"That the fort is not properly repaired does not concern the inhabitants. It is not their domain, but the Company's. They are willing to be protected by good forts and garrisons belonging to the Company without furnishing any aid or assistance by labor or money for the purpose; but it appears they are not willing to see a fort well fortified and properly garrisoned, from the apprehension that malevolent and seditious persons will be better punished, which they call cruelty.

"Had the Director not been compelled to provide the garrisons of New Netherland and Curaçoa with provisions, clothing and pay, the fort would, doubtless, have been completed.

"Against whom has Director Stuyvesant personally made a question without reason or cause?

"A present of maize or Indian Corn they call a contribution; but a present is never received from the Indians without its being doubly paid for, as these people, being very covetous, throw out a herring for a codfish, as every body who knows the Indians can bear witness.

"Francis Doughty, father-in-law of Adrian van der Donk, and an English minister, was allowed a colony at Mestpacht, not for himself alone as patroon, but for him and his associates, dwelling in Rhode Island, at Cohanock and other places, from whom he had a power of attorney, and of whom a Mr. Smith was one of the principal; for the said minister had scarcely any means of himself to build even a hovel, let alone to people a colony at his own expense; but was to be employed as minister by his associates, who were to establish him on a farm in the said colony, for which he would discharge ministerial duties among them, and live upon the profits of the farm.

"Coming to the Manhatans to live during the war he was permitted by the English dwelling about there to officiate for them as minister; and they were bound to maintain him without either the Director or the Company being liable to any charge therefor. The English not giving him wherewith to live on, two collections were made among the Dutch and English by means of which he lived at the Manhatans.

"The said colony of Mespacht was never confiscated, as is shown by the owners, still living there, who were interested in the colony with Doughty; but as Doughty wished to hinder population, and to permit no one to build in the colon, unless he were willing to pay a certain amount of money down for every morgen of land, and a certain yearly sum in addition in the nature of ground-rent, and also sought to have a property therein distinct from the others interested in the colony, the Director and Council, (Mr. Smith especially having complained,) determined that the associates might enter upon their property,-the farm and lands which Doughty possessed being reserved to him; so that he has suffered no loss or damage thereby. This I could prove, were it not that the documents are in New Netherland and not here.

"There are no clauses inserted in the ground-briefs, contrary to the exemptions, but the words nog te beramen (hereafter to be imposed) can be left out of the ground-briefs, if they be deemed offensive.

"Stuyvesant has never disputed in court, but as president put proper interrogatories to the parties and delivered the judgment of the court about which the malevolent complain; but it must be proven that any one has been wronged by Stuyvesant in court.

"As to what relates to the second, (Vice Director) Dinclagen, let him settle his own matters.

"It can be shown that Brian Newton not only understands the Dutch tongue, but also speaks it, so that their charge, that Newton does not understand the Director's language, is untrue. All the other slanders and calumnies uttered against the remaining officers should be required to be proven.

"It is true that in New Netherland, a certain discourse was had to the effect that there was no appeal from a judgment in New Netherland pronounced on the island of Manhatans, founded on the exemptions by which the island of Manhatans was established as the capital of all the surrounding colonies, and also that there had

never been a case in which an appeal from New Netherland had been entertained by Their High Mightinesses. It had been petitioned for when Hendrick Jansen Snyder, Laurens Cornelissen, and others, many years ago, were banished from New Netherland. It would be a very strange thing if the officers of the company could banish nobody from the country, while the officers of the colony of Renselaerswyck, who are subordinate to the company, can banish absolutely from the colony whomever they may deem advisable for the good of the colony, and permit no one to dwell there unless with their approbation and upon certain conditions, some of which are as follows: nobody in the first place can possess a foot of land of his own, but is obliged to take upon rent all the land which he cultivates. When a house is erected he is obliged to pay an annual groundrent in beavers, and so also must the boors, for which they allow them free trade, as they call it. Where is there an inhabitant under the jurisdiction of the Company who expends or lays out any thing for trade or land? All the farms are con veyed in fee, subject to the clause beraamt ofte nog te beramen, (taxes imposed or to be imposed.)

"The English minister Francis Doughty has never been in the service of the company, wherefore it was not indebted to him; but his English congregation are bound to pay him, as may be proven in New Netherland.

"The Company has advanced the said minister, from time to time, goods and necessaries of life amounting to about 1100 guilders, as the books of the colony can show, which he has not yet paid, and which he claims he should not pay. Whether or not the Director has desired a compromise with Doughty, I do not know.

"Director Stuyvesant, when he came to New Netherland, endeavored according to his orders to stop in a proper manner the contraband trade in guns, powder and lead. The people of the colony of Renselaerwyck understanding this, sent a letter to the Director, requesting moderation, especially, as they said, if that trade were entirely abolished all the christians in the colony would run great danger of being murdered, as may more at large be seen by the contents of their petition.

"The Director and Council taking the request into consideration, and looking further into the consequences, resolved that guns and powder, to a limited extent, be sparingly furnished by the Commissary at Fort Orange, on account of the Company, taking good care that no supply should be carried by the boats navigating the river, unless in pursuance of a further order. It is here to be observed that the Director, in order to keep the colony out of danger, has permitted some arms to be furnished at the fort. Nobody can prove that the Director has sold or permitted to be sold, any thing contraband, for his own private benefit. That the Director has permitted some guns to be seized, has happened because they brought with them no license pursuant to the order of the company, and they would under such pretences have been able to bring many guns. The Director has paid for every one that was seized, sixteen guilders, although it did not cost in this country more than eight or nine guilders.

"It is true that a case of guns was brought over by Vastrick, by order of Director Stuyvesant, in which there were thirty guns, which the Director, with the knowledge of the Second (Vice Director, Dincklagen,) and Fiscal, permitted to be landed in the full light of day, which guns were delivered to Commissary Keyser with orders to sell them to the Netherlanders who had no arms, in order that in time of need they might defend themselves, which Keyser has done; and it will appear by his accounts where these guns are. If there were any more guns in the ship it was unknown to the Director. The Fiscal, whose business it was, should have seen to it and inspected the ship; and these accusers should have shown that the Fiscal had neglected to make the search as it ought to have been done.

Jacob Reinsen and Jacob Schermerhorn were a firm of merchants from Waterland, one of whom, Jacob Schermerhorn, was at Fort Orange, the other, Jacob Reintjes, was at Fort Amsterdam, who there bought powder, lead and guns, and sent them up to Schermerhorn, who supplied the Indians. It so hap

pened that the Company's corporal, Govert Barent, having in charge such of the arms of the Company as required to be repaired or cleaned, sold to the before named Jacob Reintjes, guns, locks, gun barrels, &c., as by Jacob Reintjes' own acknowledged letters, written to his partner long before this came to light, and by the information of the corporal, can be proven. The corporal, seduced by the solicitation of Jacob Reintjes, sold him the arms as often as desired, though the latter knew that the guns and gun barrels belonged to the Company, and not to the corporal. Therefore a parcel of peltries, (as may be seen in the accounts,) bought, as appeared from the letters, with contraband goods, was confiscated. As the said Jacob Reintjes has been in this country since the confiscation, he would have made complaint if he had not been guilty, especially as he was sufficiently urged to do so by the enemies of the Company and of the Director, but his own letters were witnesses against him.

"Joost de Backer being accused by the above named corporal of having bought gun locks and gun barrels from him, and the first information having proved correct, he was therefore taken into custody, and his house searched according to law, in which was found a gun of the Company; wherefore he gave security (to answer,) for the claim of the Fiscal.

"As the English of New England protected among them all fugitives who came to them from the Manhatans without the passport required by the usage of the country, whether persons in the service of the Company or freemen, and took them into their service, it was therefore sought by commissioners to induce the English to restore the fugitives according to an agreement previously made with Governors Eaton and Hopkins, but as Governor Eaton persisted in refusing to send back the runaways, although earnestly solicited to do so, the Director and Council, according to a previous resolution, issued a proclamation that all persons who should come from the province of New Haven (all the others excepted) to New Netherland should be protected; which was a retaliatory measure. As the Governor permitted some of the fugitives to come back to us, the Director and Council annulled the order, and since then matters have gone on peaceably, the same as before the dispute about the boundaries.

"Nobody's goods are confiscated in New Netherland without great reason; and if any one feels aggrieved about it, the Director will be prepared to furnish an answer. That ships or shipmasters are afraid of confiscation and therefore do not come to New Netherland is probable, for nobody can come to New Netherland without a license or permit. Whoever has this, and does not violate his agreement, and has properly entered his goods, need not be afraid of confiscation; but all smugglers and persons who sail with two commissions may well be. "All those who were indebted to the Company were warned by the Director and Council to pay the debts left uncollected by the late William Kieft, and as some could, and others could not well pay, no one was compelled to pay; but these debts, amounting to 30,000 guilders, made many who did not wish to pay, angry and insolent, (especially as the Company now had nothing in that country to sell them on credit,) and it seemed that some sought to pay after the Brazil fashion.*

"The memorialists have requested that the people should not be oppressed, which, however, has never been the case, but they would be right glad to see that the Company dunned nobody, nor demanded their own, yet paid their creditors. It will appear by the account books of the Company that the debts were not contracted during the war, but before it. The Company has assisted the inhabitants, who were poor and burdened with wives and children, with clothing, houses, cattle, land, &c., and from time to time charged them in account, in hopes of their being able at some time to pay for them.

"If the taxes of New England, before spoken of, be compared with those of New Netherland, it will be found that those of New England are a greater burden upon that country than the taxes of New Netherland are upon our people.

This is an allusion to the recent lost by the Company of Brazil, which had been taken from them by the Portuguese, whereby their debtors there got rid of their debts.

"The wine excise of one stiver per can, was first laid in the year 1647. "The beer excise of three guilders per tun, was imposed by Keift in 1644, and is paid by the tapster, and not by the burgher.

"The recognition of eight in a hundred upon imported beaver skins, does not come out of the inhabitants, but out of the trader, who is bound to pay it according to contract.

"The Director has always shown that he was desirous and pleased to see a deputation from the commonalty, who should seek, in the Fatherland, from the Company as patrons, and the Lords States as sovereigns, the following: population, settlement of boundaries, reduction of charges upon New Netherland tobacco and other productions, means of transporting people, permanent and solid privileges, &c.

For which purpose he has always lent a helping hand; but the remonstrants have secretly gone round exciting some of the commonalty, and by that means obtained a clandestine and secret subscription, as is to be seen by their remonstrance, designed for no other object than to render the Company-their patrons and the officers in New Netherland odious before Their High Mightinesses, so that the Company might be deprived of the jus patronatus and be still further injured.

The remonstrants say that we had relied upon the English, and by means of them sought to divert the college, (as they call it,) which is untrue, as appears by the propositions made to them. But it is here to be observed that the English, living under the protection of the Netherlanders, having taken the oath of allegiance and being domiciliated and settled in New Netherland, are to be considered citizens of the country. These persons have always been opposed to them, since the English as well as they had a right to say something in relation to the deputation, and would not consent to all their calumnies and slanders, but looked to the good of the commonalty and of the inhabitants.

"It was never written in a letter upon their solicitation that they might secretly go and speak to the commonalty. The intention of the Director was to cause them to be called together at his own time, as opportunity should offer, at which time they might speak to the commonalty publicly about the deputation. The Director was not obliged, as they say, to call the commonalty immediately together. It was to be considered by him at what time each one could conveniently come from home without loss, especially as some lived at a distance in the country, &c.

"That they have not been willing to communicate, was because all whom they had slandered would have been able to have provided themselves with the means of defence, and made the contrary appear, and in that case could have produced something from some of them. And since the Director and those connected with the administration in New Netherland are very much wronged and defamed, I desire time in order to wait for opposing documents from New Netherland, if it be necessary.

"Vander Donk and his associates say that the Director instituted suits against some persons. The Director going to the house of Michael Jansen, (one of the signers of the remonstrance,) was warned by the said Michael and Thomas Hall, saying, there was within it a scandalous journal of Adrian van der Donck; which journal the Director took with him, and on account of the slanders which were contained in it against Their High Mightinesses and private individuais, Van der Donck was arrested at his lodgings and proof of what he had written demanded, but it was dispensed with on the application and solicitation of others.

During the adininistration both of Kieft and of Stuyvesant, it was by a placard published and posted, that no attestation or other public writing should be valid before a court in Netherland, unless it were written by the secretary. This was not done in order that there should be no testimony, (against the Director,) but upon this consideration, that most of the people living in Netherland are country or seafaring men, and summon each other frequently for small matters before the court, while many of them can neither read nor write, and neither testify intelligibly nor produce written evidence, and if some do produce it, sometimes it is

written by a sailor or a boor, and is often wholly indistinct and repugnant to the meaning of those who had it written or who made the statement; consequently the Director and Council could not know the truth of matters as was proper and as justice demanded, &c. No body has been arrested except Van der Donk for writing the journal, and Augustus Heermans, the agent of Gabri, because he refused to exhibit the writings drawn up by the Nine Men, which were reported to the Director, who had been for them many times like a boy.

66

Upon the first point of redress, as they call it, the remonstrants advise, that the Company should abandon the country. What frivolous advice this is! The Company have at their own expense conveyed cattle and many persons thither, built forts, protected many people who were poor and needy emigrating from Holland, and provided them with provisions and clothing; and now when some of them have a little more than they can eat up in a day, they wish to be released from the authority of their benefactors, and without paying if they could; a sign of gross ingratitude.

"Hitherto the country has been nothing but expense to the Company, and now when it can provide for itself and yield for the future some profit to the Company, these people are not willing to pay the tenth which they are bound honestly to pay when called upon after the expiration of the ten years, pursuant to the exemptions.

"Upon the second point they say that provision should be made for ecclesiastical and municipal property, church services, an orphan asylum and an almshouse. If they are such philanthropists as they appear, let them lead the way in generous contributions for such laudable objects, and not complain when the Directors have endeavored to make collections for the church and school. What complaints would have been made if the Director had undertaken to make collections for an almshouse and an orphan asylum. The service of the church will not be suspended, although Dominie Johannes Backerus has returned, who has been there more than twenty-seven months. His place is supplied by a learned and godly minister who has no interpreter when he defends the Reformed Religion against any minister of our neighbors, the English Brownists.*

"The foregoing are the points which require any answer. We will only add some description of the persons who have signed the remonstrance and who are the following;

"Adrian van der Donk has been about eight years in New Netherland. He went there in the service of the proprietors of the colony of Renselaerswyck as an officer, but did not long continue such, though he lived in that colony till 1646. "Arnoldus Van Hardenburgh accompanied Hay Jansen to New Netherland, in the year 1644, with a cargo for his brother. He has never to our knowledge suffered any loss or damage in New Netherland, but has known how to charge the commonalty well for his goods.

Augustyn Heermans went by the authority of Enkhuizen,† being then as he still is, the agent of Gabrie, in trading business.

"Jacob van Couwenhoven went to the country with his father in boyhood, was taken by Wouter Van Twiller into the service of the Company as an assistant, and afterwards became a tobacco planter. The Company has aided him with necessaries, as it is to be seen by the books, but they have been paid for.

Olof Stevensen, brother-in-law of Govert Loockmans, went out in the year 1637 in the ship Herring as a soldier, in the service of the Company. He was promoted by Director Kieft and finally made Commissary of the shop. He has profited in the service of the Company, and has endeavored to give his benefactor the world's pay, that is, to recompense good with evil. He signed under protest, saying that he was compelled to sign, which can be understood two ways, one that he had been compelled to subscribe to the truth, the other that he had been constrained by force to do it. If he means the latter, it must be proven.

*The Rev. Johannes Megapolensis is here referred to.

A city in the North Quarter, which was one of the Chambers or departments of the West India Company.