JAN PIETERSZ COEN

The sweetest violence to keep our enemies in check without resorting to open war is to populate the lands with our own people and fill them to such an extent that we instill respect in our feigned friends, the English, fear in our enemies, and obedience in the rebellious. Large numbers of people are the principal foundation of the Company's state in the Indies, without which it cannot exist.

By experience you should be well aware that in the Indies trade has to be pursued and maintained under the protection of one's own arms and that the weapons must be financed through the profits so earned by trade. In short, trade without war or war without trade cannot be maintained.

By experience you should be well aware that in the Indies trade has to be pursued and maintained under the protection of one's own arms and that the weapons must be financed through the profits so earned by trade. In short, trade without war or war without trade cannot be maintained.

The sweetest violence to keep our enemies in check without resorting to open war is to populate the lands with our own people and fill them to such an extent that we instill respect in our feigned friends, the English, fear in our enemies, and obedience in the rebellious. Large numbers of people are the principal foundation of the Company's state in the Indies, without which it cannot exist.