USA > New York > New York City > History of New Netherland; or, New York under the Dutch, Vol. II > Part 8
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Nov.30.
The Schout-fiscaal of New Netherland followed. He averred that it was long since notorious that the Director and Council had been treated with disrespect by Van Slechtenhorst. No court of justice in the colonie could pronounce on the present case, even if the Director-general should condescend to appear before such a tribunal. The only question to decide now was, whether Van Slechten- horst had been summoned three times by the Company's commissary in the presence of two credible witnesses ; for it was, by no means, the custom in Holland to serve a
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written summons. It was a base misrepresentation to CHAP. assert that three armed soldiers insolently intruded them -~ IV. selves into the Patroon's house. Van Brugge had knocked 1648 at the door " in a civil manner," and had been admitted by the back way, when he "courteously" demanded the com- mander to exhibit his commission and to furnish him with a copy thereof. This having been refused, a protest was served, according to order, and Van Slechtenhorst sum- moned to appear at Fort Amsterdam. He could have obeyed without inconvenience, as "the river remained open, the winter pleasant, and several vessels sailed up and down, during the whole month of November." Now, however, to remove all doubt, the citation was again re- newed, and the commander was peremptorily ordered to appear at Fort Amsterdam, on the fourth of April next ensuing, by the first sailing vessel, "where he will be in- formed of the complaint against him."1
The Director-general immediately forwarded a report of the whole of this affair to his superiors. The prospect from Fort Orange ought, in his opinion, to be unobstructed, at least within circle of cannon shot : there were plenty of vacant lots along the river, on which the inhabitants could construct their dwellings, yet they persist, "through pride," in building near the walls. But the truth was, it was neither through pride nor obstinacy that the colonists, at this early day, persisted in clinging to Fort Orange. This post supplied them, in their feebleness, with security against the Indians, and they were loth to forego its pro- tection.2
Dutch interests on the South River continued all this while neglected and in an utter state of decay. The Swedes had already destroyed the trading-house, which the former had erected at Schuylkill, and built a fort in its place. Commissary Hudde had reported these facts to the new Director-general, who had already learned that Governor Printz was tampering with the Minquaas, and endeavoring to obtain their consent to the erection of a
! Alb. Rec. v., 72-83, 87-90; vii., 192-198, 204-206, 208, 217-219.
% Ibid, iv., 16.
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BOOK Swedish post in their country, by means of which they IV. would secure an annual trade of from thirty to forty thou- 1648. sand beavers.1
April 4.
The Schuylkill was the high road to that territory, and the Swedes had therefore fortified its mouth. On receipt April of this intelligence the Indians of Passayunck invited the 27. Dutch to build a trading post at that point, and Hudde proceeded without delay to put the project into execution. In testimony of their sincerity, the savages had warned the Swedes away, and " planted on the ground, with their own hands, the standard of the Prince of Orange," which they ordered the Dutch to salute with a salvo of three guns, in token of their having taken possession of the place. Fort Beversreede was about completed when Hendrick Huygens, nephew of the late Director Minuet, and now Swedish Commissary, arrived on the spot with seven or eight men, and enquired by what authority Hudde had erected that building ? "By order of my masters," was the reply, whereupon the Indian chiefs addressed them- selves to the Swedes, and asked by what right had they built there ? " Was it not enough that ye have already stolen Mattinekonk, Kinsessing, the Schuylkill, Kakanken, Upland and other places? Had we come to ye and purchased a tract of land, should we then be justified in taking the next adjoining it, as ye have done, and yet con- tinue to do? By what right do ye prescribe laws to us, the original owners of this soil? Can we not do as we will with our own? Ye have only arrived on the river a few years, and yet ye have taken so much land from us, while they (pointing to the Dutch) have been here thirty years, and have never yet robbed us of any."
Mounce (or Moens) Kling, who commanded the Swedish fort in the vicinity, now made his appearance with twenty- four men, armed with matchlocks. On being informed that it was the intention of the Dutch to complete the building, he ordered his followers to lay down their muskets, take each his axe, "and cut down every tree around or near
1 Alb. Rec. xvii., 268
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the place." This order was forthwith executed, the party CHAP. " destroying even the fruit trees" which Hudde had planted thereabout.
IV. 1648.
Intelligence of this violence having been received at Fort Amsterdam, Vice Director Dinclage and the Honorable La Montagne were commissioned to proceed to the South River. On their arrival, they obtained from the Indian June 7. Sachems a confirmation of the original transfer to the Dutch, of the lands around the Schuylkill, and took public June 10. and lawful possession of the same.1 The commissioners then sailed to Tinnecum, Printz's head-quarters, where, though they experienced a rather discourteous reception, they protested against the Swedish Governor, for having illegally possessed himself of the Company's lands.
Deeds for settlement on the Schuylkill were now granted to divers Dutchmen, and Hans Jacobsen, one of these, pro- ceeded to make improvements. He had not however com- pleted his house, when Printz's son arrested his further July 2. progress by pulling down and burning the building, adding, " if he came there again and dared to build, he should carry away with him a good drubbing." No better fortune awaited one Thomas Broen, who made a similar attempt. He had not been three hours on the ground, when a Swedish sergeant, accompanied by a number of men, broke
1 Hol. Doc. viii., 55, contains this confirmation, of which the following is a translation : " We the undersigned, Amattehoorn, Alebackinne, Sinquees, rulers over the territories and lands lying on and around the Schuylkill, called Armen- veruis, declare well and truly, that we sold to Arent Corssen the Schuylkill and adjoining lands for certain cargoes, which were not paid to us in full ; but, whereas we are now fully satisfied therefor, &c., the aforesaid chiefs do hereby grant a full and irrevocable transfer thereof, confirming the aforesaid sale, and are prepared on all occasions to confirm this, and to free it from all contradic- tion and gainsay, to be made by any one against the same, &c. Thus done ; and, in testimony of the truth, signed by us Natives in presence of the under- written witnesses. Actum in Fort Beversreede in the South River of New Netherland ; was subscribed-the mark of Amattehoorn ; the mark of Sinquees ; the mark of Alebackinne ; the mark of Michecksouwabe ; the mark of Quiron- queckonck ; the mark of Kaucke; and the mark of Walpackvouck. In pres- ence of us subscribing witnesses, signed, Augustyn Heermans, Govert Loock- ermans, Juriaen Blanck, Cornelis Jansen Coele, Sander Leendertsen, all witnesses to the first contract. Lower stood, In presence of us the Commis- sioners, Councillors, signed, L. van Dinclage, La Montagne. By order of the Worshipful Councillors ; signed, A. Hudde. Underneath, Agrees with the origi- nal, and was signed, Cornelis van Tienhoven, Secretary."
VOL. II. 6
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BOOK IV. up his settlement, and ordered him to quit, or they should beat him off.
1648. Commissary Hudde was now summoned to the Manhat- Sep. 8. tans, and on his arrival reported the condition in which he Sep. 16. had left things on the Delaware. Intelligence followed him overland, that the Swedes had, shortly after his depart- ure, erected a stockade thirty feet long by twenty in breadth, right in front of Fort Beversreede, between the river and the latter post, "the back gable of their house being only twelve feet from the gate of our fort." The Dutch were thus insultingly cut off from even a view of the Schuylkill. They were moreover dispossessed of all the land around the post which they had planted with maize, so that they were not left enough for even a small garden. To vindicate Dutch honor and to maintain Dutch rights, to defend Forts Nassau and Beversreede, the Company had only six able-bodied men at this time on the river. . The Swedes consequently had it all their own way, and, certes, they had not much to contend against.
If the purpose was ever entertained to colonize the South River, it was full time that it were carried into effect. The Swedes were monopolizing all the trade, and the Dutch commissary had no means to prevent them. It was therefore determined to effect by others what the Company could not accomplish of itself. An association was formed, consisting of Symen Root, Cornelis Mauritzen, Peter Har- mansen, Andries Hudde, Alexander Boyer and David Davidsen, to whom patents were issued, as in 1646, anthorizing them to commence a settlement at a place called Mastmaker's Corner.1
Oct. 5. These individuals departed from the Manhattans in the Oct. 15. beginning, and arrived at the South River about the middle, of October. They learned that the Swedes had torn down the palisades of the newly erected Dutch fort. These
1 Acrelius, referring to these grants, says, that this company was authorized to purchase from the Indians a piece of land from Ancocus creek, (in West Jersey, about 12 or 13 miles above Philadelphia,) to Tennecongh ; that they took a deed of the same, but on condition of surrendering their right to the govern- ment if desired, on receiving the sum paid. This is corroborated by Hudde's letter, Alb. Rec. xvii., 269.
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were repaired, but again destroyed. Nothing deterred CHAP. by this opposition, they purchased the land from the ~ IV. natives, and commenced their settlement.1 But Swen 1648. Schute, the Swedish Lieutenant, protested, and expressed his determination not to allow a single post to be set in the ground, or a tree to be cut, such being his orders from Printz. He accordingly ordered his men to destroy all the building materials, which they did, " using their swords instead of axes." Hudde endeavored, by reasoning, to Nov. 5. stay the violence ; but the Swedish Lieutenant responded by calling him " a villain and a rascal ; as for his Governor, he cared not for him." Boyer took fire at this abuse. " You must be a villain yourself to slander a man thus to his face." Schute in a moment was in Boyer's hair. Further mischief would have, doubtless, followed, had not the more sensible of the bystanders interfered. Having Nov. 7. " no other arms than paper," Hudde sent Printz another protest "against this act, which must foster bitterness and rancor, instead of conciliating animosities among neigh- bors who ought to live in peace, as we have always been inclined to do ; carefully avoiding whatever might disturb harmony, though opportunities enough were offered to indulge such propensities." Adriaen van Tienhoven, " clerk of the court on the South River," reported to Stuy- Nov. 9. vesant the particulars of the whole outrage, "and so it happened that Symen Root's house could not be completed." Advices were forwarded, at the same time, that the Dutch commerce in this quarter was nearly spoiled, as they " were obliged to give two fathom of white and one of black wam- pum for a beaver, and one fathom of cloth for two beavers ; every fathom of wampum being equal to three ells." This trade was considered ruinous, " for the Indians always take the largest and tallest among them to trade with us."2
1 " Of which purchase and the names of the lands, further cognizance may be taken from the Letters Patent, and transfers which were then made of it, and which have been deposited in the Secretary's Office at New Amsterdam ; so too the names of the chief settlers." Alb. Rec. xviii., 270.
2 Alb. Rec. iii., 257; v., 1, 2, 5-8, 70, 71 ; vii., 206 ; xvii., 338-348. Hol. Doc. viii., 35, 36, 57. Acrelius, History N Sweden. In Van der Kemp's Translation, Hudde's last protest is dated 7th " September." This is an error; it ought to be November. The error has been copied by all who have followed Van der Kemp.
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HISTORY OF
CHAPTER V.
Melyn arrives at New Amsterdam-The commonalty meet in the church-Let- ter from their High Mightinesses proposed to be read-Scuffle ensues-Seal torn off-Stuyvesant summoned to appear at the Hague-Melyn demands a written answer from the Director-general-Reply of the Council-Melyn's son-in-law forbidden to visit the South River-Protest against the Director- general-The latter's letter to the States General-Sends agents to the Hague-Melyn also returns thither-The Nine Men propose again to send a remonstrance to Holland-Stuyvesant calls on them to communicate their grievances to him-They are not inclined to comply-Go from house to house to learn the sentiments of the commonalty-Consequent rupture between them and the Director-general-The "Bellwethers" prosecuted-Delegates from the militia and citizens called together-The Nine Men prepare a remonstrance -Adriaen van der Donck employed for that purpose-Stuyvesant arrests him and seizes his papers-The Vice Director protests against Stuyvesant-Fur- ther proceedings-Van der Donck expelled the Council and the board of the Nine Men-The Prince William arrives with arms for the Indians-Conse- quent excitement-Stuyvesant explains his conduct-Council satisfied-The Directors at Amsterdam censure him-Impediments thrown in the way of the remonstrants-Dominie Backerus resigns his charge-Returns to Holland- Delegates sent by the commonalty to the Hague-A Dutch setiler killed by the Indians-The Director-general concludes a treaty with the Hackensacks -Speech of the Sachem-The Rev. Mr. Megapolensis appointed Minister at New Amsterdam.
BOOK IV. ARMED with a summons which no Dutch subject dare disregard, Cornelis Melyn, so recently banished in disgrace, 1649. returned now in triumph to New Netherland, and with the opening of the new year, presented to Stuyvesant the mandatory dispatches from the States General and the Prince of Orange.1 The commonalty of the capital and Mar. S. surrounding villages being assembled some weeks after- wards in the church, on the invitation of the Director- general, the Patroon of Staten Island demanded that their High Mightinesses' letter be read and explained to the people, through the Nine Men. Considerable excitement
1 Roger Williams, writing to John Winthrop, Jr., December, 1648, says : " Skipper Isaac and Moline, (Melyn,) are come into the bay with a Dutch ship ; and (as it is said) have brought letters from the States, to call home this present Dutch Governor, to answer many complaints, both from Dutch and English, against him. 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. ix., 277.
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and some high words ensued. The point, however, was CHAP. V. at length conceded, and Arnoldus van Hardenberg, one of~ that board, received the mandamus for that purpose from Melyn. The Director, hereupon, demanded a copy of the paper, and snatched the original from Van Hardenberg's hands. In the scuffle the seal was torn off. Melyn now offered the Director-general a copy of the instrument, whereupon the latter was induced, by the interference of some of the bystanders, to return the original, which was then read, together with the summons commanding Stuy- vesant to appear, without delay, either personally or by attorney, at the Hague. "I honor the States, and shall obey their commands," was his reply ; "I shall send an attorney to sustain the sentence that was pronounced." This verbal answer was not considered sufficient. Melyn demanded a written reply, but this neither Stuyvesant nor his secretary would give. Similar summons were served March on the several members of the Council, and elicited satis- 16. factory or unsatisfactory answers, according as the parties were friendly or unfriendly to the appellant. Vice Di- rector Dinclage frankly acknowledged that he had been deceived throughout the whole of the proceedings. It had been ruled on the trial that Melyn and Kuyter had not been empowered nor qualified to write on public affairs. On the contrary, various documents and affidavits had been produced to their prejudice, whereby he had been induced to vote against them, whilst affidavits favorable to them had been carefully suppressed. La Montagne would answer when he should learn Melyn's reasons for summon- ing him; Newton did not understand the matter; Van Dyck insisted that his acts were merely official, and that he was no party in the case. Others gave other excuses, whilst Van Tienhoven refused to give any answer what- March soever. 23.
The season was now advanced, and the ill-feeling enter- tained by Stuyvesant towards the Patroon of Staten Island experienced no abatement. On the contrary, it extended to all his connections. Jacob Loper, his son-in-law, pre- vious to this a captain in the Dutch service at Curaçoa,
1649.
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HISTORY OF
BOOK applied for permission to trade to the South River. Stuy- IV. vesant opposed granting the license, on the ground that the 1649. Directors at Amsterdam had averred that Melyn would do all June 14. in his power to injure the Company with the Swedish colony. The Vice Director and La Montagne now attempted to plead in favor of the petitioner. But Stuyvesant was not to be moved. Melyn had summoned him to appear at the Hague to defend himself, and "Loper had married the daughter of the said Melyn." "But," demanded the other councillors, "will you visit the sins of the father on the son ?" " This time it cannot be otherwise," was the reply ; " he shall not go !"
July 29.
Baffled, now, in obtaining justice, Melyn drew up a strong protest against the Director-general, calling on him again to appear at the Hague, but warning him, at the same time, that one " criminal" (meaning Van Tienhoven) could not appear for another. He demanded copies of all affidavits, papers, and documents which had already been refused him ; and, in case these papers were again denied, he objected against their being produced in Holland, and protested against all losses and damages which he might sustain by Stuyvesant's acts. This " irreverent pro- Aug. 1. test" was served by Van der Donck and Van Hardenberg on Stuyvesant's wife. But it elicited no reply from the Aug. 9. Director-general, who maintained that he was not bound to make any restitution to Melyn, since he had not received anything from him, nor any reparation, whilst the cause was in appeal. He did not consider himself responsible for any damages or loss, inasmuch as he did not require Melyn to pay any costs, nor to return, anew, to Fatherland. "We give and grant him free use and quiet possession of his lands and houses, so long as the case is undecided. God and the judge can best tell who is the criminal." A copy of the sentence pronounced on the appellant had been com- municated ; the other papers in the case would be furnished, " according to the precedence and knowledge of the judge as to what affidavits were necessary-as to whether these were legally taken, or only clandestinely introduced to affront and insult the judge ;" a discrimination, by the way,
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subversive of all the advantages expected from an appeal CHAP. to a superior tribunal ; for it would deprive the court of V. last resort of the means of reviewing the whole of the pro- 1649. ceedings on both sides, and virtually place the complainant and his interests at the mercy of the tribunal from whose decision he appealed. The Director-general finally stated, that he could not oblige the other parties to appear at the Hague, " as this did not quadrate with the mandamus"- a decision in which the other members of the Council readily coincided, inasmuch as it relieved them from all the trouble and vexation which such an appearance would necessarily entail.
The rebuke implied on his administration by the suspen- sion of the first sentence which he had, with so much circumstance, pronounced, and by the summons to sustain and defend that judgment, was felt acutely by the Director- general. In acknowledging the receipt of their orders, he took occasion to thank their High Mightinesses for Aug. 10. having kept one ear open, especially as the papers relating to his defence were lost in the unfortunate Princess. The safe conduct granted to Melyn had rendered the English, he represented, more bold in their claims regarding the limits, and his government more unpopular with them. Melyn had not only pretended that he was empowered to send the Director-general home in chains ; he had reported, that their High Mightinesses were surprised that the people of New Haven had not dragged him to the nearest tree, and there hanged him, for having cut the St. Beninio out of their harbor, and had, moreover, given out, that the Director-general had sent to Holland for seven or eight hundred soldiers, in order to wage war against the people of New England. Stuyvesant next complained in strong terms of Melyn's mutinous and unbecoming demeanor in the church, to the great scandal of his authority and com- mission, and to the imminent danger of causing bloodshed had he, the Director-general, not interfered. He referred to the circulation of rumors that the West India Company was bankrupt, and emphatically declared, that he had rather never have received their High Mightinesses' com-
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HISTORY OF
BOOK mission, nor sworn fidelity to them, nor been empowered IV. to administer civil and criminal justice, than to have, 1649. " on a base petition," had his commission, authority and jursidiction vilified in the eyes both of neighbors and subjects, and charges so serious debated and decided on ex parte representations. He protested he had done no act to injure the people, or damage the honor either of Father- land or its authorities. He had only conformed to the law ; and confiding in their High Mightinesses' wisdom, he referred them to the maxim laid down by Justinian :- " Omnia sapere et in nullo penitus peccare, plus Deitatis quam humanitatis, est." He avowed his willingness to obey their High Mightinesses' summons, and to answer personally before them for his acts, were he discharged by the Com- pany, " especially as no person could send a better messen- ger than himself." But under existing circumstances, it was his intention to send an attorney. He called God to witness that he coveted no man's injury or ruin, but desired to maintain a peaceable and God-acceptable government. He feared, however, that their High Mightinesses' policy, in the present instance, would have the effect of encouraging appeals against every sentence, "either out of hate to the judge, or for the purpose of insulting him." " It is," he concluded, " a thing unexampled in my experience that a subaltern judge, administering justice to the best of his ability, on a particular question, should, instead of the suc- cessful party, be subject to complaint and prosecution for the restitution of money." As for the sentence against Melyn, that, he said, was not passed so much for having remonstrated against the war, and on public affairs, as for special insults and abusive words made use of against his lawful superiors.
Agreeably to the determination expressed in this letter, Secretary Van Tienhoven and Jan Jansen Dam were sent to the Hague to justify Stuyvesant's conduct ; and thither Melyn again returned, with his complaints, "weary of suffering, without any fault of his, in these labyrinths, to the great injury of his affairs, his people and his chldren."1
1 Hol. Doc. iv., 8-19; v., 66, 82-105. Alb. Rec. vii., 220, 245, 216.
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NEW NETHERLAND.
Though the return of Melyn to New Netherland had not CHAP. been crowned with all the success which he had antici-
V. pated, his visit was productive of anything but peace and 1649. good consequences to the Director-general. The success of his complaint furnished conclusive evidence that the States General were willing to listen to those of the colonists, and to afford them every sympathy. The newly elected Nine Men,1 therefore, turned their attention, with renewed zeal, to the necessity of sending a delegation to Holland. This project had, thus far, been postponed from day to day, in the expectation that the Company would in- troduce reform in the province. But matters becoming only worse, the board communicated their intention to the Director, and requested leave to consult the commonalty on the subject. This proposal was not well received. They were called on to communicate their grievances to the Executive, as in whatever they proposed they should obey its orders. This they were disinclined to do. Such commands were not based on any sound reason, and a compliance with them would be in direct opposition to the welfare of the country, which by their oaths they were bound to promote to the best of their ability and knowl- edge. Taking advantage, however, of what they looked upon as an implied recommendation to inquire how far the citizens generally countenanced the project, and by whom the expenses necessarily attendant thereon would be de- frayed, several members of the popular party undertook to go from house to house to collect the opinions of the com- monalty. " From this time the breast of the Director- general became inflamed with rage" and bitter hatred against all concerned in the proceeding. Though these persons had been hitherto esteemed as "the honestest, fittest, most experienced and most godly in the community," no epithets were now too bad for them; nay, "hanging was too good for them." Divers intrigues were set on
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