Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

Alexander's name was almost certainly put forward by his older brother over the course
of the difficult meetings of the Heren XIX that Hendrik chaired in late 1644 and early 1645. But
the former's qualifications were obvious: his father and brother both were investors in the WIC,
he had a close relationship with the Prince of Orange, and his knowledge of politics and law
would be indispensible to the company's efforts to organize the new government in Brazil. Once
again, however, the difficulty was to convince such a man that the position was worthy of his
status and efforts. Alexander's response to the proposal—detailed in a series of reflections he
composed from the early 1620s to the early 1650s, and which was published as a memoir in the
late eighteenth century—reveals his serious reservations about both the company's prospects in
general and, perhaps more important, the specific expectations the directors had of the new
President and council.
In Alexander's estimation, the company was in dire straights: poor management by the
directors and the malfeasance of company servants were partly to blame, but the largest troubles
resulted from the spiraling costs of defending the company's scattered conquests. At first these
had added to the WIC's wealth and prestige, but now they threatened to ruin the investors and
drag the company into bankruptcy. For a nobleman Van der Capellen's metrics were perhaps
surprisingly businesslike: “stock in the company, which recently was trading above [the face
value of] 100 guilders, now lies so low that a capital of 100,000 guilders can be purchased for
30,000 [guilders], the promised distributions or rents have ceased, and all the company's income
is absorbed in the heavy costs of war.” There were still good returns to be expected from Brazil,
New Netherland, and the coast of Africa, he observed, but these returns now fell into the hands
of private traders, “who are favored by the directors of the company.” 57 As a result, the company
57 Ibid., vol. 2, 111. “Synde d'Actien, die over de hondert plechten te gelden , nu so laegh geloopen, dat een Capitael
van hondert dusent gulden gekost konde worden voor dertigh dusent guldens, ende komende de beloofde
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