TO THE MEMORY OF THE RIGHT REVEREND B. J. MCQUAID, D. D. FIRST BISHOP OF ROCHESTER, N. Y. AND THE REVEREND L. E. LAPHAM, A. B. IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THEIR PATERNAL INTEREST IN OPUS QUOD INSCRIBITUR: Religion in New Netherland, a history of the development of the religious conditions in the Province of New Netherland (1623-1664) BY F. J. ZWIERLEIN, EX AUCTORITATE EMINENTISSIMI ET REVEREN DISSIMI CARDINALIS ARCHIEPISCOPI NIENSIS ET LEGUM ACADEMICARUM MECHLI PRÆ SCRIPTO RECOGNITUM, quum fideI AUT BONIS MORIBUS CONTRARIUM NIHIL CONTINERE VISUM FUERIT, IMPRIMI POTEST. PREFACE Professor Cauchie of the University of Louvain, Belgium, first directed the author to limit his present work of historical research to the field of American Church History. Some results of this study are presented in this book to the University of Louvain as a dissertation to obtain the degree of Docteur ès Sciences Morales et Historiques. The choice of subject was due to the fact, that the author's own State offered the best opportunity for the beginning of such a study, and also to the consideration, that the Belgians as well as the Hollanders of today still feel a great interest in the history of the former province of New Netherland. It has been the author's constant aim to learn in the famous phrase of Ranke, "wie es eigentlich gewesen ist," by as close and extensive a study of documentary sources, as the time and the means at his disposal permitted. While there is room for improvement, there is hardly a statement in this book, which is not amply supported by the best of evidence. The lack of such a systematic study of the religious development of the province of New Netherland with a mistaken conception of the nature of religious liberty V in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century, has been the source of much error in many publications dealing with the beginnings of the State of New York. References to such histories, even when at varience with the main conclusions of this book, have been avoided as much as possible, as the author preferred to present the results of his work in a positive and not in a polemic light. Special thanks are due to the officials in the Hall of Records of Kings County, and in the Hall of Records of New York, to the library staffs of Cornell University, of the Long Island Historical Society, to Mr. D. Versteeg of the Holland Society Library, and to many friends, who were always ready to give advice and assistance. In conclusion the author wishes to express his deep sense of indebtedness to Mr. Leo Kelly, who kindly corrected the proofsheets of this book. St. Bernard's Seminary, Rochester, N. Y., Easter, 1910 |
