Page:Acadiensis Q5.djvu/391

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CONQUEST OF ACADIA.

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appointment of a person of position and stability, Cornelius Steenwyck of New York, as Governor of Acadia.^[1] His commission, issued at Amsterdam October 27, 1676, is a document of considerable length. It authorizes

Cornelis Steenwyck, in the name of, and for, the High and Mighty and the Privileged General West India Company, to take possession of the coasts and countries of Nova Scotia and Acadie, including the subordinate countries and islands, so far as their limits are extended, to the east and north from the River Pountegouycet (Penobscot), and that he, Steenwyck, may establish himself there, and select such places for himself, in order to cultivate, sow, or to plant, as he shall wish, * * * * to trade with the natives, * * * * to build some forts and castles, to defend and to protect himself against every foreign and domestic force of enemies or pirates, etc., etc.

Instructions for the government of Acadie are given in the commission and in a lettter. Rhoade was to assist by his advice and experience. No action appears to have been taken under these commissions and appoint-ments except by some trading expeditions of the re-doubtable Rhoade, who was seized a second time and taken to New York. It is not probable that Governor Steenwyck ever visited his Acadian domain.

These matters caused considerable correspondence between the Dutch and British governments, and between the latter and the semi-independent colonists in New England. This correspondence was being carried

↑ Cornelius Steenwyck, the only Dutch Governor of Acadia, came from Harlem, Holland, to New York (then New Amsterdam) about 1652. He was a wealthy merchant and a prominent citizen under both Dutch and English administrations. He was Governor's Councillor, Mayor, etc. His portrait, painted by Jan Van Goozen, and also the original of his Acadian commission, are in possession of the New York Historical Society. A translation of the commission is given in the published paper by J. Watts de Peyster on "The Dutch in Maine," 1857. He died at New York in 1684.

[1] Cornelius Steenwyck, the only Dutch Governor of Acadia, came from Harlem, Holland, to New York (then New Amsterdam) about 1652. He was a wealthy merchant and a prominent citizen under both Dutch and English administrations. He was Governor's Councillor, Mayor, etc. His portrait, painted by Jan Van Goozen, and also the original of his Acadian commission, are in possession of the New York Historical Society. A translation of the commission is given in the published paper by J. Watts de Peyster on "The Dutch in Maine," 1857. He died at New York in 1684.

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