matter of course that great differences
of opinions were bound surely, if slowly, to crop up between the Managers
on one hand, and able Governors-General on the other, touching the line
of conduct to be followed by the Netherlanders in the East. The Managers
were in the first place the directors of a trading company: they hardly
looked beyond the requirements of a purely mercantile policy. Eminent
Governors-General on the contrary were conscious {Page xvi} of being more
than this: they were not only the representatives of a body of merchants,
they were also the rulers of a colonial empire which in the East was
looked up to with dread, with hatred also sometimes, to be sure, but at
the same time with respect and awe! There lay the ultimate cause of the
fundamental difference of opinion respecting the colonial policy to be
followed [*]. Van Diemen dreamt a bold dream of Dutch supremacy in the
East and of the East India Company's mastery "of the opulent Indian
trade." To this end he deemed necessary: "harassing of the enemy [**],
continuation and extension of trade, together with the discovering or new
lands." But if he had lived to read the missive [***], his grand projects
would have received an effectual damper as he perused the letter
addressed to him by the Lords Managers, on September 9, 1645, and
containing the passage following: "[We] see that Your Worships have again
taken up the further exploration of the coast of Nova Guinea in hopes of
discovering silver- and gold-mines there. We do not expect great things
of the continuation of such explorations, which more and more burden the
Company's resources, since they require increase of yachts and of
sailors. Enough has been discovered for the Company to carry on trade,
provided the latter be attended with success. We do not consider it part
of our task to seek out gold- and silver-mines for the Company, and
having found such, to try to derive profit from the same; such things
involve a good deal more, demanding excessive expenditure and large
numbers of hands...These plans of Your Worships somewhat aim beyond our
mark. The gold- and silver-mines that will best serve the Company's turn,
have already been found, which we deem to be our trade over the whole of
India..."

[* I have dealt at some length with this subject in Vol. III
('s-Gravenhage, NIJHOFF, 1895) of my _Bouwstoffen voor de geschiedenis
der Nederlanders in den Maleiscken Arckipel_, pp. LVI ff.]

[** The e