The Burgomasters and Schepens of the city of New Orange appear and present the
following Petition:
To the Valiant Commanders and Honorable Council of War of the squadron of ships in
the service of the High and Mighty Lords the States-General, &c., anchored in the
North river of New Neilierland, and now residing in Fort Willem Hendrik.
Most respectfully represent,
The Schout, Burgomasters and Schepens of this city
New Orange:
That whilst they and all good inhabitants have had and still have
reason gratefully to thank God the Lord and you, Valiant gentlemen, for the
unexpected reduction of this place and the entire government under the obedience of
their High Mightinesses the Lords States-General and his Serene Highness the Prince
of Orange, they and as many of the Dutch nation as are dwelling within this
government who, with women and children, are estimated to amount to six thousand
souls have now on the contrary grave reasons to be altogether most profoundly
grieved, if it be true, as your Petitioners are informed and have unexpectedly heard,
that you, Valiant gentlemen, intend to depart without leaving here for a time, as we
had hoped, some ships of War or one of the three superior officers, wherefore we find
ourselves by office and duty bound for the benefit of the country in general and
specially of the good inhabitants of this place clearly to submit to you as briefly
as possible the present state of the country.
Before you, Valiant gentlemen, arrived here, all was peace and quietness; the entire
coast from Virginia unto Nova Scotia far beyond New England being occupied by
thousands of English, Canada on the other side occupied by some thousands of French,
all of whom can, in a few days' journey come and on all sides attack us who are
scattered in this government, in the centre of these English and French, in divers
corners, some here, some up at Fort Orange, now called Willemstadt, some at the South
river, others in various towns on Long Island who all together when compared with
those of New England can scarcely amount to one in 15, even though we could come
together, which is indeed impossible on account of the distance of the places. All
these English and French round about, in consequence of the reduction and recovery of
this place which is under the obedience of their High Mightinesses, with whom they
are at war, are become now our enemies by whom we, as already stated, are encompassed
round about on all sides whithersoever we face or turn. These enemies, albeit they
now keep themselves somewhat quiet, will doubtless endeavor, by all possible means,
to reduce this place under England so soon as they hear that we are again left to
ourselves; our weakness and condition being as well known to them as to ourselves
since they have had now 9 years' command over us. Besides, they will not want
instruments to promote this work, several great lords being themselves as much
interested, as the Duke of York Lord Berkely[1] and Carteret.[2] This without any doubt renders some so bold as to say
already that something else will again be seen before Christmas, and that the King of
England will never suffer the Dutch to remain and sit down here in the centre of all
his dominions to his serious prejudice in many respects, so that we are inevitably to
expect a visit from our malevolent neighbors of old, now our bitter enemies unless
they be prevented, under God, by your valiant prowess and accompanying force;
Wherefore do we turn ourselves unto you. Valiant gentlemen, humbly requesting and
praying to take seriously into consideration what is aforesaid, and to be pleased to
take to heart the welfare of so many innocent souls, although very few in comparison
to the great multitude of our enemies, and not leave them a prey to be destroyed or
to be sold as slaves to the English plantations, which we certainly anticipate unless
it please you, Valiant gentlemen, to allow under the command and prudent conduct of
at least one of the superior officers, two ships of war to winter here; assuring you
of the good-will and unanimous resolutions of the good inhabitants to exert
themselves to the utmost of their abilities, to defend this place for the welfare of
ourselves and beloved Fatherland, the proof whereof you yourselves have already in a
short time witnessed in its fortifications. Expecting a favorable answer we shall
remain. Valiant gentlemen,
(Signed), |
Your faithful servants, |
Anthony de Milt, |
Johannes van Brugh, |
Johannes de Peyster, |
Ægidius Luyck, |
Guliaen Verplanck. |
Notes
John, 1st Baron
Berkeley, youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkeley, was born in 1607. Having a command in
the army raised to march against the Scots, in 1638, received the honor of Knighthood
from the King at Berwick, in July of that year, and at the breaking out of the
rebellion, appearing in arms for his Sovereign, was one of those very good officers (as
Lord Clarendon calls them) who were ordered, with the Marquis of Hertford, to form an
army in the west. But, before entering upon that duty (in 1642 ), Sir John safely
conducted a supply of arms and ammunition from the Queen into Holland. Soon after this,
being constituted Commissary-General, he marched into Cornwall at the head of about one
hundred and twenty horse, and not only secured the whole of that county but made
incursions into Devonshire; and being in joint commission with Sir Ralph Hopton,
obtained divers triumphs over the insurgents of those western shires in the several
battles of Bradock, Saltash, Launceston and Stratton, as also at Modbury, in the county
of Devon; subsequently investing Exeter, he reduced that garrison and gallantly repulsed
the enemy's fleet, then at Topsham, under the command of the Earl of Warwick, when he
was constituted Governor of Exeter, and General of all his Majesty's forces in Devon.
Sir John Berkeley stood so high in the estimation of the Queen, that her Majesty
selected the city under his protection as the place of her accouchement, and was
delivered, at Exeter, of the Princess Henrietta Maria. Exeter subsequently surrendered
to Sir Thomas Fairfax, but its Governor obtained the most honorable terms for its
inhabitants and garrison. Sir John Berkeley was afterwards employed with Mr. Ashburnham,
in endeavoring to negotiate terms for the unfortunate Charles. During the usurpation,
Sir John Berkeley remained in exile with the royal family, and after the death of Lord
Byron, in 1652, was placed at the head of the Duke of York's family, having the
management of all his receipts and disbursements. In a few years afterwards, he was
elevated to the Peerage by the exiled monarch, as Baron Berkeley, of Stratton, in the
county of Somerset (one of the scenes of his former triumphs over the rebels), by
letters patent, dated at Brussels in Brabant, on the 19th of May, 1658, in the 10th year
of his Majesty's reign. Upon the restoration of the monarchy, his Lordship was sworn of
the Privy Council, and with other great Lords obtained a grant of Carolina from Charles
II., and in 1664 received, with Sir George Carteret, a grant of New Jersey from the Duke
of York; and at the close of the year 1669, Lord Berkeley was constituted Lord
Lieutenant of Ireland, where he landed in 1670, and continued in the government for two
years, when his Lordship was succeeded by the Earl of Essex. In 1675, he was accredited
Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of Versailles, and died on the 28th of August,
1678 His Lordship married Christian, daughter and heiress of Sir Andrew Riccard,
President of the East India Company, and widow of Henry Rich, Lord Kensington, son and
heir of Henry, Earl of Holland, by whom he had three sons, all of whom eventually
succeeded to the title, and one daughter, Anne, married to Sir Dudley Cullum, Bart., of
Hawsted, in the county of Suffolk. Collins; Burke. —Ed.
Sir George Carteret,
Baronet, was born in the Island of Jersey in 1539, his father, Helier Carteret, being
then Deputy Governor of that Island. He entered the Navy at an early age. In 1626 was
appointed joint Governor of Jersey; in 1640 Comptroller of all his Majesty's ships, and
in May, 1645, was created a Baronet. He retired, however, on the commencement of the
civil war, from the Navy, and withdrew, with his family, to Jersey, which he afterwards
bravely defended against the Parliamentarians. Here he had the honor to receive and to
entertain the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II., and his followers. After the fall
of the Monarchy, he followed his Royal Muster to France in 1652, where he was thrown
into the Bastile in 1657, on a charge presented by Cromwell's Ambassador, and afterwards
banished France. He joined the King in 1659 at Brussels, and at the Restoration rode
with his Mnjesly on his entry into London in 1660, when he was appointed Vice
Chamberlain, sworn of the Privy Council and constituted Treasurer of the Navy. Sir
George Carteret turned his attention, at an early date, to the Colonization of America,
and in 1650 fitted out a ship for Virginia with many passengers, all sorts of goods and
tools for husbandry, in order to plant an island of which he had obtained a grant.
Though the project is supposed not to have been fully carried out, on account of the
civil war, he did not lose sight of it altogether, and eventualy put it into execution
in 1665, when he and his associates founded the Colony, called New Jersey in his honor.
He was next elected to represent Portsmouth. In 1668 he was appointed one of the Board
of Trade, and in 1669 was expelled the House of Commons on a charge of embezzlement. In
1673 he was appointed one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and continued in the public
service until the 14th January, 1679, when he died at Whitehall. His remains were
interred at Hawnes, in the county of Bedford. Collins' Peerage,
Title Granville; Beatson's Political Index. — Ed.
References
Translation: O'Callaghan, E.B., trans./ed., Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New-York, vol. 2 (Albany: Weed, Parsons: 1858), pp. 569-730 (vol. 23, pp. 1-270 only).A complete copy of this publication is available on the
New Netherland Institute website.