It was suspected that the English residents were communicating with the freebooters, who were chiefly their own countrymen.
A proclamation was issued prohibiting all persons, under penalty of banishment and the confiscation of goods, from harboring the outlaws.
Every third man was detailed to act as a minute man whenever required; and the whole population was pledged for the public defence.

At the same time, to prevent any misunderstanding, messengers were sent to Connecticut to inform the colonial authorities there, that these measures were adopted solely for the protection of their commerce and the punishment of robbery.
In February of this year, a church was organized at Flatbush.

Domine Polhemus was chosen pastor, with a salary of six hundred guilders.

A cruciform wooden church was erected, sixty feet long and twenty-eight feet wide.

This was the first Reformer Dutch Church on Long Island.
The Lutherans had now become quite numerous in New Amsterdam.