A fuccincl Hiftory of the Rife, Progrefs , and Book I, 
944 
Parents of the Children have any Eftates in Europe , the 
Chamber of Orphans where fuch Perfons die, writes for 
the Effects to be fent to them, which is accordingly 
dene, • ' . 4 
The Money the Chamber of Orphans pays into the 
Company *s Cadi at Batavia 3 brings in Nine per Cent, and 
it is often let out to Freemen and others at Twelve per 
Cent, per Annum , upon good Security : But at Policat it is 
ufually put into the Company’s Stock, at Six per Cent . 
per Annum. If a Perfon dies and leaves no W ill, or Re- 
lation in India to inherit, the Chamber of Orphans takes 
Care of the Eftate, and gives the deceafed Man’s Ac- 
count current Credit for the fame ; and there it remains 
till the right Heir demands it. If any Perfon dies with a 
Will, and leaves his Widow in Truft for the Children, tho® 
their Mother, the Chamber of Orphans may, if they pleafe, 
require the Eftate at her Hands, and keep it for the Chil- 
dren. And if they do allow the Mother to keep the 
Eftate and the Children, they always take a Copy of the 
Will, and an Obligation from the Mother for the 
Eftate. 
The Chamber of Orphans may keep the Eftate in their 
Hands, and manage them as they pleafe ; but, for the 
better Security, it is ufually put into the Company’s Hands, 
at the Intereft before- mentioned , and they have the Com- 
pany’s Obligation for it. If any Perfon dies, leaving a 
Will, and therein does not give fuch a Proportion of his 
Eftate to his Children as the Lav/ requires, they will not 
allow of the Will, but require a full Part for the Chil- 
dren. If a Man dies in the Company’s Service, the Offi- 
cial is not to touch his Papers •, nor is the Chamber of Or- 
phans to admit of any Difcovery of his Concerns to the 
Fifcal. Again, if any Man dies in the Company’s Ser- 
vice, and they owe him Money for Wages, the Chamber 
receives it, and enters it to the Creditor of the Deceafed. 
The Company, befides One third of their Half of the Fif- 
cal’s Confifcation, allow alfo Fines on Offences ; and the 
Confi Rations of the Eftates of Men executed for the Poor. 
There are many Overfeers and Matters of the Poor at Ba- 
tavia. At Policat they have but two, and thofe not of 
the Mafters of Orphans, but others. They have Cogni- 
zance of all poor Chriftians under the Government, whe- 
ther they be Butch , Portngueze , or others, and take Care 
for their Relief, by making Collections in Churches every 
Sunday , and Diftnbutions according to their Number and 
Neceffities. 
The Poor has always a confiderable Stock before-hand, 
which has been gathered from the Confifcations of private 
Trade, and charitable Gifts. This Stock they alio let out 
to the Company upon Intereft, which they conftantly re- 
ceive, and employ as is found needful j and tho’ the In- 
tereft of the Stock be fufficient to maintain the Poor, yet 
they never negieCl the weekly Gatherings in Churches, to 
increafe the Stock as much as they can. For, fay they, 
it may fo happen, that by great Wars and Loffes, many 
may be maimed, made Widows and Fatherlefs, and then 
the Principal may not be enough to maintain them. The 
Overfeers, or Mafters of the Poor, muft keep a fair Book 
of all Receipts and Payments, that is, an Account of 
Cafii, and an Account of what’s paid into the Company’s 
Stock, at Intereft, with a Roll of the Names of all Per- 
rons to whom they give Alms, and what they give to 
every one. At Batavia there are Collections for the Poor 
every Sunday , Morning and Evening, in all their Churches. 
When the ingenious and intelligent Reader fhall have 
perufed and confidered this Scheme of Butch Policy in the 
Indies , I am perfuacled that he will very eafily account to 
himfelf, for their having raffed fo extenfive and folid an 
Empire in this Part of the World. He will fee that they 
excel all other Nations in the Indies , not from Accident, 
-Fortune, or a Concourfe of lucky Incidents, but from a 
very wife and well difpofed Eftabliftttnent, and a conftant 
Attention to the Principles on which it is founded. They 
will fee, that how much foever the Butch may be inclined 
to a Republick, and how fteady foever in their Notions of 
a Com mon- wealth , yet they have made no Scruple of de- 
parting from thofe Sentiments in the Indies •, for the fake 
of complying fo far with the Genius of the People in that 
Part of the World, as to eftablffff Rich a Power in a fin- 
gle Perfon, as may contribute to keep up at once the 
Grandeur and Authority of the Company, and facilitate 
the Direction of their Affairs. But if the Governor-Ge- 
neral of Batavia has the Splendor, Revenues, and Power 
of a Prince, he earns them very dearly, by that perpetual 
Application to Bufmefs, which is required from him, and 
which he has it not in his Power to fhake off : The fame 
Thing may be faid of the Direbtor-General, and of the 
Members of the Council of the Indies \ if they have great 
Appointments, they have a great deal of Bufmefs, and if 
their Power be large, they are obliged to give a very ftriA 
Account of the. Manner in which it is ufed. 
Thefe Examples are of inexpreffible Confequence, ftnee 
they oblige all their Officers in their feveral Stations, to a 
conftant and diligent Attendance, from whence they can 
never hope for any Difpenfation, when they fee fuch as 
are at the Head of Affairs, tied to a ftricter and more labo« 
rious Attendance than themfelves. The due Care that is 
taken, that every Man fhall have a juft Satisfaction for 
his Pains, a proper Subfiftance, and a Certainty of receiv- 
ing whatever is due to him, without Difficulty or Delay, 
and without needing the Affiftance or Favour of any Man, 
muft be acknowledged a Circiimftance of infinite Import- 
ance. The Frugality fhewn in their military and naval 
Eftablifhments, and the Care taken to preferve a due De- 
pendance bn the civil Government, are Steps worthy not 
only ot Attention but Imitation, becatife they are equally 
calculated for increafing and extending, as well as preftrv- 
ing and fecuring the Dominions and Trade of the Com- 
pany. The Tendernefs fhewn for Orphans, and the Se- 
curity that this affords to private Men, that their Children 
fhall certainly enjoy the Fruits of their Labour, is both a 
Spur to Induftry, and a Means of promoting Marriages 
and Settlements, both of the utmoft Confequence to their 
Affairs in the Indies , as it ferves to increafe their Force, 
without draining their Mother-country. Their Regula- 
tions for the Poor are copied from thofe in Holland , and 
highly laudable they are, in this refpeeft ; I mean, in not 
fuffering any Diftance of Country or Climate to deprive 
their People of their Birth-rights, which is the Benefit of 
their Laws, and to this I fuppofe it is owing, that the 
Butch are obferved never to lofe, or even to impair their 
Affection for their native Country, which they particular- 
ly diftinguffh, by the tender Appellation of Fatherland, 
and to which therefore all their Cares are confined, and in 
which all their Acquifitions center. 
To be the better fatisfied of this, and to bring this 
Seftion to a Conclufion, by what molt of all concerns us, 
the Knowledge of that Profit which accrues to them by 
the Eafi- India Trade, we fhall next confider the Oecc- 
nomy of this fiourilhing Company at Home, and demon- 
ftrate the Means by which all the Proprietors receive the 
cleared: Satisfaction, that the whole Profits upon their Ca- 
pital, are fairly divided out to them, and are not put into 
the Pockets of fuch as are intrufted with the Direction of 
the Company’s Affairs, as alfo how the State preferves 
fuch an Influence. over the Company, as is requifite for its 
own Security j and finally, how an Eftimate may be made 
of the Wealth brought into the United-Provinces by this 
Company, from the Time of its original Eablifhment to 
this Day. 
21. The great Power, prodigious Wealth, and vaft Im- 
portance of this Company to the Butch Republick, has 
occafioned a great Variety of Treatifes on its Form, Con- 
ftitution, and Manner of Government } fo that it is very 
far from being an eafy Talk to reduce the Subftance of 
what they had delivered within the narrow Bounds which 
we are obliged to keep. To begin as methodically as 
poflibly, we will firfl: ftate the original Stock of the Com- 
pany, and the Proportions in which it was advanced, and 
which have never been varied fince that Time : A Stroke 
of Policy of infinite Confequence to them in the Manage- 
ment of this extenfive Commerce. 
The 
