Today, the 4th of April in the year 1622, there appeared before me, notary public, together with the undersigned witnesses, Andries Cherp, as farmer of the excise on tobacco for Leiden and Rijnland for the term commencing on the first of this month, tobacco merchant, aged about 40 years, and Robert Peck, ribbon merchant, also dealing in tobacco, aged about 37 years, both residing within this city.
They have, at the instance of Jacob Danielsz, here present, upon their word as men, their conscience and the salvation of their souls, in lieu of oath, respectively affirmed and declared to be true: that they, the deponents, on Friday last past, in the afternoon at about four o'clock, in a certain house on the Hoogewoerd where the deponents were, were approached by one Jan Kebel, draper, and Samuel Lee, hatter, likewise tobacco dealers, who told the deponents that there was within this city a travelling dealer who had with him a parcel of tobacco, being lodged at "De Drie Corendragers" ("The Three Corn-Carriers") by the Crane, and asked whether the deponents would also care to go and inspect it.
They declared further that the deponents, agreeing to this, went together with the said Jan Kebel and Samuel Lee, thus the four of them, to the said inn "De Drie Coorndragers" to find the said dealer there, to inspect his tobacco, and possibly to buy some part of it from him. Further, that on arriving there together, they found the said person or dealer sitting in the front room in a small booth, having laid out before him on a table a number of rolls of tobacco, and having with him also two other men, unknown by name to the deponents, who were partaking of the aforesaid tobacco.
They declared further that one of their company cut and pared off a piece of the said tobacco, so that the deponents also partook of it and tasted it. Further, that they, or one of them, finally asked, on behalf of all the others, at what price he wished to sell his tobacco, and that he thereupon named and priced his tobacco at fifty stuivers per pound, but that this tobacco was too poor a quality for the deponents at so high a price, such that the deponents also said that they had no interest in it.
Further they declared that, while they were thus tasting the tobacco as aforesaid, they admonished the said dealer, for his own good, that he ought to declare his tobacco to the tax farmer here before venturing to offer it for sale, adding that otherwise he would come to harm; but that the said dealer brushed this aside, saying that the farmer could not punish him since he owed nothing, appearing to make little of the matter and to pay no heed to the farmer, so that the deponents, seeing this, left him to his own opinion and intention, and departed again from there as they had come, namely the four of them together, without buying any tobacco, leaving the other two men whom they had found there still remaining behind.
Further, the said Robert Peck alone declared that he saw, in the said inn, in the front room, a chest standing open, whereby the deponent had occasion to see that there still lay a number of rolls of tobacco within it.
Declaring nothing further, the deponents offer, should it be necessary, to confirm all the foregoing more fully under solemn oath. Consenting that one or more public instruments be drawn up hereof by me and delivered to the requester.
Thus done within Leiden, at the office of me, the notary, on the Langebrugge, in the presence of Jan van Beechuys, bailiff's officer, and Laurens Vergeyl, clerk, as credible witnesses required hereto together with me, the notary.
Andrew Sharpe. J. v. Beechuys. Robert Peck. L. Vergeyl. J. Angillis, notary public.
Translation by Radicae, The Leiden Connection, from the Dutch transcription supplied by Erfgoed Leiden.
