CAPELLEN TOT DEN POL, JOAN (JOHAN) DERK VAN DER

(1741–1784)

   Politician. Van der Capellen became an ardent opponent of the oligarchic political system under the leadership of Stadtholder William V of Orange. In 1781, he anonymously published his Aan het Volk van Nederland [To the People of the Netherlands], in which he pleaded, referring to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, for the armament and self-defense of the citizens and especially for a democratic form of government. Van der Capellen became the inspiring leader of the Patriotmovement, which based itself on the enlightened theory of the sovereignty of the people. CARON, FRANCOIS (c. 1600–1673). Soldier and merchant. Caron went to the Netherlands East Indies, where he organized the commercial relations with Japan at Deshima. In 1643, he defeated the Portuguese in Ceylon, and the next year, he served as Dutch governor in Formosa (Taiwan). From 1647 to 1652, he was director general of commercial relations in Batavia(Jakarta). After 1664, he was in the service of the French East India Company. Caron published a book on Japan and Thailand in 1648 (its English edition, Description of the Mighty Kingdoms of Japan and Siam, was published in 1663).