Dissertation_A Bick_May 25 - DataSpace at Princeton University

6. Conclusion
The scale of these problems became clear only a few days after Haecxs and the other councilors
had taken the oath in the chambers of the States General. On November 27, a bundle of letters
from Brazil dated September 17, 1645 arrived carrying exceedingly bad news: soldiers loyal to
the WIC had abandoned the Brazilian countryside and two of the most important coastal forts
had fallen into the hands of the Portuguese rebels. 95 The news, itself already two months old,
caused a great commotion throughout the United Provinces. 96 It also caused a stir amongst the
members of the new High Council. As early as December 4 the company's directors, then
gathered in The Hague, caught wind that Schonenborch might be having reservations about
traveling to Brazil and immediately dispatched two directors to speak with him. 97 The next week
Haecxs was summoned to appear before the Heren XIX in person. 98 Claes Simonsz. Dolphyn, a
director from Enkhuizen, berated Haecxs for a letter he had sent to Van Beaumont in which he
apparently suggested, “That the company would be better served by sending soldiers instead of
regents [to Brazil].” 99 The discussion the following day was even more heated. Haecxs was
directed to sit between the chair of the meeting and Amsterdam's lawyer, Gysbert Rudolphij. He
was then asked whether he remained committed to his earlier resolution to travel to Brazil and
whether he was prepared to depart as soon as the first relief ship was ready. Haecxs evidently
95
These can be found in NA 1.05.01.01 inv.nr. 59, Overgekomen brieven en papieren van Brazilie, bundle for 1644-
1645. Copies can also be found in the archive of the States General, NA 1.01.04 inv.nr. 5758. See Chapter Two for
an analysis of these documents.
96
Haecxs, “Het Dagboek van Hendrik Haecxs, Lid van den Hoogen Raad van Brazilië (1645-1654).”, entry for
November 27, 1645.
97
NA 1.05.01.01, inv.nr. 2*, entries for December 4 and 6, 1645.
98
This was most likely the so-called Haags Besoigne, an annual set of meetings at The Hague during the winter that
usually involved ten, rather than the full complement of nineteen, company directors. See Den Heijer, De
Geoctrooieerde Compagnie, 129.
99
Haecxs, “Het Dagboek van Hendrik Haecxs, Lid van den Hoogen Raad van Brazilië (1645-1654),” entry for
December 13, 1645. “seijde, Jae, en datter een brief van mijn aen d’Hr. Beaumont was geschreven, daerin Ick mijne
onlusten genoech deede blijcken, en waren dit de woorden aan Bemont geschreven, dat de Comp. nu eer soldaten
als regenten derwarts diende te senden. Dit hadden die Seignoor heel qualijc genomen.”
167