Paper 
 Office in London. It is however described both in the petition of Henry, the 
 third Earl of Stirling, made in 1661, to Charles II., praying that in any treaty 
 made with the Dutch, the subjets of the latter government on Long Island might 
 be required to submit to the English, (London Documents at Albany, Vol. L) and 
 
REPRESENTATIONi OP NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 73 
 
 in the power of attorney of the first Earl of Stirling to Farrett, before referred to. 
 In the latter document it is recited that the Earl of Stirling had, " by and with 
 the consent, direction, appointment and command of his most sacred Majesty, the 
 king, obtained a puient or grant //wd the corporation of New England, under 
 their common seal bearing date the two-and twentieth day of April in the eleventh 
 year of his said Majesty Charles of England, Scotland, France and Ireland, King, 
 or Anno Domini 1636,* of a certain island called Long Island with all and every 
 the islands thereunto adjacent, lying, and being siiuate, or bomided between the 
 degrees of forty and forty-one of the northerly latitude or thereabouts." It is added 
 in I lie petition of Henry the grandson,— " with power of judicature, saving to that 
 Council the Over and Terminer of Appeals, to be held of that Councilper g-/rtrfiMWi 
 ComitfitMs,nnd viekling the fifth part of allure of gold and silver." Tne existence 
 of this grant is'established beyond all question by the fact that it was, with its 
 relinquishment to the Duke of York, recognised in the patent of Governor 
 Nicholl to Constant and Nathaniel Sylvester for Shelter Island, May 31, 1666. 
 (Wood's Long Island, p. 6, note.) The release to the Duke of York is also 
 mentioned, though upon what authority it is not stated, in Blass. Hist. Coll. vol. 
 • III, 2d J^eries, p. 85. Major General William Alexander of our revolution, gen- 
 erally known as Lord Stirling, in a letter to one of his agents at the time of his 
 claiming the Earldom and American estates of Stirling, says, that Henry the 
 third Earl conveyed this title, about the year 1662 to the Duke of York, for an 
 annuity of three hundred pounds, which was never paid. (See his hfe by Mr. 
 Duer, p. 37.) As the Duke of York's patent included Long Island this release 
 perfected the title of the crown of England to it in him, subject of course to the 
 prior grants made by the Earl of Stirling, which are the foundation of many of the 
 titles to real estate now held on the east end of Long Island, on Shelter Island 
 and Nantucket. 
 
 B.—Page 29. 
 
 tllE CLAIM OF EDMUND PLOWDES TO LONG ISLAND AND NEW JERSEY. 
 
 The claim of Edmund Plowden to Long Island and the country south of it, to 
 Cape May, forms a curious chapter in our early history. Most writers have been 
 disposed to treat it as a valid one ; while others have gone into the opposite ex- 
 treme, and both ridiculed the claim and utterly denied its existence, giving it no 
 other consideration than as an Eulopian fabrication. The truth appears to be that 
 one Edmund Plowden did obtain a grant, through the Deputy General of Ireland, 
 purporting to be from the King, which was enrolled in Ireland, and with which 
 he visited°this country. On his return to England he caused a pamphlet to be 
 published with the title of" A description of the Province of New Albion," &c ,t 
 containing a letter alleged to have been written by one Robert Evelin who 
 had lived'there many years. Were there no other evidence to prove the actual 
 assertion of Plowden's claim than this brochure, botli might justly be denied, for 
 it appears to have been written by some one who had little or no personal know- 
 ledge of the country, with a free use of such materials as could be derived from 
 Purchas, the semi-romantic histories of Captain John Smith, and the publica- 
 tion of Lord Baltimore in relation to Maryland, whose grant most likely gave 
 rise to the speculation on the part of Plowden. The publication of this tract was 
 first made in 1648. That the descrtptioti which it contains of the country was 
 not more correct, arose from the fact that being in possession of the Dutch, it was 
 almost terra incognita to the English, and Plowden's own knowledge of it was 
 limited to New Amsterdam, the sea-coast, and perhaps the river Delaware. But 
 there is abundant proof both of his title such as a he represented it to be, and of his 
 
 * This is obviously a clerical error. The eleventh year of Charles I. "'"s 1C35. and a> It 
 was in June of that year that tlie p»tent was siirren.lered hy ilie (.niincil of New Englaii. , 
 iheir deed to the Earl of Stirling must have been before thai event. 
 
 t Renrinted in Force's Collection of American Tracts. 
 
 10 
 
74 REPRKSlliNTATlON Of 'NEW NBTHKRLANO. — jSOTfiS, 
 
 actual presence in this country, asserting his claim, before the appearance of the 
 Description of the Province of New Albion.* 
 
 His two visits to New Netberland prosecuting his title are distinctly asserted 
 in the text, one in the time of Kieft and the other in that of Stuyvesant. It is 
 stated by VVinthrop, suh anno 1648, that he arrived in Boston in that year from 
 Virginia where he had been almost seven years, which agrees with the period 
 stated in the Description of Neic Albion for his residence in the country. It 
 ■was during this term that his visits were made to New Netberland, the last of 
 which was on his way to Boston from Virginia, on bis return to England. The 
 ■work appears to have been published immediately on his reaching England. But 
 the most interesting piece of conteinporaneous evidence in regard to this claim is 
 to be found in the Journal of Augustine fieeremans, (one of the Nine Men,) who 
 with Resolve Waldron was sent as a Commissioner by Stuyvesant to the gover- 
 nor of Maryland in reference to the disputes about the boundaries between their 
 two colonies, in the year 1659. Heeremans states that in their interview with 
 Governor Fendall of Maryland, the latter claimed that the patent of Lord Balti- 
 more extended norJh to the patent of New England, and then says : " Upon whicb 
 we asked where then would New Netherland be,if theirlimits were to join those 
 of New England ? To this be answered, he did not know. We then said we 
 knew for both ; that it was a mistake and that New Netherland was in posses- 
 sion of these limits several yeara before my Lord Baltimore obtained his patent, 
 and that we actually settled these parts. We brought forward also among other 
 facts, flow Edm. Plowden informer days laid claim to Delaware Bay, and we 
 declared that the one pretension had no better support than the other. To 
 which he replied tiiat Plowden had not obtained a commission, and was throwij 
 in jail in England for his debts. He acknoioledged however that Plowden 
 solicited from the King a patent of Novum Albion, ithich was refused, where- 
 upon he addressed himself to the Viceroy cf Ireland from whom he obtained a 
 patent, but it was of no value at all." (Albany Records Vol. 18, p. 349.) With 
 this contemporaneous testimony we may appreciate the evidence, — the charter 
 itself, which has been produced by Charles Varlo who visited this country in 1784 
 for the purpose of establishing the claim, of one third of which he had become 
 the owner, Varlo having procured a copy of the charter from the Chancery 
 rolls in Dublin caused it to be traslated from the Latin, in which it was written, 
 and to be published and distributed with copies of a lease and release and also' 
 an address, among the inhabitants of this country. One of these publications 
 we have now before us, with a proclamation in form of a handbill, addressed to 
 the people of New Albion, in the name of the Earl of Albion. The charter, 
 lease and release were republished by Mr. Hazard in the first volume of his 
 Collections. The address to the public may be found in Mr. Pennington's Ex- 
 amination of the pamphlet before mentioned in the fourth volume of the 
 Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The proclamation has not 
 been republished. The only copy which we know of, is the one for the use of 
 which we are indebted to the kindness of Hon. Peter Force of Washington. 
 
 This charter is from the Deputy General of Ireland, and is dated the 21st of 
 June, in the tenth year of Charles I. (1634,) and grants to Edmund Plowden, 
 Knight, and to John Lawrence, Knight and Baronet, Bowyer Worsley, Knight, 
 Charles Barrett and John Trusler, Roger Packe, William Inwood, Thomas 
 Ribread and George Noble, certain lands 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 lii>e at right angles north forty leagues, thence in a line at 
 right angles east forty leagues including Sandheey [Sandy Hook,] and ftom 
 
 * This work purports to have lieen written by Beauchamp Plantagenet, who was doubtless 
 a ficliiioiis personage. If not written by Plowden, it was prepared under his direction. In 
 the second chapter there !■: a rel'ersuce to the Indian war during Kieft's administration, to the 
 increase of the English population at Manhattan, and the furnishing ammunition to the 
 Indians by Stuyvesant,— facts within Plowden'sknowiedgeorsonie one who hat! been here- 
 
REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHEF.LAND. NOTES. 75 
 
 thence south on the line of the square to Cape May ; and also giants to Plowden 
 the title of Earl Palatine thereof By the release, also dated in 16S4, the four 
 patentees last above mimed convey ilieir interests to the children of Edmund 
 Plowden, and declare that the interest of Worsley and Barrett, had, in con- 
 sequence of their death, passed to the surviving patentees. This charter was 
 void, as made without authority, for whatever patents of lands in this coun- 
 try may have been lawfully issued by the royal colonial governors, no such 
 grants were ever authori-zed to be made by any delegated 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 English as well as by the Dutch. 
 
 The occasion of the publication by Varlo was the purchase by hitn before the 
 revolutionary war, from some person in England, of one third of this alleged 
 proprietary right. He came to this country in 1784 for the purpose of prosecuting 
 the claim, and after his return to England published an account of his travels in 
 America, with some facts connected with this claim, in a book which he called 
 *' Floating Ideas of Nature." (2 vols. 12nio. Lond. 179(5). 
 
 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 enjoying the property; but that they had not been long here, 
 when they were attacked by the Indians, and Edward and his lady murdered, 
 the two children escaping. Whence he obtained this information does not 
 appear precisely, thoush probably from Edmund Plowden, Esq., of Maryland, 
 whom he visited during his tour in this country, or from the Plowden family 
 in Ireland. 
 
 We have ascertained some fects, which may well be taken into view in con- 
 nection with the point we are now considering. It appears from the records at 
 Annapolis, that one Edward Plowden took up a tract of (and in St. Mary's county, 
 Maryland, called " Plowden's discovery," on the 29th of March, 1742, and on 
 the eighth of August, following, two other tracts, making in all 666 acres, 
 which have ever since remained in the possession of his descendants, and are 
 now called Bushwood. Edmund Plowden, one of these dt-scendants, 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 Edward. 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 1849.) 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 declined, 
 in consequence of his advanced age and the dsfRculties 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 Edward.t 
 which when a boy I have often 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 Edmund Plowden 
 the original claimant, and the title prefixed to the names, which appears to have 
 had no other foundation than the charter of New Albion, has been trans- 
 
 * The names of Edmund Plowden'.s children are given in the Description of AVjc jllbion 
 as follows : Francis, (the eldest,) Thomas, Winefrid, Barliara and Katharine. The name of 
 Edward does not appear. 
 
 t This may have been either a conveyance from the family, ortl-.p roiease from the pa- 
 tentees before mentioned. 
 
76 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND NOTES. 
 
 milted in the fan)ily to later members of it. He has also shown us a conveyance 
 on parchmeni, wilh internal evidence of its antiquity, of /ie.?7/rrec/Jon Manor 
 in Maryland, made by Richard Perry to Thomas and George PLowden, dated 
 10th May, 1684, which proves them to have been in this country at a time con-. 
 sistently with the tradition. 
 
 If any settlement were attempted it must have been by one of the Plowdens, 
 probably a grandson if not a son ot the original claimant. There is no 
 mention in the Dutch records of any such attempt during the time the country 
 was under the control of 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 company, are stated in those records it could not well 
 have happened without some mention of it in them. 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 1635, with a party of a dozen men, 
 and is referred to in the brief statement of Van Tienhoven, in connection with 
 the name of Thomas Hall, who was one of the party ; the second in 1641, 
 by Mr. Lambertson of New Haven: and the third in 1659, 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 Edmund, the original grantee, to enjoy the property, but for 
 the reasons given in regard to any settlement by the latter it could not have been 
 before the year 1664, when the Dutch power ceased in New Netherland. It ia 
 quite likely that the conquest by the English, revived the fallacious hopes of the 
 Plowdeii 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 supposition of its having been tried there. 
 
 We cannot dismiss the subject of New Albion, without adverting to a state- 
 jnent 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 Netherland. It is the alleged landing of Sir Samuel Argall on Manhat- 
 tan island in 1613, on his return voyage to Virginia from his expedition against 
 the French at Acadia. This is a pure fiction, unsustained by any good authority, — 
 though 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.—Page 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. Ferris considers the time of his arrival uncertain, 
 though he supposes from circumstances that it was early in the spring of 1638. 
 Acrelius, who had 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 text. It is said to be 1638, and " eleven 
 years ago," that is, before 1649, when the Vertoogh was written. But we have 
 it in our power not only to corroborate this statement, but to fix the month, by 
 evidence of a different character. Among the London Documents procured by 
 the historical agent of New York, is a letter from the Treasurer of Virginia, 
 Jerome Hawley, to Mr. Secretary Windebanke, dated " Jamestown in Virginia, 
 8ih 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 Sweadeu, and signed by eight of the chiefe Lordes of Sweaden, the 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 77 
 
 coppe whereof I would have taken to send to yo'r Hon'r, but the Captayne would 
 not pernik me to take any coppe thereof, except he might have free trade for 
 tobacco to carry to Sweden, wiiich being contrary to his Maj'ts 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 his company, were bound fcr 
 Delaware Baye, which is the confines of Virginia and New England, and 
 they p'tend to make a plantation and to plant tobacco, which the Dutch do allso 
 already in Hudson's river, which is the very next river Nortliard from Delaware 
 Baye. All which being his Mat's terretorys, &c." (London Doc. Vol. 1.) The 
 two ships, which were the Key of Cahnar and the Griffin, must have been in 
 Virginia at or after the first of April, supposing them to have arrived the very day 
 after 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 the first of April. The probabilities 
 are that ihey did not arrive in Virginia on the day after the 20ili of March, le- 
 causp 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 pomt then remains, how late a day could this have been 1 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 it 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 havnig begun " to build a fort 
 between our forts" that is between the Hoerekil 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 , has 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 17th, how much time had elapsed at that 
 day after ihe Swedes reached the Delaware ? Now it is stated in the Vertoogh 
 that the Swedes did not beuin 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 themselves 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 Usselinx, 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. Arfvvedson errs 
 when he quotes Biorck, (in Dissert, de plant. Eccl. Svc. in America,) as an au- 
 thority that the first emigration to the cohny was made in 1627, and that the 
 building of Fort Christina took place in 1631. (Arfwed. de colonia Nova 
 Svecia deducta historiola, p. 10 ) The language of Biorck is this: " As to what 
 concerns the first arrival of the Sw&dea in America we may observe, according to 
 
78 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 
 
 Th. Camranius Holm, p. 57, that the first expedition thither was made in the 
 year 1627, during the reign of Gusfavus Adolphus, which was followed by others 
 in the time of Queen Christina. The originator of the first expedition 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 Campanius, 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 floundering 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 .Tohn 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 inhabit the territory of New Jersey ; but as a quarrel took 
 place between him and them, he was compelled to return home, where 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 Hollender 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 Gustavus, which he would cer- 
 tainly have done 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 43. 
 
 The Inscription 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 after 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 1790, 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 23. 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. MDCXLII. W. 
 
 Kieft Dr. Gr. Heeft de 
 
 Gemeenten Dese Tem 
 
 pel doen Bouwen. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 79 
 
 {Translation.) 
 
 " In the year of our Lord, 1G42, William Kieft, Director General, caused the 
 congregation to build this church." 
 
 The stone was removed to the belfry of the Garden Street Church, which wag 
 destroyed by the great Fire of 1835, and with which was lost this interesting me- 
 morial of the first church in New Neiherland. 
 
 E.—Pagp. 68. 
 
 Van Tienhcven's Answer to the Vertoogh. 
 
 Justice demands that we should give the answer of Stuyvesant, by his secre- 
 tary, to the charges of the complainants. Van Tienhoven, with all his faults, 
 was a man of ability, and he presented his points with force and succinctness. 
 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 employers, or from 
 a consciousness of their truth, is uncertain. Probably both considerations ope- 
 rated upon him. He was shrewd enough to display no feeling ; while it appears 
 to be well established that his habits were loose and profligate, though he 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, 207 and 217,) which took place in 1656. In his reply Van 
 Tienhoven retaliat' 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 hericht, or brief statement. This reply, with the remonstrance, 
 afford 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 tran- 
 scribed into the Holland documents of our State, and from them it is now trans- 
 lated as follows: 
 
 " A brief statement or answer to some points embraced in the written deduction 
 of Adrian V~an der Donk and /lis associates, presented to the High and 
 Mighty Lords States General. Prepared hy Cornelis Van Tienhoven, 
 Secretary of the Director and Council of Neiv 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 
 persons 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 better 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 preliminarily and generally, that these persons say much and prove 
 little, so that it could as easily, and with more truth, be denied, than by them it 
 is affirmed. 
 
 " Coming then to the matter, I will only touch upon those points as to which 
 either the Bewinihebbers or the Directors are arraigned. In regard to point No. 
 l,it is denied, and it never will appear that the company have refused to permit 
 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 
 protest, 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 prepared this answer in Holland. 
 
80 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLANl). NOTES. 
 
 by which they were foibiddeti ; and if any body thinks that injustice has been 
 done him by confiscation, he can speak for himself At ail events it does not 
 concern these people. 
 
 "They complain tliat the Christians are treated like the Indians in the sale 
 of goods, which is admitted ; but that has not been by the company, nor by tiie 
 directors, because, (God help them,) they have not had anything tiiere to sell for 
 many years. Most of the remonstrants are merchants or factors, and are them- 
 selves the persons who, for those articles which cost here one hundred guilders, 
 charge there, over and above the first cost, including insurance, duties, laborer's 
 wages, freight, &c., one and two hundred per cent, or more profit. Here can be 
 seen at once how these people lay to the charge of the Managers and their officers 
 the very fault which they themselves commit. They can never show, even at 
 the tinie the company had their shop and magazines there, that the goods were 
 sold at more than fifty per cent profit, in conformity with the exemptions. The 
 forestalling of the goods by one and another, and the demanding this profit, was 
 not prevented by the Director, as the trade was thrown open to both those of 
 small and those of large means. 
 
 "It is a pure caluinny, that the Coinpany had ordered half a fault to be reck' 
 oned for a whole one. 
 
 " And, as it does not concern the inhabitants what instructions or orders the 
 patroons give to the Director, the charge is made for the purpose of bringing 
 about, that these people may live without being subject to the censure or disci- 
 pline of any one, whicfi, however, they 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 be 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 Fatherland, and these amounts are not yet paid by the 
 complainants. It would be very agreeable, no doubt, to deprive the Company of 
 the country, and thus get,rid of paying them. 
 
 " It is ridiculous to suppose Director Kieft should have said that he was sove- 
 reign, like the Prince in tlie Fatherland ; but as relates to the denial of appeal 
 to the Fatherland, it arose from this, tliat, in the exemptions, the Island of the 
 Manhatans was reserved as the capital of New Netherlands, and all the adja-- 
 cent colonies were to have their appeal to it as the Suiireme Court of that region. 
 
 " Besides, it is to be remarked, that the patroon of the colony of Renselaers- 
 wyck notified all the inhabitants not to appeal to the Manhatans, which was 
 contrary to the exemptions, 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 Manhatans. 
 
 " 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 given, 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 of William Kieft, and 1,800 
 guilders were subscribed for the purpose, for which most of the subscribers have 
 been charged in their accounts, which have not yet been paid. The Company, 
 in the meantime, has disbursed the money, so that the commonalty has not, but 
 the Company has, paid the workmen. If the commonalty desire the aforesaid 
 works, they must contribute towards them as is done in this country^ and, if there 
 be an orphan asylum and alms house, the rents should be able not only to keep 
 up the house, but also to maintain the orphans and old people. 
 
 " 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, and the charge is spoken or written in anger. 
 When the church, which is in liie fort, vnus to be built, the church wardens were 
 
REPRESENTATtON OP NKW NETHERLAND. NOTES. Ol 
 
 comeiit it should be put there. These persons complain because lliey considfred 
 the Company's fort not worthy of a church. When the church was built, could 
 the grisi mill not trrind with a southeast wind if the (other) wind was shut off by 
 the walls of the fort ? 
 
 " Although the new school, towards which the commonalty has contributed 
 something, is not yt-t built, and the Director has no management of the money, 
 but the church wardens have, yet the Director is bu.«y in providing materials. In 
 the mean time a place has been selected for a school, where the school is kept 
 by Jan Cornelissen. The other schoolmasters keep school in hired houses, so 
 that the youth, considering the circumstances of the country, are not in want of 
 ■schools. It is irne there is no Latin school or academy, but if any of the com- 
 monalty desire it, 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- 
 sible for it, and not the director. It is true director Kieft being distressed for 
 money, had a box hung in his house, of which the deacons had the key, and in 
 which all the small fines 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 excise 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 miy be ascertained. The tapsters pay three guilders for each tun 
 «f 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 
 Couwenhoven,* 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 passengers ; 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 officers 
 of the militia. 
 
 " In every province of New England there is quarterly a general assembly of 
 b11 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 
 Direct'ors"', 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. 
 
 * Due of ihe three delegates from the coiiinionalty, then in Holland. 
 
 11 
 
82 REPRESENTATION OP NEW NETHEHLAND. HOTES. 
 
 " It will never appear thai 30,000 guilders are collected from the conimouai;/ 
 in Stuyvesant's time ; for nothing is received besides the beer and wine excise, 
 which amounts to about 4,0U0 guilders on the Manhatnns. From the other vil- 
 lages situated around it there is little or nothing collected, because there are no 
 tapsters, except one at the Ferry,* and one at Flushing. 
 
 " There is nothing contiscated belonging to the commonalty, and only contra- 
 band goods of foreigners; and of these nobody's goods are confiscated with- 
 out good cause. 
 
 " The question is whether the Honorable Company or the Directors are bound 
 to construct any works for the commonalty out of the recognitions which the 
 trader pays in New Netherland for goods e.xported, especially as those duties 
 were allowed to the Company by their High Mightinesses for the estab)i.«hmen1I 
 ot garrisons, and the expenses which they would thereby incur, and not for the 
 construction of hospitals, orphan asyl??ms, or churches and school-bouses. 
 
 " The I barge that the property of the Company is neglected in order to make 
 friends, cannot be sustained by proof. 
 
 "The provisions in exchange for the negroes who came from Tamandare 
 were sent to Curagoa, except a portion consumed on the Manhatans, as the ac- 
 counts will show ; but all these are matters which cio not concern these persons, 
 especially as they are not accountable for them, 
 
 " As to what relates to the contract of the free persons, the Director has gra- 
 ciously granted the ne-iroes who were the Company's slaves, to give them their 
 freedom in consequence of their long service, on condition that their children 
 should remain slaves, who are not treated otherwise than as Christians. At pre- 
 sent there are only three of these children who do any service, one of them is at 
 ihe House of nope,t one at the Company's bouwery, and orre with Martin Cri- 
 gier, who has brought the girl up well, as everybody knows. 
 
 " That the Heer Stuyvesant should build up, alter and repair the Company's 
 property was his duly. For the consequent loss or profit he wili answer to the 
 Contpany. 
 
 " The burghers upon the island of Manhatans, and thereabouts, must know 
 that nobody comes or is admitted to New Netherland, (being a conquest,) except 
 upon this condition, that he shall have nothing to say, and shall acknowledge 
 himself under the sovereignty of their High Mightinesses, the States General, 
 and the Lords Bewinthebbers, as their Lords and patrons, aiid should be obedient 
 to the Director and Council for the time being, as good subjects are bound to be. 
 
 " Those who have complained about the haughtiness of Stuyvesant, 1 think, are 
 such as seek to live without law or rule. 
 
 " Their complaint that no regulation was made in relation to sewan is untrue. 
 During the time of Director Kieft,good sewan passed at four for a stiver, and- the 
 loose bits were fixed at six pieces for a stiver. The reason why the loose sewan 
 was not prohibited, was because there was no coin in circulation, and the laborers, 
 boors, and other common people having no other money, would be great losers ; 
 and had it been done, the remonstrants would, without doubt, have included it 
 among their grievances,! 
 
 " Nobody can prove that Director Stuyvesant had used foul language to, or 
 railed at as clowns, any persons of respectability who had treated him decently. It 
 may be that some profligate has given the Director, if he has used any bad words 
 to him, cause to do so. 
 
 * This was in Brooklyn. The viUage of Breiikelen was a mile ilistant from the river;: 
 and the hamlet at the river was called The Ferry. 
 
 t (In the Connecticut Kiver. 
 
 t Sewan long cnnliniied to he a part of the currency amonfr the whites as well as the In- 
 dians, and was even paid in the Sunday collections in the churches It was made for the 
 ninsi part of ihe shell of tlie hard clam ; that made out of the hlue part or heart of the shell 
 havitis; the hiahesl vaUie, U was in shape and size likeconmion beads, and was perforated 
 longitudinally so as to be strung. Kleft's regulation, referred to by Van Tienhoven, which 
 was ad(pptedon 16th April, Jti41, declared that the rough or loose sewan, worth si.x for a stiver, 
 came from other place , and it was the Manhatan sewan which lie fixed at (our for a sliver, 
 and whi'h was consequently the best. 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES, 83 
 
 "' That the fort is not properly repaired does not concern -the inhahitaniP. It 
 is not their dotnaiii, but the Company's. They nre willing lo be pr(Jtected 
 hy good forts and iinrrisons belonging to the Company without tuniishing any 
 ^id or assis^tance by labor or money lor the purpose ; but it appears they are not 
 willing to see a fort well fortified and properly garrisoned, from tiie apprehension 
 that malevolent and seditious persot'.s will be better punished, which they call 
 cruelty. 
 
 " Had the Director not been compelled to provide the garrisons of New Neth- 
 erland and Cura^goa with provisions, clothing and pay, the fort would, doubtless, 
 have been completed. 
 
 " Against whom lias Director Stuyvesant personally made a qaesiion without 
 reason or cause ? 
 
 " A present of maize or Indian Corn they caH a contribution ; but a present 
 is never received from t^e Indians without its being doubly paid for, as these 
 people, being very covetous, throw out a herring for a codfish, as every body who 
 knows the Indians can bear witness. 
 
 " Francis Doughty, father-in-law of Adrian van der Donk, and an English 
 ininister^ was allowed a colony at MestpacliI, not for liimself al-one as patroon, 
 bu'. for him and his ass(K:iates, dwelling in Rhode Island, at Cohanock and other 
 places, from whom he had a power of attorney, and of whom a Mr. Smith was 
 one of the principal ; for the said minister had scarcely any means of hiin-self to 
 build even a hovel, let alone t-o people a colony at his own expense; but was to 
 be employed as minister by his associates, who wei^ to establish hiin on a farm 
 in the said colony, for which he would discharge ministerial duties among t'hein, 
 and live upon the profits of the farm. 
 
 " Coming to the Manhatans to live during the war he was permitted by the 
 English dwelling about there tooffirinte for them as minister; and they were bound 
 to maintain him without either tlie Director or the Company being liable to any 
 charge therefor. The English not giving him wherewith to live on, two collec- 
 tions were made among the Dulch and English by means of which he lived at the 
 Manhatans. 
 
 " The said colony of Mespacht was never confiscated, as is shown by the 
 owners, still living there, who were interested in the colony with Doughty ; but as 
 Doughty wished to hinder population, and to permit no one to build in the colony 
 unless he were willing to pay a certain amount of money down for every morgen 
 of land, and a certain yearly sum in addition in the nature of ground-rent, and 
 also sought to have a property therein distinct from the others interested in the 
 colony, the Director and Council, (Mr. Smith especially having complained,) 
 determined that the associates might enter upon their property, — the farm and 
 lands which Doughty possessed being reserved to him ; so that he has suffered 
 no loss or damage thereby. This I could prove, were it not that the documents 
 are in New Netheriand and not here. 
 
 " There are no clauses inserted in the ground -briefs, contrary to the e.xemp- 
 tions, but the words nog te beramen (hereafter to be imposed) can be left out of 
 the ground-briefs, if they be deemed offensive. 
 
 " Stuyvesant has never disputed in court, but as president put proper interrr)ga- 
 tories to the parties and delivered the judgment of the court about whicl; the 
 malevolent complain ; but it must be proven that any one has been wronged by 
 Stuyvesant in court. 
 
 " As to what relates to the second, {Vice Director) Dinclagen,let him settle his 
 own matters. 
 
 " It can be shown that Brian Newton not only understands the Dutch tongue, 
 but also speaks it, so that their charge, that Newton does not understand the Di- 
 rector's language, is untrue. All the other slanders and calumnies uttered against 
 the remaining officers should be required to be proven. 
 
 " It is true that in New Netheriand, a certain discourse was had to the effect that 
 tiiere was no appeal from a judgment in New Netheriand pronounced on the island 
 of Manhatans, founded on the exemptions by which the island of Manhatans was 
 established a.e .'be capital of all the surrounding colonies, and also that there had 
 
^4 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 
 
 never been a case in which an appeal from New Netherland had been entertained 
 by Their High Mightinesses. It had been petitioned for when Hendrick Jan- 
 sen Snyder, Laurens Cornelissen, and others, many years ago, were banished 
 from New Netherland. It would be a very strange thing if the officers of the 
 company could banish nobody from the country, while the officers of the colony 
 of Renselaerswyck, who are subordinate to the company, can banish absolutely 
 from the colony whomever they may deem advisable for the good of the colony, 
 and permit no one to dwell there unless wiih their approbation and upon certain 
 conditions, some of which are as follow?: nobody in the first place can possess a 
 foot of land of his own, but is obliged to take upon rent all the land which he 
 cultivates. When a house is erected he is obliged to pay an annual ground- 
 rent in beavers, and so also must the boor'', for which they allow them free trade, 
 as they call it. Where is there an inhabiiant under the jurisdiction of the Com- 
 pany who expends or lays out any thing for trade or land ? All the farms are con- 
 veyed in fee, subject to the clause beraumt ofte nog te beramen, (taxes imposed 
 or to be imposed.) 
 
 " The English minister Francis Doughty has never been in the service of the 
 company, wherefore it was not indebted to him ; but his English congregation are 
 bound to pay him, as may be proven in New Netherland. 
 
 " The Company has advanced the said minister, from time to time, goods and 
 necessaries of life amounting to about 1100 guilders, as the booiis of the colony 
 can show, which he has not yet paid, and which he claims he should not pay. 
 Whether or not the Director has desired a compromise with Doughty, I do 
 not know. 
 
 '■ Director Stuyvesant, when he came to New Netherland, endeavored accord- 
 ing to his orders to stop m a proper manner the contraband trade in guns, powder 
 and lead. The people of the colony of Renselaerwyck understanding this, sent 
 a letter to the Director, requesting moderation, especially, as they said, if that 
 trade were entirely abolished all the christians in the colony would run great 
 danger 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 extent, 
 be sparingly furnished by the Commissary at Fort Orange, on account of the 
 Company, taking good care that no supply should be carried by the boats navigating 
 the river, unless in pursuance of a further order. It is here to be observed that the 
 Director, in order to keep the colony out of danger, has permitted some arms to 
 be furnished at the fort. Nobody can prove tfiat the Director has sold or per- 
 mitted to be sold, any thing contraband, for his own private benefit. That the 
 Director has permitted some guns to be seized, has happened because ihey 
 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, sixteen 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 to 
 be landed in the full light of day, which guns were delivered to Commissary 
 Keyser with orders to sell them to the Netherlanders whohad no arms, in order 
 that in time of need they miglit defend themselves, which Keyser has done ; 
 and it will appear by his accounts where these guns are. If there were anymore 
 guns in the ship it was unknown to the Director. The Fiscal, whose business it 
 was, should have seen to it and inspected the ship ; and these accusers should 
 have shown that the Fiscal had neglected to make the search as it ought to have 
 been done. 
 
 " Jacob Reinsen and Jacob Schermerhorn were a firm of merchants from 
 Waterland, one of whom, Jacob Schermerhorn, was at Fort Orange, the other, 
 Jacob Reinljes, was at Fort Amsterdam, who there bought powder, lead and 
 guns, and sent them uj) to Schermerhorn, who supplied the Indians. It so hap- 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 85 
 
 pened that the Company's corporal, Govert Barent, having in charge such of the 
 arms of the Company as -required to be repaired or cleaned, sold to the before 
 named Jacob Reinijes, guns, locks, gun barrels, &c., as by Jacob Reinijes' own 
 acknowh-dged letters, written to his pariner long before this came to liglif, and 
 by the information of the corporal, can be proven. The corp(jral, seduced by the 
 solicitation of Jacob Reintjes, sold him the arms 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 confiscation, he would 
 have made complaint if he had not been guilty, especially as he \sas suflficientljr 
 urged to do so by the enemies of the Company and oftne Director, but his own 
 letters were witnesses against him. 
 
 "Joost de Backer being accused by the above named corporal of having 
 bought gun locks and gun barrels from him, and the first informatio-i having proved 
 correct, he was therefore taken into cusiody.and his house searched according to 
 law, in which 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 passport required by the usao-e of 
 the country, whether persons in the service of the Company or freemen, and look 
 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 jirevious resolution, issued a proclamation that all per- 
 sons who should come from the province of New Haven (all the others excepted) 
 to New Netherland should 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 could 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, fias 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 the 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 clothincr, houses 
 cattle, land, &c., 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 Inst by the Company of Brazil, which had been Ukf^n 
 from them by the Portuguese, whereby their debtors there got rid of llieir debts. 
 
86 FEPRESENTATION OF NEW NETIIERLAND. NOTES. 
 
 " The wine excise of one stiver per can, was first laid in the year 1647. 
 " The beer excise of three guilders per tun, was imposed by Keift in 1644, and 
 is paid by the tapster, and not by the burgher. 
 
 " The recognition of eight in a hundred upon imported beaver skins, does 
 not come out of the inhabitants, but out of the trader, who is bound to pay it ac- 
 cording to contract. 
 
 " The Director has always shown that he was desirous and pleased to see a 
 deputation h-om the commonalty, who should seek, in the Fatherland, from the 
 Company as patrons, and the Lords States as sovereigns, the following: popula- 
 tion, settlement of boundaries, reduction of charges upon New Netherland tobacco 
 and other productions, means of transporting people, permanent and solid pri- 
 vileges, &c. 
 
 '• For which purpose he has always lent a helping hand ; but the remonstrants 
 have secretly gone round e.xciiing some of the commonalty, and by that means 
 obtained a clandestine and secret subscription, as is to be seen by their remon- 
 strance, designed for no other object than to render the Company — their pa- 
 trons — and the officers in New Netherland odious before Their High Mighti- 
 nesses, so that the Company might be deprived of the jus pair onatus and be still 
 further injured. 
 
 " The remonstrants say that we had relied upon the English, and by means of 
 them sought to divert the college, (as they call it,) which is untrue, as appears by 
 the propositions made to them. But it is here to be observed that the English, 
 living under the protection of the Netherlanders, having taken the oath of alle- 
 giance and being domiciliated and settled in New Netherland, are to be consi- 
 dered citizens of the country. These persons have always been opposed to them, 
 since the English as well as they had a right to say something in relation to the 
 deputation, and would not consent to all their calumnies and slanders, but looked 
 to the good of the commonalty and of the inhabitants. 
 
 " It was never written in a letter upon their solicitation that they might secret- 
 ly go and speak to the commonalty. The intention of the Director was to cause 
 them to be called together at his 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 the commonalty immediately to- 
 gether. It was to be considered by him at what time each one could convenient- 
 ly come from home without loss, especially as some lived at a distance in the 
 country, &c. 
 
 " That they have not been willing to communicate, was because all whom they 
 had slandered would have been able to have provided themselves with the means 
 of defence, and made the contrary appear, and in that case could have produced 
 something from some of them. And since the Director and those connected with 
 the administration in New Netherland are very much wronged and defamed, I 
 desire time in order to wait for opposing documents from New Netherland, if it 
 be necessary. 
 
 " Vander Donk and his associates say that the Director instituted suits against 
 some persons. The Director going to the house of Michael Jansen, (one of the 
 signers of the remonstrance.) was warned by the said Michael and Thomas Hall, 
 saying, there was within it a scandalous journal of Adrian van der Donck ; which 
 journal the Director took with him, and on account of the slanders which were 
 contained in it against Their High Mightinesses and private individuals, Van der 
 Donck was arrested at his lodgings and proof of what he had written demanded, 
 but it was dispensed with on the application and solicitation of others. 
 
 " During the administration both of Kieft and of Stuyvesant, 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 testimony, (against the Director,) but 
 upon this consideration, that most of the people living in Netherland are country 
 or seafaring men, and summon each other frequently for small matters before the 
 court, while many of them can neither read nor write, and neither testify intel- 
 ligibly nor produce written evidence, and if some do produce it, sometimes if is 
 
REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 87 
 
 written by a sailor or a boor, and is often wiioUy indistinct and repugnant to tlie 
 meaning of those wlio liad it written or who made the statement ; consequently 
 the Director and Council could not know the truth of matters as was proper 
 and as justice demanded, &c. No body has been arrested except Van der Donk 
 for writing the journal, and Augustus Heermans, the agent of Gabri, because he 
 refused to exhibit the writings drawn up by the Nine Men, which were reported 
 to the Director, who had been for them many times like a boy. 
 
 " Upon the first point of redress, as they call it, the remonstrants advise, that 
 the Company should abandon tlie country. What frivolous advice this is ! The 
 Company have at their own expense conveyed cattle and many persons thither, 
 built forts, protected many people who were poor and needy emigrating from 
 Holland, and provided them wiili ])rovisions and clothing; and now when some 
 of them have a little more than they can eat up in a day, they wish to be released 
 from the authority of their benefactors, and without pa^ ing if they could ; a sign 
 of gross ingratitude. 
 
 '' Hitherto the country has hem nothing but expense to the Company, and now 
 when it can provide for itself and yield for the future some profit to the Company, 
 these people 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. 
 If they are such philanthropists as they appear, let them lead the way in generous 
 contributions for 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 to 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 godly minister 
 who has no interpreter when he defends the Reformed Religion against any 
 minister of our neighbors, the English Brownists.* 
 
 " The foregoing are the points which requue any answer. We will only add 
 some descii|Mion of the persons who have signed the lemonstrance and who are 
 the following ; 
 
 " Adriun 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 long continue such, though he lived in that colony till 1646. 
 
 " Arnoldus VanHnrdenburgh accompanied Hay .lansen to New Netherland, 
 in the year 1644, with a cargo for his brother. He has never to our knowledge 
 sufl(?red any loss or damage in New Netherland, but has known how to charge 
 the commonalty well for his goods. 
 
 " Ausustyn Heermans went by the authority of Enkhuizen,t being then as he 
 still is, the agent of Gabrie, in trading business. 
 
 "Jacob van Comoe?ihovenwem to the country with his father in boyhood, was 
 taken by Wouter 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. 
 
 " Olof atevensen, 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 has 
 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 to subscribe to the truth, the other that he had been 
 constrained by force to do it. II he means the latter, it must be proven, 
 
 * The Rev. .Tohaniies Mesapolensis is here referred to. 
 
 t A city in the North Quarter, which was oue of the Chambers or ileimriments of the \\ est 
 India Cump.^ny. 
 
88 
 
 REPRESENTATION OF NEW NETHERLAND. NOTES. 
 
 " Michael Jansen went to New Netheiland as a farmer's man in the employ of 
 the proprietors of Renselaerswyck. He made his fortune in the colony in a few 
 years, hut not being able to agree with the officers, finally came to live upon the 
 island Manhatans. He would have 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, Jan Evertsen came over in his stead. 
 
 " Thomas Hall went to the South River in 1636, in the employ of Mr. Holmes, 
 an Englishman, who intended to take Fort Nassau and rob us of the South River. 
 This Thomas Hall ran away from his master, came to the Manhatans and hired 
 himself as^a fanner's man to Jacob Van Curlur. Being a freeman he has made 
 a tobacco plantation upon the land of that noted individual, Wouter Van Twy- 
 ler. Thomas Hall dwells at present upon a small bowery belonging to the Hon- 
 orable Company. 
 
 " Elbert Elbertsen went to the country as a farmer's boy at about ten or eleven 
 years of age, in the service of Wouter Van Twyler, and has never had any land 
 of his own. About three years ago he married the widow of Gerret Woiphertsen, 
 (brother of the before mentioned Jacob Van Couwenhoven,) and from that time 
 to this has been indebted to the Company, and would be very glad to get rid 
 of paying. 
 
 " Govert Loockmans, brother in law of Jacob Van Couwenhoven, went to New 
 Netherland in the yacht St. Martin, in the year 1633, 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, and finally took charge of the 
 trading business for Gilles Verbruggen and his Company. This Loockmans 
 owes gratitude to the Company, next to God, for his elevation, and ought not 
 advise its removal from the country. 
 
 " Hendrick Kip is a tailor, and has never suffered any loss in New Nether- 
 land to our knowledge. 
 
 " Jan Ecertfien-hout, formerly an officer of the Company, came the last time 
 in the year 1634, with the ship Eendracht, (Union,) in the service of the Honor- 
 able Michiel Paauw, and lived in Pavonia until the year 1643, and prospered 
 moderately. As the Honorable Company 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 that as a cause for complaint. It is 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 upon 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 house, with a few cattle, he has sold to 
 Michiel Jansen for eight thousand guilders. 
 
 " In fine, 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 advantage 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, 29th November, 1650." 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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