JOHN BOWNE’S PROTEST TO THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY, 1663

AND RELATED DOCUMENTS

In May of 1663, John Bowne appealed his sentence of exile to the Directors of the Dutch West India Company in Amsterdam. The Company was the ultimate authority in charge of the colony of New Netherland, from whence their appointee, Director-General Peter Stuyvesant, had expelled Bowne for holding forbidden Quaker meetings. The document below has sometimes been presented as the text of John Bowne’s courtroom address. In fact, there is no known transcript of Bowne’s speech to the Directors, although he does paraphrase it in his journal. This is actually a copy of the last of four “papers” —read “petitions” or “remonstrances”— that he submitted in writing, and the only one to survive.

In it, Bowne rebukes the Directors for backtracking after initially sympathizing with his case. According to his Journal, they reneged on an agreement to return his confiscated goods and give him a passage home, unless he signed a promise to unconditionally obey all New Netherland ordinances—never mind that he had been exiled precisely for his unwillingness to obey an unjust law. The document below represents less an appeal than a parting shot, which Bowne delivered as he departed Amsterdam, on his own recognizance and with no guarantees. He did not know then that the Directors had already rebuked Stuyvesant and ordered him in writing to tolerate the Quakers.

[Scroll down to read a transcription of Bowne’s protest or download a PDF of the document.]

PETITION OF JOHN BOWNE TO THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY (IN ENGLISH)

DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.02-24

DATE: MAY 31, 1663 (OLD STYLE) / JUNE 9, 1663 (NEW STYLE)

This is the English-language copy of the final appeal or remonstrance that Bowne submitted in Dutch. The document is not in Bowne’s hand; possibly a member of the English Quaker enclave in Amsterdam made it for him, either for his own records or as one of several to circulate among the Quaker community outside the Dutch Republic. This paper is undated, so the date has been taken from the Dutch copy. A transcription may be seen below.

Friends,

The paper drawn up for me to subscribe [1] I have perused /
and weighed, and do find the same not according to that /
engagement to me through one of your members,[2] (viz) that /
he or you would do therein by me, as you would be done unto /
and not otherwise. For which of you, being taken by force from /
your wife and families (without just cause) would be bound /
from returning to them except upon terms to act contrary /
to your Consciences, deny your faith and religion; yet this /
(in effect) do you require of me and no less. [3] But truly I /
cannot think that you did in sober earnest ever think that /
I would subscribe to any such thing; it being the very thing /
for which I rather chose freely to suffer want of the /
company of my dear wife and children, imprisonment of /
my person, the ruin of my estate in my absence there, /
and the loss of my goods here, than to yield or consent unto /
such an unreasonable thing, as you thereby would enjoin me /
unto; for which I am persuaded, you will not only be judged /
in the sight of God, but of good and godly men, rather to /
have mocked at the oppressions of the oppressed and added to the afflic- /
tions of the afflicted, than herein to have done to me as you /
in the like case would be done unto, which the Royal Law of /
our God requires. /

I have with patience and moderation waited several weeks, /
expecting Justice from you, but behold, an addition to my op- /
pression is the measure I receive.... Wherefore I have /
now this to request for you: that the Lord will not now lay this /
to your charge, but to give eyes to see and hearts to do Jus- /
tice, that you may find mercy with the Lord, in the Day /
of Judgement. /

                          John Bowne

NOTES:

[1] subscribe: sign

[2] Lord Jacob Pergens, the member of the New Amsterdam Committee of the West India Co. Board of Directors with whom Bowne had met one-on-one to plead his case

[3] The Directors of the Dutch West India Co. insisted that Bowne sign a written pledge to unconditionally obey all laws and ordinances of New Netherland before they would return his confiscated goods or allow him to return aboard a Dutch ship--although he had been exiled precisely for refusing to obey the existing ordinances outlawing Quakers.

PETITION OF JOHN BOWNE TO THE DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY (IN DUTCH)

DOCUMENT ID: BFP #2018.1.02-24

DATE: 9TH DAY OF 4TH MONTH (“CALLED JUNE”) 1663 NEW STYLE

This Dutch translation of Bowne’s statement is not in his hand, nor does the handwriting match the English copy (also not in Bowne’s hand). In his letter to his wife (BFP 2018.1.03.02), Bowne mentions an “interpreter” accompanying him to the West India House; that unnamed individual was likely responsible for this version. Unlike the English copy, the Dutch copy bears a date, which is recorded in the so-called “New Style,” or modern calendar.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

The following selection of documents provides context for and fuller explication of John Bowne’s 1663 address to the Dutch West India Company.

DOCUMENTS IN THE DUTCH COLONIAL RECORDS OF THE NEW YORK STATE ARCHIVES

The following documents from records of the New Netherland administration include the original complaint against John Bowne, his arrest warrant and court sentence, the edict of banishment and order for immediate transportation, and an exchange of letters between Stuyvesant and the Directors of the Dutch West India Company concerning his case. The specific ordinance or “placard” against Quakers, under which Bowne was arrested, has not survived. However, a more general ordinance from 1656 prohibiting “conventicles” (public gatherings for worship in private settings) does survive, as well as a follow-up Quaker ban issued by Stuyvesant following the banishment of John Bowne (but before receiving the rebuke from the Directors, which would take several months to arrive by ship.)

1656 Ordinance against Conventicles: https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/52858

Complaint of the Magistrates against John Bowne: https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55132

Arrest Warrant for Long Island Quakers: https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55140

Sentence of John Bowne: https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55145

Resolution to banish John Bowne: https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55194

Order for immediate transportation of John Bowne:
https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55228

Letter of Stuyvesant to the Directors regarding John Bowne:
https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/50531

Letter of the Directors to Stuyvesant, including rebuke re: John Bowne:
https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/50523

Ordinance prohibiting bringing Quakers or other "strollers" into New Netherland
https://digitalcollections.archives.nysed.gov/index.php/Detail/objects/55296