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Page 42
"A brisk trade for furs was soon opened; the Dutch traders were
scrupulously honest in their dealings and purchased by weight,
establishing it as an invariable table of avoirdupois, that the
hand of a Dutchman weighed one pound, and his foot two pounds. It
is true, the simple Indians were often puzzled by the great
disproportion between bulk and weight, for let them place a bundle
of furs, never so large, in one scale, and a Dutchman put his hand
or foot in the other, the bundle was sure to kick the beam;--never
was a package of furs known to weigh more than two pounds in the
market of Communipaw!
"This is a singular fact,--but I have it direct from my
great-great-grandfather, who had risen to considerable importance
in the colony, being promoted to the office of weigh-master, on
account of the uncommon heaviness of his foot.
"The Dutch possessions in this part of the globe began now to
assume a very thriving appearance, and were comprehended under the
general title of Nieuw Nederlandts, on account, as the Sage Vander
Donck observes, of their great resemblance to the Dutch
Netherlands,--which indeed was truly remarkable, excepting that the
former were rugged and mountainous, and the latter level and
marshy. About this time the tranquillity of the Dutch colonists was
doomed to suffer a temporary interruption. In 1614, Captain Sir
Samuel Argal, sailing under a commission from Dale, governor of
Virginia, visited the Dutch settlements on Hudson River, and
demanded their submission to the English crown and Virginian
dominion. To this arrogant demand, as they were in no condition to
resist it, they submitted for the time, like discreet and
reasonable men.
"It does not appear that the valiant Argal molested the settlement
of Communipaw; on the contrary, I am told that when his vessel
first hove in sight, the worthy burghers were seized with such a
panic, that they fell to smoking their pipes with astonishing
vehemence; insomuch that they quickly raised a cloud, which,
combining with the surrounding woods and marshes, completely
enveloped and concealed their beloved village, and overhung the
fair regions of Pavonia--so that the terrible Captain Argal passed
on totally unsuspicious that a sturdy little Dutch settlement lay
snugly couched in the mud, under cover of all this pestilent vapor.
In commemoration of this fortunate escape, the worthy inhabitants
have continued to smoke, almost without intermission, unto this
very day; which is said to be the cause of the remarkable fog which
often hangs over Communipaw of a clear afternoon."
The golden age of New York was under the reign of Walter Van Twiller,
the first governor of the province, and the best it ever had. In his
sketch of this excellent magistrate Irving has embodied the abundance
and tranquillity of those halcyon days:--
"The renowned Wouter (or Walter) Van Twiller was descended from a
long line of Dutch burgomasters, who had successively dozed away
their lives, and grown fat upon the bench of magistracy in
Rotterdam; and who had comported themselves with such singular
wisdom and propriety, that they were never either heard or talked
of--which, next to being universally applauded, should be the
object of ambition of all magistrates and rulers. There are two
opposite ways by which some men make a figure in the world: one, by
talking faster than they think, and the other, by holding their
tongues and not thinking at all. By the first, many a smatterer
acquires the reputation of a man of quick parts; by the other, many
a dunderpate, like the owl, the stupidest of birds, comes to be
considered the very type of wisdom. This, by the way, is a casual
remark, which I would not, for the universe, have it thought I
apply to Governor Van Twiller. It is true he was a man shut up
within himself, like an oyster, and rarely spoke, except in
monosyllables; but then it was allowed he seldom said a foolish
thing. So invincible was his gravity that he was never known to
laugh or even to smile through the whole course of a long and
prosperous life. Nay, if a joke were uttered in his presence, that
set light-minded hearers in a roar, it was observed to throw him
into a state of perplexity. Sometimes he would deign to inquire
into the matter, and when, after much explanation, the joke was
made as plain as a pike-staff, he would continue to smoke his pipe
in silence, and at length, knocking out the ashes, would exclaim,
'Well! I see nothing in all that to laugh about.'
"With all his reflective habits, he never made up his mind on a
subject. His adherents accounted for this by the astonishing
magnitude of his ideas. He conceived every subject on so grand a
scale that he had not room in his head to turn it over and examine
both sides of it. Certain it is, that, if any matter were
propounded to him on which ordinary mortals would rashly determine
at first glance, he would put on a vague, mysterious look, shake
his capacious head, smoke some time in profound silence, and at
length observe, that 'he had his doubts about the matter'; which
gained him the reputation of a man slow of belief and not easily
imposed upon. What is more, it has gained him a lasting name; for
to this habit of the mind has been attributed his surname of
Twiller; which is said to be a corruption of the original Twijfler,
or, in plain English, _Doubter_.
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