Humour of many of his Subjects there arose a heavy Civil War in the Kingdom in which the Malcontended intended to cast off the Yoke from their Neck as they termed it after they had also drawn the Old King to their Party who thereupon strengthened himself in Turtiassa as also the King now reigning did at Bantam At length by force of Arms they made themselves Masters of Bantam and besieged the Young King in his Castle into which he was retired intending to bereave him both of his Throne and Life and to set up a Younger Brother in his Place Whereupon â—â—is King apprehending no other way of Deliverance is having most of the Great Ones of his Kingdom â—â—â—ated against him and the Commonalty also his Enemies thought it Expedient for him to make known to the General of the Council of the Netherlandish Company at Batavia his Miserable State and that he not only was to expect the loss of the Crown but also a most Cruel Death The which he signified in most lamentable wise imploring their Assistance But they not judging it convenient in a case of such Importance to intrude themselves too 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 disdainful manner rejecting the same without vouchsafing to return any Answer at all to the Government of Batavia or their Committees the said Government did at last resolve seeing the Condition of the Son tending to Ruin as being forsaken almost by all to assist him against the Rebels and if possible to deliver him out of the miserable State into which he was brought which also they did with such Success that notwithstanding the strong Opposition of the Enemy we landed our Forces raised the Siege of the Castle in which the King was and set him again upon his Throne who thereupon both to demonstrate how greatly he was offended with the English who had assisted his Enemies as also to provide for his own Security for the Future did without any Instigation of the Netherlandish Company command them to leave his Country and to depart elsewhere with their Goods This then being a True Narration of what passed in these Affairs these Considerable Things do present themselves to Consideration First That the Old King having made over his Kingdom to his Eldest Son he thereby became Lawful King by his Father's Transport and was acknowledged so to be by the King of Great Brittain and by them of the English East-Indie Company Secondly That he thereby being Lawful King his Subjects in taking up Arms against him were Rebels Thirdly That according to the Law of Nature and of Nations it is not only permitted to be Assistant unto a King that is oppressed by his Subjects but that such Assistance is approveable 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 Worthy Act unto him that is the Author of the said Act and noâ— 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 Auxiliary 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 War 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 do 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 years before the War began they had had secret Negotiation 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 perfidiously 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 stinking 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 Bantâ—â— in chief had committed very many Enormities against the Factors People and the Effects of the English Company at Bantam so far that they dispossessed and drave them out of their place of Residence But instead that the English Company ought to have proved the Facts which are Essential to the Thing in case they herein aimed to Triumph they do 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 only consider the moral Impossibility of the aforesaid 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 Falshood 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 War not ending until the Son came to the Crown so that they could not stir up the Son against the Father much less foment their Quarrel And what Folly would it have been for them of Batavia to animate the Father to War against the Son forasmuch as they lived with the Son in Amity and as Good Neighbours 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 upper hand they should have been in a far worse Condition and attracted a new Enemy against themselves And that they should have stirred up the Son against the Father and encouraged him to War cannot be imagined by any that are in their right Sences partly
Troops thence wrote to the Government of Batavia even after he had surmounted all 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 Bâ—tavia 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 Netherlandâ—â—sh Company 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 Naâ—â—â—n as an Enemy so unthankful so barbarous with such anâ—ipathy from their Blood without any the least reason or â—â—â—vocation that his Majesty of Great Brittain without 〈…〉 ry to his honour may not rest till he have secured himself 〈◊〉 that City and whole Kingdom until he have got reparati 〈…〉 and that the sooner because he is according to their â—â—ying however he bear the title of King nothing else but a â—â—â—fect Slave of Batavia and a Servant to their will and 〈…〉 sure High words indeed also it is a wonderful Dilemma of the English Company to wit if the Old King of Bantam have any right to Bantam and the dependencies thereof then the conclusion is most so 〈…〉 that the same is devolved upon the deceased King 〈◊〉 Great Brittain of happy Memory And if the right 〈…〉 pertains to the young King as the Hollanders affirm â—â—en he hath acted by the approbation of the whole World against the Subjects of his said Majesty as an Enemy and according to what they have deciphered â—im Concerning the first member of this Dilemma being it is evident that the Old King of Bantam haâ—ing given over his Kingdom to his Eldest Son the preâ—ent inheritor thereof he now cannot afterward give 〈◊〉 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 that it be true that he had acted against the English as an Enemy ungrateful barbarous and with antipathy to their blood without the least provocation as indeed may be drawn but nevertheless not to justifie the Demand of the English Compny 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 testified 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 reproaches upon the young King then they say he had acted against the Subjects of his Majesty as an enemy ungrateful barbarous with an Antipathy 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 Country Here they name the present King a Slave of the Netherlandish Company 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 stile 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 ever-during League and Alliance with him The same Title the King of Great Britain giveth him in his forementioned Letter stiling him a Wise and Righteous Prince On the contrary the English Company in their â—â—iplick call him a Murtherer and Contemner of the â—ublick Faith. And how odiously the English Company in their aforesaid Letter annexing also what they wrote to â—angoran Diepa Penerat Chief Minister of State have â—eciphered the Netherlandish Company and in what â—â—eem we were already with them even before the â—ar of Bantam was kindled the Dutch Company will 〈◊〉 to the judgment of the Reader It hath already been mentioned that the English Company in their foresaid Demand did pretend beâ—â—des the calling back of the Dutch Troops the deâ—â—very also of the whole City and Castle of Bantam or 〈◊〉 as they said they would not make their residence 〈◊〉 again But besides that the English Commissaries who 〈◊〉 to decide the differences did as hath been said â—â—dge that this their demand as altogether unâ—â—unded and unreasonable ought to be denied So 〈◊〉 is a thing that doth sufficiently refute it self For before the War of Bantam the English Company had nothing there but a Lodge and simple Resiâ—ence without the least Territorial Right The King 〈◊〉 he had triumphed over his Enemies knowing â—that they had afforded all manner of assistance to â—â—em and not being at rest as fearing their future miscarriage and especially in this juncture of time while he was yet surrounded of Enemies causes â—â—em to dislodge Hereupon now the English Company comes and demands the delivery 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 Company who have no â—ight 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 agreeable to justice that the Dutch Company should threaten the present King to abandon and deliver him over to the Will and Mercy of his Enemies by removing of their Troops out of his City whereas we are bound by Contract to maintain and protect him should now falter in our word and falsify 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 monopolize all the Trade of Pepper and get it to themselves wholly and to this they add That seeing the Netherlandish Company having besides the Trade of Cloves Nutmegs Mace and Cinnamon all 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 Company have access as well as the Dutch and that it is impossible the Netherlandish Company should get them all under their power and command It ought to be called to mind that when we were in
because thereby they could not expect any Profit or Advantage or if they had it would have been mixt â—ith an uncertainty as to the Event And again the Son would then have endeavoured to have been aforeâ—â—d and the first Aggressor whereas on the conâ—â—â—y 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 〈◊〉 So that had it not been for the Intervention â—â—d Succours of them of Batavia the Father certainâ—â— would have triumphed over the Son. And put 〈◊〉 case the War had ended according to the intention â—â—d advantage of the Son what more could he have expected thereby who already sate on the Throne â—â—d could be no greater than he was Would the Son 〈◊〉 listned to such Counsel and engaged in a War â—â—â—inst his Father whose Interest consisted in Governâ—â—g his Kingdom in Peace And doth it not hence â—â—llow that all these Troubles did arise from them 〈◊〉 breathed after nothing more than Change who 〈◊〉 being able or willing to submit to the Government of the Young King revolted against him with â—â—â—ention to thrust him from his Throne and to set 〈◊〉 another more sutable to their liking and humour Which their Design also so far succeeded that the Young King was brought to the point of losing his Crown and Life Could the Government of Bantam at the beginâ—ng have with any reason imagined that the Young â—ing should finally have got the upper hand over his Enemies and Rebels Or that the English should have â—â—termedled with that War and would have assisted the Rebels 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 tâ— his Rebels and undergone 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 Affairâ— of his Kingdom as to take Vengeance of them thaâ— had opposed themselves against his Designs And if so be that in cases of such nature place may be given to Conjectures and Presumptions is it noâ—â— 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 govern'd the Kingdom assassinated their Agent and Commises and that hâ— always carried himself as an Enemy to them whereaâ— on the contrary the Government of the Father waâ— most Grateful unto them Doth it then seem to be such an ungrounded Presumption that they partly to revenge themselves oâ— that Massacre of which the King of Great Brittain iâ— his Letter to the now King of Bantam declareth himâ— self so sensible and partly that it was much for theiâ— Interest that the Son might be pull'd down from thâ— Throne and put to death and that the Father oâ— another Brother were set up they should labour to kindle the Fire and foment this War Especially hereunto concurring that they were so soon ready to joyn their Forces to the Assistance of the Father without which the Father could not have obtained those Advantages nor the Son be brought to such a Labyrinth Also it will clearly appear that all the Mischief which is come to the English Company in this business is wholly from the bad Management of Affairs by their own Men and Ministers in Bantam For the King of Great Brittain and the English Company acknowledg the Young King for the alone King and Soveraign 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 Enemy Their Masters endeavour to Oblige the Son by all means possible and send great quantity of all manner of Ammunition of War 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 Unrighteous Courses brought upon themselves to be driven out of Bantam they now know 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 do some body must be found out upon whom to lay the Blame and the next that comes to hand is the Netherlandish Company 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 instead 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 Soveraignty 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 acknowledg the Soveraignty 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 King 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 to make such odious and malicious Positions except they had clear and convincing Proofs at hand There is not any one of the Witnesses which the English Company have produced that mentions a Word thereof or that speaks 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 only of an hard Contest between the said King and Major Sir 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
the said King did afterward make often Complaints 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 War and of which he was an Eye-witness viz. That they of the English Nation had furnished the Old King with most of all the Ammunition he had and withall that they used all means possible to encourage and incense the Javans against the Dutch And thereupon he concludes that they to wit the English had no Ground much to rely upon the Friendship of the Netherlanders in case they once came to set foot on Land Notwithstanding they are not ashamed to deny all 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 Company 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 through the Instigation of the Major Sir Martin a thing most notoriously 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 appears on both sides that their Departure was caused by the Kings Order who only hath power of Command in his Country and whose Command they were bound to obey But it is denied and there is Reason to protest against Injury done us as if we had been the Effecters of the same Ought not then the English to prove that Fact Undoubtedly yea But have they any Proof thereof Certainly none at all Can the English satisfie with this that instead of Proof they only produce obscure suspicious Discourses to which no Credit will be given save only by such as are pre-occupied and ready to take whatever may serve to feed and strengthen an anticipated Humour They remonstrate That in a certain Hearing which the King of Bantam granted them soon after the obtained Victory they could not perceive the least Distemper or Indignation but that indeed there were some hot Words passed between the King and Sir 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 much less 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 Sir Martin instigated the King to chase the English Is there any thing produced in the least rending thereto Certainly nothing On the contrary the said Sir Martin as a Man of Honour a Gentleman of Quality and surpassing Modesty Wisdom and Learning wholly takes off all sinister suspition in protesting that the Intercourse with the King was intended to no other end than to divert and take off the King from the Design he had to destroy all the English and should he not to do so have had much more reason then as the English Company in their Demand given in against the Netherlandish Company and more amply in their Reply do assert that he some years before had caused the Agent of the English Company to be murthered together with their Comises of which they afterwards made such heavy 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 forcibly been disswaded by Sir Martin he had caused them all to be slain They endeavour also to make the Netherlandish Company or their Ministers suspected to have an hand likewise in this Action but they are necessitated to protest against this outragious Injury and Calumny 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 sacked the City was fain for to escape Massacring to retire to Batavia leaving all the Goods and Effects of the Netherlandish Company 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 Fury been protected by the Netherlandish Forces have been in far greater danger Would there have been 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 Company 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 Council the day after the raising of the Siege were with the King in his Castle to take off 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 than the Hollanders said he was Furthermore 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 Falshood of what they impute to the Netherlandish Company and that after so Odious a manner it is only needful to look over the Answer of the Netherlandish Company to the Complaints brought in by Mr. Chudley and Sir John Chardin in May 1683 whereby the same doth testifie a superabounding Affection and perfect Readiness to contribute to all means and ways of Re-establishing of the English Company there by employing their Credit and Authority with the present King as also to reconcile the two contending Parties according to a Medium therein proposed and so consequently to recall our Troops out of the Kingdom of Bantam Now it can easily be conceived they would not have done all this in case that by their means that war had
the Praeliminaries and Cases incident it was thought meet that all things should be handled in Writing and the State of the Case so written to be made by Demand Answer Reply and Duplick or double Reply even to a Triplick and Quadruplick And besides all this there were delivered up such pieces Probatory as might serve to fortifie and maintain the Case on the one hand with the Confutation of the same on the other hand they of the Netherlandish Company also making their Demand against the Demand of the English and delivering the same over by way of Reconvention or contrary Demand for the fraighting of four Ships wherewith the Netherlandish Company upon the earnest Request of the English Company had accommodated them amounting to thirteen thousand nine hundred pounds Sterling Insomuch that the aforesaid Pieces being delivered to the said Committees to do Right therein the English Commissaries in their Vote declared that it was their Opinion and Sentence that instead of all what was demanded by the English East-Indie Company to wit not only the recalling of the Netherlandish Troops out of Bantam and the Territories thereof but moreover and above to deliver up the Castle and City of Bantam The Netherlandish Company was only bound to re-establish the said English Company in Bantam so and in such wise as was demanded by Monsieur Chardin in the Hague and to settle all things in state as it was before the War and the Damages and Reconvention or contrary Demands should be reserved But the Committees of this State delivering in their Advice every one of them in order did understand and declare that forasmuch as the decision of the Case which must be judicially determined did depend upon the Verity of Fact which the English Company had charged the Netherlandish Company with and in special that the said English Company were by them driven out of Bantam of which they could not produce the least Proof that therefore the said English Company ought to have their Demand and Conclusion made and taken up against the Netherlandish Company denied them and the said English Company to be condemned to satisfie the Netherlandish Company for the Fraighting of the four Ships which they demand by reconvention By which because of the cessation of Voices the Case being fallen into the Terms which they were in according to the convention of Agreement of the Year 1673-74 must come into the hands of an Arbitrator or Compromissarius to the choosing of whom by the aforesaid Agreement the time of a Mouth was prescribed But the said Committees for the Decision on both sides not agreeing for although the English Company were Plantiff in Convention yet the English Commissaries did not propose a Super-Arbitrator so hereby the whole Case according to an Act passed and subscribed on both sides was left in the Hands of his said Majesty and your Highnesses to be determined by you according to the Contents of the aforesaid Agreement And this is the Reason why the said Mr. Skelton Envoy Extraordinary made the aforesaid Memorial and Address to your Puissant Highnesses to do Justice in the Case to the Subjects of England Whereupon it must needs fall under Examination whether the Complaints which the English Company have and still do make of the Business happened at Bantam be grounded on such solid Reasons as to oblige the Netherlandish Company so to Re-settle them at Bantam as they were before the War for more than this was before denied to be due to them by the English Commissaries themselves and that with reparation of Damages and Interests which they pretend to have sustained by the Netherlands Company Now to make this Case to appear more â—early forasmuch as since it was first presented to your Puissant Highnesses by Mr. Chudlie Extraordinary Envoy and afterward more amply pressed by Sir John Câ—ardin is now wholly altered and quite of another Face As also that the Netherlandish Company hath recovered further Proofs for the confutation of what the English Company did bring in and maintain therefore it will be necessary to dive somewhat deeper into the matter The Case is this Sultan Agon formerly King of â—â—tam and Father of the present King now reigning having Resolutions both in respect of his Age and other Considerations to disinvest himself of the Government and lead a still and private Life he made over his Kingdom to his Eldest Son retiring himself to Tâ—â—rtiassa a place of Pleasure about six Miles from Baâ—tam and seated a Mile from the Sea there to spend the Residue of his Days free from Publick Affairs His Son seated on the Throne and having the Government of the Kingdom in his hands forthwith sâ—nt Ambassadors to Batavia accompanied for the further Splendor with a Train of about 300 persons to give notice to the Government there of his Access to the Crown and also to Renew their Ancient Alliance Sending also Ambassadors to England where they were in such manner received as that those of the East-India Company by their Letters to the said King of Bantam in July 1682 written about two Years after the Young King was come unto the Crown say That such Honour was given to his Ambassadors as if they had been sent from the Greatest King or Potentate of the World Adding in the said Letter that they did with Joy understand that God Almighty had brought and invested him on the Throne of his Kingdom of Sourosoan that is the Kingdom of Bantam with the good Will of his Father And furthermore His Majesty of Great Brittain sent away the said Ambassadors with Presents to the Young King their Master accompanied with an Honourable Letter to him all which in the Process is produced and in which he is stiled the Famous and Illustrious Sultan Abdul Cahar Aba Nasar King and Lord of the said Kingdom of Sourosoan that is of Bantam Adding moreover That his Majesty received the aforesaid Ambassadors with all due Respect according to their Character and with entire Affection as coming from a Prince whose Person and Amity his Majesty declared to have in very high Esteem and unto whom he judged it necessary to send over his Agent or Envoy furnished with power from his Majesty and order from the English Company for to make a stricter League with the King of Bantam which Testimony and Proffer of Alliance was yet further reiterated in another Letter writ by the aforesaid English Company from London the 17th July 1682 also produced in the Process By all which then it appeareth undeniably unto all that are Impartial that the present King now ruling was acknowledged both by the King of Great Brittain and by the English Company as well in England as in India for the Lawful Lord and King of the whole Kingdom of Bantam and as the Successor of his Father But forasmuch as the present King in the direction of the Affairs of the Kingdom did not as it seems answer the Expectation of his Father nor satisfie the
justification of their Complaints made had nothing to shâ—w in way of Proof Indeed had the English Company at that time rested satisfied the Dutch Company should have been obliged to perform the same how prejudicial soever it might afterward have been to them But forasmuch as the English Company was then pleased wholly to reject and break off those Transactions whereas we so desirously longed that they might be brought to a good End in England and for which it is said the Lord Ambassador Citters was fully authorised all the time that Business of Bantam was in the Terms as they were during the Negotiations and Treaty with Mr. Chudlie and Sir John Chardin in the Hague and which the English Company also caused to be broken off Whereupon it falls now to be enquired into Whether the Dutch Company since the case of things be wholly changed and of another nature be still obliged to the same It is evident that at that time the State of the Affairs of Bantam was not known namely Whether the War between the Father and the Son were yet remaining or ended If it were determined whether by an Accommodation or by the Sword If by the Sword who of the two the Father or Son remained Conqueror and thereby became Master of the Kingdom During which uncertainty it cannot be judged Imprudency that the Netherlandish Fast-Indie Company by whose Forces the Son was delivered from his inevitable Ruin and by whom he further was to be assisted so as not to fall under the oppression of his Rebellious Subjects should interpose their Credit and Authority by the said King for the setling of the English in Bantam if he were Conqueror and with condition the English should yield no further Assistance to the Father and in case the Father were Victor that then the English should employ all their Credit by the Father that the Dutch Company might enjoy a good Neighbourhood with them And these Proffers of the Dutch Company while things stood thus at an uncertainty were the mâ—re excusable by the King of Bantam because they endeavoured thereby to prevent the Succors which the English Company pretended to send the Father and also because at that time it was not yet known how far the English had made themselves irreconcilable to him During this uncertainty of things the Dutch Company made these Proffers yea Sir John Chardin himself projected an Accommodation between both the Companies in which mention was made of the withdrawing of the Dutch Troops out of Bantam and what each Company should be obliged unto in those occasional Accidents as are thereby specified But as it pleased the said Mr. Chudlie and Sir John Chardin very unexpectedly to break off those Treaties which already were so far advanced and they also of the English Company on their part did reject the Proffers which not only your Puissant Highnesses in their foresaid Answer to the Memorial of Sir John Chardin had made but those also which the Ambassador Citters afterwards did make in the name and upon the account of the Netherlandish Company after that the foresaid Sir John Chardin was returned into England and the English began again to bring in new Demands after they had very disdainfully rejected the former hereupon the Netherlandish Company judged that they stood no longer bound to theirs especially when as some while after by tidings on both sides in Letters from the Indies it was signified that the War at Bantam was ended to the advantage of the young King who reobtained the Kingdom as possessor had taken the Father Prisoner and subdued his Rebels so that consequently the Netherlandish Company had now no longer any ground nor pretext either to treat with the English about their resetling in Bantam as being Territorium plane alienum much less to promise the same and the rather because the now reigning King having considered the Conspiracies of the English with his Father and rebellious Subjects hath declared them his pernicious Enemies Seeing then from all what hath been said it clearly appeareth that the English Company did rather chuse to expect the uncertain Lot of War than to agree with the Dutch Company while it was time about their Settlement it is therefore reasonable that they now acquiesce and leave the Netherlandish Company unmolested as to their re-establishment It followeth therefore that it is wholly besides the purpose at present to make use or apply to their advantage the foresaid answer of your Puissant Highnesses to the foresaid Memorial after they had rejected the foresaid Proffer and had determined not only to re-establish themselves by force of Arms but wholly to become the Masters of Bantam and to that end to set out a formidable Power of Ships and Men at Sea though their Enterprize as they themselves depose in their foresaid reply was stopt by his Majesty of happy Memory and not suffered to put forth to Sea now this was the reason that they having formed and being busie about this design that the Charges thereof might not be fruitless did not only reject the Proffers aforesaid of the Dutch Company but made such Excessive Extravagant Demands as the delivering up of the whole City of Bantam with the Castle although they well knew that it neither would nor could be accepted of us or in case they were accepted that then they had attain'd to what they aimed So long then as the state of things was at an uncertainty and it might be in doubt who of the twain Father or Son should have the upper-hand though the Son seemed by far more likely to prevail nevertheless the Netherlands Company judged that in such a Constitution of things it could not be ill taken that they entred with the English Company into a Treaty how they might after the best way procure a Peace between the two Kings by interposing their Credit and Service of Love and obtain the re-establishment of the English Company but all this being rejected by the English with disdain and that Uncertainty which then was being brought to a Certainty so as the whole business is become of quite another nature that the Netherlandish Company should yet be bound to perform what they in the uncertain state of things did shew themselves willing unto the Netherlandish Company apprehendeth that it in justice cannot be required For first thereby besides other considerations they should certainly be made losers of the Sum of Six times hundred thousand Ryxdollers which the King of Bantam by evening Accounts is found indebted to the Dutch Company and of which a Contract is made with him in particular in which he grants to their Company the Traffick in his Kingdom so long and until he shall come to be in a condition to repay the same to the Dutch Company But that which besides this deserves to be reflected upon is That the King of Bantam hearing a rumour that the English Company persisted in their pretence of resettlement in Bantam with the calling back of our