CHAPTEE  VI
 

THE ADMINISTRATION OF   WILLIAM KIEFT

1638-1647

N the 28th day of March, 1638, the Haering, a man-of-
war belonging to the West India Company, of two hun¬
dred and eighty tons and mounting twenty cannon, an¬
nounced, by salute, her approach up the Bay. The little
:'ort gave due response from one of its ancient culverins, and, with
eager welcome from the dignitaries and people of New Amsterdam,
there landed from a small boat, on the floating dock at the foot of the
inlet, at present Broad street, ''WiUem" or WiUiam Kieft, Director-
General of New Netherland.

It had been, for some time, apparent to the directors of the Com¬
pany that the want of energy and experience of Van Twiller, and his
general incapacity for the administration of so important and difficult
a post as the Directorship of New Netherland, made a change in
the Executive essential to both the interests of the Dutch Colony and
of the Company. A man of different stamp was selected. Although
the new Director had been a bankrupt in his commercial transactions
and labored under a charge (made by
his enemies) of having appropriated
certain monies which were entrusted
to him for ransoming Christian cap¬
tives from the Turks, his character, as
a person of determination and activity, recommended him to the direc¬
tors of the Company, and to the States-General, as a fit man for the place.
The new Director, desiring to act on his own responsibility, and
not wishing to be encumbered with those who might oppose his
policy, restricted his Council to one person, John de la Montagne,
a man of intelligence and decision of character, who had been edu¬
cated as a physician, and, as a Protestant refugee from France,
had emigrated to Holland. The Director retained two votes in the
Council, while La Montagne had but one; an advisory board was
summoned in times of danger, but from the constitution of the
Council it is evident that Kieft was practically absolute; and all at-