If thou shalt sigh that our companionship, THE RELIANCE OF A FREE PEOPLE. BY CHARLES W. UPHAM. SONS of New England! your ancestors relied upon the power of their own arins, upon their own ingenuity, skill, and personal industry and enterprise. They never looked for the chief blessings of life to the government. They did not expect that freedom, prosperity or happiness were to be secured to their posterity by legislation, or any form of political administration, but they planted the seed which was to bear the precious fruits, in the awakened, enlightened, and invigorated mental energies of their descendants. For this they provided their system of universal education; and if you would be worthy of your ancestry, you must do likewise. Look not to legislation, or to official patronage, or to any public resources or aids to make yourselves or your children prosperous, powerful and happy. But trust to your and their energy of character and enlightened minds, and persevering enterprise and industry. Cherish these traits, and they will work out, in the future, the same results, as in the past. The earth will everywhere blossom beneath you. You will be sure of exerting your rightful influence in every community. You will be placed beyond the reach of injustice and oppression. Rash and weak counsels may involve the foreign relations of the confederacy; short-sighted or perverse legislation may do its worst to embarrass your interests; but if you resolutely apply your own resources of industry, skill, and enterprise to circumstances as they rise, you will be able to turn them to your advantage, and the great essential of democratic sovereignty will be guaranteed to you, pursuit and the attainment of individual happiness and prosperity. New York, December 22d, 1846. the It was on a pleasant morning in the delightful month of September, 1609, that the Half Moon, the adventurous yacht of the celebrated Hendrick Hudson, first approached the shore of the present New York Harbor, and attracted the attention of the Delawares, then the sole inhabitants of the Island, who believed that they were about to be favored with a visit from their Manitto or Great Spirit, and hastily prepared themselves for his reception. Presently the chief, in "red clothes and a glitter of metal," came ashore in a small boat, mutual salutations were exchanged, and strong drink tendered to the natives, "which made all gay and happy." In process of time, as their acquaintance progressed, the "white skins" told their red brothers they would stay with them, if they consented to allow them as much land as the hide of a bullock would cover or encompass. The request was granted, and immediately the pale men cut the whole hide into one narrow strip or thong, sufficiently long to encompass a large extent of ground. The simple and confiding Indians were equally surprised and delighted with the artifice, which was willingly allowed by them, and a cordial welcome extended to the strangers. This was the origin of the site of this great city, and the place on which the revel was held, received the name of Manhattan or Manahactienks literally, "the place where they all got drunk!" How changed is the scene, since that little company of hardy adventurers landed among the Indians of the Communipaw, in September, 1609! Then, "a still and solemn desert, hung round the lonely bark" of the voyagers, where now a splendid and populous city stretches away in every direction, while a forest of shipping covers the waters then furrowed only by a single keel. The first actual settlement of the city was commenced in 1614, by the erection of four houses, and in the following year a redoubt was thrown up, on the site of the Macomb houses, now on Broadway. To this little village the stately name of New Amsterdam was given by the settlers, all of whom were occupied in the fur trade-land culture being entirely an after consideration. In 1664, the settlement and fort were surrendered to the English by Governor Stuyvesant, who is immortalized in the veritable "History of New York," by the illustrious Diedrich Knickerbocker. It then received the name of New York; but ten years afterward, the Dutch, in time of war, recaptured it again, and called it New Orange, in compliment to the Prince of Orange, for whom they held it, but at the end of one year, it was restored by treaty to the British, and again took the name of New York, which it has since held. The city was laid out in streets, (not all of them straight ones, we imagine,) in 1656, at which time it contained one hundred and twenty houses, and one thousand inhabitants. During the twelve months military reign of the Dutch, the Mayor, at the head of the city militia, held daily parades before the City Hall or Stadt Huys, then at Coenties Slip, and every evening at sunset, he received from the keeper of the fort the keys of the city, and proceeded with a guard of six, to lock the gates, and then to place a citizen guard as night watches at different places. The Mayor went also his rounds at sunrise, to open the gates and restore the keys to the officer of the fort. Certainly the office of Chief Magistrate, must then have been an irksome one to any Mayor who valued his own ease or comfort. It may be amusing to our readers, to learn some of the titles formerly so familiar in New York, but now so little understood. The Bourgomaster, or Mayor, the Schepens, or Councillers, and the Schout, or Sheriff, were the rulers of the city, and were always addressed or spoken of, by the title of "their High Mightinesses." The Hoofd Schout was the High Sheriff, the De Fiscael the Attorney General, and the Groot Burgerrecht, and Klein Burgerrecht, or great and small citizenship, marked the two orders of society. Let no one imagine, however, that the De Fiscael of those days answered · to the Attorney General of the present time in all respects. Every man then, pleaded his own cause, or more commonly "said little, and let things take their own course." "The only long speech on record is that of a certain pettifogger, or as the chronicle has it, Doddipol Jolterhead,' called Cobus Clapperclip, who, in pleading a cause concerning the right of geese to swim in the pond at the head of New-street, before Alderman Van Schlepevalker, did cause his client to be nonsuited, by tiring his worship's patience to such a degree, that he fell into a deep sleep, which lasted the remainder of the term." In the year 1729, there were no streets beyond Broadway westward, but the lots west of that street all descended severally to the beach, and the entire tract was called "the King's Farm." The northern limits of the city terminated at Beekman-street, and the delightful promenade now called the Battery, was then a ledge of rocks, having the river close up to the present line of State-street, fronting the Battery. New York was formerly almost a miniature Venice, being intersected by water in various directions, where now, the living tide of population is daily poured through crowded streets. An aged female was living in 1832, who well remembered that her brother-in-law, dwelling at the corner of Pearl-street and Maiden Lane, always kept a ferry-boat tied to his stoop, which was frequently needed, to convey him to his place of business in another street. So late as the year 1787, Greenwich-street, now the third street from the water, on the north river side, was an excellent fishing ground, and quantities of bass and herring were caught there "on the beach," while on a large rock in the middle of the present street, but then in the water, was erected a rude summer house, affording the boys who congregated there, a favorite scene of fun and frolic. Maiden Lane received its name from the fact that the young women usually went there to bleach the family linen, all of which was made at home. A fine creek or brook ran through it, and the adjacent hills, clothed in verdure, sloped gradually to its level, affording an excellent bleaching ground to which hundreds resorted. But the local alterations made in the city, within the last hundred years, great as they may be, are less striking than the changes that have taken place in the manners and customs of the inhabitants. In the "olden time," regularity, industry and sobriety characterized the habits of every household, from their "high mightinesses" the Burgomaster, Schepens and Schout, down to the humblest burgher. The family were all assembled before daylight at the morning meal, after which they went to their various employments until the dinner hour of twelve, at which time the kettle was invariably set on the fire for tea, which was punctually furnished at three o'clock. Then the older members of the household went abroad to visit relatives, making the rounds regularly once a year through the whole circle. At evening, parents and children took their seat on the "stoopes," the women with their knitting, and the men with their pipes, saluting their passing acquaintance, or talking familiarly across the narrow streets, with their opposite neighbors. This favorite practise was "one of the strongest links of union, in the Knickerbocker social compact." It encouraged kindly feeling, and cemented the bonds of mutual friendship. The young thus obtained unceremonious introductions to each other, and the way was prepared for the courtships which so often gave life and variety to the scene. When green tea was brought into the city as a great luxury, loaf sugar came with it, but instead of being put into the cup, according to the modern custom, it was broken into large lumps, and laid before each guest, to be nibbled or bitten at pleasure. Some families have been found here within the present century, who still adhered to this practice, steadily resisting the innovation of dissolved sugar. Young women of all ranks, spun and wove most of their own apparel, and though they dressed gaily when going out to visit, or to attend church, never failed to change their dress for the home-made shortgown and petticoat on their return home. This was always done even on Sunday evenings, when a visit from their beaux was a matter of course, as it was considered their best recommendation to be seen thus frugal, and in readiness for any domestic avocation. The young men and boys did the same thing, and thus a Sunday dress lasted a whole life-time, or descended as an heir-loom from generation to generation, for |