weaken this assertion he confesseth that what he witnesseth thereof is not of his own knowledge but that he believeth it to be true upon the credit of persons of worth which of it self is enough to reject the same as also it is very observable what on this subject the foresaid Sr. Martin and others with him doe declare to wit that the Contest was not to dispose the King to the ejection of the English but to turn away the wrath and indignation of the King which because of their assistance of his Father and the Rebels he had taken up against them and thereby to deliver them from the loss of all their Goods yea life it self as out of revenge he had determined against them which also was so taken and acknowledged by the English Compagny at Bantam when by their Agent they returned thanks unto the Ministers of the Netherlandish Companie for their protexion But suppose the King had not been so incensed against them as hath been said and that he had not had design at all to be avenged on them yet the mere consideration of his security might have moved him to their ejection as beeing assured they assisted his Rebels and in apprehension that they as wel versed in warkely affaires might from England or Elsewhere reenforce themselves with ships and Soldiers besides the Perillous neighbourhood of their warehouse to his Castle his Father laying round about Bantam with his armie and keeping it yet for som moneths besieged and he as yet by his auxiliarie forces having onely the sea open might if he were not verie circumspect bee again suddenly assaulted or at least the English remayning in Bantam by spying all opportunities make discoveries to the enemies so as in way of providence it was requisite for him to do what he did If the Letters brought in the Processe be reviewed it wil appear whither it be true as is imputed to them that they of their own motion did send succours to the said King yea so as thereby if their most injurious aspersion were true to get him into their Klutches or on the contrarie that is was don at the Great and instant entreaties of the young King after that al wayes of reconciliation had in vain bin attempted But forasmuch as this assistance and succour is thus averslie and after so odious a manner declaimed it will be necessaire to relate the same somewhat more fully and more clearly to discover the occasion and progresse thereof After the Rulers of Batavia had ripely consulted about the constitution of the affaires of the young King they thought meet as also hath before bin specified to proffer their service of Mediation between the Father and the Son to which end they wrote two Letters in civil and obliging termes testifying their purpose and affection in a way of frindship to accommodate and lay by their questions and differences and with that Intention sent thir Plenepotentiaries with Letters the one to the Father and the other to the Son in a Ship prepared to that end after that som dayes before by way of advance they had also sent three other Ships but considering those Plenipotentiaries went unto a place where the parties on both sides were in armes and not being certain whither they might meet with friends or enemies they therfore judged themselves obliged to put them into a posture of defence furnishing them with weapons in case of necessitie to make resistance to sueh as forgetting the right of nations especially in that confused state of things and the respect that ought to be given to publick Persons might possiblie attempt to lay hold on and injurie them and this is that fleet of Ships and Barcks which in these and other of their writings they so much enhance and make a stir about as sent to Bantam to land our Troupes there Our forefayd Plenepotentiaries having wayted some time for an answer from the old King received none and not knowing what properly the intention of these men might as be to them sent a good troop of men to inform themselves more exactly of the State of things but being a little advanced they met some Europeans who by an English Man enquired of them wherefore they came to intermeddle with the differences of the two Kings whereuppon being answered that they came as friends to procure a peace between the Father and the Son they soon perceyved the design they had formed agaynst them for forthwith they saw a great troop of men gathered together making readie some fire Ships and other vessels fitted for warre making a shew as if they would fal foule with us who verilie were to few in number to have thoughts to attempt any thing agaynst so powrful an enemie who seemed to come agaynst them which also they did and came to the deed it self shooting at us and with their Canons which were Managed by the English they much endammaged our Ships whereby they perceived that they not onely did not accept of our Mediation but also that they treated us as enemies upon which they of Baravia soon resolved by force of arms to deliver the young King out of this Miserie and the brinke of death and to this end to send a suffitient power of Ships and Men to this assistance which also had that successe as before is mentioned The assistance which the English gave to the old King whereby the displeasure and wrath of the young King was so kindled agaynst them even to their ejection out of his country is so notoriously known to the world that besides the proofs which the Netherlandish ComPanie have alreadie alledged they yet further could bring hundreds of convincing testimonies but let onely the letters of the young King which he sent from his besieged castle to them of Batavia be produced and you shal hear him complayning in these formal words What reason hath the English Captain to help to shoot at me without once laying to hart that he is resident in my Land and Zea this is yet worse that Mr. Boyer one of the English Marchants at Bantam causes my house to be shot at not once thinking that I desired the King of England that he might be Captaine in the English Lodge Irequest of Capitain Moor Speelman that he wil warn the English not to com on shore to shoot at my house and assist mine enemie also with powder forasmuch as he hath his residence in my Land but not in the Land of Sultan Agon the old King as also to perswade them not to follow mine enemie seeing they drink my water and dwel in my Land and that they close no more with Sultan Agon if Captain Moor have love for me let him be pleased forceably to Insinuate this unto the English that above all things they shoot not at my house nor betake themselves to Land. The which also in a following Letter to the Major St. Martin he further confirmed Beside the said King did afterward make often Complaints
arose a heavie Civil War in the Kingdom in which the malcontented entending to cast of the yoke from their neck as they termed it after they had also drawn the Old King to their partie who thereupon strengthened himself in Turtiassa as also the King now reigning did at Bantam at length by force of armes they made themselves Master of Bantham and besieged the yong King in his Castle into which he was retired entending to bereave him both of his Throne and life and to set up a yonger Brother in his place whereupon this King apprehending no other way of deliverance as having most of the great ones of his Kingdom animated against him and the Communaltie also his enemies thought it expedient for him to make known to the General of the Councel of the Netherlandish Companie at Batavia his miserable State and that he not onely was to exspect the los of the Crown but also a most cruel death the which he signifyed in most lamentable wise imploring their assistance but they not judging it convenient in a case of such importance to intrude themselves to unadvisedly did before they determined any thing in the least about it conclude to interpose their Mediation betwixt Father and Son and to that end to send Ambassadors with letters tending to that purpose But the Father in a most disdaingful manner rejecting the same without vouchsafing to return any answer at all to the Government of Batavia or their Committies the said Government did at last resolue seeing the condition of the Son tending to ruin as beeing forsaken almost by all to assist him against the Rebels and if possible to deliver him out of the miserable estate into which he was brought which also they did with such successe that notwithstanding the strong opposition of the Enemie we Landed our forces raysed the siege of the Castle in which the King was and set him again upon his Throne who thereuppon both to demonstrate how gratly he was offended with the English who had assisted his enemies as also to provide for his own securitie for the future did without any instigation of the Netherlandish Companie command them to leave his countrie and to depart elsewhere with their Goods This then beeing a true Narration of what passed in these affaires these considerable things do present themselves to consideration First that the Old King having made over his Kingdom to his eldest Son he therely became lawful King by his Fathers transport and was acknowleged so to be by the King of Great Brittain and by them of the English East-Indie Companie Secondly that he therely being lawful King his subjects in taking up arms agaynst him were Rebels Thirdlie that according to the Law of nature and af nations it is not onely permitted to be assistant unto a King that is oppressed by his subjects but that such assistance is approuvable and a Work of Charity and Love. Fourthly that it is contrary to the Rule of Justice to ascribe the evil Consequences of a lawful and worthie Act unto him that is the Author of the said Act and not of the consequences Fifthly that it is altogether against reason to impute the Chasing of the English out of Bantam unto them of the Government of Batavia and to their auxiliarie Forces because it is manifest that the departure of the English out of Bantam was not a necessary but an accidental Consequence the King not causing them to depart because he was victorious for he had suffered them to live there from the time he came to the Crown until the Warr to wit during the two years of his Reign but only because he was certain they had assisted his Rebels besides many other suspitions he might justly have taken up against them But against this they of the English Company doe alledge and depose for a real truth that they of Batavia had raised and fomented the quarrels between the Old and the Young King of Bantam That two yeares before the Warr began they had had secret Negotiations with Pangeran Diepa Panerat one of the Principal Ministers of the young King to bring about this their design That they afterward having got this King into their snares and most perfidously brought him under their yoke forthwith forced him to drive out the English And to make the Ministers of the Netherlandish Company yet the more suspected and stincking to all the world they undertook in the beginning of the year 1683. to represent unto the King of Great Brittain that the foresaid Major St. Martin who commanded over the forces of the Netherlandish Company at Bantam in Chef had committed very many Enormities against the Factors People and the Effects of the English Company at Bantam so farr that they dispossessed and drave them out of their place of residence But in stead that the English Company ought to have proved the Facts which are essential to the thing in case they herein aimed to triumph they doe not in the whole product which they made in the Process thereof so much as alledge the least appearance either directly or indirectly no not so much as consequentially might serve for the verifying of the Enormities of such Facts And although the Netherlandish Company might stand upon the Negative which is not necessary nay many times possible to be proved save only indirectly for no man can in a direct manner prove that which is not nevertheless to manifest clearly that they of the Government of Batavia are altogether blameless let us onely consider the moral impossibility of the foresaid Fact viz. that the Governors of Batavia should have raised and fomented the questions and differences between the Father and the Son as also the notorious falsehood of the second Fact namely that the said Government should have forced the King to cause the English to depart out of Bantam What concerns the first it s known to the world that for a long time there had been no good intelligence between the Old King and the Government of Batavia no not so much as to the least Correspondence for the latter finding themselves much affronted and injured insomuch that at last they took up Arms against each other the Warr not ending until the Son came to the Crown so that they could not stirr up the Son against the Father muchless foment their quarrel And what follie would it have been for them of Batavia to animate the Father to Warr against the Son forasmuch as they lived with the Son in amitie and as good Neighbors not having any reason in the least to complain of his Government and conduct towards them whereas on the contrary if the Father had got the upperhand they should have been in a farr wors condition and attracted a nieu Enemie against themselves And that they should have stirred up the Son against the Father and encouraged him to Warr cannot be imagined by any that are in their right senses partly because there by they could not
Government of Batavia were fully assured that these Infractions and Troubles were occasioned to our Company only by the evilaffection and ill will of Madolena and Achena the two Chief Ministers of that Kingdom who had so remarkably injured the said Company and invented a way to incite their King against us without any right information how the case stood betwixt him and us which said Ministers a while after by reason of inward commotions occasioned by their ill management of Affairs came to a most miserable End. However the said Government of Batavia to the end aforementioned sent a Commissarie with full Commission and Power to treat with the King and if it might be to compose all things in a way of amitie But our Commissary was so unsuccessful that the King either could or would not assent to what we judged to be right and equal in so much that to acquire the foresaid reparation and satisfaction we were necessitated by force of Arms to assure and make our selves Master of Maslupatnam in hope thereby to induce the King the sooner to listen to an accommodation which also the 16. of July 1686. was effected without blood shed and the Kings Militia was caused to depart whereupon we fortifyed the City against any invasion which might happen And because the English Company had a Factory and a Lodge there for their Commerce and Traffick we by Letters in August following let them or their Ministers know that however we had the Power and possession of the City in our hands our intention was not in the least to hinder or incommodate their Traffick and that they might consequentially dispose of and lade their goods they had or could make ready in their Ships together with all their Provision and Marchandises which might by Sea be brought unto them and take it into their Lodge only that they should not dispose of them to the Subjects of that King nor after the expiration of six or eight weeks suffer any goods more to be brought to them out of the Country This being thus passed and we perceiving that the Enemy began to stirr and to cast up works to besiege us and gather an Army thereby to deprive us of our water and other means of Livelihood we sent out our men against them and with success raised the Kings forces by driving them out of their Tents and forasmuch as the Enemy had threatned and intended to burn the City which was all built of Combustible matter thereupon the English with diverse others of the Inhabitants for fear of being consumed by fire retired upward into the Country but the King soon after resolving to come to a treatie of accomodation with us which also was at length effected by the promising reparation of our Dammages and that for the future they should no more deal thus unjustly with us but suffer us to enjoy free trading as formerly all which being agreed unto we withdrew our Militia out the City and gave it up again into the hands of the King. This being the true state of the matter hereupon the English Company makes complaints by an Annex to which the Memorial of the Marquis of Albiville hath relation over Injuries and Violences offered them at Maslupatnam under the pretext of a War which the Netherlandish Company had undertaken against the King of Golconda but they say they are well acquainted with such Tricks and Designs And that we made our selves Masters of Maslupatnam after the same manner we before haddon of Bantam to no other end then thereby to ruinate and deprive the English of their Traffick That we had play'd such prancks to often especially at Bantam and afterward at Sumatra however they doubted not but we should be responsable for the same That we forbade them after the Expiration of eight weeks to trade any more at Maslupatnam notwithstanding they there have had their place of Residence and Magasin above eighty or ninety years together and had built the same at their expences upon ground bought with their own money That in all the Treaties we have made with the Kings and Princes of those Countries we always endeavoured to exclude their Company from the Trade and Havens of those places thereby wholy to annihilate their Commerce but that notwithstanding the foresaid Insinuation they did intend to keep up their trading at Maslupatnam Truly here is a wonderful kind of Language and by it may be perceived how easy it is to Misconster a sincere and upright intention and wrest it to a bad sense The questions then naturally flowing from hence are these viz. First Whether our Company did undertake this War out of an evil intention and desire under that pretext to offer injury and violence to the English. Secondly Whether it be true that our Design was to make our selves Masters of Maslupatnam after the same manner as we had don of Bantam and with no other end and intention than thereby to effect the ruine of the Commerce of the English. Thirdly Whether it be true that we had forbode them their Traffick at Maslupatnam after the expiring of eight weeks Fourthly Whether it then were or yet is in the power of the Netherlandish Company to enter into such Leagues and Contracts with the Princes of those Countries by which other Nations should be secluded from trading in any of the Wares or Fruits growing in those Countries What concerns the first it is known to all that the East Indie Company of these Lands is the only erected Companie of Commerce for to enjoy by and thro an honest trading in Countries so far remote from us the profits which we hoped might thence ensue But forasmuch as we found by sad experience that we should have to doe with Nations which were not to be too much trusted and had evilly entreated many of our Traders yea murdered some of them which before an Octroy was granted had negotiated with them it seemed good to the States of our Country to prevent such mischiefs to qualify and Authorise by a granted Octroy to this Company to procure reparation by all such meanes as should be judged most convenient by them with further Authority to make Leagues and Contracts with the Princes and Potentates of those Nations and to erect and build Forts and Castles as might serve for their security These Wars then were not to be undertaken but only in case of urgent necessity after all wayes of Accommodation and condescention had in vain been attempted It is a thing that speaks of it self that between Marchandising and War there is no agreement and that Merchants can no wise have any interest thereby and the Companie therefore had precise Orders to shun it as much as possibly might be So that it is most absurd to suppose the Company should have engaged in that War against the King of Golconda so potent a Prince and only out of a jollitie of spirit A War which we knew aforehand that besides the cessation of Traffick would
expect any profit or advantage or if they had it would have been mixt with an uncertaintie as to the event and again the Son would then have endeavoured to have been aforehand and the first aggressor whereas on the contrary it was the Father who thereby got so great advantage over the Son burning and ruinating the City and keeping his said Son besieged in his own Castle so that had it not been for the intervention and succours of them of Batavia the Father certainly would have triumphed over the Son and put the case the Warr had ended according to the intention and advantage of the Son what more could he have expected thereby who already sate on the Throne and could be no greater then he was would the Son have listned to such counsel and engaged in a Warr against his Father whose Interest consisted in governing his Kingdom in peace And doth it not hence follow that all these troubles did arise from them who breathed after nothing more then change Who not being able or willing to submit to the Government of the young King revolted against him with intention to thrust him from his Throne and to set up another more suitable to their liking and humor Which their design also so farr succeeded that the young King was brought to the point of loosing his Grown and Life Could the Government of Bantam at the beginning have with any reason imagined that the young King should finally have got the upperhand over his Enemies and Rebells or that the English should have intermedled with that Warr and would have assisted the Rebells against their own Prince whom themselves owned as lawful King of which hereafter shall be more largely spoken and he thereupon should have thrust the English out of his Kingdom Would they have stirred up the Son against the Father after that the Son by so many lamentable Letters had implored their assistance and let it come to that extremity that in case they had delayed but one day longer he must have given himself over to his Rebels and undergon a cruel death In case the Rebels before it was delivered by the Netherlandish forces had taken the Castle and murthered the King could they have hindred that either the old King or one of his younger Sons should have obtained the Crown and so managed the affaires of his Kingdom as to take vengeance of them that had opposed themselves against his designs And if so be in cases of such nature place may be given to conjectures and presumptions is it not most probable that the English themselves have done that very thing which they falsly impute to the Netherlandish Company They Publish for a certain Truth that the young King while the Father as yet governd the Kingdom assassinated their Agent and Commises and that he alwayes carried himself as an Enemy to them whereas on the contrary the Government of the Father was most grateful unto them Doth it then seem to be such an ungrounded praesumption that they partly to revenge themselves of that Massacre of which the King of Great Brittain in his Letter to the now King of Bantam declareth himself so sensible and partly that it was much for their Interest that the Son might be puld down from the Throne and put to death and that the Father or another Brother were set up they should labour to kindle the fire and foment this Warr Especially hereunto concurring that they were so soon readie to join their forces to the assistance of the Father without which the Father could not have obtained those advantages nor the Son been brought to such a Laborinth Also it will clearly appear that all the mischief which is come to the English Companie in this businest is wholy from the bad management of affaires by their own Men and Ministers in Bantam For the King of Great Brittain and the English Companie acknowledge the young King for the alone King and Soverain But their Ministers declare him to be an Usurper and a Rebel of the Father Their Masters endeavour to establish a setled peace with him They set themselves formally against him as their Enemie Their Masters Endeavour to oblige the Son by all means possible and send great quantitie of all manner of Ammunition of Warr to him They do not only disoblige him in all things but even assist his Enemies with the provision sent to his assistance Their Masters in their fore-mentioned Letter pray that God the Creator of Heaven and Earth would bless and prosper him They endeavour to bereave him of his Throne and make him the most miserable of men So that having by these unrighteouss courses brought upon themselves to be driven out of Bantam they now known not how to excuse the matter And being disappointed in their design as fallen into the pit they digged for others they are at their wits End and know not what to doe some bodie must be found out upon whom to lay the blame and the next that comes to hand is the Netherlandish Companie Hic mihi turbat aquas But had they sate still or had as they would make the world believe kept themselves neutral according to the will and footsteps of their Masters or had they in stead of helping the Old assisted the young King these difficulties nor questions had never happened And how can the English with any shew of reason dispute or call in question the Soverainty of the young King seeing it is a known case that the sending and admitting of Ambassadors and Agents together with the making of Treaties and Alliances are true tokens of a Soveraign power and therefore all such as admit and receive Ambassies do thereby acknowledge the Soverainity of them that send the same which is also further owned by proffers of Alliances and Leagues which cannot be erected but between Soveraigns Now as to the second Fact to wit that after the Netherlandish Company had got the young into their snares and perfidiously brought him under their yoke they then should have forced him to the expulsion of the English This we have before manifested to be a false fiction For first they ought not in a case of so great weight and tendency make such odious and malitious positions except they had clear and convincing proofs at hand There is not any one of the Witnesses which the English Companie have produced that mentions a word thereof or that speakes of snares into which they of Batavia caused the young King to fall or of any yoke under which against all fidelity they had brought him It is true they produce in the Process one Mr. Waite speaking of the departure of the English by order of the King who relates onely of an hard contest between the said King and Major Sr. Martin before that order of causing them to depart could be obtained from him but being saith he altogether under the power of the Hollanders he was necessitated thereunto but besides what might be alledged to
to the whole World that the English had given all assistance to his enemies yea one of the English themselves relates in a certain book printed at London in which he gives an account of what passed at Bantam during the warre and of which he was eye-witnesse viz. that they of the English nation had furnished the old King with most of all the Ammunition he had and withal that they used all means possible to encourage and encense the Javans against the Dutch and thereupon he concludes that they to with the English had no ground much to rely upon the frienship of the Netherlanders in case they once came to set foot on land Notwithstanding they are not ashamed to deny al this yea in the Memorial delivered by Mr. Chardin while he was here and seconded and further confirmed by a certain Memorial which the English Companine together with their demands delivered over to the Commissaries who were to decide on both sides namely that the English in all this while had kept themselves altogether neutral between the said opposing parties and conclude from thence that the King had not out of his motion caused them to depart but thro the Instigation of the Major St. Martin a thing most notorious false as at the beginning they clamoured and published to the whole world namely that we drave them out with force after a most barbarous and unheard of manner So then it appeares on both sides that their departure was caused by the Kings order who only hath powr of Command in his country and whose command they were bound to obey But it is denyed and there is reason to protest against Injurie don us as if we had bin the effecters of the same Ought not then the English to prove that fact undoubtedly yea but have they any proof thereof certainly non at al. Can the English Satisfy with this that in stead of proof they onely produce obscure suspicious discourses to which no credit wil be given save only by such as are praeoccupied and readie to take whatever may serve to feed and streng then an anticipated humour They remonstrate that in a certain hearing which the King of Bantam granted them soon after the obtained Victorie they could not perceive the least distemper or Indignation but that indeed there were some hot words passed between the King and Sr. Martin But I pray is this a proof to convince as to a crime especially of such nature as this We neither may nor can rely upon the gesture and countenance of any muchless of a King especially of an Indian Prince who seeks to keep in his wrath and indignation and to take his best opportunity to avenge himself Is there any one that ever heard that Major Sr. Martin instigated the King to chase the English Is there any thing produced in the least tending thereto Certainly nothing on the contrarie the said Sr. Martin as a Man of honor a Gentleman of qualitie and surpassing modestie wisdom and learning wholie takes of all sinister suspition in protesting that the intercourse with the King was entended to no other end then to divert and take of the King from the design he had to destroy all the English and should he not to doe so have had much more reason then as the English Companie in their Demand given in against the Netherlandish Companie and more amply in their Reply doe assert that he some years before had caused the Agent of the English Companie to be murthered together with their Comises of which they afterwards made such heavie complaints yet nothing followed thereupon Is it then to be wondred at that he was so greatly incensed because of this their action that except he had forceablie bin diswaded by Sr. Martin he had caused them all to be slain They endeavour also to make the Netherlandish Companie or their Ministers suspected to have an hand likewise in this Action but they are necessitated to protest against this outragious injurie and Calumnie They who at the same time were so highly out of favour with the old King then reigning would certainly be far from having an hand in so horrible a Murther by which they could not in any respect be advantaged If that William Kaef the Netherlandish Resident at Bantam when the Old King overthrew and saccaged the Citie was fain for to escape massacring to retire to Batavia leaving all the Goods and Effects of the Netherlandish Compagnie in their Lodge which undoubtedly was by some English though perhaps without the knowledge of their Masters in part stolen should not then the English had they not in that furie been protected by the Netherlandish forces have been in far greater danger Would there have bin any appearance for any of them to have escaped with their lives And nevertheless according to their saying It is the Dutch that caused all these Troubles and Mischiefs to befal them But the English were not then of that opinion nor used such kind of Language when they came so solemnly to declare their thankfulness to the Dutch for their good will and protection they had shewed to them But how little the English Companie doth agree with it self and how often they are out and in in their writings doth hereby appear that in what they have deposed by form of demand themselves say that their Agent and the Councel the day after the raising of the Siege were with the King in his Castle to take of and appease if possible the Chagrin and wrath of the King so hot against them and that they then found him by far less incensed then the Hollanders said he was Farthermore in their said Memorial which they delivered over together with the foresaid pretences and to which by the foresaid Demand they adhere they say that the same day they were introduced to the King who laid before them many accusations not so much as permitting them to speak a word for their defence It followeth then that whereas they said when they were brought in before him they could not in the least perceive in his posture or visage any token of indignation is a pure untruth But yet further to convince the English Company of the falsehood of what they impute to the Netherlandish Companie and that after so odious a manner it is only needful to look over the Answer of the Netherlandish Companie to the complaints brought in by Mr. Chudley and Sr. John Chardin in May 1682. whereby the same doth testifie a super-abounding affection and perfect readiness to contribute to all meanes and wayes of reestablishing of the English Company there by employing their Credit and Authoritie with the present King as also to reconcile the two contending parties according to a Medium therein proposed and so consequently to recal our Troups out of the Kingdom of Bantam Now it can easily be conceived they would not have done all this in case that by their meanes that Warr had been raised or that they had had
windows to open and shut and besides that a Gallirie also which hanging four or five foot over the ground of the Hollanders Lodge gave the English opportunity to hear and see all what ever the Dutch did The young King considering that our said Lodge in time of Warr was like to be the great Magasin thought it requisite to prevent such dangerous consequences as might be occasioned by overtures being over a place of the House where the Powder and other Ammonitions of Warr did lay and out or through which windows or overtures in the wall the English at all times might com upon that place at their pleasure and knowing the English would not seale up those Windowes nor suffer the Galliries to be taken away he thereupon sent his servants with a Dutch Renegado to cause it to be don and it may perhaps be true that the Resident Kaeff was at that time present forasmuch as it was don in the said Lodge of the Dutch Companie where according to his Office he was to take care of the Magasin What evil can herein be imputed to the companie and what accusation can the English frame from this A thing which way so ever they take it was carried on by the authoritie of the King and according to their saying executed by a Renegado the verie naming of whom shews that he was not in service nor under the Oath of the Netherlandish Companie And what besides this they lay to the Charge of the duteh Companie is first that they should have taken from the English their horses and som other things and have eonstrayned them to take out the Powder that was in their Ships and to bring it a shore Secondly that what they at the command of the King to depart in al haste had laden in their boats to bring aboard their Ships in which neyther the people of the Countrie nor the Soldiers did any wayes hinder them but passing by the English Chalops which kept the watch at sea they were by them arrested under pretence they had order to suffer nothing to be carried aboard the English Ships and in case they persisted to do it they should be shot at by which they should have bin necessitated to return to Land with their Boats. Thirdly that they complaying of such violence to Major St. Martin he in a jesting way should answer that al was don by order from the King whereas no man on Land Soldier or others had a hand in those Violences but all was don by our Soldiers onely Forthly that the Chief of the French requiring of the King restitution of four Chists with Silver which was taken from him the King should answer in the presence of the Dutch Commissarie that he knew nothing thereof and that he would do no injurie neither to them nor to the English Danes or other Strangers trafficking in his Countrie and in case any wrong had bin don unto him since the Hollanders had set foot on Land that he must require reparation from the Duth Commissarie or the General at Batavia Fiftly that at the last instance made to cause the English to quit Bantam being as they say the day before their departure our Soldiers came into the English Lodge robbed the Chambers and took away all they found there whereupon the people of the country so far were they from doing them the least wrong permitted them to seal up their Magasin and undertook to keep it safe for them What Concerns the first point sorasmuch as they do not onely not say much lesse prove that our men should have taken the horses and and other goods from the English nor that they should have constrained them to fetch their powder out their Ships therefore the Netherlandish Companie wil passe that by as a thing which doth not concern them and of which they are wholy discharged by the often forementioned Memorial annexed to the demand or pretense which the English Companie deposed and delivered in and to which they do referre themselves in which is expressely said that Pagoran Diepa Panerat one of the principal Ministers of the young King or rather the first Minister of State had don the same although they put it in such General and ambiguous expressions in all appearence as if they would lay it to the Charge of our Men Onely what concerns the Powder the Dutch companie doth say that in case it were true that the English were fain by the order of the King to unlade the same and bring it to Land that it was don not because the King stood in need of it for he was abundantly furnished by them of Batavia but only to prevent that they might not deliver the same to his enemies and besides it cannot be ill taken that the King in that confused state of things would oppose and hinder the English from going so often too and fro to their Ships Concerning the second point namely that we should have hindred the English from departing out of Bantam and also to have stopped their boats hath not the least appearance of truth in it forasmuch as themselves confesse that we assisted them with our Boats and Chalops to carrie their goods and wares a bord their Ships when none of the people of the countrie or their Boats could be obtained to be serviceable to them therein so little acceptance they had with that Nation and how can this hang together that we should have procured their departure from the King and then when they were readie to depart to hinder it yea the English disagree in the verie position laid down about it for their foresaid Memoriall to which by their demand they refer themselves dictates not that their men were stopt at Sea by our Barks that kept watch but that it was don by the watch of the Netherlandish Companie on Land at the mouth of the haven to wit as having order to suffer nothing to be carried from Land to the English Ships The complaints which thereupon they should have made to Major St. Martin comprehended in the third point as if he had in a kind of mockage answered them that all was don by order of the King what doth this make to the thing for put the case the said Major which not withstanding is not granted might say not in way of Mockage but in earnest that it was to be imputed to the order of the King which goes farther if those orders had bin executed by our Soldiers although that also is denyed and of which the English doe produce no proofs yet could it not any wayes prejudice the Dutch Companie as not being bound to be responsable for the Orders of the King. Touching the Kings answer to the Chief of the French his complaint and that the King remitted him as to that matter to Batavia of which is spoken in the forth point although it should be al true which notwithstanding is not proeved it might be that the King did it in such a manner to free himself
wrote to the Government of Batavia even after he had surmounted al difficulties that in case they should consent therein and withdraw our Militia from thence he should not be able to continue master in the work but be necessitated to retire to Batavia in hope protection should not there be refused him and thereupon besought in all humility that they would at no hand forsake and reduce him to such extremities but perform their word given him by solemn Contract And how should the Netherlandish Companie be officious to their re-admission seeing the English Company in their writings do so scandalously decipher him as namely that he hath with the approbation of all the world acted against the English Nation as an Enemie so unthanckful so barbarous with such antipathie from their Blood without any the least reason or provocation that his Majesty of Great Brittain without injurie to his honour may not rest till he have secured himself of that City and whole Kingdom until he have got reparation and that the sooner because he is according to their saying however he bear the title of King nothing else but a perfect Slave of Batavia and a Servant to their will and pleasure High words indeed also it is a wonderful Dilemma of the English Companie to wit if the Old King of Bantam have any right to Bantam and the dependencies thereof then the conclusion is most solid that the same is devolved upon the deceased King of Great Brittain of happy Memorie And if the right appertains to the young King as the Hollanders affirm then he hath acted by the approbation of the whole World against the Subjects of his said Maj. as an enemie according to what they have deciphred him Concerning the first member of this Dilemma being it is evident that the Old King of Bantam having given over his Kingdom to his Eldest Son the present inheritor thereof he now cannot afterward give it to another the conclusion that follows hence is directly against the English Company What concerns the second part of the Dilemma if it be the young King to whom this right doth belong and and that it be true that he had acted against the English as an enemy ungrateful barbarous and with antipathie to their blood without the least provocation as indeed may be drawn but nevertheless not to justifie the Demand of the English Company against them of Holland neither can any thing therefrom be concluded against the present King of Bantam in case he hath justly as he affirmeth testifyed his displeasure against the English But in the mean while we cannot let pass without taking notice that while they are pleased to heap up reproches upon the young King then they say he had acted against the Subjects of his Majesty as an enemie ungrateful barbarous with an Antipathie of their Blood without the least provocation further that he is unworthy of alliance with them but when the business is to load the Dutch and make them the Authors of their expulsion out of Bantam then they alter their strain and say that they could not so much as observe neither in the words or gesture of the King the least thing manifesting any displeasure against the English or that he had a design to make them depart out of his Connirie Here they name the present King a Slave of the Netherlandish Companie and in their Reply they say that the Old King when he sate on his Throne would willingly have been a Slave of the King of England and thereof would have made his triumph In their Reply they give the mentioned King the name of a pauvre Idiot a vile person une Chetive Creature c. And in their letter they wrote to him in March 1683. they styl him a wise King to whom they say they will send a person with the Title of Envoy or Extraordinary Ambassador with full power to conclude an everduring League and Alliance with him The same Title the King of Great Brittain giveth him in his fore mentioned Letter stiling him a wise and righteouss Prince On the contraire the English Companie in their Triplick call him a Murtherer and Contemner of the publick faith And how odiously the English Companie in their foresaid Letter annexing also what they wrote to Pangoran Diepa Penerat Chief Minister of State have deciphred the Netherlandish Companie and in what esteem we were alreadie with them even before the Warr of Bantam was kindled the Dutch Companie will referre to the judgment of the Reader It hath already been mentioned that the English Companie in their foresaid Demand did pretend besides the calling back of the Dutch Troopes the deliverie also of the whole Citie and Castle of Bantam or else as they said they would not make their residence there again But besides that the English Commissaries who were to decide the differences did as hath been said Judge that this their demand as altogether ungrounded and unreasonable ought to be denyed so it is a thing that doth sufficiently refute it self For before the Warr of Bantam the English Companie had nothing there but a Lodge and simple Residence without the least Territorial right The King after he had triumphed over his Enemies knowing that they had afforded all manner of assistance to them and not being at rest as fearing their future miscarriage and especially in this juncture of time while he was yet surroundred of Enemies causes them to dislodge Hereupon now the English Companie comes and demands the deliverie of the whole City and Castle having had nothing there but as hath been said a Lodge for Commerce and this they will have from the Netherlandish Companie who have no right at all to dispose thereof except they chase away the King that now is out of Bantam for to put it into the hands of the English and except they could make it out and to be agreable to justice that the Dutch Companie should threaten the present King to abandon and deliver him over to the will and mercie of his Enemies by remouving of their Troopes out of his Citie whereas we are bound by Contract to maintain and protect him should now falter in our word and falselie our trust a thing which may nor ought to be required of us But it is said that the Dutch Companies intent in this is to monopolise all the trade of Pepper and get it to themselves wholie and to this they ad that seeing the Netherlandish Companie having besides the trade of Cloves Nutmegs Mace and cinnamon al this would make them able to maintain a fleet to withstand the mightiest King in Europe But besides that there are so many other great countries in the Indies where Pepper may be had and to which the English Companie have acces as wel as the Dutch and that it is impossible the Netherlandish Company should get them all under their power command it ought to be called to mind that when we were in treatie here with
they have to establish the English there muchless to make over the Country unto them or what appearance of Truth can be imagined they should have don the same It is certain never any of the English Company have been up in those Highlands with the Emperour no not any of Netherlandish Company themselves notwithstanding they have lived more then fortie yeares upon the Nether-Coast That those Princes should have Order and Power from their Father to do this is not so much as affirmed muchless proved by the English Company it self And although it could be proved yet it must come under examination whether that Power and Authority could be stretched so far or not Yea be it how it will it is enough for the Netherlandish Company that we according to the confession of the English themselves not only were there before them but also that three dayes before their arrival we had fortifyed our selves yea as they say upon a Rock Add to this and which indeed is wholie deciding in the subject case that in the very Letter the English produce and annexed to the Memorial of the Marquis of Albiville and to which he refers himself it is said that those so named Princes did declare that in case the Hollanders should establish themselves at Batancapas before the English that then the English should be frustrated thereof Words verie remarkable from such by whom the English pretend to have obtained their right espetially it being so fallen out as they said If notwithstanding the Emperor of Manicabo might pretend any right to those Lands and declare that we did keep them in our possession unlawfully which we suppose shall never be yet then it would be a question to be decided betwixt the Emperor and us and not with the English The second point is also without any ground of truth to wit that our men should have taken that Fort by violence from them the English themselves affirm in a certain Letter annexed to the foresaid Memorial that our men did diverse times incite the Malbayers and urged them to fall upon the English. Moreover that one Mechelen whom in their foresaid Annex they name Muchalon Commander in Chief of our Men there should have said to the English and warned them to save themselves otherwise the Maleyers would fall upon and kill them But that the English not regarding those threats at the last our men should have commanded the Maleyers to fall upon them indeed Of which if they should be required to bring in their proof it would be far to seek but on the contrary it is a certain evidence that our men did endeavour their preservation Hoewever we deny not that our Maleyers that is such of them as remained on our side fell upon the other which rebelled against us and took in the Fort they yet held in their possession It is worthy of Observation that the English themselves confefs that not so much as a man of them was kild in that action because we prevented our Maleyers with all our might hindring them from doing it but suppose it to be true tho it be not so that our own men had taken the fort from the English what can be justly said against it might we not drive them out of a Fort which in dispite of us they erected in a Countrey that belonged to us and that right over against the Fortresse we had made there before and after that by two Protests we had warned them not to do it but would not at all listen to us So that as instead that the English take this up a matter of Complaint and accusation against the Netherlandish Company they ought to have been thankful to them for their kind and mild dealing with them yea so far as to deliver them from eminent danger of death and ruin As one Samuel Bats who at that time commanded the English together with John Becton in their Letters have truely acknowledged And in case one of our Soldiers did as they affirm in disdaing tear in peeces the Pavillion of the King of England altho it is not true for according to the Letters thence received the English themselved pulled down their Flag which surely is more likely to be true because they apprehending the great danger they were in would not let the Flag come into hands of their Enemies But suppose it were don by an English Souldier what blame can be imputed to the Netherlandish Company in this Why did the English expose the Flag of their King in such manner in the Territory and Country appertaining to another Is it not a thing known that a strange Flag is not respected in any place whatsoever That our men according to the contents of the fourth point should have shot out of the Fort with their Canon is true But it was don not before but after that the Rebellious Maleyers had assaulted us as Enemies And put the case they had not done it yet are we not for this responsable to the English Company Was it not free for our men to deal with them that had revolted and became Rebels as they thought meet Surely if we had dealt more rigourously and in an hostile manner with them they had sufficiently deserved the same The spoiling of their goods they make mention of in the fourth point the Netherlandish Company denyes to have been done by their men If it was don by the Maleyers as in such occasions is ordinary and therefore our State is not responsable for that besides whatever we had preserved of theirs was restored unto them again as apperars by the forementioned Letter in which the English complain not that our men had taken their Canon but acknowledge it was don by the Maleyers and that it was yet in their possession If then the Maleyers could take and carrie away the Canon how much easier was it for them to carrie away other things So that hereby is a clear and unanswerable proof that our people did not intermeddle with that business muchless that they should be guilty of the spoile made And besides all this the foresaid Bats in the forementioned Letters only desireth that we would endeavour to get into our hands and send him his Books and Writings as also two men that were run away with one Moor together what provision of meat and drink they had left without in the least mentioning any other thing as well knowing it was not remaining in our but in the hands of Maleyers neither is it to be imagined to have been of any great importance for in such a place where the inevitable danger was foreseen dayly by them and where they had their Chalops and Boats lying neer their very wals to put in whatsoever was of any worth it is not easily to be believed they left any thing behind them they made any great esteem of but only what they willingly would part with and also whatever the Dutch Company could save or get out of the hands of he Maleyers was