likewise considered the little service this little sloop could render the Honble Company, it is judged to be for the best advantage of the Honble Company to sell said sloop publicly to the highest bidder. This 12th of Jany A° 1648.

Whereas the sawmill on Nut Island is wholly decayed and in ruin, and to all appearance cannot be repaired by the carpenters now here, and the ironwork belonging to it is daily diminishing, therefore it is considered most advantageous for the Honble West India Company and unanimously resolved in Council to take said mill to pieces, if possible or otherwise to burn it in order to save the iron which shall be used for the best advantage of the Honble Company. Thus done and resolved in Fort Amsterdam in New Netherland, in Council, the 12th of January, 1648.

ORDER OF COUNCIL ON AN APPLICATION OF THE TOWN OF FLUSHING FOR A MINISTER. On the first of February 1648.

William Harck, Sheriff at Flushing, and his associates appeared in Council and request that the Honble Director General and Council would favor them with a pious, learned and reformed minister, and then order that each inhabitant should contribute to such godly work according to his ability, and that an end be put to the present differences in a manner, that shall promote peace, quietness and unanimity in said town, and that they jointly may live under the protection of their High Mightinesses, his Highness of Orange, the Honble Lords Directors, and the present administration here.

Thomas Sael, John Laurence and William Turner, the opposite party, thereto delegated by the remainder of their side, request the same as the sheriff and his associates abovementioned have asked.

The above parties having been heard in Council and the justness of their request being seen, the Honble Director General and Council resolve to enact such order on their application and request as shall be found to promote peace, union and tranquillity both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs.

LETTER FROM THE DIRECTORS IN HOLLAND TO PETER STUYVESANT; THE SHIP PRINCESS LOST WITH DIR. KIEFT AND D' BOGARDUS ON BOARD; LENIENT POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIANS RECOMMENDED; TRADE WITH SOUTH AMERICA; CHURCH MATTERS; GOVERNOR FORRESTER OF · LONG ISLAND.

Duplicat. 1648 April 7th

Honorable, Dear and Faithful Friends.

By the ship "de Valckenier" we have duly received two of your letters, the last dated the 6th of October of last year, the first having no date, the originals of which had been sent by the ship "The Princess." We notice by your last letter, that this ship had left your coast about the

16th of August, but we did not receive your letters, sent by the same, as it was wrecked in the Channel on the 27th of Septbr and 81 souls, men, women and children were lost, among them the former Director William Kieft, D'. Bogardus and Fiscal van der Hoyckens; of her cargo nothing has been saved except a lot of peltries, part of which has been stolen and what floated on the strand has been sold for 2sh. 6d. the piece and later for 1sh. English money. The skipper remained there skulking about so long, that it created suspicion; it seems, that thieves are always connected with such misfortunes; the Lord may comfort the sufferers.

We see that in a like manner, as mishap has befallen this ship on her return, your Honor on going out has met with adversity, having lost by sickness 16 to 18 men and that your Honor arrived, God be praised, before Fort Amsterdam on the 11th of May with the ships "Groote Gerret," "Swol" and "de Kadt," the first of which your Honor has sent to Boston in the English Virginia with a cargo of salt and the other two to the West Indies on an adventure. How very inopportune the mishap of the " Princess" has come, especially as regards your request, will be stated hereafter, we shall first reply to your report on the state of our conquests, in which you complain, that the people are grown very wild and loose in their morals. It seems to have principally been caused by the weakness of the late Director and the neglect of his duties by the preacher. We expect your Honor will amend all this, but a tree grown too high and too luxuriantly, must be trimmed carefully and bent by a tender hand, giving it a good shape. The native inhabitants of our conquests have shown the necessity to govern them with mildness; former wars, which we would have tried to avoid, have also given us that impression. Although we know, that these tribes have become conscious of their strength by using it and consequently, we believe, more anxious to provide themselves with muskets, powder and lead, for which they ask under pretense of hunting and which we know to be only a mere pretense, yet we perceive them to be so extremely eager, that we fear, they would rather begin a new war against us, than be entirely deprived of these articles. Considering that in our present situation a war is wholly unadvisable, we think it is best, to supply the tribes very sparingly, but directly by the Company's officers without the intervention of any private parties. This must be strictly carried out, also that no traders be allowed to come trading on that coast under authority from other Departments, excepting that of Amsterdam. We have learned that a frigate from Medenblick has arrived there, a ship called "Hercules," Cornelis Claassen Snoo, skipper, and have been properly astonished, that you should have entered into negotiations with such cheats and smugglers, especially as you must have known, that none of the other Departments has been willing to contribute for the support of New-Netherland and that in consequence that coast has been reserved for the Department of Amsterdam. It is therefore our express wish not to grant the privilege of trading there to any one in the world, unless they come with a permit from this Department and that if a trader comes without our permit, you confiscate and hold his goods until further orders from us.

It is true, that people are busy at the Hague before their High: Might: to bring about a general reform for all the colonies of this Company and New Netherland will not be forgotten; a provisional resolution has already been passed, that all colonists there shall be allowed to ship their own products, as flour, fishes, meat, bacon, peas, beans and everything else in their own or chartered bottoms to Brazil and Angola, that the ships returning may take freight from Brazil, but those coming back from Angola are to bring negroes to be employed in farming. This resolution will show your Honor, that we too have the right to send a ship to Angola with an assortment of provisions and bring back negroes. Your Honor will therefore please to take quickly advantage of it with the provisions, which you report to have in abundance.

When shall your Honor receive payment for the two ships sold, the "Swoll" and the "Tamarande?" The low price leads us to surmise that these ships were pretty well worn out and by your Honor considered unfit to be used in the service of the Company. We could not, under the circumstances, expect to employ them with great advantage to us, for we can now seek our fortune only against the treacherous Portuguese, since the peace with Spain has been arranged and signed, waiting only for the consent of the King, of which no doubt is entertained. We expect to hear what the ships, sent out by your Honor, have done in the meantime.

Your Honor gives conflicting reports on the trade there, saying in one place, that private individuals ruin the trade and in another, that you believe the open and free trade to be the best for increasing the population, which in time must be followed by greater consumption. It has been and still is the usual argument in our Department, that the trade should be open to everybody, but your Honor complains, that this freedom is abused by many, who go several miles into the interior to meet the savages bringing down peltries and thus run up the prices of the goods and your Honor therefore thinks, it would be better to establish a trading place, where all peltries should be offered for sale. We on our side consider this dangerous, for it would bring the savages again into our midst and be only a new form of restricted trade. If the Company were in the condition to establish there a large magazine, such as you propose, then we might as you suggest make a trial, but at present we are so situated, that we must remain satisfied with the export duties, to which you must pay particular attention, that the Company be not a loser by defraudations.

You complain of the order, issued here, that the duties on beavers shall henceforth be paid here without considering, that we shall have no returns from the cargoes sent out. You have besides sold there two ships and a lot of logwood at 11 fl, for which the owners here have received 12 fl or there about, so that they make a good profit considering the high prices asked for the goods, which they bring there, as stated by you.

We regret exceedingly, that we are not able to dispatch the desired ship with its freight as quickly as you requested, as for the above stated reasons the equipment and many other necessary matters must be deferred until the general reform, which is being considered, shall have been agreed upon; the Lord grant, that it may be to the satisfaction of all interested.

We were sorry to learn of the great disorder, which your Honor has found there in church matters, principally caused by D° Bogardus. The proverb "Where the shepherd errs, the sheep go astray" fitly applies to this case. He with others has been relieved from rendering his account, while in the meantime the church remains in a troubled state and unprovided, although your Honor has provisionally allowed D' Backer, formerly preacher at Curaçao, to remain there some time. As he, however, had previously received his letter dimissory from the Classis, he cannot be held there against his will. We shall look out here for a man fit to attend to the church there. Your Honor believes, that the congregation would be well satisfied with D'. Megapolensis, preacher at Rensselaerwyck, without stating, whether he can obtain his letter of dismissal from there without trouble, also whether he cannot work there with as good results, as in the church at New Amsterdam. We expect to receive on this point a more detailed report in your next, according to which we shall act. It must also be considered, that this plan cannot be well carried out without the consent of the Colonists.

The erection of a church building has really been necessary, but we notice also that it has been very expensive: the Colony cannot yet bear such expenses.

Your Honor reports to have found general revenues for the defraying of the public expenses,

referring to the resolution of Septbr 25, 1647 and desiring us to approve it. Hitherto we have discovered neither the resolution nor the revenues, so that we suppose, these means have been appropriated by some secret resolutions or omitted to be sent.

We have been very much surprised, that somebody has dared to style himself there the new Governor of Long Island, saying that he, Forrester, had authority from Maria Sterlinck. We have been unable to discover that she had been empowered by either England or Scotland, to give such authority, much less to invade our territory. We can only presume, that this man is a notorious cheat and approve therefore your action in stopping his evil designs, but it is very doubtful, whether it would not have been better, to have sent him to the English Virginias instead of sending him hither, the more so as the "Valckenier" touched in an English port, where not only the pretended Governor, but also the prisoner Michiel Picquet* escaped. It did not matter much, unless the first had found or obtained assistance there; we do not think he did, for as yet we have not heard any complaints about this matter, nor do we exactly know before whom he might make his complaint, for as you say, he had no commission from the King or from Parliament. We do not suppose, he will ever obtain one, at least not against our Government; for reasons which we will give in detail. As to the other man, we do not know, whether the Magistrates here would have confirmed at your request a sentence passed on the other side. We cannot determine, whether sentence passed over there in such manner would be executed by our judges here and therefore do not consider it advisable, to make any more experiments of this kind, which endanger the authority of your judiciary, but we believe it safer, to punish all delinquents there as the respective cases may require.

Some complainants have made their appearance here with petitions to their High: Might: especially Cornelis Melyn, Jochem Pietersen and others, who declare themselves aggrieved by their sentences. We suspect these people have been prompted by the Fiscal van Dyck, who perhaps imagines, he has friends here. We have never expected any other evidence from this person, than the one given now, although we could not be upset by him. Cornelis Melyn is well known to us and we shall understand, how to refute his complaint. It is to be regretted, that people have become so intimate with such fellows, when they ought to have given a good example to others.

We must confess, that long ago an occasion ought to have been found, to determine the boundary-lines between the English, the Swedes and ourselves. We have had before now a better chance, as far the line between us and the English is concerned. Through their diplomatic agent at the Hague they asked for it and it could have been done easily, for the King was then in full possession of his authority. Now we do not know, what form the negotiations concerning the boundaries ought to take and how to obtain a favorable decision and we are therefore considering a request to their High: Might: for a manifesto placing the territory, claimed by them, under our control; then, we are confident, neither the English nor the Swedes will try to claim or usurp it. We notice, that even our villages are mostly inhabited by English people, who in some places have had the assurance to elect Magistrates on their own authority; we consider this rather a dangerous precedent, yet we suppose, that only mild measures can induce them to give up this plan of self-government, for it seems, these people living there will not endure a harsh government.

Your Honor suggests, that this nation should be admitted to the small private trade at Curaçao, except in wood and salt. As this, however, is directly contrary to the charter and the opinions of the other Departments, we cannot give our consent to it, before we have learned, what * Sentenced to perpetual banishment from New Netherland and to 18 years' imprisonment at hard labor in the workhouse at Amsterdam, for threatening to kill Director Stuyvesant. (N. Y. Col. MSS. IV, 342.)

the bearings of the regulations, now under consideration, will be. The general reforms, to be introduced on your side, will also for some time have to be shaped by them, the more so, as we do not know, whether the coast will remain under the direction of this Department alone or whether it will be governed by all the Departments. That is also the reason, why we cannot decide on your Honor's request for an increase of salary and for the transfer of a bowery, stocked with two horses, six cows and two negro boys, the price to be determined by arbitrators, for which you had authorized Director Kieft to make an agreement with us; at present this cannot be done for the above stated reasons.

The bearer hereof Wm. Thomassen, skipper of the "Valckenier" and Peter Cornelissen Costelyck, master of the "Pynappel," who takes out the duplicate of this letter have received assorted cargoes from private parties. Their departure has been publicly announced, as is done with all ships sailing to other ports. This is the first voyage, which these vessels make to your side and therefore we deem it very necessary, that your Honor should watch the unloading of them and keep a sharp lookout, that the Company may not be defrauded of their revenues and all smuggling be prevented.

We send you a list of all the free men, whom we have given permission to go over on each ship, if some more, besides these, should be discovered you will institute proceedings against the ships, conform to the contract entered with the owners, copies of which and of what further has taken place here concerning these ships are enclosed.

We enclose the invoices of the cargoes of both ships.

Through the loss of the "Princess" we are deprived of several ships' journals, for instance of that of the "Swoll" and several others, which you may have there. You will therefore please to send us by the first opportunity the journals and everything required to make up and verify the accounts of the persons, who have reached here as well as of the lost ones, whose friends are overrunning us every day.

Your Honor will no doubt have received information before receiving this letter of the misfortune, which has befallen our ship "de Groote Gerret"; nevertheless we have deened it advisable, to send you a copy of the letter, received from the skipper, Jelmer Thomassen. We have no opportunity here to send him the desired relief and therefore recommend to your Honor to employ all possible means for securing the said ship and rescuing the crew, if it has not already been done.

We have given permission to Teuntge Juriaensen, who goes over with a large family, to take with her 12 guns, 50 lbs. of powder and as much lead for the defense of her family in time of need; but as we acted in this instance only with great reluctance and at the urgent solicitation of the said woman, we would advise your Honor to keep an eye not only upon the aforesaid arms, but also upon the arms of our inhabitants there and to order reviews or musters in the country, to see whether they have not made a profitable trade in arms, instead of keeping them for defense.

Some letters from private parties to our officers in Curaçao have from time to time been brought to our office; we see no other way, than to send them herewith to be forwarded by the first ship.

We are negotiating with Jan van Hardenburgh about the four cases of duffels and as we lack time, the ships being ready to sail, to come to a conclusive arrangement, we have provisionally agreed, that to offset his claim about the said four cases he shall pay no duty nor convoy-fees, for the goods, sent over by these ships, nor for the return-consignments, which he may receive by the same ships. The one and the other is to be charged to his account against the abovementioned