USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. I > Part 37
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1 26 Dec. 1646. Whereas their Honors of the Court of this Colonie find that Cornelis Segersz. notwithstanding former placards and prohibitions, has still pre- sumed to meddle with what is not his business-with beer brewing-directly contrary to the grant and authorization given to the brewery of this colonie ; Therefore their honors expressly forbid the said Cornelis Segersz. to_brew, or cause to be brewed, or otherwise to manufacture any beer, except 60 much as shall be required by him for his own housekeeping, on pain of forfeiting twenty- five Carolus guilders, besides the brewed beer. The said Cornelis Segersz. is further warned that no cloak, or idle excuse shall hereafter avail, but that this ordi- nance shall be maintained and executed on the spot, without court process, if he shall make any mistake. Let him, therefore, prevent his loss. Actum Rens- selaerswyck, 26th October, 1646. Pursuant to the resolution of their honors the magistrates of this colonie. A. DE HOOGES.
IX. 1646.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK waste every cultivated spot from the Nevesinck to Tappaan. 111. 1646. Rensselaerswyck was the only " colonie" which remained un- injured by the war. As a consequence its population general- ly prospered, and sundry farms were taken up. Beverswyck continued, however, in swaddling clothes, for the city which in 1845 holds over forty thousand inhabitants, contained in 1646 no more than ten houses. Several farmers had at an early date begun another settlement south of Beverswyck, to which they gave the name of Bethlehem. A few bouweries were also cultivated on the east side of the river, opposite Fort Orange. Katskill and its fertile bottoms had engaged at an early date the attention of the settlers at Rensselaerswyck, but the pretensions of opposite parties prevented any plant- ing of consequence in that quarter, and Van Slyck, who had received a patent for lands there, had as yet made no com- mencement. The country between Rensselaerswyck and the Manhattans, on both sides of the river, still remained a wilder- ness. It is true that the Dutch had built a fort at Esopus, in the year 1614, contemporaneously with the erection of their post on Castle island.1 This possibly might have been fol- lowed by the clearing of some small portions of land in that vicinity, but it is very doubtful whether any such settlements survived the destructive war of 1644-5. Van der Donck had also received a grant of Yonkers, but many years elapsed be- fore he commenced a settlement there. These remarks apply in like manner to the Delaware, which, at this date, was, with the exception of Bogaerdt's colonie, destitute of any Dutch settlers, and entirely under the control of the Swedes.
In the municipal government of these settlements, two systems, essentially different in principle, obtained. In the " colonies" the superintending power was lodged in one indi vidual, who, though the immediate vassal of the sovereign
1 Moulton alludes to the settlement of some Hollanders among the Esopus Indians in 1617. But the following passage in the answer of the States Gen- eral, dated Feb. 1665, to Sir George Downing, fixes the date earlier. Their High Mightinesses say : " Il y a plus de quarante ans qu'elle possede la ville de Nouveau Amsterdam avec ses forts ; et plus de cinquante qu'elle est en pos- session des forts Orange et Esope ; les uns et les autres avec les terres et pais qui en dependent." Hol. Doc., xi., 86.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
authority from which he derived his lands, was himself lord CHAP. paramount in his manor, where he not only represented the sovereign, but exercised feudal jurisdiction over his colonists, who stood, towards him, in the same relation that he occupied towards the supreme head of the state. For as he was bound to acknowledge, by fealty and homage, his dependence on the latter; so were they vassals of their Patroon, to whom they swore allegiance, at whose summons they were bound, if occasion required, to take up arms ; to whose special courts, edicts, ordinances, and laws they owed obedience, being subject at the same time to the discharge of all the minor obli- gations due to him by virtue of the Roman law. In return for this obedience, the Patroon was bound to protect his colonists, who had the additional right to address themselves by appeal to the supreme authority at New Amsterdam, in case they were either aggrieved or oppressed.
In the transition of society, towards the close of the middle ages, from this state of servitude to a more enlarged liberty, some communes, or towns in our acceptation of the word, acquired for themselves, either by special favor or their own right hands, all independence of these feudal nobles, and held their privileges and immunities immediately from the crown. But as the feudal system acknowledged no other relation than that of vassal and sovereign, it became necessary to imagine, or invent, some bond, or link, whereby these semi-indepen- dent commonalties should be connected to the head of the state. By a fiction of law, each of them became to be con- sidered, abstractly, a moral and responsible body, capable of the same duties, obligations, and constraints as an individual. They were incorporated, and in this corporate capacity, hold- ing immediately from the state, they were considered as vas- sals ; as such held land in fee, tendered fealty and homage, military service, and possessed, in fine, all the rights of Pa- troons.
One arrangement still remained to render the connection between this body and the supreme authority complete. It became necessary that it have a representative, through whom all communications should pass, from the commune, or town, to the sovereign, and from the latter to the district. For
1X. 1646.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK III. 1646.
this purpose the inhabitants were authorized, in the course of the fifteenth century, to elect from among themselves a certain number, double or triple, that required ; from which the head of the government selected and appointed such as it considered best qualified to act as " schepens" or magistrates. These constituted a board, or council, by which all such communica- tions were made : they constituted, at the same time, a local court to administer justice within their respective limits, to the extent and according to the provisions of their patent or char- ter ; and to enable them to perform more effectually their duties, a schout, or sheriff, secretary, and marshal were adjoined. But in order to prevent the magistrates becoming too powerful, and with a view to equalize their functions, and to allow all to enjoy, in turn, the dignities which municipal honors conferred, their duration in office was limited, in conformity to sound prin- ciple, to one year, at the end of which a new election took place ; a new set of names was sent in to the chief magis- trate, who again made his selection from that list, and from the actual " schepens" in commission, who "were always con- sidered as nominated."]
For more than a century previous to the period of which we now write, three hundred manors in the province of Hol- land alone, enjoyed all the rights of free municipalities, and exercised civil and criminal jurisdiction, to a limited extent. In removing to another hemisphere, the Dutch lost not their affection for their native country and its institutions. They brought with them the names of those places to which they were most attached, and in the course of time transferred also to their new homes the municipal system which we have de- scribed above, and with which they were most conversant.
" Those colonists who shall form within their limits such a settlement of people, as to constitute hamlets, villages, or even cities, shall obtain in such case middle and low jurisdiction, and the same rights as manors in the province of Holland ; and
2 Institutions Judiciaires, iii., 47, 48, 49, 165, 166, 170, 171 ; Alb. Rec. x., 221. " It is customary in our Fatherland, and other well-regulated govern- ments, that annually some change takes place in the magistracy, so that some new ones are appointed, and some are continued to inform the newly appointed." Alb. Rec. xix., 131.
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shall, in like manner, be capacitated also, to bear and use the CHAP. names and titles thereof. And the qualified persons of such cities, villages, and hamlets, shall, in such case, be authorized to nominate for the office of magistrates, a double number of persons wherefrom a selection shall seasonably be made by the Director and council, the appointment of a schout, secretary, and court messenger, remaining to the company; with the understanding that the jurisdiction shall be holden in fief by the respective colonists and founders of cities and villages, to be disposed of and renewed, in case of the demise of those who shall be named, in manner hereinbefore stated. And jus- tice shall be administered therein according to the style and order of the province of Holland, and the cities and manors thereof, to which end the courts there shall follow, as far as the same is possible, the ordinances received here in Am- sterdam."
It was then to that Republican State-to the wise and beneficent modifications of the feudal code which obtained there, and not to " the puritan idea of popular freedom" intro- duced by emigrants from Connecticut-as some incorrectly claim-that New Netherland and the several towns within its confines were indebted for whatever municipal privileges they enjoyed.1 The charters under which they were planted, the immunities which they obtained, were essentially of Dutch, and not of Connecticut origin, and those who look to New Eng- land as the source of popular privileges in New Netherland, fall, therefore, into an error, sanctioned neither by law, nor by history. Strange as it may seem, while every colonie, and al- most every hamlet, had its local magistracy, the citizens of New Amsterdam, the capital of the whole province, continued, greatly to their discontent, without a voice in the management of their municipal affairs. The government of that city still remained in the hands of the Director-general and his council. The high-handed and dictatorial manner in which Kieft
1 Mr. Bancrott, in Hist. U. S. ii., 304, represents that " the large emigrations from Connecticut engrafted on New Netherlands the Puritan idea of popular freedom." In this he did injustice to the Dutch-inadvertently, no doubt-as every one must acknowledge who has examined the subject.
50
IX. 1646.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK wielded his power, brought him into collision, at an early pe- III. riod, with the democratic spirit inherent in the breast of the 1646. Dutch republicans. He was a man of unpliant temper ; in- flated with the idea of his own importance ; ill-disposed to brook contradiction, and construing all objections to his will, even though emanating from the pulpit, as attacks on his pre- rogative. "Had we been under a king we could not be worse treated," was the complaint of the people. One check to all this remained, to which the colonists looked for protection. This was the right to appeal from the Director-general's judg- ments to the court of Holland, or the States General. But this privilege Kieft cut off as early as 1643. The island of Man- hattans was the capital of New Netherland, and to it was re- served the exclusive right, as the chief court of that country, to hear appeals from all surrounding colonies ; and, on this pre- tence, it was maintained that no appeal could lie from the de- cisions of the Director-general and council at New Amster- dam.1
The Rev. Mr. Doughty, the English clergyman at Mes- path, and Mr. Van Hardenbergh, merchant at New Amsterdam, were among the first to dissent from this conclusion. The former had complained against what he considered an unjust decision of the court at Manhattans, in regard to claims which he set forth to lands embraced within the Newtown patent. The other had been appointed curator to the estate of one Aert Teunissen, who, as we have already related, had been murdered by the Indians at Beeregat. Some property belong- ing to this estate had been seized on board a vessel, and in consequence of not having been entered, was confiscated. Appeals were lodged, in both these cases, from Kieft's judg- ments, Doughty was immediately fined ten dollars, and im- prisoned twenty-four hours for his presumption.2 Against the other appellant was pronounced the following sentence :
' Wat helanght't weygeren van appel naer 't Vaderlandt, 't selve is geschiet, omdat in de exemptien 't eylandt van de Manhattans voor de hooft-plaats van N. N. wort gereserveert, en dat alle omleggende colonien haer appel daer heb- ben soude als 't hof van dat quartier. Van Tienhoven.
? The reader will find in the Appendix Ff. the statements in favor of and against Doughty in the above case.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
" Having seen the written demand of the Honorable Fis- CHAP. caal Van der Huygens against Arnoldus van Hardenbergh, in the case of appeal from our sentence dated 28th April ult., as appears by the signature of the aforesaid A. van Hardenbergh, from which sentence no appeal can lie, as is evident to him from the commission of their High Mightinesses the Lords States General and His Highness of Orange ; therefore, the noble Director-general and council of New Netherland, ob- serving the dangerous consequences which tend to the injury of the supreme authority of the magistracy of this land, as an example to others, condemn the aforesaid Arnoldus van Har- denbergh to pay forthwith a fine of twenty-five guilders, or to go to jail until the said fine be paid."
Owing to these and various other harsh measures, the public mind became inflamed to a high degree. " Traitor," " villain," " liar," were epithets flung at the Director-general with un- sparing hand ; and, notwithstanding that banishments and heavy fines were imposed on the libellers, many threatened him with rougher usage when he should "take off the coat with which he was decorated by the Lords his masters."
" Where the shepherd errs the sheep go astray." Drunk- enness and broils were of common occurrence. The people were " without discipline, and approaching to a savage state." " A fourth part of the city of New Amsterdam consisted of grog-shops and houses where nothing is to be got but tobacco and beer." Religion and education felt the baneful effects of these evil influences. The church which had been commenced in 1642, remained still unfinished, as if the country were without timber or a sawmill. The Director-general being dis- tressed for money, applied to his own use the fines and for- feitures which had been appropriated to aid the completion of this sacred edifice.1 In the mean while no efforts were inade to convert the heathen, between whom and the settlers an un-
1 Alb. Rec. ΓΌ., 160, 190, 262, 369 ; iv., 1 ; vii., 28, 29, 38, 300. Van der Donck's Vertoogh, c. xi. Wel is waer dat den Directeur Kieft, verlegen synde om gelt, in syn huys hadde hangen een bos, daer de Diakenen een sleutel van hadden, daerin alle cloyne breuken en boeten, die op de rechtdagen voor vielen gesteken waren ; met kennisse van de diaconen heeft geopent, en 't gelt dat een moye somme was, op intrest genomen. Van Tienhoven Cort Bericht.
1X. 1646.
396
HISTORY OF NEW NETHERLAND.
BOOK licensed intercourse generally prevailed. And, though a col- III. lege had been founded in Massachusetts some nine years 1646. before, the authorities of New Netherland made little or no effort, up to this time, to establish a common primary school in any part of this country. Some subscriptions had been en- tered into by the commonalty for the purpose of erecting a school-house in New Amsterdam, but these funds were also misappropriated, and this laudable undertaking failed in con- sequence.
Such was the state of disorganization into which the public affairs had fallen, when General PETRUS STUYVESANT assumed the government of New Netherland.
APPENDIX.
1
APPENDIX.
A.
A Charter given by the High and Mighty Lords, the States General, to the West India Company, dated the 3d of June, 1621.
THE States General of the United Netherlands, to all who shall see these pres- ents or hear them read, greeting : Be it known, that We, knowing that the prosperity of these countries, and the welfare of their inhabitants, depend principally on naviga- tion and trade, which in all former times by the said countries were carried on hap- pily, and with a great blessing to all countries and kingdoms ; and desiring that the aforesaid inhabitants should not only be preserved in their former navigation, traffic, and trade, but also that their trade may be increased as much as possible in special conformity to the treatics, alliances, leagues, and covenants, for traffic and navigation formerly made with other princes, republics, and people, which We give them to under- stand must be in all parts punctually kept and adhered to : And We find by experience, that without the common help, assistance, and interposition of a General Company, the people designed from hence for those parts cannot be properly protected and main- tained in their great risk from pirates, extortion, and otherwise, which will happen in so very long a voyage. We have, therefore, and for several other important rea- sons and considerations us thereunto moving, with mature deliberation of counsel, and for highly necessary causes, found it good, that the navigation, trade, and commerce, in the parts of the West Indies, and Africa, and other places hereafter described, should not henceforth be carried on any otherwise than by the common united strength of the merchants and inhabitants of these countries, and that for that end there shall be erected one General Company, which We, ont of special regard to their common well-being, and to keep and preserve the inhabitants of those places in good trade and welfare, will maintain and strengthen with Our help, favor, and assistance, as far as the present state and condition of this country will admit : and, moreover, furnish them with a proper charter, and with the following privileges and exemptions, to wit : That for the term of four and twenty years, none of the natives or inhabitants of these countries shall be permitted to sail to or from the said lands, or to traffic on the coast and countries of Africa, from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, nor in the countries of America, or the West Indies, beginning at the fourth end of Terra Nova, by the Straits of Magellan, La Maire, or any other straits and passages situated
400
APPENDIX.
thereabouts te the Straits of Anian, as well on the North Sea as the South Sea, nor en any islands situated on the one side or the other, er between both: nor in the western or southern countries, reaching, lying, aud between both the meridians, from the Cape of Good Hope, in the east, te the east end of New Guinea, in the west, inclusive, bat in the name of this United Company of these United Netherlands. And whoever shall presume, without the consent of this company, to sail or to traffic in any of the places within the aforesaid limits granted to this company, he shall forfeit the ships and the goods which shall be found for sale upon the aforesaid coaste and lands ; the which being actually seized by the aforesaid company, shall be by them kept for their own benefit and behoof. And in case such ships or goods shall be sold either in other countries or havens they may touch at, the owners and partners must be fined for the value of those ships and goods : Except enly, that they who before the date of this charter, shall have sailed or been sent out of these or any other countries to any of the aforesaid coasts, shall be able to continue their trade for the sale of their goods, and come back again, or otherwise, until the expiration of this charter, if they have had any before, and not longer : Provided, that after the first of July, sixteen hundred and twenty-one, the day and time of this charter's commencing, ne person shall be able to send any ships or goods to the places comprehended in this charter, although that be- fore the date hereof, this company was not finally incorporated : but shall provide therein, as is becoming, against those who knowingly by fraud endeavor to frustrate our intention herein for the public good: Provided that the salt trade at Ponte del Re may be continued according to the conditions and instructions by Us already given, or that may be given respecting it, any thing in this charter to the contrary notwith- standing.
II. That moreover, the aforesaid company may, in Our name and authority, within the limits heroin before prescribed, make contracts, engagements, and alliances, with the princes and natives ef the countries compreheuded therein, and also build any forts and fortifications there, to appoint and discharge governors, people for war, and offi- cers of justice, and other public officers, for the preservation of the places, keeping goed order, police, and justice, and in like manner for the promoting of trade ; and again, others in their place to put, as they, from the situation of their affairs, shall see fit : moreover, they must advance the peopling of those fruitful and unsettled parts, and do all that the service of those countries, and the profit and increase of trade shall re- quire : and the company shall successively communicate and transmit to Us such con- tracts and alliances as they shall have made with the aforesaid princes and nations ; and likewise the situations of the fortresses, fortifications, and settlements by them taken.
III. Saving, that they having chesen a governor-in-chief, and prepared instruc- tions for him, they shall be approved, and a commission given by Us : And that fur- ther, such governor-in-chief, as well as ether deputy governors, commanders, and of- ficers, shall he held te take an oath of allegiance to Us and also to the company.
IV. And if the aferesaid company in any of the aforesaid places shall be cheated under the appearance of friendship, or badly treated, er shall suffer loss in trusting their money or gends, without having restitution or receiving payment for them, they may use the best methods in their power, according to the situation of their affairs, to obtain satisfaction.
V. And if it should be necessary, for the establishment, security, and defence of this trade, to take any troops with them, We will, according to the constitution of this
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APPENDIX.
country, and the situation of affairs, furnish the said company with such troops, pro- vided they be paid and supported by the company.
VI. Which troops, besides the oath already taken to Us and to his Excellency, shall swear to obey the commands of the said company, and to endeavor to promote their interest to the ntmost of their ability.
VII. That the provosts of the company on shore may apprehend any of the military that have enlisted in the service of the aforesaid company, and may confine them on board the ships in whatever city, place, or jurisdiction they may be found ; provided, the provosts first inform the officers and magistrates of the cities and places where this happens.
VIII. That We will not take any ships, ordnance, or ammunition belonging to the company, for the use of this country, without the consent of the said company.
IX. We having moreover incorporated this company, and favored them with priv- ileges, We give them a charter besides this, that they may pass freely with all their ships and goods without paying any toll to the United Provinces ; and that they them- selves may use their liberty in the same manner as the free inhabitants of the cities of this country enjoy their freedom, notwithstanding any person who is not free may be a member of this company.
X. That all the goods of this company during the eight next ensning years, may be carried out of this country to the parts of the West Indies and Africa, and other places comprehended within the aforesaid limits, and those which they shall bring in- to this country from thence shall be exempt from outward and home convoys ; pro- vided, that if at the expiration of the aforesaid eight years, the state and condition of these countries will not admit of this freedom's continuing for a longer time, the said goods, and the merchandises coming from the places mentioned in this charter, and exported again out of these countries, and the outward convoys and licenses, during the whole time of this charter, shall not be rated higher by Us than they have former- ly been rated, unless We should be again engaged in a war, in which case all the afore- said goods and merchandises shall not be rated higher by Us than they were in the last list in time of war.
XI. And that this company may be strengthened by a good government, to the general profit and satisfaction of all concerned, We have ordained that the said gov- ernment shall be vested in five chambers of managers ; one at Amsterdam,-this shall have the management of four-ninth parts ; one chamber in Zealand, for two-ninth parts ; one chamber at Maeze, for one-ninth part ; one chamber in North Holland, for one-ninth part ; and the fifth chamber in Friesland, with the city and country, for one-ninth part, upon the condition entered in the record of Our resolutions, and the act passed respecting it. And the provinces in which there are no chambers shall be ac- commodated with so many managers, divided among the respective chambers, as their hundred thousand guilders in this company shall entitle them to.
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