The Records of New Amsterdam within the Municipal Archives [minus some earlier ordinances issued by Stuyvesant] begin just a few days after the constitution was issued, with a prayer for divine steerage. Some of the emotions don’t age in addition to others, however this passage appears timeless: “Let us remember that we hold Court, not of men, but of God, who sees and hears everything. Let respect of person be far from us, so that we may judge the poor and the rich, friends and enemies, inhabitants and stranger according to the same rules of truth and never deviate from them as a favor to anybody, and whereas gifts blind the eyes of the wise, keep our hearts from greed, grant also, that we condemn nobody lightly or unheard, but listen patiently to the litigants, give them time to defend themselves.”
The prayer is undated however was in all probability written on the 2nd or on the primary day of courtroom, the sixth, as a result of the subsequent web page begins with this:
“Thursday, February 6, 1653… Their Honors, the Burgomasters and Schepens of this City of New Amsterdam, herewith inform everybody, that they shall hold their regular meetings in the house hitherto called the City tavern, henceforth the City Hall, on Monday mornings from 9 o. c, to hear there all questions of difference between litigants and decide them as best as they can. Let everybody take notice hereof. Done this 6th of February, 1653, at N. Amsterdam.”
The most vital function of this decrease courtroom was that any particular person, male or feminine, might petition the courtroom, citizen, and non-citizen alike. These courtroom information type the spine of the Dutch information held by the Municipal Archives and are half of a file of municipal authorities that extends till immediately.
