In a hamlet whose spire may be seen
from New-York, rising from above the brow of a hill on the opposite
side of the Hudson, many of the old folks, even at the present day,
speak English with an accent, and the Dominie preaches in Dutch; and
so completely is the hereditary love of quiet and silence maintained,
that in one of these drowsy villages, in the middle of a warm summer's
day, the buzzing of a stout bluebottle fly will resound from one end
of the place to the other.
With the laudable hereditary feeling thus kept up among these worthy
people, did Mr. Knickerbocker undertake to write a history of his
native city, comprising the reign of its three Dutch governors during
the time that it was yet under the domination of the Hogenmogens of
Holland. In the execution of this design, the little Dutchman has
displayed great historical research, and a wonderful consciousness of
the dignity of his subject. His work, however, has been so little
understood, as to be pronounced a mere work of humour, satirizing the
follies of the times, both in politics and morals, and giving
whimsical views of human nature.
Be this as it may:--among the papers left behind him were several
tales of a lighter nature, apparently thrown together from materials
which he had gathered during his profound researches for his history,
and which he seems to have cast by with neglect, as unworthy of
publication.
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