USA > New York > History of the state of New York Vol I > Part 40
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The Eight Men counseled active measures against the savages ; for they had been " greatly gladdened by the miraculous arrival of the Blue Cock," and " expected that the field would be taken with between three and four hund- red men."# But "nothing in the least" was done.' Dur- ing the whole summer, "scarce a foot was moved on land, or an oar laid in the water." Some of the Indian prison- ers, who might have done good service as guides, were sent to the Bermudas, "as a present to the English gov- ernor." Others were given to the "oldest and most ex- perienced soldiers," who were improvidently allowed to return to Holland. In the mean time, the savages were quietly left to fish and secure their crops, and no opposi-
Kieft's treasonable inactivity.
* Alb. Rec., ii., 265-267 ; Vertoogh van N. N., 295 ; Bancroft, ii., 304 ; O'Call., i., 311. t Alb. Rec., ii., 261, 262 ; Hol. Doc., iii., 210 ; Vertoogh van N. N., 295 ; Breeden Raedt, 24.
According to Hol. Doc., iii., 187, there was now at Manhattan an available force of four hundred and eighty men, of whom one hundred and thirty had arrived in the "Blue Cock ;" forty-five were old soldiers, fifty were English auxiliaries, fifty-five were sailors, and two hundred were burghers, or freemen.
397
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
tion being offered, they soon showed themselves more CHAP. XI " bold and insolent" than ever before. The " semblance of peace," which Underhill had "patched up" in the 1644. spring, bore but little fruit. Parties of Indians roved about, day and night, over Manhattan Island, killing the Dutch not a thousand paees from Fort Amsterdam; and no one dared " move a foot to fetch a stick of fire-wood without a strong escort."*
Finding Kieft's censurable inactivity still continuing, Cornelis Melyn, the president of the Eight Men, address- 6 August. ed an earnest letter to the States General, urging them to interfere in behalf of the province; and, at the same time, wrote to his friend Van der Horst, to exert, in favor of the people of New Netherland, all the influence which he pos- sessed with the company. Two others of the Eight Men, Hall and Dircksen, in person protested strongly to Kieft against his neglect of duty. The director, at last aroused The direct- to action, dispatched Captain De Fries with a party of the expedition Curacoa soldiers toward the north. Eight savages were north. to the slain ; but, said the men, " for every new enemy we kill, another stands next morning in his place." And the col- onists, finding the summer and autumn nearly gone, now began to anticipate the severities of a winter's campaign, and being forced to wade " through rivers and ereeks, in frost and snow, with their new and naked soldiers, who had resided in warm climates for so many years."t
or sends an
22 October.
The condition of public affairs had now come to such pass, that the Eight Men determined boldly to demand the recall of Kieft, and to insist upon the introduction into New Netherland of the municipal system of the Father- land. It was aseertained at the same time, that Kieft, in his letters to the College of the XIX., " was endeavoring to shift upon the commonalty the origin and cause of the war."# The eight popular representatives, therefore, ad- 28 October. dressed a second memorial to the West India Company, drawn up, in simple but expressive language, by Andries
* Hol. Doc., ili., 206-210.
# Breeden Raedt, 21.
t Ibid., ii., 346 ; iii., 212.
398
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
duct re- viewed
CHAP. XI. Hudde, the town surveyor of Manhattan .* "Our fields 1644. Memorial of the Eight Men to the Company. lie fallow and waste," said the Eight Men ; "our dwell- ings and other buildings are burnt ; not a handful can be either planted or sown this autumn on the deserted places ; the crops which God permitted to come forth during the past summer remain on the fields standing and rotting ; we are burthened with heavy families; we have no means to provide necessaries for wives or children ; and we sit here amidst thousands of Indians and barbarians, from whom we find neither peace nor mercy." "There are among us those who, by the sweat and labor of their hands, for many long years have endeavored, at great ex- pense, to improve their lands and villages ; others, with their private capital, have equipped with all necessaries their own ships, which have been captured by the enemy, though they have continued the voyage with equal zeal, and at considerable cost. Some, again, have come hither with ships independent of the company, freighted with a large quantity of cattle, and with a number of families ; who have erected handsome buildings on the spots. se- lected for their people ; cleared away the trees and the forest; inclosed their plantations, and brought them un- der the plough, so as to be an ornament to the country, and a profit to the proprietors, after their long, laborious Kieft's con- toil. The whole of these now lie in ashes through a fool- ish hankering after war. For all right-thinking men here know that these Indians have lived as lambs among us, until a few years ago ; injuring no man ; affording every assistance to our nation; and, in Director Van Twiller's time (when no supplies were sent for several months), furnishing provisions to several of the company's servants, until, as they state, they received supplies. These hath the director, by various uncalled-for proceedings, from time to time so estranged from us, and so embittered against the Netherlands nation, that we do not believe that any thing will bring them and peace back, unless the Lord, who bends all men's hearts to his will, propitiate their
* Hol. Doc., iii., 204.
399
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
people." "Little or nothing of any account has been done CHAP. XI. here for the country. Every place is going to ruin. Nei- ther counsel nor advice is taken. Men talk of nothing else 1644. but of princely power and sovereignty, about which La Montagne argued a few days ago in a tavern, maintain- ing that the power of the director here was greater, so far as his office and commission were concerned, than that of his highness of Orange, in the Netherlands." After giv- ing many details of the origin and progress of the war ; of the proceedings of the Twelve Men ; of the election of the Eight Men ; of their treatment by Kieft; and of their ef- forts to prevent the imposition of the obnoxious excise du- ties ; they warned the dircetors against relying upon the Kieft's mis- statements about the war, contained in a " book" orna- tions. representa- mented with water-color drawings, which Kieft had sent over. "It contains," said the Eight Men, " as many lies as lines, as we are informed by the minister, and by those who have read it." And, with respect to the statements in that " book," about the animals and the geography of New Netherland, " it would be well to inquire how the director general can so aptly write about those distances and habits, since his honor, during the six or seven years he has been here, has constantly resided on the Manhat- tans, and has never been further from his kitchen and bed- room than the middle of the aforesaid island."
"Honored Lords"-so the Eight Men boldly concluded their memorial-" this is what we have, in the sorrow of our hearts, to complain of ; that one man who has been sent out, sworn and instructed by his Lords and Masters, to whom he is responsible, should dispose here of our lives and property according to his will and pleasure, in a man- ner so arbitrary, that a King would not be suffered legally to do. We shall end here, and commit the matter wholly to our God, who, we pray and heartily trust, will move your Lordships' minds and bless your Lordships' deliber- ations, so that one of these two things may happen-either that a Governor may be speedily sent with a beloved peace to us, or that their Honors will be pleased to permit us to
400
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
1644. The direct- or's recall demanded.
CHAP. XI. return, with wives and children, to our dear Fatherland. For it is impossible ever to settle this country until a dif- ferent system be introduced here, and a new Governor be sent out with more people, who shall settle themselves in suitable places, one near the other, in form of villages and hamlets, and elect, from among themselves, a bailiff, or schout, and schepens, who shall be empowered to send deputies to vote on public affairs with the Director and Council ; so that hereafter the Country may not be again brought into similar danger."*
Free trad- ers at Rens- selaers- wyck.
In the mean time, notwithstanding all the attempts to restrain it, an illicit traffic continued to be carried on at Rensselaerswyck. During the last year, neither the com- pany nor the patroon had " scarcely any trade," while fully three or four thousand furs had been conveyed away by unlicensed traders. "It would be very profitable," wrote Van Curler, " if your Honor could bring about, with a higher hand, that the residents should not come to the colonie to trade." The patroon, following Van Curler's suggestion, determined to act " with a higher hand." He therefore drew up, in the form of a protest, a state- ment of the grievances he had suffered from the free trad- ers, who trafficked against his will with the savages, and even "sought to debauch and pervert" his own colonists. Feeling that he was the "first and oldest" patroon on the North River, he resolved that no one should "presume to abuse" it, to the injury of his acquired rights; and accord- ingly caused a small fort to be erected on Beeren Island, at the southern frontier of the colonie. This post, which commanded both channels of the river, was named "Rens- selaer's Stein." A claim of "Staple right" was set up; and Nicholas Koorn was appointed " Wacht-meester," with directions to levy a toll of five guilders upon all ves- sels, except those of the West India Company, passing up or down the river, and to cause them to strike their colors in homage to the feudal merchant-patroon.i
Fort at Beeren Isl- and.
The pa- troon claims a " Staple right."
* Breeden Raedt, 21; Hol. Doc. iii., 206-222 ; and in O'Call., i., 312-317.
+ Alb. Rec., iv., 26, 46 ; Renss. MSS., in O'Call., i., 465-467. Koorn had formerly been
401
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
The arrogant pretension was soon asserted. The sum- CHAP. XI. mer that the post was established, as Govert Loocker- mans, in his yacht, the Good Hope, was passing down the 1644. July. Loocker- mans re- river from Fort Orange to Manhattan, "a gun without ball" was fired from Rensselaer's Stein ; and Koorn eried fuses to out to the sehipper, "Strike thy colors !" "For whom shall I strike ?" replied Loockermans. "For the staple right of Rensselaer's Stein," answered Koorn from the shore. "I strike for nobody but the Prince of Orange, or those by whom I am employed," retorted the independent Loockermans, as his yacht slowly kept her course. Koorn immediately fired several shots : " the first," says the ree- ord, " went through the sail, and broke the ropes and the ladder ; a second shot passed over us ; and the third, fired by a savage, perforated our prineely colors, about a foot above the head of Looekermans, who kept the colors eon- stantly in his hand."*
The commander of Rensselaer's Stein was immediately 2 August. summoned before the council at Fort Amsterdam, to an- troon's offi- The pa- swer for this bold proceeding. Though he pleaded his pa- moned to cer sum- troon's authority, damages were adjudged against him, Manhattan and he was forbidden to repeat his offense. Van der Huy- gens, the schout-fiscal of New Netherland, at the same time formally protested against the "lawless transactions" October. of the patroon's Wacht-meester. The establishment on Beeren Island, it was alleged, was beyond the limits of Van Rensselaer's colonie ; and " the bold attempt to con- struct there a fort which might command the river, and debar Fort Orange from the free navigation, would be ruin- ous to the interests of the company." Koorn, however, Protest of feeling his importance, promptly replied to Van der Huy- mander of the com- gens' protest. "I call on you," said he, " not to presume laer's Stein. Rensse- to oppose and frustrate my designs on the Beeren Island, IS Nov. to defraud me in any manner, or to eause me any trouble, as it has been the will of their High Mightinesses, the
a sergeant in the West India Company's service at Fort Amsterdam, where, in December, 1638, he was tried, and sentenced to be reduced to the ranks .- Alb. Rec., ii., 35, 36.
* Alb. Rec., ii., 192, 234, 263 ; iii., 219; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., 1., 379, 380.
C c
stop at Rensse- laer's Stein.
402
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XI. States General, and the privileged West India Company, 1644. to invest my patroon and his heir with the right to extend and fortify his colonie, and make it powerful in every re- spect." "I protest against the act of violence and assault committed by the Honorable Lords Majors, which I leave them to settle between themselves and my honorable pa- troon, inasmuch as this step has been taken to keep the canker of free-traders out of his colonie."*
April. Father Bressani captured by the Mo- hawks.
by the Dutch.
Another occasion happened, this summer, to test the' active benevolence of the Dutch. Father Joseph Bressani, while on his way from Quebec to the Huron country, was captured on the Saint Lawrence, by a war party of the Ir- oquois, and conveyed a prisoner to the Mohawk castles. There he suffered even more horrid tortures than those which Jogues had undergone two years before. Yet his life was spared ; and an old squaw, to whom he had been given, took him to the "nearest habitation of the Hol- landers," who, by a large contribution, " satisfied the sav- ages," and ransomed the suffering Jesuit missionary. Aft- Ransomed er being nursed and clothed at Fort Orange, he was sent down the river to Manhattan. There he was hospitably received by Kieft, who caused him to be supplied with clothes, and provided him, as he had Jogues, with a pas- sage to Europe. The director and council also issued a passport, recommending Bressani to the Christian charity of those into whose hands he might happen to fall; and the grateful Jesuit, sailing from Manhattan, safely reached Rochelle toward the end of November. Thus the influ- ence which the Dutch possessed among the Iroquois was effectively used in the cause of humanity ; bigotry was forgotten, while the warm gratitude of the Roman Cath- Gratitude of the Can- ities. olics was secured; and in after years, the Viceroys of Can- ada author- ada did not fail to acknowledge, with characteristic court- esy, the ancient kindness of the colonists of New Nether- land toward the devoted captive missionaries of France.t
20 Sept.
* Alb. Rec., iii., 187, 188 ; ii., N. Y. H. S. Coll., i., 380, 381 ; Hol. Doc., v., 364 ; ii., N Y. H. S. Coll., ii., 330 ; O'Call., i., 344, 345 ; Bancroft, ii., 304.
t Relation, 1643-44; Creuxius, 395-403 ; Charlevoix, i., 258-260 ; Bancroft, iii., 134 ; O'Call., i., 337 ; Lond. Doc., ii., 196 ; N. Y. Col. MSS., iii., 153 ; Macerata Rel., 1653.
403
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
Meanwhile, the disastrous affairs of their suffering prov- CHAP. XI. ince had attracted the grave attention of the Dutch gov- ernment. The letter which the Eight Men had sent over in the autumn of 1643, was no sooner received by the States General than it was referred to the College of the sidered by XIX., with directions to adopt prompt measures for the re- lief of New Netherland. But the West India Company was now almost bankrupt; and the directors, totally un- able to defend their American colonies, were chiefly anx- ious to save themselves from utter ruin by forming a union with the flourishing and powerful East India Company. In reply to the mandate of the States General, they avow- 23 April. ed their sympathy with the " desolate and miserable" col- onists of New Netherland ; but " the long-looked-for profits thence" had not come, and they had no means at hand of sending relief " to the poor inhabitants who have left their Fatherland." And the bankrupt company urged the States General for a subsidy of a million of guilders, to place it " in good, prosperous, and profitable order."*
The States General directed copies of the company's 27 April. application to be communicated to the several States of the provinces. Before any thing was done, however, Me- lyn's urgent letter coming to hand, was immediately re- 20 October. ferred to the delegates to the approaching meeting of the College of the XIX. The delegates were also instructed 22 October. to inform themselves fully about the condition of the prov- General re- The States ince, and especially to examine into the propriety of re- report on quire a full stricting the internal trade of New Netherland to the resi- the prov. dents, as well as into the policy of opening a free trade ince. between Manhattan and Brazil. A full report upon the whole subject was required to be made to the States Gen- eral.t
At the meeting of the College of the XIX., the affairs of New Netherland were fully discussed. The second 28 October bold appeal, which the Eight Men addressed to the com- pany in the autumn, reached the meeting at an opportune moment. It was now felt that the commonalty were in
* Hol. Doc., ii., 329, 330, 332 ; ante, p. 372.
+ Ibid., ii., 337, 346, 348.
1644. Affairs of New Neth- erland con-
the West India Com- pany. 5 April.
the state of
404
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XI. earnest. Either a new director must be speedily sent " with a beloved peace" to New Netherland, or the colo-
1644. nists there must "return with their wives and children to
upon.
lagen pro- visionally appointed to succeed Kieft. 10 Dec.
10 Dec. Kieft's re- their dear Fatherland."* Kieft's recall was, therefore, de- call decided termined upon. But the appointment of a proper success- or was a difficult question. Lubbertus van Dincklagen, who had been dismissed from office by Van Twiller in 1636, had for eight years unsuccessfully urged his claims for arrears of salary. He was, however, "well liked by the Indians," and his former experience in New Nether- Van Dinck- land recommended him for promotion. Van Dincklagen was, therefore, provisionally appointed to succeed Kieft as director. The XIX. also resolved to refer all the papers relating to New Netherland to the company's recently-or- ganized " Rekenkamer," or Bureau of Accounts, with in- structions to prepare a full report upon the condition of the province, and recommend measures for its profit and ad- vancement.t
15 Dec. In a few days the Rekenkamer presented a detailed re- port, which was communicated to the States General. This 28 Dec. Report of the compa- ny's Bu- document is one of the most important State Papers relat- ing to New Netherland. Beginning with a sketch of its reau of Ac- history, from its discovery by the Dutch, through the im- counts. portant epochs of the organization of the company, the set- tlement of the first colonists under May, the establishment of patroonships, the opening of the fur trade, the abuses which followed, the breaking out of the Indian war, and of the deplorable ruin which succeeded, the various reme- dial measures suggested by Kieft and by the commonalty were concisely stated. The director counseled the ex- termination of the Indians, whom he estimated to be only three hundred strong, and asked for a hundred and fifty armed soldiers and munitions of war. The commonalty, on the other hand, supposing the savage forces to amount to several thousands, advised a peace. But "of this they have but little hope, as long as the present administration remains there."
* Hol. Doc., ii., 221; ante, p 398.
t Ibid., ii., 362, 364.
405
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
From all these statements, the Rekenkamer inferred CHAP. XI. that their American province had fallen into ruin and confusion by Kieft's unnecessary war, "without the 1644. knowledge, and much less the order of the XIX., and province. against the will of the commonalty there." According to the books of the Amsterdam Chamber, New Netherland, in place of being a source of profit, had cost the company, from 1626 to 1644, inclusive, " over five hundred and fif- ty thousand guilders, deducting the returns received from there." But as the charter of "Freedoms and Exemp- tions" had promised to protect and defend the colonists, and as improvements in the management of the province were not beyond hope, "the company can not decently or consistently abandon it."
The Bureau of Accounts, therefore, recommended a se- Recom- rics of propositions to the company. The boundary should mendations " the Chamber be at once established between the Dutch and English, of Accounts as, in consequence of their population, they "usurp daily lief of New for the re- more of our territory." Kieft's advice to exterminate the land. Nether- Indians should " by no means be adopted;" but the opin- ion of the commonalty should be followed, and the sav- ages appeased. It would also be proper "to order hith- Kieft to be cr the director and council, who are responsible for that recalled. bloody exploit of the twenty-eighth of February, 1643, to justify and vindicate their administration before the noble Assembly of the XIX." The colonists should be settled Hamlets to in towns, villages, and hamlets, " as the English are in ized. be organ- the habit of doing." Fort Amsterdam, to save expense, Fort Am- should be repaired " with good clay and firm sods," and be repaired. sterdam to a garrison of fifty-three soldiers be constantly maintaincd. The annual salary of the director should be three thousand guilders, and the expense of the whole civil and military establishment of New Netherland twenty thousand guild- ers. A council of three persons should be established, Council to composed of the director as president, and the second and ized. be reorgan. fiscal as counselors adjunct. By this council all cases of police, justice, dignity, and the rights of the company should be decided. In criminal cases, the military com-
State of the
406
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK.
CHAP. XI. mandant should take the place of the fiscal, and "two 1644. capable persons from the commonalty" should be added. As, by the twenty-eighth article of the "Freedoms," each colonie was allowed to depute one or two persons every year to represent it at Manhattan, it was now recommend- ed, " that the said delegates should, moreover, assemble every six months, at the summons of the director and council, for mutual good understanding, and the common advancement of the welfare of the inhabitants." Amster- dam weights and measures should be used throughout New Netherland. The population of the country should be strengthened, and the island of Manhattan first of all Lands to be be occupied, by offering free grants of land to emigrants. freely granted. As many negroes should be introduced from Brazil as the patroons, colonists, and farmers " would be willing to pay for at a fair price." The Indian trade should be reserved exclusively to the patroons, colonists, and free farmers ; No fire- arms to be sold to the savages. but no fire-arms should be sold to the savages. Each col- onist should be obliged to supply himself with a musket Colonists to and side-arms ; and the director should cause an inspec- Trade with tion to be made every six months. A trade should be al- be armed. Brazil to be encourag- ed.
lowed with Brazil ; fisheries, and the manufacture and exportation of salt, should be encouraged ; for while the colonists thus gained advantage, the company would be relieved from large expenses. In order to defray the ad- ditional cost of the proposed establishment for New Neth- erland, it was estimated that an increasing population and a growing trade would readily yield a handsome rev- enue from the recognitions and tolls upon exports and im- ports ; but to collect these, vigilance should be enjoined, and the duties of the revenue officers " should be sharply attended to."*
Recogni- tions to be enforced.
* Hol. Doc., ii., 368-395 ; O'Call., i., 349-354, 418-424.
407
WILLIAM KIEFT, DIRECTOR GENERAL.
CHAPTER XII.
1645-1647.
THE Indian war, which Kieft's recklessness had pro- CHAP. XII voked, was now about to end. During five years, New Netherland had known hardly five months of peace. Man- hattan was nearly depopulated ; while the Indian nations around were still thousands strong, and New England al- ready contained more than fifty thousand souls. Too late Kieft perceived his error ; for a stern voice of warning had come from the Amsterdam Chamber, and the conscience of the director smote him, as he foresaw the end of his rule over the noble province whose interests he had sac- rifieed.
With the opening of the spring, the Indians, who were anxious to plant their corn, desired a peace. Delegates from several of the neighboring tribes eame to Fort Am- sterdam ; and Kieft eagerly coneluded a truee with the 22 April. warriors. The people rejoiced at the prospeet of the end with some Treaty of dangers of which they were weary, and " a grand sa- tribes. of the lute of three guns" was fired from the fort. But many of the savage nations were still hostile. Kieft therefore, by the advice of his eouneil, determined to engage some of the friendly Indians in the interests of the Dutch, and Whiteneywen, the sachem of the Moekgoneeocks on Long Island, was dispatched, with several of his warriors, " to 24 May. beat and destroy the hostile tribes." The saehem's diplo- macy, however, was better than violence. In a few days, he returned to Fort Amsterdam, bearing friendly messa- ges from the chiefs of the tribes along the Sound and near Rockaway, and a pledge that they would no longer " in-
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