storm, that swine may fatten on the falling acorns, so men are, by some unaccountable power, driven one against another till they lose their motion, that vultures may be fed. 9. "Others think they have observed something of contrivance and policy among these ca'terers' of ours; and those that hover more closely around them, pretend that there is in every herd one that gives directions to the rest, and seems to be more eminently delighted with carnage. What it is that entitles him to such preeminence,3 we know not. He is seldom the biggest or the swiftest; but such are his eagerness and diligence in providing and preparing food for us, that we think the leader of such human herds is entitled to our warmest gratitude, and should be styled, THE FRIEND OF THE VULTURES!" 1. " DR. JOHNSON. 107. THE WATCHER ON THE TOWER. "WHAT dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower? Some fair, faint streaks, as if the light would surge." 4. "A mist envelops them; I can not trace And all the stars grow dim. The morning breaks." 1 Ca' ter ers, those who provide food.- Carnage (kår’naj), slaughter; great destruction of lives. - Pre êm'i nence, superiority; the condition of being first in place or rank.- Råv'er ence, fear mingled with respect and affection. Surge (serj), to swell; to run high like waves.- - Còpe, a cover; a hood; a priest's cloak.-' A påce', quickly; fast.- Am' ber, of the color of amber, which is yellowish. THE WATCHER ON THE TOWER. 5. "We thank thee, lonely watcher on the tower; Ere the day comes; oh, give them a reply!" 7. "What doth he say-O watcher on the tower? When Error shall decay, and Truth grow strong, 11. "Well done! thou watcher on the lonely tower! : 3 253 'Viv'id, bright; lively; glowing; alive. Se råph' ic, pertaining to a seraph, or angel of the highest order; sublime; pure.- De void', destitute; free from.- Rà' di ance, brightness shooting in rays; vivid brightness; luster. I 108. THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEW YORK. 2 WILL not grieve the patience of my readers by describing minutely the increase and improvement of New Amsterdam.' Their own imaginations will doubtless present to them the good burghers, like so many pains-taking and persevering beavers, slowly and surely pursuing their labors-they will behold the prosperous transformation from the rude log-hut to the stately Dutch mansion, with brick front, glazed windows, and tiled roof-from the tangled thicket to the luxuriant cabbagegarden; and from the skulking Indian to the ponderous1 burgomaster. In a word, they will picture to themselves the steady, silent, and undeviating march to prosperity, incident to a city destitute of pride or ambition, cherished by a fat government, and whose citizens do nothing in a hurry. 2. The sage council, not being able to determine upon any plan for building of their city-the cows, in a laudable' fit of pātriotism, took it under their peculiar charge, and as they went to and from pasture, established paths through the bushes, on each side of which the good folks built their houses; which is one cause of the rambling and picturesque turns and labyrinths' which distinguish certain streets of New York at this very day. 3. The houses of the higher class were generally constructed of wood, excepting the gable-end, which was of small black and yellōw Dutch bricks, and always faced on the street, as our ancestors, like their descendants, were very much given to outward show, and were noted for putting the best foot foremost. The house was always furnished with abundance of large doors and small windows on every floor; the date of its erection was curiously designated, by iron figures on the front, and on the 'New Amsterdam, the name given by the Dutch to New York.— 'Burghers (berg' erz), citizens; the inhabitants of a borough, or incorporated town.—3 Tiled, covered with tiles, or plates of baked clay.— • Pon' der ous, weighty; heavy.— Burgomaster (bårg' o mås ter), a mag istrate in Holland.-- In' ci dent, falling upon; happening to.- Lauď a ble, worthy of praise.- Pa' tri ot ism, love of one's country.- Picturesque (pikt yer esk'), showing that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture.—1o Låk' y rinth, a place full of windings. THE GOLDEN AGE OF NEW YORK. 255 top of the roof was perched a fierce little weathercock, to let the family into the important secret, which way the wind blew. These, like the weathercocks on the tops of our steeples, pointed so many different ways, that every man could have a wind to his mind;—the most stanch' and loyal citizens, however, always went according to the weathercock on the top of the governor's house, which was certainly the most correct, as he had a trusty servant employed every morning to climb up and set it to the right quarter. 4. In those good days of simplicity and sunshine, a passion for cleanliness was the leading principle in domestic economy, and the universal test of an able housewife—a character which formed the utmost ambition of our unenlightened grandmothers. The front door was never opened except on marriages, funerals, new year's days, the festival of St. Nicholas, or some such great occasion. It was ornamented with a gorgeous brass knocker, curiously wrought, sometimes in the device of a dog, and sometimes of a lion's head, and was daily burnished with such religious zeal, that it was ofttimes worn out, by the very precautions taken for its preservation. 5. The whole house was constantly in a state of inundation," under the discipline of mops, and brooms, and scrubbing-brushes; and the good housewives of those days were a kind of amphilious animal, delighting exceedingly to be dabbling in water— insomuch that an historian of the day gravely tells us, that many of his own townswomen grew to have webbed fingers like unto a duck; but this I look upon to be a mere sport of fancy, or what is worse, a willful misrepresentation. 6. The grand parlor was the place where the passion for cleaning was indulged without control. In this sacred apartment no one was permitted to enter, excepting the mistress and her confidential maid, who visited it once a week, for the purpose of giving it a thorough cleaning, and putting things to rights-always taking the precaution of leaving their shoes at the door, and entering on their stocking-feet. After scrubbing 'Stånch, sound; true.-2 In un då' tion, an overflow of water.-3 Amphibious (am fib' e us), living in two ways, both in and out of water; of a mixed nature. the floor, sprinkling it with fine white sand, which was curiously stroked into angles, and curves, and rhomboids,' with a broom -after washing the windows, rubbing and polishing the furniture, and putting a new bunch of evergreens in the fire-placethe window-shutters were again closed, to keep out the flies, and the room carefully locked up until the revolution of time brought round the weekly cleaning day. 7. As to the family, they always entered in at the gate, and most generally lived in the kitchen. To have seen a numerous household assembled around the fire, one would have imagined that he was transported back to those happy days of primeval simplicity, which float before our imaginations like golden visions. The fire-places were of truly patriarchal3 magnitude, where the whole family, old and young, master and servant, black and white, nay, even the věry cat and dog, enjoyed a community of · privilege, and had each a right to a corner. 8. Here the old burgher would sit in perfect silence, puffing his pipe, looking on the fire with half-shut eyes, and thinking of nothing for hours together; the good woman on the opposite side would employ herself diligently in spinning yarn, or knitting stockings. The young folks would crowd around the hearth, listening with breathless attention to some old crone of a negro, who was the oracles of the family, and who, perched like a raven in a corner of the chimney, would croak forth for a long winter afternoon a string of incredible stories about New England witches, grisly ghosts, horses without heads, and hairbreadth escapes and bloody encounters among the Indians. 9. In those happy days a well-regulated family always rose with the dawn, dined at eleven, and went to bed at sun-down. Dinner was invariably a private meal, and the fat old burghers showed incontestable symptoms of disapprobation and uneasiness, at being surprised, by a visit from a neighbor, on such occasions. But though our worthy ancestors were thus singularly 'Rhom' boids, figures having four equal sides, but not equal angles.2 Pri mẻ' val, original; primitive; first.—3 Patriarchal (pa tre årk' al), relating to a patriarch, or the father and ruler of a family. Heårth.Oracle (or' a kl), a wise person; any person or place whose opinion is consulted with religious reverence. In con test' a ble, that can not be disputed. |