B A T A V I A. 



831 



Batavia. per. But afterwards suspecting him of a breach of 

 ' v- ' faith, they buit a strong fort in the neighbourhood 

 to awe him into justice. This raised the jealousy of 

 the English, who had also some correspondence 

 with the people of Jacatra. which soon kindled into 

 open war. The fleets of the two nations engaged 

 at a short distance from the fort, when the Dutch 

 were completely defeated. The English then took 

 possession of Jacatra, and upon an eminence in the 

 middle of the town established a magazine, which 

 they fortified with a considerable number of heavy 

 cannon. Vanden Broecke, the Dutch commander of 

 fort Maurice, being hard pressed for want of am- 

 munition and provisions, threw himself under the pro- 

 tection of the governor of Bantam, who immediately 

 dispatched 2000 men to his assistance. The Ban- 

 tamese officer entered Jacatra, stript the king of all 

 ensigns of royalty, and 'rove him with his family, 

 helpless and poor, to a distant corner of the island, 

 where he dragged out his existence in the humble 

 condition of a fisherman. Peace being soon after 

 concluded between the two Companies, the English 

 retired from the island, leaving the Dutch in posses- 

 sion of Jacatra, but so completely under the power 

 of the Bantamese, that Vanden Broecke and seventy 

 of his men were carried prisoners to Bantam. This 

 unfavourable aspect of affairs, however, was soon 

 changed by the arrival of a Dutch squadron. Com- 

 modore Koen after his defeat had retired to Amboy- 

 na, and having received a strong reinforcement, re- 

 turned in 1619 with a fleet of seventeen sail and a 

 considerable body of troops. He ravaged and witire- 

 ly destroyed the town of Jacatra ; and marching his 

 forces to Bantam, demanded the restitution of Van- 

 den Broecke and his companions. The Bantamese 

 governor was in no condition to make resistance. 

 Koen returned immediately to fort Maurice ; and upon 

 the ruins of Jacatra, in the midst of fens and morasses, 

 and under a vertical sun, he laid the foundation of the 

 new city of Batavia. National taste and national 

 prejudices seem to have dictated, in a great measure, 

 the choice of this situation. The Dutch were par- 

 tial to the swamps of their native country ; and they 

 fondly indulged the idea of enjoying, in an opposite 

 quarter of the globe, the muddy canals and shady 

 walks of Amsterdam. The plan, however, was so 

 well contrived, and, notwithstanding the local disad- 

 vantages, the execution was so prompt and successful, 

 that Batavia speedily became, and has ever since con- 

 tinued, the capital of the Dutch conquests and set- 

 tlements in the East. But this colony had not only 

 to encounter difficulties at its first establishment ; it 

 continued during its infancy to experience the most 

 decided opposition both from their countrymen at 

 home, and from the inhabitants of the island. The 

 emperor of Java, who had beheld with satisfaction 

 the jealousy between the Dutch and English, and had 

 been an idle spectator of their hostility, now began 

 to take alarm at the growing prosperity, and gradual 

 encroachments of his ambitious neighbours. His 

 fears prompted him to the most decisive, but detesta- 

 ble measures. He attempted to take off governor 

 Koen by secret assassination : but that design failing, 

 he drew together an immense army, and determined to 

 extirpate these daring intruders. In the beginning 



of the year 1629, Batavia was invested by 200,000 Bitavia, 

 Javanese; but the Dutch works were defended with w "v 

 such courage and conduct, that, after a siege of seve- 

 ral months, they were obliged to retire broken and 

 discomfited. The good fortune of the colony in this 

 enterprise, however, was greatly overbalanced by the 

 death of the governor-general, to whose wisdom and 

 activity it had owed its existence and preservation ; 

 and they would probably have felt the effects of his 

 loss more severely, had not a diversion happened in 

 the island, which relieved them in a great measure 

 from the apprehension of present danger. 



The governor of Bantam having revolted from the 

 Emperor of Java, assumed the title of king, and was 

 supported in this quality of an independent prince by 

 the government of Batavia. Two separate interests 

 being thus formed in the empire, the Dutch, by dex- 

 trously playing the one against the other, were en- 

 abled not only to maintain their own power, but con- 

 siderably to extend their territory ; and though both 

 sovereigns bore an invincible hatred to the colony, 

 yet by taking advantage of their mutual animosity, 

 they soon became so formidable as to defy the re- 

 sentment of either. Not contented, however, with 

 this precarious security, which the united efforts of 

 the empire might annihilate, they contrived a scheme 

 of freeing themselves entirely from future apprehen- 

 sions, by getting into their hands the persons of the 

 two sovereigns of the island. This scheme, the off- 

 spring of the most refined policy, was prosecuted by 

 means the most deceitful and unjustifiable, and in the 

 space of a few years was actually accomplished. A 

 Dutch fort, manned with a strong garrison, and well 

 fortified with cannon, overawes the capitals of Ban- 

 tam and Java. A European guard even resides iji 

 the palace of their sovereigns, out of pure tenderness 

 and respect ; and they are made to believe, that these 

 evidences of their subjection are solely for their ho- 

 nour and defence. The Dutch, however, have not 

 been able to keep the emperor of Java in entire and 

 strict submission. Wars have frequently arisen from 

 a disputed succession to the throne ; and they are 

 constantly obliged to cajole him by splendid embas- 

 sies, and costly presents. But they have no appre- 

 hension from his power. They have, in a manner, the 

 absolute direction of his affairs, and are in possession 

 of almost the whole trade of his dominions. As for 

 the king of Bantam, he is as completely at their de- 

 votion, as the king of the Hottentots was at the Cape 

 of Good Hope. The colony had thus become in a 

 great measure masters of the island. Batavia had 

 yearly increased in strength, beauty, and opulence, 

 and could vie in splendour and power with the chief 

 settlements in India. All fears of foreign hostility 

 were now allayed, and they began to indulge the hope 

 of domestic peace and settled security. But the na- 

 tives were far from being reconciled to their autho- 

 rity. They made repeated efforts to drive them from 

 the island, and to restore their sovereigns to inde- 

 pendence. The avarice and injustice of the Dutch 

 had sown the seeds of disaffection, and had excited 

 even the hatred of their own subjects. And at a time 

 when seeming tranquillity reigned around, they were 

 upon the very brink of destruction, and thousands 

 waited only the sigual to take vengeance on their op- 



