An hlftorical Account of the Intercourfe 
Book. I. 
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which followeth prefently, the particular Confeffion of 
every one, lubfcribed with his own Hand, as aforefaid : 
So that hence it is manifeft, that no extraordinary Tor- 
ture was ufed in fuch Manner as is given out there by 
thofe that wifti us evil ; nay, that thofe few that felt 
any, were only touched (not punifhed) with ordinary 
Torture. 
44 And thus your Worfhip hath the upright and impar- 
tial Truth of this Bufmefs, touching the whole Paffage 
as it proceeded, and the Punifliment as it was infli&ed, 
from which forne of the Englijh were exempted by Fa- 
vour, that the Englijh Goods ftiould not be loft, accord- 
ing as Order had been given to that End. And I find that 
the Sentence had been given the 9th of March , 1 62 3, 
by a competent Aflembly of fourteen Judges, who, as 
it appeareth in the Sentence, in the doing thereof, did 
before earneftly call upon the Name of the Lord, that 
he would pleafe to be Prefident, and predominant in 
every one of their Hearts, in this forrowful Aflembly, 
and that he would infpire them only with that which 
might be judged to be expedient and juft, &c. So 
that out of all that is above-faid, nothing elfe can ap- 
pear, but that this Bufmefs was managed lawfully and 
orderly, by Men of Honefty and Confcience, againft 
fuch as had undertaken againft the State, againft the 
Wealth, and Advantage of this Eajl-India Company, 
the Lives of their Officers, there placed againft the 
State and Welfare of many, who as little deferved, 
and as little expe&ed fuch Wickednefs from their 
friendly Confederates in the fame Society of Merchants 
there refiding with them. 
44 And now (confidering the Premifes) I hope it ftiall 
be far from every Chriftian, in any wife, to proteft, or 
excufe this wicked Fad: ; but rather to mourn and 
grieve, as we do, for this Confpiracy, and for the Evil 
the Conlpirators have fo defervedly drawn upon their 
own Heads, and to honour them who, in Juftice, have 
puniffied Villainy according to the true Merit thereof ; 
for, we all know, that, without Juftice, without Re- 
ward of that which is good, and Punifliment of that 
which is evil, no Society of Mankind can confift. 
44 And for this Information, which I fend in Love and 
Honour to your Worfhip, as unto a Lover of Truth, 
and a Hater of Treachery, you may make fuch Ufe as to 
you ffiall feem good in any Place where you come, both 
for Refutation of any thing already reported contrary 
thereunto, and for Prevention of any further falfe Ru- 
mours or Clamours. And, finally, for the Propagation 
of that undoubted Truth, which here, to my beft, I have 
endeavoured to difcover. 
44 And if you fliall meet with any thing of Worth, 
which can be truly avo wed to be contradiftory unto any 
thing I have written, I defire to underftand it from 
you, and you to fufpend your wife and impartial Judg- 
ment, till I have cleared it unto you : Truth remain- 
eth ever the fame. So I commend you to the God of 
Truth, defiring him to give us Minds, not to judge 
according to outward Appearance, but to judge with 
righteous Judgment. 35 
thofe Times, of which indeed I once intended to have 
written, I have met with fo many Proofs of the Candour, 
Integrity, and publick Spirit of that worthy Secretary, 
that I make not the leaft Scruple of affirming, that this 
muft be a prodigious Falfhood. 
As to the Duke of Buckingham , his Jntereft with King 
James was fo great, that if he had not been fome Way or 
other appeafed, I cannot but think the Maffacre at Amboyna 
would not have pafied as it did ; but, at the fame time, 
I muft profefs, that I do not believe lie was capable of beine 
bribed to fuch a Behaviour : I rather think he was milled 
and impofed upon ; and I make no queftion that this very 
Paper was tranimitted to fome Perfon in his Confidence for 
that Purpofe. It is an eafy matter to fpeak ill of the Dead, 
and too common a Practice to tear thofe Characters to 
pieces which are leaft like to be defended ; but this I dare 
not do : Though, to ftiew that it is not without Reafon, 
that I fufpeCt the Duke of Buckingham to have had a large 
Share in preventing King James from teftifying a becom- 
ing Refentment upon this Occafion, I will relate a parti- 
cular Fad that led me into this Opinion. The Eajl- India 
Company, to perpetuate the Memory of this barbarous 
TranfaCtion, caufed the Tortures and Sufferings of the 
Englijh at Amboyna , to be very exadly painted, and hung 
up in their Flail ; which Pidure, by the Diredion of 
Buckingham , was taken down ; for which this Reafon was 
affigned, that, as it had not been thought proper to in- 
volve the Nation in a War on this Account, it was, by 
no Means, decent, that fuch a Pidure ftiould remain in 
publick View ; fince, at the fame time that it expofed 
the Cruelty of the Dutch , it threw fome kind of Odium 
on the Englijh Adminiftration. 
# But tho 5 thefe Paintings in Oil were removed, xhtEaJi- In- 
dia Company could not be drawn, either to forget this Af- 
fair, or to fuffer the Account that this Dutch Agent had 
publiffied of it, to pafs unanfwered ; and therefore they 
employed a very good Pen, to ftiew the Inconfiftencies of 
this Relation, and furniffied him with all the Materials 
that were requifite for that Purpofe. This Defign of his 
he executed with great Spirit and Diligence/ and the 
Piece itfelf is fo clear a Vindication of the Innocence of the 
Englijh , and fo full a Proof of the Cruelty and Barbarity of 
the Dutch , that I have thought fit to inlert it for the fame 
Reafons, which induced me to give Place to the other 
Papers ; and I perfuade myfelf that it will be very agreea- 
ble to my Readers, to fee, at one View, and in fo narrow 
a Compafs, all the authentick Evidence that ftill remains 
of this cruel, arbitrary, and unjuft Proceeding, by which 
fo many brave Men were, at that Time, deprived of their 
Lives in fo ignominious a Manner, and the Englijh Na- 
tion for ever deprived of fo important and valuable a 
Commerce. 1 his Reply of the Eajl-India Company was 
conceived in the following Terms: 
8. It is evident enough, from the Stile and Compofi- 
tion of this extraordinary Piece, that it was penned at the 
Requeft, and for the Ufe of fome Perfon of Credit here, 
who was a great Friend to the Dutch , and highly inftru- 
mental in preventing the Government from interpofing, as 
they ought to have done, in favour of the Eajl-India 
Company, and obtaining the bejl ; for a full Satisfaction 
could not be had, for the bafe and barbarous Ufage of Cap- 
tain Towerfon , and the reft of the Englijhmen , who were 
thus cruelly murdered at Amboyna. But it is not fo eafy 
to fay who this Perfon was. The Writers of Scandal in 
thofe Times, charged this, difiuading the King from in- 
terpofing, upon two Perfons, by Name, viz. the Great 
Duke of Buckingham , and the then Secretary of State Sir 
Ralph Winwood. And I have met with a Book, printed in 
1651, in which it is affirmed, that the Secretary received 
a Bribe from the Butch of 30 or 4000© Pounds for that 
Service only. I take this to be a horrid Calumny ; for 
having taken fome Pains in examining the Hiftory of 
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44 The Compiler of this Relation, perceiving that he 
had an hard Tafk to make it probable, that eighteen 
Englijhmen , Merchants, and their Servants, all unarm- 
ed, ftiould, with the Affiftance of ten Japonefe , like- 
wife unarmed, undertake the Surprize of a Caftle, fo 
provided every Way as that of Amboyna , is before in 
the Relation of the Englijh truly deforibed to be : As 
alfo the fame Author well weighing, that albeit, all 
that he was to write of this pretended Confpiracy ftiould 
be taken for true ; yet the Fact would feem very poor 
to bear fo rigorous a Punifliment in Perfons of that 
Quality, and of that Relation to thofe that inflated it, 
provides more fldlfufty than fairly, for both thefe 
Points, in the Preamble of this Relation. To this End 
he rakes and heaps together all the Jealoufies and Dan- 
gers that the Dutch had in the Indies ; yea, and more 
than they truly had at, or about the Time of the pre- 
tended Confpiracy, and applies them all to the Sufpi- 
cion of this Bufmefs, as if all their Enemies were likely 
to confpire with the Englijh ; and therefore the FaCts, 
under Colour whereof they were condemned and exe- 
cuted, were poftible and probable ; and as if the State 
of the Time had been then fo dangerous that every Sha* 
dow of Confpiracy was to be exquifirejy enquired of, 
and the leaft Offence to be feverely puniffied ; where- 
3 44 fore. 
