.If; ".If;
.; Irs '-^l
.si" il?
24 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
the Jews had their synagogues, the Mahometans their
meetings and all kinds of sects their conventicles; the
Catholics alone were excluded from all participation in
the toleration of Holland. There were many Catholics
in Friesland,^ but they could worship with safety only in
the castles of the nobles, of whom many still gave a
tepid allegiance to the old faith. In Geldem^ and Zea-
land, Catholics possessed little liberty and had to
assemble secretly for worship, while in Stadt en Landen
the adherents of the old faith suffered more active per-
secution. However, the condition of the Catholics was
more tolerable in some of the cities. Through the con-
nivance of the magistracy, which in several places was
open to a bribe, the Catholics obtained a great deal of
liberty in the exercise of their faith in Harlem, Gouda,
Ley den, Alckmaar and Hoom.^
for the baptism of their children and for the celebration of marriage.
A fine of 50 pounds was also placed on the witnesses and a fine of 400
pounds on the persons instigating the act. The same penalties were
decreed for attendance at papist conventicles. Wiltens-Scheltus,
Kerkelyck Placaatboek, i. 526.
^ Persecution of Catholics was most violent in this province.
Thousands of Catholics found safety in flight, and only a small num-
ber of priests remained in the province in deep concealment.
' Here Catholics were numerous. The policy of the government
was directed to paralyse their strength. In 1624 the States de-
prived the clergy of the disposition of their revenues and declared
null and void the sale, mortgaging, donation, exchange or any alien-
ation of property on the part of "pretended" ecclesiastics or of papists
in religious societies, sodalities and fraternities, etc. It was pleaded
that many feared to adopt Calvinism and many returned to the old
faith lest they might be disinherited. In 1640 the "klopjes"
were declared incapable of receiving an inheritance. Finally
measures were directed to the prevention of assemblies, that the
Catholics attempted to facilitate by the removal of the walls
between neighboring houses. For details cf. works of Knuttel and
Hubert, with documents cited.
3 This was true to a certain extent at The Hague, where the
legations of the Kings of France and Portugal and of the Republic
of Venice had their chapels, which remained open also to the inhabi-
tants of the city in spite of the frequent protests of the States of Hol-
land at the instigation of The Hague consistory.
vl =i$ nj f€ '4 ,€ !tf J«^ . m .
I M 4 H '4 '4 '^ ♦'^^ !*»* .!«
■V, 4 Mnii iHi .5< :.4 .<<(i .^«
'it'i u<. ^i*" (j^' .i(' '« 'tf.f Kt; 'ifr
25
Ml- i^-
^ *J11 iff
;^\ .'11 ♦^^
-r »s( ^
^i hi' n
26 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
National Church Synod, but Oldenbamevelt feared lest
the triumph of this party should lead to the domination
of the Church over the State, and through his influence
the proposals were rejected. To secure peace, the
States of Holland, in January, 1 6 1 4, prohibited the dis-
cussion of disputed questions by the preachers in the
pulpits and enjoined moderation in such abstruse
matters. Violent opposition to this measure arose in
several important towns, also in Amsterdam, but
Oldenbamevelt was determined to overcome all
opposition. When Maurice, who had begun to dis-
trust the Advocate, gave his support to the
Counter-Remonstrants and encouraged their oppo-
sition to the authority of the States, Oldenbame-
velt succeeded in inducing the States of Holland,
in December, 1616, to raise a force of four thousand
men to be at the disposal of the magistrates for the
enforcement of order. Although the two Stadtholders
commanded the votes of four out of seven provinces
in the States General, this assembly decreed the con-
vocation of the National Synod by only a narrow
majority. The States of Holland, in spite of a power-
ful minority supported by Calvinist opinion through-
out the province, refused to concur in the resolution
of the States General. The seizure of a church at
The Hague for the Counter-Remonstrants under the
direction of Maurice led to the adoption of the
"Scherpe Resolutie," proposed by the Advocate to
the States of Holland, which refused to approve
any convocation of a synod, national or provincial,
infringing the sovereign rights and supremacy of
the States in religious affairs. The city magistrates
were directed to uphold the peace and to levy new
[ >fi"A A i^i J^ M *«« ;«^f .5
'^Jk^.f'
>(^^ 4 .< i»fi- i€ }/l M .'"fj .;•â–
■-' •• :i'" U; l>^ <H '«/ !■«»> 'Hi
"# ■••'■Mf ;»?' ittf tlf f-
27
*
..At.-
28 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
and eighteen political commissioners representing the
States. The Remonstrant minority was immediately
put on trial for its teaching by the remainder of the
Synod, from which they were finally ordered to with-
draw after violent altercation. They then assembled
in Rotterdam, where they denounced the tyranny of the
dominant party, who condemned the Remonstrants as
schismatics and heretics, and declared them unfit to
hold any position in the churches, schools and univer-
sities of the country. The former liberal movement in
favor of a revision of the Creeds of the Dutch Reformed
Church was definitely checked by the Synod's approval
of the Netherland Confession and the Heidelberg Cate-
chism without any change, as the orthodox Calvinist
faith was thought to be briefly but completely set forth
in these. Now the States General imposed the "Act of
Cessation," on pain of banishment, which deprived the
Remonstrants of the right to preach and reduced them
to the condition of private individuals. Only one of the
Remonstrant members of the Synod signed ; the remain-
ing fourteen were forced to go into exile. In July, 1619,
the States General prohibited the assemblies of the
Remonstrants, but the ordinance was not enforced in
the larger towns, as Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Gouda,
although this connivance greatly annoyed the Calvinist
zealots. In all about two hundred Remonstrant
preachers were deposed and of these seventy signed the
Act of Cessation, about forty finally accepted the
articles of Dortdrecht, with restoration to the ministry
as a reward, and about eighty went into exile. These
last attacked the dominant party, "the Httle ministers
of the new Holland inquisition, " with a mass of pam-
^4 4M 4 r»ff ..^t ii^f m ,;^.
.f^ 4 A M ., . ,^ /^/'Ll^
\fi[ i*f[ if
•I. /, <v «. A-
,•; St <
.;^; ?«^ H
'ip- fS.J HJ,
( \^' '^ ,
>K' â– '$<'" ^V
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Iv, M .^^
\tf it i
30 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
rily in the lands of the RepubHc, under the penalty of
being arrested and imprisoned as enemies of the State.
A second offense on their part entailed punishment for
disturbance of the public peace. Their hosts in the
land were subject to a fine of one hundred pounds
Flemish for the first offense, double the sum for the
second offense, and to the penalty of corporal punish-
ment and banishment for the third offense. The
priests who previously had been authorized to reside
in the Republic were bound to report their names and
places of residence to the local magistrate, if they
wished to continue the enjoyment of this privilege.
All correspondence with foreign ecclesiastics was pro-
hibited to the subjects of the Republic, and letters of this
kind were to be surrendered to the magistrate on their
receipt under a fine of fifty pounds for every infraction
of the law. Catholic ceremonies were interdicted not
only in the churches but also in private houses. The
master of the house was subject to a fine of two hundred
florins, each person present to a fine of twenty-five
florins, and the officiatingpriest to the penalty of ban-
ishment. The priests who preached disobedience to these
laws were to be prosecuted for sedition and subjected
to corporal punishment, "even unto death," according
to the gravity of the offense. Attendance at foreign
Jesuit schools was again forbidden, and parents were
ordered to recall their children from such places under
a fine of one hundred florins for each month of delay.
The congregations of devout women, "klopjes," were to
be dissolved at once. Protestant orphans were not to
be confided to the care of Catholic guardians, but to the
care of the magistrate, if they had no near relations of
X «! "si '4 <'^ '«* ."^f J** -J"!
4 k ■^C'ftj'J j%-;'«?^^;*sj
Hi. ri(' '
^^ '^ '^.
: ♦&][[ '«[ 'I
/r ^rf; Jiff
i '* K
r in; ^*f
?K' n<' 'tJT
.IT' H
32 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
able intervention of a stranger in the internal affairs of
the Republic. A resolution was then passed by the
States General to complete the penal legislation against
Catholics on the plea that impunity to propagators of
"Catholic superstitions" and the introduction of the
papist hierarchy entailed undeniable dangers for public
safety. The French plenipotentiary, Count d'Estrades,
was not more successful in his attempt to have an
article incorporated in the capitulation of the city of
Hulst, granting the public exercise of the Catholic wor-
ship. When Frederick Henry transmitted the petition
to the States General, the assembly expressed their
great astonishment at this pernicious proposition.
In the following year, when the French and
Dutch planned a joint attack on Antwerp, Cardinal
Mazarin was able to obtain only the grudging consent of
his Dutch allies to the concession of four churches for
Catholic worship on the conquest of this city. The
joint expedition never took place.
The conclusion of the general peace of Miinster in
1648 brought to the Republic a recognition of its sov-
ereignty by Spain. The Catholics, sorely harassed in
the past by the oppressive measures of the States Gen-
eral, which had often been anticipated and even rein-
forced by the penal legislation of the provincial States
and of the town councils, hoped for some relaxation of
the persecution with the cessation of hostilities, but the
Calvinist clergy was loud in its protestations against
any concession to "Roman idolatry," which would
surely bring upon the Republic the anger of God. In
spite of the opposition of the States of Holland, some
relaxation was ordered by the States General within the
M 4^n[ ^4 »>^ *^t *# m ;«j
C -Ni ;*{ ift '*r â– : ^^" .4,.%.
Vft >^ .^li i^ _ . ;. .^ft-*^!
^^»f ^« ,^ M :«& ?^ /^t ;^
'< 4 X ^*^ ^«6 ^*^ .•'6 z*^ -^^t
eyf <if :rf, W' -iff; iii^ iiTf ini tifi
33
>«' K' -â–
n' ?Jfcl '^
; \^: 'sit I
'r{ ;-^ â– -.
1^, ni} 'n'
.; h/ V-
34 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
lution adopted by the assembly, which decreed the main-
tenance of the ordinances of the National Synod of
Dortdrecht, the enforcement of the placards against
the Catholics and the retention of other sects "in all
good order and quiet." The execution of this decree
fell far short of the desires of the Calvinist ministers,
who continually assailed the civil authorities with
their remonstrances, and Catholics and sometimes
adherents of other persuasions had continually to fear
the penalties that might be inflicted according to law
by the magistrates under pressure of the ministers.
Government circles were not so inimical to the consider-
ations which De la Court advanced. He believed that
self-interest should prevent the dominant Calvinists
from the attempt to suppress people of other persua-
sions, who were in the majority even in Holland, as per-
secution might provoke their emigration, to the great loss
of the country. He tells us that most of the "old in-
habitants," peasants, moneyed men, and nobles in that
province were still Catholics, while there were also
many Protestants, but mostly Mennonites or Rijns-
burgers. In spite of all past vexatious measures,
Catholics still formed a large majority of the population
in the Provinces of Utrecht, Gelderland and Overyssel,
although many of the Reformed were to be found in
some districts, as the Veluwe, since John of Nassau
was able to throw his influence into the balance. De la
Torre's report of 1656 gives a very small number of
Catholics for the three northern provinces, and Blok in
his history estimates the number of Catholics above the
Meuse at about half a million. This geographical dis-
tribution of the confessions represents the condition of
4»1 iiif UT lUi .«II A-l^ i'bi !9h. ««i
v>t -n *^1 *•% '^/^^i i'^^f '^.^ ;■'
35
>4 -iif: :
^ ^^ ^
:'li ?«f Jit
Jit ^l' '•
hr fit m
•j^' fsi^ ?r'
H(- '^M -iif
'I' /H,
i*,r). V- "iM;-
W ^\[ it
;?f iir. .«
CHAPTER II
General Relations of Church and State
IN New Netherland
The successful organization of the Dutch East India
Company in 1602 rendered feasible the formation of a
West India Company to realize more effectually the
humiliation of the power of Spain. Very early William
Ussellinx, an ardent Calvinist and an enemy to "all
heretics and erring spirits," advocated the organization
of such a commercial company to prey on the Spanish
possessions, from which their enemy drew the "sinews
of war, ' ' and to plant there the saving faith and the gos-
pel of Jesus Christ, whereby the heathen might be res-
cued from the darkness of idolatry and be preserved
from papistry.^ Although the plan became popular, it
was opposed by the East India Company, which feared
for its monopoly, and by Oldenbamevelt, who was
anxious to avoid new complications with Spain. The
successful negotiation of a truce in 1609 made any
further effort on the part of Ussellinx fruitless. Never-
theless, in the very same year, the discoveries of Henry
Hudson on the North American coast, while employed
by the Dutch East India Company in the search of a
* Cf . O'Callaghan, Hist, of New Netherland, i. 31; prospectus
for W. I. Co., Arg. Gust. p. 51, Jameson, William Usselinx,A. H. A.
Papers, ii. 39.
(36)
[ j»C X .« :^i AM^i^^J^
f&^^E^i
[ K^tl -4 i?Ji *'4 «*^^ ^-^f *^f ♦^'?-
^ .fi .«([ ^4 .1^ .. . . . /. .
€^-^C^ w !«; i«^ :^f >tfi .r
â– <Mf[ 'Hi 'I
>< ^ »lf[
?f '.ili iff'
i ^ fi^ ^«g -^
Jl 'it: "i^
1; j^f ".ir- J
\ • .5!- ilf ^'
1.' n/ V:
38 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
of the Elector Palatine Frederick, is said to have urged
this scheme to promote the Protestant cause in the
Bohemian war. During the discussion of the drafts
of the charter of the West India Company, Ferdinand
had become Emperor, the Elector Palatine, the nephew
of Prince Maurice and Count Frederick, had been
chosen King of Bohemia, and the combination had
been formed for the overthrow of the latter. The
cause of Protestantism in Bohemia and especially of
the German Calvinists appealed to the sympathies of
the party now ruling in the United Provinces, but in the
end the controlling factor in shaping the new organiza-
tion was the proximate expiration of the truce with
Spain and the renewal of hostilities.^
The interests of the new company naturally centered
in the Spanish seas about Brazil and the West Indies,
while the Province of New Netherland received scant
attention, although organized colonization began
there almost as soon as the time for the subscriptions to
the company terminated in 1623. When the question
of religion presented itself in regard to the colony,
the West India Company, the proprietor of the
province, assumed the same authority which the civil
power exercised in religious matters within the United
Provinces. In addition, the right of patronage was
claimed by the company over the colonial church.
Usselinx had proposed in his plan the establishment of
a council or college of theologians, who were to supply
the company with godly ministers and teachers to
instruct not only the colonists and their children, but
^ Jameson, William Usselinx, A. H. A. Papers if. 66-67.
[M 'A A . ;^ A ^€. jA M.m
'1^ -^ ^ i*i? <C }/l /*& /»^.r
*V; ♦*», .'r" ft(:' ?H(' <|#^ 'tf*. t-?ij.' 'lit'
r*f v V '.*^' -i^f: W^ t«fir in) k?^
39
15:. ?jif .«
X sin
^iJ f|] \v
• -If W .
w M ^V-
\ \'^'^ -^
lif:. hi' H'
i ^ic ¥ \<
jv^ ..t!' 4
40 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
1624 by the Synod of North Holland, which gave to the
Classis the charge of all the ecclesiastical interests in the
colonies under the care of the Chamber located within
the limits of its jurisdiction.^ This practical solution
of the question of the supervision of the colonial
churches was immediately protested by deputies from
Utrecht, Overyssel and especially of Gelderland, who
held that the matter equally concerned all the churches
of the land, and demanded that at least deputies from
their respective synods might be admitted to a general
assembly of delegates from the churches and classes,
which had charge of colonial churches.^ Such a general
assembly, which had first been suggested by the Synod
of North Holland at the expense of the commercial com-
pany with jurisdiction over these colonies,' never was
realized, and the individual classes continued to take
charge of the colonial churches of the respective cham-
bers within their jurisdiction. According to this rule,
ministers were first sent to the colonies by the Classes of
Hoom and Enkhuysen, but, with the concentration of
business at Amsterdam, this classis acquired almost
exclusive control of the colonial churches, although it
was not authorized to do this any more than other
classes, where there were chambers of the companies.*
As early as 1628 Michaelius, the first minister of New
Netherland, recognized the consistory of Amsterdam as
the superior ecclesiastical authority of the colony.^
^ Synod of North Holland, Aug, 6, etc., 1624. Eccl. Recs.
N.Y., i. 38-39.
'Synod of North Holland, 1625, Aug. 12, etc. Ibid. 39,
3 Synod of North Holland, Aug. 6, 1624. Ibid 38-39.
* Synod of North Holland, Aug. i, 1639. Ibid. 126.
^ Michaelius to Smoutius. Ibid. 54.
C •«! /«[ fit '«f; .■■■.
41
V \^- -iiil -.ff- yfj[. |(i$^ \Mil
'»;::■'«: !i(
1r iif. ;«.
: .•-.i '.'ir ttf
â– ': >4. }*?
'iJ fS.J 1H
; v^f ':^ '
?»' 'sC ^SlI
â– 'â– ':^ iff
, .if.' il? i
42 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
copies of the minutes of these classes and of any docu-
ments bearing on these matters. If any difficulties
arose in regard to doctrine or church polity in the colo-
nial churches, which could not be readily solved by the
particular classis or synod, the advice of the synods of
the land was to sought, unless there could be no delay,
and then the facts of the case were to be communicated
to them. The last article in this plan shows that the
protesting synods wished to make it possible for persons
under their jurisdiction to serve the colonial church.
Those who manifested such a desire were to be held in
good commendation by the classes in charge of such
churches, provided they had the necessary qualifica-
tions.^ Although the Synod of South Holland provis-
ionally accepted these propositions, it gained the
approval of other synods very slowly.^ By 1648 it was
accepted by all the synods, except Utrecht, which
finally also agreed to the plan two years later. ^ Thus
the Classis of Amsterdam remained undisturbed in the
direction and supervision of the colonial church of New
Netherland. Ministers, Comforters of the Sick, and
Schoolmasters had to qualify themselves for work in
New Netherland before the Classis, who then presented
them to the Directors of the Amsterdam Chamber, and
on their appointment gave them the necessary call, for
which. a special formula had been adopted in 1636.* The
1 Synod of North Holland, Aug. 12, etc. Eccl. Recs. N. Y,
i. 158-161.
2 Synod of North Holland, 1643, Ibid. 173-4, etc.;
1644, Aug. II, etc., Art. 28. Ibid. 183-4; 1645, Aug. 8, etc.. Art
20. Ibid. 190.
3 Synod of North Holland, 1648, Aug, 11, etc., Jbid.232; 1650,
Aug. 6, etc., Ibid. 277-8.
4Cf. Ibid. 92-99.
>ij4 „»c ,:«i M -*4 'tf M , «*i
vflf JSi i«i '% •»t^ '* "5f ifl* '••
'<. « € w; i*i ,5< .■»^) .'<^i .)•
iS: •«!■ff"''»(|r .X '«, '«!'. HSli- 'Ifr
iff, -Jf :* ■■•^' ■"?: -lit fiTf i«li 6;
?i^ ^J^ lit
.% l^- lit
}w^ 'iT ii
': Mi !«'.■i
•iS' f^' ?»:'
?«' '^sC \^
^H' ?;ll ^*3
IV^ V W'
iv '%{' i€
44 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
ment of the Dutch Reformed Church in the charter of
Privileges and Exemptions of 1640. At this time, the
Classis of Amsterdam feared that an appeal on the part
of the Lutherans for freedom of public worship might be
allowed by the States General, but their fear was ground-
less, and nothing was done to revoke the exclusive
establishment of the Reformed Church of New Nether-
land.
Within the Province of New Netherland, the govern-
ment was vested in the Director General, assisted by an
advisory council, upon whom all other officials of the
company in the colony were dependent for their
authority.^ The Director, as supreme magistrate,
retained the direct control of the colonial church even
after the establishment of inferior local courts in vil-
lages and in the city of New Amsterdam. The local
courts had no jurisdiction over criminals and delin-
quents guilty of blasphemy, violation of God's Holy
Name and religion. Such cases were reserved to the
judgment of the Provincial Court. ^ All measures rela-
tive to the erection of churches and schools and the
support of these institutions had to be confirmed,
approved and commanded by the Director General and
Council, except when there was question of churches
established within patroonships, such as Rensselaers-
wyck on the North River and New Amstel on the South
River. ^ Comforters of the Sick, ministers and school-
masters were usually appointed by the Directors of the
Amsterdam Chamber, commissioned by the Classis of
* Cf. Osgood, The Am. Colonies in the 17th Century, ii. 100, sqc[*
' This is the reason why the town minutes of this period contain
little information on the religious life of the people.
3 Cf. Col. Docs. N. Y., xiii. 198.
^ 'JL /«?i .r*i ;''i J"
.?c >«e :% M .j% *!^ .. ^ -^j: t
iir .i.r .^ \i( 'i/i it):. v8.' ?^v' A?f 11
' W iifl -.si: V#^ t^; fcU^
i^^t- '^i '^-
. . ■■■* ,«^ V
f».^ '»t M
{lit /if j?r
nt â– ?*( ^v
^*/;n â– **/' w
>?r ^ir :«
46 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
ber of persons for the office, from which the Director
General and Council selected a new church warden.^
The school, which was also a religious institution,
was likewise under the direct control of the colonial
government. The presumption of Jacob van Corlaer
to teach in a school without the order of the Director
General and Council brought a very clear assertion of
the powers of the government, which then refused to
grant the requisite permission even in spite of the hum-
ble supplication of the Burghers and inhabitants and
the intercession of the Burgomasters and some Schepens.
Stuyvesant declared that "school teaching and the
induction of a schoolmaster depends absolutely on the
right of patronage."^ This principle found a good
illustration in the petition of the'^magistrates of Bos-
wyck, who requested the approval of their contract
with Boudewyn Maenhout as reader and schoolmaster.
The Director General and Council fulfilled the request
on the condition that the schoolmaster be first exam-
ined by the reverend clergy of New Amsterdam and
declared fit for the performance of his duties.^ This
regulation was probably due to the place of religion in
the Dutch colonial school, where the principles and fun-
damentals of the Christian religion were also to be incul-
cated. One of the last ordinances of the Dutch provin-
cial government ordered the two schoolmasters of New
Amsterdam, Pietersen of the principal school and Van
Hoboocken of the branch school in the Bouwery, to
bring their children to the church on Wednesday to be
â– ^ Cf. Recs. New Amsterdam, vii. 142, 144, 175, 237, passim.
^ Ibidii. 348; Col. Docs. N.Y., xiv. 412, 413-14.
^Cotmcil minute, Dec. 28, 1662, Ibid 519.
Iff ' f ■m <«i -1 '^i i*^« -■''■f ;*«
■I M 4 *€ '€ «l ':4 Ilk Ji i
'€M :4 M M ;-< "'^i /'.yi
48 RELIGION IN NEW NETHERLAND
to the observance of general public morals. This was
especially true of the directorship of Peter Stuyvesant.
He published with much greater frequency than