Document: Letters from the Directors to the Council of New Netherland

The 28th of May 1655.

Honorable, Prudent, Pious, Beloved, Faithful.

After closing our general letter, we have considered the obstacles and difficulties, to which Director Stuyvesant might be subjected in his journey and have therefore concluded after previous deliberation to send your honors herewith the duplicate of a certain private letter (in case the first one might be locked up and could not be produced) mentioned in our letter of the 24th of July 1653.[1] This letter shall not only be opened by your honors, if Director Stuyvesant has not yet arrived there or should have died, but we charge and command also that the orders given therein shall be carried out and obeyed by your honors provisionally and until the return of the said director, for we have found it thus to be necessary for the advantage of the Company and the State.

We intend also to send your honors herewith for our greater tranquillity and safety a copy of the letter (in case the original might be locked up) containing our orders for the undertaking and executing of the before mentioned expedition against the Swedes on the South River. This done, your honors are authorized to open our letter directed privately to Director Stuyvesant and sent.by the ship Bontekoe, duplicate of which is here enclosed, so that your honors will be able to see thereby our intentions; however, in case the aforesaid Director Stuyvesant should have already arrived there in the meantime or upon the receipt of this, we want it absolutely understood that our further orders contain therein shall be totally void or become invalid. This is then for your honors' governance, upon which we, Honorable, Prudent, Pious, Beloved, Trusted, comment to God's protection, remaining,

Amsterdam this 28th of May 1655.

Eduard Man
Isaack van Beeck