text
stringlengths 1.96k
5.76k
| author
int64 1
50
|
|---|---|
good an between two nations as when there is a little misunderstanding and long as they are on no terms they are on the best in the world i do not by any means pretend to claim the merit of made the above political discovery it has in been acted upon by certain enlightened arts and is together with divers other notable theories privately copied out of the common place book of an who has been member of and d the unlimited confidence of heads of department to may be ascribed the ingenuity that has been shown of late years in aad hence the cunning of as some political skilled in and and in the art of argument or some whose errors and may be a i for to his engagements and hence too that moat o y with our yo k of sending out a brace of who having each an individual will to consult character to establish and interest to promote you may as well look for aod between two lovers with one two dogs with one bone or two naked with one pair of breeches this therefore is continually breed and in consequence of which the goes on inasmuch as there is no prospect of its ever coming to a close nothing is lost by these and obstacles but time and in a according to the theory i have exposed all time lost is in reality so much time gained with what delightful does modern political economy abound now all that have here advanced is so that i almost blush to take up the of my readers with treating of matters which must many a time have stared them in the face but the proposition to which i would most earnestly call their attention is this that though a be the most of all national transactions yet a treaty of peace is a great political evil and one of the most fruitful sources of war have rarely seen an instance of any special contract between individuals that did not produce and often downright between them did ever know of a treaty between two nations that did not occasion continual how many worthy country neighbours have i who after living in peace and good fellowship for hare been thrown into a state of distrust and by some ill agreement about fences runs of water and stray cattle and how many well meaning nations who otherwise have remained in the must disposition towards each other have been brought to swords points about the or of some treaty which in an evil hour they had concluded by way of making their more sure at be t are but complied with so long as interest requires their fulfilment a they are binding on the weaker party only or in plain truth they are not binding at all no nation will go to war with another if it has nothing to gain thereby and therefore needs no treaty to restrain it from or if it hare any thing to gain i from what have witnessed of the righteous conduct of nations whether treaty could be made so strong that it mt thrust the sword through nay i ten to hm treaty itself would lie the very source to which hie had to find a pretext for therefore i that though it is the best of im a nation to keep up a its yet it is the summit of folly for it to he into a treaty for then comes on and then then then and in a word is like courtship a time of sweet words speeches soft looks m caresses but marriage ceremony is the for t chap iv mm y mr the mo s aiid hu c thereupon ip toy pains taking reader be not somewhat perplexed in the course of tlie of my list chapter be will doubtless at one glance perceive that the great in concluding a treaty with his eastern was of a error and in politics to this unlucky agreement may justly he ascribed a world of little and which afterwards took place bet the and the f all these did not a little disturb the serenity of the good of but in they were so very pitiful in their nature aad effects that a grave historian who g the spent ki any thin less than the fall f and the revolution of worlds would think them to ke inscribed on bis sacred page the reader is therefore to take it for granted though i corn to waste in the detail that time which my and me is invaluable ah york the while peter was in those and that i shall shortly there was a continued series of little dirty and made on the eastern fr by the of but minor of the sage and petty for some future pan a of a while i reserve my and my pen of dignity now did the great peter conclude that his had ta a dose in the and that he had nothing lo do himself to the internal prosperity of liis ed a man of modesty he help he had at length shut the temple of and that were all like a certain lie nameless it would never be opened again but the of the worthy was put to a speedy lor scarce was the treaty concluded and hardly was the dried on the paper the and council of the league sought a new pretence for ye the of discord k to be the nature of cf and like powers that want the true masculine character to indulge exceedingly in certain feminine and like some good lady of delicate and sickly virtue who is in constant dread of having her or and who if a do take lier by the hand or look her in the is to cry out and ruin h th e | 48 |
are perpetually on the alarm for the virtue ei the y manly measure is a of the n e very or other masculine them is laying for their bad they are ever infernal plots by which they tn be and brought upon the if any wanting of the truth of opinions instance the conduct of a certain republic of our day wh good dame has already so many plots and her virtue and has so often near made no better than should i of poor old ay has been it va o lor sap though from my soul i never co believe the honest old gentleman meant her any whereas on the contrary i think have several tn her hands and indulging in certain an with that sad fellow who all world knows to be a great of national vii have all the in his neighbourhood and have every that came in his way so it is these seem always to gain singular with the ladies bat i pardon of my reader for thus and will endeavour in some measure to apply the for remarks for in the year we are told that great of the east accused the peter the soul of honour and heart of steel that divers gifts and promises he had been secretly ing to the or ft and indians to surprise and t yankee foi as the council observed the indians round about for divers miles to have deep of an ting or from the against the have sought their good both in and spirits respects history does not make mention how the great jf the came by this precious plot it were honestly brought at a fair market price or by sheer good fortune it is certain however tj they examined divers indians who all swore to the h as as though they been so many and to be more sure of their the ss previously made every mother s aim of devoutly remembering an old and which it is not necessary for me to repeat though descended from a family which suffered mu injury horn the of those times my grandfather having had a yoke of oxen and his best stolen and having received a pair of black eyes and bloody nose in one of these border wars and my father when a very little boy tending pigs having be and severely by a long sided yet i should have passed over all with t r and oblivion i could ev new york have suffered them to have s head to have kicked the van and his regiment out of doors carried every into and every hen on the face of the earth with perfect but this wanton attack upon one of the most gallant and heroes of modern times is too much even for me to and ba with a puff the patience of the historian and the forbearance of the oh reader it was swear to thee it was false if thou any respect for my word if the character for which i have endeavoured to maintain throughout this work has its due weight with the wilt not give thy faith to this tale of for i pledge my honour and my immortal fame to thee that the gallant peter was not only innocent of this foul conspiracy but would have his right arm or even his wooden leg to with slow and everlasting flames rather than attempt to destroy his enemies in any way than open generous warfare those that to his honest name by such an peter though he perhaps had never heard of a knight yet had he as true a heart of chivalry as ever beat at the round table of king arthur there was a spirit of native gallantry a and generous diffused through his rugged manners which altogether gave tokens of an heroic mind he was in truth a hero of chivalry struck off by the hand of nature at a single heat and though she had taken no further care to polish and her he stood forth a miracle of her skill but not to be a fault in historic writing which i particularly the great peter possessed in an eminent degree the seven renowned and noble virtues of as he had never consulted in the and of his mind i verily believe must have been in a corner of his heart by dame nature herself where they flourished among his hardy qualities like so many sweet wild flowers shooting and with among stubborn rocks such was the mind of peter the and if my admiration fur u r or this ion style beyond the sober which the laborious of historic i can as an apology that though a little grey headed arrived almost at the bottom of the down bill of life still retain some portion of that celestial which in the eyes of youth when contemplating the virtues and achievements of ancient blessed thrice and nine times blessed be the food st that i have escaped the influence of which too often the of age i like a spirit sits at the of the heart every genial sentiment and every spontaneous glow of enthusiasm no sooner then did this scoundrel on his honour reach the ear of peter than be proceeded in a manner which would have to bis credit even though he had studied for years in the library of don himself he immediately despatched his and squire van with orders to ride night and day as herald to the council in terms of noble indignation for giving ear to the of heathen against the character of a christian a gentleman and a and that as to the treacherous and bloody plot alleged against him whoever it to be true lied in his teeth to prove which he defied the president of the council and all of hb or | 48 |
the sage british cabinet one of its ill secret tions yet did the ever watchful peter receive a full or accurate information of y movement as tl of france of all the notable i liave me he accordingly set himself to work to render of bis bitter i know that wilt censure the old governor in that he hurried of without they were y by waiting until tb was at the door but they should recollect tb had not the benefit of an insight of politics and v as strangely bi certain of the old school be firmly believed that to render a country n abroad it was necessary to make it formidable at and that a nation should place its reliance for p more upon its own strength than on the y good will of its neighbours he proceeded all diligence to put the province and posture of defence among the few of ingenious remained firom the days of william the we of public safety h which the inhabitants were obliged to turn out year with such military as it please and were put under the command of very and man who though on o the hearted little men in the very devils at and t when t cocked hats on their h ds and swords by the under the of these gallant train bands made marvellous mystery of they were taught to ri ht to wheel to the left to snap off empty i without to n a comer without any gi roar or and to march through sun i one ei of the town to the other without fl until in the end they became so that tl off blank without so much as their could hear the largest field piece di without stopping then ears or falling into mud sion and would even go through all the perils of a summer day s parade without much by desertion york true it is the genius of this truly pacific people was o little given to war that during the intervals which d between field days they generally contrived to forget all the military they had received se that they re appeared on parade they scarcely knew the butt end of the from the and invariably the right shoulder for the mistake which however was soon by their left arms but whatever might be their and awkwardness the sagacious declared them to be of but little im as he observed one would be of more instruction to them than a hun for though two thirds of them might be food for powder yet such of the other third as did nut run away would become most experienced the great had no particular veneration for the experiments and institutions of his shrewd and among other things held the system in very considerable contempt which he was often heard to call in joke for he was sometimes fond of a governor s broken reed as however the present emergency was pressing he was obliged to avail himself of such means of defence as were next at hand and accordingly appointed a general inspection and parade of the train bands but oh and and all ye other powers of war both great and small what a turning out was here i here came men without officers and without men long pieces and short of all sorts and some without others without locks others without stocks and many without lock stock or boxes shot powder horns crow bars and all mingled like one of our continental armies at the breaking out of the revolution r i i this sudden of a pacific community into a band of warriors is doubtless what is meant in modem days by putting a nation in and fixing it in an attitude in which and attitude it makes as a figure and likely to itself with as much as the renowned pan a when suddenly equipped to defend his island of the sturdy peter eyed this ragged regiment with s history of such aspect as a man w eye the devil but like a wise man that all be to do was to the best out of a bad bargain be to bis heroes a having therefore them through the manual exercise over and over again he ordered the to strike up a quick march and bis sturdy boots backwards and ds about the streets of new and the fields adjacent their short legs ached and their fat sides again but this was not all the martial spirit of the old governor caught fire from the music of the and he resolved to try the of his troops and give them a taste of the hardships of iron war to this end he them as the shades of evening fell upon a hill formerly s hill at some distance from the town with a full intention of them into the dis of and of the next day the toils and perils of the field but so it came to pass that in the night there fell a great and heavy rain which descended in upon the camp and the mighty strangely melted away before it so that when er came to shed his morning beams upon the place saving peter and his van scarce one was to be found of all the multitude that had there the night before this awful dissolution of his ai my would have appalled a commander of less nerve than peter but he considered it as a matter of but small importance he ri ai the system with ten times greater contempt than ever and took to provide himself with a good garrison of chosen men whom be kept in pay of whom he boasted that they at least possessed the quality indispensable in soldiers of being the next care of the was to and new for this purpose he caused to | 48 |
be built a strong fence that reached across the island from river to river being intended to protect the city not merely from the sudden of enemies but likewise fi om the of the neighbouring savages la an antique view of new taken some years after the above period l u of wall which n w york s some traditions it is true have ascribed the building of this wall to a later period ut they who ly fur a in the manuscript dated towards the middle of the governor s reign this wall particularly as a very strong and curious piece of and the admiration of all the savages in the neighbourhood and it moreover the alarming circumstance of a drove of stray cows breaking through the grand wall of a dark night by which the whole community of new was thrown into a terrible panic in addition to this great wall he cast up several to fort to protect the sea board at the point of the island these consisted of formidable faced after the manner of the dutch common in those days with shells these frowning in process of time came to he pleasantly by a carpet of grass and and their high by wide spreading among whose foliage the little birds about rejoicing the ear with their melodious notes the old would repair of an afternoon to smoke their pipes under the shade of their branches contemplating the sun as he gradually sunk into the ii emblem of that tranquil end toward which themselves were hastening while the young men and the of the town would take many a moonlight stroll among these favourite haunts watching the silver beams of tremble along the calm bosom of the bay or light up the white sail some gliding bark and the honest vows of constant such was the origin of that renowned walk the battery y which though devoted to the purposes of war has ever been consecrated to the sweet delights of peace the favourite walk of declining age the resort of the feeble invalid the sunday refreshment of al h the of wall street so called in of this one gate called the land opened upon hard by where at present stands the church and another called the water about the in at present u on or as it ih called smith fly then a valley with a creek or extending up what we call maiden lane or tbe dusty the scene of many a boyish the of many a tender nation the comfort of the citizen the of new york and the pride of the lovely island of chap vi how the people of the country were suddenly with a evil and their judicious measures for the thereof thus provided for the temporary security of new and guarded it against any sudden surprise the gallant r took a hearty pinch of t and snapping his fingers set the great council of and their champion the at defiance it is impossible to say notwithstanding what might have been the issue of affair had not the council been all at once involved in sad perplexity and as much sown among its members as of was stirred up in the camp of the of greece the council of the league as i have shown in my last chapter had already announced its hostile and already was the mighty colony of new haven and the town of otherwise called famous for its and nd the great trading house of and all the other border towns in a prodigious turmoil up their rusty pieces and shouting aloud for war by which they anticipated easy and gorgeous spoils from the little fat dutch but thb joyous was soon silenced by the conduct of the of struck with the gallant spirit of the old peter and convinced by the frankness and heroic warmth of his they refused to believe him guilty of the infamous plot most laid at his door with a generosity for which i would yield them immortal honour they declared that no determination of the grand council of the league should bind the general new york of to join in an offensive war which should appear to such general court to be unjust i this refusal immediately involved the colony of and the other combined colonies in very serious difficulties and and would no doubt have produced a dissolution of the but that the council of finding that they could not stand alone if by the loss of so important a member as were fain to abandon for the present their hostile against the such ts the marvellous energy and the of those composed of a number of sturdy self willed parts loosely together by a general as it was however the warlike towns of had no cause to thb of their martial for by my faith the combined powers of the league might have been too potent in the end for the warriors of the mai yet in the would the lion hearted and his have the heroes of with their own and have given the other little border towns such a that i warrant they would have had no stomach to on the land or the ben of a new for a century to indeed there was more than one cause to divert the of the good people of the east from their hostile purposes for just about this time were they horribly and harassed by the of the prince ot divers of whose subjects they detected within their camp all of whom they as so many and dangerous enemies not to speak in we are that at this juncture the provinces were troubled by oi who strange devices to and distress the multitude and notwithstanding judicious and bloody laws had been against all solemn conversing or with the by of or the like | 48 |
t yet did the dark crime w continue to increase to an degree that would almost belief were not col t new record w history of the fact too well to be even doubled for an instant what is worthy of admiration is that this terrible art which so long has baffled the painful and studies of philosophers and other was chiefly confined to the most ignorant and ugly old women in the community who had scarcely more than the they rode upon where they first acquired their infernal whether from the works of the the of the the or by arrows of the the of the the magic of the the enchantment of the r from the of the dark and mysterious of the a question with many learned and doubts particularly as most of them were totally in the of the when once an alarm is sounded the public who love dearly to be in a panic are not long in want of to support it raise but the cry of yellow and immediately every head and and overflowing of the is pronounced the terrible in like manner in the present instance whoever was troubled with a or was sure to be and woe to any unlucky old woman that lived in his such a howling could not be ta remain long unnoticed and it accordingly soon attracted the fiery indignation of the sober and part the community more especially of those who evinced so much active benevolence in the and grand council of tiie publicly set their faces against so deadly and dangerous a sin and a severe scrutiny took after those who were easily detected by black cats and the circumstance f their only being able to weep three tears and those o l f the left eye it is incredible the number of that for every one which says the profound and cotton in that excellent work the history of new wc have such a sufficient evidence that new york no reasonable man in this whole country ever did question them j and it will be unreasonable to do it in any other indeed that and judicious historian john us with facts on this ff there are none he that beg in this country but there be too witch and others that produce many strange if you will believe a report of a at sea with women and of a ship and great red standing by he the ship being in a small to the eastward vanished of a sudden c hie of however and their were not more remarkable their obstinacy though in the most solemn aud affectionate manner to confess themselves guilty and be burnt for the good of religion and the entertainment of the public yet did they most persist in asserting their innocence such incredible obstinacy was in itself deserving of immediate punishment and wa sufficient proof if proof were necessary that they were in league with the devil who is itself but their judges were just and merciful and were determined to none that were not convicted on the best of testimony j not that they needed any evidence to satisfy their own minds for like true and experienced judges their minds were perfectly made up and they were satisfied of the guilt of the prisoners before they proceeded to try them but still something was to convince the community at large to quiet those who should come after in t ie world must be satisfied oh the world the world all the world knows the world of trouble the is the worthy judges therefore were driven to the necessity of and making as noon day matters which were at the commencement all clearly understood and firmly decided upon in their own j so that it may truly be said that the were burned to gratify the of tbe day but were tried for the satisfaction of the whole world that should come after them finding therefore that sound new h vi ch s hi of reason nor friendly entreaty had any avail on hardened they resorted to the more urgent ments of the torture and having thus absolutely truth from their stubborn lips they condemned th undergo the due unto the crimes th confessed some even carried their so to under the torture protesting their the last but these were looked upon as absolutely possessed by the devil and the only lamented that they had not lived a longer to have perished in the flames in the city of we are tom that the by a ragged old beggar to death pointed out as being the evil spirit that c it and who actually showed himself to be a into a shaggy dog in like manner a measures equally a check was this growing evil the were all burned or panic struck and in a little while there was v ugly old woman to be found throughout new en which is doubtless one reason why all the young there are so handsome those honest folk wh suffered from their gradually excepting such as had been afflicted with which however assumed the less alarming a of and aud the people of new england the study turned their attention to the of trade and soon became expert art of turning a penny still ting of the old is even unto in their characters occasionally start up them in different as the people at lai ge show a a and a of wisdom that and it has been remarked that w stones fall from the moon the greater part of tin sure to tumble into new england york chap vii the rise and renown of a that a many like a may be up to greatness and by mere wind when treating of those the unknown of the manuscript out into a vehement in praise of the good st to | 48 |
whose protecting care he entirely the strange that broke out in the council of the and the that prevailed in the east j whereby the hostile against the were for a time and his favourite of new preserved fi om imminent peril and deadly warfare darkness and superstition over the fair valleys of the east the pleasant banks tf tne no longer echoed with the sounds of gaiety and were seen in the air gliding haunted ev ery wild brook and dreary strange voices made by were heard in desert and the border towns were so occupied in and the knowing old women that had produced these alarming appearances that for a while the of and its inhabitants were totally forgotten the great p ter therefore finding that nothing was to be immediately apprehended from his eastern neighbours himself about with a vigilance that distinguished him to put a stop to the of the my attentive reader will had begun to be very troublesome towards the latter part of the reign of william the having set the of that httle governor at naught and put the to a perfect peter however as has already been shown was a governor of different habits and turn of mind without more he immediately issued orders for raising a corps of troops to be stationed on the southern frontier under the command of general history of von this illustrious warrior had risen to great importance during the reign of and if histories speak true was second in command to the van when he and his ragged regiment were kicked out of fort good hope by the in consequence of having been ut such a m am affair and of having received more wounds on a certain honourable part that shall be nameless than any of his he was ever after considered as a hero who bad seen some service certain it is he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and friendship of william the who would sit for hours and listen with wonder to his i of surprising he had never gained and dreadful battles from which be had run away and the governor was once heard to declare that had he lived in ancient times he t unquestionably have claimed the of being not merely like j a mighty man of battle but in the cabinet a second that is to say very of speech and long all which as nobody in new knew aught of the ancient heroes in passed totally it was observed by honest old that heaven had into some men at their birth a portion of intellectual gold into others of intellectual silver while others furnished out with abundance of brass and ii on now of this last class was undoubtedly the great general von and from the display he continually made thereof i am inclined to think that dame nature who will sometimes be partial had blessed him with enough of those materials to have fitted up a dozen ordinary but what is most to be admired is that he contrived to pass o f all his brass and copper upon who was no great judge of base coin as pure and genuine gold the consequence was that upon the resignation of who after the loss of fort retired like a general to live under the shade of his the mighty copper captain was promoted to his this he with great always himself in of tlie armies of the new though to tell the truth the armies ur york of a handful of such was the character of the warrior by peter to defend his southern frontier nor may it be tin f to my reader to have a glimpse of his person he was tall but notwithstanding a huge man whose bulk did not so much arise from his being fat as windy being so completely with bis own importance that he resembled one of those bags of wind which in an incredible fit of generosity to that wandering warrior his dress with this character for he bad much brass and er without as nature had stored away within his coat was crossed and and i with of copper lace and round the body with a crimson of the size and of a fishing net doubtless to keep his heart from bursting through his ribs his head and whiskers were powdered from the midst of which his blooded face glowed like a fiery furnace and his soul seemed ready to out at a pair of large eyes which projected like those of a i swear to thee worthy reader if report not this warrior would give all the money in my pocket to have seen him cap d pie ia martial to the middle to tlie to the cars to the teeth crowned with an cocked hat and with a belt ten inches from which a of a length that i dare not mention thus equipped he about as bitter looking a man of war as the far more of more hall when he forth armed at all points to the of notwithstanding all the great and had you but seen him in this dress how fierce he looked and bow big yon would have thought him for to be some egyptian he all cats dogs and all each cow each horse and each for fear they did flee for they took him to be some e ballad of drag of want of qualities of renowned f i must he was not exactly the kind of man that the g peter would have chosen to command his but the id that in those days the province did not abound as at present in military characters j who like sc many people every little village out instead of soldiers and themselves in the corn field instead of the field of battle who have surrendered the toils | 48 |
of war for the useful but arts of peace and so blended the laurel with the olive that you may have a general for a a colonel for a stage driver and your horse shod by a captain of neither had an opportunity of choosing like modern rulers from a loyal of of newspapers no being made in the histories of tlie times of any such class of being retained in pay by as or body guards the general von was to the command of the new chiefly there were no for the station and because it would have been a breach of y etiquette to have appointed a younger officer over his head a which the great peter would have rather died tha have committed no sooner did thb thrice copper captain marching orders than be conducted his army to the southern frontier through wild lands and deserts over mountains across floods and through impenetrable forests encounter more perils according to his own account than did c the great in his far retreat with his thousand all this accomplished he on the south or river a red named fort in honour of a pi coloured trunk breeches of the governor this fort will be found to give rise to very interesting events it may be worth while to notice was afterwards called and was the o of the present flourishing town of new for no cattle neither being nor never having been a castle or an of the kind upon the premises new york the did not suffer this menacing movement of the on the contrary at that time g of new issued a protest a what he termed an upon his but the von had become too well in the nature of and while he served under william the to be in any wise by such paper warfare his fortress being finished it would have done any man s heart good to behold into what a magnitude he immediately swelled he would stride in and out a dozen times a day surveying it in front in rear on this side and on that then would he dress himself in full and backwards and forwards for hours together on the top of his little like a vain glorious cock pigeon on the top of his in a word unless my readers have noticed with curious eye the petty commander of one of our little military posts swelling with all the vanity of new and the derived from commanding a handful of i despair of giving them any adequate idea of the prodigious dignity of general von it is recorded in the romance of pierce forest that a young knight being by king alexander did gallop into an adjoining forest and ed the trees with such might and main that the whole court was convinced that he was the most potent and courageous gentleman on the face of the earth jo like manner the great would ease off that which like wind is so apt to grow in the of new made soldiers them to box and broken headed quarrels for at such when he found martial spirit hot within him he would sally forth into the fields and out his would lay about him by whole of sun flowers which he termed gigantic and if venture he a colony of honest big quietly themselves io the ah would he roar have i caught ye at last v so saying with one sweep of his sword he would the unhappy vegetables from their to their by which warlike his or being in some sort he would garrison with a full conviction that be was a very of military the next ambition of general von be thought a strict well discipline is the soul of all military enterprise he e it with the most precision obliging eve to turn out his toes and hold up his head on parade the of their to all such any shirts to their backs having one day in the se of his in the bible for the pious himself could not him in outward religion ed the and his melancholy end the general in hour issued orders for the hair of both and men throughout the garrison now it came t that among his officers was one a who had cherish through the course of life a rugged of hair not a little of a dog with moderate like the handle of a fi ing so tightly to his head that his eyes and generally stood and his eyebrows were drawn tlie top of his forehead it may naturally be su that the possessor of so goodly an with an order it to the si himself could not have held his locks more a and on hearing the general orders he discharged a t of soldier like oaths and and i swore he would break any man s head who to with his tail it than ev it about the garrison as fiercely as the t the kin of old an affair of the utmost importance tb in chief was too enlightened an officer perceive that the discipline of the garrison the sub tion and good order of the armies of the the consequent safety of the whole ultimately the dignity and prosperity of their high i the lords states general but above all the of the great general von all demanded the of that stubborn h new l fore determined that old should be publicly of his glories in ce of the whole the old man as resolutely stood on the whereupon the general as became a great man was highly exasperated and the was arrested and tried by a court martial for desertion and all the other list of noticed in the articles of war ending with a in wearing an skin three feet long contrary to then came on and | 48 |
trials and and the whole country was in a about this unfortunate as it is well known that the commander of a distant frontier post has the power of acting pretty much after his own will there is little doubt but that the would have been hanged or shot at least bad he not luckily ill of a fever through mere and and most deserted from earthly command with his locks his remained to the very last moment be directed that he should be carried to his grave with bis skin sticking out of a hole in his coffin this air obtained the general great as an excellent but it is that be was ever subject to bad dreams and fearful in the when the of old would stand by the bedside erect as a pump his enormous out like the handle end of book fifth or book sixth the second part of the reign of peter the and his achievements on the chap i in is exhibited a portrait of the peter how general von at fort hitherto most venerable and reader t thee the of the the mild of peace or rather the grim of awful expectation but now the war drum from afar the brazen trumpet its thrilling note and the rude clash of hostile arms speaks fearful of coming troubles the gallant warrior starts soft repose from golden visions and ease where in the time of peace he sweet solace after au his toils no more in beauty s lap he fair for his lady s brows no more with flowers his shining sword m through the lazy summer s day forth b love sick soul in to manhood roused he spur the from bis back the robe peace and clothes his limbs in of o er his dark brow where late the wh wanton roses breathed he the beam and nodding the bright shield shakes the ponderous lance or with eager p his fiery and for deeds of glorious chivalry but soft worthy reader l would not have you that any thus with existed in the city of new this is b lofty and gigantic mode in which heroic writers al talk of war thereby to give it a noble and imposing as our warriors with aud h and such aud weapons th new york which perchance they had never seen or heard of j in the same manner that a cunning a modern general oi an admiral in the of a or an alexander the simple truth then of all this flourish is this that the peter all of a sudden found it necessary to his blade which too long had in its and prepare himself to undergo those hardy toils of war in which his mighty soul so much delighted i at this moment behold him in my or rather i behold his goodly portrait which still hangs up in the family mansion of the arrayed in all the terrors of a true dutch general his coat of german blue decorated with a goodly show of large brass buttons reaching from his to bis chin the skirts turned up at the comers and separating gallantly behind as to display the seat of a pair of coloured trunk a graceful style still among the m of our day and which is in to tlie custom of ancient heroes who to defend themselves in rear his face ed exceedingly terrible and warlike by a pair of black bis hair out on each side in stiffly ear locks and descending in a mt below his waist a shining stock of black leather supporting his chin and a little but fierce cocked hat stuck with a gallant and fiery air over his left eye such was the part of peter the and when he made a sudden halt planting himself firmly on his solid with his wooden leg with silver a little in advance in order to strengthen his position bis right hand grasping a gold headed cane his left resting upon the of his sword j his head dressing to right with a most appalling and hard favoured frown upon his he presented altogether one of the most commanding bitter looking and figures that ever upon proceed we now to the cause of this warlike preparation the disposition of the on the south or river has been duly recorded in the of the reign of william the these having been endured with that heroic which is the corner stone or according to the left hand t or net of true courage had been repeated aod ag j the who were of that class of cunning pre to who read the bible it with their interests golden and when their neighbour suffered tl to him on the one they generally smote n the other also whether turned to them or not t repeated ai had been among the numerous sou of vexation that to keep the irritable of in a constant and it was owing to the unfortunate circumstance that he had a hundred things to do at once that be did not take s vengeance as their they had now a of a different character to with and they were soon guilty of a piece of that threw his honest blood in a and all further the governor of the province of new being either deceased or removed for of this fact si uncertainty exists was succeeded by gigantic and who had he not been rather and footed might have served for the mc of a or a he was no less than mighty and withal as as he was that in fact there is very little doubt had he lived sc four or five centuries before be would have been om those wicked who took such a cruel pleasure distressed when about world and them up in enchanted castles with a a change of linen or any other convenience consequence of these | 48 |
they fell under the h displeasure of chivalry and all true loyal and knights were instructed to attack and outright s they might happen to find six feet hit which is doubtless one reason that the race of n is nearly extinct and the generations of latter ages exceeding small no sooner did governor enter upon his off than he immediately cast his eyes upon the important p of and formed the righteous resolution taking it into possession the only thing that to consider was u e mode of carrying hb resolution i new york and here i must do him the justice to say that he exhibited a humanity rarely to be met with among leaders and which i have never seen equalled in modern excepting among the in their glorious affair at willing to the of blood and the miseries of open warfare he every thing like hostility or regular siege and resorted to the less glorious but more merciful expedient of treachery under pretence therefore of paying a visit to general von at his new post of fort he made requisite preparation sailed in great state up the displayed his flag with the most and honoured the fortress with a royal salute previous to dropping anchor the noise awakened a dutch who was faithfully at his post and who having suffered his match to go out contrived to return the compliment by his rusty with the spark of a pipe which he borrowed from one of his comrades the salute indeed would have been answered by the guns of the fort had they not unfortunately been out of order and the magazine deficient in accidents to which have in all ages been liable and which were the in the present instance as fort had only been erected about two years and general von its mighty commander had been fully occupied with matters of much greater importance highly satisfied with this courteous reply to his salute treated the fort to a second for he well knew its was delighted with these little which he considered as so many acts of homage paid to his greatness he then landed in great state attended by a of thirty men a prodigious and glorious for a petty governor of a petty settlement in those days of primitive simplicity and to the full as great an army as generally the pomp and in the rear of our frontier at the present day the number in fact might have awakened suspicion bad not the mind of the great von been so com t history of engrossed with an idea of that he had not room to admit a thought besides fact he considered tiie of s a compliment to himself so are great men to st between themselves and the sun and completely the truth by their own shadow it may readily be imagined how much g was flattered by a visit bo personage his only embarrassment was how he receive him in such a manner as to appear to the advantage and make the most advantageous impress the main guard was ordered immediately to turn and the arms and of which the possessed half a dozen suits were equally among the soldiers one tall fellow appeared intended for a man the skirts of which a little below his waist tlie buttons were between and the sleeves half way to his wrists so i his hands looked like a couple of huge and coat not being large enough to meet in front was together by made of a pair of red another had an old cocked hat stuck on the back of head and decorated with a bunch of cock s a t had a pair of rusty hanging about his w a who was a short duck legged little equipped in a huge pair of the cast off which he held up with one hand while he grasped with the other the rest were in s lar style excepting three n who no shirts and but a pair and half of breeches them wherefore they were sent to the black hole to i them out of view there is nothing in which the of a prudent commander are more completely test than in thus setting matters off to the greatest and it is for this reason that our frontier posts at present day that of for example display t best suit of on the back of the stands in sight of travellers his men being thus gallantly arrayed ho e lacked and every man being ordered to in his shirt tail and his general von first took a new york d ht of foaming ale which like the of more hall was his invariable practice on all occasions which done be put himself at their head ordered the pine which served as a to be laid down and issued forth from his castle like a mighty giant just refreshed with wine bat when the two heroes met then began a scene of warlike and courtesy that all description who as i before hinted was a shrewd cunning and had grey much before his time in consequence of his saw at one glance the ruling passion of the great von and humoured him in all were accordingly drawn up in of each other they carried arms and they presented they gave the standing salute and the passing salute they rolled their drums they flourished their and they their colours they faced to the left and they to the and they faced to the right about they wheeled forward and they wheeled and they wheeled into i they marched and they ter by grand divisions by single divisions and by by by sections and by e s in quick time in slow time and in no time at all for having gone through all the of two great armies including | 48 |
the eighteen of all that they could recollect or imagine of including sundry strange and the like of which were never seen before or excepting among certain of our newly raised the two great s and their respective troops came at length to a dead halt completely exhausted by the of war never did two train band captains or two heroes in the renowned of tom thumb or any other and tragedy their gallows looking duck legged heavy with more glory and self admiration these military compliments being finished general von as soon as he to make him strong aud he drank by the tale six pots of ale aud a ot t history op h escorted bis u with great the fort him him horn works w n and various other out works or rather the places where they ought to be erected and where they might be erected if he pleased plainly that it was a place of gi eat and though at present but a little yet that it evidently was a fortress in this survey over he next bad the whole garrison put under arms exercised and and concluded by ordering the three birds to be hauled out of the black hole brought up to the and soundly for the amusement of visitor and to convince him that he was a great there is no error more dangerous than for a to make known the strength or as in the present case the weakness of his garrison this will be before have arrived to an end of my present story whidi carries its moral like a goose bis in the very middle the cunning he pretended to be struck dumb outright with the of the great von took silent note of the of his garrison of which he gave a hint to his followers who tipped each other the wink and laughed most in their sleeves the inspection review and being concluded the to the table for among his other great qualities the general was remarkably to huge or rather and in one s campaign would leave more dead men on the than he ever did in the whole course of his military career many of these do still remain on record and the whole province was once thrown in by the return of one of his wherein it was that though like captain he had only twenty men to back him yet in the short h ace of six months he had conquered utterly sixty oxen ninety one hundred sheep tes thousand es one thousand of potatoes out hundred and of small beer two seven hundred and pi c seventy eight k of sugar and forty bars of iron besides sundry new york f f poultry and garden stuff an achievement since the of and bis all i army and which showed it was only necessary to let potent von and his loose in an enemy s country and in a little while they would breed a and starve all the inhabitants no sooner therefore had the general received the first intimation of the visit of governor he ordered a g at dinner to be prepared and privately sent oat a of his most experienced to rob all the hen in the and lay the under contribution a service to which they had been long which they discharged with such incredible zeal and that the garrison table groaned under the weight of their spoils i wish with all my heart my readers could see the von as he presided at the head of the banquet it was a sight worth beholding there he sat in his greatest surrounded by his soldiers like that wine alexander whose thirsty virtues he did most imitate telling stories of his hair breadth adventures and heroic exploits at which though all his knew them to be most and outrageous yet did they cast up their eyes in admiration and utter many of astonishment nor could the general pronounce any thing that bore the remotest semblance to a joke but the stout would strike his fist upon the table till every glass rattled again throwing himself back in hit and uttering gigantic of laughter swearing most it was the best joke he ever heard in his life thus all was and and hideous within fort and so did von the bottle that in less than four short hours he made and his whole garrison who all the deeds of their dead drunk in singing songs and drinking patriotic none of which was as long as a or a plea in no sooner did things come to this pass than the and his who had kept sober rose ou their tied them neck and history of and took formal of the fort and all in the name of queen of at the same time an oath of to all the dutch who could be made sober enough to swallow it h put the in order i his discreet and friend a tall wind dried water drinking to the command and departed bearing with him this and their commander who brought to himself by a sound bore no little i to a fish or sea monster upon dry land the of the garrison was done to prevent tiie of to new fm m ch the running in his he dreaded the vengeance of the sturdy peter whose name spread as much in the neighbourhood as did that of the among bis enemies the chap ii showing how profound secret are often to light with the proceedings of peter the when he heard of the misfortune of general von whoever first described common or rumour as to the sex was a very owl for she has in truth certain feminine qualities to an astonishing degree j ly that benevolent anxiety to lake care of the affairs of which keeps her continually after secrets and them whatever b done | 48 |
openly and in tbe oe of the world she takes but transient notice of j bit whenever a is done in a corner and attempted to be in mystery then her u at her wit s end to find it out and takes a most and lady like pleasure in it to the world it is this truly feminine that her continually to be into ts of princes listening at the of and peering through sou new york when our worthy con ess arc sitting with closed doors between a dozen excellent modes of the nation it is this which makes her so to all wary and such a stumbling block to private and secret which she often by means and which never would have been thought of by any but a bead thus it was in the case of the affair of fort no the cunning imagined that by securing the garrison he should for a long time prevent the of its fate from reaching the ears of the gallant but his was blown to the world when he least expected it and by one of the last beings he would ever have suspected of as to the deity this was one m a kind of on to the garrison who seemed to belong to and in a to he self he was one of those who about the world as if they had no right or business in it and who the skirts of society like and every garrison and country village has one or more this kind whose life is a kind of whose existence is without motive who comes from the lord knows where who lives the lord knows how and seems to be made for no other earthly purpose but to keep up the ancient and honourable order of idleness this philosopher was supposed to have some indian blood in his veins which was manifested by a certain indian complexion and cast of countenance but more especially by his and habits he was a tall fellow swift of foot and long he was generally equipped in a half indian dress with belt and his hair hung in straight gallows locks about his ears and added not a little to his it is an old remark that persons of indian mixture are half civilized half savage and half devil a d half being expressly provided for their particular convenience it is for similar i and probably with equal truth that the back wood men of arc half man half horse aud half by the tbe forty depending upon for a he could get and be could lay hb oo every day waa sore to get a sound for some a which however as it broke no made very light of and not to repeat t whenever another opportunity presented consequence of some he from the garrison and be absent for a month a about the woods and with a ing on his shoulder laying in f u himself down on the edge of a pond fish for hours together and bearing no little re t to that notable bird the mud thought his crimes haul been forgotten or for would back to the fort with a bundle of s bunch of poultry which perchance he had st would them for liquor with which lu soaked his he would lay in tbe sun all the luxurious of that pi he was the terror of all the the country into which he made fearful sometimes he would make his sudden garrison at day break with the whole his heels like a scoundrel thief of a fox detect and hunted to his hole such was i and from the total indifference tie f j the world or its concerns and from his i m a i j i new york noticed but though a fellow of few words yet like your people his eyes and ears were always open and in the course of his he overheard the whole plot of the immediately settled in his own mind how he should turn the matter to his own advantage he played the perfect jack of both that is to say be made a prize of every thing thai came in his reach robbed both parties stuck the copper bound cocked hat of the van on his head whipped a huge pair of jack boots under his arm and took to his heels just before the catastrophe and confusion at the garrison finding himself completely from his haunt in this quarter he directed his flight towards his native place new from whence he had formerly been to in consequence of misfortune in business that is to say having been detected in the act of sheep stealing after wandering many days in the woods toiling through various rivers and a world of hardships that would have killed any other being but an indian a back wood man or the devil he at length arrived half and as a starved at where he stole a and over to new immediately on landing he repaired to governor and in more word than he had ever spoken before in the whole course of his life gave an of the disastrous affair oh receiving these tidings the peter started from his seat as did the stout king arthur at merry the news was brought him of the of the grim bait ue uttering a word he dashed the pipe he was smoking against tlie back of the chimney thrust a prodigious of m tobacco into his left cheek pull up his and strode up and down the humming as was with him when in a passion a north west but as i have before shown he was n it a to vent his in idle his measure after the of wrath bad subsided was to up to a hu rt t which d am his whence he drew forth that identical of described in | 48 |
the chapter history of in these lie arrayed hi iu the of a appalling silence knitting hb drawing his through his tee hastily equipped he strode down into the park down his sword from over the was usually suspended but before he he drew it from its and as his i the rusty blade a grim smile stole ow it was the first smile that had for five long weeks but every one it that there would soon be warm province thus armed at all points with war each feature his very cocked hat assuming uncommon defiance he instantly put himself o and despatched van hither a this way and that way through all the muddy crooked lanes of the city by sound his to in instant don by way of matters custom of people in a hurry he kept in shifting from chair to chair his head o window and up and down stairs with leg in such brisk and incessant motion that informed by an historian of the times clatter bore no small resemblance to the a barrel a summons so and from a i s was not to be with forthwith repaired to the council chamber gallant entered in martial style an chair like another among hie the seated themselves with the ut and lighting long pipes gazed lied composure on his and his re being as all should be not or taken by surprise the governor looking a moment with a and air and hand on the of his sword and forth in a free and spirited manner addressed short but am l a t i have not the ad new york and others of m w ere furnished as i am told with the speeches of all their great and taken in short hand by the most accurate f the time whereby they were enabled wonderfully to their histories and delight their with sub lime strains of eloquence not having such important i cannot possibly pronounce what was the tenor of governor s speech whether he with maiden hinted to his hearers that there was a speck of war in the horizon that it would be to resort to the trial of which could do each other the most or any other delicate construction of language whereby the odious subject of war is handled so by modern as a gentleman handles his weapons with gloves lest he should soil his dainty fingers i am bold however to say from the tenor of peter s character that he did not wrap his subject in silk and and other sickly of phrase bat spoke forth like a man of nerve and vigour who scorned to shrink in words from those dangers which be stood ready to encounter in very deed t much is certain that be concluded by announcing his determination of leading on his troops in person and these from their at fort to this hardy i such of his council as were awake gave their usual signal of and as to the rest who had fallen asleep about the middle of the their usual custom in the they made not the least objection and now was seen in the fair city of new a prodigious bustle and preparation for iron war parties marched hither and thither calling upon all the the and the of the and its vicinity who had any ambition of sixpence a day and immortal fame into the to in the cause of glory for would have you note thai your warlike heroes who in the rear of are generally of that illustrious class of gentlemen who are equal for the array or the bride the or the post for whom dame fortune has cast an even die whether they ha l s history or their exit by the sword or the and wh shall at all be a lofty example to men but notwithstanding all this martial a tion the ranks of honour were but su averse were the peaceful of new a from in foreign or stirring be home which rounded all earthly ideas this the great peter whose noble on fire with war and sweet revenge no longer for the assistance of these oil but to muster up his merry men of the brought up among woods and and like our of delighted in i much as desperate adventures and perilous c through the wilderness thus he squire van ck to have prepared and duly which b formed be attended public service at the great st like a true and pious governor leaving orders with his council to chivalry of the out and against his return departed upon his the waters on the chap iii peter up and the wonders and delights of now did the soft breezes of the south steal sh the face of nature the pan of summer into and i miracle of and virtue the peter bis to the departed from the fair island of in which he embarked was adorned and of gorgeous which gaily in the wind or dropped their ends in th the stream the bow and of this were gallantly after the with of t with york beads and bearing in bands p of flowers the like of which are not t be found in any book of being the flowers which in the golden age and exist longer unless it be in the of ing of wood and of rarely in style the of th of tbe did the peter forth th of the which as it d its broad wares to tlie ocean to for a swell with pride as if conscious of the illustrious it sustained trust me was the scene presented to tbe contemplation of the crew from that be at this day and mi y rd ned on the s of this mighty tbe of had not as yet laid ow the and tamed the of the landscape bad l he ft e | 48 |
sail of commerce yet broken in tbe l and awful solitude df here and be a rude among tbe c the witb its of smoke f in transparent atmosphere j bnt so situated that tbe of the savage children on the of the y heights as faintly on tbe ear as do the no es of tht when lost in the vault now ana en fi om the of precipice ihe wild deer would look timidly the as it passed below and bis in the air away into the of tbe forest scenes did the stately vessel of peter toss ow did they skirt tbe of tbe heights of which spring up like wan from tbe waves unto the heavens and if tradition may be believed in pa by tbe mighty spirit to protect bis the eyes of mortals now did career it across tbe vast expanse of bay wide extended shores present a vast variety of here the bold trees advancing into the there slope sweeping up from tbe u history or and in the pre while at a distance a long wavering line of threw their gigantic shades across the water no they pass where some modest among these scenes yet retreating as for protection into the of the displayed a rural paradise with si pastoral beauties the velvet lawn the the stealing through the fresh s on whose banks was situated some or the rude cabin of some hunter the different periods of the revolving day seem witb cunning magic to a different charm scene now would the jovial sun break the east from the of tl and sparkling ti landscape with a thousand dew while along the of the river were sec masses of mist which like midnight hu approach made a retreat rolling i reluctance up the mountains at such times all wa ness and life and gaiety the e seem indescribable and the forth in wanton and the the vessel merrily on her course but sun sunk amid a flood of glory in the west man heavens and the earth with a thousand then all was calm and silent and magnificent sail hung against the tl with folded arms leaned against the in that involuntary musing which the sober nature commands in the of her children bosom of the was like an ing the golden splendour of the heavens now and then a bark would steal across its filled with painted savages whose gay brightly as perchance a lingering ray of the set gleamed upon them from the western mountains but when the hour of twilight spread its around then did the of e assume a charms which to the worthy heart tl in the glorious works of its maker are the mellow light t w just served to tinge with colours the of the scenery the deceived but eye sought vainly to discern in the broad masses of shade the separating line between the land and water or to tl fading objects that seemed sinking into chaos now did the busy fancy supply the of producing with industrious craft a f creation of her own her the barren rocks frowned upon the watery waste in the semblance of lofty towers and high trees assumed the forms of mighty giants and the inaccessible r of the mountains seemed peopled with a thousand shadowy beings now broke forth from the shores the notes of an variety of insects who filled the air with a strange bnt not concert while ever and anon was the melancholy of the whip poor will who perched on some lone tree wearied the ear of night with his incessant the mind soothed into a melancholy by the solemn mystery of the listened with pensive stillness to catch and each sound that vaguely echoed from the now and then startled perchance by the of some straggling savage or the dreary howl of some wolf stealing forth upon his nightly thus happily did they pursue their course until they entered upon those awful where it would seem that the gigantic had their war with heaven np on cliffs and vast masses of rock in wild confusion but in very different is the history of these mountains these in ancient days before the poured his waters firom the lakes formed one vast prison within whose rocky bosom the confined the rebellious who at his control here bound in chains or in pines or crushed by ponderous rocks they groaned for many an age at length the conquering in his irresistible career towards the ocean open their prison house rolling his tide triumphantly through its ruins still however do of them about their old and these it is according to u on that the echoes which w v nothing but any noise the profound repose for when the elements are agitated the winds are up and the thunder tl is the and of these troubled i to with their hideous i at h it is d that they think the r tu once more to plunge them in um their le but all these fair and glorious scenes ho gallant occupied of iron war and proud j f neither did bis honest crew ti vacant heads b any romantic speculations pilot at tbe quietly smoked his pi of either present or to des who w not were listening with open mouths to a j on the was the history of those of fir uke and upon the a night these according to tradition were nm of who p parts long before the memory of man n e called sins against the children to an awful to the to the earth in the shape of the ing and little enduring the of t fire which they formerly carried in forth ip their words but now are s about for ip their tails i n if t n n going to tell a fact which c my li | 48 |
to believe j but if are w not to believe a in this nothing which it contains is more true known then that the nose of the a x size boldly from his c like a mountain of being with and other precious stones the f of a l ii g of good fellows which jolly all who t heartily at the now t york s it bright and early in the tbe ood washed his was leaning r railing of the contemplating it in the e below just at this moment the king in all his splendour from behind one of the s of the did dart one of moat full the nose of tbe the reflection of which shot straightway ty into the water and killed a mighty beside the vessel this huge ti labour hoisted on board a to all the crew being accounted of ir excepting about the wound where it and this on my was the that ever was eaten in these by lis miracle came to be made known and that he tasted of the unknown s may well be supposed exceedingly he gave the name of stout in the neighbourhood nd it to be called s nose ever since tliat am i wandering by the to accompany the good peter on l e i shall never make an end for never wai so with marvellous nor a bounding with beauties worthy of recorded even now i have it on the ny pen to relate how his crew were most on on shore above tbe by y devils and e flat lock projected into the river and called the to this very no it becomes thee thus in thy historic ct that while dwelling with the fond of fairy scenes ed to thee by the if thy youth aud the charms of a i treating of the f boat a letter was written some time after um is in the river plenty of wliich at do not make use of but h tales the simple ear of i recollect tm art trifling with which should be devoted to not time time with l e before thee k i thy weary task lest the last sands t ov hast thy history of the i t lis then commit the his to the protection of t st who i ha a o t will prosper t we await his at the great chap iv ike army thai together with peter ike and general md peter e touching ui great while thus the peter was sail up the shores of the ha all the little its bon a and oc wa at th city of new i t le ent of antiquity the s is particular i am enabled to record the itself ip the square in front of j the green the centre then pitched the tent of tl b of the who the k lis the guards of the these were by the ml such they displayed as a mn t of the oi and the industry origin of the was likewise the great seal of the bo an in on right hand might be seen tlie of that michael who loi d it over air regions of ancient and the lands away i even unto the mountains and was ij of his standard was hy bis squire van consist a huge upon a sea green field the j of his favourite metropolis w he brought to the camp a stout force of i armed being each clad in ten pair of breeches by broad with pipes twisted in their these were the men who in the mud the of being of the race of genuine were to have sprung from at little distance was the tribe of warriors from the neighbourhood of grate these by the and the van hard as their names they fellows clad in broad skirted of hat coloured cloth called thunder and lightning and bore as a standard three in a flame coloured field b il by was the tent of the men of battle firom the borders of the ig and the of a sour aspect by reason that ob which abound in these parts they the first of that honourable order of called fly and if did likewise introduce the far step in double trouble they were besides what is related in tbe ms i have found of this la another manuscript which ds or tbe michael a subject b by deed purchased island n b the mt michael had what the dutch called a at shore opposite new york and his in urn w d van a person of the same iu and a urge farm at and is a ck f w firom the tribe of indians that inhabited wa s at present they are the oc mountains tie the winding bay named from the of its shores i his has since been bv the vulgar into the and the basin which our infant navy op by the fearless and a jolly band of who brave on shells but from pursuing this minute which p on to describe the warriors of and hawk and and sundry well known in history and song for now does the of martial music alarm the people of i sounding afar from beyond the walls of the city but alarm was in a little time for of a vast cloud of dust they recognised the coloured breeches and splendid leg c glaring in the and ham if at the head of a formidable army be along the banks of the and excellent but writer of the breaks out a brave and glorious c the forces as they through the principal gate a the city that stood by tlie head of wall first of all came the van who ih pleasant borders | 48 |
of the these were short fat wearing exceeding large trunk bi and are for of the they e the first i or aud milk close in the rear the van of kill most horrible i new and in their them came the van of mounted upon goodly i the breed these were mighty of and rats whence came the word tl van nests of robbers of birds as their name to these if report may be are we indebted for the invention of slap or ink wheat cakes then the van of creek these came armed witli and rod being a race of who first tl marvellous sympathy between the seat of honour and tl seat of intellect that the shortest way to ledge into the head was to hammer it in at the then the van of s nose who their liquor in fair round little by tb now f w it out of their such rare then the garden s of and by many triumphant ai patches smoking out of their the like and by i great lovers of these the ancestors of the of that name then the van ol great and players upon the m two and two singing the great then the of sleepy hollow birth to a jolly race of who the magic of a of win bottle then the van who live on of the and were great oi i being much spoken of for their skill in long bow then the van of i who were the first that did ever e foot they were gallant bush by then the van of eggs and noted for the ri q running up of scores at they t ever winked with both eyes at once f of the great of i where the folk lay stones upon the houses in lest they should be blown away name as some say from to f a indicating thereby they i of but in truth it was derived i and books plainly meaning that r eat or over books the writer of this history the of sturdy bu that poured and gate of new the indeed speaks of many more whose names i seeing that it me to hasten to greater moment nothing could the pride of the lion hearted peter as he is mighty host of warriors and he determine the gratification of his much wished for n the scoundrel at fort e i hasten to record those events le found in the of this faithful ie to notice the fate of von t of h ike iii chief of the arm of the new such is the inherent of human nature that scarcely did the ne become public of his deplorable discomfiture at f than a thousand i ere set hi new therein it was that had in reality a treacherous understanding with the s dish commander j that he had been in the practice communicating with the together wi divers hints about secret service money to ad deadly i do not give a more credit than i they deserve certain it is that the his by the most vehement and and every man out of the ranks of honour who dared to his integrity moreover on returning to new dam he up and down the with a hard at his heels sturdy bottle whom he and and who were ready him through all the courts of heroes his own ad c brand looking not one of whom but looked though he could eat up an ox and pick his teeth with horns life guard men quarrelled all his were ready to fight all his battles and at ev man that turned up his nose at the general as though tl would him alive their was int with like minute guns and every was rounded on by a thundering tion like a patriotic toast honoured with a discharge all these had a considerable in certain profound many of whom beg to think the general a hero of unutterable t of soul as he was ally protesting on the honour of a soldier a high sounding nay one of the of the council went so far as to propose they him by an statue of paris but the peter the was not be deceived privately fur the of a v e a vm e d having heard all york tbe customary pious oaths ad comrade cried he though r account you are tbe most brave upright m honourable man in the whole province yet do you lie under the misfortune of being and despised i ow though it is certainly hard id a man for his misfortunes and though it is f ry possible you are totally innocent of the crimes laid to your charge yet as heaven at present doubtless foi some purpose sees fit to withhold all proofs of your innocence be it fi om me to its sovereign will i cannot consent to venture my armies with a whom they despise or to trust the welfare of my people to a champion whom they distrust e my friend the irksome and cares of public with this comforting reflection that if you be guilty are but your just reward and if innocent thai yea are not the first great and good man who has most been and in thb world doubtless to be better treated in a better worlds where there shall neither be error nor in the mean time let me never see your ji i have a horrid to the countenances of great men like yourself chap v t ihe author very of hm f after is to be found much interesting history peter the and his followers as my readers and myself are entering on as many perils as ever a of knights ran their beads into it is meet | 48 |
that like those hardy we should join hands bury all and swear to stand by one in or woe to the end pf the enterprise my readers must perceive how completely have altered my tone and since we first set out together warrant they thai thought me a cynical impertinent little ton of a for i scarcely ever gave them a civil n lose my i am a an at particularly to i for and am only to be w why i to of bow ye di acquaintance my first appearance were merely new face and stared me fall in walked off i saying a word tbe and curiosity soon dropped off one by ne to try i bad expedient similar to one we are wi flower of king ti be any t to bis intimacy be to danger dr by of ac giants not to il of and fiery on principle i led readers at tbe i into two or three tbey and by a of pa and writers natural grave man yet i at seeing the utter and some rt down d d ft the field threw down my book in tbe mid first chapter took to their heels and york hearted to my bosom at our acquaintance no no i reserved my friendship for those who deserved it for those who bore me company in despite of difficulties dangers and now as to those who to me at present i take them affectionately by the hand worthy and thrice readers and well tried who hare faithfully followed my footsteps through all my i salute you from my heart i myself to stand by you to the last and to conduct you so speed this weapon which i now hold between by fingers to the end of this our hark we are thus talking the city of new is in a bustle the gallant host of warriors in the green are their tents the brazen of von makes the to with the drums the standards of the of hell gate and of michael wave proudly in the air and now where the are busily employed the of yon and those two which are to the ai my of the to gather immortal honours on the the entire population of the city man woman and turned out to behold the chivalry of new as it the streets previous to many a handkerchief was waved out of the windows many a fair nose was blown in melodious sorrow on the occasion the grief of the fair and of could not have been more on the of the gallant tribe of than was that of the kind hearted fair ones of on the departure of their warriors veiy maiden fondly ci the pockets of ho hero with and many a ring was exchanged and crooked sixpence broken m pledge of eternal end there remain to this day some love verses written on that occasion and incomprehensible to confound the whole universe but it was a moving sight to see the how hang about the von ck for s of i he was a jolly rosy faced bachelor foi joke and withal a desperate rogue among the would they have kept him to them while was away for beside what i have said of him more than justice to add that be was a kind noticed for his benevolent attentions in wives during the absence of their this made him to be very much regarded by t of the city but nothing could keep t firom following the heels of the old whom he loved as he did his very soul so the young and giving every one of then good teeth and rosy lips a dozen ty departed loaded with their kind wishes nor was the departure of the gallant peter a least causes of public distress though the ok was by no means indulgent to the follies and of his yet somehow or other he ha strangely popular among the people there is so in personal bravery that with tb mass of it takes the lead of most the simple folk of new looked u as a of his of his martial s was regarded and admiration every old had a miraculous stories to tell about the exploits of pig wherewith he i his children winter night and on which he dwelt with delight and exaggeration as do our honest count on the hardy adventures of old general is familiarly termed old put during our tion not an individual but verily believe governor was a match for himself was even a story told with great mystery and rose of his having shot the devil with a silver dark stormy night as he was sailing in a cane hell gate but thb do not d as an perish the man who would let fall a drop to dis pure stream of history certain it is not an old woman in new considered peter as a tower of rested satisfied that the public welfare was s he was in the city it is not surprising then to k upon his departure a a sore affliction with hearts they led at the heels of his troop as they marched down to the river side to the governor from the stem of his gave a but truly address to his citizens wherein he recommended them to like loyal and peaceful to go to church regularly on sundays and to mind their business all the week that the women should be dutiful and to their nobody s concerns but their own all and morning and carrying tongues and long that the men should from in public concerns the cares of government to the officers appointed to support staying at home like good citizens making money themselves and getting children for the benefit of their country that the should look well to the not the poor or the | 48 |
not their security to devise new but faithfully those which were already rather bending their attention to prevent evil than to punish it ever that civil should consider themselves more as of public than rat employed to public be them one and all high and low rich and poor to conduct themselves ai well as they them that if they faithfully and complied with this golden rule there was no danger but that they would all conduct themselves well this done he gave them a the sturdy sounded a most loving farewell with his trumpet the jolly put up a shout of triumph and tbe invincible swept off proudly down the bay the good people of new crowded down to the that resort from whence so many s tender prayer has been so many a hand waved so many a tearful look been cast by after the bark which bore her adventurous to distant here the with straining eyes the gallant as it slowly floated down the bay and when the und at the shut it from their sight gradually dispersed with silent tongues and downcast countenances x a heavy gloom over late their pipes ia d tj many a wistful on the it o on the of st and all tho old having no longer the presence of peter in them gathered and the doors and windows every at tb in the meanwhile the of the sturdy t ir h on its voyage and mt about as many storms and water a d and phenomena as generally s in perilous voyages of the l na and a severe that d p malady called the i in b i safely io the without so much as dropping ai wearied ships time to breathe ring ei ii the ocean the pursued his t np and made a sudden port having summoned the astonished a terrific blast from the of the van be demanded in a tone oc fu surrender of the fort to this demand puts wind dried i d in a voice which by ce son of his ei h like the whistling through a broken t m had no very strong reasons for refusing that tin demand was particularly aa he had ordered to maintain his to the last extremity requested time therefore io consult with governor and proposed a for that purpose the indignant at having his fc l from him and thus p refused the proffered pipe of st which like the sacred ever extinguished thai unless the fort were in tea minutes he would storm the work make all the run the and split of a commander like a to give this menace the greater effect he drew forth bis sword and shook it at them with such a fierce and motion that doubtless if it had not been it would have lightened terror into the eyes and york of the enemy he then ordered his men to a to bear upon the fort consisting of two three a duck piece and two brace of meantime the sturdy van all his and his warlike operations his cheeks like a very he kept up a of his the of sing sing broke forth into a hideous song of the war of and the blew a potent and blast on their shells all together forming as outrageous a as though five french were displaying their in a modem whether the formidable front of war thus suddenly presented smote the garrison with sore dismay or whether the concluding terms of the summons which mentioned that he should surrender at discretion were mistaken by who though a was a very considerate easy tempered man as a compliment to his i will not take upon me to say certain it is he it impossible to resist so a demand accordingly in the very nick of time just as the had after a coal of fire to discharge the a was beat on the by the only drum in the garrison to the no small of parties z who notwithstanding their great stomach for fighting had fall as good an inclination to eat a quiet dinner as to exchange black and bloody thus did thb fortress once more return to the of their high and his garrison of twenty men were allowed to march out with honours of war and the victorious peter who was at generous as brave permitted them to take possession of all arms and the same on being totally unfit for service having long in tiie magazine of the fortress even before it was by tile firom the but windy von but i must not omit to mention that the was so well pleased with the services of bis van in the of this great that he made him on the spot lord of a goodly in tke of new the name oc s unto this very the d the the occasioned great surprise j nay of those had been by the tha during the days of f who bad not dared to indulge their the eye of their present now e his dared ta vent to the the i in tha chamber o new and there is they n t have broken out i speeches and had not peter si seat his walking to be om the of the la the like wise men took the ever after th ic tke a thai r q th if to happen like as a mighty when at a cm the of soup his pi impatient appetite but quickened a ins attacks upon the while p from bis roll r thing at e mm did the e that intolerable hunger for his very ture of fort and nothing could ai conquest of all new mo sooner he his t than be oe makes in one of his k aad ck dew s or to gather fresh at fort the grand post | 48 |
established on a small river or as it is more termed creek of p and here that governor grimly drawn up a gray bearded spider in th oi his w l ip t l we into the scenes that must i of two such powerful it we pause for a moment and a kind of battle not be rushed into f fit le y by the historian af readers any more g i and his ns the great i ity the enemy without the of followers by them up to heroic assuring them f tl of the and inspiring them with a p if t of leaders so the his en th attention and the passions of j i a d set them all on fire with the of his subject he should put himself at and lead them on to the of ei of this rule may be seen that ji i th having out of the w r one ua s that he the charge a ip im p an i spirit of ie th ie our i w v a au ma nd are ei going to be decided to d heaven l r h ed vi ie t and nature wi i the ev t this is h of th p he a war m ll a pe ty states and in a u by it in and me my readers i tp th this u at present a flourishing town called ot about o on the post road t a t i s d p do v very tf of having followed the pe and his band into foreign ni rounded by and stunned by the horrid din of at this while darkness and doubt hang o er each chapter i hold it meet to them and them for the events that are to follow and here i would one great advantage as the historian i possess over my readers and this it tint though i cannot save the life of ray be nor absolutely contradict the event of a battle which liberties though often taken by the french writ of the present reign i hold to be utterly unworthy historian yet i can now and then make i bestow on his enemy a sturdy back stroke sufficient fell a giant though in honest truth he may never done any thing of the or i can drive clear round and round the field as did make t fine like a round the wi of for which if ever they have encountered another in the fields til warrant the poets has had to make the most humble apology i am aware that many conscientious rs will ready to cry out foul play v whenever i render a assistance to my but i consider it one of th privileges exercised by of all a a nd which has never been disputed in an historian as it were bound in honour to stand by his fame of the latter is into his hands and it is duty to do the best by it he can never was an admiral or any other commander who giving an account of any battle that he fought not sorely the enemy and i have no do that had my heroes written the history of their c achievements they would have dealt much harder than any that shall standing forth as the guardian their fame it me to do tl the same they would have done themselves if i happen to be a little hard upon the free leave to any of their descendants who may history of the state of to take fair and peter as hard as they please e stand by for broken heads and bloody no my pen has on w after si oa or i at got a chance and i lu and sl let the times what neither nor of did ever t fi that iv an mr ts engage and ob your j iu the c m ba u t the of to mi by tbe come what i ll by hard lo the i ll bim drive about these aa did the or l if a of i md i he me never drew pen to fight id a brave if i don t pay it hb peter arrived be proceeded without delay i immediately on lis ra van to th t v received with au due for r at and conducted ell of and to the his eyes here here d in in the of iii aa have b noted m t tv iq waa clad ia a co ne ml md the a belt wliich a ta to set off with a ib ic in d he wa in a bit of hum looking bi himself with a ill turn u him to exceedingly a on commander for a of bard f c wi er u gi m on lu at th he turned once u ia ic k and h ik c l i co tim ii w o e one of h s v or the y aad demanded the van delivered io a few kind of speaker a the whole history of the or and and with a which done he turned aside between hb and finger and ur not unlike the flourish of a whidi it had learned from a k with that melodious him throng bnt with infinite impatience leaning at t on the of his a huge steel watch chain or van finished he re and his summons might go whither he hoped to send him and his before time then sword away the he will not thee a of the smoke dried hi gate then having flung a ill the teeth of his adversary by the | 48 |
lips the latter was to the i civility due to the of so great a commander and being was courteously dismissed with a bt him in his message no sooner did the gallant peter reply than he let fly a tremendous ns that would have and blown up the powder ears of the fiery had not strong and the magazine that the works this terrific blast utterly impossible as it really was in days to carry on a war with words he oi men all to prepare for an immediate strange murmur broke out among his tr with the tribe of the van those men of the and spreading from mai with sl looks a new york for once in hut and only for once did the great peter turn pale for he verily thought his warriors were going to in this hour of perilous trial and for ever the fame of the province of new but did he discover to his great joy in this he deeply wronged this most army for the cause of this agitation uneasiness simply was that the of dinner was at hand and it would have broken the hearts of these regular dutch warriors to have broken in upon the invariable i of their it was an established rule among our always to fight upon a full stomach and to nay be doubtless attributed the circumstance that cane to be so renowned in arms and now are the hearty men of the and their no hearty comrades all engaged under the tne stoutly with the contents of their and taking such affectionate embraces of their and as though they verily believed they were to be the last and as i foresee we shall have hot in a page or two i advise my readers to do the same ar which purpose will bring the to a close e then my word of honour that no advantage shall i taken of this to surprise or in any way the honest while at their vigorous chap ike horrible battle ever recorded in or prose g the admirable exploits of peter the now had the snatched a huge and finding themselves wonderfully encouraged and animated prepared to take the field expectation says the of the manuscript expectation now stood on the world forgot to turn round or rather stood that it might witness the like a fat watching the combat of flies his the f x in such were turned pi the sun like a little in a crowd about the k p hia ki there and endeavouring to et a peep that o h filled their tbe i their either that they or th not any d oat of its grave to while posterity mate of on the field the who i the of now clouds and sailed over the or ia di ah finger ib the pie sent off k to have it the swore by her and in semblance of a t the of fort as a s widow of cracked l and gallantry elbow a drunken their rear as a legged playing out ot tune on the other side the ox eyed who pair of black eyes in one of her with old display her haughty g ge as a gin su up her skirts her and in exceeding dutch but language by way of keeping up the while halted as a club footed lately promoted to be a captain of i t r war reared bit loud and shook his and bow th mighty hosts here as and chin ia his t a loaded to tbe the and a at in hand the word his tbe breast work in grim array each fiercely and bis hair and so that he above te like k s bead oa hard a second bay n fear or his brows knit his d held bard on like ten p b of his faithful tm fed at his heels with v m may with red and yellow of his at the on hi sturdy comrades hie of there were tbe van w mb van and the be van the i the van tbe van the van the van the van the and the van there f he van the van tbe van the van and van tbe and tbe th i the pools and the tbe the the the the tbe u s the in b the tbe the the the the the tbe mn tiie the the flock ib ten and the tough a host of more whose names too to be or if they could be it would be man to utter u with a and to use the words of a great dutch poet of wrath and f an tbe peter paused in the midst of r and on a stump addressed his troops in d them to fight like them that if they should get history of plenty of if fell they should while dying of it was in the service of their country and dead of seeing their names inscribed in renown and down in company wi great men of the year for the finally he e to on the of they knew him too well to for a n he caught any mother s son of them ing he d his hide till be mad it like a snake in spring time then i be it three times over b van to sound a tremendous the word st and the dashed forwards his warlike foil employed the interval in lighting their them in their mouths gave a f charged gallantly under cover of the the garrison ordered by the not to fire until they could distinguish tb eyes stood in horrid silence oi until the eager had ascended t did they pour into them such a the very hills around and were te an of water that burst forth from | 48 |
their sides which the present day not a but v the dust beneath that dreadful fire had n kindly taken care that the and all observe their usual custom of sh and turning away their heads at the mon the followed up their fire and falling and nail furious and now might be of which neither nor recorded a parallel here was beheld i his terrible giant his oak tree t carry any other weapon and upon the heads of whole of were the van like the of and with the long bow for which york renowned at another place was collected on a ruins the men of sin sin who assisted in tlie fight by forth the great on of st but as to the of they were absent from the battle having been sent out on a party to lay waste the neighbouring patches in a different part of the field might be seen the van of s nose but they were horribly perplexed in a between two little hills by reason or the length of their no e there were the van of and so renowned for kicking with the left foot but their skill availed them little at present being short of wind in consequence of the hearty dinner they had eat and they would have been put to had they not been by a corps of composed of the who advanced to their assistance on one foot nor must i omit to mention the achievements of von ck who for a good quarter of an hour stubborn fight with a little whose hide he most and had he not come into the battle with no other weapon but his trumpet would have put him to an end but now the combat on came the mighty and the fighting men of the after them thundered the van of together with the van and the van down all before them then the and the van pressing forward with many a oath at tile head of the warrior of hell gate clad in their and lightning and lastly the and body guards of peter bearing the of the and now commence the horrid din the desperate the ferocity the frantic desperation the and self of war and panted and the heavens were darkened with a tempest of bang went the struck the went the crash went the blows black eyes and bloody noses the horrors of the scene cut hack pig y i history head over beds rough ami swore the l tt and storm the works ha fire the roared out stout the trumpet of van c voice and sound became unintelligible j of shouts of triumph hideous the earth sh m k aa i trees shrunk aghast i io the ground u creek turned from its mountain in breathless terror l hung the contest doubtful foi shower of sent by the cloud measure cooled their as d water thrown op a group of bat pause for a to return u each other with hi just at this juncture was seen column of slowly rolling for a while made even the fu to stay arms in mute a moment the cloudy the noble can a of fed partly as a de ri to t tbe enormous dinner they ha nothing did their pipes w th as to raise awful cloud tliat has been marching exceedingly slow being great in tbe belt and i ow the protecting of t am having ly left tbe into neighbouring to refresh pot beer a catastrophe bad to the scarcely ha of the san attained the front the instructed by the b shower of blows full at their tobacco pi at this unexpected aiid seeing vi the u vast a la s new drove of they throw their own army in an uproar i down a whole of little the sacred banner on which is the of is trampled in the dirt the up new spirits and on their rear apply their feet d with a that motions nor doth the renowned himself to receive divers grievous and of shoe leather but what oh muse was the rage of the gallant peter when he saw his army yield with a voice of thunder did he roar after his warriors putting up such a war as did the stern when the troops were on the point of burning all his the men of the plucked up new when they heard their leader or rather they dreaded his fierce displeasure of which they stood in more awe than of all the in but the daring peter not waiting for their aid plunged sword in hand into the m the foe then did he display some such incredible as have never been known since the days of the giants wherever he went the enemy before him with fierce he pushed forward driving the like dogs into their own ditch but as he advanced the foe like waves which close upon the bark thronged upon bis rear and hung upon his flank with fearful peril one advancing on one side drove bin sword full at the hei o s heart but the protecting power that watches over the safety of all great and good men turned aside the hostile blade and directed it to a side pocket where an enormous iron tobacco box endowed like the shield of with supernatural powers no doubt in of its decorated with a portrait of the blessed st thus was the dreadful blow re h but not without to the great peter a fearful loss of wind like as a furious bear when by turns fiercely round his teeth and springs upon the foe so did our hero turn upon the treacherous the miserable sought in flight for safety but the active peter seizing him by an that m his head ah y off hey is what make dog s meat c | 48 |
so h bu sword that bad be uke half a hundred bat that the short and shaved a fur ever his that very a of a hi wi would have sent the ghost to haunt the shone had l ra l who had stopped to tl w great peril of her d old with his who ill of just as the s h a blast as blew all the t ie u th the in the i the to of a little aa wi troops and li the cannot which he seized at the t to of fi and then drawing his do ib to the w th ap is said by h e a l e strode the to t the vo did rival heroes come than they e f made a prodigious starts such as by most experienced t d each other fan a moment with u e two f l the very point of a then o i them in one bi an striking the on tho ri l n on tho left at last ai hundred oh words j fi aiid displayed on encounter an to which failed of with of with p i t l of y with c the of th tt w knight i of the mountains the aj holiday at length the in o v k aimed a the full of his adversary to the but raising his sword i ao that ou one side it shaved iv f a that he always carried on one course it severed n deep m stored with bread and cheese ill the armies i awful between the and md the to ten more to see his military stores collecting all hia aimed a at the hero s in vain did bin hat oppose its course the biting steel through the stubborn ram and would crown b that the skull waa of hardness that the weapon shivered into pieces shedding a thousand like beams of his with the w the peter up eyes and thousand besides about the at length sin l reason of his w leg down he came m seat of a crash hat the mid ld iu have his ana had be been received into a velvet which providence or on st of some kindly had int his the furious in despite of that noble cherished by all true knights that fair play is a jewel to take advantage of the hero s fall but just as le was stooping to give the fatal blow the ever bestowed bim a sturdy over the with lis wooden leg that set some dozen of bells triple in his the bewildered staggered with the blow and in the meantime the vary peter a pocket pistol lying hard by which lad dropped from the of his squire and van during his furious encounter the discharged it full at the bead of the let not my reader mistakes it was not ov a weapon loaded with powder and ball but a little sturdy stone charged to the with a double of true dutch courage which the knowing van always carried about him by way of hit the hideous song tin air and true to it course as was the mighty fragment oft rock discharged at by bully encountered huge head of the gigantic with violence this heaven directed blow decided the battle the ponderous of general upon his breast his knees under him a deaf hai seized upon his frame and he tumbled to thi earth with such tremendous violence that old with lest he should have broken through the too of hb infernal palace his fall was the signal of defeat and victory tin gave he dutch pressed the look to their the latter hotly pursued some ea with them through the other the and others scrambled over the thus in a little while the fortress of for which like another had stood a siege t full ten hours was finally carried by assault without ih loss of a single man on either side victory in the of a gigantic ox fly sat upon the cocked hat o the gallant and it was universally declared by all the writers whom he hired to write the o bis expedition that on this memorable day he i sufficient quantity of glory to a dozen of greatest heroes in chap ike author and the white fail into a grave recorded the i f peter st u c to st e battle let us sit my ol ion i mm ia and m oc k aad did but they would ii a tke ie e but y reader is not the a a me the of by the t made a p ter ah he ea oft aad bi to t ie ol ob aa v but it from tlie obscurity that of time about which i to doubtless from tbe of the of the must aad of displayed the walls of yet thai consulted every history manuscript and ig this i ind of a whole is without doubt owing to the forefathers who like their bo of their but it is a their in a most fur promised ray leaders a and d battle and having worked them up a and state of mind to pat them off t any and was as a as to a multitude of to of attend an aud then cruelly them by a had the inexorable only allowed me some half a score dead men i had been content for i have made them such as in the tim but whose race ia now unfortunately extinct any one o whom il we may believe those writers the poets could drive great armies like sheep before him and conquer and desolate whole cities by his single arm but seeing that i not a single life at my disposal all that was left me was | 48 |
to make the most i could of my battle by means of and and and such like wounds and here i cannot but compare mj in some sort to that of the divide milton who having arrayed with sublime preparation his immortal hosts against each other is sadly put to it how to manage and how he shall make the end of his battle to the beginning inasmuch as being mere spirits be can not deal a mortal blow nor even give a flesh wound tc any of his for my part the greatest ni ty i found was when i had once put my warriors in a passion and let them loose into the midst of the enemy to keep from doing mischief many a time bad j to restrain the sturdy peter from a gigantic to the very or half a little fellows on his sword like so many and when i had set some hundred of flying in the air i did not dare to suffer one of them to reach the ground lest it should have put an end to some y the reader cannot conceive how it is to be s writer thus in a manner to have his hands tied and many tempting opportunities i had to wink at where i might have made as fine a death blow as any recorded io history or song from my own experience i begin to doubt most of the of many of s stones f verily believe that when he had once launched one of his favourite heroes among a crowd of the enemy he cut down many honest fellow without for so doing that he presented a fair and that often a poor was sent to rim s merely because he new york l name that would give a sounding turn to a period but all such s let me but have truth and the law on my side and no man would harder myself but since tlie various records i consulted did not warrant k i had too much conscience to kill a su le by st but it would have been a pretty piece of business my enemies the critics who forest will be ready enough to lay any crime they can discover at my door might have charged me with murder and should have esteemed myself lucky to have escaped with no verdict than and now gentle reader that we are sitting down here smoking our pipes permit me to indulge in a reflection which at this passes across how vain how fleeting how uncertain are all after which we are panting and toiling in this world of fair the wealth which the has with so many weary days so many nights a heir may away in pi the noblest monuments which pride has ever reared to a name the hand of time wiu shortly tumble into ruins and even the gained by of arms may and be for ever by the neglect of mankind how many es says the good who the pride and glory of the age hath the silence if buried in eternal oblivion and this it was that the when they went to battle to sacrifice to the that their should pe had not his lofty the elegant the of had remained and such after all the toils and perils be had after all the gallant actions he had achieved such too had nearly been the fate of the peter but that i stepped in and engraved his name on the of history just as the time was silently it away for ever the more reflect the more i am astonished at the character of the historian he is the sovereign to decide upon the renown or of his fellow mn he is the patron of kings and s on whom it depends they shall live in after ages or b tm of foi t were their tlie bay ttie object of hb exists p wc b superior for ins n beyond the tbe of departed heroes bend down from b while he watching ma of hb pen it shall pan by their with neglect ir on the of ev of ink that hangs r on his he dash upon the or waste ia idle sl i a n tl that vary drop whidi to is not worth the t n tn u a a may be of to worthy half n in one to given had hey p m to the let not my readers imagine that i am in tain or am to cm tne of my tribe on i i on the w a b i shudder to what and we occasion in the worm i to thee honest as i am a weep all the veiy idea let me ask are so many mat tearing away from the ti of their si ting the of the of and to the of war why are kings and whole n short an p at of all and to i limit so end mis and no many p and on bnt the hope will kindly take them into ul a of his for in de t of all their toils their f is nothing but nd what b anne why half a page of dirty how the idea hat a of so a man as peter tie pen of so little a man as r r after the nd perils ef the field it us to return once mm conflict and inquire what were the of thia ax of ms and in a manner the its capture was speedily followed by ae entire on of the province this was not a little pro f the gallant and courteous of the peter though a man terrible in battle yet in of victory was be with a spirit and humane | 48 |
he over ills enemies e make defeat more by that mirror of virtue the renowned he was more anxious to do great of them after they were done he put no ordered no houses to be burnt down permitted no he on the property of the ve one of his officers a severe his walking staff for having been detected in a hen issued a inviting the submit to the authority of their high declaring with that should be lodged at the public expense y castle provided for the purpose and have an to wait on them in the bargain in these beneficent terms about thirty d and took the oath of for which they were graciously permitted to the banks of the where at this very day but i am told by travellers that they have never been able t get hap fallen looks of their ancestors and do still from to son manifest marks nd given them by the sturdy le country of new having ana yielded ns of the triumphant peter was reduced to led south river and placed under the a lieutenant governor subject to the control government at new thia was called william or il man who derived his as did fe for the dimensions of hi which z tt hi v rt of from the centre of hb like of a he was g of the tribe the one of most and of the tiie members of which do the io of not in would do by a in their but by one an all wearing a right goodly nose stuck in the ery of their faces thus was his perilous enterprise vith the loss of only two men van home tail spare many who was knocked by the of a in a aw of wind and fat van who was suddenly carried off by an were as having bravely i the of their country true it is peter had one of his limbs terribly being t pieces in the ad of the fortress but as it wi fortunately bis wooden leg the wound was promptly ai healed and now nothing remains to this bi of my but to mention this hero and his army returned tu the under the shade of their a did the followers young under the moving forest of thus did they make a solemn and triumphant entry new bearing with them th r and the remnant of bis battered crew for it appears tl t the sm liad only into a at the end of the battle i be was speedily restored by a the nose these captive heroes were lodged according to h promise of the governor at the public expense in a and spacious castle the of of t e conqueror of bay was appointed governor and which has ever remained in the possession of bis this castle though very much altered and it in being and stand at the corner slip it was and ki it to of of new at beholding war ion more returned from this war in the old women thronged round van the whole history of the campaign with h accuracy that he took the credit of whole battle himself and especially f the which he considered himself as clearly toy seeing that it was effected by his own stone the throughout the town gave holiday la their little who followed in after th a with paper caps on their heads and sticks in their thus taking the first lesson in the art of war a to the sturdy they thronged at the heels of mar wherever he went waving their greasy in the au and shouting hard for it was indeed a day of roaring root and a dinner was prepared at the in honour of the where were assembled in one glorious the great and the little of new there were the and his the with their ft elbows the officers at the elbows of the and so on to the lowest grade of of police every having his rag at his side to hb pipe drink off his heel and laugh at his flights of immortal in short for a city feast is a feast all the world over and has been a city feast ever the creation the dinner went off much the same as do oar gi eat and fourth of july loads oi flesh and fowl were devoured of liquor drunk thousands of pipes smoked and a dull joke honoured with much laughter must not omit to mention that to this far peter was indebted for another of his many titles for so delighted were the honest with his achievements that they x tm or him with the name of de to say peter the great or as it was people of new pig au ap which be maintained even unto the day of his of book f book seventh the third part of the op r the his troubles with the i h the decline and fall of the dutch chap the sovereign the of care of the nation with particulars of his conduct in time of peace ib history of the of peter picture of the incessant cares and from and may serve as a solemn to all who ai ambitious of the seat of though crowned with victory enriched by and returning in triumph to his metropolis his ex ion was checked by beholding the sad that had n place during the short interval of his absence ie unfortunately for their own comfort had n a deep draught of the cup of power ng the reign of william the and though upon of they felt with a perception which as well as cattle that the reins of government had passed into is y yet could they not help and and upon the bit in silence by some | 48 |
strange and inscrutable to be destiny of most countries and more especially of your always to be governed by the most man in the nation so that yon will scarcely an individual throughout the whole but will detect to you errors in d and convince you in the end that had he been at the id of a matters would have gone on a thousand more strange that seems to be so generally understood s of be m c talent of so bestowed denied to the only man in the nation to whose s requisite thus it was in the present instance not a mai of in new i on topics of state and could have affairs better than peter so was the old governor in his would never suffer one of the multitude of able by whom he was surrounded to intrude his m save the country from destruction scarcely therefore had he departed on his af the than the old of reign began to thrust their heads above gather together in political meetings to state of tl nation at these the b masters and their made a ver able e these worthy were no fat well fed that peaceful days of van on the being elected by the people they formed in a between the mob and the tliey were great for popularity and for the rights of the zeal the wide mouthed of or those virtuous of modern days em the friends of the people under the of these profound astonishing how suddenly the became in matters above their and all at once felt inspired like those religious in the illumination j and without any became instantly capable of movements of government nor must i tion a number of wrong he who had come over when boys in the c and were held up as the enlightened mob to suppose that a mai helped to discover a country did not know how i be governed was preposterous in the extreme bare been as a as at tl f the political talent and universal f our old heroes of g nd to doubt that bad fought for a however stupid he be was not competent to fill any station s peter had a singular inclination to ills province without the of his subjects on his return to find the ace they had assumed during his absence his therefore was to restore perfect order by ng the dignity of the sovereign people watched his opportunity and one the enlightened mob was gathered together to a patriotic speech from an inspired the peter like his great of all the ce appeared among them with a countenance a mill stone the whole meeting was into consternation the orator seemed to hare a in the very middle of a sublime and stood aghast with open mouth and the words horror i tyranny liberty rights destruction and a of other came roaring from his throat before he had i close his lips the shrewd peter took no notice throng around him but advancing to the bully and drawing out a huge silver watch have served in times of as a town clock h is still retained by his descendants as a family requested the orator to mend it and set it going tor humbly confessed it was utterly out of his s he was with the nature of its con nay but said peter try ingenuity m see all the springs and wheels and how easily hand may stop it and pull it to pieces and lid it not be equally easy to as to stop e orator that his trade was wholly was a poor and had never in his life that there were men skilled in business it was to attend to those matters is part he should only mar the and whole in why master of tied peter turning suddenly upon him with a that almost the of shoes into m or lo with ad m tke whidi are above c e and iu subtle for thy ot a m a piece of tbe whole of which is open to thy thee to the leather and of thy head thy aad to the far heaven has hia it made tbe if ever i catch thee or any of thy tribe a with the of by st bat ril have every mother s of ye and hides stretched lor ye may make a to some purpose threat and the voice in which it wai tbe whole to with fear tbe hair of tbe orator rose on bis bead like hia own swine i and not a knight of the bat ha heart died within him and be aa be verily escaped the eye of a bnt this measure tbe effect the to order yet it tended to tbe of tbe great peter among the many accused him of entertaining highly sentiments and of leaning too in o tbe indeed there appeared to be for such ao accusation as be always carried himself a very lofty soldier like port and was somewhat in bis dress dressing himself when not in ii simple but rich apparel and was especially noted fo having bis sound leg which was a very always arrayed in a red and a man of great simplicity of manners yet was something about him that rude while it encouraged frank and even social intercourse he likewise observed some of court etiquette he received the common da of visitors on the stoop before his door according the custom of our dutch ancestors but when the porch commonly built in frost with on each side york re formally received in bis parlour it was expected j would appear in clean linen by no to be e and always to take their off ou public be appeared with great pomp of for station required a little show and dignity | 48 |
with to march at the head of ft potent force of the roaring boys of merry land with a great and mighty train of giants who the banks of the and to lay waste md the whole country of south by it b manifest that this boasted colony like all of territory soon became a gi to the conqueror than the loss of it was to the conquered caused greater uneasiness and trouble than all the of the new besides we find very and wonderful accounts of these rt range who doubtless the of the present mary by master in his interesting history the be are a people in behaviour and attire their voices from as if their tobacco pipes were three quarters of a yard at a i great end a bird or other device to beat out the of a horse and how many m beaten out or rather men s out and hi by our lesser pipes at home the of one of was three quarters of a yard about the rest of hit a a s history or that evil shall balance the conqueror who the property of his who wrongs a nation and a h may acquire increase of empire and immortal his own inevitable punishment he takes to self a cause of endless anxiety be with hi late sound domain a loose a rotten member which is an source of internal tree son and and external and hostility w happy is that nation which compact united loyal in ml its parts and concentrated in its strength no of and content to be prosperous and happy has no tion to be great it is like a man well organized in al bis system sound in health ami full of vigour by useless and fixed in an attitude but the nation of territory are scattered feebly united and weakly is like a senseless among golden stores open to every attack and unable to defend the riches he vainly to at the time of receiving the alarming south river the great peter was busily employed in certain indian troubles that had broken oat and was moreover meditating how to relieve im eastern borders on the however sent word to man to be of good heart to incessant vigilance and to let him know if matters wore a more threatening appearance j in which case he repair with his warriors of the to spoil the merriment of merry for be exceedingly to have a bout hand to hand with half a score of these giants having never a giant in his whole life unless we may so call the and he was but a little one nothing further however occurred to the of and his colony and his at home it upon cakes bacon and and horses and fighting for which they renowned at hearing of this peter was well pleased for notwithstanding his li ni sure we x po e monstrous men of the to k yet he had already as much nearer home as he could turn bis hands to little did lie think that this southern calm was but the to a most terrible and fatal storm then was soon to burst forth and the city of new it was that while this excellent governor was his little laws and not only giving them rat them while he was incessantly travel the rounds of his beloved province from to place to and while busy at one of his all the rest getting into an t this very time i say a dark and plot w against him in that nursery of monstrous the british cabinet the news of his achieve on the according to a sage old n w had occasioned not a little talk and ki the courts of europe and the same profound writer us that the cabinet of england began to great jealousy and uneasiness at the increasing power of the and the of its sturdy y the historian were sent by the council of the east to entreat the assistance of the ba cabinet in this mighty province lord sterling also asserted his right to long island and at the same time whose agent as has before mentioned had so alarmed laid his claim before the cabinet to the lands of river which he complained e and forcibly detained from him by these daring of the thus did the unlucky empire of the stand in imminent danger of the fate of and being torn limb from limb to be shared among its neighbours but while these powers were their and waiting for the signal to tooth and nail upon this delicious little fat dutch the lion who sat as all at once laid his mighty upon the spoil and settled the claims oi all parties by none of them for we are that his majesty charles the second not to be perplexed by these several made a present of or a tract of north america including the province oi new to his brother the duke of york truly loyal since none but great have a ri ht to give away what does not belong to them tliat this gift might not be merely majesty on the th of march ordered that an should be forthwith prepared to the city of new by land and water and put his brother in complete possession of the premises thus are situated the affairs of the new the honest so far from thinking of the in which their interests are placed are smoking their pipes and thinking of nothing al ail the of the province are at this moment in full like the of five hunted while the active peter who takes all the labour of thinking and acting upon himself is busily some method of bringing the grand council of to terms in the meanwhile an angry cloud is darkly | 48 |
on the soon shall it rattle about the ears of these and put the of their stout hearted governor completely to the trial but come what may i here pledge my that ia all warlike and subtle he still himself with the gallant bearings honour of a noble minded obstinate old forward then to the charge shine out stars on renowned city of the and may the blessings of st g with honest peter chap iii of peter expedition into the east try that though an old bird he did not stand trap great nations resemble great men in this particular that their greatness is seldom until hey get in trouble has been wisely ordeal of true gi which like gold can receive its x until it passed the new york la therefore as a nation a or an individual possessing the inherent quality of greatness is involved in perils and misfortunes in proportion does it in and even when sinking calamity makes like a on fire a more glorious display than ever it did in the est period of its prosperity the vast empire of china though with population and and the wealth of nations has through a succession of drowsy ag and were it not for its internal revolution and the of its ancient government by the might have presented nothing but an uninteresting detail of prosperity and might have passed into oblivion with a herd of their had they not been fortunately overwhelmed by a the renowned city of has acquired only from its ten years distress and final paris i in importance by the plots and es which have ended in the exaltation of the napoleon and even the mighty london itself has the records of time celebrated for nothing of moment excepting the plague the great fire and y s plot thus cities and to creep along in silent obscurity under the pen of the historian until at length they burst forth in some tremendous calamity and snatch as it were immortality from the explosion the above principle being admitted my reader will plainly perceive that the city of new and its dependent province are on the high road to greatness dangers and threaten from every side and it is really a matter of astonishment to me how so small a state has been able in so short a time to itself in so many difficulties ever since the province was first taken by the nose at the fort of good hope ia the tranquil days of van has it been gradually increasing in historic importance and never could it have had a more appropriate to conduct it to the of grandeur than peter la the fiery heart of this iron headed old warrior sat all those five kinds of courage described by and had the philosopher mentioned five il as that be nm s project worthy if hem la bi wai bo lu repair id ih the in lu r fur wliich evil be bi il la those repeated on the east or tu aod appeal to ac on i w ir they v to tbe oi exposing his of u aud people other i all which a upon the of ihe d an you were lu a ii with a to hia in to him on enterprise n u a little i york and other of the east country v and entertained dainty recollection of numerous kind and whom he longed exceedingly again to encounter then did this mirror of set forth with bo other attendant but hb upon one of the most perilous ever recorded in the annals of for a single warrior to venture openly among a whole nation of toes but above all for a plain to think of n with the whole council of new never was there known a more desperate undertaking ever since i have entered the of this but hitherto has he kept me in a state of incessant action and anxiety with the toils and dangers he is ob for a chapter of the tranquil reign of van that i might repose on it as on a feather bed is it not enough peter tliat i have once already rescued thee from the of these terrible by bringing the whole powers of to thine aid is it not enough that i have followed thee like a guardian spirit into the midst of the horrid battles of fort that i have been put to my to keep thee safe and sound bow off with my single pen he shower of blows that fell upon thy rear now narrowly thee from a deadly thrust by a mere tobacco box thy skull with when even thy ram failed to resist the sword of the and now not merely bringing thee off but triumphant from the of the gigantic by the desperate means of a paltry stone is this enough but must thou still be plunging into new difficulties and in headlong thy and thy historian and now the ruddy faced like a draws aside the curtains of the night and out from his bed the jolly red ed startled at being caught so late in the embraces of dame with many a stable oath he his and and lashes and up the like a post boy half an hour behind bis time and now behold that of fame and man urn i k under ud bu if ib band with ud m tbe i be see out i like ud iron clad hero of hit fail bt people with a partial and farewell farewell t be your return tbe ever drew tbat ever trod are about tbe i out ia tbe of a pleasant poem bj who been the poet of new it e ui it waa tide to behold tbe treat i bi the morning sun aud in | 48 |
tbe nature tbey it t aud rural y with wild flower by many a goodly hung upon their rear for several them with and more especially the worthy peter whose silver chased leg not a mai at another place hard by the own of they were set upon by a great and of church who of them five shillings for travelling on and threatened to carry them captive to a church whose peered above the trees but these tlie peter put to with little difficulty that they their and galloped off in horrible their cocked hats behind in the hurry of their flight but not so easily did he escape from the hands of a man of who with perseverance and repeated fairly him out of his goodly him in a all these hardships they their cheerily along the coast of the flowing whose gentle waves says the song roll through y a fertile and plain now reflecting the lofty of the bustling city and now the rural of the hamlet now echoing with the busy of commerce and now with the cheerful song of the at every peter who was noted order the to sound a salutation though the manuscript were thrown into great dismay when of his approach for the fame of his on the had spread and they di lest he had come to take vengeance on their manifold bat t ie good peter rode through these towns with a aspect waving bis hand with and condescension for he verily believed that the old clothes which these ii people had thrust their broken windows and the of apples and which ornamented the fronts of their l were so many in honour of bin as it was the custom in the days of tu heroes by a and the women to the doors to upon him as he so mi in arms t the gentle sex the little i ran after him in troops staring with his breeches and the silver g of his wooden leg nor must i omit to mention which many betrayed at jovial van who had delighted i with his trumpet when he bore the great challenge to the the kind hearted i alighted from his mare and kissed them in loving kindness hind was right pleased f crew of little crowding around him blessing each of whom he patted on the head b be a good boy and gave him a penny to buy i the manuscript makes but little mention of the adventures upon this excepting that he was received extravagant c and respect by the great council of the almost talked him to death with complimentary ai i will not detain my on his with the grand suffice it to mention it was like all other great deal was said and very little done one led to another one conference which it took a dozen to explain end of which the parties found themselves just were at first excepting that they had entangled selves in a host of questions of etiquette and cordial distrust of each other that rendered ten times more difficult than ever in the midst of all these cities which the brain and the ire of the sturdy was perhaps of all men in the world least fit he privately received the first of the dark conspiracy which had been cabinet of england to this was added the intelligence a hostile had already for certain of the particulars of this has col it is that smith is entirely so to v peter york b destined to reduce the and that the grand council of id engaged to co operate by sending a great army tp new by land unfortunate peter did i not enter with sad upon this ill expedition did not tremble i saw thee with no other than thine own with no other than an honest spot conscience and a rusty sword with no other pro but st nd no other attendant but a did i not tremble when i beheld thee thus forth to contend with all the knowing powers of ob bow did the y old warrior rage and roar when himself thus like a lion in the s toil now did he determine to draw his and to fight his way through all the of the east now did he resolve to break in on the council of the and put every s son of them to death at length as his subsided he resorted to safer though less glorious concealing from the council his knowledge of their he privately a messenger h to his at new them of the impending danger commanding them to put the city in a posture of defence while ae mean time he would endeavour to his enemies come to their assistance this done he felt himself relieved rose slowly shook himself like a and issued forth from his den in much the manner as giant despair is described to have issued m doubting castle in the history of the progress sad now much does it grieve me that i must leave the peter in this imminent but it to back and see what is going on at new for greatly do fear that city is in a such was ever the fate of peter while one thing heart and soul he was too apt to ve every thing else at and while like of he was absent attending to those things person which in modem days are trusted to a b b hi or the of tlie earth that this and carried was im proposed whether it were not possible and great britain upon which members spoke most in the only one arose to sup some doubts who as ment for his presumption was im seized by the mob and and punishment being equivalent to the was afterwards considered as an outcast from his opinion went for nothing the question being | 48 |
a clear saving of ten bat when they came to discuss the mode of defence m began a war of words that all le members being as i observed in opposite were enabled to proceed with amazing system and in the discussion of the questions before them was proposed by a long pipe was opposed by i whole tribe of short pipes who like true it their first duty to effect the of the ig pipe their second to and ar third to consult the welfare of the country at t was the creed of the most upright among the party as to the great mass the left t e third consideration t of the question her in this great collision of hard heads it is the of projects for defence that were struck out not i of which had ever been beard of before nor has in heard of since unless it be in very modern ts that threw the system of the completely in the back ground still however i fm of be decided on fur to ns a of air castles were reared by one party they by the other the simple stood g p in expectation of the g that to be with all this but they ii rain for it appeared that the was to protect the province as did the noble and g bis army by it with his tongue indeed there was a portion of the members of self old ber who smoked pipes and said nothing excepting to every f defence that was ed tb were of that oi wealthy old citizens who having a fortune button up their pockets shut their mouths look rich and are good for nothing all the rest of their lives like which having swallowed a pearl t h settles down in the mud and parts with its life than its e every plan of defence seemed to these worthy old gentlemen with ruin aa armed force was a of upon tiie public property j to fit out a naval was to money into the sea to build was to bury it in the dirt in short they settled it ai a so long as their pockets were f no how much they were p a kick left no m head cured itself bat an empty purse til the to heal and one in which nature did to the patient did this venerable ass of e which the of affairs rendered invaluable in empty and without ever fr ng except on the point with which thej that there was no time to be lost and delay at length st taking distracted and to f from so ordered that io the midst of one of noisy on tbe of and defence when they had nearly fallen to it of not being able to convince each other the question waa happily settled by a m aa c into the and informed that tbe t and was actually ip l f york ii us was all further necessity of either or completely and thus was the grand council saved a world of words and the province a of a most absolute and glorious triumph of chap vi in which the troubles of appear to showing the bravery in time of of a people who defend themselves by like as an assemblage of cats engaged in and with hideous in each other s faces and on the point of breaking forth into a general are suddenly put to and by the startling appearance of a dog so was the no less council of new amazed astounded and totally dispersed by the sudden arrival of the enemy every member made the best of his way borne along as fast as his short legs under their heavy and as he went with and terror when he at his castle he the street door and buried himself in the cellar without daring to peep out lest he should have his bead carried off by a cannon ball the sovereign people all crowded into he market place together with the instinct of sheep who seek safety in each other s company when the shepherd and his dog are absent and the wolf is round the fold far from finding relief however they only each other s terrors each man looked in his neighbour s face in search of encouragement but only in its woe a confirmation of hit own dismay not a word now was to be heard of conquering great britain not a whisper about the sovereign virtues of economy awhile the old women heightened the general gloom by their and calling for protection on st and led the witb tb s or did they tbe of the peter bow did they ion for the pre of van indeed a gloomy ihe fate of these heroes day after day had elapsed since the e tbe without any further tidings of his many a fearful conjecture was as to what bad him and his loyal squire had they not been devoured alive by tbe of marble head ad cape were they not put to the question by the great of were they not in by the men of la the midst of this consternation when horror like a mighty night mare sat upon the little city of new the ears of tbe were suddenly y and distant it approached it grew louder and louder and dow it at the city tbe could not be in tbe sound a about of joy from their lips as tbe gallant peter covered with id followed by his e td the market place the first of the having they gathered round the honest as be his horse overwhelming him with greetings a d in breathless accents be related to them ths adventures through which the old governor had gone in making | 48 |
their escape from of the terrible but though the with its customary ny touching the great peter is concerned is very as to the incidents of this yet the particular state of the public a will not to indulge in a full recital let suffice to say that while peter was in his mind how be could make good bis escape with and dignity certain of the ships seat out for the conquest of the touched at the eastern ports to needful supplies aud to call on the grand of the league for its promised co operation hearing of tlie peter that a t s delay were fatal made a secret and l ov m cl did it grieve his lofty ta york be obliged o his back upon a nation of many hair breadth and divers perilous did sustain as they without sound of pet through the fair regions of the east already was the country in an uproar with hostile preparation and were red to take a circuit in their flight along thi the mountains of the d til from whence the peter one day hke a lion and put to the whole of consisting of three of a who were already on their way to take possession of comer of the nay the had great difficulty at sundry times to prevent in the excess of his wrath from descending down from the mountains and falling sword in hand upon certain of the who were forth their the first movements of the governor on hie dwelling was to mount the roof from whence be with aspect the hostile this had come to an anchor in the bay and consisted of two stout having on board as john us three hundred red taken this survey he sat himself down and air to ttie commander demanding his reason of in ttie harbour without obtaining i h v so to do this letter was in the fled end terms i have it from that his teeth were and be bed a grin upon his all the while he having despatched his letter the grim peter te and the town with a moat countenance his hands thrust into bis end whistling a low dutch whidi dove n small to die music of a no ee el wind when a storm is tlie very dogs as tha eyed him away in while all the of new ran howling at his to them from murder the reply of col who commended the in terms of vith the of the the n m a hi t ey or british majesty to the ue affirmed th dutch to be mere and demanding that th c should be forthwith rendered into hi m s obedience and protection promising at tb time life liberty estate and free to dutch who should readily submit to his peter read over this friendly some such harmony of aspect as we may suppose a who has long been upon his neighbour f reads the loving letter of john that of an action of ent the old governor however was not to be taken by surprise but thrusting the summons into his breeches pocket he stalked three across the room took a pinch of with great vehemence and then waving his hand promised to send an answer the next morning id the mean time he called a general council of wai of his and not for the purpose of asking their advice for that as has been already shown he valued not a rush but to make known unto them his sovereign determination and require their prompt before however he his council he l v e d upon important points never to give up the city without a little hard fighting for he deemed it to the dignity of so renowned a city to itself to be captured and stripped without receiving it few into the bargain that the of end council was composed of of true bottom and be not therefore suffer them to see the of col lest the easy terms it held out might them to for a surrender being duly it was a piteous sight to behold the late who had the whole british empire in their peeping out of their hiding places and cautiously forth through narrow lanes and starting at every little dog that as though it had been a discharge of for british and in the excess of their into formidable at t however ia york s despite of numerous perils and difficulties of the kind arrived safe without the loss of a single man at the hall of assembly they took the r seats and awaited in fearful silence the arrival of the governor in a few moments tha wooden leg of the peter was heard in regular and stout hearted upon the staircase he entered the chamber arrayed in a full suit of and carrying his not on his but tucked under his arm as the governor never equipped himself in this manner something of martial nature were working within his fearless his council regarded him as a very bearing fire and sword in his iron countenance and forgot to light their pipes in breathless suspense the great peter was as eloquent as he was indeed these two rare qualities seemed to go hand in hand in his composition and unlike most whose are only confined to the field of argument he was always ready to enforce hb hardy words by no less hardy deeds his speeches were generally marked by a simplicity approaching to and by truly decision addressing the grand he touched briefly upon the perils and he bad sustained iu escaping from his foes he next reproached the council for wasting in idle debate nd that time which should have been devoted to their country he was particularly indignant at who conscious of individual security had the of the province by impotent aad against a | 48 |
the watch and bad heard of the arrival of mysterious marching in a resolute body into the room with a of and at their heels demanded a perusal of the letter thus to be broken in upon by what be esteemed a rascal and that too at the very moment be was grinding under an irritation from a ii i history of was too much for the of the peter tore the letter iu a thousand pieces threw it iu th of the nearest broke bis pipe over th of the next hurled his box ut an unlucky set was just making a retreat out at the finally the whole meeting did by ki them down stairs with his wooden leg as soon as the could recover confusion into which their sudden exit had and had a little time to breathe they protested a the conduct of the governor which they did not h o pronounce highly ind and somewhat they then called a meeting where they read the protest and assembly in a set speech related at full length an appropriate colouring and the of the governor j declaring th their own parts they did not value a straw the kicked and by the timber toe of his but they felt for the dignity of the sovereign p thus rudely insulted by the outrage committed on th of honour of their representatives the latter part had a violent effect upon the sensibility people as it came home at once to that delicacy of i and jealous pride of character in all true who though they may bear injuries without a mi yet are jealous of their sovereign di and there is no knowing to what act of might have been provoked against the not the greasy been somewhat more their sturdy old governor than they were of st nm he english or the d i himself smith s history of n y new york d chap viii how peter defended the city of new for several days by dint of the strength of his head there is something exceedingly sublime and melancholy in the spectacle which the present crisis of our history presents an illustrious and venerable little city the metropolis of an immense extent of country by a host of and old women go by a determined and strong headed warrior and fortified by mud and resolutions by sea by land and threatened with desolation from without while its very are torn with internal and never did pen record a page j f more complicated distress it be the strife that distracted the during the siege of where parties were cutting each other s throats at the moment when the of had down their and were carrying fire and sword into the very of the temple governor having triumphantly as has been recorded put his grand council to the and thus delivered himself firom a multitude of impertinent despatched a reply to the of the wherein he asserted the right and title of their high the lords states general to the province of new and trusting in the of his cause set the whole british nation at defiance my anxiety to my readers and myself from those disastrous scenes prevents me from giving the whole of this gallant letter which concluded in manly and affectionate terms as touching the threats in conclusion we have nothing to answer only that we fear nothing but what who is as as merciful shall lay upon us all things being in his gracious disposal and we may as well be preserved by him with small forces as h x b op army which makes us to wish you all and prosperity and you tu his my lords your humble and and p thus having resolutely thrown his the brave peter stuck a pair of horse pistols in bis belt an immense powder born on bis side thrust his sound leg a boot and clapping his fierce little on the top of his head up and down in front of hb house determined to defend his city to ths last while these struggles and were in the unhappy city of new and while its worthy but ill governor was the above quoted letter the english did not remain idle they had agents secretly employed to the fears and of the and and wide through he adjacent country a repeating the terms they bad already out in their summons to and the simple with the moat and professions they promised that man who voluntarily submitted to the of his british should retain possession of his house his and his that he be suffered to smoke his pipe speak wear as breeches as he pleased and import bricks and stone from holland instead of them on the pot tliat he should on no account be compelled to learn the english language or keep accounts iu any other way by casting them up on his and them down upon the crown of bis hat as b still among the dutch at the present day then every man should be allowed quietly to hb father bat coat shoe pipe and every other personal and that no man should be obliged to to any improvements inventions or any other modern but on the contrary should be permitted to build his house follow his ti e manage his m rear his and his children precisely as bis v t v vm time new t that he should have all the of free trade should not be required to acknowledge any other l ill the than saint who h as before be considered the saint of the city terms as may be supposed appeared very to the people who had a gi cat disposition to enjoy their property and a most aversion to engage in a contest e they gain little more than honour and broken heads the first | 48 |
for his consent ordered them to hand him up the paper it wa hoisted to him on the end of a pole his name at the bottom of it be them all for a set of threw the at their k wn the window and was heard with the most indignation the took to their heels even the not slow in the premises fearing lest peter issue from his den and greet them unwelcome of his displeasure within three after the surrender a beef poured into new ai taking possession of the fort and heard from all quarters the sound of mi by the old dutch who up their doors and windows to protect th firom these fierce whom they silent from the garret windows as the through the streets thus did col richard the forces enter into quiet possession of the as for the duke of york i attended m that d ne of the province and its which york and ao hare to be called unto the present day the um to treaty were allowed to maintain their property but so did tbey their to the that hi a meeting of the leading citizens it was determined never to ask any of their to chap ix the dignified of peter the then i have concluded this great historical before i lay aside my weary pen there yet s to be performed one pious duty among the of readers that may this book there it found any of those souls of true nobility which ith celestial fire at the history of the generous and they will doubtless be anxious to know the fate gallant to gratify one such i heart of gold i would go more than to cold blooded curiosity of a whole of sooner had that signed the of than determined not to witness the of his favourite city be turned his back on is and made a growling retreat to his or r seat which was situated about two miles off ie passed the remainder of his days in ent there he enjoyed that tranquillity of mind he had never known amid the cares of and tasted the sweets of absolute and authority which his subjects had so often with the bitterness of opposition could ever induce him to the city le contrary he would always have his great with its back to the which looked direction until a thick grove of trees planted d d y or his own g up aud formed a screen that effectually excluded it from the prospect he continually at the and improvements introduced by the forbade a word of their detested language to be spoken in his family a i obeyed none of the household could speak any thing but dutch and even ordered a to down in front of his house because it consisted of english cherry trees the same incessant vigilance that blazed forth when he had a vast province under his care now showed itself with equal vigour though in limits he with around the boundaries of his little territory every with punished every upon his orchard or his yard with severity and conducted every stray or cow in triumph to the pound but to the the or the weary wanderer his spacious door was ever open and his fire place that emblem of his own warm and generous heart had m corner to receive and cherish them there was an exception to this i must confess in case the ill was an englishman or a yankee to whom though be might extend the hand of assistance he could never be to yield the rites of hospitality nay if some struggling merchant of the east should stop at bis door with his cart load of tin ware or wooden the fiery peter would issue forth like a giant m his cast e and make such a furious among his pots and that the of was fain to himself to instant flight his ancient suit worn by the brush were carefully hung up in tho state and regularly the first fair day of every and his cocked and were suspended n grim repose over the parlour forming to a full length portrait of the renowned admiral von in bis domestic empire he maintained strict discipline and a well organized government bat though his own will was the supreme law yet the good of his subjects was his constant object he watched over u but their d and their ultimate welfare for he gave them abundance of nor could any of them complain that when occasion d he was by any means in wholesome the good old those demon of an overflowing heart and a thankful spirit which are falling into sad among my fellow citizens were faithfully observed in the mansion of governor new year was truly a day of open handed liberality of and warm hearted when the bosom seemed to swell with genial and the table was attended with an freedom and honest broad mouthed merriment unknown in these days of and refinement and were sa observed throughout his nor was the day of st suffered to pass by without making presents hanging the in the chimney and with all its other ceremonies once a year on the first day of april he used to array himself in full being the of his entry into new after the conquest of new this was always a kind of among the when they considered themselves at liberty in some measure to say and do what they pleased for on this day their master was always observed to and become exceeding pleasant and sending the old gray headed on april fools errands for pigeon s milk not one of whom but allowed himself to be taken in and humoured his master s jokes as became a faithful and well thus did he reign happily and peacefully on his own land | 48 |
no no by no outward perplexed by no internal and the mighty of the earth who were vainly seeking to maintain peace and promote the welfare of mankind by war and desolation would have done well to have made a voyage to the little island of and learned a lesson in government firom the domestic economy of peter in process of time however the old governor like all other children of began to exhibit evident tokens of decay like an aged oak wh ch ai n o t of bu the fury of the and still if yet be i ins to shake and with so the gallant though he still the port and semblance of what he was in the days of his bar and chivalry yet did age and begin to sap the of his frame but his heart that most still with would he listen to every article of intelligence concerning the battles between the english and dutch still would his pulse beat high whenever he heard of the of de and his countenance lower and his eye bi knit when fortune turned iq of the english at as on a certain day he had just smoked bis fifth pipe and was after dinner in his arm chair conquering the whole british nation in his dreams he was suddenly aroused by the fearful ringing of bells rattling of drums and roaring of cannon that put all his blood in a but when be learned that these were in honour of a great victory obtained by the combined english and french over the brave de and the younger von it went so much to his heart that he took to his bed and in less than ee days was brought to death s door by a violent but even in this extremity he still displayed the spirit of peter the holding out to the last gasp with the most obstinacy against a whole army of old women who were bent upon driving tiie enemy out of his after a true mode of defence by the seat of war with and while he thus lay lingering on the verge of dissolution news was brought him that the brave bad suffered but little loss bad made good his and meant once more to meet the enemy in battle the closing eye of the old warrior kindled at the words he partly raised himself in bed a flash of martial fire beamed across his he his withered hand as if he felt within his that sword which waved in triumph before the walls of fort and giving a grim smile of exultation sunk back upon his pillow and expired thus died peter a soldier a loyal subject an upright governor and an honest new york wanted only a few to desolate to have been as a hero his funeral were celebrated with he utmost grandeur and solemnity the town was perfectly em tied of its inhabitants who crowded iu to pay the last sad honours to their ji ood old governor all his sterling qualities rushed in full tide upon heir recollections while the memory of his and his faults had expired with him the ancient who should have the privilege of bearing the the strove who should walk nearest to tlie and the melancholy procession was closed by a number of grey headed who had and in the household of their departed master foi the gi part of a century with sad and gloomy countenances the multitude round the grave they dwelt with mournful hearts on the sturdy virtues the signal services and the gallant exploits of the brave old worthy they recalled with secret their own to his and many an ancient whose features had never been known to nor his eyes to was now observed to puff a pensive pipe and he big drop to steal down his cheek while he muttered with affectionate accent and melancholy shake of head well den hard peter ben gone at last his i were deposited in the family vault und a chapel which he had erected on his estate and to st and which stood on the identical spot at present occupied by st mark s where his is still to be seen his estate or as it was called has ever continued in the possession of his descendants who by the uniform integrity of their conduct and their strict to the customs and manners that prevailed in the good old have proved themselves worthy of their illustrious many a time and oft has the farm been haunted at night by money in quest of pots of said to have been buried by the old though i cannot learn that any of them has ever been enriched by their and who is there among my fellow citizens that does not remember when in the mischievous days of his boyhood he conceived it a great to rob s orchard on a holiday afternoon y or at this strong of the may still be seen tain of the immortal peter his full portrait in martial from the parlour bis cocked hat and sword still hang up in the best bedroom his coloured breeches were for a while suspended in the hall until some years since they occasioned a dispute between a new married couple and his mounted wooden lee is still up in the store room as an chap x the s has been numerous events which are each in their turn the most and melancholy of all possible in your interesting and there k none that occasions such deep and heart as the decline and fall of your renowned and mighty em where is the reader who can contemplate without emotion the disastrous events by which the great ties of the world have been extinguished while wandering in imagination among the gigantic of and and marking the that | 48 |
to an act entitled an act to an act entitled an act for the encouragement of learning by securing the of maps and books to the authors and of such copies during the times therein mentioned and extending the ts thereof to the arts of and historical and other prints james f the district of new contents or volume n book v containing the first part of the reign of peter and his troubles with the council ch p i id which the death of z great man is shown to be no very matter of sorrow and how peter acquired a great name from tho uncommon of his head page chap ii showing how peter the himself among the rats and the on entering into office and the perilous mistake be was guilty of in his dealings with the chap ill containing divers speculations on war and showing that a treaty of peace is a great national evil c ap iv how peter was greatly by his the moss and his conduct thereupon chap v how the new became great in arms and of the catastrophe of a mighty army together with peter s measures to the city and how he was the original founder of the battery fi contents vi how the people of tbe east country were afflicted with a and their measures for tbe thereof vii which records the rise and renown of a commander showing that a man like a may be up to greatness and importance by mere wind book vi the part of the reign of peter the and his achievements on tbe chap i in which is exhibited a warlike portrait of the great and how general van distinguished himself at fort chap ii showing profound secrets are often brought to light with the proceedings of peter the when be heard of the misfortunes of van chap iii containing peter voyage up the and the wonders and delights of that renowned chap iv describing the army that assembled at the city of new together with the between peter the and general van and peter s sentiments touching unfortunate great men chap v in which the author yery of after which is to be found much interesting history about peter the and his followers chap vi showing the great advantage that the author has over his reader in time of together with divers movements which that terrible is to happen bits vii chap vii the most horrible battle ever recorded in poetry or prose with the admirable exploits of peter the chap viii in which the author and the reader while after the battle fall into a very grave after which is recorded the conduct of peter after his victory book vii the third part of the op the his troubles the british nation and the decline and fall of the dutch chap i how pet r relieved the sovereign people from the of taking care of he nation with sundry particulars of his conduct in time of peace chap ii how peter was much by moss of the east and the giants of merry land and how a dark and horrid was carried on in the british cabinet against the prosperity of the c a iii of peter s expedition into the country that though an old bird he did i l understand trap iv how the people of new were tl into a great panic by the news of a invasion and the manner in which they fortified themselves o chap v showing how the grand council of the came to be gifted with long tongues together with a great triumph of economy chap vl in which the troubles of new appear to showing the bravery in time of viii contents peril of a people who defend by tions chap vii a disaster of and how peter like a sec suddenly dissolved a parliament viii how defended the of new for several days by dint of of his head ix containing the dignified retirement mortal surrender of peter the ap x r the author s reflection upon what has i said book i containing the first part of the reign of peter and his troubles with the council chapter i in which the death of a great man is shown to be no very matter of sorrow and how peter acquired a great name from the uncommon strength of his head to a profound philosopher like who am apt to see clear through a subject where the penetration of ordinary people extends but there is no fact more simple and manifest than that the death of a great man is a matter of very little importance much as we may think of ourselves and as much as we may vol j ro loss of men felt excite the empty of the million it is certain that the greatest among us do actually fill bu an exceeding small space in the world and it is equally certain that even that small space is quickly supplied when we leave it vacant of what consequence is it said that individuals appear or make their exit the world is a theatre whose scenes and actors are continually changing never did philosopher speak more correctly and only wonder that so wise a remark could have existed so many ages and mankind not have laid it more to heart sage follows on in the footsteps of sage one hero just steps out of his car to make way lor the hero who comes after him and of the monarch it is merely said that he slept with his fathers and his successor reigned in his j he | 48 |
van dismayed for my name it is van for my i am the son of my mother for my profession i am champion and garrison of this great city of new i doubt me much said peter that thou art some how thou acquire this honour and dignity marry sir replied the other like many a great man before me simply by sounding my own trumpet ay is it so v the governor why then let us have a relish of thy art whereupon he put his instrument to his lips and sounded a charge with such a tremendous outset such a and such a triumphant to make heart leap out of your mouth only to be within a mile of it like as a war worn while sporting in peaceful plains if by chance he hear the strains of martial music up his ears and and and at the noise so did the heroic soul of the mighty peter joy to hear the of the trumpet for of him might truly be said what was recorded of the st george of england there was nothing in all the world thai more rejoiced his heart than to h ar the pleasant sound of war and see the forth their weapons his eyes more kindly therefore upon the vol ii tool s van made his squire van and finding him to be a jolly fat little man shrewd in his discourse yet of great discretion and wind he straightway conceived a vast kindness for him and him from the troublesome duty of defending and alarming the city ever after retained him about his person as his chief favourite confidential and squire instead of disturbing the city with disastrous notes he was instructed to play so as to delight the governor while at his as did the of in the days of glorious chivalry and on all public occasions to rejoice the ears of the people with warlike melody thereby keeping alive a noble and martial spirit many other alterations and both for the better and for the worse did tiie governor make of which my time will not serve me to record the particulars suffice it to say he soon contrived to make the province feel that he was its master and treated the sovereign le with such that they were fain to hold their tongues at home and attend to their business that and distinctions were almost forgotten and many of and shops were utterly ruined for want of business indeed the critical state of affairs at this time demanded the utmost vigilance and from the formidable council of the which had caused so much to the unfortunate still continued its forces and threatened to link its union all the mighty and powers of the east in the very year following the of governor a grand departed from the city of providence famous for its dusty streets and women in behalf of the plantation of island praying to be admitted into the league the following n is made of this application in certain records of that assemblage of which are still mr will and captain of hand presented this request to the in our request and is in of that the of hand may be into combination with all the united of new england in a and league of friendship and of and defence advice and upon all just occasions for our safety and c will col th ir there is something in the very of this document tliat might well inspire apprehension the name of alexander however mis has been warlike in every age and though its is in some measure softened by being coupled with the gentle of still like the colour of scarlet it bears an great resemblance to the sound o a trumpet from the style of the letter moreover and the ignorance of displayed by the noble captain in his own name we may picture to ourselves this mighty man of strong in arms potent in the field and as great a scholar as though he bad been educated among that learned people of who us could not count beyond the number four but whatever might be the threatening aspect of this famous peter was not a man to be kept in a state of and vague apprehension he liked nothing so much as to meet danger face to face and take it by the beard determined therefore to put an end to all these petty on the borders he wrote two or three letters to the grand council which though neither in bad latin nor yet by about wolves and and of s flies jet had more effect than ail the elaborate and of his put together in consequence of his urgent the great of the east agreed to enter into a final of and settlement of boundaries to the end that a perpetual and happy peace might take place between the two powers for this purpose governor two to with from the grand council of the league and a treaty was solemnly concluded at on receiving intelligence of this event the whole community was in an uproar of exultation the trumpet of the sturdy van sounded all day with joyful from the of fort and at night the city was illuminated with two hundred and fifty candles besides a barrel of tar which was burnt before the governor s house on the cheering aspect of public affairs and now my thy reader is doubtless like the great and good peter himself with the idea that his feelings will no longer be by details of horses broken heads and all the other catalogue of heart that disgraced these border wars but if he should indulge in such expectations it is a proof s that he is but little in the of to convince him of which i his serious attention to my next chapter | 48 |
wherein will show that peter has already committed a great error in politics and by a peace has materially the tranquillity of the province speculations war chapter iii containing divers speculations on war and showing that a treaty of peace is a great national evil it was the opinion of that poetical philosopher that war was the original state of man whom he described as being a savage beast of prey engaged in a constant state of hostility with his own species and that this ferocious spirit was tamed and by society the same opinion has been by nor have there been wanting many other philosophers to admit and defend it for my part though fond of these valuable speculations so complimentary to human nature yet in this instance i am inclined to take the proposition by believing with that though war may have been originally the favourite amusement and industrious employment of our yet like part i chap f ac et post sat l i s inventions many other excellent habits so far beings it has been cultivated and confirmed by refinement and civilization and in exact proportion as we approach towards that state of perfection which is the ne of modern philosophy the first conflict between man and man was the mere exertion of physical force by weapons his arm was his his fist was his and a broken head the catastrophe of his the battle of strength was succeeded by the more rugged one of stones and clubs and war ed a aspect as man advanced in refinement as his expanded and his became more exquisite he grew rapidly more ingenious and experienced in the art of his fellow beings he invented a thousand devices to defend and to assault the the and the the sword the dart and the prepared him to the wound as well as to the blow urging on in the brilliant and career of invention he and his powers of defence and injury the the the and the give a horror and to war and its glory by increasing its desolation still though armed with machinery that seemed fighting by to reach the limits of destructive invention and to yield a power of injury even with the of revenge still deeper must be made in the with furious zeal he into the of the earth he toils midst poisonous and deadly the sublime discovery of upon the world and finally the dreadful art of fighting by seems to the demon f war with and this indeed is grand this indeed marks the powers of mind and that divine of reason which us from the animals our the brutes content themselves with the native force which providence has assigned them the angry bull with his horns as did his before him the lion the and the seek only with their and their to their fury and even the subtle serpent the same and uses the same as did his before the flood man alone blessed with the mind goes on from to discovery and his powers of destruction the tremendous weapons of deity itself and tasks creation to assist him in his brother worm in war and peace in proportion as the art of war has increased in improvement has the art of preserving peace advanced in equal and as we have discovered in this age of wonders and inventions that is the most engine in war so have we discovered the no less ingenious mode of maintaining peace b perpetual a treaty or to speak more correctly a therefore according to the of experienced learned in these matters is no longer an attempt to accommodate differences to ascertain rights and to establish an exchange of kind offices but a contest of skill between two powers which shall over reach and take in the it is a cunning endeavour to obtain by peaceful and of those advantages which a nation would otherwise have by force of arms in the same manner that a conscientious and becomes an excellent and citizen himself with his neighbour out of that property he would formerly have seized with open violence in fact the only time when two nations can be said to be in a state of perfect is when a is open and a treaty then as there are no entered no terms are the best terms do bonds to restrain the will no specific limits to awaken the jealousy of right in ou mature as each part has some advantage to hope and expect from the other then it is that the two nations are so gracious and friendly to each other their ministers the highest mutual regard exchanging making fine speeches and indulging in all those little and that do so the good humour of the respective nations thus it may be said that there is never so good an understanding between two nations as when there is a little a d that so long as they are on no terms they are on the best terms in the world i do not by any pretend to claim the merit of having made the above political discovery it has in fact long been secretly acted upon by certain enlightened and is together with divers other notable theories privately copied out of the common place book of an illustrious gentleman who has been ber of and enjoyed the unlimited of heads of to this principle may be ascribed the wonderful ingenuity that has been shown of late years in and interrupting hence the cunning measure of as some to political skilled in and and in the art of argument or some whose errors and may be a plea for refusing to his engagements and hence too that most notable expedient so popular with our government of sending out a brace of who having each an individual will to | 48 |
consult character to establish and interest to promote you may as well look for and between two lovers with one mistress two dogs with one bone or two naked with one pair of breeches this therefore is continually breeding and in consequence of which the to a close nothing is lost by these and obstacles but time and in a according to the theory i have ex posed all time lost is in reality so much time gained with what delightful does modern political economy abound now all that i have here advanced is so true that almost blush to take up the time of my readers with treating of matters which must many a time have stared them in face but the proposition to which i would most earnestly call their attention is this that peace a certain source or war though a be the of all national transactions yet a treaty of peace is a great political evil and one of the most fruitful sources of war i have rarely seen an instance of any special contract between individuals that did not produce and often downright between nor did i ever know of a treaty bet two nations that did not occasion continual how many worthy country neighbours have i known who after living in peace and good fellowship for years have been thrown into a stale of distrust and by some ill agreement about fences runs of water and stray cattle and how many well meaning who would otherwise have remained in the most disposition towards each have been brought to swords points about the or of some treaty which in an evil hour they had concluded by way of making their more sure at best are but complied with so long as interest requires their fulfilment consequently they are binding on the weaker party only or in plain truth they are not binding at all no nation will go to war with another if it has nothing to gain thereby and therefore needs no treaty to restrain it from vol like courtship violence and if it have any thing to gain i much question from what have witnessed of the righteous conduct of nations whether any treaty could be made so strong that it could not thrust the sword through nay i would hold ten to one the treaty itself would be the very source to which resort would be had to find a pretext for thus therefore i conclude that though it is ihe of all for a nation to keep up a constant with its neighbours yet it is the summit of folly for it ever to be into a treaty for then comes on the non fulfilment and then then then then and open war in a word is like courtship a time of sweet words gallant speeches soft looks and caresses but c ceremony is the signal for ho occur chapter iv how peter was greatly by his the moss and his thereupon if my pains taking reader be not perplexed in the course of the of my last chapter he will doubtless at one glance perceive that the great peter in concluding a treaty with his eastern neighbours was guilty of a lamentable error and in politics to this unlucky agreement may justly be ascribed a world of little and which took place between the and the evil disposed council of all these did not a little disturb he constitutional serenity of the good of but in they were so very pitiful in their nature and effects that a grave historian who the time spent in any thing less than the fall of and the revolution of worlds would think them unworthy to be inscribed on his sacred page exultation op the governor the reader is therefore to take it for granted though i scorn to waste in the detail that time which mv brow and trembling hand inform me is invaluable that all the while the great peter was in those tremendous and bloody that shall shortly there was a continued series of little dirty s and made on the eastern by the moss of but like that mirror of chivalry the sage and don i leave these petty for some future of an historian while i reserve my and my pen for achievements of higher dignity now did the great peter conclude that his labours had come to a close in the east and that he had nothing to do but apply himself to the internal prosperity of his beloved though a man of great modesty he could not help that he had at length the temple of and that were all rulers like a certain person who should be nameless it would never be opened again but the exultation of the worthy governor was put to a speedy check for scarce was the treaty concluded and hardly was the ink dried on the paper before the and council of the league sought a new pretence for the flames of discord republican it seems to be the nature of and such like powers that want the true masculine character to indulge exceedingly in certain feminine and suspicions like some good lady of delicate and sickly virtue who is in constant dread of having her purity or and who if a man do but take her by the hand or look her in the face is ready to cry out and ruin so these are perpetually on y e alarm for the virtue of the country every manly measure is a of the constitution every or other masculine government around them is laying for their and they are for ever infernal plots by which they were to be betrayed and brought upon the town jf any proof were wanting of the truth of these opinions i would instance the conduct of a certain republic of our day who good dame has already so many | 48 |
plots and against her virtue and has so often come near being made no better than she should be would notice her constant of poor old england who by her own account has been incessantly trying to sap her honour though from my soul i never could believe the honest old gentleman meant her m foul against p whereas on ihe contrary i think have several times caught her hands and indulging in certain that sad fellow who all the world knows to be a great of national virtue to have ruined all in his neighbourhood and to ave every republic that came in his way but so it is these seem always to i ain j u ar favour with the ladies but i pardon of my reader for thus wandering and will endeavour some measure to apply the foregoing remarks for in the year g we are told that the great of the east accused the the soul of honour and heart of steel that by divers gifts and promises be had been secretly endeavouring to the for and indians to surprise and the yankee for as the council observed the indians round about for divers hundred to have deep of an or from the against the english have sought their good both in bodily and i c history does not make mention how the great council of the came by this plot whether it was honestly bought at the author s market price or discovered by sheer good fortune it is certain however that they examined divers indians who all swore to the fact as as though they had been so many christian and to be more sure of their the age council previously made every mother s son of them devoutly drunk remembering an old and proverb which it is not necessary for me to repeat though descended from a family which suffered much injury from the of those times my great grandfather having had a yoke of oxen and his best stolen and having received a pair of black eyes and a bloody nose in one of these border wars and my grandfather when a very little boy tending pigs having been and severely by a long sided yet i should have passed over all these wrongs with forgiveness and oblivion i could even have suffered them to have broken s head to have kicked the van and his ragged regiment out of doors carried every into and every hen on the face of the earth with perfect but this wanton attack upon one of the most gallant and heroes of modern times is too much even for me to and has with a single puff the patience of their d asserted the historian and the forbearance of the oh reader it was false i swear to thee it was false if thou hast any respect to mj word if the character for which i have endeavoured to maintain throughout this work has its due weight with thee wilt not give thy faith to this tale of for i pledge my honour and my immortal fame to thee that the gallant peter was not only innocent of this foul conspiracy but would have suffered his right arm or even his wooden leg to with slow and everlasting flames rather than attempt to destroy his enemies in any other way than open generous warfare those that to his honest name by such an peter though he perhaps had never heard of a knight yet had he as true a heart of chivalry as ever beat at the round table of king arthur there was a spirit of native gallantry a noble and generous through his rugged manners which altogether gave tokens of an heroic mind lie was in truth a hero of chivalry struck the hand of nature at a single heat and though she had taken no farther care to po and her be stood forth a miracle of her skill honour of peter but not to be a fault in historic writing which i particularly the great peter possessed in an eminent degree the seven renowned and noble virtues of which as he had never consulted authors in the and of his i believe must have been in the corner of his heart by dame nature herself where they flourished among his hardy qualities like so many sweet wild flowers shooting forth and with among stubborn rocks such was the mind of peter the and if my admiration for it has on this occasion transported my style beyond the which becomes the laborious of historic events can plea as an apology that though a little gray headed almost at the bottom of the down of life i still retain some portion of that celestial fire which in the eye of youth when contemplating the virtues and achievements of ancient blessed thrice and nine times blessed be the good st that i have escaped the influence of that which too often the sympathies of age which like a spirit sits at the of the heart every genial sentiment and every spontaneous glow of bis heroic challenge no sooner then did this scoundrel on his honour reach the ear of peter than he proceeded in a manner which would have to his credit even though he had studied for years in the library of don q himself he immediately despatched his and squire van with orders to ride night and day as herald to the council them in terms of noble indignation for giving ear to the of heathen against the character of a christian a gentleman and a soldier and declaring that as to the treacherous and bloody plot alleged against him whoever affirmed it to be true lied in his teeth to prove which he defied the president of the council and all of his or if | 48 |
they pleased their champion captain that mighty man of to meet him in single combat where he would trust the of his innocence to the of his arm this challenge being delivered with due van sounded a trumpet of defiance before the whole council ending with a most and full in the face of captain who almost jumped out of his skin in astonishment at the noise this done he mounted a tall effect of s trumpet mare which he always rode and trotted towards the passing through and and and all the other border towns his trumpet like a very devil so that the sweet valleys and banks of the with the warlike melody and stopping occasionally to eat dance at country and bundle with the of those parts whom he rejoiced exceedingly with his soul stirring instrument but the grand council being composed of considerate men had no idea of running a with such a fiery hero as the hardy peter on the contrary they sent him an answer in the the most mild and provoking terms in which they assured him that his guilt was proved to their perfect satisfaction by the testimony of divers sober and respectable indians and concluding with this truly amiable paragraph for of the barbarous charged will little in balance against such evidence that we must still require and due satisfaction and so we rest sir in of c i am aware that the above transaction has been differently recorded by certain conduct of the of the east and elsewhere who seem to have the bitter enmity of their ancestors to the brave peter and much good may their inheritance do them these declare that peter requested to have the charges against him inquired into by to be appointed for the purpose and yet that when such were appointed he refused to submit to their examination in this artful account there is but the semblance of truth he did indeed most gallantly when that he found a deaf ear was turned to his to submit his conduct to the inspection of a court of honour but then he expected to find it an august composed of courteous gentlemen the and nobility of the and of the province of new where he might be tried bv his in a manner worthy of his rank and dignity whereas let me perish if they did not send to the two lean sided hungry mounted with saddle bags under their and under their arms as though they were about to beat the from one county court to another in search of a law suit the peter as might be expected took no notice of these cunning who with professional industry fell to and of the council lifting about in quest of ex evidence divers simple indians and old women with their cross questioning until they contradicted and themselves most having their errand to their own satisfaction they returned to the grand council with their and saddle bags stuffed full of stories and outrageous for all which the great peter did not care a tobacco but warrant me had they attempted to play off the same trick upon william the he would have treated them both to an on his patent gallows the grand council of the east held a very meeting on the return of their and after they had pondered a long time on the situation of were upon the point of without being able to agree upon any thing at this critical moment one of those spirits who endeavour to establish a character for patriotism by blowing the of party until the whole furnace of politics is red hot with sparks and and who have just cunning enough to know that there is no time so favourable for getting on th people s backs as when they are in a state of turmoil and attending to every body s business but their own this of vol if who was called a great because he had secured a seat in council by all his he say conceived this a fit opportunity to strike a blow that should secure his popularity among his who lived on the borders of and were the greatest in excepting the scotch border like a second peter the therefore he stood forth and preached up a against peter aiid his devoted city he made a speech which lasted six hours according to the ancient custom in these parts in which he represented the dutch as a race of who neither believed in nor the sovereign virtues of horse shoes who left their country for the of gain not like themselves for the enjoyment of liberty of conscience who in short were a race of mere and inasmuch as they never eat fish on saturday devoured swine s flesh without and held in utter contempt this speech had the desired effect for the council being awakened by the at arms rubbed their eyes and declared that it was and to declare instant war against these anti but it was necessary that the people at large should first be pre the dutch for this measure and for this purpose the arguments of the orator were preached from the pulpit for several sundays subsequent and earnestly recommended to the consideration of every good christian who professed as well as practised the doctrine of charity and the forgiveness of injuries this is the first time we hear of the drum beating up for political in our country and it proved of such signal that it has since been called into frequent service throughout our union a cunning is often found under the robe with an outside all religion and an inside all political things spiritual and things are strangely together like and on an s shelf and instead of a devout sermon the simple church going folk have often | 48 |
a political thrust down their throats with a pious text from scripture j peter s wise chapter v how the became great in arms and of the catastrophe of a mighty army together with peter s to the city and how he the original founder of the battery but notwithstanding that the grand council as i have shown were discreet in their proceedings respecting the new and conducted the whole with almost as much silence and mystery as does the sage british cabinet one of its ill yet did the ever watchful peter receive as full and accurate information of every movement as does the court of france of all the notable i have mentioned tie accordingly sat himself to work to render the of his bitter i know that many will censure the of this stout hearted old governor in th t he hurried into the expenses of vi tr n bands without whether they were by waiting until the enemy was at the door but they should recollect that peter had not the benefit of an in sight into the modern of politics and was strangely to certain of the old school among which he believed that to render a country respected abroad it was necessary to make it formidable at home and that a nation should place its reliance for peace and security more upon its own strength than on the justice or good will of its neighbours he proceeded therefore with all diligence to put the province and metropolis in a strong posture of defence among the few of ingenious inventions which remained from the days of william the were those of public safety laws by which the inhabitants were obliged to turn out twice a year with such military as it pleased god and were put under the command of very and man who though on ordinary occasions the little men in the world were very devils at and court when they had cocked hats on their heads and swords by their sides under the these warriors the gallant train bands made a small mistake in the mystery of they were taught to face to the right to wheel to the left to snap off empty locks without to turn a corner without any great uproar or and to march through sun and rain from one end of the town to the other without until in the end they became so that they fired off blank without so much as turning away their heads could hear the largest field piece discharged without stopping their ears or falling into much confusion and would even go through all the and perils of a summer day s parade without their ranks much by desertion true it is the genius of this truly pacific people was little given to war that during the intervals which occurred between field days they generally contrived to forget all the military they had received so that when they re appeared on parade they scarcely knew the of the from the and invariably the right shoulder for the left a mistake which however was soon bj their left arms but whatever might be their and awkwardness the sagacious declared them to be of but little importance since as he observed one campaign would be of more instruction to them peter s ragged than a hundred for though two thirds of them be food for powder yet such of the other third as did not run away would become most experienced the great had no particular veneration for the ingenious experiments and institutions of his shrewd and among other things held the system in very considerable contempt which he was often heard to call in joke for he was sometimes fond of a governor s broken reed as however the present emergency was pressing he was obliged to avail himself of such means of defence as were next at hand and accordingly appointed a general inspection and parade of the train bands but oh and and all ye other powers of war both great and what a turning out was here here came men without officers and officers without men long pieces and short of all sorts and sizes some without others locks others without stocks and many without lock stock or barrel shot powder horns swords crow bars and all mingled like one of our continental armies at the breaking out of the revolution this sudden of a pacific com into a band of warriors is doubtless nation in what is meant in modern days by putting a nation in and fixing it in an attitude in which and attitude it makes as martial a and is likely to itself with as much as the renowned when suddenly equipped to defend big island of the sturdy peter eyed this ragged regiment with some such aspect as a man would eye the devil but knowing like a wise man that all he had to do was to the best out of a bad bargain he determined to give his heroes a having therefore them through the manual exercise over and over again he ordered the to strike up a quick march and his sturdy boats backwards and forwards about the streets of new and the fields adjacent until their short legs ached and their fat sides again but this was not all the martial spirit of the om governor caught fire from the music of the and he resolved to try the of his troops and give them a taste of the hardships of iron war to this end he as the shades of evening fell upon a hill formerly called s hill at some distance from the town with a full intention of them into the discipline of and of the next day the toils and perils of the field but it came to pass that | 48 |
iii the awful dissolution of the regiment there fell a great and heavy rain which descended in torrents upon the camp and the mighty army strangely melted away before it so that when came to shed his morning beams upon the place saving peter and his van scarce one was to be found of all the multitude that had there the night before this awful dissolution of his army would have appalled a commander of less nerve than peter but he considered it as a matter of but small importance though he regarded the system with ten times great er contempt than ever and took care to provide himself with a good garrison of chosen men whom he kept in pay of whom he boasted that at least possessed the quality indispensable in soldiers of being the next care of the was to and new for this purpose he caused to be built a strong fence that reached across the island from river to river being intended to protect the city not merely from the sudden of foreign enemies but likewise from the of the neighbouring savages id an antique view of new taken some years after the above period is a representation wall which stretched along the course ol well street so called m of this eat one gate call prodigious strong wall built some traditions it is true have ascribed the building of this wall to a later period but they are wholly for a in the manuscript dated towards the middle of the governor s reign this wall particularly as a very strong and curious piece of and the admiration of all the savages in the neighbourhood and it moreover the alarming of a drove of stray cows breaking through the grand wall of a dark night by which he whole community of new was thrown into a terrible panic in addition to this great wall he cast up several to fort to protect the at the point of the island these consisted of formidable mud faced after the manner of the dutch common in those days with shells these frowning in process of time came to be pleasantly by a car pet of grass and and their high by wide spreading among whose foliage the little birds the land opened upon broad way hard by where at present stands the church and another called the stood about where the coffee house is at present opening upon or as it is commonly called smith fly then a valley with a or extending up what we maiden lane or the battery ed about rejoicing the ear wi th their melodious notes the old would repair of an afternoon to smoke their pipes under the shade of their branches contemplating the golden sun as he gradually sunk into the west an emblem of that tranquil end toward which themselves were hastening while the young men and tbe of the town would take many moonlight stroll among these favourite haunts watching the silver beams of tremble along the calm bosom of the bay or light up the white sail of some gliding bark and the honest vows of such was the origin of that renowned walk the battery which though devoted to the purposes of war has ever been consecrated to the sweet delights of peace the favourite of age the resort of the feeble invalid the sunday refreshment of the dusty the scene of many a boyish the of many a tender the comfort of the citizen the ornament of new york and the pride of the lovely island of hostile preparations of the chapter vi how the people of the east country were suddenly afflicted with a evil and their measures or the thereof having thus provided for the temporary security of new and guarded it against any sudden surprise the gallant peter took a hearty of and snapping his fingers set the great council of and their champion the at defiance it is impossible to say notwithstanding what might have heen the of this affair had not the council all at once involved in sad perplexity and as much sown among its members as of was stirred up in the camp of the warriors of greece the council of the league as i have shown in chapter had already announced its hostile and already was the mighty colony of new haven and the town of otherwise called famous for its and its and the how great house of and all the other border towns in a prodigious turmoil up their rusty pieces and shouting aloud for war by which they anticipated easy and gorgeous spoils from the little fat dutch villages but this joyous was soon silenced by the conduct of the colony of struck with the gallant spirit of the brave old peter and convinced by the frankness and heroic warmth of his they refused to believe him guilty of the infamous plot most laid at his door with a generosity for which i would yield them immortal they declared that no determination of the grand council of the league should bind the general court of to join in an offensive war which should appear to such general court to be unjust this refusal immediately involved the colony of and the other combined colonies in very serious and and would no doubt have produced a dissolution of the but that the council of that they could not stand alone if by the loss of so important a member as were fain to abandon col papers vol ii s new horribly for the present their hostile against the such is the energy and the of those composed of a number of sturdy willed parts loosely together by a general government as it was however the warlike had no cause to this disappointment of their martial ai for by my faith though | 48 |
the combined powers of the league mi ht have been too potent in the end for the warriors of the yet in the would the lion hearted peter and his m have choked the heroes of with their own and have given the other little border towns such a that warrant they would have had no stomach to on the land or the hen of a new for a century to come indeed there was more than one cause to divert the attention of the good people of the cast from their hostile purposes for just about this time were they horribly and harassed by the oc he prince of darkness divers of whose subjects they detected lurking within their camp all of whom they as so many and dangerous enemies not to speak in we are informed that at this juncture the new england provinces were exceedingly trouble of the mob by multitudes of who wrought strange devices to and distress the multitude and notwithstanding numerous judicious and bloody laws had been against all solemn conversing or with the di vii by way of or the like yet did the dark crime of continue to increase to an alarming degree that would almost belief were not the fact too well to be even doubted for an instant what is particularly worthy of admiration is that this terrible art which so long has baffled the painful and studies of philosophers and other was chiefly to the most ignorant and ugly old women in the community who had scarcely more brains than the they rode upon when once an alarm is sounded the public who love dearly to be in a panic are not long ill want of proofs to support it raise but the cry of yellow fever and immediately every head ache and and overflowing of the is pronounced the terrible in like manner in the present instance whoever was troubled with a or was sure to be and wo to any unlucky new record w scrutiny for old woman that lived in his neighbourhood such a howling could not be to remain long unnoticed and it accordingly attracted the indignation of the sober and part of the community more especially of those who had evinced so much active benevolence in the of and the grand council of the publicly set their faces against so deadly and dangerous a sin and a severe scrutiny took place those who were easily detected by black cats and the circumstance of their only being able to weep three tears and those out of the left eye it is incredible the number of that were detected for every one of which says the profound and reverend cotton in that excellent work the history of new england we have such a sufficient evidence that no reasonable man in this whole country ever did question them and it will be unreasonable to do it in any other indeed that and judicious historian john us with facts on this subject there are none es he that beg in this country but there s b ch marvellous instance of be too bottle ar produce many strange if you will believe report of a at se with women and of a ship and great red horse standing by the the ship being in a small to the eastward vanished of a sudden c the number of however an j their devices were not more remarkable than their obstinacy though in the most solemn and affectionate to confess themselves guilty and be burnt for the good of religion and the entertain ment of the public yet did they most persist in asserting their innocence incredible obstinacy was in itself deserving of immediate punishment and was sufficient proof if proof were necessary that they were in league with the devil who is itself but their were just and merciful and were determined to punish none that were not convicted on the best of testimony not that they needed any evidence to satisfy their own minds for like true and experienced judges their minds were perfectly made up and they were thoroughly satisfied of the guilt of the before they proceeded to try them but still something necessary to convince the community at large to quiet those mode or who should come after them in short the world must be satisfied oh the world the world all the world knows the world of trouble the world is the worthy judges therefore were driven to the necessity of and making evident as noon day matters which were at the commencement all clearly understood and firmly decided upon in their own so that it may truly be said that the were burnt to gratify the of the day were tried for the satisfaction of the whole world that should come after them finding therefore that neither sound reason nor friendly entreaty had any avail on these hardened they resorted to the more urgent arguments of the torture and having thus absolutely wrung the truth from their stubborn lips they condemned them to undergo the due unto the crimes they had confessed some even carried their so far as to under the torture protesting their innocence to the last but these were looked upon as thoroughly and absolutely possessed by the devil and pious by only lamented that they had not lived a little longer to have perished in the in the city of we are told that ttie plague was by a rag d old remarkable circumstances beggar to death whom pointed out as being the evil spirit that caused it and actually showed be a demon changing into a dog in hke and by measures equally sagacious a check was given to this growing evil the were all burnt banished or panic struck and in a little while | 48 |
there was hot an ugly old woman to be found throughout new england which is doubtless one reason why all the young women there are so handsome those honest folk who had suffered from their gradually recovered excepting such as had been afflicted with and which however assumed the less alarming aspect of and and the good people of new england the study of the turned their attention to the more profitable of trade and soon became expert ia the art of turning a penny still however a tinge of the old is even unto this day in their characters occasionally start up among them in different as and the people at large show a a cleverness and a of wisdom that strongly of and it been remarked that whenever any stones fall from the moon the greater part of them is sure to tumble into new england i i protecting care of st chapter vii which records the rise and renown of a commander showing that a man like a may be puffed up to greatness and by mere wind when treating of these times the unknown writer of the manuscript breaks out into a vehement in praise of the good st to whose protecting care he entirely the strange that broke out in the council of the and the that prevailed in the east country whereby the hostile against the were for a time and his favourite city of new preserved from imminent peril and deadly warfare darkness and lowering superstition hung over the fair valleys of the east the pleasant banks of the no longer echoed with the sounds of rustic and were seen in the air gliding haunted every wild brook and dreary strange voices made by forms were beard in van desert and the border towns were so occupied in and the knowing old women that had produced these alarming appearances that for a while the province of and its inhabitants were totally forgotten the great peter therefore finding that nothing was to be immediately apprehended from his eastern neighbours turned himself about with a vigilance that ever distinguished him to put a stop to the of the these my attentive reader will recollect bad begun to be very troublesome towards the latter part of the reign of william the having set the that little governor at naught and put the to a perfect non peter however as has already been shown was a governor of different habits and turn of mind without more he immediately issued orders for a corps of troops to be stationed on the southern frontier under the command of general u van this illustrious warrior had risen to great during the reign of and if histories speak true was second in command to the van when he and his ra ed regiment were kicked his character out of fort good i pe by the in cent of having been in such a memorable and of having received more wounds on a honourable part that shall be nameless than any of his comrades he was ever after as a hero who had seen some service certain it is he enjoyed the unlimited confidence and friendship of william the who would sit for hours and listen with wonder to his of surprising e had never gained and dreadful from which he had run away it was observed by honest old that heaven had into some men at their birth a portion of intellectual gold into others of intellectual silver while others were furnished out with abundance of brass and iron now of this last class was undoubtedly the great general van and from the display he continually made thereof i d inclined to think that dame nature who will sometimes be partial had blessed him with enough of those valuable materials to have fitted up a do but what is most to be admired that he contrived to pass off all his brass and copper who was no great judge of base coin as pure and genuine gold the consequence was that the resignation of van af i his person ter the loss of fort good hope retired like a ran to live under the shade of his the copper captain was promoted to his station this he with great importance always himself commander in chief of the armies of the new though to tell the truth the armies or rather consisted of a hen stealing bottle such was the character of the warrior appointed b peter to defend his southern frontier nor may it be uninteresting to my reader to have a glimpse of his person lie was not tall bat notwithstanding a huge full man whose bulk did not so much arise from his being fat as windy being so completely with his own importance that he resembled one of those bags of wind which in an incredible fit of generosity gave to that wandering warrior his dress with his r for he bad almost as much brass and copper without as nature had stored away within his coat was crossed and wiu lace round the with a he si e and texture of a fishing net doubtless to keep his heart from bursting through his ribs his head and whiskers powdered from the midst of his which his full blooded face glowed like a fiery furnace and his soul seemed ready to out at a pair of large eyes which projected like those of a i swear to worthy reader if report not this warrior i would give a l the money in my pocket to have seen him cap a pie in martial array to the middle to the to the ears to the teeth crowned with an cocked hat and with a belt ten inches broad from which a of a length that i dare not mention thus equipped | 48 |
the skin of old became instantly an affair utmost importance tbe commander in chief was too enlightened an officer not to perceive that the discipline of the garrison the and good order of the of tbe the consequent safety of tbe whole province and ultimately the dignity and prosperity of their high the lords states general but above all the dignity of the great general van all demanded tbe of that stubborn he therefore t to be that old should be of bis glories in presence of the whole garrison the old man as resolutely stood on the whereupon the general as became a great man was highly exasperated and the was arrested and tried by a court martial for desertion and all the other list of noticed in the articles of war ending with a in wearing an skin three feet long contrary to orders then came on and trials and and the whole country was in a about this unfortunate as it is well known that the commander of a distant frontier post has the power of acting pretty much after his own will there is little doubt but that the would have been hanged or shot at least had he not luckily fallen ill of a fever through mere and mortification and most deserted from all earthly command with his beloved locks his obstinacy remained to the very last moment when he directed that he should be carried to his grave with his skin sticking out of a hole in bis coffin this affair obtained the general great credit as an excellent but it is hinted that he was ever after subject to bad to the dreams and fearful in the when the of old would stand by bis bed side erect as a pump his enormous out like the handle book iv the part of the reign of peter the and his gallant achievements on the chapter i h which is exhibited a warlike portrait of the great peter and how general van distinguished himself at fort hitherto most venerable and reader have i shown thee the administration of he under the mild of peace or rather the grim tranquillity of awful expectation but now the war drum from afar the brazen trumpet its note and the rude clash of hostile speaks fearful of coming the gallant warrior starts from soft repose from golden visions and ease where in the time of peace be sought a sweet solace after all his toils no more in beauty s lap be fair for his lady s brows no more with flowers his shining sword nor through the live long lazy summer s day forth his soul in to manhood roused he the from his back the robe of peace and clothes his limbs in of steel o er his dark where late the waved where wanton roses breathed love he the beaming and nodding the bright shield and shakes the ponderous lance or with eager pride bis fiery and bum for deeds of glorious chivalry but soil worthy reader i would not have you imagine that any thus with iron existed in the city of new this is but a lofty and gigantic mode in which writers always talk of war thereby to give it a noble and imposing aspect our warriors with and and such like and we the like of which perchance th had n ir seen or heard of in the same that a cunning a modern general or an admiral in the of a ca or an alexander the simple truth then of all this flourish is this that the peter peter goes forth to battle all of a sudden it to his blade which too long had in its and prepare to undergo those toils of in which hit mighty soul so much delighted i at this moment behold him in imagination or rather i behold his goodly portrait which still hangs up in the family of the arrayed in all the of a true dutch general his coat of german blue decorated with a goodly show of large brass buttons reaching from hit to his chin the turned up at the comers and separating gallantly so as to display the seat of a pair of coloured trunk a graceful style still among the warriors of our day and which is in to the custom of ancient heroes scorned to defend themselves in rear his face rendered exceedingly terrible and warlike by a pair of black his hair out on each side in stiffly ear locks and descending in a rat tail below his wa a shining stock of black leather supporting i and a little but fierce cocked bat stuck with a gallant and fiery air over his left eye was the port of peter the and when he made a sudden halt plant his port ed himself oo his solid with his wooden leg with silver a little in advance in order to strengthen his position his right hand grasping a gold headed cane bis left resting upon the of his sword his head dressing to the right with a most appalling and hard favoured frown upon his brow be presented altogether one of the most commanding bitter looking and figures that ever upon proceed we now to inquire the cause of this warlike preparation the disposition of the on the south or river has been duly recorded in the of the reign of william the these having been endured with that heroic which is the corner stone of true courage t ad been and the who were of that class of cunning to christianity who read the bible down whenever it with their interests the golden and wh p their neighbour suffered them to him n on e one cheek they generally smote him on the other also whether turned to them or not their repeated had been among the | 48 |
arrayed those who lacked and and every man being ordered to in bis shirt tail and pull up his general van first took a sturdy draught of foaming ale which like the more of was his invariable practice on q fl soon as he rose to make him and mighty he drank bj the tale six pots of ale and a of vi of the two heroes occasions which done be put himself at their head ordered the pine which served as a draw bridge to be laid down and issued forth from his castle like a mighty giant just refreshed with ine but when the two heroes met then began a scene of warlike parade and courtesy that beggars all description who as i before hinted was a shrewd cunning and had grown gray much before his time in consequence of his saw at one glance the ruling passion of the great van and humoured him in all his their were accordingly drawn v up in front of each other they carried arms and jf they presented arms they gave the standing salute and the passing they rolled their s and flourished their and they waved their they faced to the left and they faced to the right and they faced to the right about they wheeled forward and they wheeled backward and they wheeled into they marched and they by grand divisions by single divisions and by by by sections and by in quick time in s time and in no time at all for having gone through all the of two great armies including the eighteen of having exhausted all that of the could recollect or imagine of military including sundry strange and irregular the like of which was never seen before nor since excepting among certain of our newly raised the two great and their respective troops came at length to a dead halt completely exhausted by the toils of war never did two train band captains or two heroes in the renowned of tom thumb or any other and fighting tragedy their duck legged heavy with more glory and self admiration ii these military compliments being finished v general van escorted his illustrious with great ceremony into the fort attended him throughout the showed him the horn works crown works half and various other or rather the places where they ought to be erected and where they might be erected if he pleased plainly that it was a place of great and though at but a little yet that it evidently was a formidable fortress in this survey over he next had the whole garrison put under arms exercised and and concluded by ordering the three birds to be hauled out of the black hole brought up to the and soundly at afternoon s campaign for the amusement of bis to convince him that he was a great the cunning while he pretended to be struck dumb outright with the of the great van took silent note of the of his garrison of which he gave a hint to his followers who tipped each other the wink and laughed most in their sleeves the inspection review and being concluded the party to the table for among his other great qualities the general was remarkably to huge or rather and in one afternoon s campaign would leave more dead men on the than he ever did in the whole course of his military career many of these do still remain on record and the whole pro was once thrown in by the return of one of his wherein it was stated that though like captain he had only twenty men to back him yet in the short space of six months he had conquered and utterly sixty oxen ninety one hundred sheep ten thousand one thousand of potatoes one hundred and fifty of small beer two thousand seven hundred ad thirty five pipes seventy eight pounds of sugar and forty bars of iron besides sundry van s banquet small game poultry and garden stuff an achievement since the days of and his all devouring army and which showed that it was only necessary to let potent van and his garrison loose in an enemy s country and in a little while they would breed a famine and starve all the inhabitants no sooner therefore had the general received the first intimation of the visit of governor than he ordered a great dinner to be prepared and privately sent put a of his most experienced to rob all the hen in the neighbourhood and lay the pig under contribution a service to which had been long and which they discharged with such incredible zeal and that the garrison table groaned weight of their spoils i wish with all my heart my readers could see the van as he presided at the head of the banquet it was a sight worth beholding there he sat in his greatest glory surrounded by his soldiers like that famous alexander whose thirsty virtues be did most imitate telling stories of hia breadth adventures and heroic exploits at which though all his knew them to be most and outrageous yet did they cast up their eyes in admiration capture op fort and utter many of nor could the general pronounce any thing that bore the remotest semblance to a joke but the stout would strike his fist upon the table till every glass rattled again throwing himself back in the chair and uttered gigantic of laughter most horribly it was the best joke he ever heard in his life thus all was and and hideous within fort and so di van h the bottle that in less than four short hours he made himself and his whole garrison who all the deeds of their dead drunk and singing songs and drinking patriotic none of which but | 48 |
was as long as a or a plea in no sooner did things come to this pass than the and his who ha kept themselves sober rose on their tied them neck and heels and formal possession of the fort and all its in the name of queen of at the same time an oath of to all the dutch soldiers who could be made sober enough to swallow it rising then put the in his discreet and friend a tall wind dried water drinking to the i of the garrison command and departed bearing with him this truly amiable garrison and their commander who when brought to himself bj a sound bore no little resemblance to a fish or sea monster caught upon dry land the of the garrison was done to prevent the of intelligence to new for as much as the cunning in his he dreaded the vengeance of the sturdy peter whose name spread as much terror in the neighbourhood as did that of the among his enemies the qualities of fame chapter ii how profound secrets are often brought to light with the proceedings of peter the when he heard of the misfortunes of general van i whoever first described common fame or rumour as belonging to the sex was a very owl for she has in truth certain feminine qualities to an astonishing degree particularly that benevolent anxiety to take care of the affairs of others which keeps her con hunting after secrets and them whatever is done openly and in the face of the world she takes but transient notice of but whenever a transaction is done in a corner and attempted to be in mystery then her goddess ship is at her wit s end to find it out and takes a most mischievous and lady like pleasure in it to the world it is this truly feminine that her continually to be into of princes listening a the key holes of chamber and peering through and a history of dies our worthy are with closed doors between a dozen excellent modes of the nation it is this which makes her so to all and a stumbling block to private and secret which she often by means and instruments which never would have been thought of by any but a female head thus it was in the case of the affair of fort no doubt the cunning that by securing the garrison he should for a long time prevent the history of its fate from reaching the ears of the gallant but his was blown to the world when he least expected it and by one of the last beings he would ever have suspected of as to the wide mouthed deity this was one or a kind of on to the garrison who seemed to belong to nobody and in a manner to be self he was one of those vagabond who about the world as if they had no right or business in it and who the skirts of society like and every garrison and country village has one or more of this kind whose life is a kind of whose existence is without motive who comes from the lord knows where who lives the his person lord knows how and seems lo be made for no other earthly purpose but to keep up the ancient and honourable order of thi philosopher was supposed to have some indian blood in his veins which was manifested by a certain indian x and cast of countenance but more especially by his and habits he was a tall fellow swift of foot and long he was generally equipped in a half indian dress with belt and his hair hung in straight gallows locks about his ears and added not a little to his it i an old remark that persons of indian mixture are half civilized half savage and half devil a third half being expressly provided for their particular convenience it is for similar reasons and probably with equal truth that the back wood men of are half man half horse and half by the on the and held accordingly in great respect and the above character may have presented itself to the garrison as to whom they familiarly gallows certain it is he acknowledged to no one was an utter enemy to work holding it in no manner of estimation but about the fort depending upon chance for a getting drunk whenever be could get vol fl termed gallows liquor and whatever he could lay his hands on every day or two he was sore to get for some of his which however as it broke do bones he made very light of and not to repeat the offence whenever another opportunity presented sometimes in consequence of some he would from the garrison and be absent for a month at a time about the woods and with a long piece on his shoulder laying in for game or himself down on the edge of a pond catching fish for hours together and bearing no little resemblance to t at notable bird the mud when he thought his crimes had been forgotten or forgiven he would back to the fort with a bundle of skins or a bunch of poultry which perchance he had stolen and would exchange them for liquor with which having well soaked his he would lay in the sun and enjoy all the luxurious of that philosopher he was the terror of all the in the country into which he made fearful and sometimes he would make his sudden appearance at the garrison at day break with the whole neighbourhood at his heels like a scoundrel thief of a fox detected in his and hunted to his such was this his manner of and from the total he showed to the world or its and from his truly indian and no one | 48 |
would ever have that he would have been the of the treachery of when the was going on which proved so fatal to the brave van and his watchful garrison about from room to room being a kind of privileged or useless hound whom nobody noticed but though a fellow of few words yet like your people his eyes and ears were always open and in the course of his he overheard the whole plot of the immediately settled in his own mind how he should turn the matter to his own advantage he played the perfect jack of sides that is to say he made a prize of every thing that came p his reach robbed parties stuck the copper bound cocked hat of the van on his head whipped a huge pair of s jack boots under his arms and took to his heels just before the catastrophe and confusion at the garrison finding himself completely from his haunt in this quarter he directed his flight towards his native place new from whence he had formerly been obliged to his flight to in consequence of misfortune in business that is to say having been detected in the act of sheep wandering many days in the woods toiling through swimming various rivers and a world of hardships that would have killed any other being but an indian a back or the devil he at length arrived half furnished and as a starved at where he stole a and over to new immediately on landing he repaired to governor and in more words than he had ever spoken before in the whole course of his life gave an account of the disastrous on receiving these tidings the peter started from his seat dashed the he was smoking against the back of the chimney thrust a prodigious of tobacco into his left cheek pulled up his and up and down the room humming as was customary with him when in a passion a hideous north west but as i have before shown he va not a man to vent his in idle his first measure after the of wrath had subsided was to stump up stairs to a huge wooden chest which served as his from whence he drew forth that identical suit of described in the preceding for action chapter in these he arrayed himself like in the of maintaining all the while a most appalling silence knitting his brows and drawing his breath through his clenched teeth being hastily equipped he strode down into the parlour jerked down his sword from over the fireplace where it was usually suspended but before he it on his he drew it from its and as his eye along the rusty blade a grim smile stole over his iron it was the first smile that had visited his countenance for five long weeks but every one who beheld it that there would soon be warm work in the province thus armed at all points with war depicted in each feature his very cocked hat assuming an air of uncommon defiance he instantly put himself upon the alert and despatched van hither and thither this way and that way through all the muddy streets and crooked lanes of the city by sound of trumpet his to in instant council this done by way of matters according to the custom of people in a hurry he kept in continual bustle shifting from chair to chair bis head out of every window and up and down stairs with bis wooden leg in such brisk he summons a cot l and incessant motion that as we are informed bj an historian of the times the continual clatter bore no small resemblance to the music of a a flour barrel a summons so and from a man of the governor s was not to be with the forthwith repaired to the council chamber seated themselves with the utmost tranquillity and lighting their long pipes gazed with composure on his and his being as all should be not easily or taken by surprise the governor looking around for a moment with a lofty and air and resting one hand on the of his sword and flinging the other forth in a free and spirited addressed them in a short but soul stirring i am extremely sorry that i have not the advantages of and others of my who were furnished a i am told with the speeches of all their great and taken down in short hand by the most accurate of the time whereby they were enabled wonderfully to their histories and delight their readers with sublime strains of eloquence not having such important i cannot possibly pronounce what was the tenor of governor speeches of ancient heroes s speech i am bold however to say from the tenor of his character that he did not wrap his rugged subject in and and other sickly of phrase but spoke forth like a man of nerve and who scorned to shrink in words from those dangers which he stood ready to encounter in very deed this much is certain that he concluded by announcing his determination of leading on his troops in person and these from their quarters at fort to this hardy resolution such of his council as were awake gave their usual signal of and as to the rest who had fallen asleep about the middle of the their usual custom in the afternoon they made not the least objection and now was seen in the fair city of new a prodigious bustle and preparation for iron war parties marched hither and thither calling upon all the the and of the and its vicinity who had any ambition of six pence a day and immortal fame into the ain to in ttie cause of glory for i would have you note tt at your warlike heroes who in the | 48 |
y are generally of that illustrious f of gentlemen who are equal for the or the peter the the or the post for whom dame fortune has cast an even die whether they shall make their e it bj the sword or the and whose deaths shall at all events be a lofty example to their countrymen but notwithstanding all this martial and invitation the ranks ef honour were but supplied y so averse were the peaceful of new from in foreign or stirring beyond that home which rounded all their earthly ideas upon beholding this the great peter whose noble heart was all on with war and sweet revenge determined to wait no longer for the assistance of these citizens but to muster up his men of the who brought up among woods and and savage beasts like our of delighted in nothing so much as desperate adventures and perilous through the wilderness thus he ordered his squire van to have his state prepared and duly being performed be attended public service at the great church of st like a true and pious governor and then leaving orders with his council to have the chivalry of the out and appointed against his return departed upon his voyage up the waters of the description of his chapter in containing s the and the wonders and delights of that renowned river now did the soft breezes of the south steal sweetly over the face of nature the panting of summer into genial and warmth when that miracle of and virtue the peter spread his to the wind and departed from the fair island of the in which he embarked was adorned with and of gorgeous which fluttered in the wind or drooped their ends in the bosom of the stream the bow and of this majestic vessel were gallantly after the dutch fashion with figures of little with d their heads and bearing in their hands of flowers the like of which are not to be found in any book of being the flowers which flourished in the golden age md exist no longer unless it be in the of ingenious of wood and of the rarely decorated in style the state of the of the did the of peter forth upon the bosom of the which as it rolled its broad waves to the ocean seemed to pause for a while and swell with as if conscious of the illustrious it sustained but trust mc far other was the scene presented to the contemplation of the crew from that which may be witnessed at this day and savage majesty reigned on the borders of this mighty river the hand of cultivation had not as yet laid down the dark forests and tamed the features of the landscape nor had the frequent sail of commerce yet broken in upon the profound and awful solitude of ages here and there might be seen a rude perched among the cliffs of the mountains with its curling column of mounting in the transparent atmosphere but so situated that the of the savage children on the margin of the dizzy heights fell almost as faintly on the ear as do the notes of the lark when lost in the vault of heaven now and then from the brow of some rocky precipice the wild deer would look timidly down upon th splendid as it passed below and then tossing his in the air would bound away into the of the forest scenery through such scenes did the stately vessel of peter pass now did they skirt the of the rocky heights of which spring up like everlasting walls reaching from the waves unto the heavens and were fashioned if traditions may be believed in times long past by the mighty spirit to protect his favourite from the eyes of mortals now did they career it across the vast expanse of bay whose wide extended shores present a vast variety of scenery here the bold crowned with trees advancing into the bay there the long slope sweeping up from the shore in rich and in the precipice while at a distance a long waving line of rocky heights threw their gigantic shades across the water now would they pass some modest little interval opening among these scenes yet retreat ing as it were for protection into the embraces of the neighbouring mountains displayed a paradise with sweet and pastoral beauties the velvet lawn the the stealing through the fresh and vivid on whose banks was situated some little indian or the cabin of some solitary hun of sunset the periods of the revolving day seemed each with cunning magic to a different charm over the scene now would the jovial sun break from the east blazing from the of the hills and the landscape with a thousand gems while along the borders of the river were seen heavy masses of mist which like midnight disturbed at his approach made a retreat rolling in sullen up the mountains at such times all was brightness and life and the atmosphere seemed of an indescribable and the birds broke forth in wanton and the breezes the vessel merrily on her course but when the sun sunk amid a flood of glory in the west the heavens and the earth with a thousand gorgeous then all was calm and silent and magnificent the late swelling sail hung against the mast the with folded arms leaned against the lost in that involuntary musing which the sober grandeur of nature commands in the of her children the vast bosom of the was like an mirror reflecting the golden the heavens excepting that now and then a bark would steal across its surface filled with painted savages whose gay feathers glared brightly as perchance a scene a lingering ray of the setting sun gleamed upon from the western | 48 |
mountains but when the hour of twilight its magic mists around then did the face of nature assume a thousand fugitive charms which to the worthy heart that seeks enjoyment in the glorious works of its maker are the mellow light that prevailed just served to tinge with colours the softened features of the scenery the deceived but delighted eye sought vainly to discern in the broad masses of shade the separating line between the land and water or to distinguish the fading objects that seemed sinking into chaos now did the fancy supply the of vision producing with industrious craft a fairy creation of her own under her the barren rocks frowned upon the watery waste in the semblance of lofty towers and high castles trees assumed the forms of mighty giants and the inaccessible of the mountains seemed peopled with a thousand shadowy beings now broke forth from the shores the notes of an innumerable insects which filled the air with a strange but not concert while ever and anon was heard the melancholy of the whip poor will who perched on some lone tree wearied the ear of night vol ii with his incessant the mind soothed into a melancholy listened with pensive stillness to catch and h each sound that vaguely echoed from the shore now and then startled perchance by the of some straggling savage or the dreary howl of a wolf stealing forth upon his nightly thus happily did they pursue their course until hey entered upon those awful the it seem that the gigantic had their war with heaven up cliffs on and vast masses of rock in wild confusion but in very is the history of these cloud mountains these in ancient before ihe poured his waters the lakes formed one vast prison within whose rocky bosom the confined the rebellious spirits who at his here bound in chains or in pines or crushed by ponderous rocks ihey groaned for many an age at length the conquering in his irresistible career towards the ocean burst open their prison house rolling his tide triumphantly through its ruins still however do many of them about their old and these it is according to venerable legends that cause the echoes which of throughout these awful which are nothing but their angry when any noise the of their repose f br when the elements are agitated by when the winds are up and the thunder i then horrible is the yelling and howling of these troubled spirits making the mountains to with their hideous uproar for at such times it is said that they the at is returning once more to plunge them in gloomy and renew their intolerable but all these fair and glorious scenes were upon the gallant naught occupied his mind but thoughts of iron war and proud of hardy deeds of arms neither did his honest crew trouble their vacant heads with any romantic speculations of the kind the pilot at the quietly smoked his pipe thinking of nothing either past present or to come those of his comrades who were not under the were listening with open mouths to who seated on the was relating to them the marvellous history of those of fire flies that like gems and the dusky robe of night these according to tradition were originally a race of who peopled these parts van a long before the memory of man being of that race emphatically called and who far their innumerable sins against the children of men and to furnish an awful warning to the sex were doomed to the earth in the shape of these threatening and terrible little enduring the internal of that fire which they formerly carried in their hearts and breathed forth in their words but now are to bear about for ever in their tails and now am i going to tell a fact which i doubt much my readers will hesitate to believe but if they do they are welcome not to believe a word in this whole history for nothing which it contains is more true it must be known then that the nose of the was of a very size boldly from his countenance like a mountain of being with and other precious stones the true of a king of good fellows which jolly to all who it heartily at the now thus it happened that bright and early in the morning the good having washed his was leaning over the quarter railing of the contemplating it in the wave below just at this moment the illustrious sun breaking in all his splendour from behind one of the high t the of his nose of the did dart one of his most potent beam full upon the nose of the of brass the reflection of which shot down hissing hot into the water and killed a mighty that was sporting beside the vessel this huge monster being with infinite labour hoisted on board furnished a luxurious to all the crew being accounted of excellent excepting about the wound where it a little of and this on my was the first time that ever was in these parts by christian people when this astonishing miracle came to be made known to peter and that he tasted of the unknown fish he as may well be supposed exceedingly and as a monument thereof he gave the name of s j to a stout in the neighbourhood and it has continued to be called s nose ever since that time but hold whither am wandering by the mass if i attempt to accompany the good peter on this voyage i shall never make an end for never was there a voyage so the learned treating of tlie country about in a letter which was written some time after the settlement thereof says there is in th great | 48 |
plenty of which we christians do not make use of but indians eat in the care of st with marvellous nor a river so with beauties worthy of being recorded even now i have it on the point of my pen to relate how his crew were most horribly frightened on going on shore above the by a gang of merry devils and on a huge flat rock which projected into the river and which is called the to this very day but no it becomes thee not to idle thus in thy historic recollect that while dwelling with the fond of age over these fairy scenes to thee by the recollections of thy youth and the charms of a thousand tales which the simple ear of thy childhood recollect that thou art trifling with those fleeting moments which should be devoted to is not time time shaking with hand his almost exhausted hour glass before thee hasten then to pursue thy weary task lest the last sands be run ere thou hast finished thy history of the let us then commit the peter his brave and his loyal crew to the protection of the blessed st who i have no doubt will prosper him in his voyage while we await his return at the great city of new warriors the grand chapter iv describing the powerful army that assembled at the of together with the interview between peter the and general van and sentiments touching unfortunate great men while thus the peter was with flowing sail up the shores of the and all the little dutch upon its borders a great and of warriors was at the city of new and here that invaluable fragment of antiquity the is more than commonly particular by which means i am enabled to record the illustrious host that itself in the public square in front of the fort at present the green in the centre then was pitched the tent of the men of battle of the who being the inmates of the metropolis composed the life guards of the governor these were commanded by the who had acquired such immortal fame at bay they displayed as a standard a ram standards of the captains on a field of orange being the arms of the province and the industry and the origin of the on their right hand might be seen the of that renowned michael t who it over the fair regions of ancient and the lands away south even unto the mountains and was moreover of island his standard was borne by his squire van consisting of a huge upon a sea green field being the bearings of his favourite metropolis lie brought to the camp a stout force of warriors heavily armed being each clad in ten pair of breeches and by broad tliis was likewise the great seal of the new as may still be seen in ancient records f besides what is related in the ms i h re found mention made of this illustrious in another manuscript which says de or the squire michael a dutch subject about th by deed purchased island n b the same michael had what the dutch call a at on the shore opposite new york and his in was named van a person of the same name in owned hook and a lai e farm at and is a from van i so called from the tribe of indians that inhabited these parts at present they are the or mountains su and the van with short pipes twisted in their these were the men who in the mud along the shores of being of the race of genuine and were to have sprung from at a little distance was the tribe of warriors who came from the neighbourhood of hell gate these were commanded by the and the van hard as their names they were terrible looking fellows clad in broad skirted of that curious coloured cloth called thunder and lightning and bore as a standard three needles in a field hard by was the tent of the men of battle from the borders of the and the country these were of a sour aspect by reason that they lived on which abound in these parts they were the first of that honourable order of called market and if tradition speak true did likewise introduce the far step in dancing called double trouble they were commanded by the fearless and had moreover a since into the the bay where the navy yard is situated peter recognised y band of who a brave on shells bat i refrain from pursuing this minute de which goes on to describe the warriors of and hawk and and sundry other places well known in history and song for now does the sound of martial music alarm the people of new sounding afar from beyond the walls of the city but this alarm was in a little while relieved for lo from the midst of a vast cloud of dust they recognized the coloured breeches and splendid silver leg of peter glaring in the and beheld him approaching at the head of a formidable army which he had along the banks of the and here the excellent but writer of the manuscript breaks out into a brave and glorious description of the forces as they through the principal gate of the city that stood by the head of first of all came the van who in habit the pleasant borders of the these were short fat men wearing exceeding lai e trunk breeches and are renowned for of the they were the first of or and milk close in their rear now van van and van ts marched the van of most horrible of new and in their them came the van of mounted upon of the breed | 48 |
these were mighty hunters of and rats whence came the word then the van nests of robbers of birds nests as their to these if report may be believed are we indebted for the invention of slap or cakes then the van of s creek these came armed with and rods being a race of who first discovered the marvellous sympathy between the seat of honour and the seat of intellect and that the shortest way to get knowledge into the head was to hammer it into the bottom then the van of s nose who carried their liquor in fair round little by reason they could not it having such rare long noses then the of and distinguished by many triumphant such as water patches smoking out of their holes and the like and by being great lovers of pig s tails these were the ancestors of the renowned of that name then the van of van and van ten sing great and players upon the jews harp these marched two and two singing the great song of su then the of sleepy hollow these gave birth to a jolly race of who first discovered the magic of a of wine into a pint bottle then the van who lived on the wild banks of the and were great of wild ducks being much spoken of for their skill in shooting with the long bow then the van of and who were the first that did ever kick with the foot they were gallant bush and hunters of by moonlight then the van of potent of eggs and noted for running of horses and running up of scores at they were the first that ever winked with both eyes at once lastly came the where the folk lay stones upon the houses in weather lest they should be blown away these derive their name as some say from to and a indicating thereby that they were sturdy toss pots of but in truth it was derived from to nod and books plainly meaning that they were great or over books from them did descend the writer of this history op van it such was the of sturdy bush that poured in at the grand gate of new the manuscript indeed speaks of many more whose names i omit to mention seeing that it me to hasten to matters of greater moment nothing could sur pass the joy and martial pride of the lion hearted peter as he this mighty host of warriors and he determined no longer to the gratification of his much wished for revenge upon the scoundrel at fort but before i hasten to record those events which will be found in the of this faithful history let me pause to notice the fate of van the commander in chief of the armies of the new such is the inherent of human nature that scarcely did the news become public of his deplorable discomfiture at fort than a thousand were set afloat in new it was that he had in reality ft treacherous understanding with the that he had long been in the practice of privately communicating with the together with divers hints about secret service money to all which deadly charges i do nut give a more credit than i think they deserve certain it is that the general his vol ii ii character by the most vehement oaths and pro and put every man out of the ranks of honour who dared to doubt integrity moreover on returning to new he up and down the streets with a crew of hard at his heels sturdy bottle companions whom he and and who were ready to him through all the courts of justice heroes of his own fierce broad not one of whom but locked as could eat up an ox and pick his teeth ihe horns these life guard men quarrelled his quarrels were ready lo h t all his battles and at every man that turned up his nose at the general as though they would him alive their conversation was with oaths like minute guns and every was rounded off by a like a patriotic toast honoured a discharge of all these had a considerable in convincing certain profound many of whom began to think the general a hero of unutterable and of soul particularly as he was continually protesting on the honour of a soldier a high sounding nay one of the members of the council went so far as to propose they peter s advice to him should him by an of paris but the peter the was not thus to be deceived sending privately for the commander in chief of all the armies and having heard all his story with the customary pious oaths and comrade cried he though by your own account you are the most brave upright and honourable man in the whole province yet do you lie under the misfortune of being and despised now though it is certainly hard to punish a man for his misfortunes and though it is very possible you are totally innocent of the crimes laid to your charge yet as heaven at present doubtless for some wise purpose sees fit to withhold all proofs of your innocence far be it from me to its sovereign will besides i cannot consent to venture my armies with a commander whom they despise or to trust the welfare of my people to a champion whom they distrust therefore my friend from i e irksome toils and cares of public life with this comforting reflection that if guilty you are but enjoying your just reward and if innocent you are not the first great and good man who has most and in wicked world doubtless to be better treat a hint ei a | 48 |
better world where there shall be neither error nor in the mean time let me never see face again for i have a horrible to the countenances of unfortunate great men like yourself the author s ml chapter v in which the author very of himself after is to he found much history about peter the and his followers as my readers and myself are about entering on as many perils as ever a of knights ran their heads into it is meet that like those hardy we should join hands bury all differences and swear to stand by one another in or wo to the end of he my readers must doubtless perceive how completely i have altered my tone and since we first set out together i warrant they then thought me a cynical impertinent little son of a for i scarcely ever gave them a civil word nor so much as touched my when i had occasion to address them but as we along together in the of my history i gradually began to to grow more courteous and occasionally to enter into familiar discourse until at length i to conceive a most social kind regard for this is just my way t thi author ingenious i am always a little cold and reserved at particularly to people whom i neither know nor care for and am only to be won by long intimacy besides why should have been to the crowd of how d ye do acquaintances that around me at my first appearance many were merely attracted by a new face and having stared me full in the title page walked without saying a word while others lingered through the preface and having their curiosity soon dropped off one by on but more especially to try their i had recourse to an expedient similar to one which we are told was used by that flower of chivalry king arthur who before he admitted any knight to his intimacy first required that he should show himself superior to danger or hardships by unheard of some dozen giants wicked not to say a word of and fiery on a similar principle i led my readers at the first sally into two or three chapters where they were most and by a host of pagan philosophers and writers though naturally a very grave man yet could i scarce refrain from i mi ling outright at seeing the utter confusion discourse or himself and mj dropped dead asleep on the field others threw down my book in he middle of the first chapter took to their heels and never ceased until they had fairly run it out of sight when they stopped to take breath to tell their friends what troubles they had undergone and to warn all others from venturing on so an expedition every page my ranks more and more and of the vast multitude that first set out but a comparatively few made shift to survive in exceedingly battered condition through the five chapters what then would you have had me take such sunshine faint hearted to my bosom at our first acquaintance no no i reserved my friendship for those who deserved it for those who bore mc company in despite of difficulties dangers and and now as to those who to me at present i take them affectionately by the worthy and thrice beloved readers brave and well tried comrades who have faithfully followed my footsteps through all my wanderings i salute you from my heart i pledge myself to stand by you to the last and to conduct you so heaven speed this weapon which f hold between my fingers triumphantly to the end of this our undertaking van s trumpet s j but hark while we are thus talking the city of new is in a bustle the host of warriors in the green are striking their tents the brazen trumpet of van makes the to with the drums beat the standards of the of hell gate and of michael wave proudly in the air and now behold where the are busily employed the sails of yon ner and those built which are to the army of the to gather immortal honours on the the entire population of the city man woman and child turned out to behold the chivalry of new as it the streets previous to many a handkerchief was waved out at the windows many a fair nose was blown in melodious sorrow on the mournful occasion the grief of the fair and of could not have been more on the of the gallant tribe of than was that of the kind hearted fair ones of new on the departure of their warriors every love sick maiden fondly crammed the pockets of her hero with and nuts many a copper ring was exchanged and crooked sixpence broken in pledge of eternal constancy sails nd there remain to day some love verses written on that occasion sufficiently to confound the whole but it was a moving sight to see the bow they hung about the van for he was a jolly rosy faced bachelor fond of his joke and withal a desperate rogue among the women fain would they have kept him to comfort them while the army was away for besides what have said of him it is no more than justice to add that he was a kind hearted soul noted for his benevolent attentions in comforting during the absence of their husbands and this made him to be very much regarded by the honest of the city but nothing could keep the from following the heels of tlie old governor whom he loved as he did his very soul so embracing all the young and giving every one of them that had good teeth and rosy lips a dozen hearty he departed loaded with their kind | 48 |
wishes nor was the departure of the gallant peter least causes of public distress though the old governor was by no means to the follies and of bis ts yet some w or other he had become among the people there is something popularity of peter so in personal bravery that with the common mass of mankind it takes the lead of most other merits the simple folk of new looked upon peter as a of his wooden leg that of his martial was regarded with reverence and admiration every old had a of miraculous stories to tell about tlie exploits of wherewith he his children of a long winter night and on which he dwelt with as much delight and as do our honest country on ihe hardy adventures of old general or as he is familiarly termed old put during our glorious revolution not an individual but verily believed the old governor was a match for himself and there was even a story told with great mystery and under the rose of his having shot the devil with a silver bullet one dark stormy night as he was sailing in a through hell gate but this i do not record as being an absolute fact perish the man who would let fall a drop to the pure stream of history certain it is not an old woman in new but considered peter as a tower of strength and rested satisfied that the public welfare was secure so long as he was in it is not surprising then that the looked his address upon his departure as a sore affliction with heavy hearts they dragged at the heels of his troop as they marched down to the river side to the governor from the stem of his gave a short but truly address to his citizens wherein he recommended them to like loyal and to go to church regularly on sundays and to mind their business all the week besides that the women should be dutiful and to their husbands looking after nobody s concerns but their own all and morning and carrying short tongues and long that the men should from in public concerns the cares of government to the officers appointed to support them staying at home like good citizens making money for themselves and getting children for the benefit of their country that the should look well to the public interest not the poor nor indulging the rich not taking their security to devise new laws but faithfully those which were already rather bending their attention to prevent evil than to punish it ever that civil should consider themselves more as of public morals than employed to public finally e of he them one and all high and low rich and poor to conduct themselves as well a they could assuring them that if thej and complied with this golden rule there was no danger but that they would all conduct themselves well enough this done he gave them a paternal the sturdy sounded a most loving farewell with his trumpet the jolly put up a shout of triumph and the invincible swept off proudly down the bay the good people of new crowded down to the battery that resort from whence so many a tender prayer has been so many a fair hand waved so many a tearful look been cast by love sick after the bark bearing her adventurous to distant the watched with straining eyes the gallant as it slowly floated down the bay and when the intervening land at the shut it from their sight gradually dispersed with silent tongues and downcast countenances a heavy gloom hung over the late bustling city the honest smoked their pipes in profound casting many a wistful look to weather cock on the church of saint and all the old women having no longer the presence of peter to it arrives in the the m gathered their children home and the doors and windows every evening at sun down in the mean while the of the sturdy peter proceeded on its voyage and after about as many storms and water and and other horrors phenomena as generally adventurous in perilous voyages of the kind and after a severe from that deplorable nd malady called ea sickness the whole arrived safely in the without so much as dropping anchor and giving his wearied ships time to breathe after so long in the ocean the peter pursued his course up the and made a sudden appearance before fort having summoned the astonished garrison by a terrific blast from the the long van he demanded in a tone of thunder an instant surrender of the fort to this demand the wind dried replied in a shrill voice which by reason of his extreme sounded like the wind whistling through a broken that he bad no very strong reasons for refusing that the demand was particularly disagreeable as he had been ordered to maintain his post to the last extremity he requested time xi peter attacks fort fore to consult with governor and proposed a for that purpose the peter indignant at having his fort so taken from him and thus withheld refused the proposed and swore by the pipe of st which like the sacred fire was never extinguished that unless the fort were surrendered in ten minutes he would storm the works make all the garrison run the and split their scoundrel of a commander like a to give this menace the greater effect he drew forth his sword and shook it at them with such a and vigorous motion that doubtless if had it not been exceeding rusty it would have lightened terror into the eyes and hearts of the enemy he then ordered his men to bring a to bear upon the fort consisting of two three a long | 48 |
would one great advantage which as the historian i possess over my reader and this it is that though cannot save the life of my favourite hero nor absolutely contradict the event of a battle both which liberties though often taken by the french writers of the present reign hold to be utterly unworthy of a scrupulous historian yet can now and then make him to bestow on his enemy a sturdy back stroke to fell a giant though in honest truths privilege or he may never have done any thing of the kind or i can drive his clear round and round the field as did make that fine fellow like a round the walls of for which if ever they have encountered one another in the fields warrant the prince of poets has had to make the most humble apology i am aware that many conscientious readers will be ready to cry out foul play whenever i render a little assistance to my but i consider it one of those privileges exercised by of all ages and one which has never been disputed in fact an historian is as it were bound in honour to stand by his hero the fame of the latter is to his hands and it is his duty to do the best by it he can never was there a general an admiral or any other commander who in giving an account of any battle he had fought did not sorely the enemy and i have no doubt that had my heroes written the history of their own achievements they would have dealt much harder blows than any that i shall standing forth as the guardian of their fame it me to do them the same justice they would have done themselves and if happen to be a little hard upon the give free leave to any of their descendants who may write a history of st np y for broken heads the state of to take fair and peter as hard as thej please therefore stand by for broken heads and bloody noses my pen hath long for a battle siege after siege have i carried on out blows or but now i have nt length got a chance and i vow to heaven and st that let the of the times say what they please neither nor any other historian did ever record a tight than that in which my are now about to engage and you oh most excellent readers whom for your faithful could cherish in the warmest corner of my heart be not uneasy trust the fate of our favourite to me r for by the come what may i ll stick by hard to the last i ll make him drive about these vile as did the renowned of the lake a herd of knights if he does fall let me never draw my pen to fight another battle in behalf of a brave man if i make these pay for it no sooner had peter arrived before fort than he proceeded without delay to himself and immediately on running his despatched van van summons fort to summon the fortress to surrender was received with all due formality at the and conducted through a smell of salt fish and to the a substantial hut built of pine logs his eyes were here uncovered and he found himself in the august presence of governor this as i have before noted was a very m in and was clad in a coarse blue coat round the waist with a belt which caused the enormous skirts and pockets to set off with a very warlike sweep his ponderous legs were in a pair of coloured jack boots and he was in the attitude of the of before a bit of broken looking glass himself with a dull this operation caused him to make a series of horrible that heightened exceedingly the terrors of bis on van ar s being announced the grim commander paused for a moment in the midst of one of his most hard favoured and after him over the shoulder with a kind of grin on his countenance resumed his labours at the glass this iron harvest being be turned once more to the and demanded the purport of bis errand van interview with governor in a few words being a kind of short hand speaker a long message from his the whole history of the with a of and of and concluding with a demand of instant surrender which done he turned aside took his nose between his thumb and finger and blew a tremendous blast not unlike the flourish of a trumpet of defiance which it had doubtless learned from a long intimate neighbourhood with that melodious instrument governor heard him through trumpet and all but with infinite impatience leaning at times as was his usual custom on the of his sword and at times a huge steel watch chain or snapping his fingers van having finished he replied that peter and his summons might go to the d whither he hoped to send him and his crew of before supper time then his brass sword and throwing away the fore he but i will not thee again until i make a of the smoke dried hide of this then having flung a fierce defiance in the teeth of his adversary by the lips of his messenger the latter was to the with all the murmur the troops civility due to the squire and of so great a commander and being again was courteously dismissed with a of the nose to assist him in his message no sooner did the gallant peter receive this insolent reply than he let fly a tremendous of red hot that would have battered down the and blown up the powder magazine about the ears of the fiery had not | 48 |
the been remarkably strong and the magazine proof perceiving that the works this terrific blast and that it was utterly impossible as it really was in those days to carry on a war with words he ordered his merry men all to prepare for an immediate assault but here a strange murmur broke out among his troops beginning with the tribe of the van those men of the and spreading from man to man accompanied with certain looks and discontented murmurs for once in his life and only for once did the great peter turn pale for he verily thought his warriors were going to in this hour of perilous trial and thus for ever the fame of the province of new but soon did he discover to his great joy that in this suspicion be deeply wronged this most dinner before th battle army for he cause of this agitation and uneasiness simply was that the hour of dinner was at hand and it would have almost broken the hearts of these regular dutch warriors to have broken in upon the invariable routine of their habits besides it was an rule among our ancestors always to fight upon a full stomach and to this may be doubtless attributed the circumstance that ihey came to be so renowned in arms and now are the hearty men of the and their no less hearty comrades all engaged under the trees stoutly with the contents of their taking such affectionate embraces of their and as though they verily believed they were to be the last and as i foresee we shall have hot work in a page or two i advise my readers to do the same for which purpose i will bring this chapter to a close giving them my word of honour that no advantage shall be taken of this to surprise or in any wise the honest while at their vigorous ii ox chapter containing the most horrible battle ever recorded in poetry or prose with the admirable exploits of peter the now had the snatched a huge and finding themselves and animated thereby prepared to take the field expectation says the writer of the manuscript expectation now stood on the world forgot to turn round or rather stood still that it might witness the like a fat round watching the combat of two flies upon bis the eyes of all mankind as usual in such cases were turned upon fort the like a little man in a crowd at a how about the heavens bis head here and there and endeavouring to get a peep between the clouds that themselves in his way the their the poets went without their dinners either that they might buy paper goose or because they could not get any thing to eat antiquity out of its grave to see itself even conduct of the b at n posterity stood mute gazing in gaping ecstasy of on the field the immortal who had seen service at the affair of now mounted their feather bed clouds and sailed over the plain or mingled among the in different all to have a finger in the pie sent off his to a noted to have it up for the occasion swore by her th and in semblance of a eyed the of accompanied by as a s widow of cracked reputation the noted bully stuck two horse pistols into his belt shouldered a rusty and gallantly at their elbow as a drunken while in their rear as a legged playing most out on the other side the ox eyed who b d gained a pair of black eyes over night in one of her curtain lectures with old displayed her haughty beauties on a baggage as a tucked up her skirts her nd swore most in exceeding having but lately studied the language by way of keeping up the spirits of the soldiers while halted as a and club footed blacksmith lately promoted to be a ca tain of all was silent horror or bustling war reared his horrid front loud iron and shook his dire ful crest of and now the mighty out their hosts here stood stout firm as a thousand rocks with and to the chin in mud hit lined the breast work in grim ar ray each having his fiercely and his hair back and so that he grinned above the like a death s head there came on the peter bis brows knit his teeth set his fists clenched almost breathing forth volumes of smoke so fierce was the fire that raged within his bosom his faithful squire van at his heels with his trumpet with red and yellow the of bis fair at the then came on the sturdy chivalry of the there were the van and the van and the ten the van the van the van the van the van and the van the van the van the van he van i i the aiid of the hosts the van there were the van homes the van hooks the van the van the van and the van the the hoofs the the the pools and the there came the the the the the the the ho e the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the ten and the tough with a host more of whose names are too to be written or if they could be written it would be impossible for man to utter all fortified with a mighty dinner and to use the words of a great dutch poet of wrath and for an instant the mighty peter paused in the midst of his career and mounting on a stump addressed his troops in eloquent low dutch ex them to tight like and assuring them that if they | 48 |
conquered they should get plenty of if they fell they should be allowed the satisfaction while r peter s address before the battle of reflecting that it was in the service of their country and after they were dead of seeing their names inscribed in the temple of renown and handed down in company with all the other great men of the year for tl e admiration of posterity finally he swore to them the word of a governor and they knew him too well to doubt it for a moment that if he caught any mother s son of them or playing he d his hide till he made him run out of it like a snake in spring time out his he it three times over his head ordered van to sound a tremendous charge and shouting the word st and the dashed forwards his warlike followers who had employed the interval in lighting their pipes instantly stuck them in their mouths gave a furious puff and charged gallantly under cover of the smoke the garrison ordered by the cunning not to fire until they could distinguish of their eyes stood in horrid silence on the covert way until the eager had ascended the then did they pour into them such a tremendous that the very hills around and were even unto an of water that certain springs burst their sides which continue to run the present day not a hut would have bitten the dust beneath that dreadful tire had not the protecting kindly taken care that the should one and all observe their usual custom of shutting their eyes and turning their heads at the moment of discharge the followed up their ire by leaping the and falling tooth and nail upon the foe with furious and now might he seen of of which neither history nor song have ever recorded a parallel here was beheld the sturdy his quarter like the terrible giant his oak tree for he scorned to carry any other weapon and a tune upon the heads of whole of there were the van posted at a distance like the of and it most with the long bow for which they were so justly renowned at another place were collected on a rising the men of sing sing who assisted in the fight by forth the great song of st but as to the of they were absent from the battle having been sent out on a party to lay waste the neighbouring water patches in a part of the field might be the combat seen the van of s nose but they were horribly perplexed in a between two little hills by reason of the length of their noses there were the van of and so renowned for kicking with the left foot but their skill availed them little at present being short of wind in consequence of the hearty dinner they had eaten and they would have been put to had they not been by a gallant corps of composed of the who advanced to their assistance on one foot nor must i omit to mention the achievements of van who for a ood quarter of an hour stubborn fight with a little whose hide he most and had he not come into the battle with no other weapon but his trumpet would have put him to an end but now the combat on came the mighty and the fighting men of the after them thundered the van of together with the van and the van bearing down all before them then the and the van pressing forward with many a oath at the head of the warriors of hell gate clad in their thunder and lightning and lastly the standard and body guards s of nature of peter bearing the great of the and now commenced the horrid din the desperate struggle the ferocity the frantic desperation the confusion and self of war and panted and the heavens were darkened with a tempest of bang went the guns struck the broad swords went the crash went the stocks blows black eyes and bloody noses the horrors of the scene thick cut and hack bead over heels rough and turn ble and swore the and cried the storm the works shouted peter fire the mine roared ra ed the trumpet of van until all voice and sound became unintelligible of pain of fury and shouts of triumph in one hideous the earth shook as if struck with a stroke trees shrunk aghast and withered at the sight rocks in the ground like and even creek turned from its course and ran up a mountain in breathless terror advance of michael hung the conquest doubtful for though a heavy shower of rain sent by the cloud compelling jove in some measure cooled their as doth a bucket of water thrown on a group of fighting yet did they but pause for a moment to return with fury to the charge each other with black and bloody just at this juncture was seen a vast and dense column of smoke slowly towards the scene of battle which for a while made even the furious to stay their arms in mute astonishment but the wind for a moment the cloud from the midst thereof emerged the banner of the immortal michael this noble came on leading a solid of fed who had remained partly as a corps de reserve and partly to the enormous dinner they had eaten these sturdy did forward smoking their pipes with outrageous vigour so as to raise the awful cloud that has been mentioned but marching exceedingly slow being short of leg and of great in the belt and now the protecting of the army of new having left the field and | 48 |
into a neighbouring tavern to refresh themselves with a pot of beer a destruction of tobacco pipes ful catastrophe had well nigh chanced to the scarcely had the of the attained the front of battle before the instructed by the cunning a shower of blows full at their tobacco pipes astounded at this unexpected assault and totally at seeing their pipes broken the fell in vast confusion already they begin to fly like a frightened drove of they throw their own army in an uproar bearing down a whole of little the sacred banner on which is the gigantic of is trampled in the dirt the pluck up new spirits and pressing on their rear apply their feet a with a vigour that their motions nor doth the renowned himself fail to receive divers grievous and of shoe leather but what oh muse was the rage of the gallant peter when from afar he saw his army yield with a voice of thunder did he roar after his warriors the men of the plucked up new courage when they heard their leader or rather they dreaded his fierce displeasure of which they stood in more awe than of all the in but the daring peter not waiting for their aid plunged heroic of peter sword in hand into the of the then did he display some such incredible achievements as have never been known since the miraculous days of the giants wherever he went the enemy shrunk before him with fierce he pushed forward driving the like dogs into their own ditch but as he advanced the foe thronged in his rear and hung upon his flank with peril one advancing on one side drove his sword full at the heroes heart but the protecting power that watches over the safety of all great and good men turned aside the hostile blade and directed it to a side pocket where an enormous iron tobacco box endowed like the shield of with supernatural powers no doubt in consequence of its being decorated with a portrait of the blessed st thus was the dreadful blow but not without to the great peter a fearful loss of wind like as a furious bear when by turns fiercely round his teeth and springs upon the foe so did our hero turn upon the treacherous the miserable sought in flight for safety but the active peter seizing him by an that from his head ah roared he here is what shall make ri the fight dog s meat of thee so saying be whirled his sword and made a blow that would have him but that the pitying steel struck and shaved the for ever from his crown at this very moment a cunning er on the summit of a mound his deadly instrument and would have sent the gallant a wailing ghost to haunt the shore had not the watchful who had stopped to tie up her seen the great peril of her favourite chief and despatched old with his who in the very nick of time just as the match descended to the pan gave such a lucky blast as blew all the from the touch hole thus the horrid fight when the stout surveyed the battle from the top a little perceived bis faithful troops ed and kicked by the language cannot describe the b he was seized at the he only a moment to himself of tb a and then drawing his fe i i down to the field of t with some such thundering strides as is said by to have taken when tj strode down the to his ti at the vol ii his dreadful combat with peter no sooner did these two rival heroes come face to face than they each made a prodigious start as is made by your most experienced stage then did they each other for a moment with bitter aspect like two furious ram cats on the very point of a then did they throw themselves in one attitude then in another striking their swords on the ground first on the right side then on the left at last at it they went with incredible ferocity words cannot tell the of strength and displayed on this encounter an encounter compared to which the far battles of with of with with of with the or of that knight sir of the mountains with the giant were all gentle sports and holiday at length the peter watching his aimed a fearful blow with the full intention of his adversary to the very but h raising his sword it off so narrowly that glancing on one side it shaved away a huge that he always carried swung on one side thence pursuing its course it severed a deep coat pocket stored with bread and cheese all which among the armies occasioned a fear peter s fall and what broke it ful between the and and made the general battle to wax ten times more furious ever enraged to see his military stores thus laid waste the stout collecting all his forces aimed a mighty blow full at the heroes crest in vain did his little cocked hat oppose its course the biting steel through the stubborn ram and would have cracked his crown but that the was of such hardness that the weapon shivered into pieces shedding a thousand sparks like beams of glory round his stunned with the blow the peter turned up his eyes and beheld fi ly thousand besides and stars dancing about the at length missing his footing by reason of his wooden leg down he came on his seat of honour with a crash that shook the surrounding hills and would have wrecked his system had he not been re into a cushion softer than velvet which providence or or st | 48 |
or some kindly c w had prepared for his reception the furious in despite of that noble cherished by all true knights that fair play is a jewel hastened to take advantage of retort on the heroes full but just as he was stooping to give the fatal blow the ever peter bestowed him a sturdy over the with his wooden leg that set some dozen of bells ringing triple bob in his the bewildered staggered with the blow and in the mean time the wary peter a pocket pistol lying hard by which had dropped from the of his faithful squire and van during his encounter with the discharged it full at the head of the let not mj reader mistake it was not a weapon loaded with powder and ball but a little sturdy stone charged to the with a double of true dutch courage which the knowing van always carried about him by way of his the hideous sung through the air and true to course as was the mighty fragment of a rock discharged at by bully encountered the huge head of the gigantic with violence this heaven directed blow decided the battle the ponderous of general sunk upon his breast his knees under him a seized upon his giant frame and he tumbled to the earth with such tremendous violence that old fall of fort started with lest he should have broken through the roof of his infernal palace his fall was the signal of defeat and victory the gave way the dutch pressed forward the former took to their heels the latter hotly pursued some entered with them through the sally port others the and others scrambled over the curtain thus in a little while the fortress of fort which like another had stood a siege of full ten hours was finally carried by assault without the loss of a single man on either side victory in the likeness of a gi ox fly sat perched upon the cocked hat of the gallant and it was universally declared bv all the writers whom he hired to write the history of his expedition that on this memorable day he gained a sufficient quantity of to a dozen of the greatest heroes in objections anticipated chapter viii in which the author and the reader while r r f cr the battle fall into a very grave after which is recorded the conduct of peter after his victory thanks to st we have safely finished this tremendous battle let us sit down my worthy reader and cool ourselves for i an in a prodigious sweat and agitation truly this fight ing of battles is hot work and if your great did but know what trouble thej give their they would not have the conscience to achieve so many horrible but i hear my reader complain that throughout this boasted battle there is not the least slaughter nor a single individual if we except the unhappy who was of his by the blade of peter all which he is a great outrage on probability and injurious to the interest of the this is certainly an objection of no little moment but it arises entirely from the that the remote periods of time about which i have undertaken to write thus the author s excuse doubtless from the importance of the object and the of the parties concerned there must have been terrible and of displayed before the walls of yet notwithstanding that i have consulted every history manuscript and tradition touching this memorable though long forgotten battle i cannot find mention made of a single man killed or wounded in the whole affair this is without doubt owing to the extreme modesty of our forefathers who like their descendants were never prone to of their achievements but it is a virtue that places their historian in a most embarrassing for having promised my readers a hideous and battle and having worked them up into a warlike and state of mind to put them off without any and slaughter was as bitter a disappointment as to summon a multitude of good people to attend an execution and then cruelly by a had the inexorable only allowed me some half a score dead men i had been content for i would j ave made such heroes as if the time but whose race m now unfortunately extinct any one of whom if we may believe those writers the poets could drive great armies like sheep before the author s difficulties him and conquer and desolate whole cities his single arm but seeing that i had not a single life at my disposal all that was left me was to make the most i could of my battle b means of and and and such like wounds and here cannot but compare my in some sort to that of the di ine milton who having arrayed with sublime preparation his immortal hosts against each other is sadly put to it how to manage them and how he shall make the end of his battle answer to the beginning inasmuch as being mere spirits he cannot deal a mortal blow nor even give a flesh wound to any of his for my part the greatest difficulty i found was when i had once put my warriors in a passion and let them loose into the midst of the enemy to keep them from doing mischief many a time had to restrain the sturdy peter from a gigantic to the very or half a dozen little fellows on his sword like so many and when i had set some hundred of flying in the i dare to one of them to reach the ground lest it should have put an end to some unlucky the re cannot conceive how it is to a writer in a manner to have bis hands s | 48 |
in t e act of a hen he moreover issued a inviting the inhabitants to submit to the authority of their high but declaring with that whoever refused should be lodged at the public expense in a goodly castle provided for the purpose and have an armed to wait on them in the bargain in consequence of these beneficent terms about thirty stepped forward and took the oath of in reward for which they were graciously permitted to remain on the vol n it c of banks of the where their reside at this very day but i am told by divers observant travellers that they have never been able to get over the chap fallen looks of their ancestors and do still father to son manifest marks of the sound given them by the sturdy the whole country of new having yielded to the arms of the triumphant peter was reduced to a colony called south river and placed under the of a lieutenant governor subject to the control of the supreme government at new this great was called william or man who derived his as did of from the dimensions of his nose which projected from the centre of his countenance like the of a he was the great of the tribe of the one of the most ancient and honourable families of the province the members of which do gratefully the origin of their dignity not as your noble families in england would do by having a glowing in their but by one and all wearing a right goodly stuck in the very middle of their acts thus was this perilous enterprise peter s triumphant return terminated with the loss of only two men van home a tall spare man who was knocked overboard by the boom f a in a flaw of wind and fat van who was suddenly carried off by an both however were as having bravely fallen in the service of their country true it is peter had one of his limbs terribly being shattered to pieces in the act o the fortress but as it was fortunately his wooden leg the wound was promptly and effectually healed and now nothing remains to this branch of my history but to mention that this te hero and his victorious army returned to the where they made a solemn and triumphant entry bearing with them the conquered and the remnant of his battered crew who had refused for it appears that the gigantic had only fallen into a at the end of the battle from whence he was speedily restored by a wholesome of the nose these captive heroes were lodged according to the promise of the governor at the public expense in a fair and spacious castle being the prison of state of which the immortal conqueror of bay was at new governor and which has remained ill the possession of his descendants it was a pleasant and goodly sight to witness the joy of the people of new at beholding their warriors once more return from il this war in the wilderness the old women y round van who gave j ip e whole history of the campaign with accuracy saving that he took the credit of f the whole battle himself and especially of the stout which he considered himself as clearly entitled to seeing that it was effected by his own stone the throughout the town gave holiday to their little who followed in after the drums with paper caps on their heads and sticks in their breeches thus taking the first lesson in the art of war as to the sturdy they thronged at the heels of peter he went waving their greasy hats in the air and shouting hard for ever it was indeed a day of roaring and a huge dinner was prepared at the in honour of the where were this castle though very much altered and is io being and stands at the corner of facing slip peter a assembled in oi glorious the great and the little of new there were the and l fr the with their at their elbows the officers at the elbows of the so on to the lowest on of police eve i having his rag at his side to finish his pipe drink oft his heel and laugh at his flights of immortal in short for a feast is a city feast all the world over and has a city feast ever since the creation the dinner went off much the same as do our great and fourth of july loads of fish flesh and fowl were devoured of liquor drank thousands of pipes smoked and many a dull joke honoured with much fat sided laughter i must not omit to mention that to this victory peter was indebted for another of his many titles for so delighted were the honest with his achievements that they honoured him with the name of de that is tp say peter the great or as it was y the people of new de p mj which he maintained even of death u v book vii containing the third part of the of peter the his troubles with the british nation and the decline and fall op the dutch chapter i how peter relieved the sovereign pie from the of taking care of the na with sundry particulars of his conduct in time of peace the history of the reign of peter a melancholy picture of the cares and inseparable from government and may serve as a solemn to all who are ambitious of the seat of power though crowned with victory enriched by conquest and returning in triumph to his me his exultation was checked by beholding the sad that had taken place during the short interval of bis absence popular discontent i t the unfortunately for their own comfort had | 48 |
taken a d p draught of the cup of power during the reign of william the and though upon the accession of peter they with a certain instinctive perception which ig well as cattle possess that the of government had passed into stronger hands yet could they not help and and upon the bit in silence it seems by some strange and to be the destiny of most countries and more especially of your enlightened always to be governed by the most man in the nation so that you will scarcely find an individual throughout the whole community who cannot point out innumerable errors in administration and convince you in the end that had he been at the head of matters would have gone on a thousand times more strange that government which seems to be so generally understood should invariably be so administered strange that the talent of so bestowed should be denied to the only man in the nation to whose station it is requisite thus it was in the present instance not a man of all the herd of in but was ao on topics of state and could have directed public better than peter but so severe was the old governor in bis disposition that he would never suffer one of the multitude of able by whom he was surrounded to intrude his advice and save the country from destruction scarcely therefore had he departed on his expedition a the than the old of william s reign began to thrust their heads above water and to gather together in political meetings to discuss the state of the nation at these the busy and their i a figure these worthy were no longer the fat well fed tranquil mai ist that presided in the peaceful days of van on the contrary being elected by the people they formed in a manner a sturdy between th mob and the they were great for popularity and for the rights of the resembling in disinterested zeal the wide mouth of ancient rome or those virtuous of modern days emphatically the friends of the people under the of these profound political it is astonishing how enlightened the multitude in matters above their and all at once felt themselves like those religious in the glorious times of illumination and without any previous study or experience became instantly capable of directing all the movements of government nor i neglect to mention a number of wrong h vl who had come over when boys in the crew of the and were held up i by the enlightened mob to suppose that a man who had helped to country did not know how it ought to be governed was preposterous in the extreme it would have been deemed as much a as at the present day to question the political talents and universal of our old heroes of and to doubt that he who had fought for a government however stupid he might naturally be was not competent to fill any station under it ut as peter had a singular inclination to govern his province without the assistance of his subjects he felt highly on his return to find the appearance they had assumed during his absence his first measure therefore was to restore perfect order peter s dignified reproof bj the dignity of the sovereign people he accordingly watched his opportunity and one evening when the enlightened mob waa gathered together to a patriotic from an inspired the peter all at appeared among them with a sufficient to a mill stone the whole was thrown into consternation the orator seemed o have received a t stroke in the very middle of a sublime and stood aghast with open and trembling knees while the words horror tyranny liberty rights taxes death destruction d a of other patriotic phrases came roaring from his throat before he had power to close his lips the shrewd peter took no notice of the throng around him but advancing to the bully and drawing out a huge silver watch which might have served in times of as a town clock and which is still retained by his descendants as a family curiosity requested the orator to mend it and set it going the orator humbly confessed it was utterly out of his power as he was with the nature of its construction nay but said peter try your ingenuity man you see all the and wheels and how easily the band stop it and pull pieces to a patriotic and why it not be equally easy to as to stop it the orator declared that his trade was wholly different that he was a poor and had never with a watch in his life that there were men skilled in the art whose business it was to attend to those matters but for his part he should only mar the and put the whole in confusion why master of mine cried peter turning suddenly upon him with a countenance that almost the of shoes into a perfect pretend to with the movements of government to and correct and patch an a complicated machine the principles of which are above thy comprehension and its simplest operations too subtle for thy understanding when thou not correct a trifling error in a common piece of the whole mystery of which is open to thy inspection hence with thee to the leather and stone which are of thy head thy shoes and confine to the for which heaven has fitted thee but his voice until it made the ring if ever i catch thee or any of thy tribe again with affairs of government by st but i ll have every mother s of ye d alive and your hides stretched for drum heads that ye may make a noise to some purpose v his terrific threat this threat and | 48 |
the tremendous voice id which it was uttered caused the whole multitude to with fear the hair of the orator arose on his head like his own swine s and not a knight of the present but his heart died within him and he felt as though he could have verily escaped through the eye of a needle but thou h this measure produced the desired effect in the community to order yet it tended to injure the popularity of the great peter among the enlightened ar many accused him of entertaining highly aristocratic sentiments and of leaning too much in favour of the indeed there appeared to be some ground for such an accusation as he s carried himself with a very lofty port and was somewhat particular in his dress dressing himself when not in uniform in simple but rich apparel and was especially noted for having his sound leg which was a very comely one always arrayed in a red and high shoe though a man of great simplicity of manners yet there was something about him that rude familiarity while it encouraged frank and even social intercourse he likewise observed some appearance of court ceremony and etiquette he received the peter s court etiquette common class of on the stoop before his door according to the custom of our dutch ancestors but when were formally received in his parlour it was expected they would appear in clean linen by no means to be bare footed and always to take their hats off on public occasions he appeared with great pomp of for in truth his station l ed a little show and dignity and always rode to church in a yellow with flaming red wheels these symptoms of state and occasioned considerable discontent among the vulgar they had been accustomed to find easy access to their former and in particular had lived on terms of extreme familiarity with william the they therefore were very impatient of these dignified precautions which intrusion but peter had his own way of thinking in these and was a of the dignity of office he always maintained that government to be the least popular which is most open to popular access and control and that the very against court ceremony and the reserve of properly the porch commonly built in of dutch houses with benches on each side vol ii what government the least popular men in power would soon despise rulers among whom the found even to be of consequence such at least had been the case with the administration of the who it on making himself had listened to every man s advice ever body to have to his person at all hours and in a word treated every one as his thorough equal b this means every and public busy was enabled to wits with him and to out the true dimensions not only of his person but his mind and what great man can stand such scrutiny it is the m that great men that gives them half their greatness we are s to think h of tho e who hold themselves aloof from our there is likewise a kind of superstitious reverence for office which leads us to the merits and abilities of men in power and to suppose that they must be constituted from other men and indeed is as necessary in politics as in religion it certainly is of the importance that a country should be go by wise men but then it is almost equally important that the people should them to be wise for this belief can produce willing to keep up therefore this desirable confidence in rulers the people should be allowed mysteries op government to see as little of as he who gains ai to soon out by what foolishness the world is governed he that there is in as well as in every thing else that many which is supposed by the million to be the result of at wi and deep deliberation is the effect of more chance or perhaps of that rulers have their and errors as well as other men and after all are not o wonderfully superior to their fellow creatures as he at imagined since he that his own opinions have had some weight wish them thus awe into confidence familiarity and familiarity produces contempt peter on the contrary by conducting himself with dignity and was looked up to with great reverence as he never gave his reasons for any thing he did the public always gave him credit for very profound ones every movement however unimportant was a matter of speculation and his very red stockings excited some respect as being different from the stockings of other men to these times may we refer the rise of family pride and aristocratic distinctions and in in a work published many years after the time here treated of in by c w a m it is that family pride deed i cannot but look back with reverence to the early planting of those dutch families which have taken such vigorous root and out so in our state the blood which has flowed down through a succession of steady virtuous generations since the times of the of must certainly be pure and worthy and if so then arc the van the van the van homes the the the the and all the true descendants of the ancient the only legitimate nobility and real lords of the soil have been led to mention thus particularly the well claims of our genuine dutch families because i have noticed with sorrow and vexation that they have been somewhat aside in latter days by foreign it is really astonishing to behold how many great families have sprung up of late years who pride themselves excessively on the score of thus he who can look up to his father without humiliation not a little | 48 |
importance he who can safely talk of his grandfather is still more vain glorious but he who was counted the richest in new york and was said to have whole of indian money or and had a son and daughter who the dutch custom should divide it equally custom of eggs look back to his great grandfather without b is absolutely intolerable in his pretensions to bless us what a piece of work is here between these of an hour and these of a day from what have in the former part of this chapter i would not have my reader ine that the great peter was a governor ruling his subjects with a rod of iron on contrary where the dignity of authority was not he with and courteous condescension in fact he re believed though i fear my more enlightened readers will consider it a proof of hi ignorance and that in preventing the cup of social being dashed with the in r of politics he the and happiness of the people and b their minds from subjects they could not understand and which only tended to their passions he enabled them to attend more faithfully and to their proper becoming more citizens and m re attentive to their lies and fortunes so far from having any unreasonable he delighted to see the poor and the rejoice and for this purpose was a great of holidays and public amusements exhibition by a under his reign was first introduced the of eggs at or new year s day was also observed with extravagant and ushered in by the ringing of bells and firing of guns every house was a temple to the jolly god of cherry brandy true lands and were set afloat on the occasion and not a poor man in town but it a point to get drunk out of a principle of pure economy taking in liquor enough to serve him for half a year afterwards it would have done s heart good also to have seen the peter seated among the old and their wives of a saturday under the great trees that spread their shade over the battery watching the young men and women as they danced on the green here he would smoke his pipe crack his joke and forget the rugged toils of war in the sweet of peace he would occasionally give a nod of approbation to those of the young men who and kicked most vigorously and now and then give a hearty in all honesty of soul to the last that held out longest and tired down which he considered as proofs of her being the best once it is true the harmony of the meeting was rather interrupted a young of great figure in is s modesty shocked the gay world and who having lately come from holland of course led the fashions in the city made her appearance in not more than half a dozen and these too of most alarm ing an whisper ran through the assembly the old ladies all felt shocked in the extreme the young ladies blushed and felt excessively for the poor thing and even the governor himself was observed to be a little troubled in mind to complete the astonishment of the good folks she undertook in the course of a to describe some astonishing figures in which she had learned from a dancing master at she was too animated in flourishing her feet or whether some vagabond took the liberty of his services certain it is that in the course of a grand which would not have disgraced a modern ball room she made a most unexpected display the whole assembly was thrown into great admiration several grave country members were not a little moved and the good peter himself who were a man of modesty felt himself the of the female dresses had continued in fashion ever since the da s of william had long offended his eye and though extremely averse to with the his in of the ladies yet he immediately recommended that every one should he with a to the he ordered that the ladies and td the gentlemen should use no other step in dancing than and turn and trouble and forbade under pain of his high any young lady to attempt what was termed ex the graces these were the only he ever imposed upon the sex and e were considered by them as and resisted with that becoming spirit always manifested by the sex whenever their privileges are invaded in fact peter plainly perceived that if he attempted to push the any farther there was danger of their leaving altogether so like a wise man experienced in the ways of women he held his peace and suffered them ever after to wear and cut their as high as thej pleased reflections chapter ii how peter was much by the moss of the east and the giants of and how a dark and horrid conspiracy was carried on in the british cabinet against the prosperity of the we are now approaching towards the crisis of our work and if i be not in my we shall have a world of business to despatch in the chapters it is with some as it is with certain individuals they have a wonderful facility at getting into and i have always remarked that those are most liable to get in who have the least at getting out again this is doubtless owing to the excessive of those states for have likewise noticed that this and quality is always most where most confined which accounts for its so in little states little men and ugly little women especially thus when one that the province of ihe though of prodigious importance border in the eyes of its inhabitants and its historian was really of no very consequence | 48 |
in the eyes of the rest of the that it had little wealth or other spoils to reward the of it and that it had nothing to expect from running into war save an exceeding good beating on pondering s say one would utterly despair of finding in its history either battles or or any other of those which give importance to a nation and entertainment to the reader but on the contrary we so is this province that it has already drawn upon itself a host of enemies has had as many as would gratify the ambition of the mo t warlike nation and is in sober sadness a very forlorn distressed and wo little province all which was no doubt kindly ordered by providence to give interest and sub jim to this history but i forbear to enter into a detail of the pitiful and that for a long while after the victory on the continued to insult the dignity and disturb the repose of the suffice it in to say that the hostility of the people of the east which had so been prevented from out as my readers must remember by the of from and tht dis in the council of now again displayed itself in a thousand grievous and bitter upon the borders scarcely a month passed but what the dutch on the were alarmed by th s appearance of an army from this would advance resolutely through the country like a of the deserts the women and children in loaded with pots and as though meant to boil the honest alive l hem hke so many at of these carts would stalk a crew of long sided with on their shoulders and on their backs resolutely upon improving the country in ite of its these settling themselves down j in a short tune completely e the them of rich and fertile valleys in which our dutch are so famous for themselves for it is notorious that wherever these shrewd men of the east get a footing the do gradually disappear slowly like the indians before the totally by the ing disposition oi their new neighbours s s roaring boys all these audacious on these of their high were accompanied as has before been hinted by a world of and which would doubtless have the peter to immediate had he not at the very same time been perplexed by distressing accounts from the at south river the restless who had so graciously been to remain about the already began to show signs of and but what was worse a claim was laid to the whole territory as the property of lord by a who ruled over the colony of or merry land as it was called because that the inhabitants not having the fear of the lord before their eyes were prone to get and make merry with and apple nay so hostile was this bully that he threatened unless his claim was instantly complied with to march at the head of a potent force of the roaring boys of together with a great and mighty train of giants who the banks of the and to lay waste we find very curious and wonderful of these strange people who were doubtless the ancestors of the danger of extended and the whole country of south river by this it is manifest that this boasted colony ike all great of territory soon became a greater evil to the conqueror than the loss of it was to the conquered and caused greater uneasiness and trouble than all the of the new besides thus providence wisely orders that one evil shall balance another the conqueror who the property of his neighbour who wrongs a nation and a country though he may acquire increase of empire and immortal fame yet his own inevitable punishment he takes to himself a cause of endless anxiety he with his late sound domain a loose part a rotten member which is an source of internal treason and made by master in his history the are a people in proportion behaviour and attire their voice sounding from them as if but of a cave their tobacco pipes were three quarters of a yard long carved at the great end with a bird or other device sufficient to beat out of and how many are beaten out or rather men s smoked out and in by our lesser pipes at home the of one of their es three quarters of a yard about the rest of his vol n occupation or union and external and happy is that nation which compact united loyal in all its parts and concentrated in its strength seeks no idle acquisition of and territory which content to be prosperous and happy has no ambition to be great it is like a man well organized in his system sound in health and full of vigour by useless and fixed in an attitude but the nation of territory whose are scattered feebly united and weakly organized is like a senseless among golden stores open to every attack and unable to defend the riches he vainly to at the time of receiving the from south river the great peter was busily employed in certain indian troubles that had broken out about and was moreover meditating how to relieve his eastern borders on the he however sent word to to be of good heart to maintain incessant vigilance and to let him know if matters wore a more threatening appearance in which case he would repair with his warriors of the to spoil the merriment of these merry for he exceedingly to have a bout band to h nd with some half a score of these giants having never en d c calm in the south a giant in his whole life unless we may so call the stout and be was but | 48 |
a little one nothing farther however to the tranquillity of and bis colony and his remained at home upon cakes bacon and and running horses and for which they were greatly renowned at hearing of this peter was well pleased for notwithstanding his inclination to measure weapons with these monstrous men of the yet he had already as much employment nearer home as he could turn bis hands to little did be think worthy soul that this southern calm was but the io a most terrible and fatal storm then which was soon to burst forth and the city of new now so it was that while this excellent governor was giving his little laws and not only giving them but them too while be was incessantly travelling the rounds of bis be loved province from place to place to and while busy at one corner of his all the rest getting into an uproar at this very time i say a dark and plot was against him in that nursery of monstrous projects the british cabinet the plot of british cabinet news of his achievements on the according to a sage old historian of new had occasioned not a little talk and jn the courts of europe and the same profound writer us that the cabinet of england began to entertain great jealousy and uneasiness at the increasing power of the and the of its sturdy agents the same historian were sent by the council of the east to treat the assistance of the british cabinet in sub this mighty province lord sterling also asserted his right to long island ai d at the same time lord whose agent as has before been mentioned had so alarmed laid his claim before the cabinet to the lands of south river which he complained were and forcibly detained from him by these daring of the thus did the unlucky empire of the stand in imminent danger of the fate of and being torn limb limb to be shared among its savage neighbours but while these powers were their and waiting for the signal to fall tooth and nail upon this delicious little fat dutch empire the lion who sat as all at once settled the claims of all parties by his own upon the spoil for we are charles ii s ent f tj j old that bis majesty the second not to be perplexed by these l made a present of a lai e of north a including the province of to bis brother the of y a truly royal since but have a right to give away what does not belong to them that this gift might not ir his majesty on the th of march g ordered that an should be forth with prepared to the city of new by land and water and put his brother in complete possession of the premises thus are situated the affairs of the new the honest so far from thinking of the in which their interests are placed are smoking their pipes and thinking of nothing at all the of the province are at this moment in full while the active peter who takes all the labour of thinking and acting upon himself is busily some method of bringing the grand council of to terms in the mean while an angry cloud is darkly on the horizon soon shall it rattle about the ears of these and put the of their stout hearted go completely to the trial th author sounds a charge but come what may i here pledge my that in all warlike and subtle he shall still himself with the gallant bearing and honour of a noble minded obstinate old forward then to charge shine out stars on the re city of the and may the blessings of st go with thee honest peter the cause p glory o chapter iii peter expedition into the east country showing that though an old bird he did not understand trap great nations resemble great men in this particular that their greatness is seldom known until they get in trouble therefore has been wisely the ordeal of true greatness which e gold can never receive its real estimation until it has passed through the furnace in proportion therefore as a nation a community or an individual possessing the inherent quality of greatness is involved in perils and misfortunes in proportion does it rise in grandeur and even when sinking under calamity makes like a house on fire a more glorious display than ever it did in the fairest period of its prosperity the vast empire of china though with population and and the wealth of nations has through a succession of drowsy ages and were it not for its internal revolution and the of its ancient government by the might have pre or nothing but an detail c dull prosperity and might have passed into a herd of their if they had not been j overwhelmed by a the renowned city of has acquired only from its ten years and final paris rises in importance by the plots and which have ended in of the illustrious napoleon and even ihe mighty london itself has the records of time celebrated for nothing cf moment excepting the plague the great g s plot thus seem to creep along ing in silent obscurity under the pen of the at length they burst forth in some tremendous calamity and snatch as it were from the explosion the above principle being admitted my reader will plainly perceive that the city of and its dependent province are oa high road to greatness dangers and threaten from every side and it is a matter of astonishment to me how so small a state has been able in so short a time to itself in so many difficulties ever since the province was | 48 |
clear countenance of nature as they it through the pastoral scenes of f which in those days was a sweet and rural valley with many a bright wild flower refreshed by many a pure and here and there by a little dutch cottage sheltered under some sloping hill and almost buried in trees now did they enter upon the of where they encountered many ous and perils at one place they were assailed by a troop of country and who mounted on goodly hung upon their rear for several miles them exceedingly with and questions more especially the worthy peter whose silver chased leg excited not a little marvel at another place bard by the renowned town of they were set upon by a great and mighty of church who demanded of them five shillings for travelling on sunday and threatened to carry th m captive to a neighbouring church whose steer le peered above the trees but these the peter put to with little difficulty now called about four miles york their perilous progress that ihey their and off in horrible confusion leaving their cocked hats behind in the hurry of their flight but not so easily did he escape from the hands of a man of who with und perseverance and repeated fairly him out of his goodly leaving in place thereof a but all these hardships they pursued their journey along the course of the soft flowing whose gentle wave says the song roll through many a fertile and sunny plain now reflecting the lofty of the bustling city and now the rural beauties of the humble hamlet now echoing with the busy hum of commerce and now with the cheerful song of the peasant at every town would peter who was noted for warlike order the sturdy to sound a courteous salutation though the manuscript that the inhabitants were thrown into great dismay when they heard of his approach for the fame of his achievements on the had spread throughout the east country and they dreaded lest he had come to take vengeance on their how were received but the good peter rode through these towns with a aspect waving his hand majesty and condescension for he believed that the old clothes which these ingenious people had thrust into their broken windows and the of dried apples and which ornamented the fronts of their houses were so many in honour of his approach as it was the custom in the days of chivalry to compliment renowned heroes by of and gorgeous furniture the women crowded to the doors to gaze upon him as he passed so much does in arms delight the gentle sex the little children too ran after him in troops staring with wonder at his his breeches and the silver of his wooden leg nor must i omit to mention the joy which many betrayed at beholding ihe jovial van who had delighted them so much with his trumpet when he bore the great peter s challenge to the the kind hearted alighted from his mare and kissed them all with infinite loving kindness and was right pleased to see a crew of little crowding around him for his blessing each of whom he patted on the head bade him be a good boy and gave him a penny to buy peter s the manuscript makes but little farther mention of the governor s adventures upon this expedition excepting that he was received with extravagant courtesy and respect by the great council of the who almost talked him to death with complimentary and f will not detain my readers by dwelling on his with the grand council suffice it to mention it was like all other a great deal was said and very little done one conversation led to another one conference which it took a dozen to explain at the end of which the parties found themselves just where they were at first excepting that they had entangled themselves in a host of questions of etiquette and conceived a cordial distrust of each other that rendered their future ten times more difficult than ever in the midst of all these which the brain and the ire of the sturdy peter who was perhaps of all men ia the world least fitted for he privately received the first intimation of the for certain of the particulars of this ancient see col state it is singular that is entirely silent with respect to this memorable expedition of peter his imminent dark conspiracy which had been in the cabinet of england to this was added the intelligence that a hostile had already sailed from england destined to reduce the province of new and that the grand council of had engaged to co operate by sending a great army to new by land unfortunate peter did i not enter with sad upon this ill expedition did i not tremble when i saw thee with no other but thine own head with no other but an honest tongue a conscience and a rusty sword with no other protector but and no other attendant but a did i not tremble when i beheld thee thus sally forth to contend with all the knowing powers of new england oh how did the sturdy old warrior rage and roar when he found himself thus like a lion in the hunter s toil now did he determine to draw his sword and to fight his way through all the countries of the east now did he resolve to break in upon the council of the and put every mother s son of them to death at length as his wrath subsided he resorted to safer though less glorious concealing from the council his knowledge of their he privately despatched new in an uproar a messenger with to his at new them of the impending danger commanding them immediately to put the city in a posture | 48 |
the hearts of the people at large were wonderfully encouraged and they exceeding and indeed the first of alarm having in some measure sub sided the old women having buried all the money they could their hands a patriotic on and their husbands daily getting with what was led the community began even to stand on the songs were in low dutch and sung about the streets wherein the english were most beaten and shown no quarter and popular addresses were made wherein it was proved to a certainty that the fate of old england depended upon the will of the new finally to strike a violent blow at the very of great britain a multitude of the wiser inhabitants assembled and having purchased all the british they could find tbey m de thereof a huge and in the patriotic glow of the moment every man present who had a hat or breeches of english pulled it off and threw it most into the flames to the lo s and ruin of the english in of this great they erected a pole on the spot a device on the top intended to represent the province of di great britain under the of an eagle the little island of old england out of the globe but either through the s of the or his ill timed it bore a striking resemblance to a vainly striving to get hold of a of the chapter v showing how the grand council of the came to be gifted with long tongues together with a great triumph of economy it will need but very little penetration in any one acquainted with the character and habits of that most potent and monarch the sovereign people to discover that notwithstanding all the bustle and talk of war that stunned him in the last chapter the renowned city of new is in sad reality not a whit better prepared for defence than before now though the people having gotten over the first alarm and finding no enemy immediately at hand had with that of tongue for which your illustrious is so famous run into the opposite extreme and by dint of gallant and had actually talked themselves into the opinion that they were the and most people under the sun yet were the of peter somewhat on that point they dreaded moreover lest that vol i windy speeches hero should return and find that instead of obeying his had wasted their time in listening to the of the mob than which they well knew there was nothing he held in more exalted contempt to make up therefore as speedily as possible for lost time a grand of the and was to talk over the critical state of the province and devise measures for its safety two things were agreed upon in this venerable assembly first that the city required to be put in a state of defence and secondly that as the danger was imminent there should be no time lost which points being settled they immediately fell to making long speeches and one another in endless and for about this was this unhappy city first visited by that talking so in this country and which so invariably itself wherever a number of wise men together breaking out in long windy speeches caused as suppose by the foul air which is ever in a crowd now it was moreover that they first introduced the ingenious method of measuring the merits of an by the hour glass he being considered the orator who spoke longest on a question for which ia cause of this it is recorded we are indebted to the same profound dutch critic who judged of books by their size this sudden passion for endless so little with the customary gravity and of our sage forefathers was supposed by certain learned philosophers to have been together with divers other barbarous from their savage neighbours who were peculiarly noted for long talks and council fires who would never undertake any affair of the least importance without previous and among their chiefs and old but the real cause was that the people in their representatives to the grand council were particular in choosing then for their talents at talking without inquiring whether they possessed the more rare difficult and oft times important talent of holding their tongues the consequence was that this body was composed of the most men in the community as they considered themselves placed there to talk every man concluded that his duty to his and what is more his popularity with them required that he should ue on every subject whether he understood it or not there was an ancient mode of burying a by every soldier throwing his shield full of earth on the j of silence corpse until a mighty mound was formed so whenever a question was brought forward in thi assembly every member pressing forward to throw on his of wisdom the subject was quickly buried under a huge mass of words we are told that when were admitted into the school of they were for two years silence and were neither permitted to ask questions nor make remarks after they had thus acquired the art of holding their tongues they were gradually permitted to make inquiries and to communicate their own opinions what a pity is it that while up the rubbish and rags of antiquity we should suffer these precious gems to lie unnoticed what a would this wise of hare if introduced in bodies and how wonderfully would it have tended to business in the grand council of the thus however did dame wisdom whom the of antiquity have as a woman seem to take mischievous the venerable c of new the old of long pipes and short pipes which had been by the grasp of peter now sprung up with violence not that the revival of si | 48 |
original cause of difference still existed but it ha ever been the fate of party names and party to remain long after the principles that gave rise to them have been forgotten to complete the public confusion and bewilderment the fatal word economy which one would have thought was dead and buried with william the was once more set afloat like the apple of discord in the grand council of according to which sound principle of policy it was deemed more expedient to throw away twenty thousand upon an plan of defence than thirty thousand on a good and substantial one the province thus making a clear saving often thousand but when they came o discuss the mode of defence then began a war of words that all description the members being as i observed in opposite parties were enabled to proceed with amazing system and regularity in the discussion of the questions before them whatever was proposed by a long pipe was opposed by the whole tribe of short pipes who like true considered it their first duty to effect the of the long pipes their second to themselves and their third to the welfare of the country this at least was the creed of the most upright among the party as to the great mass tbey or left the third out of the question altogether in this great of hard heads it astonishing the number of projects for defence that were struck out not one of which had ever been heard of before nor has been heard of since unless it be in very modern days projects that threw the system of the ingenious completely in the back ground still however nothing could be decided on for so soon as a formidable host of air castles were reared by one party they were by the other the simple stood gazing in anxious expectation of the mighty egg that was to be with all this but they gazed in for it appeared that the grand council was to protect the province as did the noble and gigantic his army by covering it with his tongue indeed there was a portion of the consisting of fat self important old who smoked their pipes and said nothing excepting to negative every plan of defence that was offered these were of that class of wealthy old citizens who having a fortune button up their pockets shut their mouths look rich and are good nothing all the rest of their lives like some which having swallowed a its shell settles down in the mud and parts with its life sooner than its treasure every plan of defence seemed to these worthy old gentlemen with ruin an armed force was a of upon the public property to fit out a naval was to throw their into the sea to build was to bury it in the dirt in short they settled it as a sovereign so long as their pockets were full no matter how much they were a kick left no a broken head cured itself but an empty purse was of all the to heal and one in which nature did nothing for the patient thus did this venerable assembly of lavish away that time which the of affairs rendered invaluable in empty and long speeches without ever agreeing except on the point with which they started namely that there was no time to be lost and delay was at length st taking on their distracted situation and anxious to preserve them from so ordered that in the midst of one of their most noisy on the subject of and defence when they had nearly fallen to in consequence of not being able to convince each other the question was happily settled by a er who into tb arrival of the enemy chamber and informed them that the hostile fleet had arrived and was actually advancing up the bay thus was all farther necessity of either or completely and thus was the grand council saved a world of words and the province a world of expense a moat absolute and glorious triumph of economy chapter vi r tn which the troubles of new ap to showing the bravery in time of perils of a people who defend by resolutions as an assemblage of cats engaged in and one another with hideous in each other s faces and on the point of breaking forth into a general are suddenly put to and confusion by the startling appearance of a house dog so was the no less council of new amazed astounded and totally dispersed by the sudden arrival of the enemy every member made the best of his way home along as fast as his short legs could under their heavy and as he went with and terror when he arrived at his castle he the street door and buried himself in the cellar without daring to peep out lest he should have bis head carried off by a cannon ball the sovereign people all crowded into the fearful market place together with the instinct of sheep who seek for safety in each s company when the shepherd and his dog are ah sent and the wolf is round the fold far from finding relief however they only increased each other fl terrors man looked in his neighbour s face in search of encouragement but only found in its wo a confirmation of his own dismay not a word now was to he heard of conquering great britain not a whisper about the sovereign virtues of economy while the old women the general gloom by their fate and incessantly calling for protection on saint and peter oh how did they the absence of the lion hearted peter and how did they long for the comforting presence of van indeed a gloomy | 48 |
uncertainty hung over the fate of these adventurous heroes day after day had elapsed since the alarming message from the governor without bringing any farther tidings of his safety many a fearful conjecture was as to what had befallen him and his loyal squire had they not been devoured alive by the of and cape were they not put to the question by the great council of were they not peter suddenly appears s by the terrible men of in the midst of this and when horror like a mighty sat brooding upon the little fat of new the ears of the were suddenly startled by a strange and int sound it approached it grew louder louder and now it at the city the public could not be mistaken id the known sound a shout of joy burst from r lips as the gallant peter covered with and followed by his faithful e galloping into the market place he first of the having they gathered round the honest an as he dismounted from his horse over him with greetings and in breathless accents he related to them through which the old and himself had gone in making their pe from the of the terrible am tions but though the t with its customary where thing touching the great peter is concerned ery particular as to the incidents of this retreat yet the particular state of the lie affairs will not allow me to indulge in a recital thereof let it suffice to say that le peter was his ing in his mind how he could make cape with honour and dignity certain of ships sent out for the conquest of the touched at the eastern ports to obtain ne supplies and to call on the grand council o league for its promised co operation i hearing of this the that a moment s were fatal made a si and though mud it his lofty soul to be obliged to back even upon a nation of foes breadth and divers perilous they sustain as they without trumpet through the fair regions of tbe already was the country in an uproar with tile preparation and they were obliged to a large circuit in their flight lurking s through the mountains of the back bone from re the lied forth one day like a lion and put to a whole of consisting of t generations of a family who wore ready on their way to take possession of s corner of the new nay the f ful had great difficulty at sundry t to prevent him in the excess of his wrath descending down from the mountains and ing sword in hand upon certain of the bo bis first who were forth their the first movements of the governor on reaching his dwelling was to mount the roof from whence he contemplated with aspect the hostile this had already come to anchor in the bay and consisted of two stout having on board as john us three hundred red coats having taken this survey he sat himself down and wrote an to the commander demanding the reason of his in the harbour without obtaining previous permission so to do letter was in the most dignified and courteous terms though have it from authority that his teeth were and he had a bitter grin upon his all the while he wrote having despatched his letter the grim peter to and fro about the town with a most war countenance his hands thrust into his breeches pockets and whistling a low dutch tune which bore no small resemblance to the music of a north east wind when a storm is the very dogs as they eyed him away in dismay while all and ugly women of new ran howling at bis heels imploring him to save them from er robbery and pitiless vol ii g terms offered b the the reply of who commanded ihe was in terms of equal courtesy with the letter of the governor declaring the right and title of his british majesty to the province where be affirmed the dutch to be mere and demanding that the town c should be forthwith rendered into his majesty s obedience and protection promising at the same time life liberty and free trade to every dutch who should readily submit to his majesty s government peter read over this friendly with some such harmony of aspect as we may suppose a farmer who has long been upon his neighbour s soil reads the letter of john that him of sin ac tion of the old governor was not to be taken by surprise but thrusting the summons into his breeches pocket he ed three times across the room took a pinch of great vehemence and then waving his hand promised to send an the next morning in the mean time he called a general council of war of his and not for the purpose of asking their advice for that as has been already shown be valued not but to peter a council of war unto them his sovereign determination and re their prompt before however he his he resolved upon three r never to give up the city without a little hard for he deemed it to of so renowned a city to itself to be captured and stripped without receiving a few into the bargain secondly that the majority of his grand council was composed of utterly destitute of true bottom and that he would not therefore suffer them to see the summons of col lest the easy terms it held out might induce them to for a surrender his orders being duly it was a piteous sight to behold the late who had the whole british empire in their peeping out of their hiding places and then crawling forth through narrow lanes and starting at every little | 48 |
leave behind some two or three dozen children in different parts of the fine little from whom if legends speak true and they are not apt to lie did descend the innumerable race of who vol ii grief or people and defend this country and who are paid by the people for keeping up a constant alarm and making them miserable would they inherited the worth as they do the wind of their renowned the tidings of this lamentable catastrophe imparted a pang to the bosom of than did even the invasion of his be it came home fo those sweet affections that grow close around the heart and are nourished by its warmest current as some pilgrim while the tempest through his locks and dreary night is gathered around sees stretched cold and lifeless his faithful dog the sole companion of who had shared his solitary meal and so often licked his hand in humble gratitude so did the generous hearted hero of the contemplate the end of his faithful he had been the humble attendant of his footsteps he had cheered him in many a heavy hour of his honest and had followed him in loyalty and affection through many a scene of peril and mis hap he was gone for ever and that too at a moment when every cur seemed from his side peter this was the moment to try thy fortitude and this was the moment when thou indeed shine forth peter the at end the glare of day had long th horrors of the last stormy night still all was dull and gloomy the late jovial hid bis face behind clouds peeping out now and then for an instant as if anxious yet fearful to see what was going on in his favourite city this was the morning when the great peter was to give his reply to the summons of the already was he with council in grim state brooding over the fate of his favourite and anon boiling with indignation the insolence of his flashed upon his mind while in this state of irritation a arrived in all haste fi o jn the subtle governor of him in the most affectionate and disinterested manner to surrender the province and the dangers and to a refusal would subject him what a moment was this to advice upon a man who never took advice in his whole life the old governor strode up and down the chamber with a vehemence made the of his to with awe railing at his unlucky fate hat thus made him the constant butt of subjects and just at this ill chosen juncture the who were now completely o t a meeting the watch and had beard of the arrival of mysterious came marching id a resolute body into the room with a of and at their heels and demanded a perusal of the letter thus to be broken in upon by what he esteemed a rascal and that too at the very moment he was grinding under an irritation from abroad was too much for the of the peter he tore the letter in a thousand pieces threw it in the face of the nearest broke his pipe over the head of the next hurled his box at an unlucky who was just making a retreat out at the door and finally the whole meeting die by kicking them down stairs with his wooden leg as soon as the could recover from the confusion into which their sudden exit had thrown and had taken a little time to breathe they protested against the conduct of the governor which they did not hesitate to pronounce highly and somewhat tliey then called a public meeting where read the protest and addressing the assembly in a set speech related at full and with smith s history of york with s colouring and exaggeration the and of the governor declaring that for their own parts thej did n t value a straw the being kicked and by the timber toe of his but they felt for the dignity of the sovereign thus rudely insulted by the outrage committed on the seat of honour of their representatives the latter part of the had a violent effect upon the sensibility of the people as it came home at once to that of feeling and jealous pride of character in all true who though they may bear injuries without a murmur yet are jealous of their sovereign dignity and there is no knowing to what act of resentment they might have been provoked against the peter had not the greasy been somewhat more afraid of their sturdy old governor than they were of st the or the d himself a ie spectacle chapter viii how peter defended the of ah for by dint of tht strength of his head there is sublime and melancholy in the spectacle which the present crisis of oar history presents an and little city the metropolis of an immense extent of country by a host of committee men and old women governed by a determined and strong headed warrior and fortified by mud and resolutions by sea by land and threatened with desolation from without while its very are torn with internal and commotion never did historic pen record a page of more complicated distress unless it be the strife that distracted the during the siege of where parties were cutting each other s throats at the moment when the victorious of had down their and were s l s tying fire and sword into the very sane of the temple governor having as has been recorded put bis grand council to the and thus delivered himself from a multitude of despatched a to the of the wherein he asserted the right and title of their high the lord states | 48 |
to the province of flew and trusting in the of his cause set the whole british nation at defiance my anxiety to my readers and myself from these disastrous scenes prevents me from giving the whole of this gallant letter which concluded in manly and terms as touching the threats in your conclusion we have nothing to answer only that we fear nothing but what god who is as just as ful shall lay upon us all things being in his gracious disposal and we may as well be served by him with small forces as by a great a army which makes us to wish you all and prosperity and recommend you to protection my lords your thrice and affectionate servant and friend p thus having resolutely thrown his the brave stuck a of horse pistols in a f tempting terms offered his belt an powder horn on bid his sound leg into a boot and clapping his fierce little war hat oil the of his head up and down in front ot his house determined to defend his beloved city to the last while all these les and tions were prevailing in the unhappy city of new and while its worthy but governor was the above letter the english did not remain idle they had agents secretly employed to fi the fears and of the moreover far and wide through the adjacent country a repeating the terms they had already held out in their summons to surrender and the simple with the most ing professions they promised that every man who voluntarily submitted to the authority of his british majesty should retain possession of his house his and bis cab that he should hie suffered to smoke his pipe speak dutch wear as many breeches as he pleased and import bricks and stone from holland instead of them on the spot that he should on no account be compelled to learn the english lai of keep accounts in any other way the are than by casting them ap on his fingers and them down upon the crown of his hat as is still observed among the dutch at the present day that every man should be allowed to inherit his father s hat coat shoe pipe and every other personal and that no man should be obliged to to any improvements inventions or any other but on the contrary should be permitted to build his house follow his trade manage his farm rear his and his children precisely as his ancestors did before him since time finally that he should have all the benefits of free trade and should not be required to knowledge any other saint in the than saint who should as before be considered the saint of the city these terms as may be appeared satisfactory to the people who had a great to enjoy their property and a most aversion to engage in test where they could gain little more than honour and broken heads the first of which they held in philosophic indifference the latter in utter by these means therefore did the english succeed in the confidence and affections of the threatened from their gallant old governor they considered as bent upon running them into and did not hesitate to speak minds freely and abuse him most behind his back like as a mighty who though assailed and by roaring waves and still keeps on an course and overwhelmed by boisterous still from the troubled deep and blowing with violence so did the peter pursue his de career and rise above the of the but when the british found by the tenor of his reply he set their power at defiance forthwith despatched officers to and and aad and and all those towns on long island which had been subdued of by the immortal stirring up the of preserved fish and determined cock and tho e other illustrious to the city of new bv land in the mean while the hostile ships made awful preparation to commence an assault by water the streets of new now presented a scene of wild dismay and consternation lu in new vain did the gallant order the citizens to arm and in the public square or market place the whole party of short pipes in the course of a single night had changed into old a only to be by the recorded by as having happened at rome at the approach of when statues in pure were converted into sheep and turning into ran about the streets the harassed thus from without and tormented from within by the and at by the and growled and raged like a furious bear tied to a stake and worried by a of scoundrel finding however hat all further attempts to defend the city were vain and hearing that an of and moss were ready to him from the east he was at length compelled in spite of his proud heart which swelled in his throat until it had nearly choked him to consent to a treaty of surrender words cannot express the of the people on receiving this agreeable intelligence had they obtained a conquest over their enemies they could not have indulged greater delight the streets with their congratulations they their governor as the on father and of his country they crowded to his house to testify their i aud were ten times more noisy in than when he returned with victory upon his from the glorious capture of fort but the indignant shut his doors and windows and took refuge in tlie recesses of his mansion that he might not hear the of the in consequence of this consent of the governor a was demanded of the forces to treat of the of surrender accordingly a of six was appointed on both sides and on the th august a highly favourable to | 48 |
of government and tasted the sweets of absolute aod authority which his sob had so often dashed with the bitterness of opposition no could ever him to the city on the contrary he would have his great arm chair placed with its back to the windows which looked in that direction until a thick grove of trees planted by bis own band grew up and formed a screen that effectually excluded it from the prospect he continually at the and improvements introduced by the a word of their detested language to be spoken in his family a readily obeyed since none of the household could speak any thing but and even ordered a fine to be cut down in front of his house because it consisted of english cherry trees i he same incessant vigilance that forth when he had a vast province under bis now showed itself with equal vigour though in limits he with around the ol his territory every his retreat ment with punished very upon his orchard or bis farm yard with and every stray or cow in triumph to the pound but to the neighbour the stranger or the weary wanderer his spacious doors were ever open and his fire place that emblem of his own warm and generous heart had always a corner to receive and cherish them there was an exception to this i must confess in case the was an englishman or a yankee to whom though he might extend the hand of assistance he could never be brought to yield the rites of hospitality nay if some straggling merchant of the east should stop at his door with bis cart load of tin ware or wooden the fiery peter would issue forth like a giant from his castle and make such a furious among his pots and that the of notion was fain to himself to instant flight his handsome worn by the brush were carefully hung op in the f state bed chamber and regularly in the first fair day of every month and his cocked bat and sword were suspended in repose over the parlour mantle to a full length portrait of his admiral von in his empire he maintained strict discipline and a well organized government but though his own will was the supreme law jet the good of his subjects was his constant object he watched over not merely their immediate but their morals and their ultimate fare for he gave them abundance of excellent nor could any of them complain that when occasion required he was by any means in wholesome the good old dutch those of an overflowing heart and a thankful spirit which are falling into sad among my fellow citizens were faithfully observed in the mansion of governor new year was truly a day of open handed liberality of and warm hearted when the bosom seemed to swell with genial fellowship and the table was attended with an freedom and honest broad mouthed merriment unknown in these days of and refinement and were observed throughout his nor was the day of st suffered to pass by without making presents hanging the in the chimney and with all its other ceremonies and once a year on the first day of april he used to array himself in full being the of his entry into new after the conquest of n w this was always a kind of among ihe when they considered themselves at liberty in some measure to say and do what they pleased for on this day their master was always observed to and become exceeding pleasant nd sending the old on april fool s errands for pigeon s milk not one of whom but allowed himself to be taken in and humoured his old master s jokes as became a faithful and well dependent thus did he reign happily and peacefully on his own land do man no man by no d perplexed by internal and the mighty the who were vainly seeking to maintain peace aod promote the of mankind by war and would done well to have made a voyage to the little island of and learned a lesson in government from the domestic economy of peter in process of time however the old governor like all other children of began to exhibit tokens of decay like an aged oak which though it long has the fury of the d bis decline elements and still its gigantic jet begins to shake and groan with every blast was it with the gallant peter for though he still bore the port and semblance of what he was in the days of his and yet did age and infirmity begin to sap the vigour of his frame but his heart that most still with would he listen to every article of intelligence concerning the battles between the english and dutch still would his pulse beat high whenever he heard of the of de and his countenance and his eye brows knit when fortune turned in favour of the english at length as on a certain day he had just smoked his fifth pipe and was after dinner in his arm chair conquering the whole british nation in his dreams he was suddenly aroused by a fearful of bells of drums and roaring of cannon that put all his blood in a but when he learnt that these were in honour of a great victory obtained by the combined english and french over the brave de and the younger von it went so much to his heart that he took to hia bed and in less than three days was brought to death s door by a violent but even in this extremity he still displayed the spirit of peter the holding cut to the last gasp with the obstinacy against a whole of old women who were bent | 48 |
driving the out of his after a dutch mode of defence by the seat of war with and while he thus lay lingering on the verge of dissolution news was brought him that the brave de had but little lots bad made good his retreat and meant once more to meet the enemy in battle the closing eye of the old warrior kindled at the words he partly raised himself in bed a flash of martial fire beamed across his be his withered hand as if he felt within his that sword which waved in triumph before the walls of fort and giving a grim smile of exultation sunk back upon his pillow and expired thus died peter a soldier a loyal subject an upright governor and an honest who wanted only a few to desolate to have been as a hero his funeral were celebrated with the utmost grandeur and solemnity the town was perfectly emptied of its inhabitants who crowded in to pay the last sad honours his death and funeral to their good old governor ah his sterling rushed id full tide upon their while the memory of bis and his had expired with bim the ancient who should have the e of bearing the pall the strove who should walk nearest to the and the procession was closed by a number of who had and in the household of departed master for the greater part of a century with sad and gloomy countenances the multitude gathered round the grave they dwelt with mournful hearts on the sturdy es the signal services and the gallant exploits of the brave old worthy they recalled their own to his government and many an ancient whose features had never been known to nor his eyes to was now observed to a pensive pipe and the big drop to steal down his cheek while he muttered with accent and shake of the head well den peter ben gone at last his remains were deposited in the family vault under a chapel which he had erected on his estate and to st and which stood on the identical of peter at present occupied by st mark s church where his tomb stone is still to be seen his estate or as it was called has ever continued in the possession of his descendants who by the uniform integrity of their conduct and their strict to the customs and manners that prevailed in the good old times have proved themselves worthy of their illustrious many a time and oft has the farm been haunted at night by money in quest of pots of gold said to have been buried by the old governor though i cannot learn that any of them have ever been enriched by their and who is there among my native born fellow citizens that not remember when in the mischievous days of his boyhood he conceived it a great to rob s orchard on a holiday afternoon at this strong hold of the family may still be seen certain of the immortal peter his full length portrait in martial ter from the parlour wall his cocked hat and sword still hang up in the best bed room his coloured breeches were for a long while suspended in the hall until some years since they occasioned a dispute between a new married couple and his silver mounted wooden leg is still up in the store room as an invaluable chapter x the author s reflections what has been a the numerous events which are each in their turn the most and melancholy of all possible in your interesting and history there is none that occasions such deep and heart grief as the decline and fall of your renowned and mighty where is the reader who can contemplate without emotion the disastrous events by which the great of the world h ve been extinguished while wandering in nation among the gigantic ruins of states and and marking the tremendous that wrought their overthrow the bosom of the melancholy with sympathy to the surrounding desolation and powers have each had their rise their progress and their in its turn has swayed a potent has returned to its and thus did it fare with the empire of their high at the under the peaceful reign of walter the the reign of william the and the reign of peter the drawn its history is fruitful instruction and thy of being pondered over attentively for it is by among the ashes of departed greatness that the sparks of true knowledge ar found and the lamp of wisdom let then the reign of walter the warn against yielding to that sleek contented security that fondness for comfort and pose that are produced by a state of prosperity and peace these tend to a nation to destroy its pride of character to render it patient of insult deaf to the calls of and of justice and cause it to cling to peace like the to his pillow at the expense of every valuable duty and consideration such the very evil from which it one right yielded up produces the of a second one pas suffered makes way for another and the nation that thus through a love of peace has sacrificed honour and interest will at length have to for existence let the disastrous reign of william the serve as a warning against that fitful feverish mode of that acts without system depends on and projects and to lucky that and and at length with the of ignorance and that for popularity by the prejudices from this bis and flattering the rather than commanding the respect of the that seeks safety in a multitude of and itself by a variety of contradictory schemes and opinions that mistakes for deliberate hurry for decision | 48 |
an act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps and books to the authors and of such copies during th time therein mentioned and also to an act entitled an act to an act l an act for the encouragement of by securing the of maps and books to the authors and of such copies during the times therein mentioned and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of and historical and other f j clerk of the southern district f and rs v i contents op vol ii chapter book y page i voyage to the east end of discovery of iii return to among the islands called the queen s garden ly of the southern side of y return of along the southern coast of voyage along the south side of along the south side of and return to l arrival of the admiral at character of ii of don and his departure from the island iii troubles with the natives de by ly measures of to restore the quiet of the island expedition of to surprise y arrival of de with four ships from spain his return with indian slaves a vi contents chapter expedition of against the in of the battle of the natives of tribute viii against in the court of spain sent to investigate the affairs of ix arrival of at his conduct tempest i i the harbour x discovery of the mines of book ix chapter i return of to spain with ii of the popularity of in spain his reception by the sovereigns at he a third voyage iii preparations for a third disappointments and book x chapter i from spain on his third voyage discovery of il voyage through the gulf of iii of the voyage through the gulf of ia to ly speculations of concerning the gulf of book xi ft chapter i administration of the expedition to the province of ii establishment of a chain of military posts of the of the i in the to to receive tribute ff vii p re it y of y the to the ia relief of fort conception his interview with second of and flight to the mountains of campaign of the in the mountains of book chapter confusion in the island proceedings of the at ii of the admiral with the departure of ships for spain ni arrangement w th the ly another of the and second arrangement with them v made to and his followers departure of several of the for spain vi arrival of with a at the western part of the sent to meet them j of and a f and book xiii chatter i representations at court against to examine into his conduct ii arrival of at st his violent assumption of the command in summoned to appear before iv and his brothers arrested and sent to spain in chains t i i v life and voyages of v life and voyages of by order of c the young advanced and the expressions of friendship in his own language soon the apprehensions of the savage he came to meet the and being informed by him of the good intentions of the hastened to communicate the intelligence to his comrades in a little while they were seen descending their rocks and issuing from their forests approaching the strangers with great gentleness and veneration through means of the learnt that they had been sent to the coast by their to procure fish for a solemn ban wh he was about to give to a neighbouring and that they the fish to prevent it from in the they seemed to be of the same gently and pacific character with the natives of the that had been made among their provisions by the hungry gave them no concern for they observed that one night s fishing would replace all the loss however in bis usual spirit of justice ordered that ample com should be made them and shaking hands they parted well pleased leaving this harbour on the st of may the admiral continued to the westward sailing along a coast by beautiful rivers and by those for which this island is so remarkable as he advanced the country grew more fertile and the natives crowded to the shores man woman and child gazing with astonishment at the ships which glided gently along at no great distance they held up fruit and provisions inviting the to land others off in bringing bread fish and of l peter martyr sup water not for sale as to the strangers as usual they considered celestial beings descended from the skies distributed the customary presents among them which were received with of joy and gratitude after continuing some distance along the coast he came to another gulf or deep bay narrow at the entrance and within surrounded by a rich and beautiful country there were lofty mountains sweeping up from the sea but the shores were by numerous villages and cultivated to such a degree as to resemble gardens and in this harbour which it is was the same at | 48 |
present called st de d and passed a night overwhelmed as usual with the simple of the natives on inquiring of the people of this coast after gold they uniformly pointed to the south and as far as they could be understood intimated that a great island lay in that direction where it the admiral in the course of his first voyage had received information of such an island which some his had thought be the object of so much anxious search and expectation he had felt a strong inclination to from his course and go in of it and this desire increased with every new report on the following day therefore the d of may after standing westward to a high cape he turned his directly south and for a time the coast of off into the broad sea in quest of this reported island de los cap ms life and v of chapter ii discovery op had not sailed many before the of began to rise above the horizon it two days and nights however before he reached the island filled with admiration as be gradually drew near at its vast size the beauty of its mountains the majesty of its forests the of its valleys and the great number of villages with which the whole face of the country was animated on approaching the land at least seventy filled with savages gaily painted and decorated with feathers forth more than a league firom shore they advanced in warlike uttering loud and of pointed wood the n of the and a few presents to one of the which ventured nearer than the rest this angry and the pursued its course in a harbour about the centre of the island to which from the great beauty of the surrounding country he gave the of it is the same at present called st ann s bay de los cap i on the following morning he weighed anchor at daybreak and westward in search of a a harbour where his ship could be and as it considerably after proceeding a few he found one apparently suitable for the purpose on a boat to sound the entrance two large filled with indians issued forth to oppose their landing but from such a distance as to fall short of the not wishing to proceed to any act of hostility that might prevent future intercourse ordered the boat to return on board and finding there was sufficient depth of water for his ship entered and in the harbour immediately the whole beach was covered with indians painted with a variety of colours but chiefly black some partly clothed with palm leaves and all wearing and of gay feathers unlike the hospitable of and these appeared to partake of the warlike character of the the hostility their at the ships and making the shores with their and war the admiral reflected that further forbearance might mistaken for cowardice it was necessary to his ship and to send men on shore for a supply of water but previously it was to strike an awe into the savages that might prevent any from them as the could not approach sufficiently near to the beach where the indians were collected he the boats wed c and armed these close to the shore l wm of arrows firom their by which several indians were wounded and the rest thrown into the then sprang on shore and put the whole multitude to flight giving another discharge of their life and voyages op and letting loose upon them a dog who pursued ith fury this is the first instance of the use of dogs against the natives which afterwards employed with such cruel effect by the in their indian wars now landed and took formal possession of the island to which he gave the name of but it has retained its original indian name of the harbour from its he called it was form of a horse shoe and had a river in its during the rest of the day the neighbourhood remained silent and deserted on the following however before sunrise six indians were seen on the shore making signs of they proved to be sent by the ca with of and friendship these were cordially by the admiral presents of were sent to the and in a little while the harbour again with the naked and painted multitude bringing abundance of similar in kind but superior in quality to those of the other islands during three days that the ships remained in this the most intercourse was kept up with the natives they appeared to be more ingenious as well as more wa than their neighbours of and their were better constructed being ornamented with carving and painting at the bow and stern many were of great size though formed from the trunks of single trees often from a species of the mahogany de los cap t sup measured one which was ninety six feet long and eight broad out of one of those magnificent trees which rise like towers amidst the rich forests of the every himself on possessing a large of the kind which he seemed to regard as his ship of state it is curious to remark the apparently innate difference between these island tribes the natives of though surrounded by adjacent islands and subject to frequent oc the were yet of a pacific character and possessed very separated by distance firom intercourse with other islands protected in the same way from the dangers of invasion and a it were in a peaceful sea was inhabited by a warlike race and surpassed all the other islands in its his ship being repaired and a supply of water taken in made sail and continued along the coast to the westward so close to the shore that the little was continually surrounded by the of the natives who came off firom every bay and river | 48 |
course the day died away at sunset in the west heavy clouds gathered with the approach of evening sending forth sheets of lightning and of thunder and menacing a furious tempest s the moon rose the whole mass broke part melting in a shower of rain and part dispersed by a breeze which sprang up from the land there was much in the character of the surrounding scenery to favour the idea of that he was in the as the ships glided along the smooth and which separated these islands the magnificence of their vegetation the soft which were from flowers and blossoms and shrubs and the splendid of the scarlet or rather which in the meadows and of other tropical birds which fluttered among the groves resembled what is described of oriental i life and voyages of these were generally they foimd a considerable village oa one of the largest where they on the d of may the houses were by their inhabitants who appeared to depend principally on the sea their large quantities of fish were found in their dwellings and the adjacent shore was covered with the shells of there were also and scarlet and numbers of dumb dogs which it was afterwards found they as an article of food to this the admiral gave the name of in the course of his voyage among these islands beheld one day a number of the natives in a on the still surface of one of the channels occupied in fishing and was struck with the singular means they employed they had a small fish the flat head of which was furnished with numerous by which it attached itself firmly to any object as to be torn in pieces rather than abandon its hold tying a line of great length to the tail of this fish the indians permitted t to swim at large it generally kept near the surface of the water until it perceived its prey when darting down swiftly it attached itself by the to the throat of the fish or to the under shell of a nor did it its pi ey until both were drawn up by the and taken out of the water in this way the witnessed the taking of a t of immense size and that he himself saw a caught in this on the coast of the fact has been by the accounts of various and the same mode of fishing is said to be employed on the eastern coast of africa at and at thus it has been observed savage people who have never held with each other offer the most striking in modes of their empire over animals these came on board of the ships in a frank fearless manner they furnished the a sup of fish and would cheerfully have given them every thing they possessed to the admiral s inquiries concerning the geography of these parts they said that the sea was full of islands to the south and to the west but as to it running to the westward without any termination having himself from this stood for a part of the island of about fourteen distant where he landed at a large village on the of june here he was received with that kindness and which distinguished the inhabitants of whom he above all the other for their and pacific character their very animals he said were as well as larger and better than those of other islands among the various of food which the natives brought with joyful alacrity from all parts to were stock of uncommon size and perceiving something peculiar in their taste ordered the crops of several newly killed to be opened in which were found sweet favourable indications of the productions of the country while the of the boats were water and provisions sought to gather information from the venerable and several of the old men of the village they told that the name of their province was that further on to the westward the sea was again covered with innumerable islands and had but little depth sur pile de t p i f m and voyages of as to none of them ever that it had an end to the westward forty would not suffice to reach to its extremity in fact they considered it interminable they observed however that the admiral would receive more ample information from the inhabitants of an adjacent province which lay towards the west the quick apprehension of was struck with the sound of this name it resembled that of the richest province of the grand on the ocean he made further inquiries concerning this region of and understood the to say that it was inhabited by people who had tails like animals and wore garments to conceal them he recollected that sir john in his account of the remote parts of the east had recorded a story of the same kind as current among certain naked tribes of asia and told by them in ridicule of the garments of their civilized neighbours which they could only conceive useful in concealing some bodily defect he became therefore more confident than ever that by keeping along the coast to the westward he should eventually arrive at the civilized of asia he flattered himself with the hopes of finding in this region of the rich province of and in its people with tails and garments the long inhabitants of the empire of f de los cap u a f chapter iv of the southern side of animated by pleading of his ardent pursued his voyage with a prosperous breeze along the supposed continent of asia he was now opposite to that part of the southern side of where for nearly thirty five the by banks and islands to his left was the broad and open sea whose dark blue colour gave token of ample depth to his right extended the | 48 |
richly wooded province of gradually sweeping up into a range of interior mountains the coast watered by innumerable streams and studded with indian villages the appearance of the ships spread wonder and joy along the the natives hailed with the arrival on their shores of these wonderful beings whose fame had more or less throughout the island and who brought with them the blessings of the skies they came off swimming or in their to the fruits and productions of the land and regarded the white men almost with adoration after the usual evening shower when the breeze blew from the shore and brought off the sweetness of tlie land it bore with it also the distant songs of the natives and the sound of their rude music as they were probably with their national and dances the vol ii of island to the last place at which he touched in he gave the name of the of or fair ther on account of the wind which blew for just as he was about sailing a young indian came off to the ship and begged that the would take him with them to their country he was followed by his relatives and friends who endeavoured by the most affecting to him from his purpose for some time he was distracted between for the distress of his family and an ardent desire to see the home of these wonderful strangers which his imagination pictured as a region of celestial delights curiosity and the youthful to prevailed he tore himself from the embraces of his friends and that he might not behold the tears of his sisters hid himself in a secret part of the ship touch ed by this scene of natural and pleased with the and confiding spirit of the youth gave orders that he should be treated with especial kind it would have been interesting to known more of the fortunes of this curious and of the impressions made upon so lively a mind by a first sight of the wonders of whether the land of the white men equalled ins hopes whether as is usual with savages he amidst the of cities for his native forests and whether he ever returned to the arms of his family the early spanish seem never to have interested them selves in the feelings or fortunes of these first from the new world to the old no further mention is made of this youthful adventurer cap i s i chapter iii s turn to among the the queen s garden m t setting sail from tbe of th r once more for the island of and on the th of may arrived at a great cape to hich gave tbe name of de la c ue which it here landing at a large village he was received and entertained by the and his subjects who had long since heard of himself and his ships in fact found from the report of this that the numerous indians who had visited his his along the northern in his first voyage had spread the far and near of these wonderful who had descended from the sky and had filled the whole island with and astonishment the admiral endeavoured to ascertain from this and his people whether was an island or a continent they all replied that it was an island but of infinite extent for they that no one had ever seen end of it this reply while it their ignorance of tbe nature of a continent left tbe question still in and obscurity tbe indian province of was cure los c i life and voyages of under the guidance of this now to penetrate this little working way with great caution toil and peril among the narrow channels which separated t e sand banks and islands and getting at length he reached a low point of to which he gave the name of point the coast swept off to the east forming so deep a bay that he could not see the land at the bottom of it to die however there were mountains afar off and the space was clear and open the in sight to the south and west a description with that of the great bay of now for these mountains with a fair wind and three of water and on th following day on the coast a beautiful grove of palm trees here a party was sent on shore for wood water and found two living springs in the midst of the grove while they were employed cutting wood and filling their water an strayed into the forest with his in search of game but soon returned flying with great terror and calling loudly for aid upon his comrades he declared that he had not proceeded far when he suddenly through an opening a man in a long white dress so like a of the order of st mary of mercy that at first sight he took him for the of the admiral two others followed in white reaching to their knees and the three were of as fair as behind these appeared many more to the number of thirty armed with clubs and they made no signs of hostility but remained quiet the man in the long white dress alone advancing to him but he was so alarmed at their number that he had fled to seek the aid of his companions the party all hurried to the ships entering among these islands therefore soon became entangled in the most perplexed in which he was exposed to continual perils and difficulties from sand banks counter currents and sunken rocks the ships were obliged in a manner to their way with men stationed at the mast bead and the lead continually going sometimes they were obliged to shift their course within the hour to all points of the compass sometimes they were in a narrow | 48 |
channel where it was necessary to lower all sail and tow the vessels out lest they should run notwithstanding all which precautions they frequently touched upon sand banks and were with great difficulty the of the weather added to the ass ments of the though after a little while it began to assume some method in its very in the morning the wind rose in the east with the sun and following his course the day died away at sunset in the west heavy clouds gathered with the approach of evening sending forth sheets of lightning and of thunder and menacing a furious tempest bu as the moon rose the mass broke f part melting in a shower of rain and part dispersed by a breeze which sprang up from the land there was much in the character of the surrounding scenery to favour the idea of that he was in the as the ships glided along the smooth and which separated these islands the magnificence of their vegetation the soft which were from flowers and blossoms and shrubs and the splendid of the scarlet or rather which in the meadows and of other tropical birds which fluttered among the groves resembled what is described of oriental t of island to the last place at which he touched in he gave the name of the of or fair weather on account of the wind which blew for just as he was about sailing a young indian came off to the ship and begged that the would take him with them to their country he was followed by hia and friends who endeavoured by the most affecting to him from his purpose for some time he was distracted between for the distress of his family and an ardent desire to see the home of these wonderful strangers which his imagination pictured as a region of celestial delights curiosity and the youthful to prevailed he tore himself from the em of his friends and that he might not behold the tears of his sisters hid himself in a secret part of the ship touch ed by this scene of natural and pleased with the and confiding spirit of the youth gave orders that he should be treated with especial kind it would been interesting to save known more of the fortunes of this curious and of the im made upon so lively a mind by a first sight of the wonders of whether the land of the white men equalled ins hopes whether as is usual with savages be amidst the of cities for his native forests and whether he ever returned to the arms of his family the early spanish seem never to have interested them selves in the feelings or fortunes of these first from the new world to the old no further mention is made of this youthful adventurer cap i chapter iii s turn to among the the queen s garden setting sail from tbe of the i once more for the island of and on the th of may arrived at a great cape to hich gave tbe name of de la c ue which it mill here landing at a large village he was received and by the and his subjects who had long since heard of himself and his ships in fact found from the report of this that the numerous indians who had visited his his along the northern ist t in his first voyage had spread tbe far and near f these wonderful who had descended from the sky and had filled the whole island with and astonishment the admiral endeavoured to ascertain from this and his people whether was an island or a continent they all replied l at it was an island but of infinite extent for they that no one had ever seen end of it this reply while it their ignorance of the nature of a continent left tbe question still in doubt and obscurity tbe indian name cf province of was cure los c life and voyages of his course to the west on the following day came to where the coast suddenly swept away to the for many and then curved round again to the west forming an immense bay or rather gulf here he was assailed by a violent storm accompanied by awful thunder and lightning which in these seem to the very heavens fortunately the storm was not of long duration or his situation would have been perilous in the extreme for he found the rendered difficult by numerous keys and sand banks these increased as he advanced until the stationed at the mast head beheld the sea as far as the eye could reach completely studded with small islands some of them were low naked and sandy others covered with and others with lofty and beautiful forests they were of various sizes from one to four and were generally the more fertile and elevated the nearer they were to them to increase in number so as to render it impossible to give names to each tbe admiral gave this whole of islands which in a manner the face of the ocean with the name of the queen s garden he thought at first of leaving this on his right and standing further out to sea but he called to mind that sir john and had mentioned that the coast of asia was fringed with islands to the amount of several thousands he persuaded himself that he was among that cluster ind resolved not to lose sight of the main land by following which if it were really asia he must soon arrive at the of the grand keys from rocks which occasionally form small islands on the of america entering among these islands therefore soon became entangled in the most perplexed in which he was exposed to continual perils and difficulties from sand | 48 |
banks counter currents and sunken rocks the ships were obliged in a manner to their way with men stationed at the mast head and the lead continually going sometimes they were obliged to shift their course within the hour to all points of the compass sometimes they were in a narrow channel where it was necessary to lower all sail and tow the vessels out lest they should run notwithstanding all which precautions they frequently touched upon sand banks and were with great difficulty the of the weather added to the ments of the though after a little while it began to assume some method in its very in the morning the wind rose in the east with the sun and following his course the day died away at sunset in the west heavy clouds gathered with the approach of evening sending forth sheets of lightning and of thunder and menacing a furious tempest bu as the moon rose the e mass broke part melting in a shower of rain and part dispersed by a breeze which sprang up from the land there was much in the character of the surrounding scenery to favour the idea of that he was in the as the ships glided along the smooth and which separated these islands the magnificence of their vegetation the soft which were from flowers and blossoms and shrubs and the splendid of the scarlet or rather which in the meadows and of other tropical birds which fluttered among the groves resembled what is described of oriental life and voyages of in their groping along the sl of and after having thus the globe his adventurous sails at the pillars of the ne of the ancient world such was the soaring meditation of as recorded by one of his intimate associates nor is there anything surprising in his ignorance of the real magnitude of our globe the mechanical of a known part of its circle has rendered its a fact in our day but in his time it still remained a problem with the philosophers de los cap ms t f have never held communication with each other offer the most striking in their modes of their empire over animals these came on board of the ships in a frank fearless manner they furnished tl a of fish and would have given them every they possessed to the admiral s inquiries concerning the geography of these parts they said that the sea was full of islands to the south and to the west but as to it continued running to the westward without any termination having himself from this stood for a part of the island of about fourteen distant where he landed at a large village on the d of june here he was received with that kindness and which distinguished the inhabitants of whom he above all the other for their and pacific character their very animals he said were as well as larger and better than those of the other islands among the various articles of food which the natives brought with joyful alacrity from all parts to ae were stock of uncommon size and perceiving something peculiar in their taste ordered the crops of several newly killed to be opened in which were found sweet favourable indications of the productions of the country while the of the boats were water and provisions sought to gather information from the venerable and several of the old men of the village they told that the name of their province was that further on to the westward the sea was again covered with innumerable islands and had but little depth sur i de t p of island to the last place at which he touched in he gave the name of the of or fair ther on account of the wind which blew for just as he was about sailing a young indian came off to the ship and begged that the would take him with them to their country he was followed by his and friends who endeavoured by the most affecting to him from his purpose for some time he was distracted between concern for the of his family and an ardent desire to see the home of these wonderful strangers which his imagination pictured as a region of celestial delights curiosity and the youthful to prevailed he tore himself from the embraces of his friends and that he might not behold the tears of his sisters hid himself in a secret part of the ship touch ed by this scene of natural and pleased with the and confiding spirit of the youth gave orders that he should be treated with especial kind it would have been interesting to save known more of the fortunes of this curious and of the impressions made upon so lively a mind by a first sight of the wonders of whether the land of the white men equalled ins hopes whether as is usual with savages be amidst the of cities for his native forests and whether he ever returned to the arms of his family the early spanish seem never to have interested them selves in the feelings or fortunes of these first from the new world to the old no further mention is made of this youthful adventurer cap i i chapter iii s turn to among the the queen s garden setting sail from the of the f once more for the island of and on the th of may arrived at a great cape to hich gave the name of de la c ue which it mill here landing at a large village he was received and by the and his subjects who had long since heard of himself and his ships in fact found from the report of this that the indians who had visited his his along the northern in his first voyage had spread the far and near f these wonderful | 48 |
every thing they possessed to the admiral s inquiries concerning the geography of these parts they said that the sea was full of islands to the south and to the west but as to it continued running to the westward without any termination having himself from this stood for a part of the island of about fourteen distant where he landed at a large village on the d of june here he was received with that kindness and which distinguished the inhabitants of whom he above all the other for their and pacific character their very animals he were as well as larger and better than those of the other islands among the various articles of food which the natives brought with joyful alacrity from all parts to were stock of uncommon size and perceiving something peculiar in their taste ordered the crops of several newly killed to be opened in which were found sweet favourable indications of the productions of the country while the of the boats were water and provisions sought to gather information fi om the venerable and several of the old men of the village they told him that the name of their province was that further on to the westward the sea was again covered with innumerable islands and had but little depth sur pile de t p life and e of which had most struck his mind in the country of the white men the splendid cities the vast churches the troops of the great animals of various kinds the and of the court the glittering armies and above all the fights indians all listened in mute amazement but the old man was particularly excited he was of a curious and wandering disposition and had a great having according to his account visited and and the remote parts of a sudden desire now seized hun to behold the glorious country described and old as he was he offered to with the admiral his wife and children however beset him with such and that he was obliged to abandon the intention though he did it with great reluctance asking repeatedly if the land they spoke of were not heaven for it seemed to him impossible that earth could produce such cap f peter martyr h ij vi voyage along the south side of v remained for several days at anchor in the river to which from the solemn mass performed on its he gave the name of de la at length on the th of july he took leave of the friendly and his ancient who beheld his departure with sorrowful countenances he took one young indian with him from this place afterwards sent to the spanish sovereigns leaving to the left the great cluster of islands which he had named the queen s garden he south for the broad sea and deep blue water until having a free he could stand eastward for he had scarcely got clear of the islands however when he was assailed by furious of wind and rain which for two days his crazy vessels and harassed his at length as he approached cape a violent struck the ships and nearly threw them on their beam ends fortunately they were able to take in sail immediately and letting go their largest they rode out the transient gale the admiral s ship was so strained by the injuries received among the islands that she at every and the utmost exertions of the weary crew could not prevent the water from gaining on her at length they were enabled to reach cape where they on the life and voyages op th of july and remained three days receiving the same hospitable from the natives which they had experienced on their former visit the wind continuing for the return to on the d of july stood across for to complete the of that island for nearly a month he continued beating to the eastward along its coast just such winds and evening showers as had prevailed along the shores of every evening he was obliged to anchor under the land often at nearly the same place from whence he had sailed in the morning the natives m longer manifested hostility but followed the in their bringing supplies of provisions was so much delighted with the freshness and of this noble island that had the state of his vessels and permitted he would gladly have remained to e the interior he spoke with admiration of its frequent and excellent but was particularly pleased with a great bay containing seven and surrounded by numerous villages here one evening he was visited by a who resided in a large village situated on an eminence of the and most fertile of the islands he came attended by a numerous bearing various his manifested great curiosity in his inquiries concerning the their ships and the region from whence they came the admiral made his customary reply setting forth the great power but the intentions of the spanish sovereigns the again enlarged upon the wonders he had beheld in spain the of the from the description this must be the great bay east of port point at the bottom of which is old harbour i r the countries they had visited and and above their having made on the islands of the their formidable inhabitants and carried several of them into to these accounts the and his followers remained listening in profound attention until the night was advanced the next morning the ships were under way and standing along the coast with a light wind and easy sail when they beheld three issuing from among the islands of the bay they approached in regular order one which was very large and handsomely carved and painted was in the centre a little in advance of the two others which ap to attend and guard it in this was seated the and his family consisting | 48 |
of his wife two daughters mo sons and five brothers one of the daughters was eighteen years of age beautiful in form and countenance her sister was somewhat younger both were naked according to the of these islands but were of modest in die of the stood the standard bearer of the clad in a kind of mantle of feathers with a of gay on his head and bearing in his hand a fluttering white banner two indians with caps or of feathers of a similar form and colour and their faces painted in a similar manner beat upon two others hats curiously wrought of green feathers held trumpets of a fine black wood carved and there were fix others in large hats of white feathers who appeared to be guards to the this gallant little having arrived along side of the admiral s ship the entered on board with all his train he appeared in all his around his head was a band of small stones of various colours but principally green arranged with large white stones at in t life and voyages of and connected in front by a large jewel of gold two plates of gold were suspended to his ears bj rings of very small green stones to a of white beads of a kind deemed precious by them was suspended a large plate in the form of a de of an inferior species of gold and a of stones similar to those round his head completed his his wife was adorned in a similar manner having also a very small apron of cotton and bands of the same round her arms and legs the daughters were without ornaments excepting the eldest and who had a of small black stones from which was suspended a the size of an ivy leaf composed of various stones embroidered on of cotton when the entered on board of the ship he distributed presents of the productions of his island among the officers and men the admiral was at this time in his cabin engaged in his morning when he appeared on deck the hastened to meet him with an countenance my friend said he i have determined to leave my country and to accompany thee i have heard from these indians who are with thee of the irresistible power of thy sovereigns and of the many nations thou hast subdued in their name whoever refuses obedience to thee is sure to suffer thou hast destroyed the and dwellings of the their warriors and carrying into their wives and children all the islands are in dread of thee for who can withstand thee now that thou the secrets of the land and the weakness of the people rather therefore than thou take away my will with all my household in thy ships and will go to do homage to thy king and queen and to be hold their marvellous country of which thy indians relate such wonders wh ti s speech was explained to and he beheld the wife the sons and daughters of the and thought upon the ills to which their ignorance and simplicity would be exposed he was touched with compassion and determined not to take them from their native land he replied to the therefore that he received him under his protection as a of his sovereigns but having many lands yet to visit before he returned to his country he would call another time and fulfil his desire then taking leave with many expressions of the with his wife and daughters and all his re embarked in the returning reluctantly to their island and the ships continued on their course hitherto in this voyage of along the coast i have been guided principally by the manuscript hi of the of los his account is the satisfactory as to names dates and and contains f particulars not inserted in any other history his sources of information were of the highest kind was his guest his return to spain in and with him manuscript journals and from these he made them with the letters of and other persons of note who had accompanied the admiral i have examined two copies of the ms of the de los both in the possession of mr o rich one written iu an ancient handwriting of the early part of the th century from the other but only in one or two trivial particulars life and voyages of chapter voyage along the south side of and return to on the i tb of august lost of the eastern extremity of to which he gave the name of cape at present called eastward he beheld on the following day that long of known by the name of cape but to which he gave the name of cape san he was not aware that it was a part of the island of along the southern side a came off on the d of august and called him by his title addressing him with several words of the sound of these words spread joy through the ship and the weary heard with delight that they were on the southern coast of they had still however many days before them the weather was boisterous the wind contrary and capricious and the ships were separated from each other about the end of august at a small island or rather rock which rises singly out of the sea opposite to a long cape stretching southward from the centre of the island to which he gave the name of cape the rock at which he had the appearance at a distance of a tall ship under sail from which f a the admiral called it several were r ordered to climb to the top of the island which commanded a great extent of ocean and to look out for the other ships of them wa to be seen on their return the killed eight sea wolves which were | 48 |
sleeping on the sands they also knocked down many and other birds with sticks and took others with the hand for in this island the animals seemed to have none of that and timidity produced by tlie hostility of man being rejoined by the two he continued along the coast passing the beautiful country watered by the of the where a fertile plain covered with villages and groves extended into the interior after proceeding some distance further to the east the admiral learnt from the natives who came off to the ships that several from the settlement had penetrated to their province from all that he could learn from these people every thing appeared to be going on well in the island by the tranquillity of the interior he landed nine men here with orders to the inland and give tidings of his safe arrival on the coast continuing to the eastward he sent a boat on shore for water near a large village in a plain the inhabitants issued forth with bows and arrows to make battle while others were provided with to bind prisoners these were the natives of the eastern province of they were the most warlike people of the island having become to arms from the frequent of the they were said al o to make use of poisoned arrows in the present instance their hostility was but in appearance when the crew landed they threw by their weapons brought various articles of food asked for the admiral whose fame bad spread throughout the island and vol ii life and voyages of in whose justice and all the natives appeared df repose confidence after leaving this place the weather which had so long and began to assume a threatening appearance a huge as large as a moderate sized whale raised itself out t f the water one day having a shell on its neck like that of a two great like wings jf i head the size of a pipe and a tail like that of a fish ji at sight of this fish and at the indications of the clouds d sky anticipated an approaching storm and for some secure harbour he found a channel opening between and a small island called the natives but to which he gave the name of here he took refuge beside a key or in the middle of the channel on the night of his ar rival there was an of the moon and taking an ob s he found the difference of between ij and to be five hours and twenty three is upwards of eighteen degrees more than the true an error which must have resulted from the of his table of for eight days the admiral s ship remained weather bound in this channel during which time he suffered great anxiety for the fate of the other vessels which had not been able to enter but remained at sea exposed to the violence of the storm they escaped however and once more rejoined him when the weather had ind c cap i sup sup j h m are equal to o whereas the true is y west of leaving channel of they reached on the th of september the eastern extremity of to gave the of cape san at present known as cape o from they stood to the k touching at the island or as the indians called it situated between and it was the intention of notwithstanding the condition of his ships to continue further eastward and i to complete the discovery of the islands but his forces did not correspond to the efforts of his lofty spirit the extraordinary which he had suffered both in j d aud body during an anxious and voyage of five months had secretly upon his frame he had shared in all the hardships and of the commonest s man he had put upon the same scanty allow ance and exposed himself to the same of wind and weather but he had other cares and trials from which his were when the sailor worn out the of his watch slept soundly amidst the howling of the the anxious commander maintained his through long sleepless nights amidst the of the tempest and the of the sea the of his ships depended upon his but all he felt that a jealous nation and an expecting world were anxiously attending the result of his during a eat part of the present voyage he had been excited by the constant hope of soon arriving at the known parts of india and by the anticipation of a triumphant re spain through the regions of the east after the globe when disappointed in this expectation he was yet stimulated by a conflict with incessant hard n l c z life and voyages c f ships and perils as he made his way back against contrary winds and storms the moment he was relieved from all solicitude and beheld himself in a known and tranquil sea the excitement suddenly ceased and mind and body sunk exhausted by almost exertions the very day on which he sailed from he was struck with a malady which deprived him of memory of sight and all his faculties he fell into a deep resembling death itself his crew alarmed at this profound feared that death was really at hand they abandoned therefore all further of the voyage and spreading their sails to the east wind so in those seas they bore back in a state of complete to the harbour of j and of book viii chapter i arrival of the admiral at character of the sight of the little of standing once more into the harbour was hailed with joy by such of the inhabitants of as remained faithful to him the long time that had elapsed since his departure on this exploring | 48 |
voyage without any tidings arriving from him h d given rise to the most serious apprehensions for his safety and it began to be feared that he had fallen a victim to his spirit in some remote of these unknown a joyful and surprise awaited the admiral on bis arrival in finding at his bed side his brother the companion of his youth his confidential and in a manner his second self firom whom he had been separated for several years it will be recollected that about life and voyages of the time of the departure from he had to repair to england and propose his project of discovery to king henry vii of this application to the english court no precise particulars are known states that his uncle in the course of his voyage was captured and by a and reduced to such poverty that he had for a long time to struggle for a mere by making sea so that some years elapsed before he made his application to the english monarch thinks that he did not immediately proceed to england having found a in his handwriting by which it would appear that he accompanied in in his voyage along the coast of in the service of the king of in the course of which voyage was discovered the cape of good hope the by is curious though not he says that he found it in an old book belonging to containing the works of de a learned and it was written in the margin of a on the form of the globe in the handwriting of which was well known to as r he bad many of his letters in his possession the was in a barbarous mixture of latin and spanish and to the following effect in the year in december arrived at captain of three which the king of sent to discover guinea and brought accounts that he had discovered six hundred of territory four and to the south and one hundred and north to a cape named by him the cape of good hope and that by the he found the cape degrees beyond the line this cape was distant from the which the said captain says b it is but justice to the memory of vii to say that when the proposition was eventually mad to him it met with a more ready attention than from any other sovereign an was actually made with for the of the and the latter departed for spain in search of his brother on reaching paris he first received the joyful intelligence that the discovery was already made that his brother had returned to spain in triumph and was actually at the spanish court honoured by the sovereigns by the nobility and d by the people the glory of already shed its rays upon his family and found immediately a person of importance he was noticed by the french monarch charles viii who understanding that he was low in purse furnished him with one hundred crowns to the expenses of his journey to spain he reached just as his brother had departed on his second voyage bar immediately repaired to the court then at i f y he set down league by league in a of presented to the king of in all which adds the writer i was pre sent i s a doubt whether wrote this note for himself or on the part of his brother that one or both were in this expedition the may be correct with respect to but at the time was at the court accounts for a in date between the foregoing and the of the voyage the former making the return of in the year s the latter this be might be because some begin to count the year after christmas others at the first of january and the expedition sailed about the end of august and returned in december after an absence of seventeen months st f life and voyages of the time oi the admiral s departure from he had to to england and propose his project of discovery to king henry vii of this application to the english court no precise particulars are known states that his uncle in the course of his voyage was captured and by a and reduced to such poverty that he had for a long time to struggle for a mere by making sea so that some years elapsed before he made his application to the english monarch thinks that he did not immediately proceed to england having found a in his handwriting by which it would appear that he accompanied in in his voyage along the coast of africa in the service of the king of in the course of which voyage was discovered the cape of good hope the by is curious though not he says that he found it in an old book belonging to containing the works of de a learned and it was written in the margin of a on the form df the globe in the handwriting of which was well known to aa as he had many of letters in his possession the was in a barbarous mixture of latin and spanish and to the effect in the year in december arrived at captain of three which the king of sent to discover guinea and brought accounts that he had discovered six hundred of territory four hundred and to the south and one hundred and north to a cape named by him the cape of good hope and that by the he found the cape degrees beyond the line this cape was distant from the which the said captain says i it is but justice to the memory of vii to say that when the proposition was eventually mad to him it met with a more ready attention than from any other sovereign an was actually made with | 48 |
for the of the and the latter departed for spain in search of his brother on reaching paris he first received the joyful intelligence that the discovery was id ready made that his brother had returned to spain in triumph and was actually at the spanish court honoured by the sovereigns by the nobility and d by the people the glory of already shed its rays upon his family and found immediately a person of importance he was noticed by the french monarch charles viii who understanding that he was low in purse furnished him with one hundred crowns to the expenses of his journey to spain he reached just as his brother had departed on his second voyage immediately repaired to the court then at set down league by league in a of presented to the king of in all which adds the writer i was pre sent s a doubt whether wrote this note for himself or on the part of his brother that one or both were in this expedition the may be correct with respect to but at the time was at the court accounts for a difference in date between the foregoing and the the the former making the return of in the year s the latter this he might be because some begin to count the year after others at the first of january and the expedition sailed about the end of august and returned in december after an absence of seventeen months i r life and voyages of the time ol the admiral s departure from he had to repair to england and propose his project of discovery to king henry vii of this application to the english court no precise particulars are known states that his uncle in the course of his voyage was captured and by a and reduced to such poverty that he had for a long time to struggle for a mere by making sea so that some years elapsed before he made his application to the english monarch thinks that he did not immediately proceed to england having found a in his handwriting by which it would appear that he accompanied in in his voyage along the coast of africa in the service of the king of in the course of which voyage was discovered the cape of good hope the by is curious though not he says that he found it in an old book belonging to containing the works of de a learned and it was written in the margin of a on the form of the globe in the handwriting of which was well known to as he had many of letters in his possession the was in a barbarous mixture of latin and spanish and to the ua effect in the year in december arrived at captain of three which the king of sent to discover guinea and brought accounts that he bad discovered six hundred of territory four hundred and to the south and one hundred and north to a cape named by him the cape of good hope and that by the he found the cape degrees beyond the line this cape was distant from the which the said captain says it is but justice to the memory of vii to say th at the proposition was eventually mad to him it met with a more ready attention than from any other sovereign an was actually made with for the of the and the latter departed for spain in search of his brother on reaching paris he first received the joyful intelligence that the discovery was made that his brother had returned to spain in and was actually at the spanish court honoured by the sovereigns by the nobility and d by the people the glory of already shed its rays upon his family and found him immediately a person of importance he was noticed by the french monarch charles viii who understanding that he was low in purse furnished him with one hundred crowns to the expenses of his journey to spain he reached just as his brother had departed on his second voyage bar immediately repaired to the court then at he set down league by league in a of presented to the king of in all which adds the writer i was pre sent q s a doubt whether wrote this note for himself or on the part of his brother that one or both were in this expedition the may be correct with respect to but at the time was at the court accounts for a in date between the foregoing and the of the voyage the former making the return of in the year s the latter this be might be because some begin to count the year after others at the first of january and the expedition sailed about the end of august and returned in december after an absence of seventeen months life voyages of taking with him his two and w m were to serve in quality of pages to prince he was received with distinguished favour by the sovereigns who finding him to be an able and accomplished gave him the command of three ships with sup for the colony and sent him to aid his brother in his he had again arrived too late reaching just after the f the admiral for the coast of the sight of this brother was an relief to overwhelmed as he was by cares and surrounded by strangers his chief dependence for sympathy and assistance had hitherto been on his brother don but his mild and disposition rendered him little capable of managing the concerns of a colony was of a different and more efficient character he was prompt active decided and of a fearless spirit whatever be determined he carried into instant execution with out regard to difficulty or danger his person to his mind it was | 48 |
tall muscular vigorous and commanding he had an sur of great authority but somewhat stern wanting that sweetness and which tempered the of the admiral indeed there was a certain in his temper and a and in his manners which made him many enemies yet notwithstanding these external defects he was of a generous disposition free from all or and as as he was brave he was a thorough seaman understanding both the theory and practice of his profession having been formed in a great measure under the eye of the admiral and being but cap i bv little o fa m in s was ta i the exercise of uie according to i as bi l letters and of b in de wa with x but dot appear to ii ve educated bis knowledge like tbat bis chiefly derived from a long course of va e per ence ap attentive equally vigorous find g w intellect with the admiral but less enthusiastic in spirit ai soaring in and wa less simplicity of he surpassed him in the subtle and was attentive to his s and had i ore that worldly which is so important in the of life his genius might never have l tp the sublime speculation ended in the discovery of world but his practical sagacity was calculated to turn that discovery to advantage such is the description of as furnished by the venerable from personal observation and it will be found to accord with his actions throughout the remaining history of the admiral in the events of which he takes a conspicuous part anxious to relieve himself from the pressure of public business which weighed heavily upon him during his present malady immediately invested his brother with tlie title and authority of an office equivalent to that of lieutenant governor he considered himself entitled to do so from the articles of his arrangement with the sovereigns but it was looked upon by king as an undue assumption of power and gave great offence to that jealous monarch who was exceedingly of the of the crown and considered of this rank and importance as only to be conferred ind l c vol ii life and voyages of by royal however was not in this appointment by a mere desire to his family he felt the importance of his brother s assistance in the present critical state of the colony but that his assistance would be unless it bore the stamp of high official authority in fact during the few months that he had been absent the whole island had become a scene of discord and in consequence of the neglect or rather the of those rules he had prescribed for the maintenance of its tranquillity a brief of the recent affairs of the colony is here necessary to explain their present confusion it will exhibit one of the many instances in which was doomed to reap the fruits of the evils which had been sown by his ind l c r chapter u op don and his from the island it will be recollected that before departing on his voyage had given command of the a my to don with orders to make a tour of the island and he awed the natives by a display of military force to their good will by the most and treatment the island was at this time divided into five each governed by a sovereign of absolute and hereditary power to whom a great number of inferior yielded the first or most important domain the middle part of the royal it was a rich level country partly cultivated after the imperfect manner of the natives partly covered with noble forests studded with indian towns and watered by numerous rivers many of which rolling down firom the mountains of on its western had gold dust mingled with their sands the name of the was whose ancestors had long ruled over the province the second called was under the sway of on whose coast had been wrecked in lis first voyage it was a large and fertile territory extending along the northern coast firom cape san at the m life an of western extremity of the island to the great river afterwards called and including the northern part of the royal since called the plain of cape the third bore the name of and was under the dominion of the the most fierce and of the savage and the enemy of the white men in this domain were included the gold of the fourth took its name ua a large lake and was the most and extensive of all it ae whole w es t er n the hm of f and extended fer a considerable distance tl e side of the the inhabitants we e nobler air a a m and and gi than the natives of the other parts of the island the sovereign was named his celebrated die island and was the wife of the during the fifth d was and occupied the whole eastern of the island being bounded on the north by die river and on the south by the the were the most active and warlike people of the having learnt the use of the bow and arrow from the who made frequent upon their they were said also to make use of poisoned weapons their bravery however was but comparative and was found eventually of but little proof against the terror of european arms they were governed by a named h t st l p were the five of the island at the ti me of its very the amount of its population has never been clearly some have stated it at a of though this is considered an exaggeration it must however have been very numerous and sufficient in case of any general hostility to tlie safety of the handful of trusted for safety partly to the awe inspired by | 48 |
the weapons and horses of the and the idea of their nature chiefly to the measures he had taken to the good will of the indians by gentle and beneficent treatment set forth on his expedition the greater part of the forces leaving de in command of the fortress of st thomas instead however of by exploring the rough mountains of as he had been commanded he drew down into the rich of the here he lingered among the and hospitable indian villa s forgetful of the object of his command and of the instructions left him by the admiral a com who from duty himself and to the in of his passions is but little calculated to enforce discipline in others the of were by his followers and his army soon became little better than a crew of the for a time supplied them with provisions with their hospitality but the scanty stores of those and people were soon exhausted by the one of whom they declared would more in a day would support an indian for a month if provisions were withheld or furnished they were taken with violence nor was any compensation given to the natives nor st l p and voyages of means taken to soothe their irritation the for gold also led to a thousand acts of injustice and oppression but above all the outraged the dearest feelings of the natives by their conduct with respect to the women in fact instead of guests they soon assumed the tone ts imperious masters instead of enlightened became sordid and tidings of these and of the disgust and impatience that they were awakening among the natives soon reached don with the of the council he wrote to his conduct and him to proceed on the military tour according to the commands of the admiral the pride of took fire at this reproof he considered or rather pretended to consider himself independent in his command and above all responsibility to the council for his conduct being an ancient family also and a favourite of the king he to look down with contempt upon the newly coin ed nobility of his letters in reply to the orders of the president and council were in a tone or of military defiance he con with his followers in the in a course of and fatal to the tranquil t of the island he was supported in his defiance of authority by the and of noble birth who were in the colony and who had been deeply wounded in the the proud so guarded by a they could not forget nor forgive the stern exercised by the admiral in a time of emergency in making them submit to the and share the labours of tlie vulgar still less could they brook the authority of his destitute of his high personal claims to distinction they formed therefore a kind in the colony affecting to consider and his family as mere and foreigners building up their own fortunes at the expense of the toils and sufferings of the community and the degradation of spanish and in addition to these had a powerful ally in his fellow father boil the head of the religious one of the members of the council and for the new world it is not easy to ascertain the original cause of the hostility of this holy td the admiral who was never wanting in respect to persons of his cloth various however bad taken place between them some say that the interfered in respect to the strict measures deemed necessary by the admiral the security of the colony others that he resented the fancied offered to himself and his household in putting them on the same short allowance with the people he appears however to have generally dis appointed and disgusted with the sphere of action afforded by the colony and to have looked back with to the old world he had none of that enthusiastic zeal and per e j self devotion which induced so many of the spanish to brave all the hardships and of the new world in the hope of its pagan inhabitants encouraged and fortified by such powerful really began to consider himself above the temporary authorities of the island whenever he came to he took no notice of nor paid any re to the council but acted as if he had b he formed a of the most important of those to and discontented with their in the colony among these the leading personage was it f of father boil it was them to take of the ships which had brought oat don aad to return in them to spain both and boil possessed the favour of the king and they deemed it would be an easy matter to justify their of their military and religious commands by a pretended seal for the public good hurrying home to represent the disastrous state of the colony through the tyranny and of its rulers some have ascribed the abrupt departure of to his fear of a severe military investigation of his conduct on the return of the admiral others to his having contracted a malady in the course of his which was unknown at that to and i attributed to the climate od hoped to cure by assistance in spain whatever may have been the cause his measures were taken with great without any of the proper authorities or any regard to th of bis departure accompanied by a band of he and father took possession of certain of in the harbour and set sail spain the first general and of th new world thus setting i il ant example of of their posts m f chapter iii troubles with the natives de be by w v the departure of left the army without a head and put aa end | 48 |
to what little restraint and discipline remained there is no so as left to their own discretion in a country they now about in bands or according to their caprice scattering themselves among the indian villages and indulging in all kinds of excess e either as prompted by or the at having their hospitality thus refused any longer to furnish them with food in a while the began to experience the pressure of and seized upon provisions wherever they be found ing these with acts of wanton violence at length by a series of the gentle and pacific na ture of this people was roused to resentment and from con iy and hospitable hosts they were converted into enemies all the precautions by having been neglected the evils he had apprehended came to pass though the indians naturally ml not contend with the while they kept up any co and force yet they took on them whenever they met with small parties or ff vol ii ji life and voyages of individuals about in quest of food encouraged by these petty triumphs and the which seemed to attend them their grew more open and alarming of a large town on the banks of the grand river in the of sovereign of the put to death ten who had themselves in his town and outraged it by their he followed up this by setting fire to a house in which forty sick were lodged flushed by this success he with attack a small fortress called which had recently been built in his neighbourhood in the so t the commander de having but a feeble garrison s obliged to remain shut up within its walls until relief arrive from the most formidable enemy of the however was the of the same who bad surprised and the of the fortress at la he bad natural talents for war and intelligence superior to the ordinary range of savage intellect he had a proud and daring spirit to urge him on three brothers to and a numerous tribe at his he had always felt jealous of the intrusion of the white men into the island but when he beheld the fortress of st thomas erected in the very centre of his he was roused to indignation as long as the army lay within call in the he was from any attack but when on the departure of the army became and dispersed the time for striking a signal blow seemed arrived the fortress remained isolated with t ind l c sup a garrison of only fifty men by a sudden and secret movement he might it with his forces and repeat the horrors which he had upon la the however had a kind of enemy to deal with in the commander of st thomas de had been in warfare he was in all kinds of lurking and wild no man was more fitted therefore to cope with indian warriors he had a vehement and headlong courage arising partly from the natural heat and vivacity of his temperament and in a great measure from religious superstition he had been engaged in wars with and indians in public battles and private in fights and of all kinds to which he had been prompted by a rash and fiery spirit and a love of adventure yet he had never been nor had lost a drop of blood he began to doubt whether any weapon had power to harm him and to consider himself under the especial protection of the holy virgin aft a kind of religious he had a small painting of the virgin which had been given him his patron bishop of this he constantly carried with him in camp or field making it the object of his frequent and in garrison or it was suspended in his chamber or his tent in his rough in the wilderness he carried it in his and whenever leisure permitted would take it out fix it against a tree and address to it his prayers in a word he swore by the virgin he the virgin whether in or battle and under favour of the virgin he was ready for any j ind l g cap s life and voyages of prize or adventure and the more and extravagant the better such was this de in his devotion reckless in bis life fearless in his spirit like many of the spanish of those days though in size he was a of strength and and the of the early discoveries relate of his qualities and deeds having the fortress assembled ten thousand warriors armed with war clubs bows and arrows and hardened in the fire and making his way secretly through the forests came suddenly in the neighbourhood expecting to surprise the garrison in a state of careless security he found however drawn up within his tower which being perched upon an almost height with a river nearly surrounding it and the remainder traversed by a deep ditch set at defiance an open attack by naked warriors in his attempt now hoped to reduce it by famine for this purpose he spread his army through the adjacent forests and every pass so as to any supplies brought the natives and to cut ofi any party from the fortress this siege or lasted for thirty days during which time the garrison was reduced to great distress there is a anecdote which relates of the commander of this fortress but which may with more probability be ascribed to de as having occurred during this siege at a time when the garrison was pressed by famine an indian gained access to the fort bringing a couple of wood for the table of the commander the latter was in a chamber of the tower surrounded by p martyr several of his officers seeing them regard the birds with the wistful eyes of men it | 48 |
is a pity said he that here is not enough to us all a meal i cannot consent to fe ist while the rest of you are starving so say ing he turned loose the from a window of the tower daring the siege displayed the greatest activity of spirit and of resources he baffled all the arts of the of various kinds to relieve the garrison and annoy the foe he made desperate whenever the enemy appeared in any force always leading the van with that headlong for which he was noted making great slaughter with his single arm and as usual escaping from amidst showers of and arrows saw many of his warriors laid low his forces were daily for the indians unused to any protracted operations of war grew weary of this siege and began to returning daily in numbers to their homes he gave up all further attempt therefore on the fortress and retired filled with the and achievements of the restless was not discouraged by the failure of this but meditated schemes of a bolder and more extensive nature in secret about the vicinity of he noted the state of the many of the inhabitants were suffering under va and most of the men capable of bearing arms were distributed about the country he now conceived the project of a general league among the to as de c t c life and voyages of their forces and surprise and the settlement and to the wherever they should be found this handful of once he trusted that the island would be delivered from all further of the kind little dreaming of the hopeless nature of this contest and that where the civilized man once plants his foot the power of the savage is gone for ever reports of the conduct of the had spread throughout the island and inspired hatred and hostility even among tribes who had never beheld them nor suffered from their found three of the sovereign inclined to co operate with him though impressed with deep awe of the supernatural power of the and of their terrific arms and animals the league however met with unexpected opposition in the fifth the sovereign of his conduct in this time of danger completely manifested the injustice of those suspicions which had been entertained of him by the he refused to join the other with his forces or to those laws of hospitality by he had considered himself bound to protect and aid the white men ever since they had been on his coast he remained quietly in his entertaining at his own expense a hundred of the suffering and supplying all their wants with his accustomed generosity this conduct drew upon him the and hostility of his fellow particularly of the fierce and his brother in law they made into his and inflicted oh him various injuries and be killed one of his wives and carried another away captive nothing however could shake ie gap ii m g the devotion of to the and as his lay immediately adjacent to the settlement and those of some of the other were very remote the want of his co operation for some time the hostile designs of the such was the critical state to which the affairs of the colony had been reduced and such the bitter hostility among the kind and gentle people of the island during the absence of and precisely in consequence of all his and father boil had hastened to spain to make prejudiced representations of the miseries of the island had they remained faithfully at their posts and discharged the confided to them those miseries might have been easily if not entirely prevented ind l c and voyages of chapter iv measures of to restore the quiet of the island expedition op to surprise immediately after the return of from while he was yet confined to his bed by position he was gratified by a voluntary visit fi this kind hearted manifested the greatest concern at his illness for he appears always to have entertained an reverence for the admiral he again spoke with tears of the at fort dwelling on the exertions he had made in defence of the he now informed of the secret league forming among the of his opposition to it and the consequent persecution he had of the murder of one of his wives and the capture of another he urged the admiral to be on his guard against the designs of and to lead his subjects to the field to fight by the side of the as well out of friendship for them as in revenge of his own injuries had always retained a deep sense of the ancient kindness of and had been unwilling to doubt his faith and he was rejoiced therefore to have ind l c all effectually their former ami cable intercourse was renewed with this difference that the man whom had once soothed and when a stranger on his had suddenly become the of the fate of himself and all his the in which this peaceful island had been and by the conduct of tlie was a matter of deep concern to he aw all his plans of an immediate to the sovereigns completely to restore the island to tranquillity required skilful management his were but small and the awe in which the natives had stood of the white men as supernatural beings had been in some degree he was too ill to take a personal share in any warlike his brother was not of a military and was yet a stranger among the and regarded by the leading ones with jealousy still considered the threatened combination of the as but imperfectly formed he trusted to their want of skill and experience in warfare and conceived that by prompt measures by proceeding in detail some others and force gentleness and he might succeed in the threatened storm | 48 |
his care was to send a body of armed men to the relief of fort with destruction by the of the grand river who had the in his town having relieved the fortress the troops the territory of killing many of his warriors and carrying others off captive the himself made his escape he was l c vol ii t life and voyages of to the sovereign of the as this indian prince reigned over a great and extent of country his friendship was highly important to the prosperity of the colony while there was imminent risk of his hostility from the of the who had been in different parts of his sent for him therefore and explained to him that these had been in of his orders and contrary to his good intentions towards the natives whom it was his wish in every way to please and benefit he explained likewise that the expedition against was an act of mere individual punishment not of hostility the of the was of a quiet and disposition and whatever anger he might have felt was easily soothed to link him in some degree to the spanish interest prevailed on him to give his daughter in marriage to an indian native of the islands who had been to and had been in with the name of he took a still stronger precaution to guard any hostility on the part of the and to tranquillity in the important region of the he ordered a fortress to be erected in the midst of his which he named fort conception the easy agreed without hesitation to a measure with ruin to himself and future slavery to his subjects p martyr l n b r in his of has been led into ao by the name of this indian and that had a brother named of whom he to be ashamed and whom he married to the daughter of an indian chief v ll he most formidable enemy remained to be disposed of the warlike spirit of the island the active and ing enemy of white men and who from superior notions of policy was capable of forming dangerous and his lay in the central parts of the island rendered difficult of access by rugged rocks entangled forests and frequent rivers to make war upon this subtle and in the depths of his wild territory and among the of his mountains where at every step there would be danger of falling into some sudden would be a work of time peril and in the mean while die would never be secure from his secret and daring and the working of the mines would be subject to frequent interruption while perplexed on this subject was relieved by a bold proposition on the part of de who offered to take the by and deliver him alive into his hands the project was wild and romantic characteristic of the fearless and adventurous spirit of who was fond of himself by extravagant exploits as has been shown in his singular feat on the of choosing ten bold and hardy followers well armed and well mounted and the protection of his the virgin whose image as usual he bore with him as a plunged into the forest and made his way above sixty at the head of his followers into the wild of where he found the in one of his most towns approached with great deference and respect treating him as a sovereign prince he informed him that he had come on a friendly from the admiral who was or chief of die and who had sent him an invaluable present life voyages of had tried in battle he had witnessed his fiery and had conceived a warrior s admiration of him he received him with a degree of courtesy if a phrase may apply to the savage state and rude hospitality of a wild warrior of the forests the free fearless the great personal strength and the surprising and of in all manly exercises and in the use of all kinds of weapons were calculated to delight a savage and he soon became a great favourite with now used all his influence to prevail upon the to repair to for the purpose of making a treaty with and becoming the ally and friend of the it is said that he offered him as a the bell of tlie chapel of this bell was the wonder of the island when the indians heard its melody sounding through the forests as it rung for mass and beheld the hastening towards the chapel they imagined that it talked and that the white men obeyed it with that feeling of superstition with which they regarded all things connected with the they looked upon this bell as something supernatural and in their usual phrase said it had come from or the skies had heard this wonderful instrument at a distance in the course of his about the settlement and had longed to see it but when it was proffered to him as a present of peace he found it impossible to resist the temptation the agreed therefore to set out for but when the time came to depart beheld with surprise a powerful force of warriors assembled and ready to march he asked the meaning of taking such an army on a mere friendly visit to which the proudly replied that it was not a great prince like him to go forth v i k attended felt little satisfied with this reply he knew the warlike character of and his deep which is the soul of indian warfare he ed some sinister design and that the might some surprise of the fortress of or some attempt upon the person of the admiral he knew also that it was the wish of either to make peace with the or to get possession of his person without the alternative of open warfare he had recourse | 48 |
to a therefore which has an air of fable and romance but which is recorded by all the contemporary with trivial variations and which us was in current circulation in the island when he arrived there about six years after the event it too with the adventurous and extravagant character of the man and with the wild and exploits incident to indian warfare in the course of their march having halted near the river one day produced a set of of polished steel so highly that they looked like silver these he assured were royal ornaments which had come from heaven or the of that they were worn by the of on solemn dances and other high and were intended as presents to the he proposed that should go to the river and after which he should be decorated with these ornaments mounted on the horse of and should return in the state of a spanish monarch to astonish his subjects the with that fondness for glittering ornaments common to savages was dazzled with the sight his proud military spirit also was flattered with the idea of of those the principal iron of spain are established in where that is found in abundance life and voyages of tremendous animals so dreaded by his he accompanied and his followers to the river with but attendants nothing from or ten strangers when thus surrounded by his army after the had bathed in the river be was assisted to mount behind and the were then adjusted this done they among the savages who were astonished to behold their in glittering array and mounted on one of those fearful animals made several to gain space followed by his little band of the indians shrinking back with from the at length he made a wide sweep into the forest until the trees shut him from the sight of the army his followers then closed round him and drawing their swords threatened with instant death if he made the least noise or resist ance though indeed bis and effectually prevented the they bound him with to to prevent his falling or an escape then putting spurs to their horses they dashed across the and made off through the woods with their prize they had now fifty or sixty of wilderness to on their way with here and there large indian towns they had borne off their captive by dint of far beyond the pursuit of his subjects but the utmost vigilance was requisite to prevent his escape during this long and journey and to prevent exciting the this romantic of is recorded at large by by his l c bj in his and by in his history of st peter martyr and others have given it more alluding to bat not its romantic details f of any they had to avoid uie parts of the country therefore or to pass through the indian towns on the gallop they suffered greatly from fatigue hunger and many pe and swimming the numerous rivers of tlie plains toiling through the deep tangled forests and over the high and rocky mountains they accomplished all in safety and entered in triumph from this most and characteristic enterprise with his wild indian warrior bound behind him a captive could not refrain from expressing his great satisfaction when this dangerous foe was delivered into his hands the haughty met him with an air lofty and to him by submission or to his vengeance for the blood which he had shed of white men he never bowed his spirit to on the contrary though completely at the mercy of the he displayed that defiance which is a part of indian heroism and the savage towards his even amidst the agonies of the and the stake he his achievement in surprising and burning the fortress of and its garrison and declared that he had secretly with an intention of upon it the same desolation though struck with the wild heroism of this considered him a dangerous enemy whom for the peace of the island it was necessary carefully to guard he determined to send him to spain in the meantime he ordered that he should be treated with kindness and respect and lodged him in a part of his own dwelling house where however he kept him a close prisoner in chains pro cap do and voyages of in the splendid which had him this precaution most have been necessary from the of his prison for that the admiral s house not being spacious nor having many chambers the captive could be seen by by from the always maintained a haughty towards while he never evinced the least for the to which he had fallen a victim it rather increased his admiration of him as a con warrior looking upon it as the of a master spirit to have upon him and borne him off in this hawk like manner from the very midst of his fighting men there is nothing that an indian more in w than a deep well executed was accustomed to bear himself with an air of dignity and authority as admiral and and great personal respect when he entered the apartment therefore where was confined all present rose according to custom and paid him reverence the alone neither moved nor took any notice of him on the contrary when entered though small in person and of no state immediately rose and saluted him with profound respect on being asked the reason o this being or great chief over all and but one of his subjects the proud replied that the admiral had never dared to come personally to his an seize him it was only through the of he was his prisoner to therefore he owed reverence not to the ind l c t sup k s the of was felt by his subjects for the natives of this island seem generally to have been extremely loyal and | 48 |
renown of by so foul a stain and the glory of his de by such of human right the customs of the times however must be pleaded in his apology the precedent had been given long before by both and in their african discoveries wherein the traffic in slaves had formed one of the greatest sources of profit in fact the practice had been by the highest authority by that of the church itself and the most learned had pronounced all barbarous and nations who shut their ears to the truths of christianity as fair objects of war and of and slavery if needed any practical illustration of this doctrine he had it in the conduct of himself in his late wars with the of in which he had always been surrounded by a cloud of ghostly and had professed to every thing for the glory and advancement of the in this holy war as it was termed it was a common practice to make into the and carry off not merely of flocks and herds but of human beings and those not warriors taken with weapons in their hands but quiet villagers and helpless women and children these were carried to the at or to other towns and sold into slavery the capture f was a memorable instance where as a punishment for obstinate and brave defence which should have excited admiration rather than revenge eleven thousand people of both sexes and of all ranks and ages many of them highly cultivated and delicately reared were suddenly torn from their homes severed firom each other and swept into slavery even though half of their had been paid these circumstances are not advanced to but to the life and voyages of of he acted but in of the times and was by the example of the sovereign under whom he served p the and enthusiastic advocate of the indians who suffers no opportunity to escape him of ex claiming in vehement terms against their slavery i with indulgence of on this head if those pious and learned men he the sovereigns had f eyes and light were so ignorant of die injustice of this practice it is no wonder that the admiral should be ignorant of it who was not a learned man ind t cap ms a ih chapter vi expedition op the indians of the battle notwithstanding the defeat of the indians by they still retained hostile intentions against the the idea of their being a prisoner and in chains enraged the natives of m and the general sympathy manifested by other tribes of the island show how widely tha intelligent savage had extended his influence and how greatly he was admired he had still and powerful relatives remaining to attempt his rescue or revenge his fall one of his brothers by name a bold and warlike as himself succeeded to the sway over his subjects his favourite wife also so j famous for her charms had great influence over her brother of the province of through these means a violent and general hostility to the was excited throughout the island the formidable league of the which bad in vain attempted to accomplish when at large was produced by the of alone remained friendly to the giving them information of the gathering storm and to take the field with them as a faithful ally life and voyages of the protracted illness of the of his military force and the wretched state of the in ge reduced by sickness and to great bodily weakness had hitherto induced him to try every means of con and to and the he had at length recovered his health and his followers were in some degree refreshed by the supplies the ships at this time he received intelligence that allied actually assembled in great force in the within two days march of with an intention of making a general assault upon the set v and overwhelming it by numbers re solved to take the field at once and to carry the war into s the of the enemy rather than suffer it to be brought to his own doors the whole sound and effective force that he could muster in the present state of the colony did not exceed two hundred and twenty horse they were armed with swords and or heavy which in those days were used with rests and sometimes mounted on wheels with these formidable weapons besides being in steel and covered with buck a european warriors were able to cope with thousands of naked savages they had aid of another kind however consisting of twenty animals scarcely less terrible to the indians than the horses and more fatal they were fearless and ferocious nothing them nor when they had once seized upon their prey could any thing compel them to their hold the naked bodies of the indians offered no defence to their they sprang on them dragged them to the earth and tore them to pieces the admiral was in this expedition by his brother whose counsel and aid he sought on all occasions and who not merely of great personal force and courage but of a strong military turn of mind also brought his people into the field neither he nor his subjects however were of a warlike character nor to render much assistance i the chief advantage co operation was that it com severed him fi the other and the dependence of himself and his subjects upon the in the present infant state of the colony its chief security depended upon and sown among the powers of the island it was on the th of march that issued forth firom with his little army and advanced by of ten a day in quest of the enemy he ascended again to the mountain pass of the from | 48 |
whence he had first looked down upon the with what different feelings did he now contemplate it the vile passions of the white men had already converted this smiling beautiful and once peaceful and hospitable region into a land of wrath and hostility wherever the smoke of an indian town rose from among the trees and loaded the clear atmosphere it marked a of exasperated enemies and the deep rich forests below him with lurking warriors in the picture which his imagination had drawn of the peaceful and nature of this people he had flattered himself with the idea of ruling over them as a patron and benefactor but now he found forced upon him the character of a conqueror the indians had notice by their of his approach but though they had already had some slight experience of the warfare of the white men they were filled with vol ii i and voyages of by die vast superiority of numbers which it is said to me hundred thousand men this is probably an exaggeration for as indians never draw out into the open field order of battle but among the forests it is difficult to ascertain their force their rapid movements also and their sudden and from various parts together with the wild shouts and from opposite quarters the are calculated to give an exaggerated idea of their number the army however must ha e been great as it consisted of the combined forces of several of this island it was commanded by the brother of the indians who were little skilled in and incapable of counting beyond ten had a simple mode of and describing the force of an enemy telling forth a grain of or indian com for every warrior when therefore the who had watched from rocks and the march of came back with a mere handful of com as the amount of his army the at the idea of so scanty a number making head against their count less near to the enemy about the place where the town of st has since been built having ascertained the great force of the indians don ad that their little army should be divided into and attack at the same moment from several quarters the plan was adopted the separating into different bodies advanced suddenly from various directions with great din of drums and trumpets and a destructive discharge of from the covert of the trees the in ca as ind l cap ms t sup were struck with panic and into complete an army seemed upon them from every quarter their fellow warriors were laid low by the of the which seemed to burst with thunder aiid lightning the while together and founded by these attacks de charged on their main body with his troop of cavalry cutting his way into the centre with lance and r the horses bore down the terrified indians while dealt their blows on all sides the were at the same time let loose and rushed with fury upon the naked savages seizing them by the throat dragging them to tlie earth and tearing out their the indians to large and fierce of any kind were struck with horror when assailed by these ferocious animals they thought the equally fierce and devouring the contest if such it might be called was of short duration what resistance could a multitude of naked un warlike and savages make with no other arms than clubs and arrows and hardened in the fi re against soldiers clad in iron of steel and tremendous and aided by ferocious monsters whose very aspect struck terror to the heart of the warrior the indians fled in every direction with and some to the top of rocks and firom whence they made piteous and offers of complete submission many were killed many made prisoners and the was for the time completely broken up dispersed had accompanied the into the field according to his promise but he was little more than a of this battle or rather he was not of a mar i and voyages of spirit and both he and his subjects must have shrank with awe at this unusual and terrific burst of war even though on the part of their his in the of white men was never forgiven by the other and he returned to his followed by the hatred and of all the chapter vii op the natives of tribute followed up his victory by making a military tour through various parts of the island and it to obedience the natives made occasional attempts at opposition but they were easily checked the troop of cavalry headed by was foimd of great in this service from the rapidity of its movements the active of its commander and especially from the great awe and terror inspired by the horses there was no service too wild and for if any head of war arose in a distant part of the country he would penetrate with his little of hard through the depths of the forests and fall suddenly like a upon the enemy all their and submission in speaking of the great dread which the natives had of the horses repeatedly the idea which they entertained on first be holding a mounted that the rider and the horse formed one animal a circumstance which the alleged origin of the ancient fable of the the royal was soon brought into being an immense plain perfectly level it was easily l c i r life and of by the whose appearance struck terror into its most towns its sovereign was a mild and character and though he had been roused to war by the of the neighbouring he readily submitted to the of the the brother of was also obliged to sue for peace and being the prime of the the other followed his example alone the of and brother in law of made no of | 48 |
submission his ter lay remote from at the western extremity of the island around the deep bay called the of and the long called cape they were difficult of access and had not as yet been visited by the white he retired into the bosom of his do taking with him his sister the famous wife of whom he cherished with affection under her misfortunes who soon acquired almost equal sway over his subjects with himself and was destined subsequently to make figure in the events of the island having been forced to take the field by the of the now asserted the right of a conqueror and considered how he might turn his conquest to most profit his constant anxiety was to make wealthy re m turns to spain for the purpose of the for their great expenses of meeting the public expectations so excited und above all of the of those who he knew had gone home determined to make the most representations of his discoveries he endeavoured therefore to raise a large and immediate from the island by imposing heavy on the subjected provinces in those of the and all the region of the mines each individual i i i i i above the age of fourteen years was required to pay every three months the measure of a hawk s bell of dust the had to pay a much larger amount for their personal tribute the brother of was obliged to render in every three months half a of gold to one hundred and fifty on those districts which were distant from the mines and produced no gold each individual was required to furnish an twenty five pounds of cotton every months each indian on rendering this tribute received a copper as a of payment which he was to wear suspended round his neck those who were found with out such document were liable to arrest and punishment the taxes and thus imposed bore hard upon the spirit of the natives accustomed to be but lightly by their and the themselves found the grievous the sovereign of the royal represented to the difficulty he had in with the terms of his tribute his richly fer tile yielded no gold and though the mountains on his borders contained mines and their and torrents washed down gold dust into the sands of the rivers yet his subjects were not skilled in the art of collecting it he therefore instead of the tribute required to with grain a band of country stretching across the island a hawk s bell according to ind l c contained about three worth of gold dust equal to five dollars and in the superior value of gold in those days equivalent to fifteen dollars of our time a quantity of gold worth was equivalent to dollars of the present day a life and of from sea to sea enough says to have furnished all with bread for ten years his offer was rejected knew that gold alone would satisfy the dreams excited in spain and the popularity and of the indians had in furnishing the amount of gold dust required of them he lowered the demand to the measure of one half of a hawk s bell it is a curious circumstance and might furnish some poetical that the miseries of the poor natives should thus be measured out as it were by the very which first fascinated them to enforce the payment of these and to maintain the of the island put the fortress already built in a strong state of defence and erected others beside those of and of st thomas in the mountains of there were now the fortress of in the royal three or four from the place where the town of was afterwards built another called the site of which is forgotten another called on the banks of the river in but the most important of those recently erected was fort conception in one of the most fruitful and beautiful parts of the about fifteen to east of the extensive and of in this way was the yoke of fixed upon the island and its effectually deep despair now fell upon the natives when they found a perpetual task inflicted upon them enforced at stated and frequently periods weak and indolent by nature unused to la h ind l t sup c hour of any kind and brought up in the idleness of their soft climate and their fruitful groves death itself seemed to a life of toil and anxiety they saw no end to this evil which had so suddenly fallen upon them no escape from its all influence no prospect of return to that independence and ample leisure so dear to the wild of the forest the pleasant life of the island was at an end the dream in the shade by day the slumber during the heat by the fountain or the stream or under the spreading and the song the dance and the game in the me evening when summoned to their simple amusements by the rude indian drum they were now obliged to day by day with bending body and anxious eye along the borders of their rivers the sands for the of gold which every day grew more scanty or to labour in their fields beneath the of a tropical sun to raise food for their or to produce the vegetable tribute imposed upon them they sunk to sleep weary and exhausted at night with the certainty that the next day was but to be a repetition of the same toil and suffering or if they occasionally indulged in their national dances the to which they kept time were of a melancholy and plaintive character they spoke times that were past before v the white men had introduced sorrow and slavery and weary labour among them and they pretended handed down from their ancestors the invasion of the that strangers should come | 48 |
into their island clothed in apparel with swords capable of a man asunder at a blow under whose yoke their posterity should be subdued or they sang with vol ii h life and voyages of mournful tunes and voices the loss of their liberty and their painful they had flattered themselves for a time that the visit of the strangers would be but temporary and that spreading their ample sails their ships would once more bear the n back to their home in the sky in their simplicity they had repeatedly inquired when they intended to return to or the heavens they now beheld them taking root as it were in the island they beheld their vessels lying idly and in the harbour while the scattered about the country were building and the solid construction of which unlike their own slight gave evidence of permanent finding how vain was all attempt to deliver themselves by warlike means from these invincible they now con a forlorn and desperate mode of annoyance perceived that the settlement greatly from of provisions and depended in a considerable degree upon the furnished by the natives the in the interior also and the in ihe villages looked almost entirely to them for they agreed therefore themselves not to cultivate the fruits the roots and which formed their chief articles of food and to destroy those already growing hoping that thus by producing a famine they might starve the strangers from the island they little knew one of the characteristics of the who the more hun they are the more they become and the more peter martyr f l c hardened to endure suffering they carried their plan generally into effect their laying waste the produce of their fields and groves and retiring to the mountains where there were roots and on which they could and abundance of those kind of its called this measure did indeed produce much distress among the but they had foreign resources and were enabled to endure it by the partial sup brought by their ships the most disastrous effects fell upon the natives themselves the stationed in the various finding that there was not only no hope of tribute but a danger of famine from this wanton waste and sudden pursued the natives to their to compel them to return to labour the indians to ik refuge in the most and dreary heights flying one wild retreat to another the women with their children in their arms or at their backs and all worn out with fatigue and hunger and harassed by perpetual in every noise of the forest or the mountain they fancied they heard the sound of their they hid themselves in damp and dismal or in the banks and mai of the torrents and not daring to hunt or fish or even to venture forth in quest of roots and vegetables they had to satisfy their raging hunger with articles of diet in this way many thousands of them perished miserably through famine fatigue terror and various by their sufferings all spirit of opposition was at length completely m no la de los los mayor son de y ind l c t t and voyages of f tbe indians returned i despair to their and submitted humbly to the yoke so deep an awe did they conceive of their that it is said a might go singly and securely all over the island and tb would even transport him from place to place on their shoulders before passing on to other events it may be proper here to notice the fate of as he makes no further appearance in the course of this history his friendship for the had severed him from his countrymen but it did not him from the general woes of the island his like those of the other were subjected to a tribute which his people with the common to labour found it difficult to pay who knew his worth and could have protected him was long absent either in the interior of the island or detained in europe by his own wrongs in the interval the forgot the hospitality and services of and his tribute was harshly he found himself overwhelmed with from his countrymen at large and assailed by the and of his suffering subjects the strangers had in distress and taken as it were to of his native island had become its v and care and toil and poverty and high violence had spread their curses over the land and he felt as if he had them on his race unable to bear the of his fellow the woes of his subjects and the of his ungrateful he took ind l c cap t t w j i t refuge at last in the mountains where he died and in misery an attempt has been made by to the character of this indian prince it is not for however to excuse their own ingratitude by casting a upon his name he appears to have always manifested towards them that true friendship which shines brightest in the dark days of he might have played a nobler part in making a stand with his brother to drive these from his native soil but he appears to have been fascinated by his admiration of the strangers and his personal attachment to he was hospitable affectionate and kind hearted competent to rule a gentle and people in the happier days of the island but through the softness of his nature for the stern turmoil which followed the arrival of the white men st l s i it f j life and of y chapter viii against in the court of sent to investigate the affairs of his while was endeavouring to remedy the evils produced by the of m and his followers that commander | 48 |
continent and that he had penetrated to the borders of the countries of the east specimens were likewise brought of the gold and the various animal and vegetable which he had procured in the course of this voyage no arrival could have been more it at once removed all doubts respecting his safety and the necessity of part of the precaution measures on the point of taken the supposed discovery of the rich coast of asia also threw a temporary splendour about his expedition and again awakened tbe of the sovereigns the effect was immediately ap parent in their measures instead of leaving it to the discretion of de to whom he pleased to the commission of inquiry about to be sent out they that power and he was chosen because on returning from he had been strongly recommended to royal favour by it was intended therefore as a mark of delicacy to the latter to as a person of whom he had expressed so high an opinion and who it was to be pre entertained for him a grateful regard in virtue of his official station as of the affairs of the and probably to gratify his growing for had detained a quantity of gold which don brother to the admiral had brought on his own private account the sovereigns wrote to him repeatedly ordering him not to demand the gold or if he bad seized it to return it immediately with satisfactory explanations and to write to in terms calculated to soothe any angry feelings which he might have excited he i i was ordered also to consult the persons recently arrived from in what manner he could yield satisfaction o the admiral and to act accordingly thus suffered one of the of an spirit that of being obliged to make for its it quickened however the malice which he had conceived against the admiral and his family unfortunately his official situation and the royal confidence which he enjoyed gave him opportunities of gratifying it subsequently in a thousand ways while the sovereigns thus endeavoured to every thing that might ve to they took certain measures to provide for the tranquillity of the colony p in a letter to the admiral they directed that the number of wit persons in the settlement should be limited to five hundred a greater number being considered unnecessary for the service of the island and a expense to the crown to prevent further about provisions they ordered that the individuals should be dealt out in portions every fifteen days and that all punishment by short allowance or the of should be as tending to injure the of the who required every assistance of diet to them against the incident to a strange climate an able and experienced named was sent out in place of the wrong headed he was furnished with all the necessary engines and implements for and and the precious and with liberal pay and privileges were also sent to supply the place of father boil and of certain of his brethren who desired to leave the island the instruction and of the natives continued io life and voyages of jf awaken more and m e the generous solicitude of the queen in the ships of tor a large number pf indians arrived who had been captured in the recent wars with the royal orders had been issued that they should be sold as slaves in the of as had been the custom with respect to taken on the coast of africa and to prisoners captured in the war with however had been deeply interested by the accounts given of the gentle and hospitable character of these and of their great the discovery had been made under her immediate she looked upon these people as under her peculiar care and she anticipated with pious enthusiasm the triumph of leading them out of darkness path of light her compassionate spirit at the idea of treating them as slaves even though by the customs of the times within five days after the royal order for the sale a letter was written by the sovereigns to bishop that order until they could inquire into the cause for which the indians had been made prisoners and consult learned and pious whether their sale would be in the sight of god much of opinion took place among on this important question the queen eventually decided it according to the of her own pure conscience and charitable heart she ordered that the indians should be sent back to their native country and that the should be by the means instead of being treated with severity unfortunately her orders came too late to to have the desired effect of the sovereigns to de los t f i t the scenes of warfare and violence produced by the bad passions of the and the vengeance of the natives were not to be forgotten mutual distrust and had grown up between them which no after exertions could no life and voyages of chapter ix arrival of at his con tempest in the harbour set sail from spain towards the end of august with four well with supplies of all kinds for the colony don returned in this to it arrived at in the month of october while the admiral was absent occupied in re establishing the tranquillity of the interior as has already been shown was under obligations to who had distinguished him from among his companions and had him to the favour of the sovereigns he was however one of those weak men whose heads are turned by the least up by a little temporary power he lost sight not merely of the respect and gratitude due to but of the nature and extent of his own commission instead of acting as an agent employed to collect information he assumed a tone of authority | 48 |
as though the reins of government had been transferred into his hands he interfered in public affairs ordered various persons to be arrested called to account the officers employed by the and paid no respect to don who remained in command during the absence of his brother the astonished at this presumption demanded a sight of the ill sion under which he acted but treated him with great replying that he would show it only to the admiral on second thoughts however lest there should be doubts in the public mind of his right to interfere in the affairs of the colony he ordered his letter of from the sovereigns to be proclaimed by sound of trumpet it was brief but comprehensive to the following purport and other persons who by our orders are in the we send to you our groom of the chambers who will speak to you on our part we command you to give him faith and credit the report now that the of and his family was at hand and that an had arrived to hear and the of the public this was originated by himself who threw out of rigid and signal it was a time of for every started up into an every one who by or crime had incurred the wholesome of the laws was loud in his against the oppression of there were ills enough in the colony some incident to its situation others produced by the of die all were ascribed to the of the admiral he was made responsible alike for the evils produced by others and for his own stern ah the old complaints were against him and his brothers and the usual and cause given for their that they were foreigners who sought merely their own interest and at the expense of the and the of destitute of to perceive what was true and what false in these complaints and a only to condemn r life and op saw in every thing testimony of the of he intimate and perhaps thought that the admiral was keeping at a distance from through fear of his in the fulness of his presumption he even set out with a body of horse to go in quest of him a vain and weak man in power is prone to have of his own description the empty and followers of wherever they went spread among the natives of the might and importance of their chief and of the punishment he intended to inflict upon in a little while the report through the island that a new admiral had arrived to administer the government and that the former one was to be put to death the news of the arrival and of the conduct of had in the interior of the island he to to give him a meeting of his approach also returned there as every one knew the lofty spirit and temper of his high sense of his services and his jealous maintenance of is official dignity a violent explosion was anticipated at the impending interview also expected something of the kind but secure in his royal letter of he came fortified with the swelling of a little mind the result showed how difficult it is for petty spirits to the conduct of a man like in any striking situation his natural heat and had been subdued by a life of trials he had learned to bring his passions into to his judgment he had too true an estimate of his own dignity to enter into a contest with a shallow like above all he had a profound reverence for the authority of his sovereigns for in his spirit prone to deep feelings of reverence his loyalty was inferior only to hi f religion he received therefore with the most grave and courtesy he repeated his own ordering that the letter of should be again proclaimed by sound of in presence of the he listened to it with solemn deference and assured of his readiness to in whatever might be the pleasure of his sovereigns this unexpected moderation while it astonished the and disappointed he had come prepared for a scene of and had hoped that co in the heat and impatience of the moment would have said or done something that might have been into a for the authority of the sovereigns he endeavoured in fact some months afterwards to procure from the public present a prejudiced statement of the interview but the deference of the the royal letter of had been too marked to be and all the were highly in his favour continued to in public a and the respect and forbearance with which he was uniformly by and the of the latter in all his measures to the of the colony were regarded as proofs of the of his spirit he was looked upon as a declining man and hailed as the lord of the every spirit who had any lurking ill will any real or imaginary cause of complaint now hastened to give it utterance perceiving that in gratifying his malice he was his interest and that in the admiral he was gaining the friendship of ind l c vol it life voyages of a the poor too by the of the white men rejoiced in tlie prospect of a of rulers vainly that it might a of their many of the who had promised to the admiral after their defeat in the now assembled at the house of the brother of near the river where they joined in a formal complaint against whom they considered the cause of all the evils which had sprung from the and the vices of his followers now considered the great object of bis mission fulfilled he had collected information sufficient as he thought to the ruin of the admiral and his brothers and prepared to return to spain resolved to do the same he felt that it | 48 |
the excellence of the river and the security of the harbour at its entrance he flattered himself that the communication of such valuable intelligence would make peace at and obtain his pardon from the full of these hopes he procured guides from among the natives and taking a temporary leave of his indian bride set out with his comrades through the for the settlement which was about distant arriving there secretly he to joy that the man whom he had wounded had he now presented himself boldly before the tidings for forgiveness he was hot news could have come more the anxious to remove the settlement to a more healthy and ad j situation he was desirous also of home some proof of the riches of the island as the most effectual means of the of his if the representations of were correct here was a means of both those purposes measures were immediately taken to ascertain the truth the set forth in person to visit the river accompanied by de and the indian guides and a number of men well armed they proceeded from to from thence across the royal to the fortress of conception continuing on to the south they came to a range of mountains which they traversed by a two in length and descended into another beautiful plain which was called from hence proceeding for some distance they came to a great river called running through a fertile country all the streams of which in gold on the western bank of this river and about eight from its mon they found gold in greater quantities and in larger than had yet been met with in any part of the island not even excepting the province of they made experiments in various places within the of six miles and always witli success the soil seemed to be generally with that so that a common with little trouble might find the amount of three i and voyages of in the course of a day in several instances they observed deep in the form of which looked as if the mines bad been worked in ancient times a circumstance which caused much q among the the natives having no idea of but themselves with the on the surface of the soil or in the beds of the rivers the indians of the neighbourhood received the white men with their promised friendship and in every respect the representations of were fully justified he was not only but received into great favour and was subsequently employed in various in the island in all which he himself with great fidelity he kept his faith with his indian bride by whom according to he had two children that they were regularly married as the female appears to have been being always mentioned by the christian name of when the returned with this favourable report and with the specimens of ore which he had collected the anxious heart of the admiral was greatly elated he gave orders that a fortress should be immediately erected on the banks of the in the vicinity of the mines and that they should be diligently worked the fancied traces of ancient gave rise to one of his usual veins of golden conjectures he had already that might be the ancient he now flattered him ind l c p martyr d l t de ind l c v st l p self that he had discovered the identical mines from whence king solomon had procured his great supplies of ld the building of the temple of he supposed that his ships must have sailed by the i of and round to this island which according to idea lay opposite to the extreme end of asia for such he firmly believed the island of it is probable that gave free license to his imagination in these conjectures which tended to throw a splendour about his and to revive the interest of the public however the of his opinion that he was in the vicinity of asia an error by no means surprising in the imperfect state ot knowledge all his consequent were far from extravagant the ancient was believed to lie somewhere in the east but its situation was a matter of among the learned and remains one of those questions about which too much has been written for it ever to be decided p martyr l vol n m w r m hm r c i book chapter l return op to wm the new the and the for the growing of and to from a crew of and n tent e d men he a p f ed his brother don to the of ae island with the title which be had v given turn of in case of his he was to be ce d by his brother don on the th of march the two set sail fer spain in one of which embarked and in the other in consequence of the orders of die all those who could be spared from the island and some who had wives and relatives in spain whom they wished to visit l v life and voyages op returned in these which were crowded with two hundred and twenty five passengers the sick the idle the and of the colony never did a more miserable and disappointed crew return from a land of promise there were thirty indians also on board of the among whom were the once one of his brothers and a nephew the of los pa that had promised the and his brother to restore them to their country and their power after he had taken them to visit the king and queen of it is probable that he | 48 |
by a display of the wonders of and the grandeur and might of its sovereigns and by a course of kind treatment to conquer their enmity to the and convert them into important instruments towards obtaining a secure and dominion over the island however had one of those proud natures of wild bat vigorous growth which are never to be tamed he remained a moody and dejected captive he had too much intelligence not to perceive that his power was for ever but he bis even in the midst of his despair being as yet but little experienced in the of those seas instead of working up to the north ward so as to fall in with the tract of winds took an course on leaving the island the consequence was that almost the whole of his voyage was a and tedious struggle against the trade winds and which prevail between the on the th of april he found himself still in the vicinity of the islands with his de los cap r s fatigued and and his rapidly he bore away to the southward to at the most important of those islands in search of on saturday the th he at from whence on the following day he made sail for it was contrary to the custom of to weigh anchor on sunday when in port but the people murmured and observed that when in quest of food it was no time to stand on scruples as to holy days off the island of the boat sent on shore well armed to guard against any of these warlike before it could reach the land a large number of resolute females issued from the woods armed with bows and arrows and decorated with of feathers preparing to oppose any descent upon their shores as the sea was somewhat rough and a surf broke upon the beach the boats remained at a distance and two of the indians from swam to shore having explained to these that the only sought in exchange for which they would give articles of great die women them to their husbands who were at the northern end of the island as the boats proceeded thither numbers of the natives were seen on the beach who manifested great ferocity shooting and yelling and flights of arrows however fell far short in the water seeing the boats a the they hid themselves in the adjacent forest and rushed forth with hideous cries as the were landing a discharge of drove them terrified to the woods and mountains and the boats met with no further cap l life and voyages of opposition entering the deserted the began to plunder and destroy contrary to the invariable of the admiral among other articles found in these houses were honey and wax which had been brought from as people collected the productions of distant regions in the course of their likewise that there were of iron in these houses these however must have been made of a species of hard and heavy already mentioned which iron or they must have been procured from places which the visited as it is fully admitted that no iron was in use among the natives prior to the discovery the also reported that in one of the houses they found the arm of a man on a spit before a fire another of those facts to humanity and requiring more solid authority to be the sailors had committed wanton in these dwellings and may have sought a pretext with which to justify their ma to the admiral while some of the people were employed getting wood and water and making bread forty men well armed to explore the interior of the island they returned on the following day with ten women and three boys whom they had the women were of large and powerful form yet of great they were naked and wore their hair long and loose flowing upon their shoulders some decorated their heads with of various colours among them was the wife c a a woman of great strength and a proud spirit the approach of the she had fled with an which soon all her far behind excepting a native c t t of the islands remarkable for swiftness of foot she would even have escaped from him but perceiving that he was alone and far from his companions she turned suddenly upon him seized him with astonishing force and would have him had not the arrived and taken her entangled like a ha with her prey the warlike spirit of these women and the circumstance of finding them in armed bands defending their shores during the absence of their husbands led repeatedly into the idea that certain of these islands were inhabited entirely by women an error for which as has observed he was prepared by the stories of concerning an island of near the coast of asia having remained several days at the island and provided three weeks supply of bread prepared to make sail as was the most important of the islands and in a manner the or entrance to all the rest he wished to procure the friendship of the inhabitants he dismissed therefore all the prisoners with many presents to for the spoil and injury which had been done however declined to go on shore preferring to remain and accompany the natives of who were on board keeping with her also a young daughter she had conceived a passion for bo having found out that he was a native of the islands his character and story gathered from the other indians had won the and admiration of this woman leaving on the th of april and keeping in about the twenty second degree of latitude the cap i life and voyages of again worked their way against the whole current of the trade winds that on the | 48 |
th of may a month of great fatigue and toil they had yet a great part of their voyage to make the provisions were already so reduced that had to put every one on a daily allowance of six of bread and a and half of water as they advanced the grew more and more severe and was rendered more appalling from the uncertainty which prevailed on board the vessels as to their situation there were several in the but being chiefly accustomed to the of the or the atlantic they were utterly confounded and lost all reckoning when the broad ocean every one had a separate opinion and none the opinion of the admiral by the beginning of june there was an absolute famine on board of the ships in the extremity of their while death stared them in the face it was proposed by some of the as a desperate alternative that they should kill and eat their indian prisoners others suggested that they should throw them into the sea as so many expensive and useless mouths nothing but the absolute authority of prevented this last counsel from being adopted he represented that the indians were their fellow beings some of them christians like themselves and all entitled to similar treatment he them to a little patience assuring them that they would soon make land for that according to his reckoning they were not far from cape st at this all for they believed themselves yet far from their desired haven some that they were in english channel others that they were approaching when therefore confident in his ordered that sail should be taken in at night les j hey should ft y h i f i ci r i v bom upon tbe land m the dark there was a general the men exclaiming that it was better to be cast on shore than to starve at sea the next morning however to their gi they came in sight of the very land which pr di this time he was regarded by the as in matters of and as darkly of the ocean on the th x f june the vessels in the bay of after a voyage of about three months in the course of this died the it is by the mere writers that we have any of this which appears to have been passed over as a matter of but little moment he maintained his haughty nature to the last for his death is principally ascribed to the morbid melancholy of a proud but broken he was an extraordinary character in savage life from being a simple warrior he had risen by his and courage to be the most powerful and the dominant spirit of the island of he was the only that appears to have had sagacity sufficient to foresee the fatal effects of spanish or military talent to combine any re to its had his warriors been of his own na cap t de los cap peter martyr n some have affirmed that perished in one of the u which in the harbour of during the but the united testimony of the of los peter martyr and prove that he sailed with the admiral in return voyage vol ii f and voyages of the front of war which he raised have been in the extreme his fate op narrow scale a lesson to human greatness when first arrived on the coast of their were with of a magnificent prince in the interior the lord of the house the sovereign of the mines of ci ao who in splendid state the mountains but a short had elapsed and he was a naked and dejected prisoner on the deck of one of their with none but one of his own wild native to in his misfortunes all his consequence with his scarce any mention made of him during his and with innate of a high and heroic nature he perished with the obscurity of one of the vulgar m i ti r v rt v r v fl ty urging the to endeavour by every means to bring the peaceful and productive state all and and seizing and sending to spain all or their subjects who should be concerned in the deaths of any of the he recommended the most diligence in exploring and working the mines recently discovered on the river and that a place should be chosen in the neighbourhood and a founded set sail with the at the th june tidings of the arrival of having reached the sovereigns he received a gracious letter from them dated at th him on his safe return and inviting him to court when he should have recovered from the of the voyage the kind terms in which this letter was were calculated to the heart of who ever since the mission of the had considered himself out of favour the sovereigns and fallen into disgrace as a proof of the of his spirits we are told that when he made his appearance this time in spain he was clad in an garb resembling in form and colour the habit of a ii i i an simply with a cord and that he had offered his beard to grow like the brethren of that this was probably in fulfilment of some vow which he had made in a moment of danger or despondency a in those days and frequently observed by it however much humility and p spirit and afforded a striking to his appear de los t t i t s cap it a s and voyages of tions instead of a joyous crew bounding on shore flushed with success and laden with the spoils of tlie golden a feeble train of wretched men crawled | 48 |
forth by the diseases of the colony and the hardships of the voyage who carried in their yellow countenances says an old writer a mockery of that gold wh ch had been the object of their search and who had nothing to relate of the new world but tales of sickness poverty and disappointment endeavoured as much as possible to these appearances and to revive the enthusiasm of the public he dwelt upon the importance of his recent discoveries the coast of where as be supposed he had arrived nearly to the of the and had bordered on some of the richest provinces of asia and above all he boasted of his discovery of the abundant mines on the south side of which he persuaded himself were those of the ancient the public listened to these accounts with incredulity or if for a moment a little excitement was occasioned it was quickly destroyed by the gloomy pictures drawn by disappointed on at found three in the harbour commanded by on the point of with supplies for the colony nearly a year had elapsed without any relief of the kind four which had sailed in the preceding january having been lost on the coast of the having read the royal letters and of which was the bearer and being informed of the wishes of the sovereigns as well as the state of the public mind wrote by this n l ty urging the to endeavour by every means to bring the v a p ul and productive state au a and and seizing and sending to spain all or their subjects who should be concerned in the deaths of any of the he recommended the most diligence in exploring and working the mines recently discovered on the river and that a place should be chosen in the neighbourhood and a founded set sail with the o the th june tidings of the arrival of having reached the sovereigns he received a gracious letter from them dated at th july him on his safe re turn and inviting him to court when he should have recovered from the of the voyage the kind terms in which this letter was were calculated to the heart of who ever since the mission of the had considered himself out of favour with the sovereigns and fallen into disgrace as a proof of the of his spirits we are told that when he made his appearance this time in spain he was clad in an garb resembling in form and colour the habit of a simply with a cord and that he had offered his beard to grow like the brethren of that this was probably in fulfilment of some vow which he had made in a moment of danger or despondency a in those days and frequently observed by it however much humility and spirit and afforded a striking fo his appear de los ei t s cap j v j l life and voyages of ance on his former triumphant return he was doomed in fact to yield repeated examples of the to which those are subject who have once launched from the safe shores of obscurity on the waves of popular however indifferent might be to his own personal appearance he was anxious to keep alive the interest in his discoveries fearing continually that the indifference that was awakening towards them might accomplishment on his way to therefore the sovereigns were expected he made a display of the and treasures which he had brought from the new world among these were and of gold the spoils of and which were considered as won from princes of the rich of asia of the islands of the indian seas it is a proof of the petty standard by which the sublime discovery of was already estimated that he had to resort to this management to the gross of the multitude by the mere glare of gold he carried with him several indians also decorated after their savage fashion and glittering with ornaments of gold among these were the brother and nephew of the former about thirty ye rs of age the latter only ten they were brought merely to the king and queen that they might be impressed with an idea of the grandeur and power of the spanish sovereigns after which they were to be restored in safety to their country and condition whenever they passed through any principal place put a collar and massive chain of gold upon the brother of as being of the golden country of the of los who was a friend of and who entertained the and his indian cap fi days in his house says that he had this chain of gold in his hands and that it weighed six hundred the worthy likewise makes mention of va hm indian and images of wood or cotton wrought wit fantastic faces of animals all of which he were representations of the devil who he must be the of adoration of these tbe reception of by the sovereigns was different fro what he bad anticipated for he was treated with favour nor was any mention made either of the complaints of and boil or the reported by however these may have had a transient on the minds of the sovereigns they were too conscious of the great deserts of and the extraordinary difficulties of his situation not to what they may have considered errors on his part encouraged by the favourable countenance he experienced and tbe interest with which the sovereigns listened to his account of his recent voyage along the coast of and the discovery of the mines of which he failed not to represent as the of tbe now proposed a enterprise by which he promised to make yet more extensive discoveries and to to for he supposed to be bat a part of a rich and | 48 |
splendid continent for this p he asked eight ships two to be to the island of with supplies the remaining six to be put under his command for an exploring voyage the sovereigns readily to his request and were probably sin b equivalent to dollars of the ti t con de cap and voyages of in their to do so but in the performance of their request was doomed to meet with intolerable delay partly in consequence of the operation of public events partly in consequence of the of ui i the two great influences which are continually p g and the designs of princes the resources of spain were at this moment t ed to the utmost by the ambition of who ed all his upon wars and while contest of deep and artful policy with france with tt mate aim of grasping the of he was ing th foundation of a wide and powerful by the marriages of the royal children who were now ing in years at this time was that family ance which afterwards such an immense empire under his and successor charles v while a large army was maintained in italy under of to assist the king of in recovering his throne of which he had been suddenly by charles viii of france other armies were require on the of spain with a french invasion also had to be employed for the of line and atlantic of spain while a magnificent of upwards of a hundred ships having on board twenty thousand persons many of them of the first nobility was to the princess to to be married to philip of and to bring back his sister the destined bride of prince these widely extended operations both of war and put all the land and naval forces into they drained the royal treasury and engrossed the thoughts of the sovereigns g them also to from point to point of their with such cares of an immediate and nature pressing upon their minds the of were easily neglected or postponed had hitherto been sources of expense instead of pro fit and there were artful ever ready to whisper in the ear that they were likely to continue so what in eyes of was the acquisition o of wild and distant islands to that of domain of or the intercourse with naked and princes to that of an alliance with most potent sovereigns of the mortification therefore to see armies and employed in the idle about a point of territory in europe and a vast of upwards of b hundred sail destined to the service of conveying a royal bride while he vainly a few to his discovery of a world at length in the autumn r six millions of were ordered to be advanced to foi the of his promised just as the sum was about to be delivered a letter was received fi om who had arrived at with his three on his return from the island of instead of proceeding to court in person or the of the he had gone to visit hi at and taken the with him merely writing in a style that he had a great amount of gold on board of his ships this was triumphant intelligence immediately that equivalent to a value of dollars of the present day t ind c ms vol lu s and voyages of tions instead of a joyous crew bounding on shore flushed with success and laden with the spoils of the golden a feeble train of wretch ed men crawled forth by the diseases of the colony and the hardships of the voyage who carried in their yellow countenances says an old writer a mockery of that gold which had been the object of their search and who had nothing to relate of the new world but tales of sickness poverty and disappointment endeavoured as much as possible to these appearances and to revive the enthusiasm of the public he dwelt upon the importance of his recent discoveries along the coast of where as be supposed he had arrived nearly to the of the and had bordered on some of the richest provinces of asia and above all he boasted of his discovery of the abundant mines on the south side of which he persuaded himself were those of the ancient the public listened to these accounts with incredulity or if for a moment a little excitement was occasioned it was quickly destroyed by the gloomy pictures drawn by disappointed on at found three in the harbour commanded by on the point of with supplies for the colony nearly a year had elapsed without any relief of the kind four which had sailed in the preceding january having been lost on the coast of the having read the royal letters and of which was the bearer and being informed of the wishes of the sovereigns as well as the state of the public mind wrote by this n l l t re ty urging the to endeavour by every means to bring the p peaceful and productive state all and and seizing and sending to spain all or their subjects who should be concerned in the deaths of any of the he recommended the most diligence in exploring and working the mines recently discovered on the river and that a place should be chosen in the neighbourhood and a founded set sail with the o the th june tidings of the arrival of having reached the sovereigns he received a gracious letter from them dated at th july him on his safe re turn and inviting him to court when he should have recovered from the of the voyage the kind terms in which this letter was were calculated to the heart of who ever since the mission of the had considered himself out of favour with the sovereigns and fallen into disgrace as a proof of the | 48 |
of his spirits we are told that when he made his appearance this time in spain he was clad in an h garb resembling in form and colour the habit of a l an simply with a cord and that he had offered his beard to grow like the brethren of that this was probably in fulfilment of some vow which he had made in a moment of danger or despondency a in those days and frequently observed by s it however much humility and of spirit and afforded a striking to his appear de los ob i t s cap i life and voyages of to her protecting zeal all the provisions in favour of mast be attributed for the king began to look coldly on him and the royal who had most influence in the affairs of the were his enemies various royal dated about this time manifest the generous and considerate disposition of the queen the rights privileges and granted to at fe w re again confirmed a tract of land in fifty in length and twenty five in breadth was offered to him with the of duke or this had the forbearance to decline he observed that it ould only increase the envy which was already so against him and would cause new as he should be accused of paying more attention to the settlement and improvement of his own possessions than of any other part of the island as the expenses of the had hitherto far exceeded the returns had incurred rather than profit from the share he had been permitted to take in them he was relieved therefore from his obligation to bear an eighth part of the cost of the past excepting the sum which he had advanced towards the first voyage at the same time however he was not to claim any share of what had hitherto been brought from the island for three years he was to be allowed an eighth of the gross proceeds of every voyage and an additional tenth after the costs had been after the of the three years the original terms of agreement were to be resumed to gratify the honourable ambition of also and to in his family the distinction gained by his ind l cap ii illustrious deeds he was the right of establishing a or hereditary succession to his titles and estates this he shortly after exercised in a solemn testament which he executed in in the early part of by this testament he devised his estates to his own male descendants and on their failure to the male descendants of his brothers and in of male to the females of his the heir was always to bear the arms of the admiral to seal with them to sign with his signature and in never to use any other title than simply the admiral whatever other titles might be given him by the king and used by him on other occasions such was the noble pride with which he valued this title of his real greatness in this testament he made ample provision for his brother the his son and his brother don which last he had a desire to enter into life he ordered that a tenth part of the arising from the should be devoted to pious and charitable purposes and in all poor persons of his he made provision for the giving of marriage portions to the poor females of his family he ordered that a married person of his line who had been bom in his native city of should be maintained there in and respectability by y of keeping a for the family there and he commanded whoever should inherit the always to do every thing in his power for the honour prosperity and increase of the city of provided it should not be contrary to the service of the church and the interests of the spanish crown among various other provisions in this will he solemnly for his favourite scheme the recovery of the holy he orders his son or whoever else may life and voyages of inherit his estate to invest from time to time as much as he can spare in stock in the bank of st george at to form a growing fund with which he is to stand ready at any time to follow and serve the king in the conquest of or should the king not undertake then when the funds have accumulated to sufficient amount to set on foot a at bis own charge and risk in hopes that seeing his determination the sovereigns may be induced either to adopt the undertaking or to him to pursue it in their name beside this special undertaking for the catholic faith he charges his heir that in case there should arise any in the church or any violence that should menace its prosperity to throw himself at the feet of the pope and devote bis person and property to defend the church from all insult and next to the service of god he loyalty to the throne commanding him at all times to stand ready to serve the sovereigns and their faithfully and even to the loss of life and estate to the constant remembrance of this testament he orders his heir that before he he shall give it to his father to read it and to examine him upon his faithful fulfilment of its conditions as had felt by the general license granted in april to make discoveries in the new world considering it as interfering with his a royal was issued on the d of june whatever might be to his interests or to the previous made him by the crown it never was our intention said the sovereigns in their to prejudice in any way the said don nor to allow the privileges and which we have granted him to be upon or but | 48 |
Subsets and Splits