“What, shall this speech
be spoke for our excuse?
Or shall we on without apology.”
Romeo and Juliet.
The fine estuary which penetrates
the American coast, between the fortieth and forty-first
degrees of latitude, is formed by the confluence of
the Hudson, the Hackensack, the Passaic, the Raritan,
and a multitude of smaller streams; all of which pour
their tribute into the ocean, within the space named.
The islands of Nassau and Staten are happily placed
to exclude the tempests of the open sea, while the
deep and broad arms of the latter offer every desirable
facility for foreign trade and internal intercourse.
To this fortunate disposition of land and water, with
a temperate climate, a central position, and an immense
interior, that is now penetrated, in every direction,
either by artificial or by natural streams, the city
of New-York is indebted for its extraordinary prosperity.
Though not wanting in beauty, there are many bays that
surpass this in the charms of scenery; but it may
be questioned if the world possesses another site
that unites so many natural advantages for the growth
and support of a widely extended commerce. As
if never wearied with her kindness, Nature has placed
the island of Manhattan at the precise point that
is most desirable for the position of a town.
Millions might inhabit the spot, and yet a ship should
load near every door; and while the surface of the
land just possesses the inequalities that are required
for health and cleanliness, its bosom is filled with
the material most needed in construction.
The consequences of so unusual a concurrence
of favorable circumstances, are well known. A
vigorous, healthful, and continued growth, that has
no parallel even in the history of this extraordinary
and fortunate country, has already raised the insignificant
provincial town of the last century to the level of
the second-rate cities of the other hemisphere.
The New-Amsterdam of this continent already rivals
its parent of the other; and, so far as human powers
may pretend to predict, a few fleeting years will
place her on a level with the proudest capitals of
Europe.
It would seem that, as Nature has
given its periods to the stages of animal life, it
has also set limits to all moral and political ascendency.
While the city of the Medici is receding from its crumbling
walls, like the human form shrinking into “the
lean and slipper’d pantaloon,” the Queen
of the Adriatic sleeping on her muddy isles, and Rome
itself is only to be traced by fallen temples and
buried columns, the youthful vigor of America is fast
covering the wilds of the West with the happiest fruits
of human industry.
By the Manhattanese, who is familiar
with the forest of masts, the miles of wharves, the
countless villas, the hundred churches, the castles,
the smoking and busy vessels that crowd his bay, the
daily increase and the general movement of his native
town, the picture we are about to sketch will scarcely
be recognized. He who shall come a generation
later will probably smile, that subject of admiration
should have been found in the existing condition of
the city: and yet we shall attempt to carry the
recollections of the reader but a century back, in
the brief history of his country.
As the sun rose on the morning of
the 3d of June 171-, the report of a cannon was heard
rolling along the waters of the Hudson. Smoke
issued from an embrasure of a small fortress, that
stood on the point of land where the river and the
bay mingle their waters. The explosion was followed
by the appearance of a flag, which, as it rose to
the summit of its staff and unfolded itself heavily
in the light current of air, showed the blue field
and red cross of the English ensign. At the distance
of several miles, the dark masts of a ship were to
be seen, faintly relieved by the verlant back-ground
of the heights of Staten Island. A little cloud
floated over this object, and then an answering signal
came dull and rumbling to the town. The flag
that the cruiser set was not visible in the distance.
At the precise moment that the noise
of the first gun was heard, the door of one of the
principal dwellings of the town opened, and a man,
who might have been its master, appeared on its stoop,
as the ill-arranged entrances of the buildings of
the place are still termed. He was seemingly prepared
for some expedition that was likely to consume the
day. A black of middle age followed the burgher
to the threshold; and another negro, who had not yet
reached the stature of manhood, bore under his arm
a small bundle, that probably contained articles of
the first necessity to the comfort of his master.
“Thrift, Mr. Euclid, thrift
is your true philosopher’s stone;” commenced,
or rather continued in a rich full-mouthed Dutch, the
proprietor of the dwelling, who had evidently been
giving a leave-taking charge to his principal slave,
before quitting the house “Thrift
hath made many a man rich, but it never yet brought
any one to want. It is thrift which has built
up the credit of my house, and, though it is said by
myself, a broader back and firmer base belongs to
no merchant in the colonies You are but the reflection
of your master’s prosperity, you rogue, and so
much the greater need that you took to his interests.
If the substance is wasted, what will become of the
shadow? When I get delicate, you will sicken:
when I am a-hungered, you will be famished; when I
die, you may be ahem Euclid.
I leave thee in charge with goods and chattels, house
and stable, with my character in the neighborhood.
I am going to the Lust in Rust, for a mouthful of
better air. Plague and fevers! I believe
the people will continue to come into this crowded
town, until it gets to be as pestilent as Rotterdam
in the dog-days. You have now come to years when
a man obtains his reflection, boy, and I expect suitable
care and discretion about the premises, while my back
is turned. Now, harkee, sirrah: I am not
entirely pleased with the character of thy company.
It is not altogether as respectable as becomes the
confidential servant of a man of a certain station
in the world. There are thy two cousins, Brom
and Kobus, who are no better than a couple of blackguards;
and as for the English negro, Diomede he
is a devil’s imp! Thou hast the other locks
at disposal, and,” drawing with visible reluctance
the instrument from his pocket, “here is the
key of the stable. Not a hoof is to quit it, but
to go to the pump and see that each animal
has its food to a minute. The devil’s roysterers!
a Manhattan negro takes a Flemish gelding for a gaunt
hound that is never out of breath, and away he goes,
at night, scampering along the highways like a Yankee
witch switching through the air on a broomstick but
mark me, master Euclid, I have eyes in my head, as
thou knowest by bitter experience! D’ye
remember, ragamuffin, the time when I saw thee, from
the Hague, riding the beasts, as if the devil spurred
them, along the dykes of Leyden, without remorse as
without leave?”
“I alway b’rieve some
make-mischief tell Masser dat time;” returned
the negro sulkily, though not without doubt.
“His own eyes were the tell-tales.
If masters had no eyes, a pretty world would the negroes
make of it! I have got the measure of every black
heel, on the island, registered in the big book, you
see me so often looking into, especially on Sundays;
and, if either of the tire-legs I have named dares
to enter my grounds, let him expect to pay a visit
to the city Provost. What do the wild-cats mean?
Do they think that the geldings were bought in Holland,
with charges for breaking in, shipment, insurance,
freight, and risk of diseases, to have their flesh
melted from their ribs like a cook’s candle?”
“Ere no’tin’ done
in all ‘e island, but a color’ man do him!
He do a mischief, and he do all a work, too!
I won’er what color Masser t’ink war’
Captain Kidd?”
“Black or white, he was a rank
rogue; and you see the end he came to. I warrant
you, now, that water-thief began his iniquities by
riding the neighbors’ horses, at night.
His fate should be a warning to every negro in the
colony. The imps of darkness! The English
have no such scarcity of rogues at home, that they
could not spare us the pirate to hang up on one of
the islands, as a scarecrow to the blacks of Manhattan.”
“Well, I t’ink ’e
sight do a white man some good, too;” returned
Euclid, who had all the pertinacity of a spoiled Dutch
negro, singularly blended with affection for him in
whose service he had been born. “I hear
ebbery body say, ‘er’e war’ but
two color man in he ship, and ’em bot’
war’ Guinea-born.”
“A modest tongue, thou midnight
scamperer! look to my geldings Here here
are two Dutch florins, three stivers, and a Spanish
pistareen for thee; one of the florins is for
thy old mother, and with the others thou canst lighten
thy heart in the Paus merrymakings if I
hear that either of thy rascally cousins, or the English
Diomede, has put a leg across beast of mine, it will
be the worse for all Africa! Famine and skeletons!
here have I been seven years trying to fatten the
nags, and they still look more like weasels than a
pair of solid geldings.”
The close of this speech was rather
muttered in the distance, and by way of soliloquy,
than actually administered to the namesake of the great
mathematician. The air of the negro had been a
little equivocal, during the parting admonition.
There was an evident struggle, in his mind, between
an innate love of disobedience, and a secret dread
of his master’s means of information. So
long as the latter continued in sight, the black watched
his form in doubt; and when it had turned a corner,
he stood at gaze, for a moment, with a negro on a
neighboring stoop; then both shook their heads significantly,
laughed aloud, and retired. That night, the confidential
servant attended to the interests of his absent master,
with a fidelity and care which proved he felt his
own existence identified with that of a man who claimed
so close a right in his person; and just as the clock
struck ten, he and the negro last mentioned mounted
the sluggish and over-fattened horses, and galloped,
as hard as foot could be laid to the earth, several
miles deeper into the island, to attend a frolic at
one of the usual haunts of the people of their color
and condition.
Had Alderman Myndert Van Beverout
suspected the calamity which was so soon to succeed
his absence, it is probable that his mien would have
been less composed, as he pursued his way from his
own door, on the occasion named. That he had
confidence in the virtue of his menaces, however, may
be inferred from the tranquillity which immediately
took possession of features that were never disturbed,
without wearing an appearance of unnatural effort.
The substantial burgher was a little turned of fifty:
and an English wag, who had imported from the mother
country a love for the humor of his nation, had once,
in a conflict of wits before the city council, described
him to be a man of alliterations. When called
upon to explain away this breach of parliamentary
decorum, the punster had gotten rid of the matter,
by describing his opponent to be “short, solid
and sturdy, in stature; full, flushed and funny, in
face; and proud, ponderous and pragmatical, in propensities.”
But, as is usual, in all sayings of effort there was
more smartness than truth in this description; though,
after making a trifling allowance for the coloring
of political rivalry, the reader may receive its physical
portion as sufficiently descriptive to answer all
the necessary purposes of this tale. If we add,
that he was a trader of great wealth and shrewdness,
and a bachelor, we need say no more in this stage
of the narrative.
Notwithstanding the early hour at
which this industrious and flourishing merchant quitted
his abode, his movement along the narrow streets of
his native town was measured and dignified. More
than once, he stopped to speak to some favorite family-servant,
invariably terminating his inquiries after the health
of the master, by some facetious observation adapted
to the habits and capacity of the slave. From
this, it would seem, that, while he had so exaggerated
notions of domestic discipline, the worthy burgher
was far from being one who indulged, by inclination,
in the menaces he has been heard to utter. He
had just dismissed one of these loitering negroes,
when, on turning a corner, a man of his own color,
for the first time that morning, suddenly stood before
him. The startled citizen made an involuntary
movement to avoid the unexpected interview, and then,
perceiving the difficulty of such a step, he submitted,
with as good a grace as if it had been one of his
own seeking.
“The orb of day the
morning gun and Mr Alderman Van Beverout!”
exclaimed the individual encountered. “Such
is the order of events, at this early hour, on each
successive revolution of our earth.”
The countenance of the Alderman had
barely time to recover its composure, ere he was required
to answer to this free and somewhat facetious salutation.
Uncovering his head, he bowed so ceremoniously as to
leave the other no reason to exult in his pleasantry,
as he answered
“The colony has reason to regret
the services of a governor who can quit his bed so
soon. That we of business habits stir betimes,
is quite in reason; but there are those in this town,
who would scarce believe their eyes did they enjoy
my present happiness.”
“Sir, there are many in this
colony who have great reason to distrust their senses,
though none can be mistaken in believing they see Alderman
Van Beverout in a well-employed man. He that dealeth
in the produce of the beaver must have the animal’s
perseverance and forethought! Now, were I a king-at-arms,
there should be a concession made in thy favor, Myndert,
of a shield bearing the animal mordant, a mantle of
fur, with two Mohawk hunters for supporters, and the
motto, ‘Industry.’”
“Or what think you, my Lord,”
returned the other, who did not more than half relish
the pleasantry of his companion, “of a spotless
shield for a clear conscience, with an open hand for
a crest, and the motto, ’Frugality and Justice?’”
“I like the open hand, though
the conceit is pretending. I see you would intimate
that the Van Beverouts have not need, at this late
day, to search a herald’s office for honors.
I remember, now I bethink me, on some occasion to
have seen their bearings; a windmill, courant; dyke,
coulant; field, vert, sprinkled with black cattle No!
then, memory is treacherous; the morning air is pregnant
with food for the imagination!”
“Which is not a coin to satisfy
a creditor, my Lord,” said the caustic Myndert.
“Therein has truth been, pithily,
spoken. This is an ill-judged step, Alderman
Van Beverout, that lets a gentleman out by night, like
the ghost in Hamlet, to flee into the narrow house
with the crowing of the cock. The ear of my royal
cousin hath been poisoned, worse than was the ear of
‘murdered Denmark,’ or the partisans of
this Mister Hunter would have little cause to triumph.”
“Is it not possible to give
such pledges to those who have turned the key, as
will enable your lordship to apply the antidote.”
The question stuck a chord that changed
the whole manner of the other. His air, which
had borne the character of a genteel trifler, became
more grave and dignified; and notwithstanding there
was the evidence of a reckless disposition in his
features, dress and carriage, his tall and not ungraceful
form, as he walked slowly onward, by the side of the
compact Alderman, was not without much of that insinuating
ease and blandishment, which long familiarity with
good company can give even to the lowest moral worth.
“Your question, worthy Sir,
manifests great goodness of heart, and corroborates
that reputation for generosity, the world so freely
gives. It is true that the Queen has been persuaded
to sign the mandate of my recall, and it is certain
that Mr. Hunter has the government of the colony;
but these are facts that might be reversed, were I
once in a position to approach my kinswoman.
I do not disclaim certain indiscretions, Sir; it would
ill become me to deny them, in presence of one whose
virtue is as severe as that of Alderman Van Beverout.
I have my failings; perhaps, as you have just been
pleased to intimate, it would have been better had
my motto been frugality; but the open hand, dear Sir,
is a part of the design you will not deny me, either.
If I have weaknesses, my enemies cannot refuse to
say that I never yet deserted a friend.”
“Not having had occasion to
tax your friendship, I shall not be the first to make
the charge.
“Your impartiality has come
to be a proverb! ’As honest as Alderman
Van Beverout;’ ‘as generous as Alderman
Van Beverout,’ are terms in each man’s
mouth; some say ‘as rich;’ (the small blue
eye of the burgher twinkled.) But honesty, and riches,
and generosity, are of little value, without influence.
Men should have their natural consideration in society.
Now is this colony rather Dutch than English, and
yet, you see, how few names are found in the list
of the Council, that have been known in the province
half a century! Here are your Alexanders and Heathcotes,
your Morris’s and Kennedies, de Lanceys
and Livingstons, filling the Council and the legislative
halls; but we find few of the Van Rensselaers, Van
Courtlandts, Van Schuylers, Stuyvesants, Van Beekmans,
and Van Beverouts, in their natural stations.
All nations and religions have precedency, in the
royal favor, over the children of the Patriarchs.
The Bohemian Felipses; the Huguenot de Lanceys, and
Bayards, and Jays; the King-hating Morrises and Ludlows in
short, all have greater estimation in the eyes of
government, than the most ancient Patroon!”
“This has long and truly been
the case. I cannot remember when it was otherwise!”
“It may not be denied.
But it would little become political discretion to
affect precipitancy in the judgment of character.
If my own administration can be stigmatized with the
same apparent prejudice, it proves the clearer how
strong is misrepresentation at home. Time was
wanting to enlighten my mind and that time has been
refused me. In another year, my worthy Sir, the
Council should have been filled with Van’s!”
“In such a case, my Lord, the
unhappy condition in which you are now placed might
indeed have been avoided.”
“Is it too late to arrest the
evil? It is time Anne had been undeceived, and
her mind regained. There wanteth nothing to such
a consummation of justice, Sir, but opportunity.
It touches me to the heart, to think that this disgrace
should befall one so near the royal blood! ’Tis
a spot on the escutcheon of the crown, that all loyal
subjects must feel desirous to efface, and so small
an effort would effect the object, too, with certain Mr.
Alderman Myndert Van Beverout ?”
“My Lord, late Governor,”
returned the other, observing that his companion hesitated.
“What think you of this Hanoverian
settlement? Shall a German wear the crown
of a Plantagenet?”
“It hath been worn by a Hollander.”
“Aptly answered! Worn,
and worn worthily! There is affinity between the
people, and there is reason in that reply. How
have I failed in wisdom, in not seeking earlier the
aid of thy advice, excellent Sir! Ah, Myndert,
there is a blessing on the enterprises of all who come
of the Low Countries!”
“They are industrious to earn, and slow to squander.”
“That expenditure is the ruin
of many a worthy subject! And yet accident chance fortune or
whatever you may choose to call it, interferes nefariously,
at times, with a gentleman’s prosperity.
I am an adorer of constancy in friendship, Sir, and
hold the principle that men should aid each other
through this dark vale of life Mr. Alderman
Van Beverout ?”
“My Lord Cornbury?”
“I was about to say, that should
I quit the Province, without expressing part of the
regret I feel, at not having sooner ascertained the
merits of its original owners, and your own in particular,
I should do injustice to sensibilities, that are only
too acute for the peace of him who endures them.”
“Is there then hope that your
lordship’s creditors will relent, or has the
Earl furnished means to open the prison-door?”
“You use the pleasantest terms,
Sir! but I love directness of language,
above all other qualities. No doubt the prison-door,
as you have so clearly expressed it, might be opened,
and lucky would be the man who should turn the key.
I am pained when I think of the displeasure of the
Queen, which, sooner or later, will surely visit my
luckless persecutors. On the other hand, I find
relief in thinking of the favor she will extend to
those who have proved my friends, in such a strait.
They that wear crowns love not to see disgrace befall
the meanest of their blood, for something of the taint
may sully even the ermine of Majesty. Mr.
Alderman !”
“My Lord?”
“ How fare the Flemish geldings?”
“Bravely, and many thanks, my
Lord; the rogues are fat as butter! There is
hope of a little rest for the innocents, since business
calls me to the Lust in Rust. There should be
a law, Lord Governor, to gibbet the black that rides
a beast at night.”
“I bethought of some condign
punishment for so heartless a crime, but there is
little hope for it under the administration of this
Mr. Hunter. Yes, Sir; were I once more in the
presence of my royal cousin, there would quickly be
an end to this delusion, and the colony should be once
more restored to a healthful state. The men of
a generation should cease to lord it over the men
of a century. But we must be wary of letting our
design, my dear Sir, get wind: it is a truly Dutch
idea, and the profits, both pecuniary and political,
should belong to the gentlemen of that descent My
dear Van Beverout ?”
“My good Lord?”
“Is the blooming Alida obedient?
Trust me, there has no family event occurred, during
my residence in the colony, in which I have taken a
nearer interest, than in that desirable connexion.
The wooing of the young Patroon of Kinderhook is an
affair of concern to the province. It is a meritorious
youth!”
“With an excellent estate, my Lord!”
“And a gravity beyond his years.”
“I would give a guarantee, at
a risk, that two-thirds of his income goes to increase
the capital, at the beginning of each season!”
“He seems a man to live on air!”
“My old friend, the last Patroon,
left noble assets,” continued the Alderman,
rubbing his hands; “besides the manor.”
“Which is no paddock!”
“It reaches from the Hudson
to the line of Massachusetts. A hundred thousand
acres of hill and bottom, and well peopled by frugal
Hollanders.”
“Respectable in possession,
and a mine of gold in reversion! Such men, Sir,
should be cherished. We owe it to his station
to admit him to a share of this, our project to undeceive
the Queen. How superior are the claims of such
a gentleman to the empty pretensions of your Captain
Ludlow!”
“He has truly a very good and an improving estate!”
“These Ludlows, Sir, people
that fled the realm for plotting against the crown,
are offensive to a loyal subject. Indeed, too
much of this objection may be imputed to many in the
province, that come of English blood. I am sorry
to say, that they are fomenters of discord, disturbers
of the public mind, and captious disputants about prerogatives
and vested rights. But there is a repose in the
Dutch character which lends it dignity! The descendants
of the Hollanders are men to be counted on; where
we leave them to-day, we see them to-morrow. As
we say in politics, Sir, we know where to find them.
Does it not seem to you particularly offensive that
this Captain Ludlow should command the only royal cruiser
on the station?”
“I should like it better, my
Lord, were he to serve in Europe,” returned
the Alderman, glancing a look behind him, and lowering
his voice. “There was lately a rumor that
his ship was in truth to be sent among the islands.”
“Matters are getting very wrong,
most worthy Sir; and the greater the necessity there
should be one at court to undeceive the Queen.
Innovators should be made to give way to men whose
names are historical, in the colony.”
“’Twould be no worse for Her Majesty’s
credit.”
“’Twould be another jewel
in her crown! Should this Captain Ludlow actually
marry your niece, the family would altogether change
its character I have the worst memory thy
mother, Myndert, was a a ”
“The pious woman was a Van Busser.”
“The union of thy sister with
the Huguenot then reduces the fair Alida to the quality
of a half-blood. The Ludlow connexion would destroy
the leaven of the race! I think the man is penniless!”
“I cannot say that, my Lord,
for I would not willingly injure the credit of my
worst enemy; but, though wealthy, he is far from having
the estate of the young Patroon of Kinderhook.”
“He should indeed be sent into the Indies Myndert ?”
“My Lord?”
“It would be unjust to my sentiments
in favor of Mr. Oloff Van Staats, were we to exclude
him from the advantages of our project. This much
shall I exact from your friendship, in his favor;
the necessary sum may be divided, in moieties, between
you; a common bond shall render the affair compact;
and then, as we shall be masters of our own secret,
there can be little doubt of the prudence of our measures.
The amount is written in this bit of paper.”
“Two thousand pounds, my Lord!”
“Pardon me, dear Sir; not a
penny more than one for each of you. Justice
to Van Staats requires that you let him into the affair.
Were it not for the suit with your niece, I should
take the young gentleman with me, to push his fortunes
at court.”
“Truly, my Lord, this greatly
exceeds my means. The high prices of furs the
past season, and delays in returns have placed a seal
upon our silver ”
“The premium would be high.”
“Coin is getting so scarce,
daily, that the face of a Carolus is almost as great
a stranger, as the face of a debtor ”
“The returns certain.”
“While one’s creditors meet him, at every
corner ”
“The concern would be altogether Dutch.”
“And last advices from Holland
tell us to reserve our gold, for some extraordinary
movements in the commercial world.”
“Mr. Alderman Myndert Van Beverout!”
“My Lord Viscount Cornbury ”
“Plutus preserve thee, Sir but
have a care! though I scent the morning air, and must
return, it is not forbid to tell the secrets of my
prison-house. There is one, in yonder cage, who
whispers that the ’Skimmer of the Seas’
is on the coast! Be wary, worthy burgher, or the
second part of the tragedy of Kidd may yet be enacted
in these seas.”
“I leave such transactions to
my superiors,” retorted the Alderman, with another
stiff and ceremonious bow. “Enterprises
that are said to have occupied the Earl of Bellamont,
Governor Fletcher, and my Lord Cornbury, are above
the ambition of an humble merchant.”
“Adieu, tenacious Sir; quiet
thine impatience for the extraordinary Dutch movements!”
said Cornbury, affecting to laugh, though he secretly
felt the sting the other had applied, since common
report implicated not only him, but his two official
predecessors, in several of the lawless proceedings
of the American Buccaneers: “Be vigilant,
or la demoiselle Barberie will give another cross
to the purity of the stagnant pool!”
The bows that were exchanged were
strictly in character. The Alderman was unmoved,
rigid, and formal, while his companion could not forget
his ease of manner, even at a moment of so much vexation.
Foiled in an effort, that nothing but his desperate
condition, and nearly desperate character, could have
induced him to attempt, the degenerate descendant of
the virtuous Clarendon walked towards his place of
confinement, with the step of one who assumed a superiority
over his fellows, and yet with a mind so indurated
by habitual depravity, as to have left it scarcely
the trace of a dignified or virtuous quality.