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Received by the warship the Waegh Aug. 13^th.

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The 26^th of May 1655.

Honorable Prudent, Pious, Dear, Faithful.

You will see by the enclosed duplicates, to which we refer, what we wrote to you in our last general and private letters of the 26^th of April 1 sent by the ship the Bontekoe three or four weeks ago. The ship the Gelderse Blom has, thanks to God, arrived here since; by her we received your letters and papers of the 22^nd of December 1654 and 29th of March 1655, to both of which we will now reply as far as necessary and not answered by our former letter, adding thereto what we deem proper. We have no objections that you bought there the ship Abraham's Offerhande to use between Curacao and the islands and if necessary also New Netherland, but that to pay for her you draw on us for ƒ800 appears strange to us, for we have on several occasions expressed our displeasure with such transactions and given special orders not to trouble us with such drafts. You ought to have been the more careful now, because out of our so small revenues here, diminishing daily, we send you a considerable share and contribute and do more, than our ability and condition warrant. You must recollect that in future all such drafts will not be accepted or paid by us, (nor do we pay it in this case) but simply returned.

You are to inform us by the first opportunity, what revenue the Company receives in New Netherland from salt, so that we can act upon it.

The written conditions sent over, have told us of the rules made and the care taken there of the children from the almshouses, which have our approval; we trust that the burgomasters and almshouse authorities have also been pleased; they are again sending by this ship, the Waeg, a party of boys and girls as per enclosed list. We recommend them as before to your care and although among them some may be found of more tender age than you require, we think it does not matter, for it can be amended and corrected by one or two years' longer service, which is of little importance to the boys.

It appears to us very strange that vinegar sells there as high as ƒ70 to ƒ80 the hogshead, while vineyards and grapes thrive so well and a good deal more might be planted and cultivated. We begin to think that our inhabitants there show very little industry or diligence in agricultural pursuits; besides it might be made from beer, as here in this country. Although much might be said on this subject, we shall leave it for the present and commit it to your own speculations.

We have informed your honors sufficiently by indications in our last general letter, here enclosed, of our serious aims and intentions, how to handle the Swedes on the South River. We still retain and persist in these orders and directions, only we have, after previous deliberation, resolved that when your honors shall have carried the expedition to a successful end, the land, upon which Fort Christina stands, with a certain amount of garden land for the cultivation of tobacco shall be left to their people, as they seem to have bought it with the knowledge and consent of the company, under the condition that the aforesaid Swedes shall consider themselves subjects of this state and the Company, this for your information and governance. Before we turn to another matter, we still recommend most earnestly that the utmost possible speed be used in the execution of the expedition after the arrival of this warship. We have not the slightest doubt that it will be completely prepared for it, because it was strongly advised thereto by the Bontekoe.

We are surprised that you did not expect Brian Newton to return to his old post of duty there, for in your letter of the 27^th of July 1654^[1] you recommend him so highly as the only trustworthy Englishman, who had remained faithful to the Company in all the troubles there and now it is said that be not only expressed, but also at that time already by his acts proved his unwillingness to march against his countrymen, the English. If this is the case, we do not consider it advisable to continue him in his position, but to discharge him. You may then put in his place the ensign Dirck Smith, if he is capable and leads the life of a good and faithful soldier.

You do not seem to understand our opinions or wishes expressed in our letter of the 23^rd of November,^[2] as you remind us that the new duties, imposed there on certain goods, might easily have been laid only on liquids. We are however of a different opinion and desire, therefore, that our orders in this regard be obeyed; but we have no objection that you should get a revenue from the consumption of liquids, which we always have thought and still think can be done without reproach. You will act accordingly.

We are fully aware that it is very necessary to establish the boundary lines between us and our English neighbors there, but as you have never sent us the documents and proofs, called for by our last general letter, without which we can do nothing here, this so very desirable question has to our great regret been necessarily left unsettled. Meanwhile we have directed you, not only to determine our boundaries by the erection of a fort, wherever you thought best and most convenient, but we have also ordered and authorized you, as we herewith do again, that in case some English people should make any attempt upon our territories there contrary to the provisional boundary agreement made at Hartford in 1650, you should proceed against such usurpers with energy after previous protestation and warnings (further explained in our letter of the 23^rd of November). For this purpose we send you, according to the enclosed lists and invoices under No. 4, ^[3] the requisites for building a fortress, of which as well as of the soldiers going over now you will make all proper and prudent use. This for your governance and instructions.

We were very much pleased to learn that you live in harmony with the inhabitants of the province and we recommend to you to maintain and promote this good feeling by all fair and just means, for good and prudent rulers can contribute much thereto. As the excessive outlays, which we make, are also for the maintenance and protection of our said inhabitants, we have hardly any doubt that they could easily be persuaded to give us some subsidies, very much needed to pay for and keep up these supplies. We have therefore considered, agreed and decided upon the measures, of which our general and the enclosed letters will inform you and the copy of our letter, No. 5, will tell you, what we have been writing in this matter to the burgomasters and schepens of New Amsterdam and to all the inferior courts there; the original of it you can hand to them respectively, but whether that is to be done before or after the beforementioned expedition, we leave to your judgment and discretion.

We have considered that the ship the Waegh, now going over, cannot well sail from there before next winter and have therefore decided to direct you to keep her there until the month of February or March of next year and then to dispatch her with such a cargo as you may find for her.

If Captain Frederick de Coninck (who is to obey your orders implicitly pursuant to the extract of our resolutions here enclosed under No. 6),^[4] and Lieutenant Ysvoort, both coming as such in the ship the Waeg should desire to remain there as freemen and not in the service and pay of the Company, you may keep them there. Likewise, soldiers and sailors, not absolutely required for the said ship, who wish to remain there, may also be kept either as freemen or in the Company's service, but nobody shall be held against their will.

The extract from our resolutions of the 10^th of May 1655, here enclosed under No. 7, will inform you of our wishes and the consent we have given to the skipper and the owners of the ship Nieuw Amsterdam and we add that they have given us good security here.

The goods and merchandise attached there by the fiscal from the ship the Groote Christofel are found not to have been declared here, especially the 36 aams of brandy, as both the letters written for the purpose and the receipts here enclosed under No. 8, show; they are therefore legally confiscated and must remain so. This is for your information.

The enclosed copies (No. 9.) of our letter and of the invoices^[5] will tell you what we have lately written and sent to Lucas Rodenburgh, vice director at Curacao, by the chartered shipthe Liefde. A copy of the letter, which we have since received from him via Hamburgh would have too been sent you, but as Director Stuyvesant has been on the island and received sufficient information of the condition there, we have deemed it unnecessary.

You have lately informed us that you have been obliged to negotiate a loan from the inhabitants there (not at all to their liking, nor to ours, and many complaints, not without justification, have been made to us on account of it), but you did not report how large the sum was and as for its repayment we have remitted from here the often discussed 4 percent duty amounting already above 7600 guilders, we have considered it advisable, to order seriously that by the first opportunity you send us a detailed and correct statement or account not only of the whole amount of the said loan, but also how it was levied and with whom negotiated, and whether it may have been otherwise paid and balanced on account, so that we have something by which to regulate ourselves.

The good testimony given us every day concerning the life, capabilities and industry of Johan de Deckere, arrived there lately in the ship the Swarten Arent, has so increased our good opinion of the man, that we have concluded to confirm our recommendation of him of the 23rd of November 1654 and to recommend that your honor pay special attention to him, because we believe it will be for the benefit of the Company; in the meantime we increase his salary provisionally by 150 guilders annually or as much more as you already may have allowed him.

You can well believe that the treacherous action of George Baxter and his accomplices has startled us very much; the papers and documents sent over have been translated and we are busy examining them, to form an opinion, but we eagerly await the remaining papers, which you promised to send by the Groote Christoffel. Upon receipt of them we shall inform you of our opinion and wishes in this matter. Meanwhile you are strictly charged to keep the aforesaid men in close and strict confinement, as it is required in so important a case. We further recommend that henceforth you dispense in the governance of the respective places there with such foreigners, who have no domicile in this country, for little or no confidence can be placed upon them.

Herewith, Honorable, Prudent, Pious, Beloved, Faithful, we commend your honors to God's protection and remain,

Amsterdam,

Post script:

We enclose the invoices of the few private goods shipped by the ship the Waeg; also the muster roll of the sailors and soldiers going over,^[6] which will inform you of the items to be charged to their accounts. You will pay strict attention to it that the Company not suffer any loss.

We have here given permission to Willem Brouwer, to go over with his wife and three children without paying passage money, on condition that he act as reader or comforter of the sick on board the Waegh, until arrival there, but no longer. This for your information. Dated as above.

[ ENDORSED: ]

Arrived per the Waegh Aug. 13^th 1655.

No. l

Notes

References

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