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^[1] [ Today, the ninth of December 1652, I, ] Joost van [ de Ven, notary public ] admitted by the honorable court of Holland and the esteemed magistrates of the city of Amsterdam, residing in the same city, [ has proceeded, on behalf of his honor Johannes ] van Rensselaer, patroon of the colony called Rensselaerswijck, situated on the North River of New Netherland, and on behalf of the co-directors, with the subscribed witnesses to the meeting of the honorable directors of the chartered West India Company, presided over by the honorable Paulus Timmerman and in the presence of the honorable burgomaster Franck vander·Veer, the honorable Albert Pater, presiding schepen, and many other directors, and protested there as follows:

Whereas your Director Stuyvesant, residing on Manhattan in New Netherland, has presumed to enter the Colony of Rensselaerswijck with a number of armed soldiers, and there ordered the flags of the honorable patroon and co-directors to be hauled down, behaving and doing so with intolerable reproaches, and vicious verbal attacks, and violence notwithstanding every reasonable request and protest.

[ Whereas he has ordered by placat to cut wood in and carry it out of the forests, belonging to the aforesaid patroon and directors, ] without [ recognizing the rights of or ] requesting such from the patroon and [ directors or from ] their director and councilors, but executing the same by force in a hostile manner.

He also had [ published and afixed ] there a public placard, stating that the right of jurisdicition and ownership of the ground one hundred fifty Rhineland rods around Fort Orange belonged to the Company; taking from the Colony not only the jurisdiction and ground but also releasing the colonizer's subjects, who were living there and were inherited, from their oath made to the Colony, and ordered them to swear a new oath to the Company, and is giving out the lands seized from the Colony for quitrent, and is working at establishing a company of Company's soldiers from the Colony's soldiers, and inciting them and making them speak out against their contracts, against their lord and masters, and against the other colonizers.

Also, he has [ released from his oath to the patroon and other directors ] a new schout for the Colony named [  left blank ] , who arrived at Manhattan from this country; and forced him to swear an oath to the Company and thus become a servant of the Company.

Also, he has desired communication of the minutes, judgments, resolutions, and court cases of the Colony and like matters.

Also, he, or by his order, the commissary Johannes Dijckman at Fort Orange, has desired by force, and assisted by soldiers with loaded muskets, burning fuses, and open pans, to enter the house of the director of the Colony, to have the bell rung, and to read aloud and post the aforesaid orders, placards, and threats. In addition to all this, he presumed to apprehend the Colony's director Brant van Slechtenhorst with eight armed soldiers in the Colony's own jurisdiction, and brought him to Fort Orange, and from there sent him below as a prisoner with four soldiers, and held him under arrest on Manhattan.

Thus in every respect and every way he has with force [ invaded the rights and privileges, jurisdiction and soil of the Colony, robbing it of property and men, against all reasons or divine ] and civil laws.

And above everything else, your Director Stuyvesant declares that he was continued and extended in his service there purely out of consideration and regard that he would ruin the Colony before his departure.

All of these unheard of attacks and proceedings were reported to the patroon Johannes van Rensselaar and co-directors, together with the writs and accounts thereof, which leads me, notary, and witnesses to ask you, the lords directors of the chartered West India Company, in session, whether you officially or privately have given your Director Stuyvesant orders and authority for committing these acts, attacks, and violence either completely or in part.

We protest not only against such use of force, hostile attacks, and the damages and losses regarding jurisdiction, preeminence, rights, and privileges, and the lands and properties, insults, affronts, and injuries [ to which we have already been subjected or may hereafter have to submit, in order to institute proceedings and recover damages for the same, where and in what manner we may determine and ] we protest for them and their colonists, but also request by virtue of this protest that you issue instructions by the ship now going over there that everything will be returned and restored as it was before, and that your director be instructed and ordered to desist from all attacks and withdraw all placards, and if you think you have any claim that you lay the same before your judges and those of the claimants, to whom they have previously complained about your director's actions, and is still undecided.

We also request your categorical response to everything, and if within twice twenty-four hours there is no response, the claimants shall have to make their complaint against the violence wherever it is most advisable for them.

Whereupon President Paulus Timmerman, representing the meeting and acting as spokesman, responded to me, notary, that they requested copies and that the directors would write to their Director Stuyvesant about the circumstances of the matter; also, that they were not inclined to abridge anyone of his rights.

[Done at Amsterdam in the presence of
Dirck Danckertsen and Daniel van Ommers
as witnesses.]

Notes

References

A complete copy of this publication is available on the New Netherland Institute website.