BOOK IV. CHAPTER VIII. Efforts of the delegates in Holland to obtain a redress of grievances-Melyn again complains of Stuyvesant to the States General-Affairs assume a perilous aspect-The Directors obliged to apply for countenance to the Burgomasters of Amsterdam-New Netherland benefited by the collision-Revival of emigration-Yonkheer van der Capellen takes an interest in Staten IslandSends a ship and settlers thither-Van Couwenhoven and Bout return to New Netherland-The first notary public in that province-The committee of the States General bring in a report-Provisional Order for the future government of the colony-Remarks of the Amsterdam Chamber thereupon-Reflections -Freedoms and exemptions of 1650-Monopoly triumphs-Van Tienhoven about to depart-Is prevented by Van der Donck-Feelings at the Manhattans on the return of the popular delegates--Stuyvesant called on to produce the letters of the States General-Refuses to communicate them-Consequences of such refusal-Great scarcity in New Netherland-Public discontent on the increase-The Nine Men ejected from their pew in the church-Oloff Stevensen protests against the Director-general-His reply-Outpourings of the commonalty-The Nine Men address the States General-Stuyvesant's counterrepresentations to the Directors in Holland-Supported by Baxter and the town of Gravesend-Singular and unenviable position of the Director-general. ISSUE was now fairly joined between the Company and the colonists. The delegates on the part of the latter 1650. having much to gain and all to lose in their effort to obtain a more liberal form of government, and more enlarged Feb. 1. privileges, exerted every nerve to induce the States General to take the province entirely under their protection; to place the administration of its affairs in the hands of the resident inhabitants, and not leave it at the mercy of such persons as the Company thought proper to send thither. They directed their High Mightinesses' attention particularly to the prosperous condition of the New England colonies; explained minutely their political institutions; showed them that happiness, social order, public economy and general prosperity were best promoted by confiding fully to the people the management of their own affairs, and warned them that they should expect neither prosperity, security, nor a due increase of population in New Netherland-"a country more extensive than the seven VIII. teen Provinces altogether,"-unless its government was CHAP. composed of persons having their interests there. Feb. 8. At this conjuncture Melyn arrived at the Hague, to add 1650. to the outcry against the Company's officers, and laid forthwith before their High Mightinesses, a complaint against the Director-general for having refused to repair the injuries and losses he had inflicted. He again demanded redress and protection, and a termination of the persecution by which he was harassed. Affairs now assumed "a perilous aspect" as regarded not only Director Stuyvesant's reputation, but also the interests of the West India Company. Those "ignorant people" who came over to look for justice, but whom the Amsterdam Directors represented as "determined by every means in their power to bid defiance to all sort of government, under pretence that they labor under too heavy a burthen," had addressed themselves to the Landdach of Guilderland, and succeeded in obtaining the countenance of "many of the better class." To save themselves and their monopoly, the Directors were forced to apply to the Burgomasters of Amsterdam, whom they induced to exert themselves in their behalf. "A great combustion was then, indeed, approaching, and might have taken place, had it not been prevented by the deputies (from that city) to the States General." This collision had, however, a most beneficial effect on New Netherland. It brought that province fully before the public. "Heretofore nothing used to be said about that country; now heaven and earth seem to be moved thereby." Proposals were brought forward to convey Feb. 22. thither three or four hundred children from the various orphan asylums, and when it came to be known that a reform in the government of the colony was about to take place, "every person seemed inclined to proceed thither." Already two hundred emigrants, half farmers and the remainder field laborers, had embarked. "Six times that number" were ready to accompany them, but there were Mar. 12. no vessels for their reception. The delegates called the attention of the committee of the States to the fact; an Mar. 19. BOOK understanding was, in consequence, entered into whereby IV. Van der Donck and his colleagues were permitted to 1650. charter a vessel for the conveyance of two hundred additional settlers. To defray the expense attendant on this operation, they were authorized to draw on the Company for four thousand guilders cash, and seven thousand guilders were to be allowed from the duties payable in New Netherland, the emigrants being bound in return to remain three years in the colony. Melyn, having placed his cause in the hands of an attorney, exerted himself, also, to promote the settlement of Staten Island. He succeeded in engaging Yonkheer Henrick van der Capellen, of Ryssel, Baron of Essels and Hasselt, one of the representatives to the States General from the principality of Gebre and the earldom of Zutphen, to take an interest in that island. In connection with Gerrit van der Voorde, Pieter Hack, Isaac Melyn, and Christoffel Gangelt, respectable Amsterdam merchants, this influential May 18. nobleman purchased the ship "New Netherland's Fortune," in which he embarked over twenty people, men, women, and children, with suitable farming implements, under the superintendence of Capt. Adriaen Post. In this ship Cornelis Melyn, having obtained new letters of surety from June 30. the States General, sailed for the Manhattans, whither also now returned (with like letters) Messrs. Van Couwenhoven and Bout, accompanied by Dirck van Schelluyne, notary at the Hague, who was licensed to exercise his profession in New Netherland.' These persons brought out two hundred stand of arms for the burghers of New Amsterdam. 1 Van Schelluyne's commission as notary bears date 8th April, 1650; he was appointed in 1655, Concierge, or Bailiff of the province of New Netherland, whose duty it was to serve process, and levy executions; but he eventually moved to Rensselaerswyck, of which colonie he was appointed secretary on the death of Hamel, anno 1660. We find him secretary of Albany in 1665, two years after which, (June, 1667,) the Mohawk Indians made him a present of a "tract of flattlands or plaines upon the maine, being about north-west from Albany, near the Mohawk River, on the east side thereof, stretching from the path which goes to Mr. Curler's flattlands or plaine [Schenectady ;] which said parcel of flattlands or plaines, is a part of that land, which by the natives is commonly called by the name of Canastigione," (hodic, Niskayuna.) This tract was given Van Schelluyne "on account of several writings which he had executed for the Indians, and which had passed between them, the English and VIII. 1650. The committee of the States General, who had been CHAP. earnestly engaged, through the winter, in the investigation of the complaints of the colonists, had, in the interim, concluded their labors, and "discovered a remedy which, in their opinion, ought to give satisfaction to both parties, until further provision could be made." This "remedy" was embodied in a Report which, as it formed a turning point in the policy of those times, cannot fail to be of interest. It was as follows: "The Lords Van Aertsbergen and the other their High April 11. Mightinesses' deputies charged with the West India Company's affairs, having had, some months since, a conference with the Directors delegated by the Chamber at Amsterdam and others of the West India Company, on matters brought before their High Mightinesses from and on behalf of the commonalty, in divers verbal and written remonstrances and memorials by delegates from New Netherland, and the Director there, have, at the request of the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber, consented to pass over divers matters in the great remonstrance presented from the commonalty, and to apply themselves to the principal points, on the express assurance from the aforesaid Directors, that they should receive all fair and respectful representations. And to this end, having enquired into the system of government hitherto maintained in New Netherland, the heavy burthens which the Company hath in consequence borne, and the small profit derived therefrom, the disturbance of the population, neglect of remedies for faults and excesses; and considering that their High Mightinesses cannot, and ought not, any longer look with approving eyes on the perverse administration of the privileges and benefits granted by charter to the partners of the West India Company, and that good proposals and representations offered for the security of the boundaries. the Dutch at Albany." [Book of Patents, ii., 28.] By his wife Cornelia, he had two sons, Cornelis and Tielman. The former was bound to a shoemaker, in 1664; Tielman returned to Holland, in 1670. Dirck van Schelluyne, one of Cornelis's descendants, was born in 1774, and died at Albany, in 1823, leaving a widow, Rachel Gansevoort, and a son still living in that city, Anno 1847. BOOK and population of the country, should not be slighted and IV. opposed by the authorities of New Netherland, under the 1650. direction of the Chamber at Amsterdam: And whereas their High Mightinesses, as sovereigns, are qualified, and likewise bound, to take care that their subjects' property (being in a condition to be preserved and increased, if time be improved and good heed be taken,) shall not be allowed to go to ruin or fall into other hands; their High Mightinesses' deputies are therefore of opinion, that the preservation of those countries and advantages granted originally by their High Mightinesses, not to the Directors of the Chamber at Amsterdam, but to all the partners of the West India Company scattered over the provinces, require other orders than those issued heretofore for the government of the country, the increase and settlement of the population, the raising and bearing of necessary imposts, the prevention of mischiefs and general ruin, similar to what have been bitterly experienced for some years, and, further, for the efficient removal of all sorts of evils and troubles which have been fully demonstrated to their High Mightinesses; and to this end, that the complaints of the nation's subjects, now heard and examined full five months, be not deferred by conferences and objections, but be remedied by good resolutions; We therefore consider it proper that your High Mightinesses, by and with the advice of a majority of the Directors from all the Chambers of the West India Company now summoned and appearing, should enact, and accord to the petitioners, this "PROVISIONAL ORDER FOR THE GOVERNMENT, PRESERVATION AND PEOPLING OF "I. Whereas, their High Mightinesses have received the strange and unexpected intelligence that contributions have been demanded from the aborigines of the country, and the same having been refused, that an unnecessary, bloody and ruinous war hath been waged against them, for several years, by the late Director Kieft, under pretence that the commonalty had requested the same, though the petition |