USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 22
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
BOOK V. THE losses incurred, through the past season, by the Long Island settlers, at the hands both of Indians and freebooters, 1653. and the conviction of their exposed position, led them to con- sult together in the hope of arriving at some plan for their mutual security. Delegates from Flushing, Heemstede, Middleburgh and Gravesend assembled, accordingly, at the first-named village, and entered into communication with the authorities of New Amsterdam.1 The result was a meeting at the City Hall, to take into consideration what was best to be done " for the welfare of the country and its inhabitants, and to determine on some wise and salutary measures to arrest those robberies." It was attended by the Hon'bles La Montagne and Werckhoven, on the part of the Supreme Council ; by Messrs. Krygier and Van der Grist, on the part of the city authorities ; by Geo. Baxter and Sergeant Hubbard, from Gravesend ; John Hicks and Tobias Feake, from Flushing ; and Messrs. Coe and Hazard from Middleburgh, or the " New Town."
Nov. 25.
Public sentiment was not favorable to the government,
1 Alb. Rec. viii., 53.
239
NEW NETHERLAND.
and the general confidence in its power of protection, and CHA". administration of the affairs of the country, was seriously III. shaken. The inhabitants had lost considerable property, 1653. and were without the means of self-defence. The Indians had not been paid for their lands, and were, in retaliation, having recourse to outrage to enforce justice. Patents which were promised, had been in some cases withheld, in others grossly infringed by grants to favorites within the limits of long established towns. Rights and privileges guarantied by Dutch freedoms-local tribunals and local magistrates-were, in additional instances, denied to other settlements, whilst public laws were made and enacted without the knowledge, consent, or co-operation of the people, who were afterwards punished for an ignorant and unintentional infraction thereof. The country was, moreover, without any representative form of government, whilst in New Amsterdam little or no respect was paid either to the representations or conclusions of the city authorities ; for the Director and Council arbitrarily changed resolutions passed with the concurrence of the Burgomasters and Schepens, in the absence and without the consent of the latter. Symptoms of dissatisfaction marked, therefore, the very organization of this meeting. For, upon the orders of the Director-general having been read, instructing the delegates to communicate, severally, in writing, their opinions as to how and by what means the robberies should be prevented, Ensign Baxter, "and all the English delegates," demanded by what right the Hon'ble Mr. Werckhoven sat there ?' As a delegate, they were informed, from the Council. This was not deemed satisfactory. He should not be acknowledged in that capacity, nor as one of the Council : "they had nothing to do with him;" " nor would they permit the Director-gen- eral nor one of his Council to preside over their body, as he could not protect them." " If," continued they, " the Director-general, acting for the Privileged West India Company, will not protect us, then we are compelled to provide against our own ruin and destruction, and there-
1 This gentleman's patent encroached on the limits of Gravesend.
240
HISTORY OF
BOOK fore, we will not pay any more taxes." Having thus V. delivered themselves, they avowed their readiness to con- 1653. tinue under the allegiance of the States General and the Company, and their disposition " to enter into a firm union with the Burgomasters and Schepens." And hereupon the meeting adjourned, until the afternoon.
At nine o'clock on the following morning the several del- egates, except Messrs. La Montagne and Van Werckhoven, Nov. 27. again assembled. The English deputies demanded of those representing the city, if they were willing to live with them in peace, as friends and brothers ? The latter answered in the affirmative, but stated that they could not enter into any alliance with them until they had communicated with the Director-general and the other courts and villages. Then said the Englishmen, " if the Burgomasters and Sche- pens will not unite with us, we shall enter into a firm union among ourselves on Long Island, for the Director-general affords us no protection."
The delegates from the city were now summoned before Stuyvesant, to whom they reported the overtures that had been made to them. He had no objection that they should co-operate with those from the English towns, " but as they could not outvote the latter now, it was his intention to grant, at the next election, a court of justice to the villages of Amersfoort, Breukelen, and Midwout, so as to possess, with Fort Orange, on all future occasions an equal number of votes."
On the re-assembling of the convention in the evening, Messrs. La Montagne and Van Werckhoven handed in a declaration from the Director-general, wherein he avowed his readiness to protect his subjects with all the means " which God and their liege Lords vouchsafed him." This was considered insufficient. They demanded proofs of his capability, " for if he cannot protect us against sixteen or seventeen men, what can he do against a greater number ?"
Perceiving the serious turn which matters were now taking, Messrs. Krygier and Van der Grist prudently sug- gested the propriety of addressing a remonstrance to the Directors of the West India Company. They promised
241
NEW NETHERLAND.
to warn each other, in the meanwhile, of all threatening CHAP. danger ; to afford mutual assistance, and to live together HI. as friends. Being desirous, however, to learn the opinions 1653. of their fellow-colonists at Midwout, Breukelen and Staten Island, especially as the lateness of the season prevented them obtaining the views of those of Fort Orange, Rensse- laerswyck and the South River, they recommended a further adjournment. The English delegates concurred in these views, and the several parties resolved to meet again, at the same place, on the 10th of December. On the conclusion of this arrangement, the Burgomasters and Schepens, with the English delegates, invited the Director and Council to partake of a collation, which they had caused to be prepared at the house of Pieter Wolfertsen van Couwenhoven. At the termination of the repast, the discussion on public affairs was renewed, and the proposed meeting mentioned. Whether this was well received does not appear. Most probably it was not, for the parties found themselves necessitated to tell the Director, in plain terms, " that they should meet on the tenth of next month ; he might then do as he pleased, and prevent it if he could."
The Burgomasters and Schepens gave formal notice to Nov. 29. the Director and Council of the resolution of the delegates to re-assemble for the purpose of addressing the Directors in Holland, on the subject of the actual state of the country, and " seeing the necessity of such a step," seriously solicited permission to summon the Dutch villages to depute some of their citizens to the proposed convention, to assist in preparing such a remonstrance as may then be deemed necessary for the public good.
Director Stuyvesant embraced the opportunity to com- Dec. 3. ment, at some length and in severe terms, on the transactions of the 26th and 27th November. The refusal of the English delegates to recognize Van Werckhoven, or to admit even the Director-general, or one of his Council, to a seat in the convention, " smelt of rebellion, of contempt of his high authority and commission." The assertion that the Di- rector-general was unwilling to protect them was a false calumny, and they were dared to deny the fact, that armed VOL. II. 16
242
HISTORY OF
BOOK vessels had been sent three times against the robbers, and V. an armed force dispatched also at different times over land 1653. against those marauders. That all this had been insuffi- cient, was owing, not to any neglect on the part of the authorities, but to the circumstance that the colonists, con- trary to the Company's orders and the Director-general's warnings, had settled apart and at a distance from any villages or neighbors, and in localities so remote, the one from the other, that it was impossible to protect them, even if hundreds of soldiers had been enlisted against the robbers, "who often come as friends and neighbors, and are provided with lodgings by the English" themselves. Similar outrages occurred in Fatherland, but loyal and peaceable subjects, there, had never made them a pretext to calumniate their government, much less to refuse pay- ment of their just dues. As to the request that delegates from the Dutch villages be summoned to the proposed convention, the Director-general expressed his doubts whether the result would be as beneficial as was expected. The experience of the past-the altercations during Di- rector Kieft's administration-the misunderstandings of their own day-" which, God help them !" are not yet settled-prove how pregnant with evil are all these assem- blies. Yet as he desired nothing more than the prosperity of the country and the union of the people, " without any distinction of origin," and wished to hold himself harmless before his superiors, and not to be considered too punctil- ious, he consented to the meeting, " under the direction of two of the Council," to agree on a remonstrance to the Patroons, on the actual condition of the country, provided that nothing should be done to prejudice the resolutions by which the conduct of the former delegates had been dis- approved. In conformity with this permission, writs were Dec. 8. issued to the several villages to elect and send delegates to New Amsterdam on the appointed day.
This convention, the most important that had yet been held in New Netherland, assembled, according to order, at the specified time and place. On the call of the roll, delegates answered from New Amsterdam, Breukelen,
243
NEW NETHERLAND.
Flushing, Newtown, Heemstede, Amersfoort, Midwout, CHAP. and Gravesend. Four Dutch and four English towns III. were represented, but in point of origin those speaking the 1653. English language had a majority. This circumstance was, however, in the present alarming crisis, of little moment. The dangers to which the people were exposed affected all alike ; and the grievances of which they com- plained were no respecters of persons. The greatest har- mony and concord therefore prevailed ; so true is it, that the fortuitous circumstances of birth or religion weigh but little with the right thinking and unbiassed masses, except when seized on by those interested in the existence of pub- lic abuses to lead the public mind astray, so as to secure the continuance of a state of things from which the latter derive either honor or profit.
On the second day of the meeting the following remon- Dec. 11. strance to the Director and Council and the States General was agreed to, in the name and on the behalf of the Colo- nies and Villages of the Province of New Netherland :-
"WE acknowledge a paternal government which God and Nature have established in the world for the mainte- nance and preservation of peace, and the good of mankind, not only in conformity to Nature's laws, but in accordance with the rules and precepts of God, to which we consider ourselves bound by His word, and therefore submit.
" The Lord our God having invested their High Mighti- nesses, as His ministers, with power (which we gratefully acknowledge) to promote the welfare of their subjects, in the United Provinces and in the foreign possessions there- unto belonging, and these having, by their power and authority, commissioned, for the same purpose, some sub- altern magistrates, such as the Lords Directors of the Privileged West India Company, whom we acknowledge, together with your Lordships, whose representatives they are, as Lords and Patroons of this place ; we humbly con- ceive that our rights and privileges are the same, har- monizing in every respect with those of Netherland, being a member dependent on that State, and in no wise a people
Dec. 10.
244
HISTORY OF
BOOK conquered or subjugated, but settled here, on a mutual V. covenant and contract entered into with the Lords Patroons, 1653. and with the consent of the natives, the first proprietors of these lands, from whom we purchased the soil with our own funds.
"WE transformed, with immense labor, and at our own expense, a wilderness of woods into a few small villages and cultivated farms. Encouraged by the privileges which we already obtained-the preservation of which we cher- ish, and the increase and amplification, not the abridg- ment, of which we did expect-and by the deep homage and profound respect which we entertain for the govern- ment of the Netherlands ; composed of various nations from different parts of the world ; leaving at our own expense our country and countrymen, we voluntarily repaired under the protection of our sovereign, high and mighty Lords the States General, whom we acknowledge as our Lieges, and being immatriculated into one body, subjected ourselves, as in duty bound, to the general laws of the United Provinces, and all other new orders and ordonnances which by virtue of the authority aforesaid may be published, agreeably to the customs, freedoms, grants and privileges of the Netherlands.
" This being premised, we humbly solicit that this our Remonstrance and Petition may be received and construed favorably and without misinterpretation. We shall, there- fore, frankly declare, with all humbleness, our fear, and the alarm which for some time have broken our spirits and discouraged us in our labors and callings, so that we, being in a wilderness, are unable to promote the prosperity of the country, with the same vigor and affection as hereto- fore ; the reasons whereof are as follow :-
"I. Our apprehension of the establishment of an arbitrary government among us. It is contrary to the first intentions and genuine principles of every well regulated govern- ment, that one or more men should arrogate to themselves the exclusive power to dispose, at will, of the life and prop- erty of any individual, and this by virtue, or under pre- tence, of a law or order which he might fabricate, without the consent, knowledge or approbation of the whole body,
245
NEW NETHERLAND.
their agents or representatives. Hence the enactment, in CHAP. manner aforesaid, of new laws affecting the commonalty,~
III. their lives and property, which is contrary to the granted 1653. privileges of the Netherland government, and odious to every free-born man, and principally so to those whom God has placed under a free state, in newly-settled lands, who are entitled to claim laws, not transcending, but resembling, as near as possible, those of Netherland. We humbly submit that it is one of our privileges, that our consent, or that of our representatives, is necessarily re- quired in the enactment of such laws and orders.
"II. We are usually and every year full of apprehension that the natives of the country, by the murders they com- mit under the pretext that they have not yet been paid for their lands, may commence a new war against us. This causes many calamities and mischiefs to the country, besides great loss and interruption to the inhabitants in their labor. It has, thus far, been out of our power to discover the truth hereof, or to ascertain to what tribe these murderers belong. They are too often disregarded as the acts of far-distant savages, which fills us with daily anxieties, so that we are compelled to look to our own de- fence, as we cannot discover in what manner our lives and property shall be protected, except by our own means.
" III. Officers and magistrates, though by their personal qualifications deserving such honors, are appointed to many places contrary to the laws of Netherland ; several acting without the consent or nomination of the people, whom it most concerns.
"IV. Many orders and proclamations made in days of yore, without the approbation of the country, by the authority alone of the Director and Council, remain oblig- atory. We are, therefore, totally ignorant of what are, or what are not in force, and consequently know not when we transgress these, but commit many offences, in our ignorance, to the imminent ruin of ourselves and families.
"V. On the promises of grants and general patents of privileges and exemptions, various plantations have been made, at a great expense to the inhabitants, through build-
246
HISTORY OF
BOOK ing houses, making fences and tilling and cultivating the V. soil ; especially by those of Middleburgh and Midwout 1653. with their dependencies, besides several other places, who took up many single farms, and solicited the deeds of such lands, but were always put off and disappointed, to their great loss. This creates a suspicion that some innovations are in contemplation, or that it is intended to introduce other conditions, different from former stipulations. .
" VI. Large quantities of lands are granted to some in- dividuals for their private profit, on which a whole village or hamlet of twenty or thirty families could have been established. This, indeed, must, in the end, cause an im- mense loss hereafter to the Patroons, in point of revenue, and impair at present the strength of the province, which, under such circumstances, is incapable of defence, except villages or settlements be planted or formed.
"As we have reduced, for easier reference, all our grievances under six heads, so we renew our allegiance, in the hope that satisfaction shall be granted to the country according to established justice, and all dissensions settled and allayed. As we have unfolded to your Lordships the grievances under which we labor, we shall address our- selves to your wisdom for a remedy. That applied, we shall remain thankful, all further application being needless, which, otherwise, we shall be compelled to renew. Humbly soliciting your Lordships' answer on each point or article, in such wise as to afford us satisfaction, or to cause us to proceed further as God shall direct our steps, we remain your Lordships' suppliant servants, ARENT VAN HATTEM, THOMAS SPICER,
MARTIN KRYGIER,
GEO. BAXTER,
WILLEM BEEKMAN,
J. HUBBARD,
P. WOLFERTSZ. V. COUWENHOVEN, ROBERT COE,
P. L. VAN DER GRIST,
THOMAS HAZARD,
JOHN HICKS,
FRED'K LUBBERTSEN,
TOBIAS FEAKE,
THOMAS SWARTWOUT,
WILLIAM WASHBURN, JAN STRYCKER,
JOHN SOMERS, ELBERT ELBERTS,
PAULUS VAN DER BEECK."
247
NEW NETHERLAND.
This petition having been presented to the Director and CHAP. Council, they requested that a copy of the document should III. be furnished to each member, so as to enable them to give a decisive answer on every part of its contents. An order so singular was met by the observation that, as the original was in the hands of those authorities, they them- selves might, if they saw fit, cause a copy to be made for each of the councillors. The delegates demanded at the same time, "a categorical answer" to each point of their remonstrance, as they were under great expense, and were anxious to know on what they were to depend, so as to regulate their conduct accordingly.
Stuyvesant now threw off the mask. He refused to re- cognize the delegates from Midwout, Breukelen and Amers- foort. These villages had no jurisdiction, and therefore were not entitled to send deputies ; the meeting of the others was illegal, inasmuch as it not only contravened the resolution of the 24th ult. but reversed the orders issued by the Director and Council on the 3d inst. The latter were not, therefore, obliged to give a "categorical answer to an obscure and private remonstrance of a few unqualified delegates who assume, without authority, the name and title of commonalty," and who are now forbid to present any address in that name, to the Director-general " or to anybody else.". If the burgomasters and schepens, or the magistrates of any village, had any petition from their particular locality, he and the Council were ready to answer it " as justice and circumstances might demand."
But though Director Stuyvesant would not return "a categorical answer" to the several representations which the remonstrance contained, he was not disposed to allow that paper to pass away altogether without comment. He dispatched to the convention a long reply. It opened with a sneer, and an insidious attempt to create, by an appeal to national prejudices, a division in the popular camp. " Is there," he asked, appealing to the Burgo- masters, " no one among the Netherlands nation, expert enough to draw up a remonstrance to the Director and Council," " that a foreigner or an Englishman is required
1653. Dec. 12.
248
HISTORY OF
BOOK to dictate what ye have to say ?" "The most antient V. colonie of Manhattan, the colonies of Rensselaerswyck 1653. and Staten Island, and the settlements of Beverwyck and South River, are too prudent to subscribe to all that has been projected by an Englishman."1 "It is very dubious, indeed, if the author, George Baxter, himself understood what he meant ;" for if the rights of the petitioners were, as he represented, the same as those of Netherland, " then, no doubt, they might claim to send delegates to the Assembly of their High Mightinesses," like the other cities and provinces of that republic. It was " an absolute false- hood" that they had purchased the soil from the natives. They could not prove that they had ever purchased " one single foot of land," much less paid for it, " agreeably to the orders of the Directors, and the placards of the Director-general and Council ;" for it was not legal for any individual to purchase land from the Indians without the previous permission of these authorities. As for their expectations of an extension of their privileges, "it must be observed, that those Englishmen, the actors, instigators and leaders of these novelties, actually enjoy greater privileges than the New Netherland exemptions allow to any Dutchman."
Having thus disposed of the preamble to the remon- strance, the Director-general proceeded to its several " points." He understood not what they meant by "an arbitrary government." The Burgomasters and Schepens, with a majority of the petitioners, had been summoned to appear before the Director and Council, and on being
1 Bancroft, in his Hist. U. S., (13th Ed.) ii., 306, 307, has, seemingly for the purpose of supporting a peculiar theory, given a version to the language of the Director-general on this occasion, which is entirely unwarranted by the Rec- ords. " Will you set your names to the visionary notions of the New England man ?" are the words Mr. B. puts in Stuyvesant's mouth. The Director-gene- ral does not call Baxter " a New England man"-he calls him plainly an Eng- lishman, as distinguishing him from a Dutchman, without any reference at all to New England. In Baxter's previous history, we cannot discover any title he has to the name of a " New England man," except the circumstance that he immigrated thither originally, and the fact that he was afterwards driven out of that country for his heterodox opinions. We should not notice this trifling matter, were it not that Mr. Bancroft seems to convey, in a note, that his ver- sion is sanctioned by the Dutch original, which is not the case.
249
NEW NETHERLAND.
asked, " what they understood by an arbitrary govern- CHAP. ment ?" they gave no answer. The remonstrantse had no~ cause to villify the present government. They had volun- 1653. tarily sworn to acknowledge and obey it ; and “if it was more arbitrary than that of Director Kieft, then they ought to prove it." Proofs were also demanded that any indi- vidual had been bereft of his property, contrary to the laws of Fatherland, by the Director and Council, who by their commissions are authorized " to make laws for the regula- tion of the police, commerce, militia, and the country and its preservation," and " these the remonstrants were bound, as good subjects, to obey." It was not the thirst or ambition of authority, but the evil disposition and the irregularities of the people that evoked new laws, and the Director and Council know of no law having been enacted, contrary to those of Fatherland. Besides, it is a matter of fact that in all affairs in which the country at large was interested, the general ordonnances have been always sanctioned by the qualified members of the whole province. The English remonstrants have overrated their privileges ; the Burgo- masters and Schepens may learn from their instructions the extent of their authority, and the other petitioners may obtain the same information from their patents and deeds.
" Would to God that neither the English nor the Dutch had caused a just apprehension of a new war with the Indians, either by fearing them too much, or by deceiving them, or by telling them the present value of an acre of land." On acquiring this last information, the natives concluded that they had not received the full price for their property. The allegation that the savages had committed murders on the pretence that they had not been paid for their land, was put forth in bad faith. "The three murders on Staten Island were committed under the impression that Melyn was a magician, that he had poisoned the Indians, and had sold them bad powder and guns. The savages at the South had, therefore, sworn, pretty generally, to take his life, and those of all the colonists on that island." It was, besides, a contradiction in itself to assert, as the petitioners now did, that those murders were committed because the
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.