of Stuyvesant, they turned toward Van der Donck and looked upon him in the light of a persecuted martyr for their liberties and rights. Herrman and Loockermans, noticing how the tide of popular feeling was turning in favor of their fallen leader, took advantage of the situation. They called a secret conference with Van der Donck to which was also admitted Van Dincklagen, whom they certainly had every good reason to believe was on their side. These four leaders believed that the time had come for them to openly unite and to put an end to the arbitrary methods of rule so long practiced by the Dutch governors. On July 26, 1649, the Memorial of the Nine Men to the States General of the Netherlands was prepared. The memorial called for more colonists and a better system of cooperation between the home government and the colony; and that a treaty with England be made in order to determine the boundaries of New Netherland, so that the “subjects might dwell in peace and quietness.”[1]
With the Memorial was attached a petition of the commonalty of New Netherland to the States-General, prepared the same day, signed by the Nine Men and by Van der Donck, whose name headed the list.
Two days later the famous Remonstrance or “Vertoogh van Nieu-Nederland” was drawn up, framed mainly from suggestions offered by Herrman and Van der Donck, who wrote the document, and signed by the Board of Nine Men. The names of Herrman and Van der Donck head the list. The Remonstrance is a masterful piece of prose and deserved to take an important place among those major documents of the world that have secured the liberties of the human race. It begins by outlining the history of New Netherland, a task peculiarly
- ↑ Holland Documents in O’Callighan’s Doc. rel. to Col. Hist. N. Y., Vol. I. p. 260.
