No. 7.

ceptional enterprises of this sort great favor is shown to the promoters of such voyages, such as the providing them with cannon, powder and soldiers, he doth petition that there be granted to his ships from sixteen to twenty experienced soldiers, among them a good Commandant, and doth engage that he will himself provide their rations. Whereupon the representative of the nobility gave verdict that commerce ought here to receive the same favor as in Holland, and that therefore it ought to be learned through the deputies there [i. e., to the States General] what is done in Holland in this behalf, in order to be able to do the same here; the depu ties of Middelburg, however, grant soldiers to the number of 16; those of Ziericzee likewise, to the number of 12, on half wages, subject to the approval of their constituents; those of Goes, Tholen, Flushing and Vere promise that they will send in at once their report to their town-councils on this point and that the councils will find out what is done in Holland in such cases.

Action as to a certain Freedom of Convoy, provisionally granted by the States General, 1602, and awarded by the Admiralty of Amsterdam, 1604.1

*

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 25–26.]

1. From the Proceedings of the States General, 1602.

Regarding the Petition of Jehan van Peenen and Gerrit Diricxz. de Vries, it was ordered that it be placed in the hands of the deputed Councilors of the Admiralty in Amsterdam, by them to be examined, and, in case it shall appear that the petitioners have accomplished their voyage, in accordance with their foregoing declaration, on the basis of which freedom of convoy is granted them, that then they shall accord to them the said freedom; refusing the second portion of their request, whereby they ask continuation of the foregoing conceded freedom.

1 Note by Prof. Burr.—These passages are of interest to the present question chiefly because they have been misunderstood. Hartsinck (Beschrijving van Guiana, i, p. 207), misreading Van Peenen as Van Peeren suspected a kinship between this merchant and the Zeeland colonizer Abraham van Pere, who in 1627 founded the colony of Berbice; and on this he bases his assertion of early trade relations between Zeeland and Guiana. He is followed by many later writers. It will be seen, by a comparison of this passage with that printed on p. 12, above, that Van Peenen and De Vries were not Zeelanders, but merchants of Harlem, and that what they were after was probably not trade, but the precious metals.

* Note by Prof. Burr.-So the name is clearly spelt, not only in the original minutes, but in the contemporary copy, in the side-notes of the page, and in the contemporary index to the volume. The alleged Zeeland merchant "Jan van Pere" is, it is to be feared, a myth.

No. 8.

2. From the Proceedings of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, 1604.1

Paridon van Hoorn, as surety for the convoy-dues of the merchandise which was laden in the ship of Ryck Hendrixsz. in the year 1602 for the West Indies, is holden to pay the said convoy-dues within a week or to prove [his right to] the freedom claimed.

To Jan van Penen and Gerrit Diricxsz. den Vries cum sociis, and Paridon van Hoorn, their surety, there was granted the space of one week to produce their proof that they have made their voyage to Guiana according to their Grant, in conformity with the instructions of the States General dated July 10, 1602. On penalty, in case of failure to do this, of immediate payment of the convoy dues.

Jan van Peenen and Gerrit Diricxsz. de Vries cum sociis, in pursuance of the minutes of the 13th January last, being once more heard in detail as to the claimed freedom of convoy to Guiana, it was finally, upon the declaration now made on their word of honor that their ship, in conformity with the instructions given, would have sailed higher up the river of Orinoco, had this not been prevented by the multitude of the Spaniards whom they found there, resolved that under these circumstances they be accorded the freedom from convoy-dues of the goods carried out and brought in by the said voyage, in conformity with the grant of the States General, and that the convoy-master accordingly cancel the surety.

Note by Prof. Burr.-This volume is one of those happily rescued from the fire which some years ago destroyed the Dutch Ministry of Marine. Its edges, however, were badly scorched, and it is necessary to supply conjecturally the final words of many lines. They are those inclosed in brackets, and must not be accepted without question.

No. 9.

Extracts from memorial to the Dutch States-General on the colonization of Guiana [1603].1

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, pp. 27–29, 32, 36.]

Memorial to the States General of these United Provinces in regard to the colonizing of the coasts of Guiana in America.

I doubt not but the States General are well aware how rich, beautiful, fertile, populous, delightful, and precious a land, situate in America, and called the province of Guiana, has recently been discovered by some of this country's merchantmen.

There are there not only many fine harbors, conveniently deep and navigable rivers, abundant pastures fit for all kinds of stock, but moreover a very fertile soil, well adapted to the raising of wheat, wine, oil, sugar, ginger, cotton, pepper, cubeb, pastel, indigo, and various other products, such as are commonly grown in other parts of the East and West Indies in the same latitude and climate.

And as for the hope and expectation of finding a rich gold and silver mine, it is well grounded on fact and experience, for a mine has already been found, the vein of which is gold and the surrounding ore silver.

However, no one knows how rich that mine may prove to be until skilled and trained miners are employed, for which the time has not yet come. Neither should further explorations be made until the land is colonized and strengthened with good strong towns and forts, for, if otherwise, its richness might incline and induce neighboring nations, whether friend or foe, to anticipate us in this undertaking, while we here were as

1 Note by Prof. Burr.-This is that memorial mentioned by de Jonge (in a footnote to p. 259 of the first volume of his De Opkomst van het Nederlandsch Gezag), but since his day sought in vain. The document, consisting of seven closely written folio pages, is docketed on the back “Remonstrantie aen de E. mo. Heeren Staten Generael op stuck van de populatie van Guiana in America gelegen,” but bears neither there nor elsewhere any mention of date or authorship. Its date, however, seems put beyond doubt by the resolution of the States-General on February 25, 1603 declining to act for the present on the requested colonization of Guiana. This is the only resolution of the sort, as the present is the only known petition. De Jonge had already from the contents of the document ascribed it to this period; and the handwriting is clearly of about this date. There is no reason to believe it the autograph of its author. From its style and its ideas (and from its South Netherland orthography as well, were that not probably due to the copyist) it may with much confidence be ascribed to Willem Usselinx, the well known originator of the Dutch West India Company-being very probably that discourse on the colonization of the Indies of which he himself makes mention in his Vertoogh of 1608. (Further grounds for this ascription are set forth in the paper on the evidence of Dutch archives, in vol. i of the report of the U. S. Commission). The document is not in Usselinx's handwriting, as appears by comparison with his abundant autograph papers in the Rijksarchief; and Mr. Hingman, the Commies Chartermeester, who was able after long search to bring it to light, finding it (doubtless where De Jonge had left it) detached from its fellows, thinks it less likely to be the draft actually submitted to the States-General than a copy preserved among the papers of the Estates of Holland.

No. 9.

yet busily deliberating and planning how and by what means this enterprise and scheme might be most safely and conveniently be taken up and carried on to the desired end.

For the manifold experience of many years has shown that on the aforesaid coasts of America no riches can be drawn from the mines, and no profit earned from the fertility of the soil, unless the land be first colonized.

This, the merchants and first discoverers think, is no affair to be taken up or gone into all by themselves and at their own expense. Not that they shrink from the outlay such colonization demands, for they assume that in view of the good prospect of making profits this could readily be brought together by a body of merchants and other wealthy men; but they deem that this project rightly belongs to the supreme authorities or the sovereign prince, or at least that it should be taken in hand and carried out with their aid, favor, and protection.

This being so, it stands with you to decide and declare whether you might be inclined to enter upon and take in hand this project of coloniza tion, either alone and at the public expense, or with the aid of a few wealthy men and private merchants.

I say nothing here of the profits that this Government would in course of time, when the aforesaid American province is once colonized, draw from the mines, yearly taxes, or tributes, and other sources.

It needs only that you take up this colonization effectively and without longer postponement or delay, appointing to that end an India chamber or other committee, which shall proceed to devise such terms and conditions as you shall desire to grant and establish for the settlers, and also, if necessary, to find the means wherewith to meet the expenses of this colonization, etc.

No. 10.

Extract from proceedings of the States General, February 25, 1603.

As to the requested colonization of Guiana, it was declared that the States General can not for the present take action on the matter.

No. 11.

Extracts from memorial of Cornelis Janssen Vianen to the Prince of Orange, January 25, 1621, as to where and how the Spaniards may best be attacked.

[Reprinted from U. S. Commission, Report, Vol. 2, p. 37.]

Having, off and on for more than twenty-five years, as set forth in an earlier memorial to Your Princely Highness, sailed the seas to various places, namely, to Guinea, to the West Indies, and lastly with Commandeur Spilbergen through the strait of Magellan along the coast of Chili and Peru and around the world, I think I have during that time observed the right way of attacking the Spaniards where they are weakest and feeblest, as follows:

Sixthly, regarding the opinion sometimes advanced, that notable profits might be obtained through diverse products and fruits which might be found or raised on the mainland of America, between Brazil on the east and the river Orinoco on the west, in and about the river Amazon.

I answer, that several of our Netherlanders have as yet attained little by the aforesaid means, although up to now they engage there in peaceful trade; and if an attempt were made with superior force to gain the land there and by such cultivation introduce products of Brazil and the West Indies, the Spaniards would beyond doubt seek forcibly to prevent this, the more so as thereby their navigation to Brazil and the West Indies would be impeded. It therefore is my opinion that, in view of the imminent danger of war, little can be achieved there.

Extract from the Proclamation prohibiting Trade with the West Indies, June 9, 1621.

[Reprinted from Blue Book, No. 3, pp. 54-55.]

The States-General of the United Netherlands to all who shall hear these presents read, Greeting:

Whereas we, after mature deliberation in Council, for the well-being of these provinces and the welfare of the inhabitants of the same, have caused to be established here in these Netherlands a Company to carry on trade and commerce with the West Indies, Africa, and other places hereafter set forth, and have granted to the same many liberties, privileges, and rights, together with assurances of our particular aid and favour, as is more fully dwelt upon in the Letters of Charter given by us:

We, therefore, for the better furtherance of the same, have prohibited and forbidden, as we now hereby prohibit and forbid, any natives or in