They also urged the introduction into New Netherland of the municipal system of the fatherland.
In their brief but touching memorial they write, "Our fields lie fallow and waste.

Our dwellings are burned.
Not a handful can be sown this autumn on the deserted places.

The crops, which God permitted to come forth during the summer, remain rotting in the fields.

We have no means to provide necessaries for wives or children.

We sit here amidst thousands of savages from whom we can find neither peace nor mercy.
"There are those among us who, by the sweat and labor of their hands, through many long years and at great expense, have endeavored to improve their land.