SAMUEL DRISIUS.
New Amsterdam, August 5, Anno 1664.
(1) In a letter of October 4, 1660, Drisius had consulted
the classis on the question whether a well-behaved young man
residing in New Amsterdam, formerly one of the Mennonites
and baptized by them, might be admitted to the Lord's Supper
without rebaptism. The classis, by letter of December 16,
1661, ruled that according to the practice of the Dutch
churches, his Mennonite baptism was to be regarded as
sufficient.
(2) Michael Ziperius and his wife came from Curacao in 1659,
hoping to receive a call in New Netherland. The classis
warned Drisius against him.
The Rev. Samuel Drisius to the Classis of Amsterdam (September 15, 1664).(1)
To the Reverend, Learned and Pious Brethren of the Rev. Classis of Amsterdam:
I cannot refrain from informing you of our present situation, namely, that we have been brought under the government of the King of England. On the 26th of August there arrived in the Bay of the North River, near Staten Island, four great men-of-war, or frigates, well manned with sailors and soldiers. They were provided with a patent or commission from the King of Great Britain to demand and take possession of this province, in the name of His Majesty. If this could not be done in an amicable way, they were to attack the place, and everything was to be thrown open for the English soldiers to plunder, rob and pillage. We were not a little troubled by the arrival of these frigates.
(1) There is another translation of this letter in N.Y.
Col. Doc., XIII. 393-394.
Our Director-General and Council, with the municipal authorities of the city, took the matter much to heart and zealously sought, by messages between them and General Richard Nicolls, to delay the decision. They asked that the whole business should be referred to His Majesty of England, and the Lords States General of the Netherlands; but every effort was fruitless. They landed their soldiers about two leagues from here, at Gravezandt, and marched them over Long Island to the Ferry opposite this place. The frigates came up under full sail on the 4th of September with guns trained to one side. They had orders, and intended, if any resistance was shown to them, to give a full broadside on this open place, then take it by assault, and make it a scene of pillage and bloodshed.
Our Hon. Rulers of the Company, and the municipal authorities of the city, were inclined to defend the place, but found that it was impossible, for the city was not in a defensible condition.(1) And even if fortified, it could not have been defended, because every man posted on the circuit of it would have been four rods distant from his neighbor. Besides, the store of powder in the fort, as well as in the city, was small. No relief or assistance could be expected, while daily great numbers on foot and on horseback, from New England, joined the English, hotly bent upon plundering the place. Savages and privateers also offered their services against us. Six hundred Northern Indians with one hundred and fifty French privateers, had even an English commission. Therefore upon the earnest request of our citizens and other inhabitants, our authorities found themselves compelled to come to terms, for the sake of avoiding bloodshed and pillage. The negotiations were concluded on the 6th of September.(2) The English moved in on the 8th, according to agreement.
(1) See the remonstrance which the inhabitants addressed to
Stuyvesant, N.Y. Col. Doc., II. 248.
(2) Articles of capitulation, ibid., 250-253, and Brodhead,
History of New York, I. 762-763.